KC Creative Design Photography: Blog

Tucson Dance Mom, The Saga Continues!

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 08:29:00 GMT


Leyla http://kccreativedesign.com/p666876526

Dance team tryouts for 2012/2013 have come and gone and the results from the audition were posted the Thursday before Labor Day holiday weekend. This year Leah, my middle child who recently turned seven, decided to try out for dance team. My youngest, Alexandra is two years old, didn’t want to miss out on all the action so she turned in her diapers for a leotard and a pair of tights!! Alexandra is having a blast every Saturday morning in a one hour combo ballet/tap class with Heather. Who needs a vacation home, when you have three daughters whose home away from home is in the dance studio? =)

Alexandra

I spent most of the summer focusing on our Photography and Videography Company; KC Creative Design.

The girls and I agreed that spending the summer focusing on dance technique, by taking more ballet classes, would be a good start to the new 2012/2013 dance season. We found a nearby dance studio just 5 minutes away from the house in Civano. We enjoyed meeting new people and working with the friendly professional staff at Ballet Rincon Academy of Dance. The girls also took gymnastics once a week so they could work on getting some tricks. The summer flew by and before we knew it we were back home at Dance Force One ready to start the new dance season. Fall classes started at the beginning of August; two weeks before dance team auditions. In past years auditions were held at the end of the year after the recital. Dance Force One picked up some amazing new dance teachers and most of the talented teachers returned back to the studio. The first weeks flew by and then we were getting ready for the Saturday team try outs. Dancers started checking in between 7:00 and 730 A.M. Leyla had her childhood best friend, Ysa, spend the night. Ysa was a big support for Leyla and for the entire family. She is an amazing person and is such a big help when it comes to dance team competitions and pretty much anything else in our life. We had the girls go to bed early so that they would be well rested. Mommy cheerleader woke them up early to prepare for the day. Charlie and I wanted to make sure the kids had enough strength to make it through the auditions so Charlie made eggs and I cut up some fresh fruit. After breakfast the girls got dressed and spent at least 20 minutes stretching before we all piled in the car and made the trek to the dance studio. This year the kids had to wear a leotard and tights, and have their hair pulled back in a bun. All dancers had to have their right and left splits to make most of dances on dance team. The ability to do both splits can make the difference between making the team or not. This year the dancers were auditioning for individual dances, as compared to last year when the dancers tried out for a particular dance team. This year the instructors were able to choose who they wanted to perform in each of their dances vs. having one group of girls stay together for almost all their dances.

At the audition each child that registered was given a number which they displayed where the judges could identify the dancer and score them based on whatever they were looking for. This year I had two kids to be nervous for and when I found out Leah was trying out in the same room as her older sister I just about fainted. All 7-11 years old tried out together; which I thought was crazy!! Leah is so little and just turned 7 where as Leyla is a young lady who is tuning 12 next month. The difference in maturity and skill level is night and day. I thought for sure that Leah was going to back out and not try out. Heck, I would back out if I was her age!! Parents were not allowed to watch so Ysa and I hung out together in the hallway and tried to peek through the cracks in the taped up windows…too bad April did a really good job this year and we couldn’t even see a shadow. Leah stayed the whole time and even took her first 1.5 hr ballet class with Cory, who is an amazing dancer, and a fantastic but very stern, teacher. My poor baby is used to taking three hours of dance classes a week and was now auditioning with the older girls and dancing over three hour in one day! Leyla, on the other hand, was having the time of her life and ended up staying until 3:00pm. By the end of the day I was exhausted, which is ironic considering I wasn’t the one dancing. Ha Ha. The older girls were so nice to Leah that I will be forever thankful to them all!! Later that evening when little Leah got out of the car she said she could hardly feel her legs. Leyla and I look at each other and started laughing. I thought to myself “I hope she makes dance team or she will be devastated.”

Leah

Two weeks passed before the list was posted and every day Leah asked if she had made dance team. I was starting to feel like we were never going to find out.

It was late Thursday evening before the list was posted and luckily for me I didn’t have to drive 40 minutes to the dance studio to find out :=) One of the other dance moms took a picture of the list with her phone and sent it to me. The girls waited anxiously as the list downloaded to my phone. We waited and waited and waited…. what the hell was wrong with my phone??? You have got to be kidding me!!!! As soon as we all had given up hope and were off to bed my phone beeped and the download was completed with the dance team list.
It probably would have been faster to drive the 40 min to the dance studio. The only problem was that for some reason the pictures came through as a video so I was not able to enlarge the screen which meant that the list was too little to read. I forwarded the text to Charlie’s phone and he had the same problem so he emailed it to our email address and printed it out. I practically had to use a magnifying glass the make out everything. Between me and Charlie we were able to see that Leah made four dance numbers on dance team with the younger girls. Leah was so excited and was very proud of her self. I tucked Leah in bed while Charlie continued to look at the list for Leyla. When I returned to the room Charlie said he didn’t see Leyla name on the list. What?? Give me that list I said as I snapped the paper out of his hand, and I thought I was blind!! Leyla’s name was right under Leah’s name and she made 8 dance team numbers! Her worried face turned into a big smiled and she was very happy!! Before I could say another word Leyla had fallen asleep with a smile a mile wide on her face and was probably dreaming of the lights, action, Show Time!

Reflection

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 00:14:00 GMT

The dance season came to an end with a little over a month off between seasons. Team try-outs will be here before you know it. I have learned a lot this past year, and not only about bling, rhinestones, hair, or makeup, but also a lot about myself. When this season first started I did not fully understand all the time and money that parents need to invest when we have a daughter who is a dancer on a competitive dance team. The commitment that is involved does not only come from the dancer but also from the dancer’s family. I should have known better since my mom did it when I was girl but it is not until you commit as a parent and family that it really hits home.

There was many times this past season where weeks and months would go by and I never took the time to take care of myself or my health. This past year I have been distant from friends and family while I concentrated on doing the best I could between my job, building a photography business, and six days a week at the dance studio. I’ve been told I’m crazy!! I won’t ever deny that I am in fact crazy and that I accept that about myself. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept the consequences that come with my decision to support both my girls in dance. I have to tell you that every tear shed, the late nights, the long drives, frustrations while rhinestoning, and even the way-over-the-top competition hair was worth it after seeing Leyla and her team dance their little butts off on stage.

This year I watched Leyla start the year quiet and reserved and blossom into a child with self-confidence and who believes in herself as much as I believe in her. Dancing gave Leyla something to be excited about every day. The friendships she made this year will always be remembered and be a part of her life as she becomes a young lady. The long-distance drive to the dance studio that I complained about often in my blog was actually a blessing because it gave Leyla and I good mother-daughter bonding time. The bonding time was way overdue and we became much closer this past year.

As years pass and I get older more and more people I care deeply about have passed on. This year, more than ever, I have a clear picture and understanding of how precious and wonderful life is. My mom use to tell me when I was a child that the older you get the faster times goes by. I never really understood what she meant by that statement until now. Days, weeks, months, and years seem to be on fast forward and I’m constantly asking for more time. How much time as individuals are we willing to sacrifice away from the people we love for our jobs? Since time doesn’t have a price tag and you never know when it will run out, I have decided not to waste another second trying to be everything and everywhere at the same time. Through Leyla’s passion in dance I found my passion in photography; and found a career that makes me excited to wake up every morning.

As of mid-July I am no longer an employee with Long Realty. I still work with them but as an independent contractor and have their support and blessing to pursue Photography full-time. I have met some incredible people in the real estate industry and have enjoyed being able to offer career opportunities to individuals looking for more in their careers. It is very rewarding to be a part of other people’s success and helping them build their dreams. I love how it has worked out with Long because I am now able to make my own hours and will be able to make the time for my business and for everything else in my life.

Watch a Slideshow/Video created by KCCreativedesign.com

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 07:19:00 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luyrrtth7FQ Watch a Slideshow/Video created by KCCreativedesign.com

Photography by KAR Media, KC Creative Design and Dance Force One members

Video by KAR Media, KC Creative Design

http://www.musicdancetucson.com/

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http://www.showbizacademyofdance.com/

http://www.danceforce-1.com/

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KAR Dance National Finals in Las Vegas

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 23:12:00 GMT

Photo taken by KAR Photographers

Leyla and I spent last week in Las Vegas with the other DF1 dance team dancers representing not only Dance Force 1 but all of Tucson dancers at the KAR Dance National Finals in Las Vegas. The event was held at the MGM Grand Sunday July 1st and ended Sunday July 7th. I was a little worried about how Leyla and I were going to survive seven days in Vegas when the longest I ever stayed in Vegas was three days and I was barely alive when it was time to go home. The majority of the dancers on team stayed at the MGM Grand for the week. Leyla and I were anxious when arriving to Las Vegas and were filled with mixed emotions; we felt scared, nervous and excited all at the same time. Rock Star, Super Star, Shining Star, Shooting Star, and Future Star teams had dances that were selected to compete in nationals based on how well the dances did throughout the year.

The first of six competitions started in January 2012 not counting the performance early in the year and the dance recital in June. Shining Star dance team learned a total of 6 small group dances plus many of the girls also learned solo, duos, trios, and big group numbers. Large group numbers are mixed with different dancers from the different teams within the company. The National competition was the last competition for season and dancers flew in from all over the U.S to compete with the best of the best! The skill and talent at the National level is no joke and can be a little intimidating for dancers, especially if you’re not from one of the major big cities.

Leyla is a part of the Shining Star dance team with a total of 8 girls in the group. Overall this year they were not consistently doing well enough to feel 100% confident about competing in the Nationals competition in Vegas. Many of our concerns eased up when it was announced that only the dances that did well throughout the year were going to Las Vegas.

Dance, like other sports (yes, I consider it a sport!), becomes very expensive the more competitive the dancer becomes. Most dance competitions have entrance fees for each dance plus the cost of costumes, travel, room and board, and any miscellaneous costs while traveling. Taking the dances that had a chance of placing was not only a smart decision but also lowers the cost of entrance fees. :-)

The last KAR Artistic Revue competition was in Phoenix the first week of June. The Shining Star team’s jazz number Party Girls placed second overall and hip hop Who’s that Chick placed first overall for their age division. You would think that based on the last competition that all the parents would feel good going into Nationals.

You just never know what the judges are looking for and how the dances are going to do. Although the dances took first and second at the Phoenix KAR competition they didn’t do well at the Rainbow Connection competition back in May. This is why many of the parents had concerns about going to Nationals; we were not consistently placing in the top three.

The multiple elements of a dance competition can be very confusing. It took me a whole year to understand it, and to be honest, I’m still not 100% confident how the whole thing works.

Each dance competition usually has three basic categories that the judges score on. Depending on who is hosting the competition the names for the individual awards can change their meaning, sound very similar, or have completely different definitions for the same titles. This is the confusing part for me; right when I think I figured out what all the titles mean for one competition the same name will have a different meaning at the next competition.

The Las Vegas Nationals awards and categories were broken down differently.

Individual: Each dance routine receives in individual title of Elite Top First, Top First, First, and High Second. Elite Top First is the highest title a routine can receive followed by Top First, First, and then High Second (Which is in the famous words of Leyla means “thank you very much have a nice day now go home“).

Categories of Dance: Dances only compete within their own dance/age categories. Jazz competes with jazz, tap with tap and so on.

Winning first in your category may not always be as great as it sounds. There are over 16 different categories so who a team competes against depends on the number of studios that register for the competition and where they put their dances in the categories. A team may place first but may only have competed against two or three other teams and it’s possible that a team ends up competing against either another dance team from the same studio or even against themselves in another dance! Another example is getting first place for the category but only receiving an individual High Second award. This means you were the best of the worst.

Overall: Each dance, regardless of dance categories, completes against each other in the same age range. This is the award every team strives to place first, second or third in. What is most impressive is when many dances get an Elite Top First and also place first over all.

Some of the DF1 solos performed on Sunday and the big group number Winter performed Wednesday. Winter, which has done well in the past, didn’t do well at Nationals. It received 1^st in its category but did not place overall.
The older girl’s Elite Small Group for ages 15-19 placed 1^st overall for the dance Fix You and won the showcase on Saturday. Party Girl and Who’s that Chick from the Shining Star group and another big team group number, Dance, competed on Thursday. Dance was the first of the three dances to compete on Thursday. The kids kicked butt and performed better in Nationals then they had all year. We all were expecting it to do well and were very disappointed when Dance only received a Top First and did not place overall. This was a discouraging start of the day. Leyla and I, along with some of the other girls, were disappointed with the results and didn’t understand why Dance scored so low. I told Leyla to shake it off and not to let the results to Dance impact the other two small group dances that were next to compete.

Throughout the day there were times I couldn’t find Leyla and when I caught up with her she was on the side of the stage running over the dance moves and stretching without being told. I watched from the distance so she couldn’t see me. I couldn’t believe my eyes; my child was in the zone and she was determined to do the best she could do and not let her team down!! The routine for Party Girl was filled with double and triple pirouettes, multiple turns in second, plus leaps and tricks. April did a great job with the flow and the choreography with this dance but one mistake could ruin any chances of placing in Nationals. The girls ran their routine before going on stage and all the dance moms on the Shining Star team watched the girls run though Party Girl. April did a great job utilizing the time to make the best of the last practice. She was quick finding weaknesses in the routine and assisting the dancers in making the proper corrections. The kids listened and stayed focused.

Photo taken by KAR photographers

The girls were up against some very tough competition and were competing against 28 to 30 dances in their category and around 40 or more overall. When the girls went back stage me and a couple of the parents rushed to our seats to watch the dance up front and center stage. The girls walked on stage and all the parents went crazy cheering them on from the sidelines. The music started and my heart stopped; I knew that the outcome of the dance was completely out of my control. The girls’ faces lit up the room and they blew everyone away with their routine. As I watched them dance I got a lump in my throat and it took every ounce of my will to hold back my tears. I was so proud of all of them. Today they were a team and danced as one. They showed the whole world how hard work pays off. After the number was over the parents rushed back stage to help the girls to get into their next costume. As the girls walked to the dressing room the parents’ congratulated them for a job well done. The second dance was Who’s that Chick and the girls yet again bought on their A-game and we all were pleased with how well they did!! The girls did the best they could do and now it was all up to the judges. I only hoped that the girls placed in the top five. It was hard to tell because we all thought Dance did well and it didn’t place at all.

We celebrated how well the girls performed with pizza and then returned to the stage for the award ceremony. The room filled up quickly as the dancers made their way on stage to hear the results. One by one each dance received their individual title. Party Girls and Who’s that Chick both received Elite Top First, which is the highest title a routine can receive. KAR wasn’t giving out Elite Top First very often so receiving Elite Top First for both of our numbers was huge. I’m not sure of the exact numbers but my guess is that there were 8 teams out of the 35-40 who also received Elite Top First. When it was time to announce the overall winners we were pleased to hear that Who’s that Chick placed in the top 10 . When it got down to the top five and Party Girl still hadn’t been called. The excitement of being in the top 5 seemed unreal and almost a dream. Forth overall was called, then third and still no Party Girl. Oh my goodness we got second I couldn’t believe it!!!!! Then when second overall was called and it wasn’t Party Girl the mom next to me said we did it! I thought to myself no way, she has to be wrong; we must have not placed at all maybe and were mistaken in the count down. The room was packed and the girls were getting more and more excited as the number one overall dance was announced and it was Party Girl! I had a hard time holding up the camera while recording all the action without losing it. The girls did it!! Wow they really did it!! This has been a crazy stressful year with ups and downs and at this very moment watching our girls jump up and down with excitement made every minute worth it. When April joined the girls on stage my eyes filled with tears for her and her accomplishments with this team. What a perfect ending for to the season.

http://www.musicdancetucson.com/

http://www.breakouton4th.com/

http://www.thedanceloft.com/

http://www.danswest.com/

http://www.showbizacademyofdance.com/

http://www.danceforce-1.com/

WWW.kccreativedesign.com

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LA Dance Magic Convention & Competition

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:33:00 GMT

Click to view more photos http://kccreativedesign.com/journeyoftucsondancemom#h219ff6d3

This past weekend Dance Force 1 dance team attended a two day dance workshop that included a Saturday night competition and a Sunday morning scholarship audition. La Dance Magic held the event at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort in Scottsdale. I was very impressed with how well organized and how smooth everything ran throughout the whole weekend!! LA Dance Magic gets a five star rating from me.

Leyla begged to leave Friday night instead of Saturday at 5:30 A.M. and finally convinced me by offering to help pay for an extra night. It didn’t take that much convincing since she offered to pay with her own money. How could I say no? Besides I would have had to wake up super early to get to Phoenix by 7:30am. The drive went by very quickly as Leyla and I chatted the whole way and had some great mother/daughter bonding time. To my surprise once Leyla started talking she didn’t stop the entire way to Phoenix. I guess she was taking advantage of the fact that both of her little sisters were not around to interrupt her. So, needless to say I shut up and listened and let her have the floor. Some of the things that came out of her mouth had me thinking about how fast my little girl is growing up. I wished the drive would never end so I could enjoy that moment forever.

Each age group had their own ballroom with plenty of room to move around. The choreographers taught the dancers from a small stage in the front of the room. They also had four dance assistants moving throughout the room to help the children. The first day of the workshop was jam packed with small breaks for the girls to have a snack, change shoes, and to eat lunch. The dances taught were Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet and Tap. There were taught by five different up-and-coming new choreographers that each brought a unique and different style to the classes.

One of the reasons I decided to watch the dancers was to see how our girls compared to the Phoenix dancers. In general, Phoenix dance teams seem to do better in competition compared to the Tucsondance teams. Why is that?? Did they have better dancers or did they have better choreography? I was hoping to be able to answer my questions by the end of the weekend.

Most of Shining Star, Shooting Star, and Future Star were all in the junior workshop group together. There were two girls who were in-between ages and decided to move up to the next age group. I am very proud of the girls who moved up because they had to step out of their comfort zone and challenge themselves =)

Overall our girls did ok in the first two dance classes. As the day continued many of the girls started to standout and were amongst the best in the class. In fact, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of them!! They were dancing full on and had great facial expressions. Their poor little faces must have been sore by the end of the day from smiling so much. The Shining Star dance team mostly stayed in the first two rows in front of the stage. The girls were told to stay up front and not to slip to the back; which is exactly what they did. I would also like to add that they were very polite to the other dancers. We had a couple of dancers who really seemed to struggle. BUT not one child gave up or quit no matter how difficult the routines were. =)

Saturday night Competition

Saturday’s workshop ended around 2:30 -3:00 PM and the girls had a hour and half to get ready for the competition. Leyla, Sarah, RL and I ran up to room to start on their makeup and hair. I am happy to report that Leyla and I didn’t kill each other; in fact everything went great between the two of us!! Perhaps I should mention that the other reason we did so well was that RL did Leyla’s hair. =)

The ballroom was used as the dressing rooms; which was great because there was plenty of room for everyone. Leyla’s hip hop team dance was one of the first dances to go out. The girls did great!! Party Girl was next and is the dance I said would go all the way this year. That dance didn’t do as well as I hoped it would have in this competition. The Shooting Star dance team group number did well and so did some of the older team’s dances. Overall it’s safe to say that we all wish we did better in the competition part this past weekend. Once the numbers are posted I will know exactly where we placed for each of the dances. The night came to an end around 10pm and Leyla and I were ready to go to bed.

Scholarship auditions

I don’t remember getting into bed or closing my eyes; all I remember is waking up to a very loud alarm at 6am in the morning. It was Sunday, the last day of the workshop, and Scholarship auditions were at 8am. My body felt like I was in college again after a night of dancing and having one to many drinks. Except I only had one drink and all I did was sit on my butt all day and watch other people dance!! So embarrassing! Lucky for me RL came up to the room and took Leyla and Sarah down for auditions while I finished getting myself ready and checked out of the room.

By the time I got downstairs the auditions were almost over. Some of the mothers from the other teams that I met at the Saturday workshop filled me it on what I missed. As the moms filled me in there were girls exiting the ball room who were cut. When one of the moms told me that they started with ballet across the floor I was surprised that Leyla hadn’t come out yet. Leyla is starting her third year of dance and just doesn’t have the same level of experience that some of the other girls on Shining Star have had. I had a talk with Leyla before the workshop began about not having high expectations about receiving a scholarship. I explained to her that she has come a long way in a short amount of time and will be going up against girls that may have had double the experience and that she should just concentrate on doing the best she can do. Leyla did well in the Saturday workshop but when it comes to auditions there is a lot of pressure and no room for mistakes. There are many good dancers that don’t do well under pressure or make one mistake and get cut in auditions. Aside from trying out for dance team this is really Leyla’s first audition. I wasn’t sure how she would perform under the pressure. Some of the parents took turns looking though the peep holes in the door. I have really bad eyesight so I couldn’t trust what I was seeing. It looked like all of our girls were sitting together and that they were cut from the auditions. The door opened and the dancers made their way out of the ballroom. When the crowd thinned out parents started to make their way into the room. I heard one of the mothers say that six of the girls made it to the finals. Leyla was one of the six that made it to the finals. I was so happy for her; what an accomplishment! Wait a minute, what the heck was wrong with me? Oh my goodness, Leyla made it to the finals! I wanted to run and give her a hug and congratulate all the girls who were going to the finals. My guess is that there were over a hundred dancers who tried out and only 22 of them made it to the finals. I held myself back from showing too much excitement. Some of the girls that didn’t make it were in tears and I remember how that felt from when I was a little girl. Most of these kids worked very hard during the workshop and to see their little faces and feel their disappointment broke my heart. I only wish I was able to take the hurt away when things go badly; but that is part of growing up. I waited about 10 minutes before walking over to Leyla and the rest of the girls.

The morning flew by and before I knew it the finals were starting. All the dancers from the different age groups went on stage for a dance off. As the final tryouts were being held on the big stage the room filled up quickly with eager parents and other dancers to watch the tryouts. The dancers were grouped by number and asked to dance. Once the group dances were completed they were asked to stand in line while the judges took a final look at each of the dancers. The older kids had an opportunity to dance a short solo in front of the crowd after their group auditions. These kids kicked some BUTT!! Since all the kids did very well, I had no idea how the judges were going to narrow it down to four or five dancers in each age group.

Winners

The day was over and everyone gathered to meet on the big stage. Selected dances were picked to perform in front of everyone. A tap number was picked from Dance Force 1. After the performances the scholarship winners were announced. I apologize that I don’t know all the dancers names from Dance Force 1 that received a scholarship. In the junior group the winners were Allison, Ashton, and Rebecca. Congratulations girls!!!

By the time the winners were announced Leyla and I were ready to go home. I could tell from her face that she was disappointed that her name wasn’t called. Even though I expressed to her how proud I was of her, I could tell she was still upset. On the way home she fell asleep exhausted from the fun, but long, weekend. I enjoyed meeting the other moms from the different dance teams and hope we will stay in contact with each other. After all, we might be at the next competition together!

http://www.musicdancetucson.com/

http://www.breakouton4th.com/

http://www.thedanceloft.com/

http://www.danswest.com/

http://www.showbizacademyofdance.com/

http://www.danceforce-1.com/

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Albuquerquewas a great success for Dance Force 1

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:42:00 GMT

Allyson place 1st in her Solo

Leyla and Sarah

Albuquerquewas a great success for Dance Force 1. Shining Star team, the team Leyla’s on, took first place, sound place, third place, and fourth place overall. They ROCKED that house! The Lyrical dance “Somebody” took first, the Jazz dance “Party Girls”took second, and the other Lyrical dance “Warrior Is a Child” took third place. My money is on “Party Girl”taking in all the way this year!! Each competition is different so you never know what the judges will be looking for and how the dances may place in any given competition. They may sweep the competition, like in Albuquerque, and may not even place at all in the next competition. The dance “Party Girl” took 2nd overall in Phoenix out of 22 dances and 2^nd in Albuquerque. I just got a really good feeling about this dance!!

"Somebody" Place 1st overall

"Party Girl" Place 2nd overall

"Warrior Is a Child" Place 3rd overall
(this photo taken by ShowStopper)

Competition can be very stressful and I have to say that every competition is a new learning experience for me. I’ve had to learn so much in a short amount time. I hope that Leyla and I can come to a better understanding of each other and learn to leave the stress at home and not bring it into the dressing room. The biggest challenges are the back to back dances with very little time to change costumes in between each routine. Changing tights on a warm sweaty body on a child with big feet without tearing them is beyond frustrating. The more you panic the worse it becomes. I never remember feeling so stressed during a competition when I was a kid. I think it’s harder on the parents. I know that, for me, the main stressor is that I just do not want to let Leyla down. It is times like this when I hope Leyla knows how much I love her and how proud I am of her. As a mom of an 11 year old it can be tough since while I know that deep down she recognizes all that I do for her, on the surface it does not usually show up as often as I would like. I always end of thinking of what my mom went through with me and I gain a new appreciation for her. Hopefully I won’t have to wait until Leyla is a dance mom…

Winter-Dance Force 1 2012 Regionals Junior Group

http://www.showstopperonline.com/video_library/

The most rewarding moment for me was watching all the girls dance on stage. These kids are amazing and are way better than I ever was. I’m sure my mom would argue that! =) There were times during the competition where I had chills and was frozen in my seat. The love of dance came through in their body movements and expressions of some of the dancers. I don’t think it would be possible for me to ever get tired of watching these kids dance!!! Amazing! This time in their lives will shape them into who they will become as adults. You can’t put dollar value to that . All I can do is hope that the influences of their dance teammates, the hard work to learn the dances and prepare for the competitions, the experience of the competitions, and the knowledge that their moms will always be there for them will be enough to ensure that they become the best young women they can be.

Jennie

The girls had last week off from dance for spring break. We got to have great family time.=) We baked cupcakes, caught up on TV, read , shopped, but most importantly we were able to just have time together; it was very good for all of us. Today, Monday, the girls are back at the dance studio getting ready for this week’s competition/workshop in Phoenix. It called LA Dance Magic http://www.ladancemagic.com/. Each dance studio can only enter a maximum of 25 routines in the competition. Leyla will be performing in four team dances. This is the first dance workshop for Leyla and me and will be a full two days of dance plus a competition. The first day is a workshop where Leyla and team will be learning dances from several different choreographers from 7:30 am until 3pm followed by a dance competition. It’s a long day for the kids and the competition does not end until around 9 or 10pm. The 2^nd day will be auditions for a scholarship to the summer dance workshops. This will be a great experience for Leyla. Stay tuned for updates and the results!

http://www.musicdancetucson.com/

http://www.breakouton4th.com/

http://www.thedanceloft.com/

http://www.danswest.com/

http://www.showbizacademyofdance.com/

http://www.danceforce-1.com/

WWW.kccreativedesign.com

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(KC Creative Design Photography) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:24:00 GMT

Fred the Owl

The room never cooled down so after a very hot night with little to no sleep I called
the front desk to have someone come look at the AC. While RL and I waited for the
maintenance guy to come to the room Sarah and Leyla went down stairs to buy their
wonderful sweet moms some Starbucks coffee. The first guy who came to the room
took one look at the AC and offered us a change of room. It was a nice offer, but
frustrating since we all had already unpacked everything and organized all the costumes
and makeup. We agreed to move rooms only if we would be upgraded to a nicer room
otherwise we would wait for them to fix the AC. The maintenance guy went back
downstairs to see about an upgraded room and said he would let us know in a few
minutes.

Shortly after he left the girls were back with our yummy coffee. We would have made
coffee from the coffee maker in our room but I think housekeeping forgot to ever
clean the coffee maker out because the water was yellow and smelly. The good news is
that at least I could use the creamers for my StarbucksI opened a creamer to poor it
in my coffee but instead of a smooth white fluffy cream I got chucks of curdled milk
My yummy coffee was now brown cottage cheesy, the room was hot, and I was feeling
like the day was not starting off the way we had hoped. When the girls told us that the
maintenance guy wasn’t looking into getting us another room but was instead standing
around talking to the Starbucks girl I just about lost it!!!

Instead, I called the front desk and asked to speak to a manger and after a few minutes
of polite but direct conversation he agreed to change our room for us right away and
included two free breakfast tickets as compensation. By the time we got in the new
room it was 10am and the girls were starving. The girls joined their friends downstairs
for breakfast while RL and I once again unpacked the room. I HATE to complain but
enough is enough and at this point we did not benefit by coming up Thursday rather
than Friday. We were not at all rested and were unpacking when the rest of the team
was checking in and eating breakfast together. The new room was not an upgrade
but the AC was working great!! At that point I allowed the AC to cool my temper and
decided to make the best of the situation for the rest of the day. Besides, my lovely
Leyla went back to Starbucks and explained what happened to my coffee and
they were nice enough to give her a new one…so

I finally had both AC and coffee; the day was looking better already.

We arrived downstairs and joined the other dance force 1 moms. We all hung out while
the girls were playing on computers and being kids. Then we took the Hotel shuttle to
go explore Albuquerque and grab a bite to eat. The shuttle guy must have partied hard
the prior night because he almost hit a parked car on the way out of the hotel. He was a
very nice guy but every time you would ask him a question he would slam on his brakes
to avoid hitting a car in front of him. At first it was funny and we all laughed but after
the second time coming close to hitting a car we all agreed to not ask him any more
questions until we arrived to our destination safely.

One of the girls on the dance team, Allison, loves owls and has a wooden owl named
Fred that she keeps around her all the time for good luck. What is funny-odd about this
story is that Allison was playing around with one of the other girls while on the shuttle
and started telling her “fortune”. After a few minutes of “fortune teller theatrics” she
suddenly went quite and in a long drawn out whisper summed up the fortune telling
with the word “Biirrdd”. As all the girls were still in their quiet suspense filled state
Leyla happened to glance under one of the shuttle seats and saw a small wooden owl.
She promptly pointed and started screaming “Allison look it an OWL! ” It was Fred.
Allison had dropped him during the early morning shuttle ride to from the Airport and
never knew he was missing. Fortune came true…. Then in serendipitous fashion, the
restaurant where the shuttle dropped us off was across from “Bird Land” pet store,
which was close to the store where Allison originally saved Fred from the anonymity of
a souvenir shop shelf and to top it all off as we got off the shuttle I happened to look up
and guess what was in almost every tree in the area….you guessed it… OWLS!! Turns
out that almost every tree in the area had wooden owls on their branches ….Bizarre turn
to the day and it was just lunch….

http://www.musicdancetucson.com/

http://www.breakouton4th.com/

http://www.thedanceloft.com/

http://www.danswest.com/

http://www.showbizacademyofdance.com/

http://www.danceforce-1.com/

WWW.kccreativedesign.com

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First night in Albuquerque, NM

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 21:18:00 GMT

I think I’m finally recovering from the Albuquerque, NM - Regional Competition. We left Thursday night of last week and returned home Sunday around 8pm. I never knew it was possible to experience so many mixed emotions in such a short amount of time.

A group of us left Thursday night to Albuquerque even though competition didn’t start until Saturday. One thing that sucks about planning your traveling for dance competitions is that you don’t always know which days you need to be at the theater until a week or two before competition. We all got a great deal on our tickets and didn’t want to risk the cost of the flight increasing or not being able to get a direct flight so we booked the trip from Thursday thru Sunday. As it turned out the girls were only performing on Saturday and Sunday. Robin and I thought that having an extra day would give the girls plenty of time to relax before the competition.

We checked in to the Doubletree by Hilton around 9:00pm. I am not a fan of Hilton hotels; and it does not have anything to do with Paris Hilton. I just haven’t had one good experience in any of their hotels. We were all hungry after the flight and had to order room service for dinner because the hotel restaurant closed early. We had used a shuttle service from the airport so we didn’t have any other options. The next thing we did was check out the pool. Leyla’s dad had brought her a new swim suit for the weekend and Leyla was looking forward to swimming with her friends. I was looking forward to sitting in the Jacuzzi while doing absolutely nothing. We walked through the hotel gym to get to the pool. There was just one little small missing detail in the online description about the pool ….IT HAD NO WATER… and there was no Jacuzzi. It never crossed my mind that the hotel wouldn’t have a pool available for guests year around. I have never been to a hotel that didn’t have a pool. Wow what a big disappointment!!

Dinner was delivered to our room and we forgot to order drinks. Opps.. We were pretty lucky because our room was right outside from a vending machine full of cool refreshing beverages. Leyla and Robin searched the room for change and could only find a dollar. The cost for a beverage was $2.00 but oddly enough the machine magically spit out a dollar bill. We thought that it would be ok to take the dollar bill under these circumstances since we couldn’t let the kids go thirsty. Leyla inserted the first dollar bill but the vending machine kept spitting it out. Both of the dollars was not accepted and we were all dying of thirst. The end result is that we were a dollar richer and had to drink tap water. When I told Leyla I was going to use the bathroom water to fill up the cups she just about had a heart attack. Its sounds gross and in her defense she never had drank tap water before. It was actually pretty good. It may sound crazy that she has never drunk tap water but there was a refrigerator with filtered water everywhere she’s lived; which is a little funny because I was raised on tap water. Wow I’m getting old!!

Robin lowered the air in the room since it seemed a little stuffy. The best part of a hotel is the cool AC and being able to lower down the temperature to your likings. We were disappointment when we found no refrigerator in the room and felt horrible to have to throw away our left-overs. We were planning on buying food and eating healthy and now we had to rethink the food situation. We found out later that we could have gotten a refrigerator for an extra $10/per night.

After dinner Leyla turned on the TV and flipped to the Disney channel and to our surprise there was a cost of $3.99 per episode. We decided to get ready for bed. Robin open the door to the hotel to get some cool air in the room and notice the vending machine had spit out another dollar. I thought maybe we were on Candid Camera and we were being filmed to see how many dollars we would take. Our first Thursday in New Mexico was turning out to be an interesting start....

http://www.musicdancetucson.com/

http://www.breakouton4th.com/

http://www.thedanceloft.com/

http://www.danswest.com/

http://www.showbizacademyofdance.com/

http://www.danceforce-1.com/

WWW.kccreativedesign.com

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Last chance workout!!

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 23:15:00 GMT

Click here to watch a short video http://kccreativedesign.com/journeyoftucsondancemom#h219ff6d3

Sunday was the dress rehearsal for all of the dances that had not already been performed in a competition or that needed a little more practice. Leyla was feeling horrible and had been fighting a bug since Thursday of last week. She was complaining about a sore throat, felt warm, and had a light cough.   Strep throat has been going around and since it was Sunday so we had her checked and got her on some antibiotics. They worked and Leyla started feeling better within a couple of days. The bad news is that her friend Sarah on the dance team now has a sore throat and Leah, my middle child, has had a 101 fever all day. At this point I would be happy if we made it to competition alive. EmergenC has become our family’s best friend and the girls love the punch and berry flavors. I just keep telling myself Think Happy Thoughts!!

Dress rehearsal was intense! I think there were some dances that never got to run their whole dance number all the way though. April, the owner,stopped the music for every little mistake the kids made and even made them doing push ups.   This had me VERY happy!   I know what kind of mom am I?? Tough Love!! Yah! Hey, the way I see it is that you 'll never know when you’ll see the Abby Lee dance Company and we want to make sure we give them a run for their money (or beat them).

I recorded the dress rehearsal so that everyone can see little clips of some of the dances that are going to this week’s competition. The girls have worked very hard and I hope we do well in competition.

I am happy to announce that I conquered the competition hair without the help of anyone else! Woo Hoo! Oh wait, there is more; I am done putting Rhinestones on everything!! Watch out world here I come. Ha ha   Charlie surprised me today,no, not a wedding ring but with a UPS box that had clear panel garment bags and an On the Go Travel Companion. He knew I had a tough time finding the right costumes because I had to go through every bag and it was always in the las tone I looked in. So he found garment bags that have clear vinyl in the front and a solid color on the back. They should fit around 3 costumes each. Perfect! I also picked up extra earrings and extra pairs of tights. Tomorrow I am picking up fishnet stockings and eyelashes.   I am excited about the trip and have to admit that it feels really good to be prepared; what a relief. I don’t want to jinx myself but my rookie days of being a dance mom might just be over.

Charlie is doing a photo-shoot event with out me while I’m in Albuquerque. He even rented a kick butt lens that I won’t get to try until I get back in town form competition. I know he’ll do a great job because he one of those people who is good at everything. In fact he is making me look bad with the other dance mom’s. He sewed the clips on Sarah and Leyla’s costumes and then on Saturday he baked both Gluten free and regular chocolate chip cookies for the girls and made enough so we could take some to the other girls at the dress rehearsal. When Robin asked Leyla if I had made the cookie she replied“no it was Charlie.”   I’m sorry; I have to laugh at this point. I don’t want to complain because Charlie is definitely my better half. There is no other person in this world I rather take this journey of life with.

http://www.musicdancetucson.com/

http://www.breakouton4th.com/

http://www.thedanceloft.com/

http://www.danswest.com/

http://www.showbizacademyofdance.com/

http://www.danceforce-1.com/

WWW.kccreativedesign.com

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Before I knew it, it was hailing rhinestones.

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 23:27:00 GMT

Me & Robin counting, counting, counting

This is so much FUN!!

I can smell the competition in the air; it’s in the aroma stemming from the mist of sweat streaming off of the dancers practicing nonstop. Yummy =) The mothers are running around like crazy hoping that all the costumes arrive in time to have the rhinestone added before the competition that is only days away. It’s such a bittersweet feeling. I’m excited to see all the girls dance but I was not excited when I received this month’s bill. My grand total was $951.00; not counting the traveling expenses for the competition, or the hospital bill for me after I fainted when I looked at the bill. The only good news about this bill is that $279 was a mistake. I did not realize that the $60 I paid per costume was just a deposit. The high bill was the additional cost of the costumes that were not covered by the deposit. While in shock I was asked by one of the other moms, who had to leave the dance studio for another obligation, to cut the girls Lyrical dance costumes. The costumes were long so we needed to trim the length by 2 ½ inches. Out of all the dance mom’s in the world why would you ever ask me?? Apparently none of them read my blog. Before I could respond to Lalita she was gone!!! Do you blame her? I asked Robin “RL” to rescue me from ruining the costumes. I felt horrible for asking her since she was recovering from strep throat and just wanted to rest. Robin laughed and said yes, but I knew she wasn’t excited to help. But I figured that between the two of us we could get it done without inflicting any major damage. When it comes to messing up competition costumes I don’t know who I am more scared of; the girls or the other dance moms. We decided to do our girls costumes first to make sure any mistakes we made would be to our girls and not anyone else’s. After 20 minutes on one costume we built up confidence and a rhythm and completed the rest of the costumes by the time the dance class was done. I have to add that we made no mistakes and receive “two thumbs” up from April.

Robin and I cut 2.5 inches off

When I got home I had some wine and was feeling good about where I was in preparation for competition. All of a sudden I felt a rhinestone fall on me. I must either be dreaming or Charlie had put something in my wine. I know I should had have stopped at my first glass! Before I knew it, it was hailing rhinestones. This couldn’t be possible. I had only one costume left to touch up. I must have fallen asleep on the couch while watching TV, Charlie will wake me up any second…WRONG!! That was no dream it was a premonition! I received a text from Robin about all the costumes that needed rhinestone makeovers. You have got to be kidding me. I starting to feel like I was never going to be done with rhinestones. At this point all I could do is laugh and pour another glass of wine.

Today the Future Stars dance moms had the DF1 lobby looking like a Nike clothes plant. They had tables lined up along the wall and were clustered in groups rhinestoning away; they even order pizza. Robin and I were once again asked to count out rhinestones for the team. What did I do in life to deserve being constantly worrying about rhinestones? I just cannot escape RHINESTONES!! Luckily for me Robin is so sweet and offered to rhinestone one of Leyla’s costumes for me. Thank you, thank you so very much Robin. Well, to be honest we made a trade. She would stone up the “It's My Party Girl” costume and I offered to have Charlie sew the clasp on one of Sarah’s costumes. Nice trade…for me. Charlie was great about it and knew it was important to Leyla and me. When Leyla found out that Robin was going to help me her expression of relief said it all.

Future Star

Page after a long day at work rhinestoning

This is not an ordinary dance bag!!

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:40:00 GMT

Can anyone please tell me where February went??? I cannot believe we are already in March! Just yesterday I was telling you all about how well prepared I am going to be for this upcoming Albuquerque dance competition. Now with only a couple weeks away it feels like if I don’t put the peddle-to-the-metal and get my stuff together history, yet again, will repeat itself. I REFUSE to let that happen!!!

I have a check list of all the things I need or need to replace and am making all my on line orders by the end of this week.

1) The last competition I used Nude color garment bags for Leyla’s costumes. I have decided to invest in clear garment bags so I could see each costume rather than digging through every bag to find the right costume (and yes, it is always the last one I look in).

2) I need to replace my rolling clothes rack that I use to hang all Leyla’s costumes on. The one I used last year is a complete joke!! I did not get the cheapest, but rather the middle priced Single Garment Rack at Target. This garment rack is difficult to roll around and it falls apart easily, it also has lots of small parts making it difficult to assemble and take down. I’m sure I entertained a lot of the mom’s last year trying to operate the garment rack without it falling apart! (Soo embarrassing). I felt a little better when I noticed some mom’s had nothing to hang their costumes on. Then there were the super experienced dance moms who were smart and got the expressive garment rack and had no problem were rolling the rack around, or with pieces of it falling off. At the end of the day the Single Garment Rack is a not a good one to purchase for any kind of traveling. The rack was given an early retirement from the entertainment world and is now being used to hang cloths up that come right out of the dryer ,so I guess it was not a total loss.

I was doing a goggle search on garments bags and I found a site called Stage Studio Dancewear website. I found this kick butt dance bag. This is not an ordinary dance bag but is a Dream Duffel Medium Package!! I know you may be thinking, so what??? But take a look at this bag! For anyone traveling that needs/wants to know what is in the bag before they open it it’s like a dream come true. It’s everything I need in one. The only problems is I’m not sure if I going a little over board or if the bag is going to be a big pain to get around. PLREASE let me know what you think. http://stageandstudiodancewear.com.au/index.phpmain_page=product_info&cPath=65&products_id=286

3) Finishing the Rhinestones and touching up the costumes to make sure they are all on securely and in straight lines. Plus knowing where the closest Michaels is located….just in case.

4) Buy two extra tights for each style, extra eyelashes, and extra pairs of earrings.

5) Buy gluten-free food to bring so Leyla and I don’t starve (and have a map of all the stores that sell GF food close to where we are staying).

6) Call the competition company who holding the event and get an idea of the set up. I heard from another mom that she thinks they have racks for us to put the costumes on.

Is there anything I’m missing? I sure hope not!!

http://kccreativedesign.com/

Step Up 2 Dance Competition Feb 2012

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 21:33:00 GMT

Today all the kids who had a Solo, Duo, or a Trio competed in Phoenix at the STEP UP 2 DANCE competition. This is Leyla’s 2^nd year on the dance team and she has not been in a solo yet. Personally, I am happy that she does not have a dance solo. It’s not that I don’t want her to ever get one; I just think it would have been a little overwhelming this year. Last year she competed in two dances and this year she is competing in 8 dances; which is a big adjustment so adding a solo would be over the top, at least for me. I only wish that we were able to go up to Phoenix to support the entire dance team. Unfortunately, I have been under the weather and did not feel comfortable with the long drive.

The good news is that our kids kicked butt and received Platinum and High Platinum awards. High Platinum is not given out often and, at times, seems imposable to get. The Shining Stars Trios took first place overall! Sasha, Waverly, Carly, and Amanda received a Diva award. Two of the Shining Star solos received 2^nd overall but in different age categories. Unfortunately, that’s all the details I have right now but I promise to fill you in as I learn more. If you were at the competition please post information under comments.

The next competition is less than a half a month away and most of the team’s dance numbers will be competing in this competition. Thursday night, when I was watching Leyla and Leah dance, I got a kick listening to some of the other mom’s talk about Rhinestoning costumes. Many of the dance teams have not yet gone to competition with their group dances so Albuquerque will be first competition for some of the dance teams. This means that moms will need to dig out the tweezers and the Jewel-It glue and start putting Rhinestones on costumes, boots, etc. One of the hip hop dances are just now ordering their costumes and may have to Rhinestone on the plane. Sucks to be them!! Wait, that reminds me! I better go through Leyla’s costumes and make sure I fine tune them. Leyla’s jazz routine costume for Party Girl needs a little work. The top of that costume is all black; we used a variety of different size rhinestone to add some bling. I thought I glued enough Rhinestones on Leyla’s top but at the last competition, right before she went on stage, I noticed something really wrong!!! Somehow I made the Rhinestones into a complete circle around her top; which made it look like I was highlighting her … Well I can’t even say it. What kind of mom am I?? My poor child! I asked Leyla if anyone said anything to her about the Rhinestones on her top and she replied that one of the girls said that her top looked a little different than the rest… Tip number one; have your child try on the costume once the Rhinestones have had time to dry to make sure that Rhinestones are evenly placed and do not accent areas you do not want to draw attention to. AG made a comment that she was a little nervous about putting Rhinestone on the customs and hopes to get started as soon as possible. She said she read my blog and wanted to make sure that wouldn’t happen to her; I think I might have permanently scared her!

http://www.kccreativedesign.com/

Shining Star took 2nd in Phoenix out of 22 routines!

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:21:00 GMT

Watch a short video

from some clips of the Shining Star dance team http://vimeo.com/36248076

This past week has been very busy at work with projects and with photo shoots. I have been complaining more than I usually to Charlie that all the driving I’m doing on a weekly basis is killing me. It a 35 minute commutes to the girl’s school, 40 minutes to work, 20 minute to the dance studio from work, and then another 40 minutes back home. A grand total of two hours and 35 minutes a day on the road (when there is light traffic), every day and that’s not counting the traveling I do during my regular work day. I spend most of the weekends cleaning the house and doing laundry. 10 loads laundry between Statuary and Sunday for all five members of the family. YUCK! I guess that is the joy of being a mother! During my down time I enjoy writing for the blog and editing photos from the photo-shoots, which I absolutely love!! Photography is my calling and I enjoy it more and more every day. It is my escape and from this crazy busy life and brings meaning to my life on a level that words cannot express.

Charlie’s schedule is also jam packed; he takes care of our youngest, Alexandra. He gets her ready every morning and rocks her to sleep every night. Charlie is a project manager during the day and is an awesome father who has a passion for cooking and makes dinner for the family every night. This is a good thing because I can barely microwave a TV dinner. We both feel a little overwhelmed and sometimes debate who is busier than the other. Sounds familiar? I hope we are not the only couple that feels this way. I challenged Charlie to trade places with me for a couple weeks to get a taste of all the driving I do each week; Charlie accepted my challenge. Thursday Charlie picked up Leyla and Leah from school and I picked up the baby Alexandra from day care. This was the first day of our trading schedules. It was so nice to come home after a long day and not have to sit at the dance studio for another 3 hours or more after work. My gas tank was happy too!! When I arrived home I put a load of laundry in the washer, picked up the living room, unloaded the dish washer and vacuumed. Alexandra was my little helper and enjoyed being with Mom. Everything was going well, I felt relaxed and happy that I was getting an early start on laundry. I only had one thing left on my check list, dinner!

I could not remember the last time I cooked and I started to feel a little nervous. I ran though the meals in my head that I know I could make. Hmm… tacos, spaghetti and tacos and spaghetti. That’s it? Really? No way! I was sure more would come to me later and that I was just a little rusty. I decided to make Spaghetti because you would have to be a complete moron to mess up spaghetti. I flavored the ground beef and added spaghetti sauce. I forgot that I put water in the pan when I was prepping so when I grabbed the pan off the stove to fill it with water it spilled all over the place, with most of it spilling on me. I laughed and told baby Alexandra don’t worry I got this. Alexandra smiled and said you got this mom? Yes I got this!! The water started to boiled, I grabbed the Gluten Free noodles and noticed that the package was rice noodles. Oh my goodness, I thought, how hard can it be to cook rice noodles? I glanced at the directions and the only difference I saw was the amount of time the noodles needed to cook. To make a long story short, I have no I idea what I did, but I over cooked the noodles and they were mushy, very very mushy. The dogs wouldn’t even eat it so how was I ever going to pass this off??

Friday, I was at the dance studio and the girls were practicing getting ready for the next group completion in Albuquerque, NM. I am starting to really get into this whole competition thing. I think the girls are capable of placing first this year!! The fact that Shining Star took 2nd in Phoenix out of 22 routines proves that this Tucson dance team can be a true competitor in Phoenix, and in any other city that is known for great fine arts. What the heck do theses Phoenix dance team mothers feed their children to make them so good? Even when I was a little girl Phoenix teams were always stronger in football, track, cheer and dance. I am really getting tired of Tucson being second class citizens when it comes to the performance level of our children. The fact of the matter is that our girls put in the time so there is no reason that we can’t take them down!!

This week I videotaped one of the dances that will be in competition. After playing the video in slow motion it became very clear what the team needs to work on.

1) Facial Expressions: The girls are using facial expressions but they are all telling different stories. Some of girls are smiling, while others look like they are about to cry. That can be a little confusing to the audience. As Leyla would say “I’m just saying.”

2) Timing: For the most part the girl looks together, but after watching the dance in slow motion there were areas that need to improve. Arm placement, turns, and transitions are the most obvious ones.

3) Cleaning it up: Throughout the dance arms, turns, leaps, and transitions could be more precise; the girls need to dominate and own their performance.

I heard a comment from some of the girls that the dances were good and that there wasn’t much to work on. Ok, I’m sorry, but only one of the dances placed in the last competition and they didn’t’ take first place overall. That tells me that there is still plenty to work on. There is always room for improvement!!! See, this is the problem; we settle for just being good instead of striving to be the best. I pay way too much money to have a good dancer. I want Leyla to want to be the best she can be, or don’t dance competitively. I’m wondering how the teachers are feeling about the dance numbers? All the girls love to dance and they are very close. I also know they would love to take first in any competition. I am really not sure what to do at this point. Do I bring the tape and show the girls, or do I just say nothing? Any advice??

P.S. Due to the large amount of emails I received requesting a video of the girls dancing I created a short video from some clips of the Shining Star dance team. The video is a compilation from a performance and some of the practices. I changed the music and combined different dances to protect the choreography from getting out to the competition.

Watch a short video from some clips of the Shining Star dance team!

Linda, should my words find you I want you to know that you have been in my thoughts and prayers.

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 23:26:00 GMT

With the next dance competition being a little over a month away, April, the owner of the dance studio, communicated some unfortunate news. Her mother, Linda, is very ill. Linda has been working at the dance studio since it opened. Linda takes good care of all of the crazy parents, like me, and our little dancing angles. I fell in love with Linda the moment I met her. Linda and I are both huge fans of the Twilight movie series, except Linda thinks Edward the vampire is the cutest and I think Jacob is way better looking =). Linda is an amazing person and has been there for all of us, all the time. Linda has always kept me in the loop about things and events and takes care of me like she always takes care of many of our kids when we are not able to be at the dance studio.

It was a little over a year ago when Linda was diagnosed with stage four cancer and was told she had a short time to live. I remember the day Linda told me about her cancer; we were all at a dance team yard sale fundraiser. During a conversation Linda casually said she was dying of cancer. The way she said it I thought she was joking so I laughed until I noticed another mother who was standing close by had started to tear up and quickly turned her back to me and Linda to cover her face. I felt horrible and I didn’t know how to handle myself. I had already put one foot in my mouth and I wanted to avoid putting my other foot in too since I tend to ramble when I am nervous and to get myself into more and more trouble. My heart stopped and my body froze. I just wanted to hug her but instead I froze up, not knowing how to respond and afraid to say anything that might be the wrong thing. I didn’t want to ask her a million a one questions so instead I just listened. As time went on Linda went though a series of treatments and somehow still managed to come to work. We were blessed when the time the doctors had given her came and went over a year ago.

Over the last couple of months many of us noticed that Linda has been getting progressively worse. Her body seems to be getting weaker and she has looked more tired; tired of being sick. I could see in her eyes the pain, both physical and emotional, that she is experiencing. I would often think about how I could help her or what I could say to her to make her laugh or feel better; but instead I choke and say nothing at all. I find myself at loss of words when I’m around her and I never built enough courage to tell her how much I respect and adore her. Some of the people in the dance studio have been helping by walking her dog or doing other little things that help her get through her day.

I was getting ready to post the blog I had originally written for today when April posted an update on Facebook letting us know that Linda was in hospice care at her home. I went back and forth about writing about Linda on my Blog; I was not sure if it would be appropriate. I talked with Charlie about it and his advice was to listen to my heart and to do what felt right. So I did.

Linda, should my words find you I want you to know that you have been in my thoughts and prayers. I know I haven’t known you for a long time, but it didn’t take long for me to see what a wonderful and caring person you are. I have really enjoyed every moment of getting to know you and am so sorry that you are ill. I would do anything to take your pain away! You have touched so many lives, both young and old, and all have been blessed by knowing you.

Now that the first competition of the year has come to an end!

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:13:00 GMT

TMC fundraiser Magic performance

Now that the first competition of the year has come to an end and I have some time to relax and have a glass of wine, or two, or three, hmm… who’s counting? Words cannot describe how good it feels not to be overwhelmed, or worried, about competition hair and rhinestones. I cannot stop thinking about how unprepared I was for this first competition of the year. I am so embarrassed, and the worst part is that I really don’t have any good excuses considering that as a child, and for most of my teen years, I danced competitively. Feeling out of control is one thing, but being out of control is a recipe for disaster; which usually causes me to have a complete melt down. Ok, I’m being a little dramatic.

The truth is that this isn’t the first time I haven’t been prepared for one of Leyla’s competitions. I guess the last time was not bad enough because I must have subconsciously told myself to bring it on this time! I love overcoming challenges…yea!

Last year I waited for the last minute to buy lipstick and eye lashes. So, what is the big deal about buying lipstick or eye lashes at the last minute? You must be thinking “how hard can that be”? You have no idea!! We arrived in Phoenix at around 11 p.m., sound familiar? Déjà vu. We stopped at Walgreens to pick up the lipstick and eye lashes with all three kids before we went to the hotel. The only problem was that they didn’t carry the color lipstick or the eye lash brand that was required for competition. Since this was Leyla’s first competition I didn’t want to be that mom. You know, the mom that couldn’t follow directions; I’m not kidding. Have you ever heard coaches or dance teachers talk about parents when they are not around? I didn’t want to be that parent in their next conversation. So instead Charlie, once again, drove to Walgreens, CVS, Sally’s and Target, and none had the lip color or specific brand of eye lashes. After a very long night of driving around Charlie and I threw in the towel and compromised on something pretty close. I kept my fingers crossed that there were not going to line up the girls to make sure they had the right lip color and eye lashes on. One of the mom’s told me that they did that one year. Who knows if that’s really true but she scared the bejesus out of me.

Leyla’s next big competition is not until March and is in Albuquerque, NM. Leyla and I are really hoping to see the Abby Lee dance team from Dance Moms. Can you imagine?? That gives me plenty of time to regroup and redeem myself to the other dance moms in our group. I’m off to a good start because I bought two plane tickets and RL booked our room. It is just going to be me, Leyla, RL, and Jade. I know I’m going to be in good hands; hopefully she will be a good influence on me and I won’t rub off on her! =) I already created a check list, and plan on packing Leyla’s bags weeks before competition (might just start packing next weekend!).

The week following the competition the girls returned to class and watched a video for each of their performances. The video had an audio of the judge’s critique and some complements for each performance. I love the fact that the girls were able to hear about their strengths and weaknesses though the eyes of the judges. This particular competition had many different categories in which you could win an award. Everyone is a winner!! What kind of nonsense is that? REALLY??? To the best of my knowledge there is Silver, High Silver, Gold, High Gold, and Platinum. The Star Systems website states that the judges scoring system is: 88 – 90 – “Platinum” 87.99-86 – “High Gold” 85.99-84 – “Gold” 83.99-81 – “High Silver” 80.99-77 -”Silver” Are you confused yet? What ever happened to just First, Second, Third, and perhaps even Fourth? Do they really think that by changing numbers and having multiple categories the girls won’t be able to figure out that Silver pretty much means, thanks for participating. The shining Star team took high gold and second overall in their age category for their Party Girl dance out of 22 dance teams!! The other dances received at least High Gold and Gold but did not place in the top four overall in their category. The girls are back to practice and their teachers are cracking down to prepare for the next competition.

Daning Leyla

Amanda

RL and Jade

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:02:00 GMT

Shining Star Dance Team

Competition Day!!

I cannot believe that competition has come and gone, and I’m still alive!! “Barely”

Leyla’s first competition of the year was Saturday Jan 21st. I tried very hard to get a head start, we even left Friday night after our photo shoot at 6pm to make sure we would have enough time on Saturday. I spent most of the day busy working from home, and between checking emails, I'm busy working hard putting rhinestones on the costumes.    Leyla stayed home from school on Friday; my poor child was exhausted and fell asleep in the car Thursday on the way to school. I was really worried that she wasn’t getting enough sleep since we live about 40 minute away from the dance studio and don’t get home until almost 9:00 p.m. at night. By the time I get the girls ready for bed its 10 p.m.   Charlie and I usually get to bed by 1 a.m.; and I wonder what wrong with my brain.   Leah, our 6 year old, packed her own suit case and Leyla packed her baby sister Alexandra’s suit case. By the time we left the house it was 9:20 p.m. and my brain was shot for the night. I was excited to get on the road and my adrenaline kept me from falling asleep during the trip; well that and a crying two year old baby. Charlie and I forgot to pack her bottle and she is one stubborn little SWEET ANGLE; she cried the entire way up. NO, we did not stop to buy a bottle because we had to show her was BOSS. Clearly it’s wasn’t us!!!!!

My plan was to finish putting rhinestones on Leyla’s hip-hop boots, and jazz costume once we got to the hotel. No, I still wasn’t done with the rhinestones;   I know that you’re thinking it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to glue rhinestones. No comment, I’ll take the 5th. By the time we finished checking in to the hotel it was 11:00 p.m. already and we were all dying from sleep deprivation.   As we were unpacking I noticed that the bag with rhinestones was missing. Leyla reminded me that she had handed it to me on the way out. I honestly had no recollection of what I did with the bag. Charlie had already left for Wal-Mart to buy the baby a bottle so I called him and had him look for rhinestones. Wal-Mart did not have the right kind and size but they did have a bottle. I was about to cry from the stress so I guess I was lucky that I just fell asleep. Leah and Leyla shared a bed and Charlie and I shared a double bed with Alexandra. I think I had her foot in every part of my body that night. Or maybe it was Charlie’s foot =/

The next morning Charlie went to Michael’s on a rhinestone hunt, Leah played with Alexandra and I tried to do Leyla’s hair. The competition hair was going to cause me to have a nervous breakdown.    I watched the You tube video 10x and after 45 minutes of close but not-quite I was going to kill someone. I was sure that Leyla wanted to cry but she was probably too scared to because of what her crazy mom might do.   I decided to move on to something I was good at, makeup. Charlie was back from Michael’s and took Alexandra and Leah to Breakfast so I started on Leyla’s makeup until I realized I didn’t bring the right foundation color for her skin. I wanted to scream, but instead I decided to start putting on the rhinestones.   I glued all the jazz rhinestones on while Leyla ate the breakfast Charlie brought back, and by the time I was ready to start gluing the rhinestone on the hip hop boots I noticed that we didn’t have the right color pink. Can someone pinch me because this has to be a bad dream!!

After breakfast Charlie took Alexandra and Leah for another hunt to look for the right color rhinestones.   Time was not on our side, tick-tock tick -tock, we were running out of time. Charlie bought a series of four foundation colors that he thought matched Leyla from Walgreens and found pink rhinestones he thought matched a picture on his phone from Michael’s. Ching, ching goes the ATM. Leyla and I gathered everything together and ran out the door to meet Charlie in the lobby. No one was ready. Alexandra has a one-of-a-kind afro and Leah? Well, we just won’t go there. I hadn’t brushed my hair or my teeth.   I probably should have had a paper bag over my head.

I called RL because I needed to have someone to come to my rescue and RL has been a great friend to me. We car pool together during the week and she always makes comments about how grateful she is for my help. Little does she know how unbelievably blessed I am to have her and her beautiful daughter Jade in my life. RL shared with me how she was also having trouble with the competition hair, and not that I wanted her to have a hard time, it was nice to hear that it just wasn’t me. When I told her about the rhinestones she eased my pain by assuring that no one would be able to tell from far away. Slowly I started to feel that I could breathe again.

We arrived about 90 minutes early to the competition and found the dressing room.   Another mom and her daughter did Leyla’s hair. I have to tell you that I am so very blessed, the moms were unbelievable.   Everyone came together to help each other. I’m still in shock by how smooth they were!! The dressing room was very small we were packed in there like sardines, all I kept thinking was “Crud, I didn’t brush my teeth!” There were suitcases everywhere, by the toilet and in the shower. I was not impressed with how the competition was being run. Every dancer had to pay $70 and up for each routine they competed in. Leyla was in 5 dances, $ 350 dollars, and that’s nothing compared to some of the other dancers in the dance studio. On top of the dancers being packed backstage, there were not even enough seats for every one to watch. The parents, friends, and family were lined up outside waiting for a seat to become available. Absolutely ridiculous!! Not only were there lines but eventually they cleared the theaters and only let people in just as the dance was starting.   The moms missed the start of one of the dances because they would not let us in on time and there were plenty of extra seats. Leyla had four dances separated by three dances in between. One of the people working in the theater tried to have Charlie, Alexandra, and my pregnant friend leave to free seats. At least until Charlie told her there was no way he was going to constantly wake up his sleeping 2 year old just to go and stand back in line and that it was not very empathetic to do the same to someone that was 8 months pregnant. The lady grumbled but left them alone after that.

When it was time for Lelya’s team, Shining Star, to perform I’m happy to say that all the rhinestone were on and looked great. The first dance to go on stage was called “Party Girls,” the girls rocked it!! They were absolutely amazing. After each dance we ran backstage to help change the girls into the next costume. I was a complete mess (blaming little feet and no sleep) and was amazed when every mom on our team jumped in to help!! Leyla misplaced one of her tights and BM reached into her bag and gave Leyla an extra pair. I could give another dozen examples of a helping hand. WOW!!! The moms supported each other, took care of all the girls together and were not just a team of mom’s but a force of nature! They ROCKED it!!

April, the dance teacher, texted a mom to tell the girls that they did great on “Party Girls.” You could feel the energy in the room when the girls got the message. If I could freeze time I would freeze moments like this and then set them to aside to look at whenever anything bad happens to remind us that the smiles and excitement on the girl’s faces makes it all worth it!! I was very impressed with most of the numbers and I enjoyed watching them all dance more than anything in the world. I’m so proud of Leyla. That night, while watching Leyla dance on stage, I could feel the love and passion she has for dancing.

Winners!!

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:35:00 GMT

Dance Team!

Yesterday started on good note. Leyla’s black jazz shoes came in and they fit her!! It is the little things in life that make me happy. I had a smile from ear to ear on my way to work while I was jamming out to music in my car. As if my day couldn’t get any better I felt like I won the lottery when I also found out that the girls were not going to have to wear their pony tail extension piece for this competition. Oh yeah!! The hair issue is now a concern in the past, or so I thought. I was talking to RL, one of the dance moms, and she bought up that there is a new competition hair style. I immediately thought “Oh boy I know this day seem too good to be true.” Every year April chooses a new hair style for all the girls to wear to competition. Last year the competition hair style was a simple front tweet and a low pony. It may have been simple but I never did figure out that hair style; lucky for Leyla one of the older girls on the dance team came to my rescue and did it for me. Leyla had mentioned the new competition hair style over the phone the other night and was very excited about it. I couldn’t help but tune her out when she used the words braid, twisting and bun in one sentence (actually it is braid, right twist, bun, then a peacock thing) . RL’s description of the new competition hair style put a stormy rain cloud on my sunny day.

When Leyla and I arrived at the studio last night April was going to give a demonstration on how to do the hair style. I some how missed the email that went out with a YouTube Video tutorial on how to style the competition du. I didn’t realize that we were going to actually have to do the competition hair on our own child that night. “Opps” I had to ask another mother for bobby pins and hair ties. My first attempt doing Leyla’s hair failed miserably. It wasn’t until after my 2^nd attempt also failed that I started to panic a little as I looked around the room at the other moms and they were not having nearly as much of a problem. “What the hell was wrong with me??” When I was a child on a dance team we didn’t have competition hair styles. My mom would put my head on ironing broad and iron my hair straight. Then she would roll my hair in rollers, not the soft rollers but the big hard rollers, and send me to bed. I would complain that I couldn’t sleep with rollers in my hair and her response was alsways “Beauty knows no pain.” Ask me if it was worth the pain?? Yes, yes it was!! I could feel Leyla’s frustration with me; which made things worse. She gave me that look, you know that daughter to mother look that screams out “Really, Really mom?” If she only knew that when I was a child and I practiced hairstyles on my Barbie they all ended with bad hair cuts that some may consider to be um... bald . Don't ask. I didn’t think it was good time to share that little story with Leyla…I’ll just wait until after the competition...or until she is 16. Sasha’s mother must have felt sorry for me because she ended up doing Leyla’s hair, and I have to admit, that when the hair is done right it’s beautiful!!

Braid, twist right, bun, then peacock thingy

P.S . NO, I HAVE NOT FINISHED THE RHINESTONES!!!!! But my absolutely wonderful boyfriend set everything for me on a craft table.....but he forgot to setup more than one chair.

P.P.S. The names of people referenced in this Blog have been changed to protect the innocent, the not so innocent, and the hapless bystanders. = )

Dancing Leyla

Dancing Sasha

Four more days left until Leyla's dance competition.

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:25:00 GMT

I woke up this morning to a confirmation email that Leyla’s shoes were on their way! My poor child inherited my big feet and we could not find a place in Tucson who had her size jazz shoes in stock. I really hope they get here by Friday. While getting ready for work today I couldn't help but notice that all of Leyla’s costumes where hanging over chairs waiting to be finished being blinged out with Rhinestones. I came to the realization that they were not going to do it themselves, but I just cannot bring myself to do it!! Maybe it has to do with the lack of sleep Charlie and I have been getting thanks to Leyla's fussy two year old sister.

Today Leyla‘s is at her dad's house and it is his turn to take her to dance; which sucks for him because he has to bring her to class with a ponytail piece in her hair. For anyone who has no idea what I’m talking about it’s a long ponytail hair extension. I’m sure her dad has no idea how to put it on. Who am I kidding? I have no idea how to put it on. Ha Ha poor kid! Should I meet him at the dance studio?? Then she can see dumb and dumber trying to put the hair piece on her. All the girls on the dance team have beautiful hair. Why do we need to make things more complicated? Did I mention that April, the dance teacher/owner, will make the parents of any child whose hair piece falls out do 100 V-ups? With all the competitions and performances coming up that may be the only form on exercise I get all year!! The girls on the dance team received their matching suitcases, jumpsuits, and sport bags with their names on them! I absolutely love them!! I wish I could order a set for myself. I can't wait for them to walk into a room together; if that doesn't intimidate their competition then I don't know what will!! =)

P.S. Just as I was posting this update I received a call from my wonderful little girl....the dance shoes have to be blinged out too! Plus, she lost a black leotard so now I have to pick one up...ching ching goes the ATM!!! Should I make her pay for her leotard???

Five more days before Leyla‘s first dance competition of the New Year !

(KC Creative Design Photography) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:26:00 GMT

Shining Star Dance Group

Dancing Leyla

Ok, never in a million years did I think I would ever Blog!! I changed my mind when my daughter started to compete competitively in dance. This Blog is for all the performing art parents or the parents who are thinking about putting their child in a competitive group.



Five more days before Leyla‘s first dance competition of the New Year and I cannot believe how nervous I am for her. This is her first year that she will compete in eight dance numbers. Her dance team is called Shining Star and they practice their dances for over 15 hours a week! How these kids do dance and school and do not drop from exhaustion amazes me. This weekend’s competition is in Phoenix. They will have five dances in the competition. All of the Shining Star group numbers are back to back with a 10 minutes break in between to change costumes. This is going to be interesting! Did I mention that I had to put in and take out a pony hair piece between dances? I’m having anxiety attack just thinking about it!! =D. I have been running around like crazy trying to get ready for this weekend. You wouldn’t believe all the things you need to do to prepare for a competition. Just call me an ATM because I haven’t stop spending money since she started dancing. Last week I bought black jazz shoes, tan Jazz shoes, dance paws, boots, body glitter spray, tan footless tights, tan footed tights, fishnet stockings, fake eye lashes, Rhinestone chokers, Rhinestone hair ties, and the list goes on and on.

For the first time in my life I attended my very first “Dance Mom’s Rhinestone Party.” Yes, I said Rhinestone party!! A Rhinestone party is when a group of mom’s getting together to glue different size Rhinestones to costumes. As if the costume didn’t have enough bling to begin with. Apparently, judges score on how have much the costume shines and sparkles. Each Rhinestone has to be glued perfectly in the right spot; exactly half inch away from each other. Each mother has a picture that maps out where each Rhinestone goes. Do you know how hard that is for someone, like me, who has ADHD? I did find that after a drink or two gluing Rhinestones is kind of fun.

Another mother and I are new to this dance mom group this year. Dance teams are divided by age and skill level. The group of girls that Leyla dances with has been together since they were 5 years old and are incredible dancers. I was scared to death when I found out Leyla was going to be on this team. The kids have been great with accepting new team members on the team. As weird as this may sound, and for as much as I go on about 15 hours of dance, travel, and feeling like an ATM sometimes, I have to admit that I love every moment!! Let the countdown began to this weekend competition!

On stage