Country Playlist

Sometime in the past year, I started compiling a couple of non-practical playlists. They weren't worship music. They weren't educational. They weren't even compilations of songs that represented a period of time or a theme (more on that later). They were just fun songs that I had been reminded of and wanted to own and be able to listen to.

One of those lists was m "Country Playlist." While I used to listen to country a lot, these days I'm more likely to use my listening time to re-center my day with some worship music (usually in the kitchen while cooking or cleaning), there were some songs that I missed and really wanted the chance to hear when I was in the mood.

And here they are (I'm sometimes reminded of one or two I want to add, so it's in flux):

1. Amarillo By Morning – George Strait
2. I Loved Her First – Heartland
3. Gettin’ By – Jerry Jeff Walker
4. Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver
5. Song of the South – Alabama
6. Mr. Bojangles – Jerry Jeff Walker
7. Love Without End, Amen – George Strait
8. Leaving on a Jet Plane – John Denver
9. God Blessed Texas – Little Texas
10. On the Road Again – Willie Nelson
11. Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys – Waylon Jennings & Willie Nelson
12. What I Like About Texas – Jerry Jeff Walker
13. Born Country – Alabama
14. Little Bitty – Alan Jackson
15. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
16. All My Ex’s Live in Texas – George Strait
17. If You’re Gonna Play in Texas – Alabama
18. Chattahoochee – Alan Jackson
19. Deeper Than the Holler – Randy Travis
20. Desperados Waiting for the Train – Jerry Jeff Walker
21. Texas – George Strait
22. Independence Day – Martina McBride

Yes, there's a Texas theme. It's unavoidable: A) it's country and B) it's my list.

still to-be-purchased
The Gambler - Kenny Rogers
Little White Church - Little Big Town: seemed like this was playing *everywhere* when we got to the States this summer ('10); it has such a classic country feel to it, I was surprised to find out it was new

Our produce list

A month or so ago, we finally settled on a base weekly produce list, one that would get us from one big run to our favorite fruit stand to the next with minimal mini-runs in between. It gets tweaked each week based on what's left over from the last and/or what recipes we're planning on preparing, but here it is as it generally stands.

lettuce, 2 heads
red & yellow bell peppers 1-2 each
persimmons 6-8
avocados 3-4
pineapples 2

carrots 2 pkgs (2k?)
cucumbers 3k*
bananas 5k
apples 2-3k
pears 2k
kiwi 1k
oranges 2k
grapefruit 1-2k
Clementines 1-2k
strawberries 1/2-1k
tomatoes 1k
mangoes 2k
plums 1-2k
peaches 1-2k
green beens 1k
(1-2 jalapenos)
(onions 1k)
(potatoes 2k)
(garlic 1pkg)

The items in parentheses are ones that we only need occasionally, but I don't want to forget to check. Our cell phone company offers 30 free text messages/month sent from their website. I keep this list on a "stickie note" (a Mac program) on my computer, and I cut and paste it into a text message sent on-line. I then make any adjustments, and ML, bless him, goes shopping.

A produce run with most of the items on this will cost us around $55. We are so blessed to have such affordable produce.

And if you're wondering at the magnitude of the list, keep in mind that we eat 50-70% raw, depending on the member of the family and the day of the week, and we eat very little meat when we do eat cooked, so we consume a lot of fresh veggies and fruits. 

We sometimes have to re-up on bananas right before another run, and cucumbers can run low, if the kids have been hitting them hard for snacks, but this mostly does us for the week.

*1k=2.2 lbs

Advent

We're almost finished with Advent!

Yeah, I know. It's the middle of January, but December really got away from us this year with the Muslim Eid al Adha falling right before Christmas (we had lots of Eid visits to make to our friends and it took away from our Christmas preparations and celebrations), and we never got to finish up our family Advent services. There are six of them, one for each week of Advent, one for Christmas Eve, and one for Christmas Day, and we're never very particular about doing them on Sundays, since we're not always home the same nights each week. We just try to make sure we get them all done before Christmas. This year, we failed, but we decided to go ahead and do them as we have time, especially since the house is still decorated waiting for one last local friend to visit and see it all decked out. Tonight, we celebrated Christmas Eve. :-/

So, while I was cleaning up the files on the computer, making sure I'd fixed all the typos I'd noticed (which I discovered I'd actually done last year, I think they're finally in their [mostly] final form), I thought I'd put them up here to share. I'll try to remember to link back to them next November at a little more normal time to think about Advent.

But first, a little background.

Both ML's family and my own celebrated Advent as we were growing up, and his mother (MHK) synthesized some resources into an Advent service that they used. I took it and adapted it, because our Advent wreath (kind of different in that it is wrought iron that we've woven silk ivy and poinsettias into) has the candles labeled around the edge, and since that's not standardized, my mother-in-law's service didn't match the labels.

In the process of adapting the service to fit the wreath, I tweaked several things (the original service did not have Christmas Eve or Christmas scripts). The music included has evolved over the years, too. At one point, MHK included choruses with the hymns. We all found that those became dated too quickly, though, so we ended up dropping them and just sticking with hymns. As MHK had done, I included the full text of all of the Scriptures, except for the Luke 2 passage for Christmas morning. This makes it very simple to read through, since there are no Scriptures to look up. We have several sets of the service in (red and green) bradded folders, so the presentation is a little nice and relatively neat. Eventually, I might have them bound into actual books. During the Advent season, we keep the folders under the Advent wreath.

Each family member who is reading fluently takes turns reading the sets of lines (that will make more sense when you look at the actual service) with ML reading the opening and closing sets. The older children take turns lighting the candles and younger children get to blow them out. We sing the songs acapella (primarily because I found it too difficult to manage all of the children while ML played guitar ), but I'm working on a version that will include chords, since we will probably want that at some point, too.

I also eventually developed an all-in-one version to be done in a single sitting. When ML and and his sisters were in boarding school, they would do one candle each night several nights in a row to get them done after they came home for Christmas break. When we were early married, sometimes we wouldn't be together with his family even that many nights, so it got a little cramped. The all-in-one would have be perfect for times like those, since it's abbreviated. I actually put it together, though, because we have friends here who want to be a part of our Christmas celebrations to see what they're all about, and this was one thing we could do with them. To this end, I also re-worked the all-in-one with NIrV (NIV at a 3rd grade reading level) verses to be more easily understood by second language learners.

All that is to say, here are our Advent services, if anyone can use them.

- Complete Advent Service

- All-in-one Advent Service

- All-in-one NIrV Advent Service

Oh, and there's a brief section on the history of Advent included at the end of each one, too.

Kids' Playlist

Years ago, I read a book about creating "Mommy and Daddy tapes" for kids, where the parents take turns reciting things they want the child to learn, like their ABC's, Bible verses, etc. (I'm going to ask a couple of people who might know the book's title. I'll post it, if I find out.)

We tried that once or twice when Malachi was a toddler, but it was a lot of work to put together, and what we wanted to include kept changing, so it kind of fizzled.

When iTunes came out, though, I ended up doing the next best thing: I imported songs from a bunch of our CD's and bought a few to create playlists of songs that I wanted our kids to know/be familiar with at different ages. They've evolved a little but are basically set at this point, so I thought I'd share them.

Some of the songs/versions of songs are rather obscure, most would be available on iTunes, but primarily, this is just to give an idea of something to do.

Baby Playlist

1. Barocha – Michael Card
2. As the Deer – Marnatha! Music Praise Strings
3. Love You Eternally – Michael W. Smith
4. Sleepytime Suite I – Carl Marsh
5. ‘Tis So Sweet – Kenny and Bobbi McCaughey
6. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring – Johann Sebastian Bach
7. Even the Darkness is Light to Him – Michael Card
8. Sleepytime Suite II – Carl Marsh
9. He’ll Take Care of You – Kim Hill
10. ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus – Hymnworks
11. He’ll Wipe Away Your Tears – Michael Card
12. The Four Seasons, Concerto 1: Spring – Vivaldi
13. Jesus Let Us Come to Know You – Michael Card
14. Sleepytime Suite III – Carl Marsh
15. Oh What Dreams – Chris Rice
16. Minuet I & II in G Major/Minor – Walter Heinz Bernstein
17. Peace Be Still – Sandi Patty
18. Sleepytime Suite IV – Carl Marsh

Toddler Playlist

1. This Little Light of Mine – Wee Sing Bible Songs
2. Deep and Wide - Wee Sing Bible Songs
3. This Train is Bound for Glory – Everybody Sing
4. The B-I-B-L-E – Wee Sing Bible Songs
5. If I Were a Butterfly – Everybody Sing
6. Who Did Swallow Jonah? - Wee Sing Bible Songs
7. Johnny Appleseed – Everybody Sing
8. Zacchaeus - Wee Sing Bible Songs
9. ABC (The Alphabet Song) – Dora the Explorer
10. Who Built the Ark - Wee Sing Bible Songs
11. Praise Him, Praise Him - Wee Sing Bible Songs
12. Are You Sleeping? – Twin Sisters Productions
13. He’s Got the Whole World - Wee Sing Bible Songs
14. I Just Wanna Be a Sheep – Everybody Sing
15. Oh, How I Love Jesus - Wee Sing Bible Songs
16. Rise and Shine - Wee Sing Bible Songs
17. Down in My Heart - Wee Sing Bible Songs
18. Jesus Loves Me – J. M. Gulley

Preschool Playlist

1. Ephesians 4:32 & Matthew 6:14 – Scripture Memory Songs
2. He’s Got the Whole World – Kids Sing Hymns 1
3. The Twelve Disciples – Wee Sing Bible Songs
4. Praise Him, Praise Him – Kids Sing Hymns 1
5. I’m in the Lord’s Army - Wee Sing Bible Songs
6. Onward, Christian Soldiers – Kids Sing Hymns 1
7. If We Confess Our Sin – God’s Grace
8. Rejoice in the Lord Always - Wee Sing Bible Songs
9. Oh, How I Love Jesus – Kids Sing Hymns 1
10. Praise the Lord Together - Wee Sing Bible Songs
11. Humble Yourselves – God’s Grace
12. This is My Commandment - Wee Sing Bible Songs
13. Jesus, Name Above All Names – ACC Worship Team
14. Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus – Kids Sing Hymns 1
15. Love, Love - Wee Sing Bible Songs
16. God is So Good – Kids Sing Hymns 2
17. Books of the Old Testament - Wee Sing Bible Songs
18. Matthew 5: 3-11 – God’s Promises
19. Every Move I Make – David Ruis
20. Books of the New Testament - Wee Sing Bible Songs
21. I Have Decided to Follow Jesus – Kids Sing Hymns 2
22. My God is So Great - Wee Sing Bible Songs
23. To God be the Glory – Kids Sing Hymns 1
24. Jesus Loves Me – Kids Sing Hymns 2
25. In Everything Give Thanks – Power of Thanksgiving

First Worship/Classic Hymns

1. Ode to Joy – Sister Act 2
2. Holy, Holy, Holy – Praise Baby Collection
3. Everything That Has Breath – Hillsong
4. How Great Thou Art – Steve Green
5. As the Deer – Maranatha Singers
6. Doxology – Passion Worship Band
7. Great is Thy Faithfulness – Steve Green
8. He Knows My Name – iWorship
9. Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus – Michael W. Smith
10. How Deep the Father’s Love – Phillips, Craig & Dean
11. ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus – Carman
12. The Lord is My Shepherd – Jesus, I Love You
13. Amazing Grace – Steve Green
14. Awesome God – Michael W. Smith
15. Take My Life and Let it Be – Vineyard Music
16. How Great Thou Art – Passion Worship Band
17. Joyful, Joyful, We Adore The – Praise Baby Collection
18. Agnus Dei – Michael W. Smith

First Worship

1. Offering – Third Day
2. One Hundred Three – ACC Worship Team
3. Days of Elijah – Robin Mark
4. He Knows My Name – iWorship
5. Creed – Petra
6. I Believe in Jesus – Ryan Delmore
7. King of Glory – Third Day
8. All That I Need – Vineyard UK
9. Holy Visitation – Rita Springer
10. Creed – Third Day
11. My Redeemer Lives – iWorship
12. Forever – Michael W. Smith
13. Psalm 145 – ACC Worship Team

Happy listening!

Family Responsibilities

You'd think with me being such a list-maker that I would have gotten down a system for chore lists for the kids a lot sooner. Instead, it's taken me years. And that's with me working on it off and on the whole time.

Within the last six months, though, I think we've finally hit on a system that works for our family, so I thought I'd share.

It is, of course, a series of lists. :-/

For the kids' "Family Responsibilities" (read: chores/jobs), they each have a daily and a weekly list. The daily jobs are done daily (bet you figured that out on your own), and the weekly list has a different job for each day of the week maximum (the younger ones have some days without weekly jobs).

Thanks to the magic of Google Docs, you can see the kids' (relatively recent) lists here.

- MS

- JW

- MA

The chart has no more than seven slots for daily jobs (which includes school work and putting away school books) just by virtue of the way it's set up. I like that, because it forces me to move jobs on down the line if I want to give the oldest a new responsibility.

The last job on each child's chart is "white board list." This has solved one of the issues that has plagued me with job systems: what to do with the jobs that are not needed on a scheduled basis. Once or twice a week, they have laundry to put away (from their baskets that I sort clothes into), but it's dependent on when I've had time to bring in and fold laundry. Trash builds up irregularly, and I don't want a half-empty bag being taken out, so we (read: MS) don't take it out unless it's full. I'm available to do laundry on different days, so it needs moving (from the washer to the dryer or to the back door to be hung out) sporadically. Etc.

Each child (and adult, for that matter) has a section of a white board with their initials for me to dole out these randomly-occurring jobs (see pic). Again, I am helped by seeing how many jobs I'm assigning to each child, so it's easier to balance (something I struggled with when I was just announcing that a job needed to be done; I more often gave it to my oldest than was really fair/necessary).

It took several iterations of the lists for us to settle on one that works (some wrinkles that needed to be ironed out), but we've had the same ones for a while now.

Then, one day it occurred to me that we were repeating the same things each morning and each evening getting the kids ready for the day and ready for bed: take off your pull-up and get dressed (we have bed-wetting issues), brush your teeth, clear the table, etc. And it dawned on me: we need more lists! :-P

So, now each child has a "Morning List" and a "Bedtime List." Do you know how much easier it is to say, "Bedtime list time!" than it is to say, "Okay, JW & MA put on pull-ups, MS put toothpaste on toothbrushes, everybody make sure your teeth are brushed, don't forget a stuffed animal and a water bottle..."?

And, yes, we sneak an extra chore or two onto those lists, but that's just because it's where they belong in the day, so that's where they go.

Two of my older children (MS & MA) thrive on lists. The other (JW), thrives on routine and stability. Our Family Responsibility lists and our Morning and Bedtime lists help everyone (including Mommy) make it through their day successfully.

ETA: In case you look at the lists and think I'm cruel for having MS clean my room for me, let me explain: our bedroom is twice the size of the other two bedrooms, and is only half bedroom, actually. The other half is school room/kids' computer area/my desk/puzzles/etc. That's the half that MS straightens. There, now I feel better.

Devotionals

I was rooting around for a new devotional option for MS to use, because he finished the one he was working through before I expected him to (you teach a kid to do devotionals first thing out of bed each morning, and what does he do? goes and does it! :-), and we don't have anyone coming from the States until March to bring his next one. I've been meaning to write up what all the kids are doing now that we've finally gotten around to imparting the discipline of devotionals/Quiet Time, so I thought I'd do that while putting the next books on the right wishlists to help me remember to order them when I need to.

At some point while browsing a Christian bookstore, I picked up a devotional book for MS called Gotta Have God! for boys ages 6-9. I liked the format: topical, a Bible verse, short story, questions (with lines for answers), and a prayer and it seemed sound theologically. I was lackadaisical about reminding him to do them and the book kind of just sat there.

This school year, when I was deciding what we'd do for Bible, I decided we were just going to concentrate on getting the kids into the habit of daily Bible reading and devotional time. Just that. I thought maybe if I made it a part of my lesson plans and made it the only thing we were doing for Bible, we'd actually accomplish it.

Now, realize that we have an 8yo. We'd wanted to do this since he was 4. Or younger. I wish we had. At some point along the way, we at least made the ruling that the kids watched only "quiet time" videos when they first get up (they usually watch a video or two if they're up before the others' and breakfast isn't ready yet or on weekend mornings if ML and I are sleeping in), which meant that they watched Story Keepers or Veggie Tales or Praise Baby, so they were getting that input and had the understanding that there was something different and special about what you do first thing in the morning. We were taking baby steps.

The other day, I happened to look back at some notes I'd written when I was preparing lesson plans for this school year, and I remembered my goal for Bible for this year: concentrate on daily devotionals. Praise the Lord! It's happened! We've finally gotten there! A minor miracle and something I'm very grateful to the Lord for. He's been faithful to take us step-by-step to the point where the kids are either getting up and doing it on their own (MS), bugging us to do it with them (MA) or some combination of the above (JW). (Z will get his own book when we can actually understand what he'd be dictating to us. :-P)

As to what they're doing, we've stuck with the Gotta Have God! series and it's sister series for girls God and Me! (get it? "sister" series? rimshot, please). We've only come across one day's lesson that we didn't like the focus of (sorry, can't remember what it was), and that was out of the three books the kids are working through. Pretty good odds.

At this point, here's what the kids are doing:

- MS just finished Gotta Have God! Ages 6-9. He's started working through The One Year Book of Devotions for Boys, which was something we had on hand, and I have also been pleased with. He'll do that for this calendar year, and then pick up with Gotta Have God! Ages 6-9 Vol. 2. Once he's done with that, we'll get him the first and second ones for 10-12 year olds, potentially alternating with The One Year Book of Devotions for Boys, Vol. 2.

- JW is working through Gotta Have God! Ages 2-5 still (he's 6), because we got it for him late. He'll start on the 6-9 one as soon as he finishes this one.

- MA is doing God and Me! Ages 2-5 and will do volume 2 when she gets done and then move on to the older versions.

For those with kids that wouldn't be in those particular books but are still interested in the series, here are the other links:

- Girls: God and Me! Ages 6-9 Volume 1 and Volume 2, Ages 10-12 Volume 1 and Volume 2. The company also puts out a series of "Christian Girls' Guides" that look interesting, although I have not looked at them personally (and I haven't looked at any of the 10-12 year old books for either gender, either, so keep that in mind). There's one for friendship, the Bible, money, being your best, and your mom.

- Boys: Gotta Have God! Ages 2-5 Vol. 2

Christmas Playlists

Since I had this typed out elsewhere, and I'd been meaning to post it here, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone (no offense to the ornithologists among us).

Most of this emerged two days before Christmas this year, so we just barely got to enjoy them, but they're all primed and ready for next year and many years to come.

Our Christmas iTunes Playlists:

Advent (coincides with our family Advent service)
1. Away in a Manger – Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
2. Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus – Azure Fields
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
4. It Is Well With My Soul – America’s 25 Old-Time Favorite Gospel Songs
5. Joy to the World – Various Artists and Eugene Ormandy
6. O Come, All Ye Faithful – Various Artists
7. The Old Rugged Cross – Don Marsh Chorus and Orchestra
8. Silent Night – America’s 25 Favorite Christmas Songs for Kids

Christmas Worship (mostly contemporary Christian Christmas songs and traditional songs done by CC artists)
1. Joy to the World – Blind Boys of Alabama
2. O Come All Ye Faithful – Third Day
3. O Come, O Come Emmanuel – Bebo Norman
4. What Child is This? – Third Day
5. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing – Jars of Clay
6. O Holy Night – Third Day
7. Kyrie Eleison – Leigh Nash & Friends
8. Joy to the World – Third Day
9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - MercyMe
10. Angels We Have Heard on High – Third Day
11. Messiah Has Come – Bebo Norman, Cindy Morgan, Danielle Young
12. Silent Night – Third Day
13. Away in a Manger – Third Day
14. Here With Us – Joy Williams
15. The First Noel – Third Day
16. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - MercyMe
17. Go Tell It On the Mountain – Blind Boys of Alabama

Instrumental Christmas (this one needs fleshing out but will have to wait until next year, and the Auld Lang Syne actually has vocals at the end)
1. Jingle Bells – Glenn Miller
2. Babes in Toyland/March of the Toys – Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops
3. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers – United States Army Field Band
4. Auld Lang Syne – Guy Lombardo

Kids' Christmas (may add a few kids' versions of traditional songs to this one; overlaps a tad with "The Holidays" playlist)
1. White Christmas – The Drifters
2. Jingle Bells – The Brady Bunch
3. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Gene Autry
4. You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch – Thurle Ravenscroft
5. Frosty the Snowman – Gene Autry
6. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – Jackson 5
7. Here Comes Santa Claus – Gene Autry
8. Feliz Navidad – David Crowder Band

The Holidays (secular Christmas songs, most done by the artist that originally recorded them/made them famous [thank you, Wikipedia])
1. White Christmas – The Drifters
2. I’ll Be Home for Christmas – Bing Crosby
3. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting) – Mel Torme’
4. Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
5. Silver Bells – Bing Crosby
6. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow – Vaughn Monroe
7. Twelve Days of Christmas – Christmas Tribute
8. Winter Wonderland – Bing Crosby
9. It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas – Perry Como
10. Jingle Bell Rock – Bobby Helms
11. Santa Claus is Coming to Town – Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
12. Home for the Holidays – Perry Como
13. White Christmas – Bing Crosby
14. Feliz Navidad – David Crowder Band
15. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Judy Garland
16. Auld Lang Syne – The Drifters

Traditional Carols (I'm aware that a couple of these are actually more contemporary, but they have a traditional feel)
1. Do You Hear What I Hear – The Harry Simeone Choir
2. Here We Come A-Wassailing – Cambridge Clare College
3. We Three Kings – Most Excellent Vocal Manoeuvres Choral Christmas
4. We Wish You a Merry Christmas – Cambridge Singers
5. Ding Dong! Merrily on High – Choir of King’s College
6. I Saw Three Ships – Cambridge Clare College
7. Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring – The Choirs of the Church of Our Lady
8. Deck the Halls – UCLA Madrigal Singers
9. Little Drummer Boy – The Harry Simeone Chorale

All of this was bought on iTunes (from a Christmas song list on Wikipedia), so it's available there. I did not exactly keep track of how much I was purchasing as I went along, and I was a bit shocked when I got the bill e-mail. Realistically, though, my family will be enjoying this music for years and years to come, and I think it will be worth it in the long run.