Mel's Box of Chocolates

While the Olympics have been over and done with, I just stumbled across this draft I had started and I just can't let it go to waste.  It has been an interesting Olympics this year especially when it comes to the swimming and gymnastics.  In previous years we would do the American thing and watch the nightly recaps cheering on the American's and their victories.  We were watching history happen. It was great. But, we were pretty removed from the action. This year though, we were watching from a whole new perspective as we now have our own swimmer and gymnast in the house.  As I watch, I can almost imagine what those athletes parents are feeling. I can hear their thoughts... finally all that money I paid is paying off! I watch the strokes and the routines through new glasses. I sit at the edge of my seat as swimmers dive off the blocks and reach to cut off that last hundredth of a second that separates first and second. I hold my breath as the hands come off t...

I remember those days. We'd come home from school and work, make dinner, and sit down as a family to enjoy dinner. We'd talk about the day, yell at the kids for not using their table manners, share our stories, yell at the kids for complaining about what they were eating, and basically just spend quality time checking in with each other. We connected.  I always swore that no matter what, we'd always make time for dinners. Together. At the table. Ignorance is bliss they say. Time passed. The kids grew.. Gymnastics started. Swim practice began. Homework commenced. I started teaching a night class at college. Now our dinners at home around the table are few and far between. One or two and sometimes if we are lucky, 3 of the 4 of us are able to eat together now and then. Our dinners have become whatever is easiest to grab and warm up, or pick up from the pre-made section at the grocery store, and yes, may even be a bowl of cereal.  I miss those days where we w...

Every year, I spend a day or two sharing the story of Martin Luther King, Jr. around his holiday. Considering that students get this day off school every year you would think that most know a bit about him, but I still find that there is always more to share about his story. I usually read a picture book, show an excerpt of the actual speech, and have the students complete some activity related to MLK. Of course, his dream is shared throughout the lessons. "I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a tabl...

One of my favorite things about January is that new shows are back on tv.  Nothing like spending a winter evening caught up in the drama, reality, or humor. Some of my favorites. Scandal, Revenge, and Modern Family.   We will see about Biggest Loser, American Idol, and The Bachelor. Sometimes I find myself sucked in and sometimes I miss the whole season.  Haven't watched yet. Starting to get curious about this Downtown Abbey show. Lots of twitter and facebook chatter about it. I heard it was on Netflix so thinking it deserves a watch or two. What about you? What are your winter favorites?

I think I kept a paper-pencil planbook for exactly one year before I made the switch to electronic planning. I created a basic excel template where I plugged in my schedule annually and then planned the days away. It was very convenient when I taught the same grade for consecutive years because I could just copy, paste, and add my upgrades to the lessons.  It worked for me for the past 7 years. Then, recently after a conversation with a colleague, I bought a planbook app.  My new school district supplies every teacher with a Mac Notebook so I figured I may as well try out the app.  I have it set up and planned for the week. But, I'm not so sure I'm hooked on it yet. How do you plan? Paper-pencil? Spreadsheet? App?

If you can't tell from the title of my blog, I have a thing for chocolate. Or anything sweet really.  Even my students know this. So they loved when I kicked off our Earth Materials investigations on Rocks and Minerals with a project of observing a chocolate chip cookie.   The thing about rocks is that they are made of ingredients so in order to identify a rock, geologists must determine the minerals that make up the rocks.  We put on our geologists caps the other day to determine the "minerals" that make up chocolate chip cookie "rocks". Using the chocolate chip cookie, the students practiced using properties such as shape, color, texture, etc to describe their rock. They also learned how to accurately measure the diameter, circumference, and depth along with mass. They seemed to enjoy it, but I think they may have enjoyed eating a "rock" at the end while we read the book " If You Find a Rock ." If you teach rocks and minerals or...

The weekend came. And the weekend went. Why is it the weeks can take so long and the weekends are over before they seem to begin? It was a good weekend though. Kicked it off with a date night Friday night with some friends we haven't seen in way too long. It was nice to have an adult night out.  Although I barely said two words to my husband as I caught up with my girlfriend. Good times! Saturday started bright and early with a swim meet that was an hour away and started at 8am. Not fun. Thankfully Zoe spent a night with a friend on Friday so only Dylan and I had to get up and get out. The swim meet was a success as Dylan knocked off time on all of his swims.  He swam his first IM of the season where he has to swim 25meters of each stroke.  I was able to video this race which was the first I've gotten this season. He ended up shaving over 6 seconds off his seed time and came in 4th out of 6.  His butterfly is his hardest swim and it was funny because you c...

I kicked the whole resolution setting to the curb last year and instead made my 12 in 2012 list .  I decided to go back and see how I did with meeting my 12. Stay in touch better with my family and friends. Hmmm. This is a bit divided.  I had a wonderful visit with my grandfather over the summer, my cousin came for a short visit for the first time, and we had multiple friends come to stay, and had a great summer hanging out with friends at the beach. However, school rolled around and with the new job things got busy. I struggled staying connected once again. Read more . Perhaps one of the things I did the best. I read, read, and read some more. I found our library's app and have been downloading and reading away. I love reading! Paint every room in our house. So we got the downstairs kitchen, living room, dining room, and bathroom finished. Then it stopped. Maybe this summer... Run a 10K. Didn't happen. Enough said. Lose 10 pounds and then do it three more times . see...

You may think that the tile would be prelude to a New Years resolution post, but not so fast. I won't be sharing any resolutions, just a focus change I'm contemplating making on my blog. If you've been around awhile you are sure to have noticed my lack of blogging.  Somewhere along the line I just lost my bloggin' fever.  After almost 8 years, I guess it's no surprise. Actually blogging is probably the longest "hobby" I've every stuck with!  I sometimes miss those good ol' days of blogging my life away, sharing our family adventures.  Don't worry, we are still having adventures, but they just aren't making their way here. It just seemed with a middle schooler and 8 year old the postings may just not be as cute as the stories from when they were little guys.  While they never said anything about me talking about them here (usually they would say, "Mom, you can put that on your blog."), it just seemed time to phase out some of the...

WOW! I only posted 44 times last year.  That's kind of sad considering the year before I had posted triple that amount. Guess that's what happens when... You have a middle schooler and 8 year old, who are a gymnast, swimmer, and lacrosse player that needs to be driven to practice, meets, and games. You are teaching elementary school full time in a new school district and in a new grade level. You are also teaching two face-to-face classes for two different colleges, plus one distance learning class online. You spend the last summer re-painting the downstairs of your house and it takes three coats of paint! You are wife, mom, maid, taxi driver, accountant, and master scheduler among many other job descriptions. While I wouldn't change a thing about any of that (well, maybe if I had the money I would hire a painter) unfortunately my blogging was the thing that got shuffled to the bottom of my priority list. And there it sat. Pretty much being untouched. But n...