It's hard to believe Dylan is 12 years old. I know I say it every year, but it's true. It makes me so sad to think of him growing older and one day moving out. Only six more years until college.

We started off Dylan's birthday by letting him unwrap his presents at 12:01 AM!!! Then we whipped him soundly (12 licks) and sent him off to bed. I awoke later (10 AM) to find him in the family room with his big rebounder already put together. We bought him a rebounder so that he could practice playing catch even with James out of town. Those of you who know me well, know that I don't play catch. I'm so afraid the ball will hit me that I end up closing my eyes which inevitably makes me get hit by the ball.

That night we took Dylan to Red Robin for dinner. After dinner, the neighbors came over to eat cake & ice cream. We also had fun playing Guesstures and Twister. The next day the boys had fun playing in the pool. Austin & Dylan had just recently watched the movie, "Fired Up". It's about two boys who join a cheerleading squad to get girls. Well, after watching all the cheerleading pyramids the boys were dying to try it out in the pool. It was hilarious to watch & they had a blast doing it.

If only I could read his mind.

Notice Buster licking Ryon's leg. I think he's trying to distract him!

A picture of the cutest dog ever!

Mother's Day 2010

Dylan is so sweet. For Mother's Day he made me breakfast. He made chocolate waffles. It was a receipe he found in a cookbook at the school library. They turned out great. It was like eating brownies for breakfast. What girl wouldn't love that?!

Soccer 2010

Here's a picture of Austin's soccer team. He joined a new team this spring. In an attempt to save money I didn't purchase pictures this year. Instead, I took a picture myself. It would have been better if they were all looking my way, but it turned out pretty well.

I'm really proud of Austin. He's definitely giving it his all this year, whether in practice or a game. He has a great heart for the game.

Mexico

This year Austin turned 13. For months we kept asking him what he wanted to do for his birthday. All he wanted was to go to the beach, even just for one day. Since we do have flight benefits, we do tend to take day trips that other people would not consider day trips. But the temps in Florida are not really warm enough for beach play in December. So we went to our favorite little website http://www.skyauction.com/ and bid on a trip to Cancun.

We stayed at the Oasis Cancun Resort. It's an all inclusive resort. They have dozens of restaurants. We ate so much while we were there. The beach had been erroded from a previous tropical storm in November, but James & the boys didn't care. They played in the ocean everyday.

We took the boys out of school for a week. We ended up having to go to Mexico a day early because the flights did not look good for stand-by the day we were suppose to leave. We Hotwired a hotel. We were so lucky. It ended up being the hotel right next door to our resort!!! It was a nice hotel, but not inclusive. It was practically deserted. Most of the time we were the only ones in the pool.

The next day we checked out of the Fiesta Americanas and rolled our luggage next door to the Oasis Cancun. It was like a different world. The resort was PACKED! We checked in and got to work eating to our hearts content while we waited for room to be ready.

We didn't take a lot of pictures while at the resort. Cameras and waterplay do not really mix. But while we were there we had lots of fun. Here's some of the things we did:

• Lots and Lots of Drinks: Superman, Pina Colada, Strawberry Daiquiri, etc.


• Playing in the crazy rough waves.


• swimming in the pool that snaked around the entire resort.


• Enjoying more drinks at the swim-up bar.


• Playing & winning lots of prizes at Pool side Bingo


• Water Volleyball


• Kayak/Paddleboat tours


• Took in a show


• Ate way too much food!!!


• Rented a car and drove to Tulum to see the Mayan ruins

We came back with nice tans which have since faded away. I miss the beach already, but two times in Mexico is enough. No more Mexico for us. We need to find a new destination.

Dylan's Winter Concert

In December, Dylan's 6th grade band held their Winter concert. It was a great concert, only 15 minutes long! This worked out great because the girls I work with were all getting together that night. So Dylan & I had plenty of time to get to the restaurant to meet up with my friends.

This year I remembered to bring the tri-pod. It's much better this way. I tend to bounce a lot without it. Dylan did an awesome job. He's such a little musician. Next year he wants to join the Jazz band. That way he can go back to playing his guitar.

Austin's Winter Band Concert

Austin is now in 7th grade. In December his school held their band concert. It was amazing to see how far along the students have come in two years time. I'll never forget that first band concert in 5th grade. There were so many "off" notes. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert this year. They sounded like a real band. I am so proud of Austin and his hard work to learn the songs. He did an awesome job!! Here's one of the songs they performed that night.