No More Home Living

Today Matthew related that he no longer chooses to play in the Home Living center at school. This used to be his very favorite center and the one he always hoped to get to first! A limited number of students can be at each center so he always hoped that there was room for him. But, today he says,


"The girls there try to rule me and are bossy. They say 'Matthew do this.' And there aren't any other boys there. Most other boys don't like to play there. They don't like Home Living, and they don't want to go there when I ask them, so I don't want to go there any more."

Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am disappointed that for the first time (at least the first time he's voiced to me) he is choosing an activity that he doesn't really like just because of his classmates. He said that today he went to "the little round things with holes that you connect with sticks, but I didn't really like them, but I went there because Tripp went there." What?? At 5 years old he's already following people to activities and he already doesn't go to Home Living because "boys don't do that" ??? hmmm.

I have a feeling we're in for a rough next 20-ish years.....

Fall Update

Wow! We've been away from our blog so long - I hope you haven't given up on us. We are all still here, just busy with...well, all that life holds!

Let's see, our regular week includes a violin lesson for Matthew on Mondays, after school choir for Mom on Tuesdays, library and the park on Wednesdays, and a trip to SoHo sweets on Fun Fridays! Of course, other things seem to sneak up on us as well.

Since we last wrote, Matthew enjoyed Grandpals Day at his school (Edgewood Elementary) with his Grandmama and Papaw. I wish I had pics to show you of that, but parents were not allowed! Matthew is loving school - his favorite things are still PE and playground time. :) We are so proud that he reads beautifully - ask him to read you a story the next time you see him! Together we are reading Gertrude Chandler Warren's The Boxcar Children. Matthew has always loved trains, so this is right up his alley! Kids living in an abandoned traincar with no parents....too cool!

Halloween was so much fun this year - Matthew decided he would dress up for the first time. He wanted to be the Dread Pirate Matthew. These first few pictures are from Boo at the Zoo the weekend before Halloween at the Birmingham Zoo...you can see MVP brandishing his hook, which he used to carry his pirate trick or treat bucket (he had to have a free hand for his sword.)

Here the pirate finds a horse, or a tiger, I think...

So, on Halloween we dressed up again and headed to Samford to visit Sorority Row Trick or Treat, where every house was themed. But to Matthew's dismay, all the houses were closed and the trick or treating was all outside...he kept saying, "I want to go inside." He wasn't interested in the candy, only in going inside the sorority

houses....sigh....hmm.



So, we made short work of that visit and headed to West Glenwood to see some great decorations (Andy was taking notes, I know it!) and Matthew walked up and down the blocked off street. Next a stop by the Homewood Police to sit on a motorcycle, jump in the "bouncy thing," eat popcorn, and we were on our way to Grandmama's. Matthew enjoyed being on the other side of the trick or treating for a change and visiting with Martha and Billy and then we were ready to call it a night. Whew...we went from trying to drag him out to "enjoy" some fun Halloween times to trying to drag him home!

This past week he wanted to run in the 1m Turkey Trot at his school, but he had a fever/stomach virus and missed 3 days of school...including his field trip to the Old Baker Farm and Pumpkin Patch. He was very disappointed, but we are feeling better now and are back on track to have a good time this week! Today we were out of school for Veteran's Day and we played at the park with our friends Sam and Nathan, so we are excited that this is a "short" week!

We love you all and hope you are well and happy,

C, A, M

Manchester

Some pics from our recent trip to Granny Garrett's where we enjoyed visiting with various aunts, uncles and cousins. The slide show to the right has more and if you click, you can see them full scale. Please let me know if you have pics from the weekend - I'll send you the picasa password so you can upload yours and they'll show here too. :) We love you all!

From Matthew

On Monday morning I went to my first day of school. I went to school at Edgewood Kindergarten. It was so much fun. I played at PE my first day, I played some basketball inside PE and I went to the playground for a little bit after I didn't want to play basketball any more.

My teacher is Mrs. Sankey, I love her so much. She teaches me a lot of stuff that I really like, learning and coloring, which sometimes my Mom and Dad really like and here's the best part when I get to go on the playground. And the other best part, when I get to go on the playground and hang on the monkey bars.

I like to play with Jules, Tomas, Kennedi and Breanna. Once I'm done ordering my food, I type in my lunch number on one of those little things like you put the card in only you don't put in a card you only type in a lunch number. You know? Then I take my tray and sit at the table I want to sit at. I sit with a boy named Len, sometimes he sits by me. There are two tables Mrs. Sankey's class can sit at.

Today I went to music class. The music teacher is Mrs. McKibben. There was a song on the radio and she pointed to the group who was supposed to sing and it was real fun music. It was the best fun ever and the whole class was so good for Mrs. McKibben. I played the drums where you sit on the stool and play with a mallet only it was a little drum without a hook to it, not hooked up to the other drum. (foot tapping....demonstration.)

I had a great first week. It was so much fun. It was the best week I ever had.

It's Hot Here!

Matthew and I are enjoying our last few days of summer vacation before school begins next week. He loves to play on the water slides at Splash Beach and especially loves to play under "the cup" which is modeled after an iron forge - I'm sure it's lost on 99.9% of the visitors to the park but I think it's cool...literally. :)
This week Matthew heads to visit Memaw and Papa for a couple days and then we all head to Manchester to visit Granny for the weekend. We're looking forward to seeing some Michigan and California family too!

Thanks for the Spidey towel Aunt Reesy - it's my favorite...:)

Summertime and the livin is easy....

(A disclaimer for all the photos on the blog these days....they're all from my phone...it's just been too hard to carry a camera around all the time, so yes, I know, the quality isn't that great, but...sorry!)


Well, we are busy being bums! I honestly can't remember the last time I actually took a summer off. I have always packed my summers full of teaching workshops, camps, classes or taking my own classes, etc. I always end up starting the school year just as exhausted as I ended it, but somehow by the time the following summer rolls around, I've forgotten and I say yes to all the same folks who come calling. :)

Matthew is just growing up so fast and this year as we started making plans for kindergarten, I vowed to spend as much time with him over the summer as possible playing and doing fun things! I wanted our summer to be full of good, relaxed times and for both of us to start the new school year happy and healthy. So, we have been busy visiting Granny and Cindy, Memaw and Papa, Buddy and Reesy, Grandmama and Papaw, playing at Splash Beach, seeing movies, lunching with friends, seeing the TN aquarium, playing at the park, building a tent out of blankets in the living room, baking pies, and violin and swim lesson. Although summer is quickly winding down (school starts here in a month - yikes!) we still have plans to visit DeSoto Caverns and Lake Winnie.

I took MVP shopping with me for some school clothes...I thought it might make it easier if we didn't buy them all at once - I might forget how much they cost if they were spread out - haha! He had the salesgirls rolling...he had to pick them all out and make sure they matched. I picked out an outfit that was on the mannequin - he vetoed it - "Mom, stripes don't go with boxes" (Plaid isn't in his vocab yet) There were also shirts 2 for $18, so I picked out 2, well they are the same shirt just in different colors. He says, "Mom, I can't wear the exact same shirt in a different color - that's just ridiculous." (It is his word of the week.)

We spent the fourth of July at the American Village in Montevallo, which is patterned after Colonial Williamsburg and has grown a lot since it began when I was in school at UM. They had a great celebration for the 4th and we really enjoyed ourselves, although the weather wasn't too cooperative with spotty thunderstorms. One of the pictures above is Matthew participating in bucket brigade race, which perked him right up after he got hit in the face with a wooden bat. :) Later, we were looking through the encampment of the Colonial Army and when I told Matthew those little triangular white shapes were where they slept, he said "That's ridiculous."

Although I did drastically cut back my "work" in the summer, I do have a couple of workshops to attend in the next couple of weeks and a fun trip to NYC to see shows and friends...woohoo! So, packing and preparation for the busy week ahead is in order. We love you all and hope you are well and happy! Keep in touch and let us know what you are doing this summer. :)

~C, A, M

Summer Fun

We are enjoying our summer! I have been teaching a musical theater camp in the mornings for the past couple weeks at the Helena ampitheather under a big circus tent. Most days it has been really nice...the breeze blows, the water flows by, the trains occasionally run and the kids are sweet. A few days have been incredibly hot and humid and the occasional thunderstorm has sent us scrambling. We wrap this weekend with our showcase and although I enjoy it, I will be happy to be finished. :)

Matthew spent much of last week with Memaw and Papa - he says he enjoyed playing with the puppies and watching the baby birds learn how to fly! He began swim lessons this week at Samford again. They swim 45 minutes a day and he is worn out by the time it is over. :) He is also taking violin lessons - he has had one lesson so far. I think he was disappointed to not be playing away after his first 15 minute lesson, but we'll keep at it!

Last weekend, we braved the weather to head to the Alex City Jazz Fest with Uncle Buddy and Aunts "Reesy" and Esther. We really enjoyed the music, especially Amanda Shaw's fiddle! She was great! I had hoped MVP would take notice, but he was awfully busy dancing with anyone and everyone who would stop...

On Saturday, we took Matthew to the water park in Auburn. I think that Matthew is turning into a thrill seeker...he has no fear and wants to go on rides that are significantly beyond his ability level. He certainly has not always been like this, but when we were at Six Flags, he loved the roller coasters and Saturday was begging for the HUGE water slides. Very unlike him....hmmm. Anyway, we had a great time hanging out with Buddy and Teresa and Auntie Esther for the weekend and Matthew told me the other day he wants us to "put a basketball pad in our backyard like Buddy and Reesy have." I told him to go look - he has one. :) He says it isn't the same.

It is Vacation Bible School at First Pres this week - Matthew is a "Funky Monkey" - he has been super excited about that. Andy and I are attending an environmental class "Can I Get Lunch on a Carbon Credit?" Interesting Stuff...

Next week continues swim lessons for us and then we plan to visit Granny Garrett and Cindy in Manchester. We love you all and hope you are well and happy!

Cherith, Andy & Matthew

Beach Recap

Hello Family! I've been so "busy" enjoying my first week of summer break that I haven't updated the blog. I had these great intentions of blogging from Destin so those of you who couldn't make it could keep up with us, but yeah, well, that just didn't happen. :) Here are a few more pics from some of our time together there...see the slide show for more! And if you were there and have digital pics...email me for info on how to upload yours into the site.


The beach wheelchair, although not the easiest thing to maneuver, was great for letting Granny in on the waves and beach action - she told me once she never thought she'd take up surfing! The sun was brutal but armed with the umbrella and plenty of sunscreen we ventured out to play in the surf.
After a while, we had to back the chair up...it was floating away! Come back Granny.....

Matthew loves the ocean and especially loved playing this trip with Patrick, who put him on the boogie board over and over and Brooke, who never tired of carrying pails of water to dump in the sand!




Matthew (and Mom) wanted to play goofy golf, and miraculously we found a place. Although I think Matthew really enjoyed it, he quickly realized that he liked posing with the girls (Sarah, Hannah) more than he liked putting the ball.

When all was said and done, beach visitors were Laurel, Granny, Cindy, Pat, Paula, Brooke, Jane, Papa, Timothy, Maureen, Sarah, Hannah, James, Christy, Andy, Matthew and I. If you weren't there, here are some highlights you missed:


- Sun, sand, and surf!
- Andy's jambalaya
- Laurel's BBQ
- Maureen's pasta salad
- Cindy's hamburgers and shishkabobs
- Cherith's shrimp and grits (yes, Cherith COOKED!)
- Scrabble games
- Crab hunt
- Movie night
- John's sand creations
- Garrett family picture session (remember those...aren't they FUN!!! hint-we did this one BEFORE it was time to leave.)
- Bike rides
- Go cart races
- Mini golf
- Late night ice cream outings
- watching Laurel and Cherith do the SkyRide (bungee drop)


It was great! And you all know how hard it is to mobilize the Garrett force all (or mostly!) in the same direction. So a big KUDOS to Laurel for the mighty amount of effort and incentive it took to make this happen. Way to go cuz!


So....this is going to become an annual event, people. You know you want to be there again if you were there this year and if you weren't, you should have been! :) Plan ahead, be ready...you'll be hearing from us.


~The Grandgirls

Destin May 2008

We made it to the beach and everyone is having a wonderful time - if you are reading this...we wish you were here! Laurel, Patrick, Paula, Brooke, Cindy, Granny, Andy, Matthew and I came down yesterday, Jane flew in today and we are expecting my Dad and Timothy any time.

This morning we loaded up the wagon and headed down to the beach - it was beautiful weather! There were just enough clouds to keep the sun from beating down on us and the breeze kept us cool - the waves just about lulled Granny and I to sleep as we watched Matthew and Brooke play on the shore - we have just come in and had a late lunch; Patrick, Paula, Cindy, Matthew and Brooke have headed out to the Gulfarium and Andy is beginning to start on jambalaya for dinner. Matthew is begging for a crab hunt on the beach tonight, so I'm sure we will stay busy! We love you all. :)

Cherith

Graduation and other MVP events

Wednesday, Matthew "graduated" from Dawson's weekday preschool program. They sang songs (ABC rock, Days of the Week, the Months Macarena, Shapes, Color Song) and recited various things they have learned throughout the year. Matthew's favorite seems to be Days of the Week - it involves snapping your fingers, a newly acquired skill. :) Then a few kids (including MVP) counted in Spanish.

Matthew was most excited about the reception afterward and told us several times, "There will be cake!" He had a great time and celebrated with Mom, Dad, Papaw, Grandmama, Memaw and Aunt Esther.

Tuesday afternoon, we went to kindergarten preview at Edgewood Elementary, where Matthew will begin in the fall. I am excited that he will be here - this school is a feeder to my middle school and just up the street (from both my school and Dawson, where he currently is.) He was glad to see some friends there and they toured the K classrooms and met the teachers. After dinner with friends whose son will also begin Edgewood in the fall, we went back for the current kindergarten program. I really like the music teacher here and thought Matthew would enjoy the program, but mostly I thought we should go and give him a chance to just get familiar with the building, etc. so he would feel more comfortable starting there. Well, the minute we walked through the door we hear, "Hey, Matthew" and one of my middle school students comes over to get Matthew to go sit with their group of kids. He went without looking back. So, the "transition" I was so concerned about is apparently not going to be a problem - he is already super excited about his new school.

Friday, his class walked down to Sam's Deli for lunch - this was a HUGE deal that MVP looked forward to for a while - he felt so grown up! Tuesday, they will walk to Homewood Park for their last outing of the year as Wednesday is his last day at Dawson. Ms. Jennifer and Ms. Barbara have taken such great care of him this year and we have been so amazed at the things he has learned each week! He is writing so well and sounding out words, he counts everything in sight - he has art on display this month at Homewood Library...they really have him ready to start kindergarten. We will miss you guys!

Yesterday Andy, Matthew and I went with the HMS band and choir to Six Flags. It was a long day, but the weather was great and the park opened their latest attraction - Thomas Town. Matthew was thrilled to talk to Thomas ("I know a lot about you, Thomas"), to ride on Annie (the passenger car) and meet Sir Topham Hatt. He also rode his first roller coaster! Two, actually - small coasters, but he loved it! It was a good day but we are resting today and recuperating from the busy week.

On Thursday, we are headed to the beach for a long Memorial Day weekend. We are looking forward to seeing Michigan and Tennessee family while we are there and Matthew reminded me today that he has to have lunch with his friend, Nathan while we are at the beach. (Nathan is one of Dad's students at Samford.) We are excited and ready for a little relaxation after our busy school year.

We love you all and hope you are well and happy!

Cherith, Andy and Matthew

America Sings!

Bright and early Friday morning we headed to Atlanta to work at the America Sings festival. I have enjoyed taking my students to America Sings festivals for many years and those of you who know me well know that I LOVE John Jacobson's message for kids. Check out the AS website here: http://www.americasings.org/ and John's site for his Congressional campaign here: http://johnjacobsonforcongress.com/.

Matthew's favorite part was loading the truck - you can see from the pictures above! He made a new friend working on the food bank truck - Mr. Kevin was great to work with Matthew and we all had a great frisbee match on Saturday night which MVP really enjoyed!

Sunday we took some family time and enjoyed the beautiful day exploring the park. The last time I was there Timothy was Matthew's age and it was very different. Matthew really wanted a "quacker" so we rode the Duck (I didn't get wet, much to my relief!) around the park and into the lake and then spent the next several hours walking around exploring other parts of the park. I enjoyed seeing the view from the top of the mountain but was absolutely terrified when Andy took MVP down to the fence on the edge. I sat down and closed my eyes. They made it back. Andy laughed. We came back down. Back on land, Andy showed MVP how to flatten a penny on the railroad track, yet another really safe adventure. :) We came home. With all our fingers.

It was a wonderful weekend and we are gearing up for the last few weeks of the school year - my students are preparing for a musical and a Six Flags performance in May. They have a performance at an assisted living facility this Thursday so we are staying busy as usual!

We love you all and hope you are happy and well.

~C, A and M

Happy Birthday Granny Garrett!

School was out for Matthew and Mom Thursday and Friday, so we headed to TN on Thursday to visit Granny for her birthday! We stopped and got Auntie JoJo and Dezzie on the way. Uncle Mark was in from CA and Ross and Uncle Scott visited as well. We enjoyed a walk with Granny down to the Fort where Matthew found LOTS of dandelions! Later in the day Papa, Esther and Timothy arrived just in time to hang birthday lights and start a fire to roast marshmallows! It was a beautiful day. Happy birthday Granny. :)