Catch the Spirit

Catch the Spirit

We’ve caught the spirit BIG TIME in my house, and spread it to all of our friends and family at our annual “Tis the Season” holiday party last night. It’s highly contagious, but in the best possible way ;)

Honestly, though, I’ve been filled with the spirit for a couple of weeks now, thanks to all of my wonderful students coming through the door brimming with excitement about Christmas break and presents and everything else that come along with the holidays.

They inspired me to write this week’s song, which is all about catching the spirit of this time of year, and then spreading it to others. It’s one of those songs that just makes me feel good inside; I hope it puts a smile on your face and some cheer in your heart.


How are you spending this Christmas Eve? After some serious sleeping in and cleaning up after the festivities last night, I’m enjoying a relaxing day at home before dinner, church, and more holiday parties this evening. Have fun, be careful, and Merry Christmas!

They Are the People Who Watched Us Grow

Happy Father's Day

I hope you all had a lovely Father’s Day, whether you were celebrating your own dad, other dads in your life, or YOURSELF! Yesterday I shared a special video tribute that I made with the help of Listen & Learn readers and my students’ families, so be sure to check that out if you didn’t already.

The song that accompanies the video is this week’s original Listen & Learn song, and even though Father’s Day has passed, I want to share it with you so that you’re prepared when it rolls around again next June! One my friends who is a dad said over the weekend, “every day is Father’s Day!” — so really, I guess the song is applicable all year long ;)


And if we’re celebrating Father’s Day all year long, we’d better do the same with Mother’s Day, right?! Of course, I have a song for that too.

When it comes to family love and appreciation, a song I really do use almost on a daily basis with my students is Love, Love, Love (My Family). Every day is a good day to tell your family how much you love them!

A Video Tribute to Dads Everywhere

I can’t tell you how much fun I had collecting the photos for this video. After putting out a request to my newsletter subscribers and families in my studio, I received tons of emails not only containing photos, but also the stories behind them. The same thing happened last month when I created my Mother’s Day tribute — I’m thinking this needs to become a yearly tradition!

I’m lucky to have 3 “dads” to celebrate on this day: my dad, Alan (who you saw in the last picture of the video, dancing with me at my wedding), my stepdad, Joe (also pictured earlier in the video with myself and two stepsisters), and my father-in-law, Steve (who was looking dapper in a tux with my husband and brother-in-law on my wedding day).

I’ve gotten a chance to spend time with all 3 of them this weekend, and am looking forward to even more Father’s Day fun today :) I hope you have the chance to do the same…and if you’re a father yourself, enjoy your special day!

A Video Tribute to Moms Everywhere

Happy Mother’s Day! If you’re a mom, I hope you are doing something fun today and being completely spoiled by your family. And if you’re not a mom, I hope you’re spoiling the moms in your life (like I will be doing!).

Earlier this week, I had a fun idea to set my newest song, Thank You, Mom, to a video slideshow featuring pictures of mothers with their children.

So I put out a call to the families in my studio, Facebook friends, and newsletter list asking for such pictures. I received almost 200 wonderful photos, and was thrilled with the finished video. Thank you to everyone who contributed!

And now back to your regularly scheduled Mother’s Day celebration. Thanks for stopping by to watch the video, and enjoy this special day!

Thank You, Mom

Holidays and special events make choosing a song topic so easy. With Mother’s Day coming up on Sunday, there was no question as to this week’s subject matter.

There’s not much to write about this song that the lyrics don’t already say — the main message I wanted to send is that we should celebrate our moms not only on Mother’s Day, but every single day of the year. I know I do!


I’m lucky to have a pretty darn amazing mom. She’s been such a wonderful role model for me throughout my life, and I want to be juuuust like her when I grow up :) Somehow between working full time, earning her doctoral degree, and the 9,346 other things she has going on, my mom manages to support all of my endeavors AND attend each and every one of my performances (even the late-night ones!).

Rachel & Mom

Moms make the world go ’round, indeed. How are you helping your kiddos celebrate their moms on Mother’s Day? And if you’re a mom yourself, yay for you and keep on being awesome!