Mel's Box of Chocolates

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Zoe loves music.  Even though she is only 6 you will often hear music blasting from her room as she sings and dances to the tunes.  She loves her Justin Bieber, Miranda Cosgrove, Hannah Montana, and all the little teen pop stars.   The other day we were in the car belting along to Taylor Swifts, "You Belong to Me" when Zoe had a lightbulb moment. "Mom" she says with a look of awe on her face. "This song is all about opposites.  The one girl wears short skirts, the other one wears t-shirts, one wears high heels, and the opposite is sneakers."  She was so proud of herself for recognizing this skill that she was being taught in Kindergarten. So for everybody who knocks the little teen stars, let it be known that Taylor Swift helped teach my Kindergartner opposites! SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

My little boy isn't so little any more. No more single digits for him. This year he celebrated the BIG 1-0. His birthday was actually last week and on his birthday we had a wonderful dinner with both sets of grandparents where he was treated to steak and lobster!  Yeah, the big man has big tastes too!  He was thrilled with all of his presents too although his Christmas wish list got much shorter.  I really should have planned this December birthday thing a little better. His birthday celebration continued right on through the weekend when he got to party with his best buds.  This year we hit the bowling alley where for two hours the boys could throw balls, knock things down, chow down on pizza, and scarf down ice cream cake.  I loved that Dyl chose the bowling alley because no house cleaning for company or cleaning up afterwards.  Mommy scored too!  But, now the partying is over. and I have this wonderful young man growing up...

Our Christmas tree is finally trimmed. It looks mighty festive, if I do say so myself. Isn't it pretty?? We love pulling out the ornaments and reminiscing when we got the ornament and why.  It's fun to recall all the memories.  I like the fact that our tree doesn't have any packaged decorations, but rather ornaments that tell stories. It was quite the adventure though getting our tree this year.  We had planned to go cut it down on Saturday, but I woke up with quite the migraine so my morning was spent being lazy, which normally would be great except I really was hoping to get the decorating going.  We did finally get out of the house in the afternoon and after a coffee house stop made it to the tree farm. At 4:03. when it closed at 4:00. So back home we went making promises of early morning tree cutting to some very unhappy kiddos.  We made it the next day though. We actually came home with the first tree we looked at, which is unheard of....

Lately, Zoe has been vehement that she is going to live with me for the rest of her life.  According to her, she isn't going to ever have a boyfriend {my dad told me I should record her saying that for blackmail later}, she doesn't want kids, and her latest is that she doesn't want to go to college either because she won't need a job since she is going to live me with forever. She talks about this often. The other day we were out for a girls day with my mom and aunt and she told them her plan of living with me forever.  She said, "I'm going to live with  mommy until I die." So I asked her, "What if I die first?" Her response.  "Then I will go in the ground with you." Bring on the tears!! I think I gave her the biggest hug ever after that one and proceeded to quickly change the subject. SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter

Do you have an Elf on your Shelf ? {amazon affiliate link} Ours shows up on December 1st and from then until Christmas can be found in a new spot every morning. {Or at least it moves when he doesn't get too lazy or have a little help from Santa's bigger elves aka mom and dad!}  The kids eagerly search for his hiding place every morning and are so delighted when they spot him.  I've caught both of them whispering secrets to him, while being oh so careful not to touch him since we all know the elf loses his magic to travel back to the North pole at night if he is touched. This year the Elf is bringing little trinkets which is sure to bring morning smiles.  Let's hope he doesn't have traveling problems this season!! I just love the magic that surrounds Christmas! If you have an Elf on the Shelf, I'd love to hear some of your stories. SUBSCRIBE to never miss a piece of chocolate Be Sweet, Follow Mel on Twitter