Looking for a Good Christmas Album?

So, I heard an interview with the band members of Sixpence None the Richer on NPR about their holiday album, The Dawn of Grace. (Did you know they were a Christian band? Me either.)

I haven't bought a holiday album since 2004, but I loved the snipets I heard on the interview, which I couldn't find on npr.org.

If you like a little female indie rock, my guess is you'll enjoy this album. My favorites:
"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"--which reminds me, Nate, what about Emmanuel for a boy?--um, not that we're expecting. We just have a hard time agreeing on names. Have you met Luke/Thor?
"Some Children See Him"--if I can find the music, I think this would make a church Christmas program
"Riu, Riu, Riu"--even if I can't tell if she's singing in Portuguese or Spanish
"River"--because my friend, Heather, taught me to appreciate a little Joni Mitchell

Rockin' Out

When I had kids, I pictured us all listening to Pete Seeger, Cat Stevens, or at the very least, some Disney classics. Then again, I also pictured us never watching TV, making arts and crafts together, and eating fruits and vegetables with every meal, so this isn't the first bubble to pop.



Anyway, my kids prefer Billy Idol (courtesy of my mom buying Flushed Away--a darn good movie and an even better soundtrack). So, here are the boys rockin' out with their new haircuts. The video is 40 seconds of silly dancing. Then, they both leave, as if on cue. I'm not sure what happened there.

And, here's Asher singing "Mr. Lonely."


The slugs sing it, too, and they annunciate a little better.

We're Getting Ready for Broadway! Broadway! Broadway!...

...We’re getting ready for Broadway on the galaxy tonight!*

I don’t talk about my piano students much here, but I had a great group of kids this year. Really truly, I enjoy each and every one of them, even when they don't practice :)

This year, our recital theme was Broadway musicals. But, not just any Broadway musicals, I wanted these kids to learn about some old school stuff. None of this taking a movie and turning it into a musical, or taking a bunch of pop songs and turning it into a musical (although I do love Mama Mia). We did 1950’s and 1960’s musicals, which meant for some tricky fingering moves for these kids (of my 12, 4 have taken less than a year and 4 more have taken less than 2 years). They were good sports, and each did a great job!

Recitals are also 100 times less stressful when they're done with another teacher. I was happy to have a friend do a combined recital with me; Anna is so dependable and a great baker. Hopefully, next year, we'll have some cellists in the program, too.

*Kate and Sara are probably the only other two people in the blogging world (even Nate has forgotten this gem) who will get such a random reference to this song written by a choir substitute who taught us for 2 weeks and then, quit due to death threat phone calls he began getting. Ah, good times…