Mel's Box of Chocolates

For many weeks now Jo-Lynne has been hosting a carnival. Each week I tell myself, "I should write something for this week" and every week the day goes by and I don't. Since I was up early this morning though, I figured why not. So here are just a few of the many things I learned this week. Don't sign up for a 5K if you haven't ran in over three weeks. You will feel like you are going to die! When you feel like you are going to die running a 5K that you haven't trained for keep telling yourself that you are not a quitter. You can do it and you will!! You will place 155 out of 194, but hey at least you finished. Farmer's Markets are a fun way to spend a couple hours and you will never find better tasting fruits and veggies. Or ice cream! If you are not feeling well, then this is pretty much a guarantee that the kids will wake up cranky, whiny, and fighting. Happy day. When you bring a new pup home be prepared to not get any sleep that night. A que...

Our family just grew one person and four legs larger. Let me introduce MAX Go ahead, you can tell me how beautiful he is! Max is what is known as a Dudley, a yellow lab with green eyes and a pink nose. He will be one, next month, so is just about finished growing, but still filling out. Absolutely stunning in my opinion. We got him from a friend of a friend of a friend and well it was just sheer luck that we found him. His previous family had to find him a new home because they just didn't have a yard large enough for him to run. Then he was running away when he could escape and they were very worried he would get hurt as they lived by a pretty busy road. His poor mom was devastated when we left tonight and Zoe was very concerned about her, asking her over and over if she was okay. The family also had two children around our own kids ages who were not there at the time, but I couldn't imagine having to tell them when they got home that their dog went to a new home. I fel...

The last time I've been out for a run was in Key West. Yeah that would be over a week and half and I only got in 2 miles because I thought I was going to die! I had planned on running a 5K in Baltimore today, but I couldn't get the logistics figured out with the kids and being there so early in the morning. I was bummed because one of my twitter friends was going to come cheer me on and we were going to do brunch/lunch. Honestly, I was much more upset about not meeting her than not being able to run the race...although I'm sure you all figured that one. Anyways, when I was reading through this weeks local paper I saw they were having a race in my local town to support this years 4th of July parade. They are hoping to make this race an annual run and was trying to drum up as much support as they could. I started thinking maybe I should do it so I called my running buddy, Lynette, and asked her if she was in and we decided to run together. So yesterday morning, I ran ano...

Our cat, Love, is quite the peculiar kitty. She has this one favorite toy, a blue stuffed mouse, rattle, type thing that she has had since she first came to live with us. Throughout the day she can be found running around the house with it in her mouth. I swear she thinks she is a puppy, because she will also bring it to you and if you toss it across the room will go fetch it and bring it back. She loves it when Dyl plays the game with her. She plays with the toy, sleeps with it, drops it into the toilet and fishes it out again (we won't go there!), and lately has been doing this with it... I guess she thinks her friend Mr. Bluemouse wants to eat with her too. SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

One thing about weekends during summer vacation is that they are just kind of extended weeks. Instead of trying to fit everything into two days after being at work all week, I can get a little bit done each day so it's not a rush on Saturday and Sunday. Please don't take that as my house is in perfect condition by any stretch of the imagination. Matter of fact other than tackling the mountains of laundry I had, not much has been done. I know, pathetic! Instead we have been out enjoying ourselv es. Here's a quick recap... Monday , the kids and I headed to Philly for our Sun and Earth tour which was awesome. Tuesday Dave is off so I looked forward to hanging out together. The day started with him taking the kids to swim class for their first summer session. That didn't go over well considering the lesson was at 8am and Zoe is not a morning person, not to mention all the rain we had left the pool feeling quite cool. All of that led to a text message saying how he...

ME (to the kids): I was thinking we could go check out a Farmer's Market today. DYLAN: Do we get to buy a Farmer to bring home? Funny, smartbutt! ************************************************************************** ZOE: Mommy, can I clean? (She loves using her Sun and Earth All Purpose Cleaner) ME: What are you going to clean? ZOE: Anything. I just want to clean. I love cleaning! I just wanted to make sure I put this here so I can refer back to it when I ask her to clean and she throws a fit! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

Who knew a trip into Claire's would entertain Zoe for so long? Notice her poses? Yeah, she does that all.the.time. The girl is definitely ready for her 60 seconds of fame one day. SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

What happens when you tease your little sister and she finally has enough? Yep, that would be Zoe's handprint on Dylan's back. Don't mess with lil sis! Sidenote: Of course she was reprimanded for hitting her brother because we don't condone violence as a way to deal with anger, but let it be known that brother didn't dare go near her again for quite awhile!! Kind of brought back memories of the time I went after my brother with a broomstick and gave him a bloody nose. Oh the love shown between siblings! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

Dave's day started with Dylan serving him in bed. With a little help from me, Dylan served daddy pancakes with sausage on a tray that also had a card and gift of a picture of Dave with the kiddos. Zoe was still sleeping during all this and when she woke up was not happy that she missed out in the breakfast fun. So she decided she would be in charge of lunch. She made daddy soup and a grilled cheese sandwich because to her a grilled cheese sandwich is what special lunches are made of! She also made daddy a special card to go with his lunch. Then for dinner it was steamed crabs and corn. Yumm -o!! Now that dinner is done and cleaned up, I'm thinking it just may be time for some homemade strawberry shortcake. I hope you had a Happy Father's Day too! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

Anybody can be a father, but it takes somebody special to be a daddy!! Happy Father's Day to two special men in my life... my own dad and my hubby Both of them definitely have what it takes to be best daddy's in the world! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

I've been on summer vacation for a week and two days. This is the first day we haven't had company in the house and I've been home with just the kids. First my sis in law and gorgeous niece stayed with us for a week, which I am very thankful for because it solved my problem of childcare for Dylan for the days he was finished with school, but I still had a few inservice days. My last day of school was Wednesday (not this past, but the week before) and then we all got to hang out together fitting in a day at the beach and a trip to the zoo . Then that Saturday I had Zoe's recital, lost the cat, and was in packing frenzy . Saturday night we headed to my parents house where we dropped off the kids to stay while Dave and I headed to Key West for a few days. Key West was awesome and we made it back home Wednesday night. My parents stayed with us until this morning. We ran some errands on Thursday and pretty much relaxed, then Friday we spent the day at the beach, then...

Remember how our cat disappeared on the day we were leaving town for vacation? Well yesterday when my mom went out back to grill some hot dogs she heard meowing. She called the kids and my dad to help her find where it was coming from and Dylan discovered a cat was under our deck. He climbed under and brought her back out. It was Love in perfect condition. They brought her in the house where she made a beeline for the litter box and then her food bowl where they said she ate and ate and ate some more. Then she found her favorite toy and took it to her favorite perch on the back of a chair to look out her window. Love is home ! The kids are thrilled. Now we are just praying that we won't have any little Love's arriving anytime soon. She and I will be making that trip to the vet now to get her fixed. I wonder if they can do a pregnancy test on a cat? SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

Well we are back home, safe and sound, after our couples getaway. For a few minutes yesterday I wasn't sure I would make it home after the lady at the security gate threw a fit about my expired license. Funny that nobody else said a thing, either going down on the plane, the whole time in Key West, or when they issued my boarding pass to come back. She did let me through, eventually, after going through the additional security procedures. Thank goodness we were early cause that was a pain in the butt and took forever. While it is nice to run away for a few days and I was really into my lazy days where I did only what I wanted to, when I wanted to, it is always good to come home. Although I really could pass on the loads of laundry stacked in front of me and the unpacking of all of suitcases and bags. It's always so much more fun packing then unpacking afterwards. I woke up this morning to the sound of rain on the roof and thunder rumbling in the distance. Oh how I do mi...

Taken on the water in Key West SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

*Here are the pictures I promised from day one, Sunday. I'm still working on the pix from Monday along with a little recap, but I hear the ocean calling me so I'm unplugging for now and will hopefully get them up later! Remember the Iguana's I twittered about as we were driving through the Keys? Here is a pix of one that was actually with a group of about 6, but the others escaped before I could snap their picture. If I were every to be walking and see one of these in my path I would flip out. Me + reptile = not a great moment! After about a 3 hour drive from Miami airport (this would be with quite a few wrong turns, lunch stop, and ice cream break too) we finally made it to Key West. Unfortunately I was slow on the camera and just managed to get a picture of our welcome sign. We found our Inn easily and dropped off our suitcases before heading out on the town. As we were waling out of the Inn we discovered that Hemingway's house was right across the street. Prett...

If you are a regular reader who has spent a summer with me, then you know that beach pictures often invade the blog during this time. We live a couple miles inland of the Atlantic Ocean and our summer vacation is usually spent with our toes in the sand. Our first beach day on summer vacation was spent with Lizann (my sil ) and Sophia (my niece). Sophia absolutely loved the ocean and wasn't the least bit afraid. She would run right to it and laughed when the waves would get her. The waves were huge, but it didn't stop Dylan from jumping right in. The money we spend on swimming lessons is well worth it!! Zoe preferred to play in the sand with her buckets of water. She also enjoys searching for sand fleas and was thrilled when she found one this visit. They all instantly become her "friends." A day at the beach is always the perfect way to watch the time go by!! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

I'm sitting here in the silence of my hotel room in Key West listening to the roosters crowing outside. I still can't get over watching them walking all around the island. I guess you know you are waking up in Key West when you hear the roosters crow. Either that or on the middle of a farm, but you will never find me vacationing on one of those! Before I begin my recap of our vacation so far let me first apologize for the lack of pictures. You know I like my photos, but Dave took the camera this morning before I got a chance to upload my photos. Pictures will be coming though, promise! Of course if you follow me on twitter you will be seeing some in real time as I share them on Twitpics. Dave and I made it to the Keys yesterday afternoon. We flew into Miami on a pretty uneventful flight and then rented a car to drive through the Keys and make our way to our final destination, Key West. When we arrived around 5 last night we dropped everything off at the hotel and headed...

Now I'm going to have that song stuck in my head. I can't even remember where it's from. Barney perhaps? The other day we took the kiddos to a small local zoo. It's a great place to visit because it's small enough to do within an hour or so, but has some decent animals like bears, wolves, monkeys, a jaguar, buffalo, beavers, alligators, and more. The kids always enjoy going there and since it is a free makes a great afternoon excursion. Loungin' Jaguar Beavers are you in there? I was mesmerized with this peacock. I don't think I had ever seen one with the tail completely opened like this. Right outside the entrance there is also a pretty big play area complete with wooden castle so that provides additional entertainment for the kids. Swinging seemed to be the hit this visit with Dylan, Zoe, and my niece, Sophia. Sophia making music SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter