Wordless Wednesday: Highway Perspective

Wordless Wednesday: Snowy Days Are Here!

Wordless Wednesday: Llama Feeding Time!

What is the strangest animal you ever got to feed?

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!

My Creepy-Crawly Month

If I see one more creepy crawler, I’m going to scream! We recently had to have some work done on our sewage pipes, and it stirred up a bunch of house centipedes. The first one I saw flitting across my bathroom at about 1:00 in the morning! And the last one I pulled out of the kitchen drain with my bare hands with some orange rind that my daughter accidentally dropped in the sink. Oh, I was NOT happy at all!

Fast forward only a few days. Several stink bugs decided that my house would be their perfect home. Eventually, one of them landed on my right cheek just as I was beginning to drift off to sleep. I don’t think I’ve ever jumped so high in my life as I flew out of bed trying to get away from the disgusting thing.

Then, this week tiny little gnats discovered they could squeeze through our window screens. Between them and the fleas that my dog brought home from the vet, my kids and I have been itching at every thought of pests. And I feel awful because my son and daughter are suffering from the first bug bites of the year.

So, a good part of today was spent stocking up on pest-killing gear (kid and pet safe, of course) and going all postal on these unwelcome guests! And on the way home, who should pop out of my heating vent in the car? It was a big fat wood spider! Why do these creepy crawlers love us so much this year?

After a lot of scratching, my daughter finally asked me today why some bugs have to be so mean. Honestly, I have no idea. I love so many insects: butterflies, ladybugs, fireflies, earthworms, fuzzy caterpillars, pill bugs, etc. They are so fascinating and exciting. Still, I sometimes wish the pesky, aggressive creepy crawlers didn’t exist. And I always wish that nature would stay out of my home. If my tiny crawly neighbors would stay out of my business, I’d gladly stay out of theirs!

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.

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?

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!

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?

Just Horsin' Around!

Both of my kids are out-of-the-box thinkers. The silly, inventive, and outlandish things they come up with to entertain themselves at times ensures my life will never be dull. Their many creations and concoctions remind me of my own inventive childhood. And as long as they don’t decide that trash bags would make perfect parachutes or drinking bubble solution can make you belch bubbles (as I once did), I think I will sit back and enjoy the show!

Just a couple weeks ago, my son and daughter decided they wanted to play horses outside in the backyard. Since riding ponies at the county fair a few summers ago, they have been obsessed and can’t get enough of horses and ponies. Expecting my children to run for their stick horses or to gather up their horse figurines, I was surprised when they met me at the backdoor empty handed.

As they put on their flip-flops, I asked them if they were still going to play horses outside. Immediately, my 5-year-old daughter chimed in, “Of course, Mommy!”

Even more confused, I asked further, “But what about your horses? How are you going to play horses without any horses?”

My 6-year-old son just smiled at me and laughed, “Oh, you’ll see!”

Growing more and more curious, I opened the door and sat on a chair on the back porch. They started digging through the plastic totes that we use to store their outdoor toys. Smiling and giggling, they went through each one, whispering back and forth to each other. After a while I grew distracted and went to work sweeping off the back porch.

The next thing I knew, I heard excited, laughing voices behind me. “Hey, Mommy! Look! We‘re horses!”

I turned around and immediately started laughing myself. They were horses indeed! My children had taken the plastic horseshoes from my ring toss and horseshoes set and wedged them between their feet and their flip-flops. As they animatedly walked across the back porch, it sure sounded like a couple of horses, too!

Of course, as what usually happens whenever my kids do something cute, silly, or funny, they simultaneously shouted, “Mommy, take a picture of us!”

I snapped a few photos and then we laughed some more over how silly and cute they looked. Someday, I need to sit down and make a photo album just for these types of photos. Just imagine the crazy memories and laughs we will be able to share when they are grown and have children of their own!

The Joys of Bug Catching

My daughter proud of her ladybug

 Summer is full of fun and exciting things.  Days are filled with swimming, fishing, hiking, and cookouts.  And nights are just as fun with campfires, marshmallow roasts, fireworks, and camping. It seems like the summer fun never ends . . . until fall sneaks up on us anyway.

However, for my kids, summer would not be summer without some bug catching!  During the day, they are chasing ladybugs, watching butterflies, and digging up worms and pill bugs.  Then, at night, they are giggling across the yard after lightning bugs.  Their shrieks of joy and beaming faces never fail to warm my heart.  Their enthusiasm is so catching that even after a long, tiring day, I soon find myself running around the back yard and trying to catch some bugs, too.

My first lightning bug of 2012

As I race around with my son and daughter, all my cares and troubles vanish.  I become a kid again, giggling and smiling as we hunt together to see how many bugs we can spot and capture.  My spirit becomes light as I forget for a moment all the heavy burdens that weigh adults down.  For a while, there are no bills to pay, no overdue chores to finish, no life-changing decisions to be made.

There is only me, my kids, wondrous nature around us, and a feeling that anything is possible.  All that matters during those moments is the here and now.  I have no past.  I have no future.  I just exist in that time frame.  I am alive only to rejoice in the beauty of nature and the love I have for my children.

Although a life can’t be lived solely in such isolation, it feels amazing to simply break free from the chaos and monotony of everyday life.  Once again, we remember to be thankful and to enjoy the simplest things in life.  We rediscover joy and happiness again with every little break we take.

The most challenging part of it all, though, is realizing that usually these moments don’t appear on their own.  We must make a conscious effort to seek them out.  They almost never come to us.  We must go to them.  I am lucky enough to have two beautiful, spontaneous souls for children.  They remind me all the time what it means to truly live and to celebrate life.  As I grow older and wiser I realize that I have a lot to learn from my son and daughter and that I would become a happier person if I became more like them!

Hiking Your Pants Off

My kids hiking their pants off!

As part of my resolution for a healthier 2012, I have decided to add more active time each week not only for me but for the whole family.  My children’s enthusiasm is a wonderful motivator to get me off the couch.  But most importantly, it’s also a wonderful opportunity to teach my son (6) and daughter (5) that staying active is an important and fun part of daily life.

Yesterday, we decided to hike at one of my fiancé’s favorite local nature spots, the 1889 Park in South Fork, PA.  Although I had visited this park in the past, I had never hiked the nature trails, so I was excited!  I was also excited for my children because they had never gone hiking before, and I knew they were going to have a blast!

I love the outdoors!  The more I surround myself with nature, the more relaxed and content I become.  As a teenager, I did plenty of hiking, fishing, camping, and mountain biking.  Living in the country was the greatest feeling, and I found any excuse to be out in the woods.  I even studied and read every opportunity I could, resting against the roots of my favorite tree.

Although I moved to the city 9 years ago, I want to still pass on this passion to my children.  So this Sunday outing promised to be the beginning of something wonderful.  I was a little concerned, though, that my children might have trouble keeping up.  They are still pretty young and my daughter is petite yet for her age.  But I hoped with a little handholding and a slower pace, they would enjoy themselves immensely.

However, soon after we reached the 1889 Park and set out hiking on the trails, I realized how wrong I had been in assuming they might have trouble keeping up.  Instead of my fiancé and I needing to slow down, we were huffing and puffing, trying desperately to keep up with the little ones!  In fact, on several occasions, I had to tell my son and daughter to stop and come back because they were getting too far ahead!

They were speeding down the trails so fast that they were literally hiking their pants off!  My fiancé and I were near hiccups laughing as we watched them trying to simultaneously run and hold their pants up.  Pure joy was radiating from their faces, and I knew that they couldn’t be any happier.

The fresh air, beautiful weather, laughter, and fun exercise made for a perfect afternoon!  In fact, I don’t recall us having that much fun in quite awhile.  It felt so wonderful to share an experience that each one of us was thoroughly enjoying.  I know we’ll be doing much more hiking as a family in the future.

Backyard Boundaries

I don’t normally question other peoples’ parenting techniques or choices.  In fact, I’m the first to admit that I am far from perfect and I have made my share of parenting mistakes over the years.  However, I witnessed something last Friday that shocked me so much I still am left trying to make sense of it all!

Friday afternoon, after my children and I returned from walking our dog, I noticed a toddler wandering around in my backyard.  Thinking the little boy might be lost, I was about to go back outside when I heard a voice calling from a few yards away.  Looking out my window, I noticed it was a woman, possibly his mother.  She was hard at work raking her fenced-in backyard.  But instead of answering the woman’s calls and returning to her, the toddler exclaimed, “NO!” and went right back to his wandering.

Immediately, I thought that she’d surely come and get him now since he was running even farther away and was refusing to listen.  Instead, she continued her yard work, yelling even louder to try to get the little boy to come back.  Every minute or so, she’d yell again, but the toddler showed no sign of wanting to return.  He was too busy picking dandelions in my yard.

I didn’t want to interfere because neighborhood drama is the worst, but I also didn’t want anything to happen to the boy.  I stood there watching him in utter disbelief.  I had never been in this type of situation before, so my mind was racing, what should I do?

Finally, after several minutes of them yelling back and forth, I decided I had had enough and I started for the backdoor.  But just as I went to reach for the doorknob, I heard the woman call again, and the little boy yelled, “Okay!” and ran back to her.

Yes, she was watching him the entire time he was running around in neighbors’ yards.  Yes, she wasn’t happy with his behavior and was making sure he knew it.  Yet, I can’t help but feel a little disturbed!  Toddlers can be quite a handful and can get into trouble in a heartbeat.  What if he had decided to veer for the alley behind our houses?  And what about teaching our children to respect other people and their property?

I have taught my children from a very young age to not go into other peoples’ yards or to pick their flowers without permission.  There are people who find that sort of behavior unacceptable regardless of age or circumstance, and we should respect that.

Maybe I’m an overprotective parent with old-fashioned ideas, but I would never leave my children do what this toddler did.  In my mind, not only is it unfair to neighbors, it is also putting the kid at unnecessary risk.  We hear about kids wandering off and getting hit by a car far too frequently.  And that doesn’t even count the accidental drownings and deaths from other accidents.  I know most parents have the best of intentions with their children, but sometimes I wonder if some parents are truly thinking about the possible consequences.

What do you think?  Have/would you ever allow your own young children to do something similar?

Teeter Totters and Tater Tots

Children and words can make a volatile mix!  Mispronunciations, misunderstandings, and parroting of colorful language can cause quite a stir at the most inopportune times.  They can also cause the most hilarious of circumstances as well.

One summer day, about 2 years ago, my grandma and I took my son and daughter to a large park near her home.  We took a picnic dinner and plenty of drinks so we could make a day of it.  All lathered up with sunscreen and armed with bug spray, we had a wonderful day in the sun, full of laughter and fun.  We went through the many tubes and down every slide at least a hundred times.  We swung on the swings until we were dizzy.  And then we decided to take a walk to explore more of the park.

There was a baseball field, tennis courts, pavilions, basketball hoops, and even a swimming pool.  Then we came to another part that had even older playground equipment.  In the middle of this playground area was a cross piece on four giant springs.  On each end of the cross piece, there was a metal saddle attached.  The kids and I were fascinated because we had never seen anything quite like it before.

My grandma suggested, “Let’s go on this teeter totter thing.  It looks like fun!”

Since there were four seats, we all got on board and wobbled around for a while.  It was actually a lot of fun, although with metal seats, it was certainly lacking in comfort.  As the sun started sinking, we packed all of our gear and set off for home.

That night, as I was getting my kids ready for bed, my mom called.  We talked a little and I told her about the fun time we all had at the park.  My son asked to talk, too, so I put him on the phone.  He immediately squealed, “Guess what, Grandma?  We road on tater tots ALL day.  They were so springy!”

He immediately handed the phone back to me as he ran off to find his teddy bear, leaving me to deal with the images of giant bouncing tater tots springing through my mother’s mind!

Is Sand a Simple or Complex Carbohydrate?

Who doesn’t like sand?  Soft and cool between your toes.  Dry and smooth falling through your fingers.  With a little water and talent, it can be sculpted into nearly anything.  It is summer’s super fun version of snow, and no tropical paradise is complete without it!

As a parent, though, sand isn’t always fun.  The kids track it into the house so much you swear you’ll have plenty to vacuum through Christmas.  It gets stuck in hair, noses, and ears.  Diapers and training pants become sand havens.  Bathtub drains get clogged with all the sand the kids wear after a day of play.

Worst of all, though, is when young children decide that sand looks appetizing and develop a fascination with eating sand!  My son took one taste of sand, shuddered, and never attempted to eat it again.  My daughter, on the other hand, thought it was hilarious to eat the gritty stuff and never failed to sneak a taste every time we were near the sandbox . . . that is until one fateful afternoon 3 years ago.

It was a sunny summer day.  My mom was babysitting my little ones.  While I was at work, my toddler daughter had full access to the sandbox since I forgot to warn my mother about her new snacking habit.  My little girl was sly, making sure she didn’t sneak a mouthful of sand unless my mom was distracted with my son.

Finally, my mom caught her, took her inside, and washed her off, keeping her away from the sandbox for the rest of the afternoon.  She must have eaten quite a bit of sand by that time, though, because that night my princess had quite a belly ache and eventually regurgitated sand all over me!  With the sand out of her belly, she felt much better, but she learned her lesson.  Thankfully, she has never once tried to eat sand again . . . but sadly, I haven’t been able to look at sand in quite the same way since that infamous day.