Mel's Box of Chocolates

Zoe takes her big brother for a ride in her new Dora Jeep. She is like mommy and got the gas pedal down right away, but her steering left a little to be desired! Daddy showed Dylan how to get going and like Zoe, he didn't have any trouble using the throttle! After a few rounds in the yard and one spill, Dyl started getting the hang of it and even rode a little all by himself. He made Daddy and Mommy so proud!

Dylan went downstairs first thing and came back to wake us up to tell us that there wasn't a motorcycle down there or a box big enough for one to fit in. Little did he know that Santa had ribbons leading to the garage where he then found his motorcycle. You can share in the big moment by playing the video below!

M e r r y C h r i s t m a s !! !! David, Melissa, Dylan, and Zoe

Welcome to Winterfest of Lights! We went for our annual visit last week to see the light displays in Ocean City. We rode the tram through the park to see the displays, then sipped hot chocolate, danced to a band, and visited HoHO (as Zoe calls him!). It was a beautiful night and a lot of fun. Check out the video of Dylan and Zoe rockin' to Christmas tunes...it is too adorable to miss!

Cause you are going to need some to go with all of our cookies! We always do a huge baking weekend to send cookies to Michigan for the grandparents and aunts and uncles, along with plates for neighbors and work. By the time we are finished we a have a table full of cookies and a kitchen full of flour dust. This year the kids were really into it so along with cookies we made some great memories too! First cookies on the list were my great grandmother's sugar cookies. Mom's job was to roll and the kids took over cutting. Of course I rolled, rolled, and rolled some more since neither Dyl or Zoe had the spacing concept as of yet so we averaged 4 or 5 cookies per roll out!! It's all good!! Next on the list...SNICKERDOODLES! My neighbor brought us some snickerdoodles (I had never had one) and they were a hit so she encouraged me to do it with the kids. Dylan's job was to make the little dough balls and then Zoe rolled them in the sugar/cinnamon mixture. One bowl of sugar and ...

Dylan celebrated his birthday Marine style in honor of his Uncle Dan!!! Luckily it was a beautiful day so the little guys could run around outside and play on the jungle gym with the NEW rock wall addition. The party was a blast and I think the kids enjoyed themselves! Here are some pix to share in Dylan's special day. Thanks to Grandpa Bob our cake turned out awesome! It looks easy, but let me tell you creating a camouflage pattern out of fondant takes quite some time. TROUBLE is what you call these boys! I was worried that the party wouldn't be as fun with only a few kids, but let me tell you having 4 boys over for a birthday party is MORE than enough to make a party hop! God blessed us with an absolutely gorgeous day so the kids all played outside to wear off some energy. We had a tank pinata so that kept them busy for a bit and we even opened presents out there too! I still can't believe that my little man is 6 already! When I was younger, I never could fathom how peop...

Dylan's 6th Birthday - December 8th Dylan celebrated his 6th birthday today! We both played hooky from school so we could spend the day together. I can't believe that my little boy is growing up so fast. It is such a blessing having him in our lives! He is such a sweet child who is so eager to learn and share his knowledge. His smile and laugh bring so much joy to all who are around. Here are some pics to share in his special day that started at 8:00 this morning as he jumped on my bed and said, "Mommy, wake up it's my birthday and I am 6 today!" Dyl has requested lobster for dinner over and over and we kept explaining that lobster is only for a very special occasion so guess what he chose for his birthday dinner...yep that is a lobster that he is holding! The first bite of lobster dipped in warm, melted butter...yumm!

A yearly tradition for our family is going to Strausburg, PA to visit Thomas the Tank Engine. We thought last year would be the last, but now Zoe is excited as Dylan use to be so I guess it will continue for a few more years. Dylan got to take his Kindergarten buddy, Benjamin, and they had a blast. It is so much fun having kids!!!

Everybody took part in trimming the tree this year. Although for every ornament that went up Zoe must have taken down three so it took a little longer than usual. It is so much fun to see all the ornaments that we have collected over the years. Dave and I each get an ornament for every year so we have quite a few and now Dylan and Zoe get one each year that celebrates something special to them from the past year. Every ornament on the tree represents something from our lives and it is nice to see no two ornaments are the same. This year it was also fun to see my strawberry shortcake ornament from the 80's and then Zoe's strawberry shortcake from last year. I never thought I would get old enough to see things come back :-)! The end result of all the trimming is truly beautiful !!!

THE HUNT IS ON... Growing up we always had a live tree and I can remember going to a tree farm around Thanksgiving to pick out the tree and have a hot cup of cocoa! Of course I also remember the arguing and endless searching for the "perfect" tree, but I'll share those special memories some other time ;-). Anyways, Dave and I have kept the tradition and now we go out usually the Sunday after Thanksgiving and hunt for our tree. We have found a wonderful family tree farm where you can pick the tree, cut it down, have some cocoa and cookies, and they even take a picture of you with your tree that you get the following year. It has been a lot of fun going each year, finding our picture, and watching our family grow...Dylan was so little the first year and then seeing this years picture of Zoe who was just a little over 1 last year is such a treasure. So I thought I would share some of the pix that we took so you could share in our family tradition! Have a blessed holiday and ...

Often pictures get taken on the camera and then not downloaded for awhile! Here a couple of pictures that I took at Dylan's last soccer game a few weeks ago. This was his first season playing soccer and I must say that he made me proud!! I was a little worried that he would be more of a passive player, but he jumped right in and took off. He is already looking forward to the spring sign up! THE FLAMES The FLAME cheerleading squad!