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The Secret of Happiness – Susan Egan

Posted on November 16, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Have you ever had a moment when you hear someone sing that you get chills. You just know that something magical has happened and you are lucky enough to be listening to it. That was my feeling when I was at Walt Disney World in March and blessed to experience a private concert with Susan Egan and Georgia Stitt.

There must have been some major Pixie Dust in the room that day for these two brilliant women. After leaving the event, Susan and Georgia started to work on their new CD The Secret of Happiness which was released today.

I received an advanced copy of The Secret of Happiness to review and our entire family has been listening to it non-stop. Yes, my children have let go of their “kids” music and beg to listen to Nina’s Mom or Belle as they refer to Susan as we ride around town. When I told the boys that there was going to be a video for “Nina Doesn’t Care” (our favorite song), they could not wait to see it. They wondered if Susan would be dressed up like Belle. Why you ask? Well, Susan was Belle in Beauty in the Beast on Broadway and received a Tony Award nomination for her fantastic portrayal of the Disney princess. Susan Egan IS a Princess in the eyes of my family. Of course, I wondered how Ariel would be shown given Nina’s love the Little Mermaid.

The Secret of Happiness was produced and music directed by Georgia Stitt. The combination of her musical brilliance with Susan Egan’s versatile and breathtaking voice are phenomenal. When I listen to the CD, I get chills, am inspired, want to hug my children, and know that I am not alone in the parenting world.

For laughs and to confuse my children, I love to listen to “Momsense”. I actually captured Susan singing this at Disney on video, so it is even a little more special to me thanks to this.

Picking just one favorite song to talk about would be impossible. The first song on the CD “The Me of the Moment” is my current morning anthem. I put it on in the car on the way to taking the kids to school and it gets us pumped. The lyrics by Georgia Stitt hit home and remind me that it is ok to be going down a different path in life than I expected. Yes, many of us do not expect the journeys that we head into. Getting distracted, dreams moving away, stupid decisions – they happen and it’s ok.

As I mentioned before, “Nina Doesn’t Care” is our family favorite. For my boys – they are in awe that a little girl has a mommy that wrote a song about her. To this mom, it talks about the reality of motherhood. Our kids often do not know what we do. To them we are Mom and nothing else really matters to them. Just the other day, my four year old told me I can’t be a teacher. Since he has never seen me go off to teach, it can’t be true. To JSL, I am the one that plays games, takes pictures, helps him when he is sick, and does the things Mom is supposed to do. Of course, at the end of the day, a hug from our kids makes it all right.

I can not do this song justice and want to share the beautiful video that was released today. As Susan said: “My hope is that, in honor of Thanksgiving, the story of this song will help busy parents like us will stop and take stock of what is truly important and how fortunate we all are!”

I do not have words to express just how much I adore this video. It took the song that I fell in love with in March and brought it to life. I can not wait to share it with my boys when they get home from school today. I know they will love the pokes at Ariel and the animated items within it thanks to Duncan Studios who animated Susan’s character Meg in Disney’s Hercules. Yes, this Disney family is in love!

I could go on and on, but I think listening to the CD is the best way to truly experience the talent that is Susan Egan. The CD is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and also on LMLMusic.com. Thanks to Susan, if you purchase the CD from LMLMusic, you can receive a 20% discount by putting MOMBLOG into the discount code box at check out.

A huge thank you to Susan Egan for reaching out and sharing this beautiful CD.

Disclosure: I received this CD complimentary of Susan Egan and Levity Entertainment Group in order to facilitate a review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed are my own as a huge fan of Susan Egan and Georgia Stitt.

Categories:
Disney DisneySMMoms looking back me moments Music Product review

Percussion Practice

Posted on October 21, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

In third grade, kids at NHL’s school are allowed to sign up to play an instrument. When the band options came home, NHL immediately declared that he wanted to try the drums. Of course, I asked people what they thought about different instruments. I grew up taking piano lessons since we inherited the piano from my Nana and Papa. TechyDad took violin and my brother took clarinet for a short time.

NHL was the first person to sign up for percussion, so he was guaranteed a chance to try this instrument group. So far he loves it. We still need to work out a practice schedule at home, but we get it in as much as we can.

NHL is taking practice time very seriously. He loves to explain to us about the different notes, rests, and other items. Now if only we could figure out the best way to haul in his precious cargo. As I noted in another post, his percussion set is quite large and bulky.

Percussion Set Goes Home

So my question to you this week is inspired by NHL’s new music lessons:

What instrument did you learn to play as a child or adult? If you never took lessons, what would you love to try one day?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #174

Categories:
Aloha Friday fun looking back Music photos school TechyDad

My Disney Drummer Boy

Posted on October 8, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL,

Back when school started, you came home with a band sign up sheet. I had forgotten that this is the year that you can begin to take lessons in school. When I asked you what you wanted to play, you did not hesitate and said drums. I filled out the form and asked the band teacher a quick question. He e-mailed me back and told me that you were the first to sign up for percussion, so you were good to go.

We rented the set to see how you would like this before we invested more money. After about a week, your percussion set arrived at school. This bag is big and VERY heavy. Here is a photo of the day it arrived next to the sliding door in my car.

This week, you had your second lesson and are in love with it. I am hoping your interest will continue. We need to set a routine for practice time when JSL will leave you alone to play. The best part was that Nana and Papa brought you a special gift on their return from Walt Disney World. They called me to see what I thought and I said it seemed fun and very different. Here you are with them:

Yes, while at Animal Kingdom Nana and Papa saw drum sticks with Mickey animal prints on them. You loved them and immediately asked to test them out. We are waiting to do that until after Yom Kippur. Then, we will break out your items and let you put on a show. I look forward to listening to you show your musical side and can not wait to see how this continues.

Love,

Mommy

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If you want to participate in Dear Kid Saturday, head on over to Cutest Kid Ever by clicking on the button below.

Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday Disney family milestone Music nhl photos school

Happy New Year 5772

Posted on September 29, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

As I am off celebrating Rosh Hashanah with my family, I wanted to share the new Rosh Hashanah video from The Maccabeats. The Maccabeat’s Candlelight video went viral last Chanukah and still has people talking about it. Here is Book of Good Life:

Here is another fun video for the holiday. This is Blow Shofar by The Shlomones (aka The What’s Up Band).

Be sure to have some apples and honey to celebrate a Sweet New Year.

Categories:
fun holidays Music video

A Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Kind of Day

Posted on April 29, 2011 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Imagine sitting on a beautiful beach front eating dinner with your family and good friends. Let’s say it may be at the Grand Floridian Resort at Walt Disney World during the Good Times Get Together during the start of a magical conference weekend. Suddenly, these gentlemen appear at your table:

They want to know what song you would like them to play at your table! Yes, this really happened back in March at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration. Lucky for us, Resourceful Mommy’s daughter selected an amazing song and I captured it on video. Sit back and enjoy:

So my question for you this week:

If you had been asked what Disney song for the band to play, what would it have been and why?

Disclosure: Although we paid for our own trip to Disney World, we were given an incredible deal thanks to Disney. The sweet conference fee included 3 nights at the Grand Floridian, several meals for the entire family, 7 day park hoppers for everyone, conference/meals for me and some other items to take home. Also note that Disney never asked us to blog about this event. As a long time Disney fan, it is my pleasure to share my experiences from the event.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.