Modern Drive-in

Carter decided tonight that he did not want to sit on his couch to watch the Backyardigans. He thought that his car would serve as a better seat. :)

Christmas

Here are a few pictures from Christmas and a funny video of Carter dancing (please excuse the background noise):

The last days of school

We only have 2 1/2 days left of school before Christmas break. ( Whoo-hoo!) Since we have already calculated grades and turned in our progress reports for this 9 weeks, no teacher wants to start a new unit/chapter, and no student wants to really work. We can show movies in our classroom as long as they are historical and PG/PG-13. Since I mostly teach English, the movies I have are adaptations of books that we will read next semester. I cannot show those; I need to save those! I have been struggling with what to let my students watch. After much thought, I came up with Freedom Writers. After watching this move, I was inspired and determined that I too can make a difference in the lives of "unreachable" students. If you have not seen the movie, I highly recommend it. Here's the trailer:

Carter has no fear!

Last Friday, Carter decided that he would introduce his forehead to the cubbies at daycare. (Consequently, I was in a small car accident on my way to pick him up.) When Richard went to get him, Carter looked terrible. However, if you have met him, you know that this accident did not phase him one bit. Ms. Terri said that he got mad when they wanted to put ice on his head or put Neosporin on his cut. Here's a picture of C's booboo. (This was taken with my phone, so excuse the quality.)

A blast from the past...

As some of you may know, I once lived in Clinton and had the "privilege" of being a member of the Clinton High School marching band for one year. :) While searching through facebook groups, I stumbled upon a group for Clinton High School Band Alumni. This peaked my curiosity, so I decided to check it out. I found links to videos. One of which I am in. Even though you cannot tell which trumpet player I am, rest assured that I never missed a competition and I can guarantee that I am marching (and maybe playing) during this show. It was a long show, so if you don't have 10 minutes to spare, you can skip this one. But for all of you band geeks out there, it is a really good show! :) Enjoy!

Carter's Christmas photos

These are the photos I decided from for our Christmas cards. Hopefully, they will arrive soon, so everyone can get them in a timely fashion. :)
(For those of you that have moved, please let me know, so I can get your new address.)

Carter's blog

As much as I love Carter having his own blog, we are going to stop posting his stuff separately. From now on, you only have to visit our blog to see what's going on in the little man's life. Our blog about "The Swayzes" is going to include all of us. :)

Elf Yourself!

This is SO funny!!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1113217739

More cute pictures!

My love affair with truffled macaroni and cheese...

To celebrate our anniversary, Richard and I ate dinner at Thirty-Two, the restaurant on the 32nd floor of the IP Casino. I think I can speak for both of us when I say that we had one of the best meals we have ever had! I had the halibut with lump crab meat on top. It was a great piece of fish! Richard had the filet mignon and a sea-salted baked potato. He said that it was the best steak he ever had, and I have to agree that it was pretty tasty. But wait, I haven't gotten to the best part! Now, normally I would not spend $6 on a small bowl of macaroni and cheese, but this particular mac and cheese dish had the word "truffled" in front of it, so it must be extra special. Calling this macaroni and cheese extra special does not do it justice! It was AMAZING!! I would have to say that for the few minutes that I did not share my side dish, I did not even know that there were people around me and I stopped talking to Richard. :) Truly, this was the best macaroni and cheese I have ever eaten! If you are ever in Biloxi, I highly recommend Thirty-Two. :)

I am going to see Aunt Erin this weekend!!

We are going to Birmingham! I cannot remember the last time I went to Birmingham, because I was very young. We are going to celebrate Aunt Erin's birthday, which was on the 1st. So, Happy (late) Birthday, Aunt Erin!!

help end world hunger

www.freerice.com

For each word you get right, 10 grains of rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Program.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Here's what I looked like on the day I was born:



And this is what I look like now:



BEING 1 IS FUN!!

Carter's 1st Birthday

FROM CARTER:
I had so much fun at my party! All of my grandparents and great-grandparents were there to help me celebrate. I go lots of fun toys (too many to mention all of them). Thank you to everyone who got me presents and sent me cards!!!

Here is the firetruck that Mommy and Daddy got me:




Grandpa Steve gave me this Tigger (which I attacked as soon as it was opened):



Mimi and Pop gave me a "Little Superstar" stage. I have already been singing with the microphone and dancing the the music!



Here are some more pictures of the party:











Oh, I forgot to mention this. I LOVE CAKE!!!

We celebrated Richard's birthday early.

Since we had the families over for Carter's birthday, I thought that it would be a good idea to get Richard his own cake and balloon and presents. :) (Richard's birthday is next Thursday.) While Carter was being cleaned from his triumph over his birthday cake, we enjoyed some cupcakes. Here is a picture of the cupcake cake I got Richard:



(Pictures of Carter's birthday party are posted on his blog.)

Emily's new favorite artist

I LOVE Ingrid Michaelson! You have probably heard one of her songs on either Gray's Anatomy or the Old Navy commercial. I just wanted to share he with you because I think she's note-worthy. :)



Here's her song "The Way I Am."

Congratulations Brad and Maggie!!

Baby Parker has joined the Ingram family! He is adorable! Check out Brad and Maggie's page for pictures. :)

Better uses for the laundry basket...

I love sitting in the laundry basket. It's a great place to relax and drink my milk.





The laundry basket also makes a great car! Tobey doesn't like my laundry basket car, but I love it!! I have the best daddy. :)

Maxed Out

This movie really made me not ever want to use my credit card ever again. If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend your watching it. Personally, we have never had to deal with debt collectors and I hope that we never do. The debt collectors in this movie make no apologies and seem to love what they do, which is very disheartening. Here's the trailer for Maxed Out:

Donald Duck is funny!

I like Donald Duck. He's funny.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Your Next American Idol

I like singing. It's one of my favorite hobbies. I can't wait until Mommy and I can sing in the car on roadtrips!

My toy basket...

Not only is my "Cars" toy basket great for holding all of my toys, but it's also fun to crawl into and watch Elmo through.

2nd play date with Vivi

I'm so glad we stayed with Vivi and her mommy and daddy for Mommy's 10-year high school reunion! We had such a good time playing together!