Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends! Wishing you peace and happiness in the new year.
Brian, Dee, Zach, & Evie
Comments closedlife is what you make it
Month: December 2009
So, I’m throwing up a few cute kid pics to distract from the fact that I haven’t really updated for most of the month of December. Life got busy, ok? To let you know just how busy it has been, I managed to lose about 8 pounds without even trying. Between the crazy cleaning and prettying up my house in anticipation of the in-laws’ arrival and just not taking the time to eat, I guess my body used up some extra energy. This also tells me that I should really spend less time sitting…next year.
So, on to the pictures. Most of these were from my nephew Ryan’s 5th birthday party (and I’m still trying to deny that he’s 5, because that means Zach will be 5 in just a few short months!).
After their first trip to Build-A-Bear
The cutest pouty face ever
She was having fun!
Caitlin was scared at first, but then decided it wasn’t so bad
5 Year old Ryan!
Cheesin’ with Daddy
This one isn’t of kids, but it is a great pic of my dad and Debie so I thought I’d share it anyway!
A few weeks ago I received a copy of Ladybug from Butterflyfish. When I put it in the cd player on the way to preschool/day care one morning, the kids fussed at me. It wasn’t their usual Laurie Berkner that they were used to listening to during the morning ride. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for them to adjust. After just a couple of listens they were singing along!
Matthew Myer Boulton, Elizabeth Myer Boulton, and Zoë Krohne formed Butterflyfish after chatting at a picnic about how to explore the spiritual side of life with their children in new ways. Agreeing that most spiritually themed music made for families were “pretty thin broth, both musically and spiritually,” they set out to create what they had been searching for. Their first cd, Ladybug, has gotten great reviews, even being called “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” for kids!
Ladybug is a great collection of folk/bluegrass style songs with a spiritual message. Mixed in with a collection of Boulton’s originals, are new takes on some of the old classics such as “Jesus Loves Me” and “Deep Down In My Heart.” The music is light-hearted and fun, while also introducing biblical stories and context. My 4-year-old’s favorite song is “What Jonah Learned Inside the Whale,” and I keep catching him singing it even when the cd isn’t on. The best part though, is that it has him asking questions and wanting to know more. After listening to “When the Spirit Sings In Me,” we had a long discussion about what “the Spirit” means and how it relates to our lives.
Don’t think this music is only for kids though. I’ll admit to playing it (and singing along) even when I’m in the car by myself! I can’t resist the harmony on “Music.” Even my husband, who is not at all fond of Folk music, likes it and it’s rare that he’ll admit to liking anything that isn’t hard rock or metal.
For my family, this cd came at a perfect time. We’ve been trying to re-commit ourselves to going to church and just started attending a brand new church in our area. I love that the music is helping my son become more interested in God and to be quite honest, it really puts me in the mood to worship on Sunday mornings!
I was actually quite surprised at how much my family loves this cd. We have all been singing the songs for a couple of weeks now and haven’t tired of it yet. Because we love it so much, I e-mailed Elizabeth and asked if she would be willing to provide another copy of Ladybug for me to give away to my readers. She graciously said yes!
How to enter:
All you have to do to enter the contest is leave a comment below. I’d love it if you would tell me what your favorite song (spiritual or otherwise) was when you were a kid. Are there memories attached to it or did you just like the song?
Contest will close Tuesday, December 15th, 2009, at 11:59 p.m. CST. One winner will be chosen from all eligible comments via random.org and notified by e-mail.
To find out more about Butterflyfish, go to www.butterflyfishband.com. You can sample and purchase Ladybug in the store, or check out some of the other fun stuff, such as the yummy Strawberry Lemonade recipe!
Disclosure: I received a copy of Butterflyfish’s cd, Ladybug, for the purposes of this review.
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I haven’t had much time to update lately, but I am trying to get caught up on some review posts and wanted to lead you over to my reviews page. Today I posted about a really great web site that just may help you out with your holiday shopping. You can thank me by sending a gift card my way! 😉
Next up is a review of a great children’s music cd that I received. Hopefully my daughter will go to sleep at a decent time so I can write it up tonight!
Comments closedI’m not sure how exactly it happened, but it seems we are already in the second week of December. That would mean that Christmas is coming up in no time! If I give it too much thought I’ll be in full panic mode. I usually have pretty much all of my Christmas shopping done by now, but I’m sad to say this year it just didn’t happen. Life just gets busy, you know? Besides my usual holiday shopping, baking, etc., I also have a Bat Mitzvah to attend and will have 6 extra guests in my house for 10 days or so.
I’m still sorting out my lists and trying to come up with gift ideas for a few people, but if I don’t figure it out soon, I’m heading over to Snapgifts.com and taking care of them all in one swoop. Did I mention that some of those gifts have to be mailed halfway across the country? I have friends and relatives in Oregon, Utah, Louisiana, and Alabama that I still need to buy for. Fortunately, some of them are coming here to visit but the rest will have to be shipped.
Snapgifts.com is a website where you can buy gift cards and send them directly to your family and friends. They carry both local (only in select markets, but will be expanding soon) and national brands to suit nearly anyone on your shopping list. You can purchase either traditional plastic gift cards or an e-Gift Card that is sent directly to the recipient’s e-mail to be printed out.
If you still can’t decide what to get that special someone on your list, you can let them do the deciding for you by sending them a Snapcard. Snapcards are e-mailed directly to the recipient, along with your own personal message, and can be redeemed for any of the 600+ gift cards on Snapgifts.com. It’s almost too easy!
So that I could try the entire purchasing process out, Snapgifts offered me a $25 gift card. I redeemed my code tonight for a local restaurant that my family likes to eat at and it was so simple. I just clicked on the card I wanted, selected the amount, and then filled in my information. When I checked my e-mail, I already had notification that the gift card was purchased.
I’m anxious to see what other cities are added for local gift card purchases. I never know for sure what stores are available when I buy gift cards for out of town friends and Snapgifts solves that problem. I will definitely be using Snapgifts in the future!
If you still have gifts to buy, I highly recommend checking out Snapgifts.com. For the entire month of December, they are offering free shipping on all gift cards! Just enter the code “freeshipping” when you check out!
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This week’s I ♥ Faces challenge is Sweet Dreams. I must have taken hundreds of photos of Evie sleeping when she was a baby. She just looked so peaceful every time she would drift off. These days I can barely catch her sitting still, much less sleeping!
For more sleeping beauties, head over to the I ♥ Faces blog!
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