We are a family of  musicians.  My husband is a musician, and so we’ve had several different instruments in our home since we’ve been married.  We don’t have any Fender PA Speakers but we do have a couple of guitars, a violin, and even a banjo.  My husband doesn’t play the banjo now but did teach beginning banjo lessons years ago.  We also have my piano which I haven’t played in ages.  When our son is home then he has a keyboard and he plays percussion, mainly steel drums, in college.   As you can see, my husband and our son are the real musicians in our family.

I loved the song, “Blessings,” the first time I heard it.  Apparently, people all over the world love this song, too, even in Japan after their last tsunami.   It’s only fitting that Laura Story received a Grammy Award for the “Best Contemporary Christian Music Song.”  Laura says that they “pray that any attention the song ‘Blessings’ receives will be used by God to bring hope to others who are walking hard roads. May God’s faithfulness be seen in this above all things.”

By the way, Laura and her husband are expecting their first child later this year.  That is exciting news, especially after all they’ve been through.  You can listen to the song and read the “Story Behind the Song, Blessings” to find out about this.

If you’d like to know even more, you can read the “Story Behind the Song, Indescribable” which was written by Laura Story and made famous by Chris Tomlin, and you can also hear Laura’s new song being played on the radio.

One great invention that I really appreciate is headphones!  Being a school teacher, we depend on headphones to keep our classroom quiet for learning groups while some students are utilizing the student computers and also the listening center where students listen to a prerecorded story and follow along in a book.  If we didn’t have headphones then we wouldn’t be able to do as much with the students as we do.

Music lovers enjoy having headphones to use while listening to their favorite songs.   Monster headphones are even available that are supposed to “capture the sonic detail” for the listener.   And headphones are great for traveling so everybody in the vehicle doesn’t have to listen to the same music if they don’t want to.  I definitely appreciate headphones!

We are a family with several musicians.  My husband took violin lessons starting at age eight and then taught himself to play guitar in college.  He actually makes money entertaining playing the guitar and singing, he’s that good.  Our son took lessons (and was in school band for eight years) and plays just about any type of percussion instrument but mainly steel drums now.  He did play the marimba in high school (very well, I might add, to the extent that playing his UIL solo at a college try-out earned him a several thousand dollar scholarship).

If someone was interested in taking lessons but didn’t have much time or wanted to learn at their own pace, there are beginner guitar lessons available online.  Violin lessons would need to be in person, though, because how one holds the instrument is very important as well as technique.  I’ve seen online drum lessons but not online marimba lessons.  Before anyone considers music lessons for themselves or their child, though, they need to remember that the desire to play and the commitment it takes are very important aspects of learning to play an instrument.

My husband is talented when it comes to music!  He plays the guitar and has even played a 12 string guitar before.   Right now, he has two guitars and a banjo tucked away in a closet somewhere that he played occasionally years ago.  Actually, he used the banjo mostly for a few music lessons and mainly taught guitar and violin lessons.  Oh, yes, I forgot to mention that he plays the violin.  The violin was his first instrument which he started playing when he was eight years old.  In fact, he is still playing on the same violin (the sound is beautiful) and plays in a local orchestra.

Our son is in college and has played in a school band for nine years, and he’s now playing in a steel drum ensemble group.  He is talented, too, and has won UIL State Music Awards in the past.  When he’s home, our son likes to play the piano in our living room (used to be my piano when I was growing up).  One advantage to having musicians in the family is that I get to listen to great music at home and at concerts!

For those of you who haven’t heard, I’m having a giveaway for the Fireproof movie which was the highest grossing independent movie of 2008, grossing over $33,000,000.  That’s awesome for an independent movie!
The movie revolves around Capt. Caleb Holt and his wife.  Caleb lives by the firefighter’s code:  “Never leave your partner behind,” and his job is to rescue others.  However, at home is a different story.  Caleb must face his toughest job ever…to rescue his wife’s heart.  What a beautiful love story!
This giveaway is open to all U.S. and Canadian residents.  Giveaway ends midnight CST, February 28, 2011. 

Here’s where to enter.

There’s something about books that’s appealing to so many people.  As an educator, I enjoying looking through children’s books and have a small collection from my years of teaching.   I especially look for children’s books with wonderful illustrations.  Being a visual learner myself, I think pictures can capture the imagination of a young child and help them to fully enjoy a story and want to look at books on their own.   And I can’t think of a better gift to give children than a book they will enjoy for a long time!