Mel's Box of Chocolates

It was 9 years ago today that I made the best decision of my life...to marry one heck of a guy! If you ask anybody who was at our wedding they would tell you that it was the "hottest day ever known to man." I would have to agree, but honestly I was the one wearing 6 million layers of dress so I think if anybody deserves to complain it should be me. Well maybe Dave too considering I "made" him wear a wool tuxedo. Oh and did I mention we got married on the end of a pier? Sitting out in the direct sun on the last day of July...okay I agree probably not the brightest thing I've ever done, but the view was beautiful. Perhaps the best part of the wedding was when we were pronounced husband and wife and the boats that were drifting in the marina blew their horns. It was awesome!! Since that day 9 years ago, we have been through a lot... Moved to Delaware Bought our first house Started new jobs (Dave's still at his one while I've been through a couple!) Bought a...

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We're off to enjoy a little mini vacation. Dave's parents let us borrow this so we can go and do this for a few days. We'll be going here one day. Needless to say we are all very excited. Hope you have a happy Sunday and beginning of the week and I will be back soon.

This is what my family tells the hostess as we arrive at restaurants. Just four. I have always considered myself blessed with having two children, one boy and one girl. It falls into my idea of the perfect family with a happy marriage, two kids, and the white picket fence. OK, so we don't have that picket fence, but work with me! As I was reading one of my novels the other day the author made a comment about how "three is the new two" when it comes to kids. The phrase kind of stuck in my head and then I read this article which linked to this and now I realize that it wasn't just a random phrase. It really seems that there is an increase in families having 3 kids instead of just the 2. So what does this mean for me and my perfect family. Well frankly, nothing! I am proud to say that I have absolutely no desire to have another. First of all, I am probably the worst pregnant women there is. I cannot understand all of those that say they are the happiest when they are p...

OK so that title sounds way more ominous than it really is! First of all, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the comments left on my post about Mako . It has been a rough time for my family, but receiving all the sympathy and hugs has made it a little bit easier. I appreciate all of you who have taken the time to comment on my post that meant so much to me. I'm happy to say that we are taking one day at a time and it seems to be getting a bit better. Sure we have some sad moments where we miss our buddy, but we also have some happy times as we get ready to go away for a mini vacation and have company coming to visit us. Speaking of happy times! My goodbye is most definitely a positive one as I am on my way out the door to spend some time with my girls. We, or I should say they, have been planning this getaway for us ever since my birthday. I'm not even taking my computer! Anyways our agenda goes something like this... We are leaving at 9:00 am with cof...

Looking for something new to do, because face it summer vacation is coming to an end, I decided to pack the kids up and head to a local waterpark for the day. With living in a tourist area there are a few waterparks to choose from, but as I was looking at some local discounts I receive with my teachers card I found one that had a coupon for Buy One Get One 50%. Basically, the kids and I could go to this water park for the cost of one ticket at another one. I bet you will never guess which we chose! So we packed the towels, grabbed the sunscreen and were off. If you didn't know by now, both of my kids are water babies and I am a pool person. One day in my dream home there will be a pool! This waterpark is nice because they have a kiddie pool for Zoe, an Olympic pool where we can all swim, a lazy river where you float in tubes, three body slides that Dylan loved, and three slides you can take tubes down. But, it is all contained in a relatively small area so I could sit centrally...

I told the kids they had the choice to either clean their rooms or take a nap. Sure is quiet around here. Little do they know that they are still going to clean their rooms when they wake up! Cause I'm a nice mommy like that.

If you follow me on Twitter then you already know that we had to say good-bye to our dog, Mako , on Tuesday evening. Last month we had taken him to the vet after noticing a rather large bump appearing on his hip. After taking some fluid from it, the vet recommended having it removed. For the price of 1300+! We asked if it was removed would it then come back, but nobody could tell us. After many discussions we decided that we weren't going to be able to pay the money so we would have to just let it go for now, but keep a close eye on it in case something changed. The vet was concerned that Mako had lost a few pounds so we decided to give him what he always wanted, wet dog food to encourage him to eat. Eat he did...at least for a few days. Then we noticed that even the wet dog food would stay in his bowl for a day or two at a time. Of course during this time we were giving him plenty of people food in hopes he would receive enough nourishment. Throughout the past month he had his g...

So we are on part three, which will finally conclude our WOW weekend. Who would have thought that one weekend could have possibly needed three posts? You all know how much I enjoy our Sundays since the whole family is home together. We always do something, however, this Sunday we didn't leave the house until almost 4pm. What were we doing all day? Oh yes! Our friends had purchased it for their son who was away and graciously allowed us to try it out. I was determined to complete every song on the easy level so I could see if some of my favorite Aerosmith songs were included. Yes my fingers were in pain, yes I could see my TV moving up and down (if you play Guitar Hero you totally get what I'm talking about), and yes I managed to rub the stickers right off the buttons, but by golly I completed that level!! The deal was that it would be left it with us on Friday and we had to promise to take it to the company party Sunday night so it would be in the house when their son returne...

Saturday during the day the kids and I headed for some fun in the sun at...yep, you guessed it. The BEACH. We actually got a late start, but they were driving me crazy so I thought the beach would provide some distractions and hopefully wear them out for a nap. We only stayed a couple hours, which was more than enough since they were not being the most obedient children and I was not being the most patient mommy either. Thank goodness that they did crash for a few hours once we got home because by that time I needed a nap too!! For dinner, we picked up Dave's aunt and mom and headed out. Aunt Steph treated us to a delicious Mexican dinner at the Cactus Cafe. Zoe loved the pink car that was outside. She was also entranced with the man playing the guitar. I think he liked Zoe too as he came and sat next to her to sing her a special song that contained the words "Zoe is his friend." She was thrilled!! Great food, great entertainment, great atmosphere , and great times!! ...

The other night my in-laws came over for dinner and the kids were delighted to entertain them. Zoe enjoyed reading a book with Grampy . while Dylan had a blast teaching Gramma how to play Wii . I think they both enjoyed themselves. Especially Gramma as she was scoring many spares on the Wii Bowling. I am very thankful that my kids get to spend so much time with their grandparents. Growing up, my grandparents were always a 10 hour car ride away so we only saw them a couple times a year if we were lucky. The time we spent with them was precious and I was always a little envious of my friends who saw theirs more often. (No, Dad and Mom, I am not saying that I wanted to move to Michigan!! I realize why we moved away and I thank you for giving me the opportunities that I had.) Today, my parents live a couple hours away and Dave's parents live about 15 minutes away for at least half of the year so the kids get to see both sets of grandparents frequently. I love watching them in...

Dylan and Zoe both love to read and one of our favorite activities during the summer is to head to the library to stock up on books. This is the pile we brought home on our last trip! Yeah...and I forgot our book bag so we carried them stacked up in our arms. all. the. way. to. the. car. Amidst much whining and groaning of course.

Since about Friday we have been on the go, go, and then going some more. We've had lots of fun though, which is what summer vacation is all about. So for the next couple of days I'll work on bringing you up to speed by parts. Let's start with Friday... One of my all time favorite foods is steamed crabs. For those of you who don't have a clue what a steamed crab may look like here you go... The crabs we eat around here are actually Maryland Blue Crabs and as their name suggest are blue before they meet their fate in the crab pot. We steam them with vinegar and water and lots of seasoning of Old Bay, salt, and other spices. My mouth is watering just describing it. At the end of every great crab feast is an incredibly huge mess. As you can see, Shawn, aka blogstalker , has to swim through the debris . Sorry I can't post any pictures from the actual crab feast as in when there are piles of uneaten crabs, but when there are crabs to be eaten you will not find me taking...