Mel's Box of Chocolates

What a week! As you know, this was the first full week of being back in school and I have just one word...EXHAUSTING! Every night I planned to sneak some blogging in to share some of my back to school stories with you all, but I don't think there was one night I was up past 9pm. One night I was actually in bed at 7:30 and another asleep by 8:30. The week was quite a roller coaster full of ups and downs and times when I just had to shut my eyes and hold on. Here's a quick rewind... Monday - Dave's aunt came to stay with the kiddos since Dyl didn't go back to school till Tuesday and Zoe didn't need to go to daycare until Wednesday. She gave them quite the last day of summer vacation with mini-golf, McDonalds , and ice cream. Meanwhile I was busy putting the final touches on my room and welcoming the students to their new classroom on Meet the Teacher Day. I didn't get home until late and this began my week of early bedtimes. Tuesday - The alarm went off wa...

Today is the first day of the 09-10 school year and life would be grand if I had a student like this... Cross your fingers that I truly am smarter than a 5th grader . We shall soon see anyway! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

As a teacher, I've always hoped that one day I would have a student come to me and tell me that I made a difference in their lives. So far it hasn't happened, but today I came to the realization that although a student has not said this to me they show it in other ways. Today was Meet the Teacher Day at our school. I always look forward to this day to scope out my kids, see a bit of the family dynamics, and be able to finally put a face and personality to the name. Today I had 16 of my 20 end up visiting me, which I think is an awesome turnout considering it is in the middle of the last day of summer vacation. But even more awesome, was all the children and parents who came to visit me from my past years. At one point I just stopped to look around the room and was astounded at the number of people in my room who were not assigned to my room this year. I had kids coming to say hi, giving me hugs, telling me they missed me, saying how they wished they were back in my class,...

I know I said I was cutting back and blogging just for fun, but I truly didn't mean to drop off the face of the blogosphere. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook then you know it's Tis the Season around here. A.K.A. Back To School time. While most of you moms are hootin' and hollerin' and singing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" while you dance down the Staples aisle (that commercial cracks me up!) I'm busy getting ready to take care of your cherubs for the next 180-some days. There is so much to do... sharpen the pencils sort the crayons stack the blank papers mark the folders make the copies decorate the boards hang the posters and so on and so on. But, you know what...I wouldn't trade it all for anything. So, sorry if I go missing in action here and there for the next few days as I get my teacher/mommy/wife groove back. I promise I'll get there and the bloggy world will be made right again...well at least for my 10 regular rea...

If you have been a regular reader around here, especially through the summers, than you know that I love me some steamed crabs. Sit me down at a table covered in newspaper, with a pile of crabs in front of me and I'm one content lady. I will literally sit there for hours gorging myself on the meat covered in Old Bay. My mouth is drooling just from writing this. Throughout the many years of living near the water though it had never really occurred to me that we could go crabbing and actually catch our own. I mean we fish, we clam, but crabbing? Then, the other day, hubby decided it was time for us to become "chicken nekkers" and go out and get our own crabs. He came home with crab pots (he had bought them at work and actually carried them on his motorcycle home...oh yes!) and then went out to get some handlines and chicken necks, the crabs food of choice I'm told. So a couple Sunday's ago we headed out to catch our feast of crabs. I couldn't wait to pull up al...

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I'm going themed this week with my lessons learned. Yesterday I went into school to begin setting up my classroom, which led to many learning experiences. This week I learned that... I took it for granted being in the same classroom for 4 years. I spent about 4 hours today putting up material and border on bulletin boards. While my room looks much cheerier now I did not enjoy the sweat pouring off my face as I climbed up and down ladders, fought a stapler, and pieced together borders. my stapler stinks! Of course that is entirely my fault. I mean how many times can I drop a stapler from the top of a ladder and expect it to work? Adding a new stapler to my Staples list as I type. setting up my classroom is one of my favorite parts of the school year. Everything is so clean, fresh, and organized. The room is just full of promise! I have much to do before I'm ready for the school year to begin. My to do list is never ending and as soon as I cross one thing off I swear I'm addi...

The other day we spent pretty much all day on the boat. It was a fantastic family day, but I think the kids favorite part was stopping at a local marina and getting a cool treat. Nothing better than ice cream on the boat! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

Since I told you all I was going back to simpler times on the blogging front I just have to say how relieved I have been feeling. On one hand I'm sorta sad that I had to back out from posting at Chic Critique and on the Philly Mom Blog because I loved being part of the groups, but on the other hand it has been nice to not worry about deadlines and content. I'm enjoying posting when I feel like it (which meant not much this past week), talking about what I want to talk about (which this week was pretty much absolutely nothing), and just sharing pictures here and there (thanks to Wordless Wednesday and our pool day ). I've been pretty productive this week though. I took care of daycare arrangements for Dyl on my inservice days, confirmed we got the teachers we wanted at Zoe's preschool, set up vet appointments for Max, cleaned the house, caught up on laundry, started working on my school website, and even fit in a day at the beach with friends. Not too shabby! Of cou...

The other day we spent the afternoon with friends at their pool. It was one of the scorching 100 degree days so it was nice to jump in and cool off. The kids had a blast! 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

This week was incredibly busy, but entirely fun filled as we had family and friends visit us. We did waterparks, the beaches, pools, boating, crabbing, made homemade ice cream sandwiches, ate sushi, played Wii World Tour and just had a fabulous summer vacation. It actually seemed like this past week was my summer vacation. With all the fun happening there were plenty of lessons to still be learned. It takes about 5 days for two kids to become thoroughly exhausted and unable to function when their days are spent with grandparents, uncles, and friends. When they hit this point it is time for a day at home in pj's with absolutely nothing to do in order to save everybodys sanity! After spending 8 hours on the water crabbing and coming home with 7 crabs, I have came to the realization that every penny I pay for steamed crabs is worth it. Thank goodness the pizza man came to our rescue. Another lesson learned...I love that pizza delivery man. The moment my kids feet touch sand or water ...

This week has been so busy with trips to waterparks , beach days, hanging out with friends, and taking long walks that I just realized I haven't been around here in a few days. You know what though? I honestly have been ok with it. Usually when I think about going MIA from the computer I start to shake, my palms get sweaty, and my blood pressure rises. Ok so maybe that is a bit extreme, but you get my point. I don't much like being separated from my bloggy world. However, I've had so much fun this past week that I've been second guessing the importance I place on the blogosphere . Like many people I originally started the blog to keep family and friends updated on what was happening. Then I made it more about me as I shared stories of teaching, being a working mom, and my weight loss journey. I also added some random musings here and again when I had something I wanted to say. It worked for me and blogging was fun. A hobby that I enjoyed. Then I started beco...

It's been a crazy, crazy week around here. First of all, can I just say that my computer is NOT being my friend! I only had my Dell for about 6 months before it started acting screwy on me and it's gotten worse since then. I'll spare you all the details about the arguments over warranty agreements , but let's just say we will not be buying a Dell or a laptop from Best Buy EVER.AGAIN! It boils down to I now need a whole new motherboard, which we do not have the money to buy right now not to mention I'm not sure I want to buy, considering a whole new computer would only cost about $200 more, if that. However, we are going to have to figure out something because I can only use my computer when it wants to play nice. Sorry for venting, I know it's not your problem, but if I go MIA at least now you will know why! Moving on. This week we have been going, going, going as my dad and brother were visiting from Saturday to Tuesday, then my mom joined them here from Tuesda...

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The other day Roni posed the question, "What accomplishments are you most proud of?" So often I find myself saying I wish I did that, or could do that, or be like that, or look like that...and then completely miss out recognizing what I have accomplished or am accomplishing. I’m proud that I have kept both of my kids alive since they were born and that they seem to be turning into pretty decent human beings, if I do say so myself. I’m proud that I celebrated my 10 year anniversary on Friday. In days where people get divorced left and right it is a great feeling to know that my marriage is strong. Not perfect by any means, considering Dave and I are both imperfect people (I'm slowly convincing him of this), but I'm definitely blessed with a happy marriage!! I’m proud that I earned my bachelor’s and master’s degree and did it while working and raising my kids. It was hard work, but I did it! I’m proud that I received my National Board Certification. Not that I needed a ...

Dave and I had a wonderful 10th anniversary celebration over the weekend. Friday night my inlaws watched the kids while we went out for a yummy dinner and saw Harry Potter, which we have been wanting to do since it came out. It was nice to get dressed up, have adult conversation at dinner, and then go to the movies to see something not rated G. We both enjoyed Harry Potter by the way and can't wait for the next one. Then on Saturday my dad and brother stayed at our house and watched the kiddos while we went back to the place where we were married. We lucked out because we know somebody who has a house in the little town and allowed us to spend the night there for our anniversary. Isn't this the cutest street? Saturday night we enjoyed steamed crabs, hush puppies, crab dip, and corn on the cob (had to get in some veggie) on a pier. The food was good, the view spectacular, and the company amazing!! I set up the timer on my camera to get this shot on our way home from dinner. Sund...

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Dylan - "Lollipop, lollipop, lolli, lolli lollipop" (singing this at the top of his lungs) Me - "You do NOT have to sing that loud. It's okay to sing, but turn down the volume." Dylan - "Sorry, mom, sometimes I just get so overwhelmed." ************************************************************** I served what I thought was a delicious dinner the other night. I made the mistake of asking Dyl his opinion. Me - "So what did you think about it? I thought it was delicious" Dylan - "It was edible, but not certainly not delicious" *************************************************************** Dylan started a blog awhile back which he titled "A Boy's Adventure". Last night at the dinner table he told me he wanted to rename his blog. Dylan - "Mom, I want to change my blog's name." Me - "What do you have in mind?" Dylan - "I was thinking, 'A Lazy Boy's Adventure'" At leas...