"Mama's Music"

Lately, I've been enjoying housework and driving around from errand to errand more than usual and this is because Anouk has been requesting "mama music" lately instead of her usual kids' music. Hooray! I am only too happy to hook up my iPhone and oblige her. One because there are only so many times you can listen to Dan Zanes before you want to throttle him.

Two, because one of my favorite memories from growing up is going through a big stack of records with my dad and listening to his favorite songs, which became favorites for me, too -- Pure Prairie League's "Amie," Stephen Stills' "Four and Twenty," even some Hall and Oates ("I Can't Go for That" is a quality song, I don't care what you haters think). So it's especially nice to share some of my favorites with Anouk.

I made a Spotify playlist of some of the songs A. and I have listened to the most over the past few weeks/months, the ones that will always bring me right back to Summer 2013 whenever I hear them in the future. I left off "Blurred Lines" which is probably THE official song of this summer in our house because I am actually really sick of it (I'm sorry Robin! I still love you!) But the rest I could listen to over and over -- in fact, I am now, as I write this. :)

Please note that as these are not songs FOR kids, only songs liked by my one particular kid, I can't verify that they don't have some inappropriate lyrics. Luckily my kid doesn't understand ALL THE WORDS yet and so it hasn't been an issue in our house. But be forewarned. 
Pix are from our walk around the Hague yesterday with friends. I love one with the gaggle of girly ducks all together so much. I like to think they were gossiping and really letting loose while their mallards had the ducklings for the day. 
Have a great weekend!

Mixtape Valentines

Anne and I have a Valentines Day party tomorrow to look forward to! Over the weekend, we sat down to put together our Valentines. We thought just a simple card would do, no candy, nothing edible -- because there's going to be enough sweets to go around, we didn't want to add to the sugar rush. 

I broke out the stamps and we had a good time inking up our paper, but our Valentines just didn't seem as special as they could be. While digging through my craft box for extra glitter, I came across a stack of CDs and had a flashback to the 1990s. I thought: why not make each of A.'s friends a Valentines mixtape?*

Anouk was in charge of stamping the covers (and her face, and hands, and stomach, and the placemats...) while I was in charge of scrolling through our music library to pick the best kid-friendly Valentine-themed tracks. Anouk was surprisingly helpful on this point: for her favorites, she bobbed her head like crazy; if I picked a song she didn't like, she let me know with a resounding "NO, mama." 

Finally we had a playlist of the five head-bobbingest songs burned to disc** and it was time to put it all together. I used the CD cover insert as a template and cut our stamped cover papers to size. Then we slid them into the case and used a Sharpie to write "Love Anouk" on the CD itself.  

Et voila! A truly rocking Valentine for a truly rocking Valentines Day. 

*OK so, technically, they're mix-CDs, but that doesn't sound as cool as mixtape, does it?

**The songs on our CDs were purchased through iTunes and burned to disk on an external CD drive for noncommercial use. In summary, no recording artists were harmed in the making of these Valentines.

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What are some of your favorite romantic, Valentines-worthy songs? I love pretty much anything from the WWII era, especially this song by the Kay Kyser Orchestra. 

SweetART at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art

Last Saturday evening, we went to the SweetART family night at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach and had a great time. In addition to amazing interactive art exhibits, there was food, crafts, live music, kiddie spa treatments (courtesy of the Klumsy Moose), and even an open bar for the parents (score!)

Anne and James and I attended the event with our friend Sarah and her Baby A. I think it's safe to say that we all had a blast. We decorated heart-shaped cookies, made Valentine's cards for friends, and then explored the art gallery a little. Some of the things we enjoyed seeing included some really cool avant garde jewelry, a custom Vans exhibit, and even a few of our old favorites from the Chrysler!

But best of all was probably the ArtLab, "a space of activity and exploration" for children of all ages. Anouk and A. spent a lot of time sticking felt shapes onto different surfaces, playing with chalk, and jumping onto the giant beanbags that littered the gallery.

After a while in the ArtLab, we were called back to the main courtyard by the strains of the C-Shells, who did a live performance that had most of the room up and dancing. At the end of the set the lights came up and we left with our goody bags. But I know we'll be back again soon.

The next Family Fest at MOCA will be held on Feb. 24. And Feb. 21 is Pre-K Art Day! Will you be there?

Rise Up Singing

Anouk has loved listening to music almost from the beginning (and I do mean all the way back to the beginning -- when I was pregnant with her, she would kick and roll in my belly every time I listened to music.) Lately, she's become a fan of singing, too. So almost every day now I find myself breaking out either the guitar or ukulele for an impromptu sing-a-long. In true toddler fashion, A. wants to hear the same songs over and over and over again. She could happily sit and listen to "So Long, Farewell" and "I Wanna Be Like You" on repeat for hours. 

But me...not so much. In fact, both of those songs are starting to make me want to pull my hair out though I do love them deep down. Yesterday, I'd finally had enough and thought we should try and freshen up our repertoire, so I went to the bookshelf and pulled down one of our old-standbys, Rise Up Singing. 

Rise Up Singing is a must-have resource for any musical family. It's a famous group-sing songbook dating back to the 1970s -- if you ever went to Scout camp or Bible School you might remember a copy being passed around from hand to hand. Over 1,200 songs ar efeatured in the book, which is devided into categories like, "America," "Hope," "Rounds," "Gospel" (and even "Ecology"). The songs are mostly folk songs, sea chanties, and old ballads, but there are some hymns as well as pop songs of the 1950's and '60s -- the only criterion for inclusion that the authors had when putting together the book was that all of the songs must represent "a world where everybody shares and no one is ostracized." 

Best of all, a chord chart is provided for each song, and by and large, they are easy enough for even a beginner musician to master. 

We have found so many beloved songs in Rise Up Singing. Every time we page through it, we find another gem. Yesterday afternoon we spent the afternoon singing almost every song in the "Sea Chanties" section. 

Rise Up Singing runs about $30 on Amazon, even used, but it's worth every penny, in my opinion. (The Norfolk and Chesapeake public libraries have copies if you want to take it for a test drive before buying.) In the meantime, here is a playlist of some of our favorite songs we've found in the book voer the years (you'll need to download Spotify to listen, if you don't already have it).

Enjoy, and HAPPY WEEKEND!

Fischer Sundae Puppets

This past Friday, Anouk and I were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with the Fischer Sundae Puppets at the Virginia Beach Central Library. The FSP is a nonprofit organization run by a fabulous husband-and-wife team, based out of Chesterfield, who put on shows at libraries, schools, and other locations throughout the community to promote a love of reading. The theme the day we visited was "Amazing Dreams," and with the help of Noah Goodbook, the Billy Goats Gruff, and Strega Nona, Mr. and Mrs. Fischer encouraged all of the kids in the audience to use their imaginations to make their dreams come to life.

The auditorium was packed -- some advice, if you're planning on going to a future show: get there early if you want the best seats up front and center (although sitting off to the side offers a glimpse of the man literally behind the curtain, which is kind of cool and behind-the-scenes). Our crowd ranged in age from infant to elementary school aged, but the bulk of the audience seemed to be energetic toddlers. Luckily, the Fischers have gotten into a groove of managing audience rowdiness pretty smoothly. They also encourage audience participation, which was just about the funniest thing ever, a crowd of babies, children, parents, and grandparents all hollering out a resounding Moos and Quacks when prompted by our puppet friends.

A nice touch was the DIY packet they handed out at the end of the show, with a paper bag and a list of folk tales, tips, and tricks to inspire a puppet show of your very own. I  fully intended to post pictures of the puppets that Anne and I made when we got home, but we (I) obviously lack the talent of the pros and our "Baby Anne" puppet ended up looking pretty creepy and deranged, so I will spare you all. But we sure did have fun playing with her.

You can read more about the Fischer Sundae Puppets here or follow them on Facebook for a list of upcoming events.

Big Bands on the Bay

To reward ourselves after a long, hot day of unpacking and settling in to our new house, James, Baby Anne and I picked our tired bones up and went to Big Bands on the Bay at Ocean View Beach Park on Sunday night.

The series runs all summer long, featuring a different band every week. This week it was The Continentals, who offered an upbeat mishmash of big band interspersed with beach music, oldies, and classic country western. The pavilion was crowded with dancers, ranging from beginner to advanced, folks were barbecuing on the boardwalk, and the setting sun and the bay made a picturesque backdrop to the festivities. 

Baby Anne was a little overwhelmed at first by how loud it was, and protested every time we tried to set her down. I think she was a little afraid she'd be run over by some of the jitterbugging couples. (To be fair, it wasn't an irrational fear--I did have to bob and weave a little to get that shot, above, with my camera). She did deign to dance with her daddy--but once we moved away a bit from the hubbub--she let loose. That girl can cut a rug for sure.

It was just the kind of evening that we'd been looking forward to ever since we'd first started talking about moving back to Norfolk. A laid-back atmosphere, friendly faces, a sea breeze, and the waves whispering, "Welcome home." 

It was just right.