Two weeks ago, I spent some time in Kimberly Smoot’s photography studio with my buddy, Jake. Kimberly donated her talents to my CD (the one I will be giving away to families of children with autism and other disabilities) and I just couldn’t wait to give you all a sneak peek. This is the only picture I’ve seen so far, too; it will be so much fun to go through all of them and pick which ones will be included in the CD art. More to come later!
I still remember the costume parades from preschool and elementary school, and my mom even has pictures! I love the idea of using this song to accompany such a parade – it would be so easy to substitute the costumes I used for those that the students are actually wearing.
And even if you aren’t having a parade, you can still sing the song; just ask the students to suggest the costumes to be included. They could even draw pictures of them as an art project!
Come one and all,
Big and small,
Gather ‘round for the parade.
We’re dressing up,
On Halloween,
So many costumes to be seen!
Costumes on parade,
Ghosts and witches walking by,
Mummies, vampires, Frankenstein,
And Batman, me oh my!
CHORUS
Costumes on parade,
Clowns and cats are walking by,
Princesses and firemen,
And Elvis, me oh my!
CHORUS
Costumes on parade,
Frogs and monkeys walking by,
Hannah Montana and Harry Potter,
And ninjas, me oh my!
CHORUS
When I was a kid, the best part of Halloween was coming home from trick-or-treating, dumping my bag of candy on the floor, and taking inventory of all the goodies. My brother and I would sort out our candy and make trades, and then I usually proceeded to eat way more candy than one should ever consume in a single sitting.
Well, apparently Tip Top Tom and I had a lot in common as children, because this is what he had to say:
This is a simple idea that can bring lots of cheer. Counting candy! As a kid that was one of my favorite activities on Halloween.
His simple idea just happens to be winning song topic #2! It didn’t take me long to come up with a song based on it; in fact, I had to leave out a couple verses. I could feel my sweet tooth aching as I sang this:
I just got home,
It’s Halloween night.
My costume gave my neighbors a fright.
But it did the trick, because I got a treat,
Just look at all the candy I’ll eat.
Ba-doop-a doo,
I see some Snickers bars,
Butterfinger, Hershey’s and Mars.
So much chocolate, what’ll I do?
I guess I’m gonna share with you!
CHORUS
Ba-doop-a-doo,
I see some lollipops,
Gummi bears and lemon drops.
So much sweet stuff, what I’ll do?
I guess I’m gonna share with you!
CHORUS
Ba-doop-a-doo,
I see a toothbrush there,
And a lot of toothpaste to share.
I think I’ll need it and so will you,
After all the candy we’ll chew!
CHORUS
Remember when I first told you about sleephones? Well I received my own pair in the mail a couple of weeks ago, and I am addicted! The picture above is a reenactment of pretty much every single night since I got my sleepphones; they are so comfortable that I completely forget I’m wearing them. I plug them into my iPhone, which charges on my nightstand while I sleep, and the music puts me to sleep almost instantly. Of course, my extremely long days working with kids might have a little something to do with that, but I’ll give most of the credit to my sleepphones. Several readers have told me that they ordered a pair for themselves, and I’d love to hear what you think of them.
I can tell you that Sadie is a HUGE fan :) If you want to order a pair for yourself or your child, you can do so through their website.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a few new Halloween songs to write. The two remaining contest winners will be announced tomorrow, along with the songs they inspired. Enjoy your Sunday!
I want to thank you all for the thoughtful comments and emails I’ve received over the last couple of days. As I mentioned in my previous post, my grandma passed away this week. And as difficult as this has been, it really is a blessing that she is at peace now.
My grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease thirteen years ago, just as I was beginning high school. She was only in her early sixties, and had to move into a nursing home a couple years later. As time went on, her memory became worse and so did her ability to recognize me and my family. But the one thing that she never lost was her love of music.
It really was amazing how she came to life when she listened to Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, and anything else she’d loved before she got sick. In fact, I was so blown away with the effect music had on her that I began looking into music therapy, even though I was less than a year away from graduating college with a degree in voice performance. After shadowing a music therapist for a couple of months, I decided to graduate early so that I could get started in a music therapy graduate program. My first practicum took place in a nursing home, and I knew I was in the right place from day one.
Even though I had always planned on working with seniors (specifically, those with Alzheimer’s) I ultimately decided that I wanted to specialize in music therapy with children. But I have my grandma to thank for sparking that interest in me. It was so neat being able to share that with her; I will never forget the transformation I saw when I started playing my guitar and singing familiar songs to her. She sang along to every single one of them, and knew all of the words.
I’ve spent a lot of time this week going through old pictures, and listening to my dad and uncle tell stories about my grandma. I’m lucky to have so many memories of her as the person she really was. As sad as I am that my grandma is gone, it’s comforting to know that her disease no longer has a hold on her.
I’m ready for life to get back to normal this week, and that includes picking up where I left off here at Listen & Learn. I will announce the other two winners of the Halloween song topic contest either tomorrow or Monday (a holiday for me!) so check back in soon.
This is the book + course that will help you shape your music therapy career in order to make more money and live your ideal lifestyle. Details here.
