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.

Halloween 2009

The week before Halloween was super busy at our house this year. I had an old friend from Nashville in town visiting. I'd go to work during the day then come home & stay up late talking. It was great to spend time reminiscing, but it sure did catch up with me. I've been exhausted ever since! So, I'm finally putting up the pictures of the boys from Halloween.

When the boys were little I use to make a lot of their Halloween outfits. But over time they decided they wanted store bought costumes. Well, this year we went back to the homemade kind. Austin knew he wanted to be a zombie a couple of months back. He had an old pair of jean that got ruined last year when a red pen leaked in his pocket. For some reason I held on to those jeans. It's a good thing I did. Austin had fun ripping them & smearing make-up & blood on them. James did a great job helping him with the make-up on his face and arms. Up close it looked like parts of his skin were peeling off.

Dylan wasn't sure what he wanted to be. I knew we had a couple of old white sheets in the closet that we never used, so I suggested he be a ghost. It didn't take long for him to decide that was a good idea. Then we started talking about how we'd do it exactly. First I tried using a twin sized sheet. It was not big enough. So the day of Halloween we got out the king sized sheet & started cutting out the eyes & mouth. Dylan didn't enjoy the fitting sessions so much, but in the end the costume was pretty cool. The hula hoop added a great effect. As he walked it looked like he was floating.

This year the boys decided to go trick or treating separately with different neighborhood friends. James & I stayed home to pass out the candy. I was so worried Dylan would trip & fall. I pictured him coming home with a broken arm or leg. But at the end of the day he arrived home unscathed. I think this might be the last year of trick or treating. We shall see.

5K

This past Saturday we woke up super early so James & Dylan could participate in the Lukemia & Lymphoma 5K. It was FREEZING!!! But I braved the chilly temps so I could be there cheering them on.
Look at all those people!!

My speedy runner

Our friends Don & Ashley participated too! Dylan placed in the top 3rd & James placed in the top half. Don & Ashley won medals for having the top times for their age groups.

Here's James coming in for the finish! I'm so proud of my boys.