Mel's Box of Chocolates

I finished the last Harry Potter book. I am a huge Potter fan, although not so huge as to sit outside a bookstore at 12:01 am, but I did have mine by the end of the weekend. I actually was not looking forward to reading the last book and saying goodbye to the little wizards who shared their last six years with me, but I gotta tell you that it was well worth the wait...the ending was perfect. I am a big closure person so I felt that it was wrapped up nicely with mysteries explained, and am thrilled that good overcame evil! I know the series has cause a stir within some conservatory circles, but I think J.K. Rowling is an excellent writer and that people of all ages can enjoy her books. *Please don't inundate my comment section with why you chose not to read the book (series). We are all big people and as I respect your decision not to read it, please respect my decision to read and enjoy it. Thanks bunches!!

Honestly, I realize that this does not occur, but my daughter may just be the one to prove that an adult may not be potty trained (or at least that is how I am feeling right now). By the way, if potty talk is not your thing then this post is most definitely NOT for you!! Just a little background... My summer goal was to have Zoe potty trained, but anybody who knows Zoe, knows that she does things on her own schedule and not a minute sooner. I attempted at the beginning of the summer, but then decided that I needed some fun before beginning. Now my summer vacation is almost over and I will be back to teaching before I know it so I have been toying with the idea of attempting potty training again. Another reason I have been contemplating the training is that I found a dance school that would enroll Zoe this fall, but she must be potty trained. I have explained this to her in hopes that this may help the process and my neighbor was even nice enough to let us borrow some pictures of her da...

We are eleven weeks into Beth's May Day Challenge and I am a couple weeks short of posting about my own weight watchers adventures. First of all...the wedding weekend ...up 2 pounds! Yuck, the the worse thing is that I thought I did relatively well while I was gone. However, I am happy to report that during this past Saturday's weigh in, the scale showed some love, and I had lost those two pounds plus an extra half pound putting me at a total of 32 lb. loss (since beginning weight watchers in January NOT since May) . YEAH!! You would think summer would be such an easy time for me to lose more each week with all the fresh fruit and veggies, which I absolutely love, but it is also full of summer BBQ , impromptu eat outs, vacations/day trips, beach fries, ice cream, and more of all that yummy stuff in front of me. Throughout most of the summer I have found myself being inconsistent with both tracking my points and exercise. I feel that I get my exercise because I am doing more,...

The great thing about being a teacher and living at the beach is that I get to have lots of visitors come share the summer with me! On Thursday Kari and her kiddo's came over to spend a couple of days and we had a blast. Kari and I were home schooled together and attended a Christian camp way back when, but then went off in our separate paths. She went on to bible college where she met her hubby and then they were involved in missionary work. During her traveling time she created her blog and I enjoyed following her families adventures through it. I enjoyed it so much that her blog was the reason I began my own!! The great thing is that Kari also has two children who are pretty close in age to my own so they had a fabulous time playing while Kari and I caught up. Check out all the fun we had... First things first...everybody wanted to head to the beach of course. Dylan and Alex jumped some waves (above) while Chloe surfed, with a bit of help from mom of course (below). Everybo...

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It was almost like being home in Delaware except no ocean and actual hills...that is what Michigan is like and where we spent this past weekend. Why Michigan? Zoe and I were both in my cousin's wedding on Saturday so we went up on Friday for the rehearsal and came back on Monday so we would have Sunday to visit with my grandparents and other relatives. Usually we drive the 10 hours, but we got some reasonable plane tickets so we decided to take the easy way out. The plane trip there was pretty uneventful so we were ready to visit with family. All of my distant relatives live within 20 minutes (if that) of each other, in Adrian, Michigan, so it makes visiting easy. I remember during my teen years thinking that I could never live there because it seemed like we were related to everybody so it would be way too hard to date!! The weekend went by quickly between helping set up for the wedding, the rehearsal, and the actual wedding. Sunday was relatively quiet as we just hung out with ...

As in nothing, zero, no change...that is this weeks weigh in...the same as last week's weigh in! I should probably be a bit more excited considering that last Saturday we attended a big ol ' 4 th of July party and I did not hold back, plus it is that wonderful time of the month too, so maybe I should count my blessings. I have resigned myself to the realization that I will NOT be in the 140's before Friday, but am excited because my scale is consistently showing below 155 so that is a good thing. Honestly, I am pretty proud of myself because summer for me usually consists of many beach fries with lots of vinegar, chocolate milkshakes, lotsa ice cream, and pounds of chocolate covered strawberries. I have done pretty well controlling how much of these that I have eaten and have even still lost a couple pounds in the process. So while I have not lost as many pounds as during the winter I have maintained and that rocks!! WEEK 24 / -0 / - 31lb Goal: Stay on track this wee...

We watched the Bethany Beach parade with Grandma Sally Dylan helped to make our special 4 th of July dessert. Don't they look spectacular?! and they are only 1 point since it was sugar free jello, fat free cool whip, and fresh fruit on top! Unfortunately, all the local town's fireworks were cancelled due to a tornado watch and high winds so we weren't able to watch them. However, on our way home from attempting to see them, there was a private community shooting some, so we pulled over on the side of the road to watch. Here are the kids sitting on the roof with their feet in our sunroof...you gotta do what you gotta do to see some fireworks on the 4 th !

Wow, it has been 8 weeks since the beginning of the May Day Weight Loss Challenge and I am happy to report that I am one pound lighter for this week . Although weigh in was before the 4 th in which I ate beach fries, chicken tenders, an ice cream sandwich, and m& m's . I did do well for dinner with veggie kabobs and a jello dessert for 1 point, but for some reason I don't think that will balance the rest of the day! It kind of stinks because I have been working hard to get below the 155 and when I finally do I go and mess it up with a horrible food day. Oh well I guess you live and learn, huh? My original goal was to be in the 140's before the wedding next weekend, but don't think I am going to make it. I am still striving for it, but I haven't lost 4 pounds in a week since the first week of weight watchers so I may have to give a little, we will see! To see how everybody else who have taken the challenge are doing or to start yourself check out Tales fr...

While my parents were visiting this weekend I took the opportunity to get a current family pix. Watcha think??!! It is one of my new favorites!!

This past weekend my parents came for a visit. This is always a fun time for the kids because they have attention 24/7 and it was great for Dave and I too because we got out Saturday night for a date night!! Some of the highlights were... Playing some mini golf! Dylan played an awesome game although his frustration level is definitely the same as daddy's as he exclaimed "I hate this game" when he failed to get the ball in the hole. Zoe on the other hand was lacking in her form so Grandpa had to help her look good!! Eating ice cream! Funland!! I n Rehoboth Beach is Funland , a great place to play all of those carnival games and for the kids to ride some rides. They also have some rides for big kids too! We went with Grandpa and Grandma and this is what we did... Horse Racing and Horse Winning!! Thanks to Grandpa, Zoe got a big horse and thanks to Daddy, Dylan got a horse too!! plus horse riding!! Paratrooping Tea Cups with Mommy Balancing on the Boardwalk Smelling the ...

Happy 4th of July !! May your day be filled with family, friends, food, fun, and fireworks!! Enjoy being FREE to choose to spend the day however you want!! Thanks little brother, and everybody else in the armed forces, for making this day possible and for helping to ensure that it continues forever!!