Play at Home Mom

How Many Christmas Songs Are There?

mom — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 20:04:20 +0000

I listen to the “All Christmas, All the Time” station in my area. I KNOW Christmas music. Give me the first few notes and I can give you the song.

I thought I was pretty smart until I realized that there really aren’t that many Christmas songs. The deal is the singers all do Christmas albums because they will get played year after year no matter what compared to a pop song that has a much shorter shelf-life.

Here is one list of the top 25 Christmas Songs: more can be found here: http://www.popculturemadness.com/Music/Christmasc.html

25.	Baby It’s Cold Outside - Ray Charles & Betty Carter (among others)
24.	Sleigh Ride - Carpenters or Johnny Mathis
23.	Christmas Wrapping - Waitresses
22.	Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) - U2
21.	Home For The Holidays - Perry Como
20.	Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney
19.	Jingle Bell Rock - Bobby Helms
18.	Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt (or Madonna)
17.	Most Wonderful Time of the Year - Johnny Mathis (or Andy Williams)
16.	We Need A Little Christmas - Angela Lansbury
15.	Do You Hear What I Hear? - Whitney Houston
14.	Happy X mas - John Lennon
13.	Frosty the Snowman - Jimmy Durante
12.	Winter Wonderland - Eurythmics
11.	Blue Christmas - Elvis Presley
10.	Last Christmas - Wham!
9.	Christmas Shoes -Newsong (or Alabama)
8.	Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town - Bruce Springsteen
7.	My Little Drum - Vince Guaraldi (Charlie Brown Christmas)
6.	A Holly Jolly Christmas - Burl Ives
5.	White Christmas - Bing Crosby
4.	Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy - Bing Crosby & David Bowie
3.	Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
2.	The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole
1.	Here Comes Santa Claus - Gene Autry

The Boys are Gone

mom — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:57:57 +0000

My husband and son are gone for the weekend, so it’s just me and the girly-girl.

Here are some things on my mind:

I laugh when I see conversion vans. Who decided that it was a good idea to put mini-blinds in a van?
Squirrels enjoy Thanksgiving left-overs, too. I watched my resident squirrels enjoy some of our pancakes (no syrup, of course) and he seemed pretty thankful!
R’s are important… just ask my daughter to say “fork” and you’ll understand
College football is soooooo much better than the pro’s. Sorry.
Family portraits are a workout. If you can manage to get a picture where everyone is smiling (and you can’t see beads of sweat), it is a miracle!

Ornament Play Time

mom — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:20:52 +0000

When I was a kid, one of my favorite Christmas memories was playing make-believe with all of the ornaments. That’s why I wasn’t quick to stop my son from doing the same thing. Sure, I tried to hang the more fragile or valuable ornaments out of his reach, but I left out the ones that were a little more durable for him. Before I knew it, he was animating each of them and making up his own stories.

I love it when I can see some of my favorite things come to life in my kids. It is one of those “full circle” moments.

Name That Tune

mom — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 18:58:28 +0000

My husband and I were listening to music the other night. Most of it was in my genre of “easy listening.” There was lots of Journey, Carpenters, maybe some Dave Matthew’s Band. My husband was impressed that after only a few notes of a song, I was able to guess it. He played one song though, thinking for sure that he had stumped me. He was beside himself when I was able to belt out at least the first half of this song from 1987. It wasn’t exactly in my usual genre…

Is Scatting Sexy?

mom — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 05:07:41 +0000

I like Jason Mraz’ song “I’m Yours,” but I can’t figure out if a guy started singing this song to me if I would find it attractive or kind of weird. In the middle he starts scatting a bit and I think that could make for an awkward serenade. Good song, just not sure of the audience.

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy

mom — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:23:34 +0000

Though our party isn’t for a couple of days, today is a special day for my little guy. He turned 4 today and I’m just so proud of him. He’s a sweetheart of a kid and to get to spend my time with him is a true gift. In his honor, I’m changing my picture above to give his little mug some airtime. :)

Funniest Thing Heard in My Car Today

mom — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:39:37 +0000

From the backseat, my son sang:

“I kissed a girl and I liked it”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs

Retro Mommy

mom — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:30:53 +0000

I love that many of the shows and toys I loved as a child are still available to my kids. Here are a couple of favorites:

-Scooby Doo: the fact that Scooby seems more popular than ever is astounding. We’re even having a Scooby 4th birthday party this year!

-Cabbage Patch Kids: we’re not into them yet, but 25 years later you can still get Xavier Roberts’ signature on your baby’s tush

-Snoopy’s Snowcone Machine: this didn’t work when it came out in 1979 (I kept turning and turning, but I eventually just drank the syrup with some melted ice!), but you can buy it this weekend at Toys R Us for $7.49

- Apparently they had to recall the old Easy Bake Oven. Why a child needs an oven, I don’t know.

-Clearly Barbies are still around, but until they make a new Silver ‘Vette so I can replace my old one, I will not be satisfied.

- Legos were one of my favorite, but until my kids morph into neat freaks, I just can’t have them in my house.

Do you have any favorite “oldies but goodies?”

Yes We Can!

mom — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:29:13 +0000

YES WE CAN!

HAPPY ELECTION DAY!

mom — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:33:24 +0000

I’m so excited that election day is here. I’ve been antsy all day (could be that free Starbucks coffee I had) and can’t wait to watch the results this evening.

It is great to live in our country where we can criticize, disagree, and protest. We can speak our minds and teach our children to value diversity. We can choose our religion. We can go to the libraries and read controversial books. We each have a vote to choose our leaders and it looks like this year we are all out there doing it! Good for you!!! Good for us!!!