1. Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, my Lord and Savior and I love hearing him celebrated almost everywhere I go!
2. My dad is a Christmas music addict. He has hundreds of Christmas albums and he starts playing Christmas music on October 1 of each year so that he can listen through each album once. His love for Christmas music has been passed down to me, though my collection is more selective.
3. Christmas music is joyful! Whether it is talking about the birth of Christ or Santa Claus, Christmas music is full of joy.

MercyMe-Pizza Ranch Partnership

This year MercyMe has partnered with Pizza Ranch, a well-known, Christian-owned pizza company based in Iowa.

Cultivating its mission “To give every guest a legendary experience” since its inception in 1981, Pizza Ranch connects with its communities in a way that provides bridges for friends, family and colleagues to come together. Today, Pizza Ranch is based in Orange City, Iowa and owns, operates and franchises over 190 locations in 13 states. Consistent growth has been a Pizza Ranch staple, as the brand has become a beacon of community involvement and exceptional food. The Pizza Ranch buffet features legendary pizzas, salads and desserts, and is delivered with an unmatched service quality. “We are extremely blessed to have a very close connection with our guests,” said Adrie Groeneweg, co-founder and president of Pizza Ranch. “This project extends the brand’s essence to a new dimension beyond our four walls and into their lives. It’s a new kind of way for us to relate to our loyal fans.”

The ​MercyMe “It’s Christmas​” CD will be available in Pizza Ranch locations beginning November 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015. It has 4 exclusive songs that can only be found on the CD version being sold by Pizza Ranch. Each CD will be sold for $5 plus tax. Pizza Ranch will give away the CD with a $25 gift card purchase as well as sell the full album at each of its 200 locations throughout the Midwest and Great Plains states. “We are so excited to debut our new Christmas album, MercyMe, “It’s Christmas”, with Pizza Ranch” said Bart Millard with MercyMe. “Pizza Ranch is a fantastic restaurant with a great mission to glorify God. It’s the perfect gift to give this Christmas season and the perfect CD to get you in the Christmas spirit.”

About the MercyMe Christmas Album “It’s Christmas”

“It’s Christmas” is a wonderful Christmas album filled with a mix of new arrangements of classic songs and several brand new pieces soon to be Christmas classics. I have had a hard time choosing a favorite song on this album so I will give you 4 O Come, O Come, Our Lullaby, Go Tell it on the Mountain and Do You Hear What I Hear. Honestly, this entire album is great and I have been listening to it on repeat since it arrived.

“It’s Christmas” Track List:

1. Newborn
2. Christmastime Again
3. Sleigh Ride
4. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
5. Hold On Christmas
6. A Holly Jolly Christmas
7. Go Tell It On The Mountain
8. Do You Hear What I Hear
9. Our Lullaby
10. Joy
11. O Come, O Come
12. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Exclusive Bonus Track for Pizza Ranch)
13. O Holy Night (Exclusive Bonus Track for Pizza Ranch)
14. Silent Night (Exclusive Bonus Track for Pizza Ranch)
15. Joseph’s Lullaby (Exclusive Bonus Track for Pizza Ranch)

If you have a Pizza Ranch near you, go get your copy of the full CD, you don’t want to miss the bonus tracks. If you aren’t near a Pizza Ranch, and you don’t win this giveaway, go to iTunes and download the first 10 tracks of this album, you won’t be disappointed.

Mercy Me “It’s Christmas” Giveaway

One winner will receive the full 14 track CD “It’s Christmas” by MercyMe. This giveaway is open to US residents only. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and verified. The winner will be notified via email and they will have 48 hours to claim their prize. The Mom Maven is not responsible for prize fulfillment, that is the responsibility of the giveaway sponsor. This giveaway ends at 12:00am on 11-20-15. Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Merry Christmas!

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The Theatre

The Tampa Theatre opened its doors in 1926 as one of America’s most elaborate “movie palaces”. The theatre opens its doors to over 600 events a year and is currently in a fundraising program to upgrade its projection system to a digital system. The theatre boasts a Mighty Wurlitzer Organ, which I cannot wait to visit again so I can hear it being played (my first instrument was the organ and it is still a favorite of mine to listen to). They also offer tours and field trips, which I would love to do someday. If you live in or are visiting the Tampa area I recommend a visit to this living piece of Tampa’s history.

A glimpse at the beautiful Tampa Theatre

Rockapella

Rockapella began in 1986 as quartet of Brown University graduates singing Doo Wop on the streets of New York City. Scott Leonard, the now senior member of the group joined in 1991. You may know them best as the house band and comedy troupe for the television show, “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” which aired on PBS from 1991-1996. The Carmen Sandiego theme song is still there #1 downloaded song. They are also famous for their Folgers coffe commercials that aired between 1998-2001.

I have now had the pleasure of seeing the Rockapella Holiday show twice, the first time about 5 years ago. A Rockapella show is a fun family night out. All 5 guys are very talented musicians and have great stage presence. In a world where so much of the “pop” music is digitalized, over dubbed and auto tuned it is so refreshing to hear musicians who are talented vocalists who perform with sound reinforcement but not full of processing.

You can download Rockapella’s 2011 Christmas Album A Rockapella Holiday, to enjoy this Christmas season.

Myself & Scott Leonard

Disclosure: I am thankful to the Tampa Theatre and Rockapella for inviting me to be their guest at this fun concert. All opinions are 100% mine. There are affiliate links in this post.

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Christmas by Francesca Battistelli

Track Listing:
1. “The Christmas Song”
2. “Heaven Everywhere”
3. “Christmas Is”
4. “What Child Is This? (First Noel Prelude)”
5. “Marshmallow World”
6. “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
7. “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas”
8. “You’re Here”
9. “Joy To The World”
10. “Christmas Dreams”
11. “Go Tell It On The Mountain”

I think my favorite track is “You’re Here” but “Heaven Everywhere” is a close second. This entire album is soulful and very well arranged and produced. If you are looking for an addition to your Christmas music collection I recommend Christmas by Francesca Battistelli, it will be a family favorite for years to come.

In case you aren’t familiar with Francesca and her music she won the 2011 Dove Awards for “Artist of the Year,” “Female Vocalist of the Year” and“Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year” and received a 2009 Grammy nomination for “Best Gospel Performance” for her single “Free To Be Me” off her debut album My Paper Heart.

Disclosure: I received a copy of the CD for the purpose of this review. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Christmas in Diverse City.

In 2002 he released the songs “This Christmas” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful” and last year he released “Christmas this Year (Feat. Leigh Nash” as a single. All three of those songs are on the Christmas in Diverse City project. In addition to those, Toby’s renditions of “Little Drummer Boy“, “Mary’s Boy Child (feat. Jamie Grace)“, and “The First Noel (Feat. Owl City)” round out the first half of the album.

The second half is dedicated to Christmas tunes by the members of Diverse City. Unfortunately, none of these are going to be great hits. Actually it was funny-when I get a CD in for review I purposely don’t read the case I just pop it in and listen to it a few times so i have no preconceived notions about what to expect. I listened to Christmas in Diverse City in my car a few times and I kept thinking, “I love the first half of the album but the second half does nothing for me.” When I finally read the CD case and realized why, the second half isn’t TobyMac it is Diverse City! Personally, I’ve omitted the Diverse City songs from my Christmas iTunes playlist

As much as I love TobyMac this is one CD that I would just download individual songs and not the whole album. I’m sure Toby was trying to give some extra love to his Diverse City crew but for me, it just didn’t work.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this CD for the purpose of this review. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Track List:

1. Come On, Christmas-A fun upbeat song expressing the anticipation of the season
2.  Jingle Bells
3.  The Heart Of Christmas-a call to remember the true meaning of Christmas
4. Leaving Heaven (featuring Vince Gill)-an country-ish song about why Jesus is leaving heaven and coming to earth
5. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
6. One Last Christmas-a tearjerker based on a true story about a young cancer patient
7. Silent Night (Interlude)
8. Give This Christmas Away (featuring Amy Grant)-from VeggieTales: Saint Nicholas – A Story of Joyful Giving-2009
9. O, Holy Night
10.  Christmas Makes Me Cry (featuring Mandisa)-a poignant song of remembrance
11. Oh, Come All Ye Faithful
12.  Day After Christmas-reminding us that Jesus is still here after Christmas is over

This is my favorite new Christmas CD of the season! If you are lucky you can catch Matthew west and Mandisa in The Heart of Christmas Tour (I am not so lucky, there are no Florida dates on the tour )

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Pop vocal group FFH has released thirteen projects, sold more than two million albums, and garnered 24 radio hits, including seven No. 1 singles and ten Top 5 radio singles. In addition to multiple Dove Award nominations, FFH has been recognized at the Inspirational Life Awards as well as the Billboard Music Video Awards. The group has performed more than 1000 dates since 2000 and continues to be a favorite on the tour circuit. FFH is also known for its work with the “Make-A-Wish Foundation,” Kurt Warner’s “First Things First Foundation,” and for its contributions to national ad campaigns for Coca Cola and IBM.

One Silent Night, FFH’s first Christmas CD, available Oct. 18, is a mix of original songs and Christmas classics.

Produced by FFH founding member Jeromy Deibler, One Silent Night has been four years in the making. Giving in to the persistent appeals of loyal fans, FFH has crafted a project worthy of your holiday music collection.

Listeners will recognize favorites like “Winter Wonderland,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” and “Jingle Bell Rock,” among others, while being introduced to new tracks including “The Birthday of a King,” “Glorious Impossible,” and “One Silent Night.”

Deibler comments, “We just feel blessed to be able to make this record and wanted to do the kind of Christmas music we like to listen to, something that’s not trendy but more of a classic style. For us Christmas is about remembering… slowing down to see what is important. And being reminded of the glorious impossible that was the birth of Christ. We hope this album reflects that desire and inspires others to do the same.”

One Silent Night is a beautiful, mellow Christmas CD. It is perfect for listening to while relaxing by the light of the Christmas tree. I especially love “One Silent Night” as it talks about the night our Savior, Jesus Christ, was born and “Glorious Impossible” the worshipful, passionate song about the life of Christ. I really enjoy the entire album but at times I wish they hadn’t added the 4 fun Christmas tracks because the other 6 make an awesome Christmas worship/reflection CD. This would be where technology comes into play because I’ve separated the worship songs from the fun songs into two separate playlists so that depending on what I’m in the mood to listen to, I have my songs organized.

 One Silent Night would make a great addition to your Christmas music library or a great gift for a friend or family member. You can Like FFH on Facebook and follow them on Twitter  or visit their website to stay up to date on all things FFH.

Disclosure: i received a digital download copy of the CD for the purpose of this review. All opinions are 100% mine.

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