radio

As a stay-at-home mama, I am thankful for the radio. It's a minor thing, maybe, but when I think about going without it, I can't imagine! NPR makes me feel a bit more connected to the world at large, I love K-Love, both for it's music and for the positive news stories and having the radio on in the background just makes me feel less alone in the house (well, I have my kids here, obviously, but you know what I mean).

Today I want to share some radio favorites!

I LOVE podcasts. I usually clean up my house for a good hour in the afternoons, while the kids are either outside or watching a movie for some down time. I find it much easier to get into the cleaning groove if I put in my cute pink ear buds and cue up a podcast on my iPod. I've blogged about podcasts before here, but I want to add a few more recently discovered favorites!

I think way back in the comments on that post, someone referred me to the This American Life podcast and it's been a favorite ever since. Right after my return from China last month, I listened to their "Americans in China" episode (what a coincidence!!) and loved it. Having just been there, I found myself saying things like "Ohhhhh, that's why...." and "Aha! I knew it!" Everything these guys report on is very entertaining.  If you like Radiolab, which is one of the most popular podcasts out there and my #1 fave, you'll love This American Life.

Another one I've been liking a lot is Stuff You Missed in History Class.  These episodes are little shorter, which is nice sometimes and cover all kinds of fascinating topics. If you have older students, they will love this too--it could be a cool tool for homeschooling.

If there is any content in any of these podcasts that may be inappropriate for younger audiences, they will always tell you up front. These are not Christian organizations, so just be aware that not every episode is appropriate and there have been two or three that I have not finished because of this. But, those have been few and far between. All the podcasts I've mentioned can be listened to free online or subscribed to free in iTunes. I like to subscribe and then upload them to my ipod whenever there are new episodes.

Now for music! Natalie and I are loving this song lately:


And all the kids and I love dancing to this one!
I have some favorite non Christian artists and songs, but find myself almost always turning on Christian radio. It's good for the spirit, both mine and the kids. I love me some Norah Jones or Jack Johnson or Paul Simon while I'm cooking dinner though!

Last week I got this little cutie at Target:

It's nice because I can move it easily around the house with me without having to unplug my big dock and carry it from room to room. It would travel well too. Yesterday I took it outside during Kelby's birthday party and we listened to the Tangled soundtrack while slip n' sliding haha.

Another favorite listening toy is my Skullcandy ear buds. The white ones that came with my iPod (and every other Apple device--I'm pretty sure we have a dozen of them) are too big for my ears. They're uncomfortable, they don't stay in when I run and they tangle up easily. The Skullcandy ones don't tangle, they come with different sizes of the soft pieces to fit all ears, they stay in, even when running, and heck, they're just cute!
Casey got these pink ones for my Christmas stocking last year:

 Your turn!! I'm always looking for new entertaining podcasts, music, listening toys, etc... I'd love to find a worthwhile podcast or two for kids. Most of what I've found for kids is pretty lame.

Happy listening! :)