Well, here we are in the 2nd week of 2013 and this is my first post of the year! The end of 2012 was very busy with performances that left no time for blogging. In all the busyness, though, I was pleasantly surprised by Laura Lamere with the 2012 Blog of the Year Award! She writes a wonderful blog about parenting creative kids. I am so inspired by the way she actively supports her children in their artistic endeavors and enlightens the rest of us on how to do the same with our own children. Since she is one of my favorite bloggers, I am humbled that she would present me with this award. Thanks, Laura for your support of Kids and Keys.

This particular award was established by The Thought Palette whose tag line is “Things to challenge and inspire you”. Now, how intriguing is that?

Of course there are some rules for accepting the award:

1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award

2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award – http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/   and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them

5 You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience

6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars… (read more about collecting stars here.)

So, here are the blogs I would like to present this award to…

Laura Lamere’s blog would have to be the first one. As I stated earlier I am inspired by the purpose of her blog which is to share with parents of creative kids ways to support them in their creativity. As both a parent and an artist that whole concept makes me happy!

LaDona’s Music Studio gets my vote for 2012 Blog of the Year because it is definitely one that I try to visit everyday. LaDona writes helpful and thoughtful posts about teaching piano and she has a great sense of humor.

Color In My Piano by Joy Morin is a blog for piano teachers with a WEALTH of tips, printables, and great ideas. Joy’s blog is definitely one to visit often if you are working with kids and piano.

Don’t Shoot The Pianist  is one of my new favorite blogs. It is a collection of music related cartoons that make you laugh, think, then laugh again!

Foxx Piano Studio Resources by Jennifer Foxx By now you can tell that I’m addicted to piano blogs! This one is where I find out about a lot of technology to use in teaching music. Jennifer has a weekly series called Tech Tuesdays which appears on her blog in addition to all the wonderful ideas she shares from her piano teaching studio.

And those are my picks for 2012 Blog of The Year. Congratulations to these bloggers and thanks for the time they each put into sharing their ideas!

If you’d like to find out more about the 2012 Blog Of The Year Award, click here.