Daily Melodies: ShaeLaurel

Saturday, January 15, 2011

ShaeLaurel

We had the privilege of getting together with our favorite music group, ShaeLaurel, while they were last visiting our area. We had met them a year ago, when M's violin group had a workshop with them, and then played on stage with them for an evening violin concert. It was the most inspiring, wonderful concert, and the kids talked nonstop about ShaeLaurel for weeks on end after that experience. In fact, M was so starstruck with one of the members, Kathryn, that she started wearing her hair up in a ponytail so she could 'swing it around and around like Kathryn'! Talk about a great motivation for practicing, too! I don't recall even having to remind her to practice her violin for at least a month after that!

ShaeLaurel is truly a unique group. For one, they're a family- Mom, Dad, and 'kids' (not so little anymore, though)! But even beyond that, they've been touring for over nine years, after deciding to sell everything and hit the road, living in an RV and touring all around the country. An incredibly talented group of musicians, what impressed Bren and I the most, though, was their values, faith, and obvious love for one another. Truly an awesome bunch of people that we are so blessed to now know!

So, after seeing them in concert again recently, we surprised the kids the next day with Sunday brunch guests- ShaeLaurel! M could barely contain her excitement (good thing I didn't tell her any sooner than I did!!) After Mass that morning, she came home and sat by the front door windows, counting up to sixty at least 15 times and ticking off the minutes on her fingers! L was excited, especially since they had let him try out a bunch of their instruments on stage at their concert the night before (his personal favorite instrument? The Drums! Yes, a mother's dream!) When they pulled up to our house in their huge RV, you would have thought it was Elvis back from the dead coming to lunch at our house!! The kids were jumping up and down, so excited to have their new friends coming over 'to play'! And play they did- not only did they have fun building and making things in the house, but they even got out their instruments and played music together with us in our living room! So much fun. I wondered if they might be tired of playing music after constantly touring and performing, but not this crew- they put as much heart into our little living room 'concert' as they did while performing on stage for a crowd! B and I so enjoyed talking with 'Mom' and 'Dad', covering a wide range of topics- everything from homeschooling (technically, I guess they 'bus-school'!) to juicing, parenting, college, and future dreams. What a delight it was. I only regret that we didn't get more time with their precious family. Our children gobbled up every second with them, and I wish I, too, would have had more time to rap with Jessica, Kathryn, and Christian. 'Twas a dynamic, uplifting, inspiring afternoon with a wonderful family that we are now thrilled to call our friends. Thanks, ShaeLaurel.
Love your Ocala fans,
the Irwin crew

A few pictures from our fun time with ShaeLaurel:
(**And by the way, to learn more about them/their family musical adventures, check out their website:

ShaeLaurel website )