Mel's Box of Chocolates

Ten years ago, today, hubby and I said the big "I DO" and we never looked back. We've had bad days, but can count many more good ones. We've shared tears, but thankfully even more laughs. Through it all, he's "Still The One." We have quite the weekend celebration planned and I can't wait for it to begin. Tonight my inlaws are watching the kids so we can go out to dinner and a movie. We will be feasting on fish tacos, guacamole, and margarita's! After dinner Harry Potter will be joining our date. My date outfit is all laid out and I can't wait to get dressed up. Then tomorrow morning my dad will be coming to stay for a few days and he is watching the kids for the night while we run away. We got married in a little coastal town in Maryland on the end of a pier and it just so happens that we know somebody who has a house on that little island and was nice enough to allow us to stay there for the night. Unfortunately, hubby works on Saturday...

Seeing how Max is much better behaved when he is tired we've been trying to take him on walks more often in hopes of wearing him out. Tonight was such a nice night the whole family decided to head out. We ended up at a small, local marina where we walked the plank... to see what we could find. We ended up discovering a boatload of fiddler crabs. You can see a few in the picture below. Those holes you see are all of their homes. Dylan braved the huge claw and picked one up to have a closer look. We also enjoyed checking out all the jellyfish in the canal. While they can drive you mad with their sting, they are beautiful to watch swimming around. Speaking of swimming...Max enjoyed himself quite a bit. It was a wonderful night to spend with the family. I especially enjoyed exploring nature with the kids. Of course, I had to have them pose for obligatory picture to prove we really did have a good time! When we got home we all enjoyed the homemade chocolate chip cookie ice crea...

The past few nights I've had dreams about school. Well more like nightmares. I've been stuck in a classroom where I didn't know any of the kids names. Locked in a windowless room without a schedule telling me when lunch was or even when the end of the day was. Not that it mattered cause there wasn't a clock in the completely white room either! Stuck in a classroom with a bunch of hoodlums that didn't listen to me one little bit as they destroyed the classroom around me. Not fun!! I'd appreciate the school nightmares to be gone. After all I'm on summer vacation. No thoughts, or nightmares, of school allowed! 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

During the summer since the kids and I are both off for summer vacation we are rarely separated. There are special occasions when I sneak away for dinner with a friend, or daddy takes them to swim lessons, or Gramma takes them to play, but other than that it is usually them and me. I love being able to spend the summers with them and the idea of one on one time with the kids had not really ever entered my mind. It seems they are usually both with me or both away. So when Gramma asked me about taking one kid at a time for a day I thought that sounded wonderful because that meant I had one on one time with the other. Dylan went with Gramma first and I have to say it was tough to figure out what to do with just Zoe. She was all wishy washy with what she wanted to do so we did what any mommy/daughter team would do...WENT SHOPPING. If you follow me on Twitter then you probably spent the day with us as well. We picked up lunch at McD's and took it to a park for a picnic where we found t...

I overheard this conversation as Dylan was helping Zoe create a Mii for the Wii Dylan - "What do you want your Mii to look like?" Zoe - "I want to be tall and skinny!" Don't we all, babe, don't we all?! ***************************************************************** Zoe caught a "wish" when we were outside the other night, which sparked this conversation. Zoe - "Mommy, if I make a wish will it really come true?" Before I had a chance to answer, Dylan piped in. Dylan - "Well it has to be a realistic wish. You can't be a princess or a mermaid or anything like that." ***************************************************************** Dylan and his friend were watching Nemo and our Starfish in the fish tank when I overheard this... Friend - "What is that stuff growing on the walls?" Dylan - "Oh that is just allergies." Otherwise known as algae . **********************************************************...

Thanks for all the encouragement last week as I whined my way through my Weigh in Wednesday post. It was nice to hear that some were feeling the same way and to get so many useful tips to help find my motivation. This week I'm excited to report that I am down a half a pound although can't say that it is a result of too much change over the past week. I did try to watch what I ate and eat a little less ice cream for sure, but other than that... I have counted down the days till I go back to school and as of yesterday there is exactly 30 days. Yuck! However, 30 days just happens to be the same amount of time that Jillian gives for the shred and EA sports gives for their challenge. Could this be a coincidence? I think not. I think the fact that the 30 days coincides means that this is the time for me to meet those challenges. This morning I already completed my shred workout and next up on my list is the EA sports. I'm hoping going to do each one every day, along with going ...

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We live in a pretty rural area. However, rural doesn't mean lack of people as the tourists flock in during the summer to spend days on beach with their toes in the sand. While I love where we live and think it is a great place to raise kids, I miss living in a more urban area. The closest mall and Target are 45 minutes away for goodness sakes! But, the great thing about little ol' Delaware is that it is only a hop, skip, and jump from many big cities such as Philly, Baltimore, New York, and DC. We visit each of them a few times a year to get my city fix. Last weekend, since the kids and I were already in Maryland to see Bugs Bunny on Broadway we decided to spend Sunday in DC. We met Dave at a Metro Station and then took the Metro to the mall to play tourist. We visited the Natural History Museum first, which is probably my favorite museum. Dyl loved the dinosaur exhibit, Zoe went for the jewel display specifically the tiara, and we all enjoyed the mammals and ocean exhibits. It...

A couple weeks ago I got lucky and won tickets to Bugs Bunny on Broadway at the Merryweather Post Pavilion in Maryland from Tech Savvy Mama . I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but figured Bugs Bunny, music, a free night out, we would enjoy it no matter what! Dave was hoping to go with us, but then we couldn't figure out what to do with Max so he opted to stay home and my mom joined us for the excursion. Even though I grew up in Maryland I had never been to Merryweather before. Evidently there have been some pretty big concerts there like Grateful Dead, REM, and yeah, I can't remember the others, but as I was reading some of the signs throughout the park there were names I knew. Basically it is a concert pavilion in an opening in the middle of some woods. We parked the car and then hiked down a path in the woods that crossed a stream and then back up a hill to the gates. There may or may not have been just a bit huffing and puffing from me when we finally reached the tick...

The kids are blessed with a gramma that can sew and every year they get a new costume/dress up outfit for Christmas. Two years ago they became jaguars. You will often see these jaguars running around our house, however, lately these jaguars are now being preyed upon. It seems that Max is especially fond of their soft, squishy tails! Thank goodness gramma can sew because one of the jaguars now needs her tail reattached! 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

Life is much more fun when I'm living it rather than watching it pass me by. This past week it seems like summer has officially began. We went to a concert/show one night, DC for a day, a waterpark , and spent 2 days at the beach with some friends. Good times. I'm getting old! At the end of these busy days I am thoroughly exhausted. I creak and groan as I get in my bed at night. Two boys can make as much noise as ten of them. Dylan had a friend go to the waterpark with us last week and then spend the night. When we got home they were inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs, shooting nerf guns, chasing the dogs, doing Kung - Fu ...their energy never ran out. If I had my kids energy I could very well rule the world!! I need to work on being content more. Too often I focus on the things I wish I had or could do completely overlooking all the blessings in my life. I live a mile away from a beach, in a pretty nice house, with a husband who loves me, two kids who are healthy, smart, ...

Snapped this photo while we were at the waterpark last week. Zoe was giving me a big, wet hug and when I looked down I saw this... Definitely one of my favorite summer shots so far! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

After deciding it was time to enjoy summer vacation, we had quite the week. We spent one whole day at the beach with friends. The kids had a blast playing with their friends and I got to sit and chat with two of my best friends so it was a lovely day. Zoe decided it was time to ride "two-wheeled on my bike" so the training wheels came off and the practicing has begun. She is doing pretty well and I think she'll be a pro by next week. Zoe wanted to treat the family to dessert one night so we broke out her cupcake maker/decorator to see what it could do. She baked a cupcake for each of us, frosted them, and added a lot of sprinkles. Brother helped her by being her taste tester! Then today we spent pretty much all day at a local waterpark . It's the perfect size for both of the kids and for me not to feel frazzled all day. Both of the kids had friends meet us there so they were happy as clams. Zoe surprised me by going down every single waterslide by herself, multiple t...