simple valentines, super songs

With preschool Valentine’s Day parties fast approaching, we continued work on our homemade cards for our friends and family today. I have always felt that there’s something special about homemade Valentines. I know that Maddy, Owen, and Cora might not want to do it this way forever, but to sit down and spend time with them while they make something beautiful for their classmates, playgroup friends, and family is important to me.

Still feeling not quite 100% healthy, this was an easy and relaxing activity, thanks to–yes, once again, Foamies. Working together like this gave us a chance to chat, laugh, and listen to some really great music while we made cards.

• Valentine Cards: These were super-simple this year. All I did was cut light pink, dark pink, and white card stock in quarters. On each card, we stamped one of three Valentine stamps, and then they decorated! I picked up two boxes of heart Foamies, a few sheets of sparkly heart Foamies, and tiny jewel stickers that Maddy and Owen love. With coupons and holiday sales, this was not a bank-breaker by any means. They signed their names on the backs of the cards (or tried to!), put them in a plain white invitation envelopes, and they were ready to share their Valentine love!

• Jammin’ to Laurie Berkner: We are totally on a Laurie Berkner kick. A few weeks ago, we picked up two of her CD’s from the library, and we’ve been listening non-stop ever since. I remembered seeing her on Noggin a while ago (she started there in 2004), and we caught her on Jack’s Big Music Show a few times, but we never listened to a whole CD before. Her songs are fresh, catchy, and, quite frankly, addicting. My husband and I have even been battling over who gets to keep the CD’s in their car–that’s how good she is. We have (shhhhh!) renewed both Victor Vito and Shady Tree twice now from the library, and I’ve already ordered them both (shhhh!) for Cora’s birthday next month.

If I had a Laurie Berkner shirt, I’d wear it proudly–we all would. If I could stand on a mountain top screaming that I love her music, I would. No joke.

One day, I read all of the short song background stories included inside the CD cover to Maddy and Owen, and ever since, they’ve been completely hooked. They ask me all the time to tell them the story about why Laurie Berkner wrote Mahalo (she stepped on an urchin on her honeymoon) or what gave her the idea for Song in My Tummy (a 3-year-old kid). They laugh when they hear Boody Boody, and I hear them saying East Bombay and Rio De Janeiro when they play together because they like the way those names sound coming from their own little mouths.

What I appreciate is the way she plays with words, word sounds, and rhyming in songs like Victor Vito and BOOTS, and I like her crazy word combinations and the stories she tells in her songs. But I what I really love is the underlying message in many of them. Her songs remind me of how important it is to appreciate the little things–chocolate, the sun and moon, each other, a good pair of boots, and time together, just watching the grass grow under a shady tree.