Random Facts 2

One of my favorite current CDs is Daughtry. M got it for his birthday and had it in the Suzuki for the first couple of months and then when my cousin got married in RD, we brought it into the van and its ben there ever since. My poor kids have to listen to my music right now rather than kid CDs. (As an aside - Do kids' CDs annoy the life out of anyone else out there? Eventually I tune them out, but would really appreciate any suggestions on ones that are not annoying! Some Veggie Tales ones are OK - I love the campfire one - but we got R the Worship VT CD for Christmas and I always want to throw the CD player out the window as its so annoying!)
As I was listening to it for the first time, hearing the lyrics I thought "Wow, this sounds a lot like lyrics that a Christian artist would sing." Sure enough, when reading the thank yous - he thanked his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ (I believe that it what the line was).
The sound is great, his voice is powerful and his lyrics are deep and I would highly recommend this CD to anyone.

Walrus Sounds

Ever since I saw 27 Dresses and they butchered the lyrics so badly I have been wondering the lyrics to this song.

Bennie and the Jets
Music by Elton John
Lyrics by Bernie Taupin

Hey kids, shake it loose together
The spotlight's hitting something
That's been known to change the weather
We'll kill the fatted calf tonight
So stick around
You're gonna hear electric music
Solid walls of sound

Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet
But they're so spaced out, Bennie and the Jets
Oh but they're weird and they're wonderful
Oh Bennie she's really keen
She's got electric boots a mohair suit
You know I read it in a magazine
Bennie and the Jets

Hey kids, plug into the faithless
Maybe they're blinded
But Bennie makes them ageless
We shall survive, let us take ourselves along
Where we fight our parents out in the streets
To find who's right and who's wrong

And for your viewing pleasure the clip from the movie...

Silly Songs

We have been listening to Veggie Tales - Silly Songs with Larry lately and I couldn't help wondering the other day during the Endangered Love song that if Larry was in love with Barbara Manatee the only way it would really work is if he were a SEA cucumber.

In case you wanted to listen to it yourself...

A Child's Christmas

OK, so I have had the most comments ever on the last post (I think). Apparently we all have favorite Christmas music from our childhoods and love to reminisce about them. So, because I love music and in the interest of trying to remember more music from my childhood and where little bits of song that are floating about my head belong, please share with me your childhood favorites. Read the comments on the last post if you want to see what's all be covered and you don't have to be original - we can share favorites. Hey, I loved hearing that Mark's favorite Christmas album when he was a kid was "Sunshine and Snowflakes." It's cool when you discover you have things in common like that with someone you have known a long time or with people who are new friends.
Oh, it doesn't just have to be Christmas music - any childhood music is great.
(A big thank you to the person who can tell me what Christmas album this line came from - "What can I give to the king, Give to the one who has everything. " That's all I can remember right now, but the tune is going through my head again and again and it's all Rob's fault! Grrr! :)

Sunshine and Snowflakes

Oh, I almost forgot that I got a CD in the mail yesterday that I ordered on Tuesday from http://www.sweet-music.com/. It is a Christmas CD of kids singing called "Sunshine and Snowflakes". We had it when I was a kid and actually did it as a Christmas production when I was in grade 5 or 6 (do you remember which one, K?) I played it right away last night and knew all the words and everything. It was written/produced in 1973 and the cool thing is that it sounds "new" still. I am so happy with it! I love being able to share music I loved as a child with R. Apparently my dad found some old records of our when we were kids and our friend R works with a guy who can transfer them over to CDs, so I am going to get more of them done. Cannot wait! I'm going to bring my Sunshine and Snowflakes over to C's tomorrow so we can listen while we Christmas bake! (I'm pretty excited about Christmas baking, can you tell!?! :)

It amazes me!

This morning I Googled "Sesame Street" to see if I could look up something for R and a link to a YouTube video for a beatboxing flute player came up. I had to check it out and R LOVED him so we took a look at some of his other videos. This is my favorite one!

If you cannot view it, click here to see it on YouTube! It's worth it!
It amazes me how people can beatbox and do other things at the same time. an you imagine the lungs this guy must have!

Memories and songs

Yeah, another post about songs. Though music has always been a big part of my life, it seems like it is taking on new, more significant meaning in the past month or so. You know how you go through phases where you listen to different songs, then move on and don't have so much time, or totally forget to even put any on at other times. I tend to like having some sort of background noise and music is awesome for that.
Anyways, different songs remind me of things... like where I was, like people I was with when I listened to it the most or even some what I was reading when I first heard it. There is a CD that I have by a group called Truth from the 90's that every time I listen to it, I think of Stephen R. Lawhead's book Taliesin, because I was reading it while we drove to BC to DH's parents. (By the way, we first thought to name our son R from reading Lawhead's books. There was a character in his Pendragon cycle named that. Just a piece of trivia there for you. Oh, and DH and Mark, the next book in the King Raven series, Scarlet, is coming out in September. Enough about books though, this post is supposed to be about songs.) Oh, a piece of trivia about Truth at the time of the album I had, "One", is that both Jody McBrayer and Jana Long of Avalon were a part of the group.
There are many songs that remind people or situations that we shared. Especially the missions trip that we went on in 2002 with another couple and six teenage girls. We had quite a soundtrack on that trip and any time I hear any of them, I think of the trip and the girls. Songs like "Speechless" by Steven Curtis Chapman, "God of Wonders" and "Voulez-vous" by Christina Aguilera, Pink, Lil' Kim and Maya (I know, I know, not exactly missions trip or church approved, but DH would turn the volume off and we would sing "Will you eat some Shreddies with me" instead of the real line at the top of our voices. Yeah, it was fun. :)
The song that most reminds me of that trip and for the longest time after we moved to Calgary neither DH or I could listen to it because it would make us miss Brandon and being in youth ministry SO BADLY was "Shackles" by Mary Mary. Now when I hear it I still think of all this, but it is sweet memories. Interestingly enough, all the girls that we took on that trip have been in ministry in one way or another. N is involved as a volunteer with the youth at GVCC, while K and her new hubby, D, will be running the student ministries there (he started on August 15th). E was involved in Outtatown, a program where they travel and do ministry and have studies all at the same time (very cool) and she went to South Africa in January for 3 months as well as travelling in western Canada for 3 months and doing ministry here too. K and V both ministered at Pioneer Camp for multiple years, as well as V going to Ethiopa on a short term mission for 3 months. K went to Thetis Island for Capenwray with N for a year. N will be returning in fall for a second year, and she has also been a counsellor and served at a Bible camp for various years. And the couple that we took with us now has a ministry to people from South America who have moved to Brandon. That trip changed all of our lives. We ended up in Calgary as a result. And I am not going to go into all the things that happened to us as a result, because this is a positive, thankful, praise to God post. (You can read about it here if you really want to.) I am so proud of all of these people and love them all so much. They will always have a special place in our lives. And the memories are fun. I have a DVD that DH made which I wanted the other day and laughed and cried. We all look so much younger and it's a little funny all the things you forget but come rushing back.
So, for your listening pleasure here is "Shackles" by Mary Mary - courtesy of YouTube.

If you are having difficulty viewing, you can watch it here.

Christmas Music

Christmas is definitely my favorite time of year. I love everything about it. How the lights make things soft and romantic, whether they are the outside lights or tree lights. How Christmas decorations make things seem cosy and homey. It'll be interesting this year what we can actually decorate with R the destroyer in the house. I won't not do it though, it wouldn't seem like Christmas then.
I love the spirit at Christmas - the giving and receiving, the love for your fellow man. How everyone seems to be more generous and loving at this time of year.
And I love the Christmas music... my favorites being:
1. Music of Christmas - Steven Curtis Chapman. SCC always has good lyrics and I especially love that I know all the harmonies to this CD!
2. Season of Love - 4Him. I love jazz and the arrangements on this CD are unique.
3. Joy! - Avalon. I love Avalon, there are some songs on here that I knew when I was a kid,
and others that are new. They make me think about my priorities for Christmas and all the year through. I love that about it. And you can dance to some of the songs! :)
There are more, but that is all for now.
Gotta go listen to some music... Christmas of course!

Sleep

What a precious, precious thing... even more so when you no longer get it in abundance, or even have to think about how much you get. The past year has been up and down with sleep. DH has had a hard time getting quality, quantity sleep since last April while he has been in this job search. He did get recommended some herbal pills that work amazing about 2 weeks ago and is now a rested man.
On the other hand, I could probably count the number of times on my hands that I have had a full rested sleep since I was 4 months pregnant with R. First it was getting up to go to the bathroom when I was pregnant, then it was feedings in the middle of the night. R is a pretty good sleeper when he has a bit of encouragement, so he will surprise us and sleep through solidly about half the time. Of course on these nights, I don't sleep through because my body is so used to getting up that I wake up anyway. Then I need to got to the bathroom, and I wonder if R is OK, and start thinking about everything that is happening in our lives, and what I need to do that day. It's usually about an hour before I fall back asleep. Then my luck is that R wakes up about half an hour later!
Last night I am unsure what was wrong with R, but he ate at midnight and then a hour later was awake. Usually he'll go back to sleep within 10 minutes, but he would quiet, then go full out for 30 seconds, and back and forth for awhile. So I checked on him and the blanket was over his head. So I put him back down, and he wailed. I finally picked him up and rocked him for 20 minutes, then tried to put him back down - he was asleep - and he woke and started crying. Finally he feel asleep. Of course, Mommy was wide awake by now and my bed was no longer warm on my side, so it took a little bit to get back to sleep.
The questions I have though, is why does DH sleep through the entire thing? When can I start teaching R to call out for Daddy when he wakes in the middle of the night?

Here is a song that I have loved for years. It is by Riley Armstrong and is called "Sleep."

looking straight at the light
it never used to be that bright last night
but it's a new day with fuzz in my eyes
alarm is still ringing when I open the blinds
how do these people do it
they are like driving around like there's nothing to it
I imagine it's like the medication their on
or probably just the coffee but
one thing is certain in life

and that is that today I'm going to eat cereal
I mean come on let's get our priorities straight
but before I know it I'm out the door late
just trying to catch some rat or some race
or something I'm not quite sure what it is
so for now I just best keep moving
and by nine a.m. my brain and my body
finally decide to meet
and we come to the same conclusion as yesterday
that I never get enough sleep

CHORUS:
sleep, no I never get enough
always waking up tired
sleep, no I never get enough
if I don't show up I might get fired
sleep, no I never get enough
always waking up tired
sleep, no I never get enough
if I don't show up I might get fired

they call it commuting
but I think they should call it intravenous
cause it's what I need every time I get
stuck behind a truck, just trying to turn left
just trying to turn left, why are you trying to turn left
why don't you park your silly cube van
hop in I'll drop you off

cause at this rate we'll both be late
but I'd rather be late than sitting here doing nothing
and by nine a.m. my brain and my body
finally decide to meet
and we come to the same conclusion as yesterday
that I never get enough sleep

BRIDGE:
sleep go on and sleep some more
sleep go on and sleep some more