Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends & Family,

Merry Christmas! As 2009 comes to a close we wanted to give you an update on our family.

Paul has had a busy year at work. In February he accepted a new/expanded position. In addition to managing the training department at TRIRIGA he also manages the Customer Support and Documentation departments. He's hopeful 2010 will be less of a whirlwind!

Amy has had a busy year at home. She volunteers at the boys' school and started a pre-school co-op for Anna. She continues to write music and is excited that 3 or 4 new songs will be on country singer, Eric Dodge's upcoming album. She's currently serving in the Stake Young Women's presidency and loves her new role as Stake Dance chaperone!

Aaron is in 3rd grade at Hummel Elementary. He loves to read, play Lego Star Wars, ride his bike, and play baseball. He's a big dreamer and has his life planned out. He wants to invent the first real lightsaber and become a rich scientist. He also dreams about owning a beagle named Shiloh. Aaron was baptized this year and began Cub Scouts.







Jacob has gone through several all-encompasing phases this year: electric guitars, hammerhead sharks, German Zeppelins/warplanes, rollercoasters, and natural disasters. His current favorite movie shows footage of tornadoes, hurricanes, avalanches, etc. We think we have a meteorologist on our hands (at least until next week when the next phase hits)! He's in Kindergarten and knows who he wants his first girlfriend to be (ohh, 16 is going to come too fast for this kid).





Anna, age 3, started preschool in the Fall, and would go every day if she could. She's been in one phase this year, PRINCESSES. She surprised us by learning to ride her princess bike with training wheels the first time she tried. She loves to sing, dance, dress up, and have tea parties and play dates. But she's also not afraid to mix it up in a sword fight with her "bubbas."







We hope you have a great holiday season. Our goal in 2010 is to update our blog monthly (pretty big stretch given last year's miserable track record). Leave a comment if you want to be included on the updates mailers. Have a very Merry Christmas and we hope 2010 is a fantastic year for you all!

Love,
The Laceys

Anna Singing Snow White

Anna was singing the Snow White song tonight. Listen to it here.

Reminds me of my sisters singing it! "Ah-ha-ha-ha-haaaaaaa..."

Merry Christmas 2008

Hi Family & Friends!

Welcome to our blog. We want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas! We've had fun tracking some of you down from coast-to-coast, but now that we've found you we hope you'll drop us a line (email us at paul -dot- lacey -at- gmail -dot- com) and fill us in on what's happening in your neck of the woods.

In the meantime, here's a brief update of our family:

We've been living in Las Vegas for almost three years. We just celebrated our 10-year anniversary in Hawaii (It was a wonderful trip - check out our pics below!).

Paul works at TRIRIGA (sorry about the ALL-CAPS - it's a marketing thing), as the Training Manager where he keeps busy teaching classes about TRIRIGA's software. He also keeps busy helping coach Aaron and Jacob's baseball and soccer teams.

Amy is a busy mother of three who is now an official soccer/baseball/PTA mom. In her spare time (i.e., when the kids are busy getting their daily dose of Fetch/Thomas the Tank/Strawberry Shortcake) she likes to compose music. Check out news about her latest project here and other stuff at amybensonlacey.com.







Aaron (7) is in second grade and just finished his first season of baseball. He loves Star Wars, losing teeth, and winning at everything else! He looks forward to getting baptized in March.











Jacob (4) loves preschool, electric guitars, and trains. He's very imaginative and will turn anything into either a fast-moving vehicle or a musical instrument.











Anna (2) is our little whirlwind. She loves princesses, talking, chasing her Bubbas (brothers), and anything PINK. She changes her clothes at least four times per day, requesting everything from a pirate costume, her favorite PJs, one of her dresses, or nothing at all!









At this Christmas season, we're grateful for the birth of our Savior. Christmas also makes us think of our great families and the wonderful friends we've made over the years. We haven't talked to some of you in a while, but we still consider you some of our greatest blessings! Hope to hear from you soon. :-)

The Laceys

Aloha! Pictures from Hawaii

Amy and I decided to celebrate our 10-year anniversary by going to Hawaii. I had never been so I was excited to go see Paradise. We had such a great time! We took the kids, but we couldn't have done it without my darling sister, Natalie. Thanks Nat! We were also hooked up with awesome travel arrangements and accommodations by Aunt Joanne at Cruise and Travel Masters. Thank you!! Check out the slideshow of pictures below.


Some of the highlights:

• Natalie guiding us around the island after she got the tour before we got there
• Lei greeting at the airport
  
• Turtle Bay and watching the surfers ride the HUGE waves on the North Shore
• Shave ice - yum!
• Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay
• Pearl Harbor
• Waikiki on Halloween (VERY interesting people about!)
• Trick-or-Treating with Natalie's friends
• Parasailing!
• Polynesian Cultural Center
• ABC Stores
• Dole Plantation and the Pineapple Express
• The Macadamia nut place
  
• The Rain-that-was-really-just-a-mist
• Playing in the sand
• The Halona Blow Hole
• Sunset on the beach
• Our romantic dinner at sunset at the Hilton Rainbow Lanai
• Hanging out on the deck of our condo listening to Jacob play his Ukelele
• Cheeseburger in Paradise
• Dropping my BlackBerry (yes, AGAIN! But the salt water really did it in this time) in the ocean on the first day so I couldn't be bothered by work the entire week!
  

Up Kind of Day on iTunes and Amazon!

Just an update to the previous post about the new Up Kind of Day album: you can also download the songs from iTunes (http://budurl.com/FLYUPI) or from Amazon (http://budurl.com/FLYUPA), in addition to getting the actual CD from the FlyLady site (http://budurl.com/FLY4).

Also, check out some of the reviews that have been put up so far:

The Finest Children's CD you'll ever hear

... is "Up Kind of Day"! This very talented band of merry muscians
wont fail to enchant kids and their older relatives with every track
of this lively compilation, whose irresistible genres range from samba
to tango... blues to lullaby! Their diverse tempos and the happy,
sometimes touching vocals will charm every little boy and girl, making
magic of what used to be "chores." Don't be surprised if you find
yourself FLYing to them too! A true essential- and a soon-to-be
classic - of children's music.

Susanonymous

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My Favorite Kids' CD

My favorite kids CD! We listen to "Up Kind of Day" every weekday
morning to start our day in a positive, fun way. We listen to the 2
slow songs at the end of the CD every night while starting our bedtime
routine. Great way to start & end your day with your kids. Wonderful
variety of music for kids & adults. Buy this CD for kids 0-12 years -
it will become a new favorite!

J. Molloy

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Up kind of day!

This is just wonderful from the first note to the last! I bought it
for my three year old granddaughter and found out we all LOVE it! It
has a very diverse mix of music. You won't get tired of hearing this CD!

J. Morgan

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Wonderful tool to help your children (and you fly!)

My daughters and I LOVE this CD. It is fun and upbeat, not cheesy at
all. The music is of the best quality! My daughters love being "flykids!"

Amy H

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Fantastic CD for kids and adults!!,

I got several CD's as Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews. I
loved the CD so much after hearing the songs that I bought one for
myself! Amy Lacey and crew did such a fantastic job with the up
lifting lyrics.

Emily G.

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For Children of All Ages

I originally bought this for my daughter, who loves the first cd
created by Amy Benson and Marla Cilley, aka Flylady.
Now I've bought one for me and two more for christmas gifts because
the message behind this music is so powerful and true. House and room
BLESSINGS and planning ahead makes life easier and much more FUN!
Don't believe me? Just listen to ToyBox Tango and I bet you will be
cleaning up and "posing like fancy dancers do"!

"FlyBabyM"

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Positive, upbeat

My kids are grown and in their twenties. I had heard snippets of this
cd and enjoyed the positive messages and various song genres. None of
the tunes are condescending or babyish. I bought this cd for ME. It
helps me get my chores done without resorting to a "poor me, I have to
do some housework" attitude. I plan to purchase a cd for my niece and
nephew. As a second grade teacher, I give this cd an A+.

Sharyn

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Positive Music with a Great Message!

Honestly I think everyone should buy a copy of this cd adult or child,
but I'm a kid at heart. It's a fantastic cd about life, loving
yourself, helping others and most of all cleaning. You can't place it
in any particular genre, but if you love music you won't be able to
help letting this music set your feet to tapping and your mouth to
singing, or at least humming along. I think it's the best cd I've
purchased in forever!

-M

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A Wonderful Way to Bless your Family

These songs will inspire you as they will your children. I am so glad
these songs are on iTunes so I can pick the appropriate song for the
activity we are doing... it will be so much fun to just click on "Room
Patrol" while we are cleaning for "So Long Dust Samba" while dusting.
I have heard all of these song and they cover all genres of music, I
can't wait to see how my 3 year old reacts to them. If you are like me
and can't stand most music geared toward kids, this one is a winner.

Jackie from Rogersville

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Great job girls!!!

It's Done!!!

After a long 12 months in the works, the Up Kind of Day (formerly known as FlyKids) CD is finally done! Wahoo!! We are SO excited (can you tell?) and extremely happy with how it turned out. Marla has it up for sale on her site at FlyLady.net.

From Up Kind of Day Graphics

Here is the list of songs:

1. Up Kind of Day
2. FLY Kid
3. Rockin' Routines
4. So Long Dust Samba
5. Camp GonnaWannaFLY
6. Boogie
7. Clean Up
8. Room Patrol
9. Toy Box Tango
10. Launch Pad
11. Veggie Blues
12. Good Deed Doer
13. Time to Dream (Mairin's Song)
14. Wings to Fly

Congrats and thanks to Ali, Val, John, and everyone else who did so much to get this put together. We feel like we've just birthed another child. We wish we could send you each a free copy but we're not the ones paying for this one. :-) Hopefully they'll be up on iTunes here shortly where you can download them if you'd prefer.

FlyKids Countdown

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3...

OK, we'll stop there for now, but we ARE getting closer to getting this FlyKids CD done! It feels like we've been running a marathon at a sprinter's pace for over a month but we are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. We're supposed to have all the editing on the vocals wrapped up tomorrow and then they'll be shipped off to Nashville for the final editing. For a preview of the Camp Gonnawannafly song visit the FlyLady MySpace page (be patient, it takes forever for the page to load). Fun stuff!

We're still working on the graphics and will be frantically trying to get them pulled together this week so we can get them ready for the printer about the same time the CDs go for duplication. Here's an early beta of an idea for the logo to be used on the cover:



I just realized that the link I sent to the Lacey side of the family I don't think made it to anyone when we posted the audio site after the first demos were finished back in April. Not sure what happened there, but I'll re-email it to you after we get the site updated with the new MP3s tomorrow.

In the meantime, check out some of the pictures of what we've been up to for the past month or so. They include pictures from here in Vegas, some from our recording session with Eric and Andy Dodge in St. George, and from when we were up in Logan when Amy was working on the vocals up there. Sorry they're not all labeled, but it's way past my bedtime and I need to get some sleep. Click through the slideshow below for a closer look.



Off to bed now...