In the Mood!

I had to share this picture and video from Eric's big concert last weekend.

In the video of the Jazz Band from University High School, Eric is the cool cat in the shades. What a blessing to watch your child do something they love so much - you can see the big smile on his face in the video. He was having a blast.

During the course of the evening, Eric played with the wind ensemble, the Orchestra and the Jazz Band. One of the highlights of the night was the finale, where all 405 students from University High School took the stage to perform together. It was amazing!

Change can be a difficult thing, especially for mothers. When Eric decided to transfer high schools, I will admit I had a lot of fear and trepidation about the move. But watching him this weekend and seeing the sheer joy that he had being among his peers and making such lovely music, I am convinced we made the right decision. It's been a big change in the past year going from football pads to a tuxedo, but I'd say Eric is doing just fine with the transition!

Hendey Men Music Update

For those in my family keeping tabs on the musical exploits of my sons, the following are the results of this week's round of auditions:

Eric -
University High School Orchestra - Principal Bass
University High School Jazz Band - Bass Player
Fresno Youth Philharmonic Orchestra - Bass Second chair

Adam -
Fresno Youth Symphony Orchestra - Clarinet

Don't worry, I'm sure the devotion to traditional Irish music will continue but with little forays into the worlds of jazz and classical music as well.

Here are a few recent You Tube videos to enjoy:

Odds and Ends

Well, the first week of school is winding down and everyone seems to be off to a great start. The CMM blog has been quiet this week as I've been doing a lot of posting at both Faith and Family Live and Productivity @ Home. Feel free to check out those sites for some of my random musings from this week.

In the mean time, I thought I'd share with you here a few of the highlights of this week on the family front. Adam is firmly ensconced in being an Eighth grader. When I watch him confidently stride onto campus at the beginning of each day, it sometimes takes my breath away that he's so grown up and capable. He is loving his classes and teachers. His fencing continues and he's now playing the flute, along with the clarinet and the drums. He and Eric are going to perform at our school carnival in September, so he's busy at work developing a "set list" for that big gig!

Eric finished his first full week of classes and is off to a great start in his new school. He was elected to an ASB student government position and earned a spot on the school's jazz band after a stressful audition process. We're still waiting to hear about Orchestra - hopefully we will earn a place there too. It seems that concerts, Irish music sessions, and extemporaneous jam sessions have taken the place of football, which is a happy thing for Mom. Eric also decided on a new foreign language and will be studying French this year. Since I was a French major about a million years ago, I was happy with that decision!

So life is full, busy and happy, which is a blessed thing. We're looking forward to the three day weekend and hope to spend most of it at home resting and relaxing. I hope you have a wonderful weekend as well and that your transition back to school is as smooth and wonderful as ours has been!

Catholic Moments #62 - Faith and Family Live

This week, Lisa interviews her new Faith and Family Live colleagues Danielle Bean and Rachel Balducci to celebrate the launch of FaithandFamilyLive.com. Enter for your chance to win our latest contest, three great books from Life Teen by emailing Lisa@catholicmom.com by July 31 - be sure to include your full mailing address and to write "Life Teen Books Giveaway" in the subject line. Share your feedback at 206-339-9272, comment here on the blog or email lisa@catholicmom.com.

Links for this episode:
Traditional Irish Tunes by Eric and Adam Hendey on YouTube
Saint Song on You Tube, The Saint Cast
Parish Media Liaison Kerry Madden - Making Good Choices: Pro Life Resources
Faith and Family Live Blog
Messies.com
The Catholic Company
Lisa's Facebook Profile
Catholic Mom Logo Store
Closing Music - Take My Hand by Lorraine Doan

Click here to listen to Catholic Moments #62

Matt Maher CD Available Tomorrow

OK, I'll admit to being a Matt Maher groupie! In advance of the release of his new CD Empty and Beautiful tomorrow, I thought you might enjoy watching this great preview video. It features much of the music and Matt's unique musings. If you'd like to read my review of click here. Order Empty and Beautiful here and support CatholicMom.com.

Catholic Moments #38 - Chip Richter

Our guest this week is Chip Richter, a great family musician who will have you and your kids singing along! We share another great column by Pat Gohn and introduce our latest giveaway - your chance to win the Catholic Exchange Women's Study for Spring. Listener Amy introduces us to the concept of "Mothering Sunday", celebrated on Laetare Sunday. To share your comments, email us at catholicmoments@mac.com or comment at www.catholicmoments.com or call our new telephone feedback line at (206)339-9272.

Links for this episode:
Chip Richter: Website, MySpace, Shout Life
Phil Keaggy
Catholic Exchange Women's Study: Registration, The Power of Women
Pat Gohn
Genevieve Kineke
Lisa's Facebook Profile
Catholic Mom Catholic Company Store
Subscribe to Catholic Moments at iTunes
Subscribe to Catholic Moments in a Reader

Click here to listen to Catholic Moments Podcast #38

Keeping Up at Christmas

They're supposed to be about family and fun, these weeks leading up to Christmas, right?! When a friend forwarded me this You Tube video today, I couldn't help but smile and hear a bit of my own voice in the beautiful singing of Tajci. How many of us will spend this weekend rushing places, crossing items off of our "to do" lists and frantically shopping? We accomplish one thing and ten more seem to pop up and demand attention.

I intend to take time this weekend to enjoy the season with my children: to assemble a gingerbread house, to mess up my kitchen baking cookies just because, and to brew some hot chocolate and decorate our tree in a leisurely fashion. Rather than being caught up in the daunting tasks that lie ahead, I hope to truly enjoy and savor this special season. Enjoy the video, and your weekend!

p.s. We're trying to help spread the word about this great video, so feel free to link to it or share it on your own blog.

Beautiful Music!

I loved this video, featuring the music of Fr. Richard Ho Lung and friends founder of the Missionaries of the Poor.

Fr. Richard and his brothers serve the poorest of the poor in Jamaica, India, the Philippines, Haiti and Uganda. Take a few minutes and watch this video and you will feel refreshed and full of spirit!

One for JetNana and Gramps

Hey guys! Here's a little video snippet of your eldest grandson "jamming" at the Celtic session last weekend. He's fairly recognizable as one of the few non-middle aged men in the group! This was done on my little camera's video feature, so the quality is horrible but you'll get the idea.



Video: Fresno Celtic Jam Session

Grapevine - The Catholic Music Magazine

In case you hadn't heard, the June 2007 edition of Grapevine Magazine is out! Grapevine is the authoritative magazine about Catholic performing artists. Publisher Susan Bailey (herself a talented Catholic musician) has outdone herself with this latest edition. Grapevine is available free of charge as a PDF download, but you should really consider ordering the print edition. This is certifiably one of the highest quality Catholic magazines available. This month's issue has a great feature on Matt Maher (a favorite in my home) and an article on Teresa Smith, a Catholic mom and musician (written by a certain other Catholic mom!), plus tons of CD reviews and other articles. I promise your investment of time and money will be worth the investment!

Check out Grapevine Magazine - and while you're at it, subscribe to the Grapevine News Minute podcast!

Hold Grapevine in Your Hand

One of my favorite magazines is Grapevine Magazine, the Magazine about Catholic Performing Artists. Catholic musician, publisher and podcaster supreme Susan Bailey has worked for several years promoting the Catholic music industry through Grapevine. In the past, the magazine was always available as a free online download in PDF format. I always wished that Grapevine came in hard copy format, as its production value and content was so wonderful.

Now, my wish has come true and I just finished ordering my copy of the very first Grapevine issue available in print. Although it hasn't arrived in my mailbox yet, I know that it's going to be great because everything that Susan Bailey does is always of the highest quality. She is truly one of my role models - someone who is passionate about her work and using her God given talents to spread the word about our wonderful Catholic faith.

If you think the cover price is a bit high, I would ask you to think about some of the ways in which you're spent $10 recently. You might have bought two fancy drinks at Starbucks, seen a movie that wasn't too great, or parked your car for less than an hour in a big city. With this $10 purchase, you will not only enrich your own life, but you will also be supporting an apostolate that is greatly needed in our Catholic Church.

• Order your copy of Grapevine Magazine
• Check out the Grapevine News Minute Podcast - on my iPod as a must listen each week!
  

Bagpipe Update

For the inquiring minds who want to know what happened with the Bagpipe shopping, we seem to have come to a bit of a compromise. Apparently, beginning bagpipers are taught using an instrument called a "Chanter". To me, from viewing it online, it looks a lot like Adam's recorder. I'm hoping that the sound output of the chanter is a little less than the full volume of a set of bagpipes. Our neighbors probably already think we're a little too musical as it is!
Our Ebay order has been placed, so I'll let you know when we've mastered a ditty or two. You may even be treated to a video!

In other "boy news" Eric and his doubles partner won their tennis match yesterday in a stressful tie breaker. He's still enjoying his new sport and seems to be improving every time he plays.

Coloring Contest

That cool cat Moses at Cat.Chat is having a Lenten coloring contest. You could win a Cat.Chat CD of your choice. I love the Cat.Chat recordings - they are educational, inspirational and lots of fun!

• Cat.Chat Coloring Contest Details
• CatholicMom.com Music Spotlight on Cat.Chat
  

A New Addition to the Music Room?

Uh oh!!! I just spotted my boys crowded together around the iMac, perusing Ebay. When I walked up and asked them what they were shopping for, they gave me a rather funny look. I said, "OK, what is it?!" (with the assumption that it was some type of video game).

Their answer:

"Bagpipes"

Stay tuned to this blog to see if the Hendey family quartet takes a foray into Celtic Rock.

Kids Music

Replying to the request below, Maranda M. wrote to inform me that she and her first grade students use Kids Sing for Jesus. I haven't heard this particular CD, but have had it recommended to me a few times. It is listed on our CatholicMom.com page of Music Recommendations for Catholic Children.
I'd love to hear more suggestions if anyone has any ideas.

Catholic Kids Worship Music

Natalie Burt and those awesome kids over at Catholic Kids Worship are hard at work trying to put together their second CD. Right now they are in fundraising mode and are asking for your support. A small donation will help them reach their goal and you can even pay tribute to your favorite Catholic kid in the process. You may remember my review of their first CD, Your Grace Is Enough which ran last year in Grapevine Magazine and at CatholicMom.com. I love their music!

Can you help the kids?

• Information about the Catholic Kids Worship project
• Read my review of Your Grace Is Enough
• Order or listen to samples of Your Grace Is Enough
• Check out more great music for Catholic kids at CatholicMom.com
  

Another Great Reflection from Chuck

One of my favorite Catholic artists, Chuck Stevens, has another great recorded reflection podcast now available on his web site. You can listen by clicking here. This particular podcast features two selections from Chuck's "In Your Presence" CD. Find some quiet time this weekend and grow closer to God with Chuck.

Take a Mini Advent Retreat

My cyber buddy, Catholic musician Chuck Stevens, wrote me this week to announce that he has entered the world of podcasting! This is great news for all of us who love both Catholic content and wonderful Catholic music, as Chuck's podcast contains both. Click here to download Chuck's premier podcast

Chuck's CD, Bethlehem Morn, is one of my Advent favorites. I recently reviewed it for Grapevine Magazine and have been listening to it a lot during the past few weeks to prepare my heart for Christmas. When you listen to Chuck's podcast, you will be struck by the soothing quality of his voice. I think he's a podcasting natural! Great job Chuck! When can I subscribe at iTunes?!

Free Christmas Music

Catholic musician Rafael Brom wrote me a lovely Christmas message this week, offering free downloads of his Christmas Carol mp3 files. Eric and I especially liked the xylophone effect on "O Holy Night", my favorite Christmas carol.

If you're looking for some music to enjoy online while you're getting in the Christmas spirit, check out Rafael's website.

Christmas CD Review

New out and just in time for Christmas is the debut CD Come to the Light by JoAnn Crichlow. Born and raised on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago, JoAnn currently lives in Canada and is the mother of five. Come to the Light goes beyond just being a wonderful Christmas CD – it is also destined to call attention to important social justice issues in today’s world.

Come to the Light opens with a djembe solo entitled “Following the Star” performed by JoAnn’s son Johnathan Crichlow. The entrancing drum beat is the first hint that this is not your typical Christmas CD. “My Ghosts of Christmas,” a fictionalized narrative by JoAnn Crichlow, is performed to lovely piano music by Anne Hurley. The story evokes the feelings of a young immigrant woman during the holiday season.

One of my favorite tunes on this disk is “The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy”. This traditional West Indian Carol, performed by Johnathan Crichlow and Armando Prinn filled my heart with Christmas joy from the first listening. Another wonderful musical interpretation of a standard carol is JoAnn Crichlow’s version of “Mary’s Little Boy Child”.

“For the Love of God” is a story devoted to Crichlow’s father-in-law and looks at the customs surrounding holiday giving in Trinidad and Tobago. It reinforces the true nature of how we should celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus. The “Trinity Children’s Song” calls each of us to seek Christ’s light during the holiday season.

If you’re looking for a refreshing departure from the old Christmas standards this season, you’ll definitely want to share “Come to the Light” by JoAnn Crichlow with your family. With a few classic favorites and some wonderful new tunes, this CD will have you singing along and dreaming of a sunny Christmas. For more information or to order this CD visit JoAnn Crichlow’s web site at www.peaceandbread.ca.