Skip to content

deeperrin.com Posts

CD Review: Butterflyfish

ladybugA 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.

1 Comment

Look! Over There!

Voices In My Mind ReviewsI 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 closed

Snapgifts.com

I’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.comFor the entire month of December, they are offering free shipping on all gift cards! Just enter the code “freeshipping” when you check out!

1 Comment

I ♥ Faces – Sweet Dreams

Sleeping Beauty - 3

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!

Comments closed

One of Those Nights

Last night at 12:30, I was just getting in bed as I heard a cry from the kids’ room.  I assumed it was Evie because she’s been rather cranky the last few days and not sleeping well.  I waited to see if she stopped before heading in there, but when she kept crying I figured I better go see what was wrong.  When I got in the bedroom, it wasn’t Evie crying.  It was Zach.

He was sitting up, holding his ear, and crying.  He couldn’t sleep because his ear was hurting so bad.  By that time, Evie was awake also, sitting up and crying.  I got Zach up so I could take a look at his ear and give him some Motrin for the pain.  Evie was screaming her head off so I handed her off to Daddy and listened to her scream the entire time.

When I finally got Zach ready to go back to bed, he refused to go to his bed and crawled in our bed instead.  He refused to move.  Evie was still screaming.  After a few words with Hubby I left Zach where he was, scooped Evie up and snuggled up in her bed with her.  The screaming continued for quite a while after Evie and I got in her bed.  She was not at all happy to be woken up.

The funniest part of the night though, was what I learned about my daughter during the hour or so that I spent trying to settle her down.  She is so much more like me than I ever knew.  She wanted to snuggle, and wanted me to be close, but she didn’t want me to touch her at all.  She sat up and adjusted her pillow multiple times before finally settling down.  She had to have her blanket just right and every single time I moved the slightest bit she woke up and screamed again, thinking I was getting up.  She apparently sleeps just like me – except I don’t scream every time Hubby moves.

Hubby, on the other hand, got to find out what it was like to sleep with someone who is just like him.  Zach spent the night smushed up against his Daddy, kicking and wiggling all night long, while there was an entire half of the bed empty on the other side.  He’s a bit of a snuggler.

Let’s just say that neither of us slept very well.  It was one of those nights that you have to expect as a parent, but they never get any easier.

I took Zach to the doctor today and of course he does have an ear infection.  He’s now on oral antibiotics plus antibiotic drops because his ear tubes are apparently clogged.  To top it off, he ended up getting both the seasonal and H1N1 flu shots as well because we happened to be there right after the doctor’s office got a shipment in.  He was NOT happy about the shots or the ear drops, but hopefully his ear will start feeling better soon.

As for me, I’ll be all better after a good night’s sleep…which I may get in another 18 years or so.

Comments closed

20ish Months

s41101cb115112_10_2

Dear Evie,

It’s been a while since I’ve written a monthly letter.  I got off when I had surgery a few months ago and I just never could find the time to get caught back up.  It’s not that I don’t have a lot to say about (or to) you, I just don’t have the time to focus because you demand that my attention be on you whenever possible, not on the computer screen.

Tonight was a night when I just really needed time to wind down.  Zach was watching a movie back in the bedroom.  You were demanding to watch princesses on the play room TV, and I was ready to go sit in my chair and relax for the evening.  You had other plans though.  As I stepped away from you, you hollered out, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommmmyyyyy!” and held your hands up in the air.  One look into your big, bright eyes and I just couldn’t walk away.  You have that power over me.

I grabbed you up into my arms and then sat on the floor hugging you for as long as you would allow.  We watched a few minutes of Beauty and the Beast before you were up searching for toys to play with.  TV never keeps your attention, even when you beg for your princesses or Elmo.  You grabbed your favorite bucket of toys – your shape sorters and stackers – and we sat in the floor playing together for over an hour.

Even though I know to expect it now, you amaze me with just how smart you are.  You pick up on things so quickly.  As we played with the shape sorter blocks, I named each shape and soon you were saying the shape names with me.  Then you started stacking the blocks to make “towers” just like your brother does.  Perhaps not an amazing feat for a kid your age, but it still impressed me.  You just seem to be doing things so much faster than your brother did, although it could just be my memory failing.

Your verbal skills are definitely good for your age.  You talk all the time.  Seriously, all the time.  It’s not often I get a chance to be alone with just you, but yesterday you weren’t feeling well and went to work with me for a while.  You sat in your stroller (incredibly well behaved) and pretty much talked non-stop the entire time.  Most of the time you were just playing and talking to yourself but it was so fun to listen to you.  Not every word is clear, but I can figure out what most of them are.

Before I had you, I would have sworn up and down to anybody that there really wasn’t much difference between boys and girls (other than body parts).  You, my darling, have proven me wrong.  You have a gentleness about you that I rarely see in your brother.  You are obsessed with princesses, dolls, ponies, and kitty cats.  You love your shoes, purses, hair bows, and pretty clothes.  Sure you like Elmo, your brother’s cars, and wrestling on the floor with the boys too, but when it comes down to it, you are one of the girliest girls I’ve ever known.  And, surprisingly, I love every single bit of it.

My heart aches when I realize just how close you are getting to your second birthday.  I’m so proud of who you are, yet I am really missing my baby.  Every now and then when you snuggle up with your head on my chest I remember those first few weeks at home with you.  Never in my dreams did I imagine that in 20 short months you would be filled with so much personality, love, and charm.

Tonight as I put you to bed, you started crying.  It wasn’t just the normal “I don’t want to go to bed” type of cry.  You were sobbing and becoming hysterical.  I never could figure out exactly what was wrong, but after holding you and singing “Rock-a-Bye Baby” (which has magical powers over you for some reason) a few times you finally settled down.  Maybe it was just a long day.  Maybe it was due to you not feeling well the last few days.  Maybe you were scared about something.  I have no idea.  Whatever it was, I was there to make it better.  I always want to be there to make it better, and take the hurt away, no matter what the cause is.  That’s the thing about Moms, we’ll do just about anything to take the hurt away.

Right now I’d give just about anything to peek in on you before I head to bed myself, but you are too much like your Mama and the slightest noise wakes you up.  Instead of checking in on you, kissing your soft cheeks, and saying good-night one more time, I’ll quietly sneak past your door to my own room.  Just know that I’m looking forward to morning, because I know the moment I crack your door open you’ll pop up out of your bed with a huge smile on your face and yell out “Morning!” as you do every day.  It is one of the highlights of my day and I hope someday you’ll understand just how much it means to me.

With all my love,
Mama

P.S. You know that big smile you get on your face with the batty eyes when you’re trying to get away with something?  Save that for Daddy.  I’m on to your tricks, little one.  After all, I’m pretty sure I used that on my Daddy a time or two. 😉

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger... Comments closed