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. :)

Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back!

We walked at Relay last week in memory and honor of our many friends and family members who have been affected by cancer and those who continue to fight. It was incredible to watch my choir perform knowing in that group were two pediatric cancer survivors. Holding a special place in our hearts as we walked past the luminaries were two people claimed by this beast.

Aunt Helen Holder hosted Andy and I at her house many times early in our dating history - I remember watching several movies in her living room floor! She would even feed Andy while he lived in Mississippi - a very special lady.
Our Aunt Teresa's dear friend Patricia Fuhrmeister I first met tailgating at Auburn football games. I learned that if I stuck around long enough, I'd hear a funny story about Teresa and Buddy in college! Shelby County is proud of Tricia as their probate judge...check out this link: http://www.shelbycountyreporter.com/articles/2008/02/01/lifestyles/life466.txt


Relay happens all over the country - look up one near you and support the American Cancer Society. http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/

Updated Pics

As promised, here are some pics of outings where I forgot my camera but photographed with my phone. I've finally figured out how to email those to myself...:) These are some of our evening with the Globetrotters and our day at the zoo with Memaw, Granny Hazel and Timothy over Spring Break. My favorite is Matthew telling Memaw how fast we needed to run to catch the train!

Relay for Life

This Friday Andy, Matthew and I will participate in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life at Homewood Park. If you live in the area, come hang out with us! My students will perform their spring competition show and run a cotton candy booth, there will be performances by other school groups, local musicians and martial arts groups, plus free moonwalks for the kids and tons of various food and fun!

The event kicks off with an opening ceremony at 6pm, then a survivor lap, then be sure to see your Patriot Singers Show Choir at 6:45, followed by the HMS Jazz Band which features many of our choir students!

The choir and Family and Consumer Science (FACS) departments have teamed up to raise money for this event - come visit our tent right in front of the stage! All proceeds and donations benefit the American Cancer Society.

Easter Break

We spent the day on Tuesday of Spring Break at the Birmingham Zoo where Matthew's first task was of course to use the map to find the train! He became quite the map reader on this trip, insisting that he be the guide. The newest addition to our zoo is a camel exhibit - one of which you may ride - but Matthew quickly declined. "No way," he said, "those things are way too big for me."


We took a picnic and spent the day on Thursday with Memaw, Granny Hazel and Timothy at the Montgomery Zoo (getting our money's worth out of our zoo membership this year!) where Matthew again made straight for the train. Sorry I don't have any photos of that trip to share...when I figure out how to blog from my Blackberry I will. :)



Here are a couple pictures of Easter morning - Matthew was not into taking pictures at all, but was only interested in getting to the playground as quickly as possible!

We enjoyed our time off for Spring Break and have now gotten right back into the swing of school and work. I am working on a musical at school and Andy is in the middle of baseball season at Samford. We love you all and hope to see you soon! Let us know how you are. ~C, A and M

The Birthday Fun Continues...

Matthew had a great birthday party the week after his actual birthday - so he has been celebrating all month! We had a pirate birthday party, but at a Samford baseball game...he celebrated with his friends Jaden, Carlos, Breanna, Marissa and Ally. It was a very windy, rainy day, but somehow Matthew found shelter from the wet day...

On Sunday, we braved the BJCC for the tour of Playhouse Disney Live. Matthew loved it - all his favorite folks were there...Handy Manny, Little Einsteins, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Tigger, Pooh, etc. Of course, so were thousands of screaming four year olds and their parents...I still have a headache. We volunteered to go to this? hmm..

On Monday of spring break, we saw the Harlem Globetrotters. Matthew is still working on some basketball tricks to show you all, but his favorite part by FAR was when one guy pulled down another guy's pants. *sigh* ....boys....

So, Matthew definitely celebrated in grand style and is very excited to now say, "I haven't done that since I've been five!"

Alabama Snow - March 8,2008

Well, it has snowed in Alabama more this year than I can remember in recent years and Matthew has really enjoyed it! We will have a hard time convincing him that this is not typical. This time we got a little accumulation that stuck around for most of the day and closed enough roads to snow Memaw in with us for Saturday! Matthew and I had a snowball fight (as long as I continued to make the snowballs and then split them with him) and we attempted to build a tiny snowman with questionable success but definite fun.

We were all in town together unexpectedly this weekend as the threat of snow cancelled my school trip to MS and the basketball team's loss in the OVC tournament brought Andy and Matthew home from Nashville on Friday night. A great day...!