Great Moments in Music: The Barney Clean Up Song

No matter what people have to say about the big purple dinosaur, I have to say that Barney has a rockin' clean up song. Or, that is, he used to. My days with preschool kids around are long enough ago that we sang the catchy song he sang in the early seasons of Barney and Friends:


Clean up, clean up,
Everybody everywhere,
Clean up, clean up,
Everybody do your share.


It's a simple song, with a singsongy tune, but boy does it work on preschoolers. At that age, cleaning up is just another game for them. Sing the song and they know what to do! In fact, if you don't sing the song for them, they'll sing it for you. One little boy I used to babysit was still learning to talk, but his "mee mup, mee mup" was pretty unmistakable when it was time to put the toys away.

I've been serving in the nursery at church for the past several months, and guess which song sticks the best when it's time to pick up?

And with all my recent exposure to Barney's "Clean Up" song, what do you think the first song was that came to my mind the other day when we fixed the car and reached the point where it was time to put the tools away? You guessed it. All my husband did was say, "Let's clean up now," and the song just sailed from my lips. I'm sure it raised morale immensely.

Everyone has their own opinions about Barney, and I do have to say that I haven't missed watching his show since my son grew out of it years ago. (Actually, it would be pretty scary if I did miss it.) But something I love about Barney and Friends is how they make cleaning up part of the game. They have fun, sing songs, and they clean up before they go. It goes to show that even little kids can learn big things if they're taught in a way that resonates with them.

Tetris (fake) Movie Trailer

Just when you thought you were having a bad day, you look up in the sky and...

Your day just got a whole lot worse.

This is a trailer for a totally fake movie based on a totally cool video game that would totally not make sense in the real world. Enjoy!

Free Kindle Ebooks Saturday May 26!

I'm sharing this message from Rachel Ann Nunes. I know I always love a good deal on books, and you can't do better than free! --Katie

This Saturday, May 26th, kick off your summer with FREE Kindle books by two best-selling authors!

What better way to celebrate the start of summer than by stocking up on books? This is the perfect opportunity to get that Kindle you always wanted—or download the Kindle app for your iPad or computer and read for free!

A Bid For Love – a heart-stopping contemporary romantic suspense novel by Rachel Ann Nunes. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003PDN5EC/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=rachelcom-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B003PDN5EC

The Captain of Her Heart – an intensely romantic historical novel set in the Revolutionary War period by Anita Stansfield. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0084TTWXA/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_til?tag=rachelcom-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B0084TTWXA&adid=0VC3P0QCSQC5CCATCZWD&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rachelannnunes.com%2FRecommendedBooks.php

Join us any time on Saturday May 26th, and pass this on to friends and family. Make sure you mark the date on your phones and calendars because you don’t want to miss it!

(To download the books in England or another country, go to the Amazon site for that country and search for the books.)

Visiting Teaching, California Style

Last time I posted, we were living securely in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We aren't originally from there, and have no family there, but had been there for several years and had made a home of it. We owned a house and enjoyed serving in the ward there.

As of this writing, we have been living in San Jose, California, for nine months. My husband took a new job here, so we moved. Of course the actual moving was more complicated than that, but the concept is pretty straightforward: New job. Move.

Much as I didn't want to move to Wisconsin in the first place back in 2004, it broke my heart to drive away.
We really threw ourselves into our church callings in Eau Claire and grew to love the people there. But it has struck me that no matter where you are or which people you serve, it is all part of the Lord's work.

This was particularly clear to me as I went visiting teaching for the first time in our new ward. I'd had a great route in Eau Claire, and had built some lasting relationships with our sisters. But as I went on my first visits in San Jose, I had this underlying sense that this visiting teaching was only pretend. After all, visiting teaching for me meant going with Lisa to visit Virginia, Jane, and Dianne on a Friday afternoon in Eau Claire. In San Jose I was with a bunch of strangers.

But there was something familiar about it as well. The gospel was the same. The Spirit was the same. Even though I didn't yet personally know the sisters in San Jose, we could still come to a meeting of hearts as sisters in the gospel.

I still miss Lisa as my companion and good friend, and I miss visiting with Virginia, Jane, and Dianne. But if I were still in Wisconsin, I'd never have had the opportunity to work with Nancy as my new companion. I wouldn't have gotten to know Amy, Jenn, Margaret, or Julie. I wouldn't have had the chance to pray for them in their trials, or to learn from them and enjoy their company. I wouldn't have been able to learn how to magnify my calling as a visiting teacher from Nancy's steady example. I wouldn't have made these new friends.

I don't know how long we will stay in California. But I do know that the work of the Lord is the same wherever we go. Individuals and circumstances differ, but we are all children of the same Heavenly Father and part of the same work. The work is the same.