How many Christmas Carols do you know?

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Carmen

Happy December 1st! Ok it is the second but it is the official kick off of the holiday season!

I get very excited for December 1st as usually I work hard in November to get gifts bought, cards written and baking done so that the kids and I can enjoy all the festive holiday events that are in December. There seems to be a multitude of them from Christmas parties to community events around the city. We never seem to be able to hit them all, though we try!, but at best hit at least one new one (we’re going to the Christmas train this year for the first time!) as well as attending some of our favorites; such as Zoolights and Once Upon a Christmas at Heritage Park.

We also have a little tradition at our house called December 1st gifts, which is something my Dad started years ago, which is just a small inexpensive gift that is given to enjoy the festivities a little more. Like a holiday coffee, festive candles, or a Santa hat.

Also on December 1st we start a Christmas Carol Challenge at our house, which Matthew and I began 2 years ago. Starting December 1st we sing a different Christmas Carol each day until Christmas. The challenge is not sing the same song twice (and singing by a different artist same sone doesn’t count – ha ha); so though easy at first eventually requires some thought.

It’s fun though because we end up expanding our holiday song repetoire, looking up Christmas songs and learning the words. We even learn the words to some of the songs we think we know! Because as I am sure you can relate, there are some Christmas songs out there that are popular and well known but we only know the first verse.

So we print out the words for everybody and sing the song together and it’s lots of fun. We pick the same time each day to do it. The past couple of years being when we walked to the bus for school, but since Matthew walks on his own to school now, we have decided to do it at dinnertime. The twins love it too as they love singing and learning lots of songs lately.

Each year I invite my readers to join us in the challenge to see how many different Christmas Carols we can find. It is also a great way to share and learn some new songs we may not know. Plus you’ll have a blast doing it!

So I invite you to join the challenge with us this year and post each day on the Momma on the Move Facebook page what carol you sang that day. Hope to ‘see’ you there!

Happy Carolling!

The Ultimate Blog Party

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Carmen

Welcome! I am very excited to be joining the Ultimate Blog Party 2013 for the first time this year! I think this is a great opportunity to get out there and connect with other bloggers while sharing the things that you love, including your own blog! Thank you to Janice and Susan of 5 Minutes for Mom for hosting this fabulous event.

If you are new to Momma on the Move I’d like to thank you for stopping by and for those of you who are returning welcome back. It is a pleasure to have you all here.

My name is Carmen and I have 3 beautiful children, 3 year old boy/ girl twins and an older son. I grew up on the East Coast and have a deep love for the ocean. I love the outdoors, to travel, explore new places and to get out there and enjoy and embrace life!

Luke and Chloe

Things are very busy at our house with the kids daily activities and the dietary choices we have made. We have gone sugar and dairy free at our house due to allergies and intolerances and though I have found the no dairy to be easy, going sugar free was honestly, a nightmare! Sugar is in everything! But it can be done and now I am very comfortable with making the right natural substitutions and believe that our overall health is better for it.

Matthew

I started blogging because I love to write, share stories and help people. I find that there are so many things to share and explore, as life is a story. My oldest son said to me one day when we were out “Mom you like to take a lot of pictures.” I looked at him and smiled and said, “Matthew, everything is a blog post.” Which it is! Everywhere we go and everything we do can translate into a helpful blog piece for my audience. Whether it be our adventures at Heritage Park, traveling through BC or new sugar/ dairy free recipes that I have found, it is all a possible post to share.

I tend to write about parenting topics, how to take time for yourself, kids activities and crafts as well as recipes. It’s fun! I love it and I love to share with everyone what I know.

I like creating a community where we can share, interact and learn from each other. Plus it’s stretched me in the world of technology as well!

Now that you’re here, sit down grab a cup of coffee and take a look around. Let me know what your favorite posts are, what you’d like to see more of. Leave a comment sharing with me who you are and where I can find you so we can connect and get to know each other. I’m looking forward to visiting everyone’s sites and making new friends.

Here are some of my favorite posts:

Firewalking

Christmas Carol Challenge

Luke and Chloe’s First Trip to the Dentist

Natural Sugar Substitutes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cereal Squares

Enjoy! See you at the party!

Let’s stay connected! Here’s where you can find me

Facebook

Twitter

Christmas Carol Challenge – Week 2

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Carmen

It was an interesting week this week with our Christmas Carol Challenge. Unfortunately the week started off with one of Matthew’s fish dying. Poor kid was very upset and said he did not feel like singing. He had just gotten his fish tank in November and was slowly adding fish to his tank. He was up to 6 and Tuesday morning when he went to feed them before school he noticed that one was on the bottom of the tank on its side, unmoving. I heard sobbing from upstairs and ran to see what was wrong. He was lying on his bed, head in his pillow crying for the little fish that had died. It was so sad.

Of course fish die, but Matthew is a really sensitive young man who gets quite upset when any animal is hurt or killed (he had a caterpillar earlier in the Fall that didn’t make it and was quite upset then as well). I assured him that we would find out what happened and get him another fish. This did little to console him but there was not much else I could do. I encouraged him to get up and get going to school but he turned to me with tears in his eyes and said “How can I go to school when my fish has died?” My heart went out to him.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

I took him to the bus anyway encouraging him to sing Santa Claus is Coming to Town with me, hoping that would lift his spirits a little. He did not join in but that’s ok, he needed to be where he was at and I hoped that at least my singing would make him feel better. Plus I love that song and know all the words!

I’m finding it quite fun to be out in the dark early morning singing at the top of my lungs. Except for this day, Matthew has been joining me as well. The odd time we run into someone else out there who smiles and waves as we go by, but usually we are out there alone ‘dancing’ our way to the bus.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

This week we sang Joy to the World, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, and Baby it’s Cold Outside (it was a lovely duet!).

Usually I ask Matthew the day before what song he would like to sing in the morning, so if we need to learn or print off words that we can do so. Matthew did comment on the way to the bus on Thursday that it was hard to read the words in the dark! (come on Winter Solstice, then it will start to get lighter in the mornings) I laughed as I knew this was why I had suggested that we learn the words prior to the morning of. Either way it’s all good and we are enjoying ourselves, laughing and singing in the bright morning air.

It’s hard to believe that this is the last week of school before Christmas and that our challenge is almost done. I think we’ll continue our daily singing up until Christmas as we have some long car rides to fill, plus it’s fun, and I want to see how many more carols we can come up with!

Joy to the World

Christmas Carol Challenge -Week 1

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Carmen

Matthew and I kicked off the week yesterday morning with our first Christmas Carol. We started with good old traditional Jingle Bells, one that we know and love and belt out at the top of our lungs in the early morning light. Well I did, Matthew told me that he only knew the chorus, as when I was doing “dashing through the snow…” he wasn’t singing and when I asked him why this is what he told me. I was surprised actually. So deciding that I would have to teach him the beginning, I kept singing and he joined in with me on the chorus.

We both went off to have wonderful days, happy and smiling. (I also believe we had great days due to the planetary alignment of Saturn, Venus and Mercury with Earth and aligning perfectly with the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt – very good energetically)

This morning we had a bit of a rough start to our singing as I suggested we sing Frosty the Snowman, and Matthew informed me that that was the Christmas song he despised the most. (again surprised by this) I asked him if he had another suggestion but he couldn’t come up with one that he knew the words to. So we sang Frosty, and though he joined in a little bit, I sang most of it by myself. I also realized that I didn’t know all the words or the right order for Frosty the Snowman! Which I thought was terrible so came right home to ‘study’ them so I could get it right.

Before Matthew boarded the bus we did decide on our carol for tomorrow which is I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, which we have to relearn the words for. Because though we did it last year and I know more of the words than I did before, I still don’t know them all.

Hopefully tomorrow will go well as that song is so much fun! and Matthew will willingly sing along with me. I think if we could get the twins involved somehow it would be even more fun and Matthew might be more willing to participate; cause yes this year I am having trouble getting Matthew to sing with me. He also informed me this morning that he does not like singing in public – which I sort of knew, but I told him only the houses, the snow and the wind would hear us, so it wasn’t really public. He’s 9 though so it’s his age and I think he just needs the right motivator, like a fun song!

So stay posted… and don’t forget to join us in our challenge and post the songs you sing in the comments section. Below are the words for the songs we have sung so far!

Jingle Bells

Dashing through the snow

In a one horse open sleigh

O’er the fields we go

Laughing all the way

Bells on bob tails ring

Making spirits bright

What fun it is to laugh and sing

A sleighing song tonight

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh

A day or two ago

I thought I’d take a ride

And soon Miss Fanny Bright

Was seated by my side

The horse was lean and lank

Misfortune seemed his lot

We got into a drifted bank

And then we got upsot

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh yeah

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride

In a one horse open sleigh

Jingle bells, jingle bells

Jingle all the way

Oh, what fun it is to ride In a one horse open sleigh

Frosty the Snowman

Frosty the Snowman

Was a jolly happy soul

With a corncob pipe and a button nose

And two eyes made out of coal

Frosty the Snowman

Is a fairytale they say

He was made of snow

But the children know

How he came to life one day

There must have been some magic

In that old silk hat they found

For when they placed it on his head

He began to dance around

Frosty the Snowman

Was alive as he could be

And the children say

He could laugh and play

Just the same as you and me

Frosty the Snowman

Knew the sun was hot that day

So he said let’s run

And we’ll have some fun

Now before I melt away

Down to the village

With a broomstick in his hand

Running here and there all around the square

Saying catch me if you can

He led them down the streets of town

Right to the traffic cop

And he only paused a moment when

He heard him holler stop

Frosty the Snowman

Had to hurry on his way

But he waved goodbye

Saying don’t you cry

I’ll be back again some day

Thumpety thump thump

Look at Frosty go

Thumpety thump thump Thumpety thump thump

Over the hills of snow

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Only a hippopotamus will do,

Don’t want a doll, no dinky Tinker Toy

I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

I don’t think Santa Claus will mind, do you?

He won’t have to use our dirty chimney flue

Just bring him through the front door,

that’s the easy thing to do

I can see me now on Christmas morning,

creeping down the stairs

Oh what joy and what surprise

when I open up my eyes

to see a hippo hero standing there

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Only a hippopotamus will do

No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses

I only like hippopotamuses

And hippopotamuses like me too

Mom says the hippo would eat me up, but then

Teacher says hippo is a vegetarian

There’s lots of room for him in our two-car garage

I’d feed him there and wash him there and give him his massage

I can see me now on Christmas morning,

creeping down the stairs

Oh what joy and what surprise

when I open up my eyes

to see a hippo hero standing there

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Only a hippoptatmus will do

No crocodiles or rhinoceroseses

I only like hippopotamuses

And hippopotamuses like me too!

Christmas Carol Challenge

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Carmen

Last year Matthew and I decided to see if we could sing a different Christmas Carol each day on our walk to the school bus. I was finding that instead of the morning walk being a pleasant and happy time I would use it to discuss issues and then the poor kid would often get on the bus upset or mad, and I didn’t feel so good myself.

So when December came I decided to make things more fun and told Matthew that each day we would choose a Christmas carol and sing it as we walked to the bus from December first until school was out, around the 20th. The challenge was that we could not repeat the same Christmas carol.

Jingle Bells

This may seem like an easy task but once we got past Jingle Bells, Joy to the World and Santa Claus is Coming to Town we had to start racking our brains for new tunes. Either that or we had to look up the words to the carols as we could only sing the first few lines.

It is amazing how many Christmas carols there are out there and how few we actually know. So it became a study, as we would look up a Christmas carol print out and learn the words for our trip the next morning. It turned out to be a lot of fun. We were both happy and smiling by the time we got to the bus stop and it was a great way to start the day. We were feeding our spirits and playing together. It was great for our relationship and ourselves. Singing is a great way to feed your spirit and open your heart, not only at Christmas time but year round! Now we know lots of Christmas carols with all the words, some new, some old.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

It was so fun that when I recently told Matthew that we would do it again this year, his eyes lit up and he smiled. I think this year we will make more of a plan in advance, choosing our carols earlier and learning the words if we have to (as many mornings last year we were holding song sheets in our hands and trying to sing and walk at the same time. It was also tough to read the words as this time of year in Calgary it is still dark when we head for the bus).

Some of my favorites are All I Want for Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth, I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas and Matthew’s –Do You Hear What I Hear. I am looking forward to seeing what we come up with this year and how many new carols we will learn.

I can save the “talks” for another time, a time when it is more appropriate to do so and he is not heading off somewhere after.

So here’s my challenge to you. I am inviting you to join us in our challenge. You may not have a walk to the bus each day with the kids but find a time, the same time each day, where you can sing a Christmas Carol, from December 1-24, a different one each day, and see what you can come up with. You’ll find that it is lots of fun, a great way to connect with the kids and get into the holiday spirit. You’ll also learn a lot too!

Then come back and post the songs that you sang in the comment section and share with everyone how much fun you’re having! I’m interested to hear about your experience and perhaps learn some new songs from you. I’ll post our songs as well and we’ll see how many different Christmas carols we can come up with.

Enjoy! Have fun!