Happy Birthday To Me!

As you know, I Love all things Broadway! I've seen, I'm sure, over 20 shows in my 40+ years. :) But, my Ultimate Favorite Broadway Show of all time, is by far, Les Miserables. I've seen it twice!

And yes, Today, Christmas Day, is my Birthday! And the day Les Mis, the Movie was to Premier! I was so Excited! All I wanted for my Birthday was for my Family all to go with me to see the Movie!

We've never before gone to the Movies on Christmas Day. A co-worker of mine, who used to work at a Theater told me Christmas Day was one of the Busiest days of the year! (Who Knew?) And the earlier we could go the better. Good to know! 

My son, Kyle got me the Movie Soundtrack for my Birthday as well. My kids have never seen the Play, (yet!) but they knew the Music. (They are after all, my kids!) :)

 

We went to the 11am showing. We got there early and the Theater was pretty full! By the time it started, it was really full! But when we came out, the Place was packed, with long lines waiting to get in to see it! So glad we went early!

A Manager there took a picture of us in front of the Movie Poster and wished me Happy Birthday! :) I am truly Blessed with my Family. And what a great Birthday!

 

The Movie was so good. With a Great cast. I knew the others could sing, but was really impressed with Russel Crow. There's a lot of Oscar Buzz already, and I really Hope Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman, along with the Movie as a whole win big!

From Our Family To Yours:

May Your Day's Be Merry And Bright . . . 

Merry Christmas!

Give Me Five: My Favorite Christmas Albums.

 Okay, so I've shared my Favorite Christmas Songs, 

but how about my Favorite Christmas Albums? 

There are some Great ones out there: 

1. Aly & AJ

We got their Album when my girls were younger 

& Aly & AJ were on the Disney Channel

But it is seriously one of our Favorites! 

The Original song: Greatest Time Of Year is Great, we sing all the time. 

And their version of The Little Drummer Boy is the Best One Ever!

It Totally Rocks! 

 2. Sheryl Crow

 Love her Voice any time, but her Christmas Album is great. 

I'm not Catholic, but I am in Love with her song The Bells Of St. Marys!

 3. The Beach Boys

 I Love Christmas & I Love the Beach, 

So what better way to combine the two

 than The Beach Boys Christmas Album?! 

It's so Fun! 

 4. Glee

 I Heart Glee! 

They do almost every song they sing Better than the originals!

And the Christmas songs are no exception!

 5. Point Of Grace

 Saw them in concert back in the day! 

Their Harmony's are out of this world Beautiful!

 Runner Up: Relient K 

You know it's hard for me to stop at 5! :)

Relient K's is one of the funnest Christmas albums out there!

You gotta hear their take on A Partridge In A Pear Tree!

  

And I really wanted to include Hanson, 

but I knew you'd laugh at me!

But I Love their Christmas Album! (Don't tell anyone!) 

Give Me Five: Favorite Christmas Songs

 It is no secret I start listening to nothing but Christmas Music usually starting before Thanksgiving (Sometimes starting right after Halloween!) & not ending until after New Years! It used to drive my Family crazy, but now they've come to expect (and accept) it! :) I LOVE all Christmas Music, but I do have some favorites! And they are . . .

1. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

"From now on our Troubles will be far away!"

My all time favorite! 

My Family knows that it does not matter 
what time of year I might pass away,

but this song will be sung at my Funeral! :) 

2. Silver Bells  

"It's Christmas Time in the City!"

And this City Girl Loves it! 

3. We Three Kings 

I've always said the Chorus was written about me:

"Star of Wonder, Star of Light,

Star with Royal Beauty Bright!" :)

4. Silent Night 

"Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Sleep in Heavenly Peace!" 

I used to sing this to my Babies in the middle of the night, 

when trying to get them to sleep

and now sometimes sing it to myself when I can't sleep! :)
 

5. Where Are You Christmas?

From Faith Hill for the Grinch Soundtrack

"The joy of Christmas
Stays here inside us"

The only Christmas Song I've never really liked is George Michael's Last Christmas. But in recent years it's been remade by Glee & Taylor Swift (among others!) and I don't mind it so much anymore. So, there you have it! My Favorite Christmas Songs! Are there Christmas Songs you just love (or hate?) Do Tell!

Give Me Five! Favorite Christmas Movies!

As I'm sure you all know I am a Christmas Junkie! I LOVE all things Christmas! My Hubby even made my Give Me Five Logo Christmasy for me! :)

Christmas Movies are the Best Movies! So this was painstakingly hard for me to try to pick my top 5 favorite Christmas Movies! The first 3 I knew right away, but then I have at least 6 others I had to try to narrow down to fill my last 2 spots!

1. Sleepless In Seattle

Is not only my Favorite Christmas Movie, 

but is my Favorite Movie of all time! 

2. It's A Wonderful Life

 Probably The Best Christmas Movie EVER made!

3. The Family Man

Very Sentimental for me

as it's the last Movie I ever saw in the Theater with my Sister

before she went to Heaven. 

 

 4. How The Grinch Stole Christmas

A Childhood favorite brought to life!

5. Jingle All The Way

Reminds me of when my Boys were little

and we ran all over looking for just the right Poser Rangers! :) 

and

Favorite Animated Christmas Movie: 

Santa Claus Is Comin to Town

Honorable mentions, I had a hard time not choosing, because I love them all as well: The Santa Clause, Serendipity, The Family Stone, White Christmas, Elf, A Charlie Brown Christmas, The Holiday, The Polar Express, and the Movie we probably quote more than any other: A Christmas Story! :) And just to prove my love of Christmas Movies, in years past I did The 12 Days Of Christmas Movies here on the Blog. You can see those by clicking here and here. What are your families Favorite Christmas Movies you watch year after year? 

Christmas Creative

My Daughter Lexi had seen a tiny Christmas Tree on sale for Black Friday, she really wanted to get it & put it in their room. Since money is tight right now, she didn't want to ask us for it so she took what little money she had & literally scrounged around the house, even finding pennies to roll to get enough money for this little tree. We went to Target to get it & she said do you think the cashier will be mad I'm paying with ones, a dollar coin & rolled pennies. Our cashier was a young guy & in all my Motherly wisdom, I told her, Nope, he'll think you're cute! And who was right? (as always!) Me! She said sorry to him & he said "no problem, I do it all the time too, and my register was getting low in pennies." :) Then when I stepped up he said "Are you paying with penny rolls too? :) I wasn't.

She took her tree home & we had set aside some of our small ornaments as we were decorating our Christmas tree for her little tree. And she asked me for some of the pearls we put on our tree every year. She found an Angel she had for the tree topper. It looks so cute in the girls' room. Now they sleep under Christmas lights every night!

And Erica, who is very crafty wanted to make a wreath for our front door. She found pinecones & went with a Music theme. Using some musical notes & instrument ornaments that we had. It is so cute. We love it! Zach came home one night & said "You guys bought a Wreath! I like it!" and was surprised to learn Erica had made it!

Yes, my girls come by their Love of Christmas honestly. They are after all my daughters. But this craftiness does not come from me. (Maybe it skips a generation) But, I'm sure glad they have it. And I love reaping the benefits of it!

Top 5 of 2012!

One thing you may or may not know about me is that I am a list maker! It's true, I like Lists! It's not just shopping lists, or what I want to get people for Christmas, but I actually have a  list of every Halloween Costume each of my 4 kids has worn over their entire lives! (Don't judge me!) I also have a list of every Birthday Party Theme they have had. Long before any trip I take I make a list of not just what I will pack, but each outfit I'll wear, complete with accessories!

And in the spirit of List making, I've had an idea to do on the Blog, something I'm calling Give Me Five. My Husband even made me a cute little Logo for it too! :) I thought, from time to time I would share a list of 5 of my favorite things in any number of categories, it could be my 5 Favorite books, Movies, Restaurants, Vacation spots, etc.

And as you can tell from my last Blog Post, 2012 has been an extremely hard year for us. But I try very hard (some days more successfully than others) not to dwell on the Negative. So I thought that  my Inaugural Give Me Five would be the top 5 things that have happened in 2012. Thankfully there have been some good & Really Good things amidst all the not good things that seem to keep coming our way. So, here we go . . .

1. Both my Boys have gotten, or will get, their Associates Degrees this year! They also both have good jobs. It's been an adventure watching them grow up.

2. My Girls started High School & are thriving there! They Love it & are taking Dance & Art classes, Lexi loves being a Band Geek :) And Erica is in Choir & Glee Club.

3.  I went to my 30 Year High School Reunion! My, how time flies. It's always fun to relive the good ole days!

4. We got to take a nice little Vacation to San Diego this Summer! It was a much needed get away!

5. My Amazing Husband, John & I Celebrated being Married for 25 years! And we're even still in Love!

And there you have it. Look for many more lists coming your way. Maybe someday I'll even do a Give Me Five of my top 5 favorite Give Me Fives! :)