Sophisticated Lady – Music Story

Our granddaughter turned nine yesterday. Over the years Grandpa and I have taken lots of pictures and videos of her. Some grandparents carry around a brag book, a little photo album that fits in a purse or shirt pocket and holds a dozen or so snapshots of their grandchildren. Our brag books were on our smart phones. Now they’re in the cloud.

We delight in watching Sara grow up. We want to remember all of it. So smart phone in hand, we’ve snapped away happily. Last year her parents asked for copies of our brag books. So, I organized the photos by year, saved them to a thumb drive, gift wrapped the drive, and put it under the Christmas tree for my daughter and son-in-law to open on Christmas Eve. I was shocked to discover that in the last nine years Grandpa and I have taken 2,560 photos and videos of her! What a treasure trove of memories.

This birthday song came about because of those photos and videos. ­This music story is a brag book of sorts. So, if you grit your teeth when a grandmother opens her purse and pulls out her brag book, I’ll understand why you are skipping this music story. However, it has a surprise ending. You won’t want to miss that.

From the album “Silly or Celebratory” this video is scrolling playback of the song.

Kathy

PS. Sara approved of the photos in this song.

You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Sophisticated Lady.

Click here for print sheet music.

Click here for digital sheet music.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music.
Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.)

Magic Eight – Music Story

How do you celebrate your eighth birthday when you have a touch of Irish in your blood and were born on St. Patrick’s Day? Have a sleepover with four girlfriends and do as many mythical things as you can think of!

Wear fairy wings.

Make dragon snot slime.

Store slime in dragon eggs.

Make mermaid brew from instant.

Toast with edible Jolly Rancher shot glasses.

Serve unicorn poop ice cream with birthday cake.

And, of course, your friends howl “Happy Birthday to You” like they were werewolves.

From the album “Silly or Celebratory – Songs for Sara Lily” this video is scrolling playback of the song.

Kathy

You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Magic Eight.

Click here for print sheet music (lead sheet format).

Click here for digital sheet music for pop/rock band.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.) 

Sandhill Cranes Lullaby - Music Story

Dear Sara Lily,

This lullaby was written for you, to celebrate your first Christmas, the Christmas three months before your birth.

Sara Lily

It was a chilly November day that sandhill cranes sang to me. Grandpa and I were outside washing our cars before winter set in and it snowed. We heard beautiful music in the skies. Grandpa pointed to sandhill cranes flying south to Georgia and central Florida for the winter.

Sandhill Crane

These cranes would return in March or April, singing as they fly over our house again. But most cranes take a different migration route.

Spring Migration Routes

Something magical happens every spring in Nebraska.

Crane Trust, Wood River NE

Over a quarter of a million cranes crowd together along an 80 mile stretch of the Platte River waiting for warmer weather. When it warms up, they will fly away to Canada, Alaska, or Siberia to raise their young.

This lullaby was my Christmas, 2009 gift to you. The baby born on the very first Christmas slept near animals on a mattress of hay. Jesus’ mother, Mary, wrapped him in strips of cloths and laid him in a manger, the animals feeding trough. He may have been serenaded by sheep or donkeys or oxen.

I hope you never outgrow lullabies. I hope you find wonder in the wild and beautiful songs just outside your window. I hope you grow to love the Creator who writes these songs in the hearts of his creatures and who then chose to become that Christmas baby.

Love,

Grandma

From the album “Silly or Celebratory – Songs for Sara Lily” this video is scrolling playback of the song. Pizzicato strings imitate the vocalizations of sandhill cranes. Put headphones on and they will fly right over your head, moving from ear to ear.

Click here for the original Sandhill Cranes Lullaby Sara Lily video (music overlaid on slides).

Click here and here for Sandhill Cranes Lullaby wall art.

You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Sandhill Cranes Lullaby.

Click here for print sheet music (lead sheet format).

Click here to for digital sheet music.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music.

Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.)

Shout Praise - Music Story

Sunday, March 29, A.D. 33*

A large crowd from Jerusalem found out that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They went out to meet him and to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.

The disciples brought Jesus a donkey and a colt and he sat on them.

Daughter of Zion,

Your king comes to you,

Riding on a donkey.

The crowd spread their cloaks on the road. Others cut branches and spread them on the road.

At the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives the crowd began to praise God for the miracles they had seen. They went on before him and followed behind, shouting,

"Hosanna!"

"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

"Hosanna in the highest!"

Some of the Pharisees said to Jesus, "Rebuke your disciples!” He replied, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Jesus entered the temple, looked around, and left. 

Monday, March 30, A.D. 33

Jesus returned to the temple. The blind and lame came to him and he healed them. Seeing this, children shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David.”

The priests and teachers were indignant and said, “Do you hear what these children are saying?" Jesus replied, “From the lips of children God has ordained praise.”

From the album “Hope Giver” this video is scrolling playback of the song.

Kathy

You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Shout Praise.

Click here for print sheet music.

Click here for digital sheet music.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music.

Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.)

*Based on this date for the crucifixion.

Portions of this event are recorded in each of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

Flutterby Farm - Music Story

Hi. I’m Sara Lily. I’m helping Grandma with this blog. Grandma waited until this summer to write my six-year-old song. It’s not a birthday song. It’s a song about my butterflies. Daddy thinks it’s a rap.

God gave us milkweed plants and Grandma and I prayed for butterflies. Then Mommy and I found Monarch butterfly eggs! Grandma went to the Dollar Store and bought containers big enough for milkweed leaves. Grandpa found netting and rubber bands and we made a Flutterby Farm.

Mommy turned my old fish tank into a big Flutterby Farm and I decorated it with stickers.

Now Mommy and I look for butterfly eggs on the bottom of milkweed leaves. We pick the leaves and put them on wet paper towels and put them in my Flutterby Farm.

A few days later the eggs hatch. You need a magnifying glass to see baby caterpillars. They eat and eat and grow.

Milkweed leaves get dry, so we pick new ones for them to eat. Mommy wraps the stem of each leaf in a wet paper towel. The caterpillars eat and eat and get too big for their skin. They wiggle out of it five times. They grow pretty big. And they make an awful mess!

Finally the caterpillars crawl to the top of the Flutterby Farm and make a silk button. Sometimes they attach it to the wall, sometimes to the netting. They hang from the button and wiggle out of their skin again. Now they are a green blob.

A couple weeks later a butterfly pops out! We take butterflies outside and carefully put them on a milkweed plant. We carry them on a stick so they can hang upside down. We don’t want to hurt their wings.

After their wings dry out and they fix their tongue, they fly away. But they love the milkweed plants God gave us and come back and lay eggs. Last summer we raised 23 Monarch butterflies.

Sara Lily

From the album “Silly or Celebratory – Songs for Sara Lily” this video is scrolling playback of the song.

You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Flutterby Farm.

Click here for print sheet music.

Click here for digital sheet music.

(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. 
Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.)

Click here for the DVD, Metamorphosis, about the beauty and design of butterflies.

Guano - Music Story

Greed brings out the worst in … (you think I’m going to say “people,” don’t you?)

Robins!

Especially the ones that raise their young under our neighbor’s eaves.

When the serviceberry tree by our deck is in bloom, the robins lay their eggs.

The chicks are voracious eaters and soon fledge.

Not long after they fledge our serviceberry tree is covered with bright red berries. And robin greed kicks in!

This sordid music story is a robin tale about greed. From the album “Paper Book Colors - Songs from Nature” this video is scrolling playback of the song.

Kathy

You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Guano.

Click here for print sheet music.

Click here for digital sheet music.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.)

Baby Katie - Music Story

Sara was inconsolable. She and her beloved doll, Baby Katie, were nearly inseparable. Sara didn’t understand why Katie needed a makeover.

Baby Katie was a ‘wipe clean with a damp cloth’ little baby doll. While her heart was soft and cuddly, the rest of Katie was molded plastic. She usually dressed in her birthday suit as pre-K fingers struggled pulling small PJ’s over small legs and arms. Nevertheless, Katie stayed warm wrapped in a wash cloth, its corners twisted together to keep it from falling off.

“Grandma, play with me!” When Sara made that request, it meant holding Katie and making her come alive, being the ‘puppeteer’ and voice of Baby Katie.

Baby Katie shared life with a menagerie of animals, inviting them to sumptuous tea parties so she could indulge her sweet tooth. Katie was born, celebrated her birthday, and got married several times a week. She slid down banisters, jumped on couches, made forts, collected dust bunnies under the bed. Unbelievably, Baby Katie even crashed the Christmas tree. Stickers served as Band-Aids or casts for her numerous injuries. When stickers weren’t available, a strip of paper licked and applied to the injury worked just as well. Katie took trips around town and out of state. She had a certain fondness for tattoos. She painted her nails, colored her hair, and experimented with eye and cheek makeup. When things didn’t go her way, Baby Katie threw tantrums that could be heard all over the house.

Baby Katie was beautiful even when a damp cloth failed to remove the evidence of her many adventures. Heedless of care instructions, she took a bath. Katie didn’t get clean. Sadly, her stuffing migrated to the lower half of her trunk leaving her heart nearly empty. None of that mattered to Sara. She loved Katie unconditionally. Sara was heartbroken when Baby Katie had to get a makeover.

From the album “Silly or Celebratory – Songs for Sara Lily” this video is scrolling playback of the song.

Kathy

You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Baby Katie.

 Click here for print sheet music.

  Click here for digital sheet music.

(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML™ files.)

For more of unconditional love of a toy by a child see TheVelveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.