Gianna's birthday celebration Part Two

Yesterday Gianna continued celebrating her 14th birthday with her friends.  We took all the girls shopping at the South Shore Plaza and then back home for pizza, cake and ice cream.  We were going to take them to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory but there was a ridiculous 3-hour wait.  That's OK...Lynwood's Pizza is way better anyway!  They all slept over and stayed up most of the night.  I think Gianna had a pretty great birthday.

Gianna's birthday celebration Part One

I say "Part One" because she has a big day planned for today too.  But let's start with yesterday, her actual birthday.  Her two best friends, Savannah and Makayla, surprised her by showing up at dinnertime and taking her to Chick-fil-A...Gianna's favorite restaurant!  She was so happy...

Then it was back home for some cake and ice cream...

and presents...

She got the James Charles make-up palette that she's been dying for...

She also got a Hydro Flask with some fun stickers to put on it...

Andrae gave her a huge bag of candy which I thought was so nice...

Her Auntie and Nana gave her some gift cards to LuLu Lemon...

and she also got a new romper which she was super excited about...

She had a great day!!!

Gianna's room

It took some convincing but we finally got Gianna on board to decorate her room. She is a creature of habit and doesn't like change. Silly girl. Look how nice it looks...

She was sleeping on an old hard twin mattress and I kept telling her she needed a bigger softer bed.  Now she has a princess bed just like Julia's!  Her new mattress is so comfortable!  We also bought her an upholstered headboard and a new comforter.  

We got her a new desk, chair and nightstand.  And we found some pretty fluffy white rugs for the floor.  We also bought some picture frames, a picture for over her nightstand and some lamps.  

Danny painted her bureau white to match the rest of her furniture.  It came out so nice!

She also has a cozy new fireplace to help warm up her room...

We still need to find a mirror to hang over her bureau and maybe a few other wall decorations but for

the most part we're done!  We love how it came out!

Happy Birthday Gianna Mae

Today our Gianna Mae turns FOURTEEN!!!  That seems unbelievable to me but on the other hand I feel like she's been with us forever.

She is a wonderful loving daughter...

She adores her big brother...

and her big sister...

She is a kind and loyal friend to many...

She is an amazing actress and singer...

and a talented dancer...

She has the BIGGEST personality...

and she is soooo silly and funny...

And we love her so very much and couldn't imagine our lives without her.

Happy Birthday Gianna Mae!!!

Bathing suit shopping

I remember oh so well bathing suit shopping two years ago for our trip to Cancun and I was struggling with finding tops that fit me.  I hated how I looked.  Last year when the girls and I couldn't join Danny and Nicholas in Cancun because of a dance competition, I was actually a little bit relieved because I wasn't looking forward to bathing suit season. 

Fast forward one year...

and I feel ready for bathing suit season!!  Thanks to Weight Watchers and a lot of hard work!  

Tango

This is Julia and Gianna's jazz dance. Julia starts on top of the box on the left side of the stage and Gianna is on the far right on the floor holding onto the box.

 

My Nicholas

 He still needs his Mama...

...and of course I ran right up to his room to do just that.  

Titanic

This is Julia's acro production. I think this is pretty amazing!  (Julia is wearing a red skirt and beige blouse.  She's the one that ends the dance on top of the "ship" when it goes down.)

 

Carry on

"Everyone is on their own path. We have to trust the process and realize that our lives will turn out exactly how they're supposed to, exactly when they're supposed to"...

Dangerous

Voices

Hall of Fame pics

Dangerous

Voices

Hall of Fame Dance Challenge

It was a great first competition weekend for my girls. I'm so proud of them! Here are a few pictures of just some of their routines. It was such a busy weekend that I barely took any pictures.  Thankfully a few other moms did.

Julia & Gianna in "Clark Kent"...

I love how close they all are...such great friendships develop from growing up together at the dance studio...

Julia & Gianna in "Chaplin"...

Julia's lyrical acro "How Great Thou Art"...two dancers were sick (Alyssa & Jada) so the remaining seven did some quick re-choreographing and made it work to win first place!!

Julia & Gianna in "Tango"...one of my favorite dances from the weekend...

and Julia in senior acro "Titanic" which was amazing...

I loved the production "Traditions" too...such a fun dance...

Julia's jazz "Mai Oui" was so good too...that's one fancy hat...

At the award ceremony last night they announced all the overall teen awards and Julia and Gianna's jazz and tap, Gianna's lyric and Julia's acro all won Best in Category with the highest scores...

And last but not least...Julia won big for her jazz solo!  She scored a Grand Slam PLUS she won the Best in Category for Jazz with the highest scoring senior jazz solo!  She received a Platinum for Voices (which absolutely should have been a Grand Slam too). Both her solos were AMAZING!!  There were 63 solos.  

Julia's solo awards...

Senior Solo Results 

^#1   Katelyn Williams in First Love

THE PULSE PERFORMING ARTS STUDIO

^#2   Emma Graveline in The Tempest

STEPHANIE KEMP'S NEW ENGLAND DANCE ACADEMY

^#3    Alexis Callen in Broken

STEPHANIE KEMP'S NEW ENGLAND DANCE ACADEMY

^#4   Paige Wassem in Thinking

THE PULSE PERFORMING ARTS STUDIO

^#5   Julia Digiacomo in Dangerous

STEPHANIE KEMP'S NEW ENGLAND DANCE ACADEMY

^#6   Sophia Pauline in I Wear You

THE PULSE PERFORMING ARTS STUDIO

^#7   India Harris in Fading Away

NEW CANAAN DANCE ACADEMY

^#7   Kelly Peterson in Blackbird

THE PULSE PERFORMING ARTS STUDIO

^#8   Adriana Callen in Hip Hip Chin Chin

STEPHANIE KEMP'S NEW ENGLAND DANCE ACADEMY

^#9   Gwen Mcgovern in Lovefool

STEPHANIE KEMP'S NEW ENGLAND DANCE ACADEMY

^#9   Natalie Casertano in Rogues

DANCE 10 STUDIOS

^#9   Lilly Moreau in Machine

DANCE 10 STUDIOS

^#10   Brenna Minard in To Love You More

STEPHANIE KEMP'S NEW ENGLAND DANCE ACADEMY

^#10   Catherine O'connor in Serenade

STEPHANIE KEMP'S NEW ENGLAND DANCE ACADEMY

^#10   Angelise Roy in Don't Kill My Vibe

DANCE 10 STUDIOS