I sang my first solo before I started school. I have a minor in music.
Marshall plays bass and sightreads like a beast.
My brother’s in a band. A really good one, at that.
My parents are both singers.
My grandmother led the church choir for years and years.
Marshall’s dad and brother have been known to sing in a show or two.
His grandmother was a master pianist and harpist.
Point being: music is our thing.
We really, really love it.
So last week when my shy little 6 year old asked me if she could sing in big church, I nearly cheered.
I was surprised that she wanted to do it and told her she would have to talk to our minister of music on her own.
(I wanted this to be her thing. I would support her, but I wanted it to be 100% her decision.)
So she asked and he said yes and we found the accompaniment track from the musical she learned this summer.
And then she did it.
It took a little nudge when the moment came, but she did it!
And did it wonderfully.
I am so, so incredibly proud of her.
Pardon the shaky video. It was recorded by her very proud and excited big brother!
One of the things we’ve been studying this week is the Scientific Method. We’d gone over it several times and had done 4 different experiments, and yet they were having a hard time remembering some of the key words. So to help ourselves remember, we combined this with one of our summer list items we still haven’t finished – write & perform a play. (What? Summer’s not technically over for a few more weeks!)
We recorded the play and although they still say ‘hypop-es-sis’ instead of hypothesis and ‘experience’ instead of experiment, I think they really get it! It was fun making our movie and even more fun watching it. I hope that it’s something we’ll be able to look back on in twenty years and laugh all over again.
(I especially love Lydia’s look when Carter steals her line! I get that look from her a lot!)
We really love books at our house.
The big kids read alone and aloud.
The little kids ‘read’ out LOUD.
Actually as I type, Lydia is reading “Miss Nelson is Missing” to Alden.
(I could listen to her sweet voice reading forever, I think.)
Typically my girls are story buddies and my boys are story buddies.
But we recently had a chance to invite Cooper, one of Hallmark’s Story Buddies, to our house.
We all absolutely love Cooper.
We’ve been reading with him for a few weeks and the kids all still giggle when he responds.
The only downside is that sometimes Cooper has a hard time understanding Lydia.
Her reading voice is so small that I think he just can’t hear her all the time.
(The packaging does tell you that
Listen to this adorableness.
(Theirs, not mine.)
(And ignore the snapping.)
(And the disinterested toddler.)
(And the less-than-stellar videography.)
And as I was writing this, I discovered that there was a Cooper iPhone app!
We just uploaded it and WOW!
You can have the book read aloud by the pre-recorded voice and Cooper talks back to it
OR you can record your own voice (or maybe even a grand parent’s voice) and have it read the story!
Check it out:
Lydia’s already asked if we could get more books in the series!
Off to Hallmark!
I was once again able to work with Hallmark and they did send Cooper and his first book to our house for us to enjoy and review. However, the opinions above are 100% mine (well…ours). We super-duper love him and I know you’ll have fun with the whole line of their Interactive Story Buddies.
Carter has had a bike for 2 years. Twice I’ve tried to take the training wheels off and it just wasn’t working.
On a whim this past Friday, I decided it was time to try again.
For what seemed like hours we worked and worked and worked.
And then *click* the light bulb came on.
Once he got peddling down pat, he decided to try to turn and come back up the driveway.
That first go (or second or third or fourth go, actually) didn’t end so well.
So Lydia and I took chalk and drew a ‘road’ for him to drive on.
(Ya might want to turn your sound down a bit. Apparently I’m loud.)
Earlier this week I needed something to keep Lydia entertained and out from under my feet for a few minutes. So what better babysitter than my laptop, right? I turn the webcam to “RECORD” and let her see herself “on TV”.
Initially she was reading a book. In case you can’t understand her, she’s saying, “Boy, you in a heap a trouble.”
I took about 10 minutes of footage and did some really bad editing. The absolute best part(if you only watch one part, watch this part!) is the last 20 seconds. I have no clue what she’s doing(she doesn’t know either-I asked), but it’s really possessed-looking funny.
I know it’s not cool to make fun of your own kid…but seriously?? This is hilarious. At least it was to us! And is it me or at the beginning doe she sound like Olivia from The Cosby Show or what?
Not 100% wordless, but oh well. Lydia’s new “dance” is um…it’s…the same thing every 2 year old does beautiful and awesome. (Yes, that’s my crackberry dinging in the background.)
(Only the first time was an accident. And, yes, I do have problems with inappropriate laughter. I’m also aware I sound like a COPD patient in this video.)
But I do have something I promised you all back in November. Remember when I told you that my brother had written a song for my kids, and then we sang it at this little get-together at my grandparents? Anyway…I couldn’t transfer the footage from my camera to my computer because I needed a specific type of connecting wire(remember the “why is it $8 at Walmart at $30 everywhere else” debacle??).
Anyway, I finally ordered the wire from Wal-mart when I ordered Marshall’s birthday present(I hate to only order one thing…I feel like I’m wasting the shipping and handling fee when I do). It came in yesterday and I was finally able to get that song off my camcorder! Yay!
Now when I say not to expect much, I don’t mean the song. I love the song. And I think my brother is incredibly talented. Who is not incredibly talented is me with a video camera. I had it on a tripod across the room, so the view isn’t all that great. And apparently I thought we were doing a hula dance while singing…not sure what that’s all about. I’ll blame it on my spreading pregnancy hips. PLUS…I kind of didn’t know that we were singing that song on that day, and it’d been a while since I’d sung it. If you listen carefully, you’ll hear more than a few slips on my part. Once again…it’s my fault, not his.
So…without further adieu:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M6gmZ43wzc]
I’ve been promising a video section on this site for a while now. I got one video camera that I really like, but it’s not as portable as my new Flip Ultra video recorder. The picture isn’t as clear as my “good” camcorder, but it fits in the palm of your hand and I can easily carry it in my purse or diaper bag.
It’s no big surprise to any of you that I looooooooove to karaoke. I got my very own machine a few years ago for Christmas and I’ve never turned back. I’m not ashamed to say(although I probably should be) that I frequently karaoke all by my lonesome. I sing anything if you give me the words! Just give me that microphone and I’m in heaven. Apparently my kids feel the same way. Enjoy!
p.s. For those of you who really want to be like me, but don’t want to admit it to anyone else…you can actually karaoke in the comfort of your own home. All you need is a computer and this link. Once you get to “The Sims On Stage” karaoke room you can browse through the hundreds of songs they have available. If you want to hear/sing more than 30 seconds of any song you’ll have to register. If you get really brave you can even record yourself and put it out there for all the world to see.
