Music Mondays!

(SCROLL DOWN TO LINK UP AND TO ENTER THE FLASH GIVEAWAY)

MUSIC MONDAY!!!
Link Up Below! 

I usually only post one song, maybe two, for my Music Mondays
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But, in honor of Valentines day, I'm doing something a little bit different.

It's no secret that music is a big part of my life- I think it is for most people. And I tend to attach songs and their meanings to my memories of people and events, both good and bad. It's easy for me to admit that music is the very embodiment of love to me. Love now, love then, and the opposite of it.


You shouldn't be surprised, then, to hear that I have a song for each of my kids. I didn't consciously pick these songs. I didn't sit down and pour over a list of them or anything.  They just evolved. Any mom knows that there are many nights spent rocking a baby, kissing their fat, warm cheeks while you try to get them to sleep. Every mom knows that as your baby grows, you begin to see a personality, and you don't shape and mold it as much as you behold and enable it.

These are songs that I ended up singing to them the most, and eventually, I sang them every night. Until I had the epiphany that these songs BELONGED to my children, and to me.






What if I Loved You, by Joey Gian is my husbands and my wedding song. As he is my OFFICIAL Valentine, I had to include it. I sing it in the shower, in the car, and as often TO my KIDS as their own songs. I ab-so-LUTELY LOVE this song. It is on the top of my favorites list. SO romantic.





Lilly's Song: L.O.V.E. - I chose Michael Buble instead of the original singer, Nat King Cole. I love Nat, and I sort of feel like a cheater. But the truth is, I like Michael Buble more. ~Wince~

What can I say about Lilly? Sheesh, she's a little mini me. And she makes me feel good about everything because she dances around this place like it's a stage, literally SINGING to me "Mooooooommmy, you're the very beeeeeeeeest mommmy e-e-e-e-e-everrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!" - while my other three children are all about daddy- you know, when daddy's home, I'm chopped liver- Lilly is completely MINE. She loves that daddy of hers, but, when the others fight over who is going to hold his hand in the store, she's already linked arms with me.

I love my girl!





Mahone's Song: Fly Me To The Moon.

EVERYONE has done this song. Well, all the lounge singers. And ol' Blue eyes does it best. THE best!!! NEVER heard a better rendition....EXCEPT for MAYBE the one from the movie soundtrack "Down With Love" (OMG, FAVORITE MOVIE EVER!) where it's a mash up of Frank and some other girl doing a really retro version. VERY cool.

Mahone's over it now, but when he was very little, he was determined to be an astronaut. Everything was ALWAYS about the moon and Mars. It was darling. We also sang Nat King Cole's "It's Only A Paper Moon" to him a lot, but this is the one that stuck.

Mahone is so sensitive. He has so much energy, and so much crazy in him that daily, he makes me want to pull my hair out. I always thought that was the dumbest expression from mothers. Why in the world would ANYONE want to pull their hair out? Well, Mahone solved that mystery for me. LOL. But he is SUCH a little gentleman. I look at him, and I know he'll be a wonderful, compassionate, sweet, and sensitive man. And I would LIKE to take the credit, but I don't think I can. That boy has it built into his very genes. He is my hardest worker. He is a storyteller, and can tell a tall tale to fool ANYONE, but he has NEVER lied to me, not once. He has a smile and a giggle to light up the whole wide world- and he has come up with the best one liners that I have EVER heard from a kid. He has me cracking up daily!




Scarlet's Song:  When It Comes To Love by  Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

I am in LOVE with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. FOR REAL. I was a total "Swing Kid" in high school, and spent many a weekend at the local dance club "The M.A.C" (Murray Arts Center) which, sadly, closed last year. The end of an era. Of course, when I sing it, since I'm a girl, I say "I'm just a small town girl with a handfull of dreams...."

Scarlet, oh how I love her. She's a typical 3rd child, I think. Right now, I spend a lot of time alone with her, because she is at home while the older two are at school, and Teague still sleeps a lot. What an ANGEL she is! She is quiet and sweet and polite...until the older two come home, and then she's hell on wheels. That girl, from the moment Lilly and Mahone walk in the door, she is picking on them like there's no tomorrow. She makes me laugh, she is responsible for every single one of my gray hairs, and she is independent, sassy, and such a REDHEAD!!!! So beautiful, so sweet.





Teague's Song: Beyond the Sea, and The Way I Am - I put up The Way I Am by Ingrid Michaelson a couple of weeks ago, so I'm putting up Beyond the Sea this time. Teague is still little and his song may change. I don't have a reason to be singing this song to him. I don't know why I started singing it, it just felt like a soft, but upbeat song late one night. But I'm leaning toward The Way I am more...something about the lyrics "sew on patches to all you tear" and "if you are chilly, here take my sweater"- such a lovely song for a mom to sing to her little boy.

Teague. What to say about him. Oh dear. He's the cutest thing this side of the universe. Already, this child is careful. He is gentle and specific. He loves trucks, and light sabers and pretending to sword fight with his brother. He loves our dog, Hunter- well, any dog at all really. And he sure loves his mommy. He is a happy thing, all the time, and always has a smile for me. My cuddly little man, just makes me think everyone should have one of him. He's the answer to world peace.

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February's Weekdaily Flash Giveaways




ANNOUNCEMENT: READ FIRST:

Okay, friends. It's time for a chat.

 I have been doing giveaways for a grand total of about 3 months. At first, this was working really great for me! My numbers got up pretty high on my twitter, google+ and facebook accounts.

And then I noticed something. The number of visits I had to my blog PER DAY were going through the roof! Multiplying! BUT the people who were actually READING what I have to say was declining. I know, because  the comments that were made on a daily basis have declined by about 75%! (And my numbers aren't growing much now, because most of the people who enter already follow me.)

So, since I do about 2-3 giveaways per week (and have been doing these daily flash giveaways for 2 weeks now.) I added "Leave a comment" as a way to earn an entry.  For a day or two, this got my comments back up, but the majority simply stated "thanks for the giveaway!" - You know, you're all very welcome!!!!

The problem is, that's really hardly very genuine or thoughtful, though. I feel like I have much more provocative and wonderful stuff here on my blog than "thanks for the giveaway!" In truth, I feel a bit discouraged. Especially since, after a few days, the comments went BACK DOWN.

If you do giveaways on your blog, you know how long it takes, and how much work it is. If you don't do giveaways, trust me when I say that it takes a TON of time, sacrifice, and, when I do these sweater giveaways and these ring giveaways, MONEY- out of my own pocket.

So, since my Rafflecopter hasn't seemed to make it clear, I'm posting my own disclaimer: ALL ENTRIES ARE MANDATORY. Every one must be done, or the entrant is disqualified. That means comments, follows, and likes. (I WILL let such things as google+ or my linky friends follow pass here or there because I know not everyone has those accounts - BUT they are worth a lot more entries than others BECAUSE I know it's a pain to create an account.) PLEASE understand that I want these giveaways to work for everyone. You get your entries and your chances to win AWESOME products. And I need to be more than just a free for all blog that doesn't get looked at beyond what's free.

Thanks so much! Good luck to everyone! 

Ring size 8-8 1/2

a Rafflecopter giveaway



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Thursday Writer's Prompt

Before I get right into things, I have a few reminders:

1. PLEASE do me a favor and check out http://www.spoonsforscarlet.etsy.com/ and read my daughter's story, then peruse the many beautiful, hand decorated spoon ornaments and help me donate THOUSANDS to Primary Children's Hospital!

2. Notice the poll on the right sidebar and VOTE for next month's book!

3. Speaking of the book club, we're reading The Witch Of Blackbird Pond this month, and I promise you'll love it! It's not too late to join in!

4. Please vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs by clicking on the button on the left sidebar- that's all you have to do! One click! Thanks!

So, as an avid writer with pretty clear cut memories who thinks in complete sentences, when I look at Mama Kat's list of prompts each Wednesday, I usually know exactly what I want to write about. This time, though, it was harder to decide. I'm going to have to make comments about more than one today.

1. If you had to relive a day in your life, what day would it be?

Assuming this day would be a day that I could change, I'd go back to September 21, 2009 and move the television off of the dresser, as I had intended to that very morning. Then my little Scarlet would never have been in that situation.

As far as reliving a certain DAY without being able to change it? Well, that's really hard, because I don't really remember a specific day that was the best day of my life. I remember some really spectacular summers, some excellent trips and some stellar school years. I remember classes that I was consistently excited to go to throughout the entire school year. I remember some wonderful intimate moments that happened at the end of some really rotten days, and days that started out the best ever, but ended in tears. I just don't think that I can narrow my life down that way.

Here's a question though- does it make me a bad wife that my wedding day was not the greatest day of my life? Honestly, I don't remember much of it. It was a haze. I was stressed out, I was nervous. I didn't really like my dress, I really hated my botched hair cut, my new husband's old car ran out of gas and wanted me to help him push it 5 blocks to the gas station- IN MY WEDDING DRESS. My photographer was kind of a flop, and they were short on corsages for my party. My reception was positively lovely, and that made up for a lot. But really, the whole day was just a nightmare.

2. When do you first imagine yourself wishing you were older or bigger?

Well, honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed my youth. I was born in July and that meant that when I went to school, I was the youngest in my class for most cases. I was also the smallest. Really, I'm pretty much STILL the smallest, standing a whole 5 feet 3 inches tall (beats the crap out of my mom who's 4'11") and I weigh about 112. Still, I reveled in my youth, and was proud of being petite. I actually cried when i turned 25 and I've cried every year since. I'm 27 now. I feel like an old fogey. Really, though, I was boy crazy, which brings to mind the ever classic song "Wouldn't it be Nice" by the Beach Boys, I never really wanted time to just 'hurry up'. I DO, however, remember two incidents where I wished I were older or bigger.

The first time, I was in second grade, and i had brought my little friend, Patty, home for a play date. We were playing dress up, and she already had budding breasts. I was only 7. She was 9 (as I was on the younger end of the second grade spectrum, she was on the older end.) I stuffed toilet paper into my dress and made myself some 'girls'. Little did i know the irritation they'd be when I suddenly grew them 7 years later.

The second time, I was lying in bed at 9:00 pm- very abnormal for me- on prom night when I was a sophomore in High School. Being young, I was only 15 until late summer that year, and on top of that, being Mormon, I was unable to date until I turned 16 years old, so even if I had been asked (which I wasn't) I couldn't have gone. I am a still a little bitter about that whole incident.

I was going to write about my routine as well, but it's late, my husband's wearing a kilt, and we're watching Far and Away (one of our many traditional St. Patrick's Day movies.) So, I have some makin' out to do.

Night, folks!