Sing Along, everyone!

The sounds of music have been filling the air lately, and I don't mean the Julie Andrews musical (no disrespect intended--I totally visited most of the shooting locations for that movie, by the way. I have an awesome picture of the gazebo in which "Sixteen going on Seventeen" was sung. But I digress).
Yes, you may have figured out by the goofy reference above that it is Amy posting, not Tony. I have a couple glorious weeks of vacation from work, and so I am finally making a contribution at home. Or rather, a contribution online. My messy piled up clothes still attest to my limited contributions at home. Though I did lots of baking last week. I have a great recipe for peanut butter covered chocolate bon bons. YUM! Oops--digressing again.
So, music! While I married into musical talent, my musical appreciation was fostered in my youth and has only been growing over the years. And the past month has given lots of excuses for musical enjoyment. Read as I break down why Christmas time means great music (in no particular order):
#1) Christmastime means busting out the TSO--for those of you uninitiated, that's "Trans-Siberian Orchestra." Yeah, they play all kinds of rockin' Christmas music. In all seriousness, "O Holy Night" is, for me, more touching as a soaring guitar solo than when even an amazing soprano like Charlotte Church sings it. But it seems wierd to play as we drive around in March.
#2) Christmastime means Tony plays Christmas carols on the guitar while we gather 'round as a family to sing them. Yes, I sing too. Maybe that's less cause for rejoicing. But nothing beats the kiddies dancing around the living room in the light of the Christmas tree, belting out all five verses of "We Three Kings" and Aaron, like his brother did before him, actually becomes my Little Drummer Boy.
#3) Christmastime means Aidan's birthday (just a few days before) which, this year, meant a gift of music selected just for him from Aunt Sarah and Uncle Aaron. Aidan has been kind enough to share with the family.
#4) More gifts of music--Christmastime this year meant Annika getting a "real," full sized guitar from Papa and Vava.
#5) Christmastime meant watching Tony set up a stereo in his nephew Tony's room on Christmas Day. I forgot how cute he is when assembling stereo equipment!
#6) Christmastime means more time at home to play "Rockband" as a family--a gift last year from the Rediskes that has proven to be addictively good fun for the whole family. Furthermore, Santa knew how much we would enjoy "Rockband 2"--with more songs and the "no fail" setting--and so he got it for us for Christmas. Yeah!
#7) Christmastime meant my Mom getting out the big metal chimes and all the Pierce collective ringing them in sequence to create Christmas carol magic.
#8) Christmastime meant my loving husband reluctantly indulged me by bringing his guitar to family festivities and he and my brother played carols in a beautiful guitar duet.
#9) Christmastime meant Chris Rediske would be compiling "Honest Pete's" collection of the best music of 2008, which 2-disc set we just received in the mail today!
#10) Christmastime this year also brought "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" to our home in DVD form (having previously been enjoyed as a download). Tony and I laughed aloud watching "Commentary! The Musical." While the kids are still a bit young to enjoy the complete beauty of this dark comedy, they do like the music. Nothing quite like your five-year-old singing "A Man's Gotta Do What a Man's Gotta Do" from the back of your minivan, and then weeping when the song changes because he wants more Dr. Horrible.

Yes, Christmastime means good music. Let's ring in another year!

Shiny!

For all my fellow Browncoats (fans o' Firefly), you gots to check out this here link to the 'verse. http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/2008/11/map-of-the-verse/

YES WE CAN!

more later...

Can We?

Half of 16 Candles

Its hard to believe it, but several weekends ago we celebrated the 8th birthday of one Miss Annika Caston. It was an intimate event wherein there was the customary exchanging of gifts and consuming of frosting covered baked goods. And soon after said birthday, we all gathered together again for her baptism.

Thanks to everyone who attended and helped to make Annika's baptism an extra special event. Its funny, my own birthdays never seem to bother me or cause me to suddenly notice how fast time is speeding by, but watching how fast my kids are growing kind of freaks me out.

First Day at Preschool

No...not for me, silly, for Mr. Aidan.



Much to the relief of his apprehensive parents, the young lad took to preschool like a fish to water. His only disappointment seems to lie in the fact that he can't go for 10 hours a day. Oh, and he was a little saddened to learn that Mrs. Laurie doesn't actually live in her classroom anxiously awaiting the return of her students the next day.

Monterey, Hey Hey!

I thought I would share a few pictures from our most excellent weekend trip to my favorite place on this planet Earth. Thanks to my super generous parental units, we were treated to a stay in a hotel that was directly on the beach. Please to be enjoying the picture that I took looking out through our window upon awakening Saturday morning.

Not too shabby, eh? And then I wandered down the breezeway outside our room and came upon this....

And just for the sake of honoring symmetry here is the view turned around and looking back down the breezeway....

It is time to figure out how to move here...anyone got a million bucks I can borrow?