Hall of Fame Dance Challenge

What a great weekend of dancing for my girls!!  They were both so amazing up on that stage!  I'm so proud of all they have accomplished with their dancing. They work so hard and spend endless hours perfecting what they do.  I couldn't be more proud!

Of course I didn't take any pictures this weekend, but thankfully other moms did and were kind enough to share some with me.

Gianna and her jazz team "All That Jazz"

Gianna and her tap team "Hairspray"...one of my favorite dances of the weekend...

Julia with some of her amazing jazz team "Hit the Road Jack" - another one of my favorites this weekend. Julia is a fabulous jazz dancer...

Production team "Little Havana".  I love seeing my girls in the same costume for once...

Julia's solo was the last dance of the day.  Such a long, long wait for her to finally perform...and she did just that. She performed her heart out and was AMAZING!!  She won a platinum medal.  So well deserved for my beautiful dancer...

This has become her signature move...

Here's a video of her solo...

OVERALL AWARDS:

Teen Small Group

1st place Flowers in the Attic

3rd place Never Walk Alone

Teen Large Group

3rd place Hairspray

4th All That Jazz

5th Hit the Road Jack

6th Blues Brothers

Teen Production

1st Le Pianiste

Elite Performance Challenge

Julia was absolutely gorgeous last night up on that stage.  Just watching all her talent and joy for dancing makes all the long hours at the studio and all the driving back and forth totally worth while.  We couldn't be more proud of our young dancer!!

Remembering the lives lost in Parkland FL

It's already been one month. My heart breaks for their families...

March Weather Madness

What a wild month of weather we've had so far here in the Northeast.  The first weekend of March we had a terrible nor'easter with hurricane force winds and thankfully mostly rain. I was a nervous wreck at home all day thinking one of the giant trees around our house would fall on us.  Julia was home from school that day so that helped calm my nerves a bit.

Then a week later we had another nor'easter with enough snow to call off school.

And another nor'easter hit yesterday with lots of snow to call off school for two days.  Yikes...the kids now have 5 snow days to make up which brings them to the last week of June.  It's only a matter of time that our town will join the many other towns implementing the new policy of not making up snow days.  There is no reason why the kids can't do assigned work at home.  It would teach them time management and responsibility.

Pictures from this morning. The sky is so blue...

(our basketball hoop blew over during the first storm)

Such a beautiful morning.

Dance friends

Dance friends are the best kind of friends...

Julia's Confirmation

Yesterday was Julia's confirmation...

Julia and her Godmother Auntie Kerry...

and her Godfather Uncle Ricky...

She received the most thoughtful gifts from her Nana, Uncle and Aunts.

Sadly her Confirmation wasn't held at our own church due to a big storm a few weeks ago that caused lots of damage.  So instead it was held at another church in town.

A bit chilly outside but overall a really nice day for my girl...

Kim's Hall of Fame induction

My sister, Kim, is a Superintendent and was recently inducted into her school's Hall of Fame.  She'll be retiring in June after serving in that school for over 30 years.  I'm so proud of all her accomplishments and really loved her speech.  She is always so gracious.

All the inductees...

Kimmy and Paula...

Me and Skimmy...

My nephew Tyler, Kimmy and Ricky...

Kimmy and Tyler...

Dream Dance Challenge

Julia really wanted to try for a title this year.  So I searched around and found a local competition which had a really fun title competition.  She not only performed her solo but also had to answer a question and perform a 20 second routine without music in a different style than her solo.  Nerve wracking if you ask me but she did great!

Her friends Annie and Carlie came to support her...

Julia and I are so appreciative of my sister, Kerry, for all her hard work and fabulous creativity. Julia loves this new solo.

Taking a break after her solo performance...

Not only did she win the Teen Title but she also received an ultimate medal which is the highest one you could win...only 4 were given out all day.

These girls really deserved a sash, crown and trophy of their own for being such troopers and loyal friends.  It was a long long day. 

So proud of Julia!!

Here's her 20 second routine.  She's practicing it here to music but she had to do it without music at the competition.