Friday Fave: Birthday Weekend Begins!

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The first week of June just might be my favorite week of the whole year.  Not only did summer break officially begin yesterday, but tomorrow is my birthday.  To tell you the truth, I started celebrating this afternoon with a shopping trip, but the real celebration happens tomorrow night.  My family is getting together for dinner at my favorite Japanese restaurant, and I can’t WAIT – their sushi is seriously amazing.  Oh, and the company’s not too bad either :)

The fun will actually continue into Sunday, when my dad, brother and I head down to St. Louis for a Cardinals’ game.  Heck, I might as well call it “birthday week” because my summer break continues through the 13th.  (No school, but my private practice’s summer session begins on the 14th.)

In summary, I am one lucky girl. I have a loving family, wonderful friends, and a community of awesome people (YOU!) to connect with on a regular basis.  I have a feeling that year #27 is going to be a great one.  Here’s to a fabulous weekend, whether or not it’s your birthday!

Friday Fave: Memorial Day Weekend

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This weekend is, first and foremost, a time to honor the men and women who died while serving in the military.  But for many people (including me), it is also the unofficial kick-off of summer.  Even though I have two days of school left next week, it still feels like summer begins tomorrow.

That might just be because I’m going on a mini-vacation this weekend!  The destination is New York City, and it will actually be my second trip to the Big Apple already this year (read about my first one here).  But this time I’m leaving the hubby behind and meeting up with my best friend Katie for a girls’ weekend.  She’s getting married next year, and since I’m the Maid of Honor, I have the privilege of helping her find a wedding gown and bridesmaid dresses.

So that will be our top priority, but we also have a few other fun plans.  Those include seeing Sean Hayes (of Will & Grace fame) and Kristin Chenoweth in the Broadway musical Promises, Promises, hitting up a few tourist destinations, and meeting up with another good friend who lives in the city.  I’ll have a full report when I return on Tuesday!

What are your plans for Memorial Day weekend?  I hope you’re doing something fun, exciting, and/or restful, depending on your mood.  Be safe and enjoy!

Friday Fave: Episode 4 of Our Podcast

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The Music Therapy Round Table is a monthly podcast series hosted by myself, Kimberly S. Moore, and Michelle Erfurt.  In case you haven’t already read the back-story, here’s a recap: Michelle and I met back in 2008 after she visited my blog.  Kimberly and I met in mid-2009 through Twitter.  The three of us came together for the first time at the AMTA national conference in San Diego last year, and decided to collaborate on a new podcast centered around music therapy.  We recorded our first episode via Skype back in February, and now here we are, three months (and three episodes) later.

In Episode 4, we discuss a topic every single therapist will have to deal with: change. Whether moving to a new studio, moving out-of-town, or going on maternity leave, what’s the most appropriate way to handle these major life transitions with your clients? Listen in as we share stories of how we handled change and discuss things that helped us and our clients.  You can either listen directly on our blog, or find us on iTunes and download the episodes to your iPod or iPhone.

We make this announcement in the episode, but I also thought I’d share with you here that at this year’s AMTA national conference, the three of us will be presenting a 5-hour CMTE (that stands for “continuing music therapy education” for you non-MTs) course on the topic of using the internet and social media for business and advocacy.  We’re super excited about this opportunity – it’s a big one!

So if you haven’t already, check out our podcast.  Oh, and while we’re on the subject of podcasts, I should mention two others that I’d recommend.  Janice Harris’ Music Therapy Show and Wade Richards’ Time for Music Podcast are excellent, so check them out as well!

Friday Fave: Champions for Children

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I write frequently about children with special needs and the work I (and all of you professionals and parents) do to make their lives better.  But today I want to talk about another group of children: those who have been sexually and physically abused.  This is somewhat of a taboo topic in our society, because people don’t want to think about the fact that this kind of abuse happens.  But the sad reality is that it does, and all too often.

April was National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the Children’s Advocacy Centers of Illinois is carrying that awareness into May with with weekend’s Champions for Children Walk.  Tomorrow morning, people in 27 cities throughout Illinois will walk in support of the 10,500 abused children that Children’s Advocacy Centers (CACs) serve every year.

Working with law enforcement, medical professionals, and other agencies, CACs offer a safe, child-friendly environment for forensic interviews and medical evaluations of the child victim, and on-going support for children who have been abused, as well as their families.  My mom opened the Sangamon County Child Advocacy Center here in Springfield just over 20 years ago, and my stepdad is the current executive director.  This year, in honor of the Champions for Children Walk, my mom and I collaborated on a song which will serve as the event’s theme.  You can listen below, and follow the link to download it for free:

Sometimes I wonder if it matters what I do
Is there anyone who’ll listen, or am I among the few
Who see the pain and hear the cry
And stop to question why?

Rise up and take a stand
Raise your voice, reach out a hand
Be a champion for a child
Speak the words she cannot say
Be the light that she’s been searching for
and give her strength to help her find her way

For a moment stop and wonder
How a child can live in fear
What are they telling us that we cannot hear?
What do they need to ease their pain
the tears that flow like rain?

Chorus

Just think of the changes that we could make
how different our world could be
when silence is broken and their voices are heard
when we open our eyes to see

Chorus

And even though you most likely don’t live in Springfield, or even Illinois, you can “rise up” and be a Champion for Children.  How?  By sponsoring me in tomorrow’s walk, if you feel so inclined.  Any pledge amount, from $1 on up, will go towards the child abuse prevention, education, and direct service to children who have experienced physical and sexual abuse.  Pledges can be made by clicking the “make a donation to this group” link at the very bottom of this page.

Although it’s been raining all week, we’ve been blessed with a beautiful forecast for tomorrow’s walk!  I’ll be singing “Rise Up” to kick things off, and then it’ll be time to get moving.  I can’t wait.  Hope you all have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend!  See you back here on Sunday for this week’s Sunday Singalong video.

Friday Fave: Hand Bells

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You know the feeling when you find a $20 bill in your coat pocket?  Well that is how I felt when I remembered that I had purchased this shiny little 8 Note Hand Bell Set several months ago!  My studio is chock full of instruments, props, and other goodies, but I store many of these items out of view from my EXTREMELY curious kiddos.  These bells have been hiding out underneath my bookcase since August, and I discovered them as I was doing some spring cleaning and organizing last week.

This discovery came at the perfect time, because I was racking my brain for new ways to engage one little girl in her weekly music therapy sessions.  The lightbulb went off as I opened the box ‘o bells and found that on the top of each handle, there is a letter (representing the note in a C scale) and number (representing the bell’s position in the scale).  This, along with the great big sound they produce and their bright colors, held so many new possibilities.

Sure enough, we had a winner.  My student’s interest was immediately piqued as I pulled out the bells, and she complied with nearly all of my directions to do the following:

  • Choose and play the appropriate bell as I verbally name a color
  • Choose and play the appropriate bell when shown a picture card displaying a color
  • Choose and play the appropriate bell as I verbally call a number (1 through 8)
  • Choose and play the appropriate bell when shown a picture card displaying a number
  • Line up the bells in order of the numbers on top of the handles

Once she had demonstrated her ability to do all of the above, we moved on to sequencing.  I would call out two (and then three) colors, and she would then play those bells in the correct order.  We did the same thing with the numbers.  She absolutely loved switching roles and calling out colors and numbers for ME to play.  We spent almost her entire session with these bells, and I had her complete attention (no easy feat, I tell you).

Our next step is to play simple songs by “reading” the notes (notated by color and/or number), and I’d love to come up with some additional ideas.  Do you have a set of bells like these?  How do you use them?