Wordless Wednesday: Highway Perspective

Wordless Wednesday: Snowy Days Are Here!

A Pumpkin and Two Pirates

It has been a couple years since I took my son and daughter trick-or-treating. The last few years, I was the one that stayed home to hand out the candy. This year, though, it is MY turn to go with the kiddos, and as usual, I’ll be dressing up in a costume, too.

My love of dressing up never went away. I loved to play dress up as a little girl and I always looked forward to Halloween every year. When I got older I signed up for every school play or church presentation I could, so I had an excuse to put on a costume. And now even as an adult, I can’t get enough!

My kids have always loved my costumes. They insist I’m “the coolest mommy EVER!” I’m really just a kid stuck in a grown-up’s body when it comes to these things, and I think they sense it. I only hope that as they grow older, they will continue to appreciate my love of dressing up and never see it as a sense of embarrassment. (I know, that will take a miracle!)

This Halloween my 7-year-old son is dressing up as a giant pumpkin. He is excited because he loves orange and pumpkins AND my mother made his costume...which means no one else will have a costume like his this year (unlike the zillion fellow Captain Americas he ran into last year). My daughter and I are going as pirates. My daughter asked me to break out my pirate costume from a few years back, so with a few new accessories, she and I could be a fearsome and awesome swashbuckling duo.

My children were so thrilled and wound up about Halloween and Trick-or-Treat being tomorrow that I could scarce get them to stop morning long enough for them to fall asleep. They have missed trick-or-treating with me, and they already know we will have a blast.

Their only disappointment (besides having to leave poor Daddy behind on candy duty) is realizing that I’m too old for getting candy from houses. You should have seen my son’s face drop when he found the ugly truth. He never considered the idea that anyone could be too old for treats...and that someday he will be, too. After getting over their initial shock, though, my kids cheered up and promised me they would share lots of their candy with me. Those two really know how to make a mama proud and feel loved!

© Amanda R. Dollak 2013

Wordless Wednesday: Happy Halloween!

A big spider-ly 'hi!' and wishing you and your family a safe Halloween.

Wordless Wednesday: Llama Feeding Time!

What is the strangest animal you ever got to feed?

Wordless Wednesday: Pumpkins

Do you and your family carve or decorate your pumpkins for Halloween?

Wordless Wednesday: Creepy Crawly Hay Bale

Photo Copyright Amanda R. Dollak 2013

What is the most memorable fall / Halloween decoration you have had the opportunity to see?

Wordless Wednesday: Fall Family Fun

Photo Copyright 2013 Amanda R. Dollak

What is your favorite fall activity to do with the family?

A Vacation of a Lifetime

Taking my kids to SC this summer to the beach for the very first time is truly one of the highlights of my life.  Their excitement, raw energy, and awe of the ocean will forever stay with me.  I have never witnessed my son and daughter so happy and content...and this mama was extremely content and happy, too.

We learned that one week at the beach is NOT enough!  We all missed home, but we left the ocean behind with sadden hearts.  Being by the sea completely felt like the most natural thing, and no one wanted to leave that feeling behind.

If I ever win the lottery or get rich through some amazing book deal, I know we will sell our current home in an instant and move somewhere south and closer to the beach.  A part of our hearts were left on that beautiful SC beach, and we returned with plenty of sand in our luggage--and gorgeous memories to hold us over until we can visit the sea once again.

I took lots of photographs of our vacation, and we plan to have a photo book created from over favorite snapshots.  We even collected seashells, other beach trinkets, and some sand so we can create a beach jar. We will cherish this vacation forever, and perhaps my son and daughter will pass on some of the stories from our beach adventure on to their own children someday.  I live for moments like these--so special, so breathtaking, and so miraculous.  I won't ever forget to savor every single second!

Y: Yoga Youngsters

One of my 2013 New Year’s resolutions was to get more fit and healthy. I’m not having the best of luck though. With an overloaded schedule and a chronic illness that involves fatigue and pain, I have found it difficult to find the time, energy, and motivation for exercise. But with summer fast approaching, I plan to utilize my kids’ summer vacation to the max.

I have noticed that I am much better at sticking with and pushing through exercise that involves my kids. My son and daughter sometimes do yoga with me, and they absolutely love our walks and playtimes outside. When I exercise with them I am too busy laughing and having a good time to focus on how much it tires me or how long it is taking. In fact, sometimes I am amazed at how much time seems to fly when I am exercising with them.

As a result, I plan on building some healthy habits with my children this summer—healthy habits that I hope will continue even after summer is long over. First and foremost, I want to reclaim my body and be as fit as possible. I want to live a long and healthy life for myself and my family. Secondly, I want to give my kids a good example to follow, so they can grow up to be healthy and happy adults, too. And lastly, exercising together is a wonderful family activity. It will help to keep us connected and hopefully will help create a bond between us that will last a lifetime.

Do you exercise as a family? If so, what are your favorite activities? And how often do you get to exercise together?

S: Stuck Between a Sled and a Hard Place

One of my favorite winter activities has always been sledding. Now that I have children of my own I get even more excited when snow starts to pile up. There’s nothing like an afternoon of running, sledding, and laughter, followed by some hot chocolate.

This winter proved extra special for me and my family. It was the first winter at our new house. We finally have a yard of our own, and our backyard is hilly with some nice areas for sledding. The first snowy day was magical for us. My kids eagerly rounded up their winter gear, and I dressed in as many layers as possible. I had a feeling that this was going to be the best afternoon we had had in a long time.

Our backyard drops off steeply into the driveway, while its slopes more gently to where our property ends. My 7-year-old son was too afraid to sled on the steeper hill. He was even hesitant about the smaller hill. So my daughter and I decided to try out the gentler hill to show him that there wasn’t anything to worry about. My 5-year-old daughter and I climbed into our sled together, and I pushed us forward with all my might. The snow was slippery and pretty packed, so we took off at a good speed. It looked like the path I had chosen down the back of yard was going to be perfect.

But just as we almost reached the bottom of the hill, our sled lurched to the right and we found ourselves underneath a bush lining the back of our property. My daughter and I burst out laughing. We were such a funny sight all tangled up in the bush! My son tried to help us out, but the awkward angle with which we had slid under the bush made it impossible for us to get out of the sled.

I was laughing so hard that I could barely move. With all the strength I can muster between laughs, I picked my daughter up and tossed her gently out from under the bush. I then managed to get the sled out from under me and was able to finally crawl out from under the bush. The entire time my kids and I were howling with laughter. This had been one of the funniest things we had ever witnessed, and I know that it will be a memory that will bring us much laughter for years to come.

O: Organ Oblivion

"Is there room for me, kitty?"

My family is a music-loving family. We play the radio, CD’s, cassette tapes, and records like they are going out of style. My children are growing up surrounded by music from the 40’s to today, as well as classical music--similar to how I did. My family has always had a solid appreciation of a variety of music and I’m happy to be passing on that love to my own children. I don’t know how to play an instrument yet, but one day, I plan to resume my guitar lessons. Maybe my children and I can all learn together because they’ve also shown an interest in learning the guitar (as well as other instruments).

For now, I have passed on the electric organ that my grandmother had given to me and my brother when we were still kids. I remember spending hours just making a joyful noise, trying to figure out songs, or making up my own. I thought that my children would enjoy it, too. Plus, I reasoned that it would be a wonderful way to nurture their musical interests even further.

I forgot one small thing though: that electric organ doesn’t have a volume button. And oh, is that organ loud and obnoxious! Of course, my kids love the thing to death. They are forever asking me if they can play it. Each time I am torn between my desire to encourage my children’s love of music and my fantasies of all the ways I can destroy that monstrosity. My love for my children wins in the end (except on days when I have a headache), but I find myself still trying to find somewhere--anywhere--to hide from the electric organ when it is in use.

I attempted to show my kids how to play it beautifully or at least tolerably. After a few demonstrations, my daughter is doing a little better. My son, however, enjoys making the organ screech and howl. (I know who will be doing our Halloween sound effects this year!) The more obnoxious and horrible he can make it sound, the better he likes it. Yes, boys will be boys. I’ll let him get his kicks from seeing how badly he can play.

But eventually, if he is anything like me (and I know he is), he will tire of making noise and long to make music again. It’s in our genes--in our blood--and he won’t be able to resist it for very long. Until then, I will be grimacing and cowering here in organ oblivion, waiting patiently until sanity returns to me again!

J: Jumping Beans Included

I remember when I was in kindergarten my best friend Michelle seemed to have the coolest toys. I would beg and plead with my parents to allow me to spend the night at her house because I loved playing in her bedroom. One of the best things I thought she had were her Mexican jumping beans. At that age, I thought that Mexican jumping beans were magical beans, and I wished every night that I could have some for my own someday!

Well, I never did get my own Mexican jumping beans, and now I know that Mexican jumping beans aren’t really magic beans--or beans, for that matter. But I’ve found something cooler and more energetic than jumping beans: my kids!

My son and daughter have always been filled with such energy that I joke with them that they must be full of jumping beans. Of course, they have absolutely no idea what I’m referring to, but every time I call them my jumping beans, they giggle and hop around doing their best impersonation of a jumping bean--or at least what they think a jumping bean is like.

My 5-year-old daughter goes into a crazy, bouncing frenzy. She pops, jumps, and flies around the room with her arms, legs, and hair flailing everywhere. My son, on the other hand, feels jumping beans are much more stiff. He sticks his arms straight down at his sides and jumps around, barely bending his knees at all. (Personally, I think he looks more like a Mexican jumping burrito than a jumping bean. But hey, what do I know, right?)

They have been doing their jumping bean impersonations for years, but they never fail to make me laugh until I cry. Some things never grow old, no matter how many times you watch them. And I have a feeling that they will tire of their jumping bean acts long before I ever grow bored!

Do you have any Mexican jumping beans bringing laughter and energy into your home?

G: Get Your Gardening On!

Coming from a long line of gardeners who have encouraged their children to help from an early age, gardening and working with the land just comes naturally to me. It’s in my blood, so every spring, I’m itching to get out in the yard to prepare the garden beds and to begin planning the yearly crops and new flowers.

This year I have the opportunity to plant a larger vegetable garden than I’ve had available in quite a while. We now have our own home, so I have a zillion other landscaping projects cluttering my mind as well. I’ve even been researching climbing strawberries as a possible addition to our back yard. I am super excited about making my back yard a haven for my family, while utilizing some of that space for delicious produce for all of us to share this year and many years from now.

I am getting my kids just as excited about our gardens. My 5-year-old daughter agreed with me that we need strawberries. Additionally, she has put her order in for some new flowers around our home. Like her mommy, she adores flowers of so many shapes, sizes, and colors.

My 7-year-old son, on the other hand, has asked for lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and carrots. He is looking forward to lots of salads, more of my homemade spaghetti sauce, and maybe even some pickles this year. Oh, and he also wants an endless supply of green onions--one of his favorite things to snack on.

Both of my parents passed on to me their love of gardening and beautifying the outdoors. My mom has always been amazing in the garden, while my dad taught me almost everything I know about designing landscapes and maintaining healthy lawns, trees, hedges, and scrubs. I know I still have a lot to learn, but I’m excited to have the opportunity to learn more with my own children and to help them see how fulfilling and fun gardening can be. I hope as they grow they will stay interested and eventually pass the gardening passion on to their own kids. It feels amazing to think that some family traditions may never be broken!

Are you planting a garden this year and having your kids or grandkids help?

F: Show Me Your Fabulous Facebook Face!

One of my daughter's many "Facebook faces"

I’m not sure if it’s a sign that this IS the social media age or if it is evidence that I spend a little too much time on Facebook. Either way, my kids have coined the phrase “Facebook face” in our house. Over the years, they have had a lot of fun making silly faces and asking me to photograph them. Since a lot of family and friends live out of our area, I started privately sharing these silly photos on Facebook. What better way to keep in touch than chronicling my kids’ ever evolving silly faces, right?

It wasn’t long before they would walk in the room, strike a goofy pose, and giggle, “Mommy, take a picture so we can put it on Facebook!”

In time, it got shortened to, “Hey, Mommy, look at my Facebook face!”

Now my camera, cell phone, desktop, laptop, and Facebook page is full of silly photos of my son and daughter. In our house, sitting to watch a slideshow of some of their goofy photos is our version of reviewing family videos. It’s actually a lot of fun and guarantees an evening of laughter and even some hiccups.

I just wonder how long it will take before these photos go from being hilarious to humiliating. Whether I like it or not, my kids’ teenage years are ahead. Although I found most of my childhood photos entertaining as I teen, I remember that there were a few that I wanted to steal from my parents and burn. Will my children continue to look fondly on these photographs as reminders of all the great times we had as a family? Or will they eventually view them in horror and want to pretend they don’t exist? I guess time will only tell.

B: Buckets Full of Easter Eggs

Two days after Easter and I’m already suffering from the Easter egg blues! I have eaten more eggs in the last few days than I have consumed in at least the last 3 months. Buckets and buckets of eggs have invaded my life and I just can’t stop eating them: deviled eggs, pickled eggs, and hard boiled eggs galore. And I can forget the eggs in the macaroni salad and potato salad. Lastly, we shouldn’t leave out the chocolate-cover marshmallow eggs, birds eggs jelly beans, peanut butter eggs, or tiny Butterfinger eggs that keep mysteriously jumping from my Easter basket into my mouth. Although technically not eggs, they sure are contributing to my Easter egg insanity!

Every year I convince myself that we should tone down on the Easter eggs from now on. But every year, my kids and family spread on the egg-tastic deliciousness even more. My kids are getting older, so they want more and more eggs to dye. A handful of eggs doesn’t go far these days. They decorate and dye them faster than I can get them handed out.

Plus, this year, my fiancé decided to improve on his holiday specialty: devil eggs. Instead of plain old deviled eggs, which I find hard to resist, he decided to try to make chick deviled eggs. Each chick consisted of an entire hard boiled egg overstuffed with deviled filling and garnished with edible eyes and beaks--to make it seem like a chick is hatching out of its shell. They turned out almost too adorable to eat. Yes, ALMOST! Those little chicks didn’t stand a chance. Every devoured at least 1 chick a piece. I, tempted by the yummy cuteness, ended up eating two. I just couldn’t stop myself!

I know my family and I will be sick up to our ears of eggs, and I’ll be searching for some way, any way, to get rid of the leftover eggs. Despite this, I know with a fact that come next Easter, we will once again dive eagerly into another Easter egg overload. In the end, it comes down to one thing: Easter just wouldn’t be the same without all the egg deliciousness and fun!

Saying Goodbye to Winter

Winter seems mostly behind us (knock on wood!).  The snow is all melted from our yard today, and as I was taking our family dog for a walk this afternoon, lots of birds were chirping and singing in the drizzling rain. With the air getting sweeter and the sun shining brighter by the day, I can’t help but impatiently await spring’s arrival.

But as this winter comes to a close, I can’t help but feel a little melancholy. Winter, after all, holds its own special memories of days spent with my kids. Races through the snow, snowball fights, sledding, snowmen, snow angels, and then hot chocolate afterwards to warm us again from head to toe…I just adore moments like these!

I taught my 5-year-old daughter how to make a proper snowball this year--only to have her fling that same snowball right into the side of my face. My 7-year-old son finally grew brave enough this winter to sled on his own. And since we moved into our new home, we got to explore the backyard together, trying to find the perfect spots for sledding. I ended up cracking a sled and getting stuck under a bush. Yes, this winter was full of fun and amazing surprises, and in a way, I wish it didn’t have to end.

As my family and I prepare for spring, I know our winter memories will remain close to our hearts long after the last snowflake melts. And I know we’ll be giggling for years to come about how Mommy tried to make a sled path and managed to get eaten by a bush (as my kids’ call it). All things must come to an end, no matter how wonderful they are. However, I hope we have just as many memorable moments this spring…and during the many more seasons to come!

Leprechauns Among Us

Our leprechaun trap

This week, for a class project, my 7-year-old son was asked to build a leprechaun trap. His teacher shared a website with many trap ideas. My son chose one of the designs and decided to modify it to make it his own.

Since then, my children have been debating whether or not leprechauns exist and have been searching for evidence of their existence all over our home. Watching their curiosity and listening to their cute leprechaun discussions inspired me to write the following poem:

Look under the table,
And check under your chair--
A creature of fable
Could be lurking somewhere!

The windows are shut tight,
And all the doors are fast,
But during this March night,
Magic may come at last.

Hide all glittery things,
Especially the gold,
Before the gleaming brings
Leprechauns to behold

And steal it all away
To hide at rainbow’s end
For their joy night or day,
Brightened by colors’ bend

But for you brave of heart
And curious of mind--
Using science and art;
A trap nicely designed--

Could lure a leprechaun
And capture him tonight…
And St. Patrick’s Day dawn
Could promise treasure bright,

Yes, leprechauns, once caught,
Will give up their whole hoard
In their overflowing pot
If their freedom’s restored!



Will you and your family be brave enough and try to catch a leprechaun this year?  Happy St. Patrick's Day from my family to yours!

Families That Doodle Together Stay Together

Daytime & Nighttime Dancers

Ok, doodling in and of itself is not the secret that binds families together.  However, this week, I was reminded of just how important shared interests and family fun are in encouraging strong bonds.  A friend of mine was talking on Facebook about a cool free site that she loves to use for doodle breaks: Pixlr.com.  After seeing some of her beautiful drawings, I HAD to check it out for myself.

Although not the most talented, I am an artist at heart.  Years ago, I regularly painted and sketched as hobbies.  But with the chaos of motherhood, I’ve sidestepped these interests for now.  This site seemed like a small, much less expensive way to appease my creative desires (much like my recent discovery of the joys of amateur movie making last month).  So I eagerly punched in the web address and set to work at figuring out the many tools of the Pixlr Editor.

Curious to see what I was doing, my 5-year-old daughter came to watch.  Seeing all the beautiful colors and neat designs I could make on the screen, she immediately started spouting ideas for things that I could draw.  As I was randomly doodling, a face started to appear in my drawing, and my little girl exclaimed, “Mommy, we HAVE to make a girl!”

As I let inspiration and her suggestions guide my hand, in time our shared project took shape and we decided to make it a doodle of daytime and nighttime dancers.  It’s not a masterpiece, but the smiles it brought to our faces were.  It was so incredibly fun to do something randomly creative with my little one and to see where our combined ideas could take us!  Within a half an hour, we had created something new and unique—something that neither of us would have been able to make without the other.  In this little drawing, I still see my princess’s excitement and enthusiasm and I can still hear her giggles and squeals of delight.

We have already made plans to print this doodle out, frame it, and then start our own wall of family art.  With a simple site, we have ignited a common family interest and years from now, we will have these memories and art to share.  There is something about hands united in a mutual activity that reminds us of how lucky we are to have our family and of why we work so hard every week to keep our family happy, healthy, and provided for.

What do you do with your children to help keep your family strong and connected?

Endless Cabin Fever: Where's the Warm Weather?

Biking with the kids

It has been a long, cold, and snowy winter this year…and it doesn’t seem to want to let up. Every time the weather manages to show a tantalizing hint of spring, the threat of snow is back in the forecast within days. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for winter to be over! And each time the weather turns back to a wintery mix, my heart sinks. It feels like we’re caught in an endless winter and my family and I are suffering from a terrible case of cabin fever!

We have already started a spring/summer to-do list of everything we want to do when the weather is warm again:

• Hiking
• Mountain biking (and biking of any kind!)
• Picnics
• Swimming
• Water battles
• Learn to fly a kite
• Cookouts (lots of cookouts with friends and family!)
• Plant flowers
• Start a vegetable garden
• Camp out in the backyard
• Fishing
• And most importantly, absorb as much fresh air and sun as possible!

It is funny how getting stuck indoors (except for short outings) puts things into perspective and has made me realize how lucky we are when the weather is warm and sunny. No more lazing around the house when the weather is beautiful for this family! I hope to find any and every excuse possible to go outside this spring and summer with my kids. Even if I don’t have the energy to do much more than lounge in the sun and watch my children play, I’m getting out there and enjoying the outdoors.

Are you already daydreaming about spring and summer plans? What do you hope to do with your family this year?