Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Feb 2, 2012, 8:00 am
That is the question. I for one am hoping that we have lots more winter ahead because I'm not ready to put away the gloves, hats, scarfs, and that fancy new sled that Santa brought without even getting to enjoy them in one good snowstorm. Come on winter. Hit us with yo...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Jan 31, 2012, 9:15 pm
Good Riddance. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. That pretty much sums up how I feel about bidding January good bye and moving on to February. January just has not been that kind to me and I'm ready for bigger and better things, like being one month closer to spring ...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Jan 30, 2012, 10:03 pm
So I missed a week already. Go figure. Good intentions count for something though, right? Week 3 recap should have been up last week, but I didn't quite get there.  I finished strong on the Week 2 of my Bridge210K program and was ready to jump into week 3, when I felt like ...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Jan 19, 2012, 9:30 am
Every time I turn around there is another article, tweet, post, or status update about anti-bullying. Yes, bullies suck. Yes, bullying shouldn't be accepted. Yes, schools need to vigilant about bullying and do something about it. But, let's face it. B...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Jan 16, 2012, 9:56 am
  I'm still running. Yesterday, I started week 2 of my running program after doing week 1 for two weeks just to make sure I didn't overdo it to start. Week 2 consists of five, 4 minute runs with a 1 minute walk in between each of the runs. Of course there is still the 5 minute warm up an...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Jan 12, 2012, 9:00 am
In honor of 2012, I've devised a list. I'm thinking I may skip the resolutions and instead focus on this to do list of sorts. So without further ado, my 12 for 2012. 12 things I want to WILL accomplish in 2012. Stay in touch better with my family and friends. It...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Jan 8, 2012, 9:40 am
In March 2009, I declared myself a runner or more like asked the question, "Dare I Be Called a Runner"? If you read that post then you will see how I used the Couch 2 5K program to begin running.  I completed the program and ran a few 5K's.  The feeling of power that I fel...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Jan 3, 2012, 8:30 am
Most of you are probably reading this from the quiet of your home. At least, those of you with school age kids have sent them off on the bright, yellow bus or dropped them off to resume your regularly scheduled days. Me? I'm right back in school with them. One of my f...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Jan 2, 2012, 4:26 pm
So I had big plans to do a nice photo recap of 2011, but like 2011, that recap went out the window.  I actually started the recap post yesterday when I began looking through all the pictures from last year.  What I discovered was I barely took pictures. Well except for the summer.  Lots of ...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Jan 1, 2012, 10:40 am
May 2012 be all that and a box of chocolates, too!  In case you are wondering... 68 days till spring vacation. Let's hope for lots of snow days between here and there!
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Dec 26, 2011, 10:45 am
In case you were waiting for our Christmas Card. Wait no more. Tuttle Christmas Card 2011
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Dec 12, 2011, 10:09 pm
      Do you have sponges in your house? The ones that soak in all those facts about this, that, and everything else?  Dave and Dylan love learning new facts and often quote things they learned from a magazine or some tv show on the history or discovery channel. When I got th...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Dec 9, 2011, 9:00 am
Every year when the kids birthdays come around I give myself a pat on the back for keeping them alive for another year.  Parenting is such a learn as you go kind of situation.  You pray that the choices you make just don't mess them up for the rest of their lives. Or at least I do. Yesterday...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Dec 8, 2011, 10:05 pm
Every year, for the past 5 or 6 years we have went to the same local tree farm to find the perfect tree to be our Christmas tree. Cookies, hot chocolate, and a warm fire. Perfect for hunting that elusive tree. This year though, as you can see from the pictures, a fire was the last thing we wan...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Nov 24, 2011, 10:21 am
Gobble, gobble! I wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving! May your table be surrounded with loved ones and overflowing with yummy food. Free Myspace Graphics
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Oct 6, 2011, 6:46 am
The kids and I drive 45 minutes one way to school. It's a long drive! Many days Zoe usually falls asleep and Dyl plays his video games leaving me to listen to some music or lose myself in my own thoughts for a quiet ride.  It used to be I would try to get a couple calls made, but with t...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Oct 1, 2011, 9:03 am
September was a looooong month. I was so ready to kick it to the curb and welcome October with open arms. I guess I should have known considering it started with an earthquake, tornadoes and a hurricane! This year going back to school has been rough.  Absolutely the hardest ...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 26, 2011, 8:14 am
It seems like I somehow lost a week there. Two Fridays ago, I came down with one big ol' mess of sneezing, coughing, runny nose, achy muscles. It landed me in bed all day that Saturday where I dozed on and off fighting a low grade fever.  Welcome back to school, I suppose! S...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 25, 2011, 7:34 am
Better in Bulk shared a post on Twitter vs Facebook - Which Rules Social Media which shares the pros and cons of both.  I find myself using Twitter more often, but do enjoy some good Facebook time now and again.  Which do you prefer? The anniversary of September 11th came ...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 20, 2011, 7:46 am
It seems that sometimes I have way too much to say {ask my husband and I'm sure he would agree} and then other times I'm at a lost as to what to write about.  While I come up with the ideas during the day and write them down for later, it seems when I go to actually convert the ideas into posts, th...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 18, 2011, 7:11 am
I'm very guilty of trying to play Supermom and Superwife and Superteacher and well I could go on and on.  Interesting enough there is research showing how Supermoms are more prone to depression. I guess it's time to hire that maid! When I read about the five foolproof ways ...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 15, 2011, 6:29 am
This looked fun when I saw it over at Run, Eat, Date, Sleep and decided to play. So here it is... The ABC Game A. Age: 33. If I remember correctly. B. Bed size: Queen. We had a King, but switched it out for a bed my parents were getting rid of because it was a newer mattress.  Our king is greatly...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 14, 2011, 8:40 am
After Irene did her thing and left the Delaware coast, we went out to see what we could see. Thankfully we didn't have much damage here on the coast. The most flooding came from the bay and its canals rather than the ocean itself. Here is a picture of a bay beach access area. In the ...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 13, 2011, 7:31 am
I've told you before how my house can sometimes be such a mess that I won't let the pizza guy in.  In that same post I also told you about how my classroom is so neat and orderly and that I think it is because it's only "my" area.  Then again, I also talked about how I share it with 21 little peop...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 12, 2011, 6:58 am
I've decided that Fridays are going to be my weigh in days.  For some reason at the end of the week, my scale seems to like me the most.  Although this week it didn't seem to like me hardly at all as I was down a whole .4lbs according to my Friday weigh in.  However if you took my Sunday weigh in...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 11, 2011, 8:00 am
I was nursing my 9 month old baby son, when the house phone rang.  It was Dave telling me that "some idiot pilot" just crashed into a building in New York City. He said it was all over the news so to turn on the tv to see what he was talking about. We hung up, I found...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 10, 2011, 12:27 pm
We've been back in school for a week now.  I'm still shocked at how I can possibly have a 5th grader and a 1st grader.  Where does time go? Everybody seems to be settling in.  We are blessed with two wonderful teachers and every d...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 8, 2011, 7:55 am
My days are filled with running here and there as I juggle school schedule, gymnastics, swim, doctors appointments, and all the other activities that come with having children.  As I was waiting at some place the other day I began to think about the days before I had kids.  It's been a long ...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 6, 2011, 5:00 am
One of my favorite parts of teaching is that you never know what to expect.  You can sit and plan and try to think about everything that could happen, but guaranteed some student will do or say the unexpected. On the first day of school I was reminded of this fact. One of my first...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 5, 2011, 2:46 pm
Another week down in the record books. Figuratively, but also literally as My Fitness Pal recorded my tracking every day this week!! I'm pretty proud to see how I've stuck with both tracking and exercising for going on my fourth week now.  I've met and passed the 21 days it ...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 5, 2011, 7:51 am
  With the coming of Labor Day comes the time to bid summer farewell. I'm really gonna miss... the smell of suntan lotion on my kiddos {LOVE it} Tuesdays spent on the boat crabbing sitting in my chair on the beach soaking in the rays lazy mornings in pj's waterslide...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 4, 2011, 9:00 am
You would think as a teacher I'd be pretty good with encouraging responsibility, but when it come to chores around the house I consistently fail.  I've tried computer charts, magnetic charts, with money, without money, but after about, hmmm, 2 days things fall apart.  I love Amy's idea of us...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 3, 2011, 5:13 am
This past week was back to school for students.  Teachers went back earlier, but with the hurricane we got two unexpected days off.  Then it was a rush to get the room finished, names on everything, and plan the ever important first day. Wednesday was the first student day back.  ...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Sep 1, 2011, 7:07 am
In case you can't tell by my numerous references or blog posts about Twitter... I'm @boxofchocolates and I'm a Twitterholic. I joined Twitter way back when it wasn't very popular.  Janice and Susan told me to do it!  I hopped on board, joined the conversations, and haven't looked back....
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 30, 2011, 7:15 am
This year, the school district where I teach, and where I send my children, is going to school uniforms. Before you ask, yes, it is a public school. Going back a little, our district has always had a dress code policy. You know, the whole pants on the waist, shorts/skirts to the knee, no...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 29, 2011, 8:11 am
So last week I told you how my broken zipper motivated change. This week I'm checking for week two weigh in. It's been a decent week. As far as My Fitness Pal...I'm liking it alot!  Tracked my food every.single.day. using the app for the most part so I could track right after eat...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 28, 2011, 10:11 am
One of the reasons I originally started blogging was to have a journal or scrapbook of sorts to record the memories.  I haven't quite had the words to describe everything that has been going on this week so thought I would jot them down more as a journal entry.    Tuesday, August 23 I'm bu...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 28, 2011, 8:21 am
I always enjoy reading about The Best Place for ???? so I had to click over to read about the Best Places to Live in America 2011 when I saw it on my news ticker.  Are you lucky enough to live in or even near one of these places? Yeah. Me Neither. I've been back to school for a few days...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 26, 2011, 7:40 am
I have a confession to make. I have Tablet Envy!! Not IPad envy as I'm not an Apple person, but I've totally got Android Tablet envy. How cool is it that you can have the internet right at your fingertips and its the size of a hard back book?? Who would have thought?? This fa...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 24, 2011, 8:12 am
I know, I know it's supposed to be wordless, but I just had to put a disclaimer that no, we did NOT in fact buy a new car.  The awesome people at Chevy gave us the opportunity to take this beauty to Hershey Park, for their Chevy at Hershey event, a few weeks ago.  Oh my GOSH, was it FUN!  I...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 22, 2011, 8:12 am
Breaking the zipper on your shorts can be a great weight loss motivator. Trust me. Honestly, the shorts weren't that tight as they were a pair I bought earlier this season.  A pair that I bought in a bigger size because all the shorts I wore in previous summers were too small.  B...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 21, 2011, 7:10 am
I'm all about real profile pictures.  No glamour shots. No cartoons. Just a real picture of the real you.  I use my pix on all social media outlets including my business cards.  Getting a good picture though can be quite a challenge so next time I'm feeling the urge to update my avatar's I'...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 19, 2011, 8:42 am
It always happens this time of year. I wake up in the middle of the night or in this case early in the morning thinking about school. Yesterday, I went in for some meetings and got a few minutes to just look around my room.  I'm in a new room this year.  A room that was one of my beste...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 17, 2011, 10:21 am
For more Wordless Wednesday pix don't forget to check out 5minutesformom.
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 16, 2011, 8:29 am
The scene: 5th grade graduation, my students are walking across a red carpet to receive their promotion certificate, they are getting recognized for achievements. I'm announcing: "CJ, academic scholar for all three trimesters, member of band, Special Olympics participant, and student council member...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 15, 2011, 6:21 am
Thank you to Crocs for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Crocs’ new Back to School line. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own. Gotta admit when Crocs first made their debut I thought they wer...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 14, 2011, 12:58 pm
How are you at focusing on what you "could" be doing rather than what you think you "should" be doing? Amy wrote a brilliant post on Making Choices with a great reminder that life is short. Live it! As I've once again been re-evaluating where blogging fits into my life I found this arti...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 13, 2011, 5:06 am
Have you heard of Fijit Friends? If not, you are not alone. I had no idea what the little colorful creatures were, but apparently I was alone in my ignorance because as soon as I asked my kids what they were they were like a walking advertisement for them. According to Matte...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 12, 2011, 12:05 pm
Warning: I'm sure I'm gonna step on toes with this post, but the great thing about this being my own place to talk is that I get to say what I want. Right?! Most of you know that I'm an elementary teacher.  I've shared many times how I'm blessed because I have the best of both worlds.  I alw...
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Mel T. posted an article on A Box of Chocolates - Aug 11, 2011, 6:54 am
When I was my kids age we had one phone attached to the kitchen wall.  I thought it was great when we got one of those looooonnnngggg curly, stretchy, cords so I could walk pretty much throughout our whole house talking on the phone.  Of course I could only use the phone if we weren't expecting a ...
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