Mel's Box of Chocolates

Unbelievable! I haven't posted since the 18 th even though we have went through a Christmas pageant, ER visit with stitches, a snowstorm, my parents moving in to their new house, and oh yeah CHRISTMAS. My camera is full of memories although not as many as I wish since I was lazy taking the pictures this holiday season. We've been especially busy the past week as we have been spending time with family who came to visit for the holidays. First Dave's brother, sis-in-law, and niece came to visit along with his aunt so we spent afternoons and evenings with them. It is always so nice to spend time with family especially the ones you never get to see. Then yesterday, my sis-in-law brought my niece and new nephew to visit at my parents new house in Delaware. Since my brother was deployed right before Christmas she decided to spend the holidays in MD and DE with family and was kind of enough to make the 2 hour drive so we could visit together. I've loved cuddling with m...

While I was visiting my brother and sis in law last weekend I had this grand idea of getting a great Christmas shot of the 4 grand kids as a present for my parents. Obviously grand wasn't exactly how it went... Don't worry though after going through the fifty-some group shots I took I may have a couple keepers!! 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

The kids and I ran away for a few days to visit my brother and his family in North Carolina. My brother is being deployed this week so we wanted to visit with him and we also wanted to love on my new nephew. Meet Danny Jr.!! The cousins love spending time together. It was almost 70 degrees on Monday and there was SUN so we took the opportunity to go for a walk around the neighborhood. My sis-in-law being the oh so smart momma that she is had bought some dollar tree gifts so Sophia could open a few presents while she waited for Christmas and Sunday's treat was play dough. The girls had fun sculpting the night away. Tell me that my niece is not the most gorgeous little gal ever...just look at those blue eyes! It was nice to get away and spend some time with family. My wish is that one day we can live closer so we can visit more often, but until then I'm just counting down the days till we can be together again in a few weeks. SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be S...

FYI Yes, Zoe is always dressed up, well except for when she is only wearing underwear. However, Dylan would stay in his pj's and robe all day. Why yes, the darn dog is on the couch despite him not allowed on it and What? You don't have grape popsicles for breakfast on Saturdays? SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

Too much eating and not enough exercise makes for a very grumpy, not to mention bloated...me! Thanksgiving was wonderful as we celebrated with my great grandfather, aunts/uncles, cousins, along my parents and brother in Michigan. This was the first Thanksgiving we have traveled in a very long time, actually I think the first since we have had the kids. Unfortunately there was a lot of food involved, including way to many pieces of pie. In case you can't tell from the title of my blog, sweets are my weakness! Seeing all those delectable pieces of apple, pumpkin, and my absolute favorite, cherry, pie in front of my face was no match for my willpower and I failed miserably. I wasn't the least bit surprised to come home, stand on the scale and see I was up 3lb. Aagghh! Here I was just getting back into the groove and even down 2lb and now I'm past where I started. Not cool. Even worse I'm now noticing it in my clothes. My pants are much tighter especially in my bottom ...

Today is Dyl's 9th birthday. NINE. How on earth did that happen? It seems like yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital and enjoying our very special Christmas gift. Now he is this independent kid who enjoys his techie toys, tormenting his lil' sister, and eating us out of house and home. Thankfully he hasn't become too old to share a hug or kiss or snuggle up to watch a movie. I'm treasuring those moments because I know one day, much sooner than later, he won't be quite so affectionate. Time goes so fast. I can't believe that this year is his last year in the single digits. Next year, they will be gone. The thought of that makes me sad. But at least for this year, he is only nine, and no matter what age he is, he'll always be my little boy! I love you, buddy!! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

Advice from a Snowman: Be a jolly happy soul. Spend time outdoors. Stay cool, chill. It's ok to be a little bottom heavy. Avoid meltdowns. Be well rounded. Live well. Life's short! Totally stole this from one of my Facebook friends status updates. It was just too darn cute to pass on, not to mention so very true! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is heading out to the Christmas tree farm to find "the" tree that will grace our living room for the holidays. We always go the Sunday after Thanksgiving while the choices are good and spend at least an hour if not more walking through the field searching the elusive perfect tree. This year was no different. We hunted and hunted until we found it... So we cut it down, loaded it on the truck... and brought it home with us. Zoe and I got busy stringing up the lights. Then it was time to add all our ornaments. Our tree only has personalized ornament and each ornament seems to have a story or memory to share so it took quite awhile, but we were pleased with the end result. Now our tree stands tall in the middle of our living room bringing us cheer this Christmas season! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter