How perfect this world can be {Just Write}

I hug my knees up to my chest and I think, as I sometimes do, how perfect this moment is. My heart breathes satisfaction. I am content from head to toe.

Red taillights dart along the road in front of us. The car rocks gently from side to side as it glides over hills and hugs turns along the country road between the highway and home. The trees are black silhouettes against the dusky gray of the sky. Children's music plays on the radio, occasionally interrupted by the sound of Bee's See-n-Say in the back seat. "I want hear Ol' McDonald!" he tells us. Zip gazes out the window, exhausted.

My skin is coated with a layer of dirt and sweat from a long day at the amusement park. A day of watching the boys bounce from ride to ride. Zip scarfing down a hotdog so he can go admire the zoo's porcupine. Wrapping my arm around Bee as he rode his first roller coaster, knowing he had no idea what he was volunteering for and hoping it didn't scare the crap out of him. Then hearing "I want do it again!" Watching my husband laugh as he chased Zip down the Lazy River. The four of us on the flume ride, then giggling as we inspected the photo taken as we plummeted down the hill.

Oh how blessed I feel at this moment, exhausted and headed for home. How perfect this world can be.

Love, Ellie

Just Write was started by Heather over at The Extraordinary Ordinary, and is about writing from the heart instead of the  mind. Visit the EO to find out more about Just Write or to join in.

Saturday Spotlight on Multiracial Families: Just An Ordinary Family

Today’s Spotlight features a mom from the Musing Momma community and her family. Sarah and I have connected a bit through her comments on MM, and when she volunteered to participate in the Spotlight I looked forward to getting to know her better. (And now I am dying to hear about her recent experiences traveling to South Africa!) Sarah has some great thoughts on raising a multiracial children and shares how being in a multiracial family has changed her experience of race.

Making the most out of Hershey Park with little ones

If you're considering a trip to Hershey Park with the 5-and-under crowd in tow, here are some tips for making the most of it! Going with little ones is a totally different experience than your pre-kid amusement park days. You probably won't spend two hours waiting in line for a roller coaster that launches at 72-mph (Storm Runner!), but watching your kids enjoy themselves is a pleasure all its own. And, honestly, I've determined that it is thrill enough just hoping my 2-year-old doesn't fly off a ride! (That is exactly what was going through my mind when we took Bee on his first roller coaster last week.)

We've gone to Hershey each summer since Zippy was 3 and we've had a blast every time. The first year Bee was only a few months old and obviously too little to enjoy the rides, but the next time around he was 18 months and the boys had a blast. Zip loved the "big kid" rides but wasn't too cool to enjoy the kiddie rides with his baby brother. This year was even better. Bee is tall for 2 1/2, so he was actually able to go on some rides most toddlers probably wouldn't be big enough for - like his first real roller coaster!

Okay, so on to the tips! These tips come from my own lessons learned and from a couple of moms who are Hershey Park pros. (Thank you, Kate and Lindsay!)  Like anything in Life With Kids, the key to success is to anticipate, plan ahead, and be prepared.

Kindgerten Countdown {Just Write}

The backpack Zippy picked out, with very specific instructions regarding size and color, is hanging in the hall closet. The calendar on the side of our refrigerator is now dotted with reminders - "First Day of School," "Early Dismissal," "In-Service." And in just one short month, Zip will climb up the steps onto that big yellow bus, a moment I've been picturing for 5 1/2 years.

I'm an anticipator. I am always thinking ahead, planning, envisioning, daydreaming about things to come. But it's funny how certain moments seem so far away - first steps, the first day of school, graduation - and then suddenly they are imminent and then....in the past. Done.  No more anticipation. Zippy's days as a student will begin and school will be a part of our life for our next 13 years (16, if I count the Honey Bee).

Helping your toddler or preschooler who stutters

Since sharing our stuttering story a couple of months ago, several people have emailed or commented asking what strategies and activities we used to help Zippy at home. While I definitely don't think a blog post can compare to having an experienced speech therapist on your side, I can totally relate to the need to do something when your child first shows signs of dysfluency (the fancy word for stuttering). And, really, these strategies can benefit any young child when it comes to language development!

Family vacation...with lots of family

In a couple of weeks, we're headed to the beach to spend a week with my family. All of them! That means the four of us plus my mom, sister, brother, and brother's girlfriend. As much as I eagerly anticipate seeing my family, after about two or three days they start to drive me just a liiiiiittle bit batty. Perhaps you know the feeling? It happens every single time. Lots of build-up and excitement...then two days into the visit we're all bickering and driving each other crazy between bouts of laughter and cut-throat games of Scrabble.

Welcome to the neighborhood: Berry-Lemon Cheesecake Squares

When we moved to our neighborhood a few years ago, within a week or so several neighbors had stopped by to say hello, all bearing some sort of goodie - cookies, muffins, etc.  A couple of neighbors also gave us little business cards for their young teenagers who were eager for a babysitting gig. So not only did we gain a few pounds, we also gained some leads on potential sitters! These small gestures provided us with a sense of welcome and community, and I immediately fell in love with our new neighborhood.

Easy Packing for the Pool

I debated whether to buy a pool-pass this summer, rather than pay-as-we-go like last year. I decided to take the plunge (ba-doomp-doomp! pun intended) and I am so glad we did! Instead of considering whether it is worth the cost each time we want to go swimming, we just pick up and go, even if it is only for an hour before dinner. And there is no better way to keep two active boys entertained in the crazy-hot days of summer than at the pool. We've been going a couple of times a week.

I've finally gotten a smooth "pool packing routine" down, so I thought I would share it. It used to take me for-ever to get us ready for the pool. Maybe it is just because the boys are older, but I prefer to think it's my new system that is saving us time and energy getting ready!

Here's what we've got:

Perfectly Ordinary Summer Days

I love summer. In truth, I love every season equally. But right now it is summertime (90 degree temps leave no room for denial), so I am loving summer. Summer somehow brings about that paradoxical combination of being super-busy and perfectly lazy at the same time. There are cook-outs and festivals and trips to the pool, but in the midst of it all is friends and fun and kicking back relaxing.

We've had some wonderfully perfect summer days over the past week. Last Sunday was one. As soon as the boys woke from their naps, we headed to the pool, where Zippy worked on perfecting his transformation from boy to fish and Bee wanted to play with the landscaping rocks. (A reminder that what kids get out of an outing is not always what we intend!)

Saturday Spotlight on Multiracial Families: Bicultural Mama

I was really excited when Maria offered share a bit about her family and participate in the Saturday Spotlight. Maria is a Bicultural Mama. Actually, she is the Bicultural Mama, the force behind the blog of the same name! I especially loved hearing about Maria’s approach to raising her daughter in their multiracial/multicultural family. I imagine there are readers who will relate to her concern about not doing “enough” to pass on her Chinese heritage as well as her newfound appreciation for her parents’ decision to send her to Chinese School!

Project Follow-through

Apparently, my kids believe everything is negotiable.  And yes, I admit it. This is entirely my fault. Somehow, over the past year I've slid head-first down that slippery slope to become one of those mommas who just isn't backing up what she says, at least not on a consistent basis.

I'm not quite sure how or why it happened. Is it because Bee is my "baby," my last one? Am I trying to keep the peace in our house by doing whatever it takes to keep tantrums at bay? Is the stress of juggling two busy boys getting the better of me? Is it my super-human ability to rationalize my inconsistencies and justify going back on what I said? I'm not sure, but it really doesn't matter. I need to get my act together!

On his own {Just Write}

We experienced a major milestone today: Zippy went with his best friend to swim at his grandparents' house, without Momma and Daddy. A's parents picked him up and he climbed through those sliding minivan doors, buckled himself into a booster seat, and rode off into the sunset, errr, afternoon. We'll see him in a few hours. In the meantime our house feels eerily quiet with one less child in it, especially knowing that child is on the other side of town without us. It's only 5 miles away, but it feels like 100 miles.

Sure, Zippy has gone places without us, but always with other family members. And, sure, he has gone off to friends' houses, but just down the street to homes we can see from our front porch. This is different. This feels....bigger.

Who's afraid of the dark? And trolls? And things that go BUMP in the night?

Last summer, when Zippy was 4 1/2, we let him watch Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets. I know, I know - perhaps not the wisest movie choice for a preschooler. We had just finished reading the book to him and, as we usually do, followed up with the movie. Hubby, who is our resident expert on all things Harry Potter and such, assured me the movie was fine - nothing too scary in the first installment. I contemplated fast forwarding through any questionable scenes while making Zip cover his eyes - like my parents made us do during kissing scenes when I was a kid - but in the end I just told him to cover his eyes if anything bothered him. He insisted he was not scared of anything and watched it all, eyes wide open.

All was good until we took a trip to Vermont a few weeks later and he had to sleep, alone, in an unfamiliar bedroom. Zippy would get out of bed after I had tucked him in, tiptoe down the stairs, and suddenly appear at my side, looking cute as a bug in his summer jammies with worry written on his face. "I can't sleep. I'm scared." I would walk him back upstairs and tuck him in again, this time with the bedside lamp left on. He'd lay awake waiting for me to come to bed or, a little later, reappear at my side and we'd do the whole thing again.

Family, Farms, & Other Fun Stuff

We just returned home from a wonderful trip to Vermont. It was one of our most relaxing trips in a long while, I think in part because both of the boys are a bit older now and I didn't have to be "on" the entire time. Also, Hubby was with us for the first few days, and having him along always helps immensely. I found some new tricks for long car rides (the drive went amazingly well), so I'll share those soon. But in the meantime I wanted to share a few highlights of our trip. And to keep this from dissolving into a play-by-play of our vacation, just think of this as a post on fun things you can do if you ever go to Vermont!

Daydreams

There are so many things I love about my life. I love our town - how it has a small community feel, but is close to major cities. I love living in a neighborhood full of friendly families, where my kids can ride their bikes down the sidewalk to play with friends yet I also get to look out my backyard at a big field of hay or corn or whatever is growing this year. I love being blessed with a job and finances that allow me to work part-time, and I love that my husband is off work all summer long. Oh yeah, and I have an amazingly loving, smart, funny husband and two healthy boys that I adore. Yes, life is very, very good here. I am blessed. I know this. I think about it every single day.

But I also have this recurring daydream about moving to Vermont. I have this fantasy where we pick up and move farther north, and I can see the mountains every day. In the 15+ years since I moved away, I have come to see Vermont for what it is - mountains and family and familiarity. Vermont is liberal, progressive politics and hippies in Burlington and free Ben & Jerry's ice cream at the Thursday concert in the park. It is dinner on Church Street on a summer evening. It is driving the interstate with nothing in sight but gorgeous evergreens reaching toward the heavens. There is nothing like that point on the drive north where I know I am in Vermont - passing fields and farms, with the mountains on the horizons. It is home.

June {In Pictures}

Last month I decided to try a "Photo-A-Day" challenge, after a friend shared this list from FatMumSlim. It was a blast! And now I have this photo diary of June.

I love taking pictures and honing my photography skills, but that is a slow process. Really, really slow! I found some great resources and am working on using my camera on manual, but it is so hard to find time to pore over new techniques and test them out.  So, I decided to keep things very easy and rely (mostly) on my iPhone and Instagram for the challenge. I just started using Instagram in May (I know, I know - get with the times, Ellie!) and thanks to the challenge I now have some mad Instagram skills.

June, in pictures...