If you are looking for song to sing no matter where you are, then The Peter Yarrow Songbook: Let’s Sing Together! book and CD is just what you need.  This book includes songs of land and sea, hope and encouragement, and loss and joy.  As you can see, they pretty much cover everything.  My kids enjoy singing, so this book is a welcome addition in our house.

The illustrations in this book are awesome and truly convey the meaning of each song.  I love that they have the lyrics for each song, so you can sing along too.  Many of these songs I already knew, but didn’t know all the words.  You will find a lot of classics that you know such as My Boonie Lies Over The Ocean and John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.  There are some other songs that are just as good as the classic that I hadn’t heard of before like I’m On My Way and Hey Lolly Lolly.  I also love that at the end of the book there is a listing with each song that has the chords to use for each song.

This book, The Peter Yarrow Songbook: Let’s Sing Together!, is a great book for you and your family to enjoy together.  I know my family did.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/0

I’ve said it time and time again; I love toys that require my kids to use their imagination. I think a lot of the toys nowadays don’t, and I love when I find ones that do.  A great new toy that fits that bill is Smooshies.  First, they just have a cool name.  My kids just like to say the name more than anything.  LOL.  The Smooshies are very smooshie too, so it is definitely an appropriate name for them.  The best part of Smooshies though is all the creative things that the kids can create.  You are given the body and body parts separately, and you use your imagination to put it together.  You can create whatever you want be it a monster, a dog, or even an alien.  This is so easy to do  my 2 year old can do it (you attach the body parts with Velcro).  The only bad thing is that we have only one , and the kids fight over  it!  Smooshies are being sold exclusively at Joann.com if you want to get one of your own!

This contest is over. The first winner did not reply so a new one was picked. The winner now is Heather C. Congrats!

Have you ever wished you learned something?  For me, it is piano.  I can play quite a few instruments, but I never learned piano.  We’ve talked several times about buying a piano, but I was always at a loss of how to get lessons.  I am not real comfortable just answering an ad on Craigslist or in the newspaper.  However, TakeLessons solves everything for me.

TakeLessons is a resource for those looking for private music and voice lessons.  You can quickly and easily register via their site for local private lessons with a TakeLessons Certified Instructor.  It is super easy to do so — all you need to do is enter your zip code, and you’ll get a list of all the instructors in your area.  Since I live close to Chicago, I had two pages full of instructions.  I love that TakeLessons has their own certification process — they check the education background, teaching experience, references, and do a criminal background check.  When the instructor is listed for you to look at, you are able to see all of this information in their profile.  They make it super easy to set up a lesson too.  They even have a guarantee:  if your first lesson is not handled in a friendly, efficient and professional manner, they will gladly find you another instructor or refund any future lessons. All you need to do is contact them within three days after your lesson has taken place and we will set you up with another instructor.

I think this is such a great concept that I am giving away 2 free lessons to one of my lucky readers!  Here’s what you need to do:

Here’s what you need to do:

Leave a comment on this post. Check out the TakeLessons website and tell me something you learned about them (be it why you should choose them, how many instructors are in your area, etc.

Each of these gives you one additional entry:

1. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify. Or use something like this:

RT @blm03 is giving away2 Music Lessons! http://lisareviews.com/2009/05/19/takelessons-review-and-giveaway

2. Stumble this post.

3. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc. (1 entry for each social network).

Each of these gives you 5 additional entries:

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
2. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed
4. Add my badge to your sidebar:

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If this isn’t working, please let me know. For some reason, Wordpress seems to be eating the code up when I post.

Each of these will give you 10 additional entries:

1. Join my Spark E Crew at Social Spark. Click here to find out how to sign up. If you are on my crew, please leave your social spark ID, so I can verify it.

2. Sign up for my free newsletter!

This contest is for US residents and will end at June 2nd at noon CST! Good Luck!!!

Calling all Martina McBride fans!

If you are a Martina McBride fan, then you have to get your hands on her newest CD release:  playlist: Martina McBride.  Not only does this CD have some fan favorites, its also has some songs that you won’t find anywhere else too!  Personally, I love these kind of CDs, because you never have to change out your CD.  You can listen to the whole thing and enjoy!

The tracks on the CD are as follows:
1. My Baby Loves Me
2. Wild Angels
3. Safe In The Arms Of Love
4. There You Are (Soundtrack Remix)
5. Happy Girl
6. It’s My Time
7. Wrong Again (Acoustic Version)
8. Show Me
9. I Love You
10. How I Feel
11. This One’s For The Girls (Mainstream Mix)
12. Cryin’ Time
13. Independence Day
14. God Bless America

I’m a sucker for God Bless America, but My Baby Loves Me is a close second. I would be surprised if your favorite Martina McBride song is not on here!

The other really cool thing is that this CD is eco-friendly. The case contains no plastic, is made from 100% recycled material and is 100% recyclable. Instead of wasting paper inside the case, there is a pdf file with the liner notes, photos, and more.

If you are a Martina McBride fan, this is a must have CD for you.