An Iowa Mom

And So Yes ... I Am Still Alive!

While it's quite flattering to receive email after email wondering where I've been and if everything is okay ... I must say, I have missed blogging something fierce.  Really.  I have.

So then why haven't I been blogging?  The answer is quite simple.  I don't know.

It would be so much more understandable if I said something like ... "The kids have been passing around the flu for the past three months.  We just haven't been able to get rid of it.  It's been a nightmare."

But, the only sickness we've encountered around here is a fever.

Bieber Fever.

And it's pretty much turning into a nightmare.  This is what my life has come to these days ... Lord help me ...

Oh ... and yes.  I do bathe my children and occasionally brush their hair.  Just sayin'.  My heavens they look like rag-a-muffins, don't they?  Good grief.

 (If you take the time to watch the whole video (it's only like 3 min), you'll see that times have not changed.  Remember this? In typical Emily and Molly fashion, there is a little competition going on over camera time!  Cracks me up!)

Happy Halloween!

Yikes ...

Yowwsers ...

Holy Kaamolie ...

 

Boo?

Sorry.  Didn't mean to scare you! 

Just wanted to say ...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A House Full Of Teachers

This morning as we were getting ready for school, it became time to put on our shoes.  As both of the girls slipped on their sneakers, Molly began to whine because I insisted on tying hers.

Molly:  MOM!  I know how to tie. 

Me:  I know you do, but when you are going to school, I want them to be tight and knotted so they STAY tied.

Molly:  Did you tie Emily's shoes in kindergarten?

Me:  Yes.  She didn't learn how to tie until the end of her kindergarten year.

Molly:  And I know how to tie at the BEGINNING of the year.

Me:  Keep in mind that Emily teaches you how to do a lot of the things that you wouldn't know how to do at this age if it weren't for her.

Molly:  Yup, just like the boys teach me bad words.

Yeah ... kinda.  I guess. 

I Am Becoming Quite The Expert

Twelve years and four kids later ... I can finally say with confidence that I'm becoming quite the expert at this parenting gig.  I mean, in the past, our mornings were full of yelling, whining, screaming, meltdowns, time outs (which were usually mostly for me) tears, tantrums ... well, you get the point, right?

Well, not anymore. 

Why?  Because I've learned to pick my battles.  Either that, or they've finally worn me down and I just don't give a hoot anymore.  

Whichever it may be ... our mornings are peaceful and productive these days.  For the most part, I mean, let us not forget we are still the same dysfunctional family we've always been.

However, now is more of give and take.  If I am going to take these easy going mornings ... I have to give my children the freedom to leave the house in outfits of their choice.  

Take for example Molly.  She left today in this fancy dress skirt and dirty tennis shoes, and a t-shirt to boot.  However, that stained t-shirt of hers ... suits her so well.  Don't you agree?

 

Another Year, Another Picture

We all know the routine because we've been living it since we were five years old and in kindergarten.  Each year , our mothers set out our finest set of new school clothes, woke us 15 minutes earlier than normal to style our hair 'just so'.  With a comb nestled into our book bag, we were sent out the door with reminders to smile our best smile.

And then hours later, we stood in a line with our classmates, waiting our turn for some strange woman using that same comb to yank and pull our hair in directions it was never meant to go, before shoving us onto a carpeted box and demanding we look at the camera and smile.  The bright light next to the photographer shone brightly into our eyes and the snap of the photo usually happened just moments before we expected it to.  Right?

A few weeks later we were presented with our 'school' picture.  The image that would not only be swapped with every kid in school that we considered our closest friend, but also framed and mounted on the living room wall for the upcoming year.  Right up until it would be thrown into the memory box just waiting to humiliate us to no end a decade later ... and replaced with the new dreaded pic showing us growing a year older.

Is this the experience you all had growing up?  If not, then you must think I'm some sort of crazy lunatic going on and on about the experience.   But, you should be getting used to that by now, so I'm not too worried about you.

Anyway ... I do things a bit differently with my kiddos.  Maybe it's because I remember the torture of years past.  Or because I'm lazy.  Or maybe simply because they don't ever have an awesome new school outfit suitable for such a big day.  Regardless ... my kids wake up on picture day and get dressed just as they would any other day.  They comb their hair and brush their teeth ... in our normal mundane routine.

Then they leave for school.

And when the pictures arrive home ... I always wish we would have given it a little more effort. 

However ... I don't have to wait a decade to humiliate them.

Jake - 7th Grade

 

Drew - 5th Grade

 

Emily - 1st Grade

 

Molly - Kindergarten

 

The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year

Yes, I am completely aware that it's been two weeks since the eve of the first day of school.   I fully expected to write about it the moment those four kids were safely nestled into their seats on the school bus ... and it drove away. 

But, when that time actually came, I just couldn't find the words. 

And still, 14 days later, I still don't have the words to describe the experience, as I have yet to be able to wrap my head around the fact that all four of them are now in school.  ALL DAY! 

However, don't fret ... I do have the traditional and mandatory "Back To School" photos.  So those will have to do.  M'kay?

Here are the boys.  Don't you just love the sarcastic look on Drew's face, making it perfectly known that he is not happy about having his photo taken?  Or going to school for that matter?  Jake is more seasoned ... and knows not to fight it.  It's going to happen whether he likes it or not.

 

Jake - The 7th Grader  ... and yes, someday I'm fairly confident that he WILL grow!  At least that is what his doctor tells me.

 

Drew - The 5th Grader

 

The entire morning Molly couldn't wait to get out of the house and get to the bus stop.  She was devastated that I made her pose for pictures.  I KNOW!  Molly.  Not wanting the camera in her face.  I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't been the one yelling through clenched teeth to "STAND THERE AND SMILE, DAMMIT!"  And of course Emily checking to see if the neighbors can hear me yelling ... again.

 

Emily - The Big 1st Grader

 

And Molly ... the Kindergarten!

 

Something tells me that they were just as excited to go to school as I was for them to go to school!

 

Just sayin'.

And just so you know, I am confident I'll learn how to take pictures that aren't so washed out and awful when I attend the I Blog Conference this November.  Are you going? 

Never Underestimate My Five Year Old

This past weekend we packed up the family and headed to Big Daddy's hometown of New Albany, Indiana.  I can hear you asking what would be so meaningful to have pulled the rugrats out of school, spend hours packing up our life so we could function while we were away from home, and sit in a car with four antsy children for nine hours?

Well ... it was the 90th Birthday Party for Big Daddy's Grandmother, that's what.  And it was darned important that we were there.  Just because we wanted to be.  Period.

While the party was great and we are beyond happy that we went, that is not what this post is about.  I wanted to share with you something completely off that topic ... and should not surprise you in the least. 

Well, that is only true if you've been reading me for a while.  Otherwise, you will think my youngest child probably needs therapy.   Come to think of it, most of you possibly think that anyway.  Oh well ... this is all beside the point.

As we were rolling along the highway, listening to talk radio, because we find enjoyment in irritating the children , I am playing around with my phone.  I never seem to have the opportunity to just sit and explore all its features, so I figured this long trip was as good a time as any. 

One of the things I wanted to check into, was how to post to this blog, directly from my phone ... and include a picture. 

Watch out ... I'm getting all high tech on ya'll.  I know.

Anyway, it didn't take long before I was putting together a 'test post', which I never published.  And because we were in such a hurry to leave that morning, and the normal insistence that my darling daughters run a brush through their hair didn't happen ... it became evident that I had no other choice than to take a picture of myself, to include with the never published test post.  Which again, if you have been reading me for a while, know that I DO NOT LIKE TO SHARE PICTURES OF MYSELF!  For obvious reasons.

So, I open the camera feature and point it at my big ol' noggin to snap the picture.  I then navigate to the album in which it magically made itself at home.  And here I was thinking that all the children were engrossed in 'their own thing', however ... I should have known better. 

 After all, it just wouldn't be Molly to miss a photo op, now would it?