WOW WHAT A GREAT DAY!!! (Yes I am shouting.. but in a good way)

Ok here is a teaser of what is coming this week... I spent this afternoon at a GREAT Kid's music concert. Robbie Schaefer (Yeah, the Eddie from Ohio guy) and his sons were at Jammin Java today for 2 shows. I even got to go on stage and have my own 15 minutes of fame. I am STILL giddy over it. In case you can't guess this will be a wonderful review and a taste of what his live shows are like so that you can decide before paying $10 to see him (OK I was pretty manic at the time so my review is VERY biased. BUT in my humble opinion, 10 Bucks was NOTHING and he was worth every PENNY.)

Goodbye 2006.. Hello 2007

Wow what a GREAT year it has been for Kid's music! As I said in my first post, music has been a HUGE part of our life since practically the day my daughter was born (I didn't mention it but for the first 5 weeks of her life I was listening to a WHOLE lot of Raffi... Hey now, be nice, I didn't know there were other artists out there.) This year, however, Lesley REALLY began to get it.

Aside: A little bit about Lesley Lou. My first born daughter Lesley is the love of my life (sorry Poppa Todd - Big T Little odd). She is almost 5 (Feb 13 is her Birthday) and has mild Cerebral Palsy. She is the most wonderful little girl. She is sweet, kind, happy, and NEVER gives up. She has problems walking and has both legs in braces and a strapping system called Theratogs to help her get around. She is also developmentally delayed - I'd say she is about 1 year behind. This year things have really begun to click. She learned to jump during the summer, recently she started to be able to walk up and down a curb unaided (the mechanics of simply walking and and down a curb is unbelievable ... but most people just take it for granted). She has started doing a ton of chores like putting away the dishes, helping with laundry, picking my lunch out of the freezer each morning, and helping put away the groceries. WOW, writing all of this just makes me so proud of the great little kid that Lesley Lou is becoming. In the last month or two Lesley has started loving kid's music MORE than me. And she is starting to learn all the dances associated with the songs (the big ones are Justin Roberts's "I chalk", "My Brother Did It", and "Billy Was a Bully"). She has also started asking for specific songs by name like "Sheep" by Zoe Lewis or "Get Your Goat On" by Terri Hendrix. OK, this aside has gotten a little too far aside. Back to the main post.

So in honor of 2006 coming to an end I thought I would have the Momma Daria Kid's Music Awards. This is only my personal opinion and I hope you will chime in with your thoughts in the comments section. Everyone is entitled to their opinion here as long as you are nice about it. So let the show begin.

For best kid's show of the year, the nominees are:

1. Ralph's World (full band show) at the XMKid's Rumpus room in DC


2. Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players at National Geographic Live in DC.


3. Imagination Movers at the Olney Theater in MD


4. Yosi at the Celebrate Fairfax Fair in Fairfax, VA


5. SteveSongs outdoor concert for the Arlington UUC Co-operative Preschool

And the winner is (drum roll please)..... Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players at National Geographic Live in DC. I can not tell you how awesome this show was. It was extra special because it was Liam Davis's Birthday. It was the first full band Justin Roberts show that I had ever seen and he has SKY ROCKETED to the top of my "FAVORITE Live Shows" list.

For Best Album of the Year, the nominees are:

1. Celebrate the Difference by Terri Hendrix


2. Meltdown by Justin Roberts


3. Eight Feet by Imagination Movers (I think this might have come out last year, oh well.)


4. Songs for Kids Like Us by Robbie Schaefer from Eddie from Ohio

And the winner is.... Celebrate the Difference by Terri Hendrix. Man this was a hard one to pick. I think Lesley Lou would pick Meltdown by Justin Roberts slightly ahead Celebrate the Difference but this is my Awards Show (in a few years she will have her own don't you worry). We only got Robbie's CD for Xmas so there has been limited listening time unfortunately (and I am thrilled that we are going to see him live for the first time 12/31/06 at Jammin' Java in Vienna). And I haven't gotten Steve Weeks new CD yet, the last in the Alphabet series, so that will be included in next year's nominees.

For Best Kid's Song of the year, the nominees are:

1. Chicken Noodle Soup by Yosi


2. I Chalk by Justin Roberts


3. Nerves by Terri Hendrix


4. Sheep by Zoe Lewis

And the Winner is... Sheep by Zoe Lewis. What a great, fun, happy song. I could listen to it over and over (and often do). XMK plays the version from the PUTUMAYO Folk Playground album which is slightly more kid's friendly than the one on her non-kid's CD Sheep. Zoe Lewis doesn't have a kid's album out yet but when it comes I will buy it the first day. She is AWESOME. Her stuff isn't for everyone (unfortunately) but I would TOTALLY suggest you cool, hip parents check it out... that is if you buy CDs for yourself. Thanks Absolutely Mindy for suggesting that I take a risk and buy a CD for myself.

Well that brings my first Momma Daria Kid's Music Awards show to an end. Thanks for sticking though it... it went a little longer than I had scheduled. On a personal note, we have MAJORLY great plans for 2007 and I am so worked up about them. I can't sleep so posts at 5am may be occurring for awhile. So there might be errors or I may forget someone I should have talked about, please forgive me. I am new at this and still getting used to writing.

Remember everyone, What Goes Around Comes Around so try and be the person you would like to be best friends with.

Love,
Momma Daria

Where to begin?
Well how's this.... My daughter's first concert was when she was 6 weeks old. I had just bought our first Ralph's World CD and we had been listening to it constantly for days. Lesley had really bad colic and music was the only thing that helped calm her down. When I went to check out his website I saw he was doing a Kid's Show at IOTA in Arlington, VA. We didn't have any other plans so we went. She was dressed in a little Cubs outfit (because Ralph is from Chicago and a Cubs fan like my husband Todd). She got her first hand stamp which I joyful captured on (digital) film. And that day the obsession began. I realised I like this music as much (OK sometimes MORE) that my daughter did.
When Lesley was about 6 months old my husband bought me an XMRadio for our car. Lesley still loved music and I was wearing out all of our CDs. We thought XM would be a great place to "go". WOW was it ever. We loved the DJs (Kenny, Mindy, Jynx and now Dee) and I soon began calling and sending emails. With a name like Daria I am easy to remember. Soon I became Momma Daria and Lesley is known as Lesley Lou. Soon our family expanded to include Cassie Boo (our second daughter Cassandra Anne who passed away in 2005). Since we live in Northern VA, the XM Staff started to invite us to their amazing live recording studio to attend Rumpus Room concerts. We have seen so many awesome bands there. Imagination Movers, Justin Roberts, Trout Fishing in America, Rebecca Frezza to name a few.
But I still couldn't get enough Kid's music so we started attending shows at local fairs, bars, and coffee shops. I love talking to the musicians and giving them ideas of good venues to play. Most recently we have started going to National Geographic Live Family concert series. I was lucky enough to hook up with the guy who books the shows and he asks for my suggestions for who to bring (I like to think that I was at least partly the reason why Washington DC had it's first Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players FULL BAND SHOW).
So after thinking LOOOONGGG and hard and procrastination a whole lot I am ready to accept the challange and put fingers to keyboard and help you (yes, YOU) the parents of the world desperate for really GOOD kid's music find exactly what you are looking for.
And if you are a musician who would like me to review your CD please feel free to contact me.
So be prepared for my first review... coming shortly.
Blessings.
Daria