Crafty Mama of 4 is MOVING!!!!!!!
I bought my domain name and I can now be found at Craftymamaof4.com! Please visit my new site and resubscribe to my feeds.
Come check it out, launch party on Twitter on Sunday June 7th. Lots of great prizes and new content.
Thanks so much for hanging out here with me, hope to see you in my new space!
Goodbye Blogger, it's been real :)
You may have seen my previous post about my opportunity (thanks to One 2 One Network)to go see Yanni Voices last week, I'm back to tell you it was FANTASTIC!!!
As I mentioned before, Yanni would not have been my first choice of music but, I have changed my mind. Maybe it's because I am older and I appreciate music more now, or maybe it is because I felt connected because I met Nathan and Ender at Blissdom, or maybe it's because everyone on that stage was so incredibly talented, I can't really say for sure what has changed my mind, but I will tell you if you have the chance to go see this concert you really should go. You can see if it is coming to your city here. Going into it my mom had no idea what to expect and had never really listened to Yanni but she too was very impressed and had a great time.
Yanni Voices is the result of Yanni teaming up with producer Rik Wake and some very talented vocal artists including Ender Thomas, Chole, Leslie Mills, and Nathan Pacheco. The 4 "voices" have written words to Yanni's classic songs and they sing those words beautifully and with passion.
Hearing Leslie sing "Before the Night Ends" gave me the chills.
Watching Ender dance gave me a hot flash.
Listening to Nathan sing in Italian completely melted my soul even though I didn't understand one word he was singing.
Chloe's voice made me feel as if I was listening to an angel sing.
Chloe and Ender do a duet called "Mi Todo Eres Tu (Until the Last Moment)" as he sings the Latin vocals, she sings the English vocals and it is amazing how well they blend the two languages together as one voice.
I can't forget the orchestra, they had to be one of the most talented group of musicians ever assembled for a concert like this.
From the dueling violins,
to the drummer,
to the amazing harpist,
one after another the continued to amaze me with their talent. And of course Yanni, watching the passion in his face as he was doing something he truly loves and has dedicated his live to was amazing.
Throughout the concert he would stop and talk and he was really funny too! One story he told (please don't quote me here, I am remembering as well as I can) was about how he and the drummer had been playing together for somewhere in the area of 25 years. They started out playing in rock bands, up until 4 or 5 am after gigs he (Yanni) would dream about someday doing exactly what he was doing right now and he said "It's ok to dream something because once and awhile dreams do come true." Such a moving statement, and you could see in the faces of everyone on stage that they too were living out a dream.
If seeing it in their faces wasn't enough, we got to hear it firsthand from them when we met them backstage after the concert!
Me and Mom
Not only did I get to see a great concert, meet some great artists, spend some quality time with my mom, but I also got to enjoy the night with 2 great blog friends Beth aka Plus Size Mommy and Alaina Frederick. Thanks One 2 One Network!
Links
You can learn more about the artists by clicking on each name
Ender Thomas
Nathan Pacheco
Chloe
Leslie Mills
Listen to "Before the Night Ends" on Leslie's MySpace page
Make sure you go to Blessed With Grace to see the other great recipes this week.
This is a family favorite I have been making a lot lately because of picnics and parties. This mac and cheese is my "assigned" dish for parties, everyone always looks forward to it. If I don't make it, I might as well not show up at the party because they won't let me in! Give it a try for your Memorial Day weekend BBQ.
Homemade Mac and Cheese
2 lbs of your choice of pasta (we like shells because the hold the cheese really well)
1 large(2 lb)loaf of Velveeta cheese
2 sticks of margarine
3 cups milk (can use more or less depending on how runny you like your cheese)
~prepare pasta
~combine cheese, margarine, and milk over low heat and stir constantly until all of the cheese is melted
~pour over pasta and mix together
If you are taking this somewhere (it will fit into a large crockpot) you will want to add more milk (make it nice and runny) because it will dry out even on the warm setting.
All reviews listed in the Momfluence gift guide were product provided. Featured positions were purchased by sponsors. Member gift guides are not affiliated with Momfluence. Finally my first how to craft video! Thank you to everyone who has been so patient while I have figured out my Flip! Leave a comment let me know what you think and what types of crafts you would like to see in the future.
I purchased my ticket to Blogher before the early bird discount expired and I figured the rest would fall into place, I had lots of time right? Well here I am a short time until the conference and things are not falling into place as well as I had hoped. With 4 kids and a hubby that works 2 jobs so I can stay home, its hard to justify spending money on a blogging conference. At least that's what my hubby thinks.
I went to Blissdom, I was fortunate enough to win a trip to SXSW thanks to Walmart, I know how a blogging conference can help me become a better and more profitale brand, but until it starts to show some return its hard to convince my husband. I am a fairly new blogger and I have a lot to learn yet, with all the stuff going on about transperancy and disclosure, I found there is much more I need to clue in on than I realized in order to protect myself and my brand. Speaking of my brand, can anyone help me figure out what it is? Blogher can help me with this not only through the speakers but through the awesome bloggers I will be able to socialize with in person while in Chicago.
So, Protect a Bed, PLEASE help me become a better blogger by helping me get to Blogher in July. Sometimes us smaller bloggers just need a break to get on our feet. We may not have the numbers that some of the larger blogs have, but we have just as much potential as they do, we just need someone to give us a chance.
Not convinced yet that I NEED to goto Blogher, how's this to seal the deal?
Note: This video only contains 2 of the 4 crafty kids and 2 of the 3 crafty dogs, add 2 more kids and 1 more dog and the activity multiples fast! Make sure you stick around until the end you don't want to miss the temper tantrum!
Protect a Bed, not only do I need help becoming a better blogger, I need a vacation!
Thanks
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