Catherine Noel, 4 yrs old

On Tuesday August 12th Catherine turned four. I am still blown away that my baby is four!!! I looked back over a year of pictures and was struck by what a big year this was for her. She's definitely grown up a lot in the last 12 months. Get ready for an onslaught of pictures!

This is her at her three year old party. When I look at this picture I just think how young she looks. I had forgotten that crooked grin she used to always do. I thought she'd smile like that forever (or until an orthodontist got a hold of her)!

Crooked grin again...and I just love the expression on her face. She really is such a goof ball. So often people think she is quiet or shy because it might take her awhile to warm up, but she really is quite a ham. I've had her tell a room of people to "be quiet....no talking" and then proceed to sing and dance for us for...oh...maybe 10 minutes!

Catherine truly is the sweetest little thing. She is a little thing, my little peanut, on the shorter side, while her older sister towers over most of the boys in her class! She is very polite, very quick to say thank you, in general she is very easy going. I must stress the in general because there are times when she gets set off over the littlest, seemingly insignificant thing and there is no reasoning with her. Recently I couldn't find the "right" pair of shoes for her to wear to church and I knew, I just knew that it was going to be bad. And it was. But we persevere and she recovers back to sweet agreeable self.

She is still my picky eater and I've let us get into a habit of just letting her eat a separate meal because its just so much easier to make whatever I want and not have to worry about what she would possibly eat...and it makes dinner just that much more enjoyable. But I sense the time has come to really crack down on that...something I'm looking forward to at all!

Catherine is very much like her sister in that certain situations can make her very nervous. When that happens she likes nothing more than to just snuggle up in our arms and close her eyes very tightly, just blocking it all out. I feel bad when she's scared, but it is just so cute and she is just so snuggly....

A few favs from the past year....
sporting a cool hat....

dancing and twirling with her best friend...

showing off an outfit she picked out all on our own (don't the socks make you cringe?)

I think my dad says it best when he describes Catherine as "a hoot." It's not just what she says, but it's also her facial expressions, the tone in her voice and her body language that make her so entertaining. Tonight at the dinner table she asked me in a very adult sounding tone "Is Skippy's knee feeling better?" (Skippy, my dad who she typically refers to him as Pap Pap, is recovering from knee replacement surgery 4 months ago.) I doubt I'm explaining it well but so much of what she does and says is pretty hysterical.

This past week she was complaining that her belly hurt. For about five days straight. We were pretty sure it wasn't a virus because she would eat and play and seem fine but then every so often complain about a hurt belly. I was trying to figure out how it felt so I would try and get her to describe it to me and she said things along the line of "ants crawled into my belly and Santa Claus is in there stomping around." Huh?

Tonight Catherine requested that I sing Black Eyed Peas "I Gotta Feeling" for her bedtime song. I said "Catherine that isn't a good night song." She responded with "Yes it is..."and then sang "I gotta feeling, that tonight's gonna be a good night....see mom, it's a good night song." I couldn't argue with her reasoning so I sang it!

Things that Catherine loves; reading books with me, collecting every single Bible in the house and stacking them up and "reading" from them, singing, making up her own songs, coloring pictures, painting, playing with her sister, helping me cook (things she won't eat), playing with her Barbies/Ponies/dollhouse/Polly Pockets, taking care of her "babies", doing mommies hair, she is excited to learn soccer this spring....I'm sure I've left some out, but those are some of the favorites right now.

Of all of those, playing with her sister is truly the thing she loves the most. Catherine adores Ella so much. First words out of her mouth in the morning are "where's Ella?". The two of them can really get into it but they do love each other so much. I NEVER thought I'd have two girls, let alone LOVE having two girls so much. Just a few minutes ago they were taking turns yelling outside to each other from an open upstairs window and I heard Ella yell "I love you Catherine." It goes without saying (because she says it so often) that Catherine loves Ella, so I really enjoy hearing it sent her way!

Catherine is very gentle and sweet spirited and kind. She brings so much joy to our lives and smiles to each day. I am one blessed momma!

I pray that Catherine continues to grow as a child of God and come to have a relationship with Him. I pray that I will be model of Christ-like love as I parent Catherine and Ella and be a wife to their dad, and I thank God that four years ago He gave me the gift of this sweet little girl!

How I make you feel better about yourself!

After our great week at the beach I've been trying to get back into the swing of things - something I always struggle with after vacation. Tomorrow I leave for a trip to North Carolina for my cousin's wedding (sans kiddos) so on Monday I will once again trying to find normal somewhere.

I still have to do my post for my now four year old Catherine.

I am looking forward to posting pictures that Renee took of my family while we were at the shore.

But in the meantime I am sharing a story that definitely, without a doubt, goes up there as the most stupid, careless thing I've ever done. Why am I sharing this? Maybe if I put it out there I'll never let it happen again! Who knows? But I definitely can't forget it, so it's going on the blog...

I have to start off by saying. No one and nothing got hurt. So just remember that as you read.

On Tuesday I was taking the girls swimming at a friend's house. We had been at the park in the morning, came home, scarfed down some lunch, grabbed our suits and piled in the car. As we started to leave I realized that I couldn't find my cell phone in my bag. Matt wanted me to stop somewhere on my way home and I knew I would need to touch base with him while I was out (who am I kidding, I hate to go out with my cell fun regardless!) I searched for a second and then figured I had left it in the house so I hopped out and ran back inside. I didn't see it right by the door so I grabbed a house fun to call it and see if I could hear it ring. When I didn't hear it ring I started to go back outside in case it was in the car and I just hadn't seen it. What I saw was my car in the street, not my driveway.

My car was in the street!!!

With my kids in it!!!

And I was standing on my porch, not sitting behind the wheel!!!

Do have enough explanation points to convey the situation?

Basically when I was pulling out of my driveway (which was parked on a downhill slope in the driveway of our dead end street...I am very thankful for that right now!) I had obviously forgotten to put the car into park when I got out to look for my phone in the house. Because the car was downhill, it moved very slowly (or I have to assume I would have noticed...or been hit by it when I walked behind the car) out of the driveway and into the street, heading towards our neighbor's driveway.

I thanked God an innumerable amount of times for allowing the neighbors immediately next door to be home. The 18 year old son ran over and put the car in park. I walked out and kind of freaked out, which of course, on my end, means inappropriate laughter. It wasn't until after I thanked them over and over again and drove away with the girls that I started to get all teary eyed thinking about what could have happened. I told the girls that God was protecting them and that mommy would never do that again. It was nice to talk to Matt who reassured me that most likely the car would have just bumped the mailbox across the street and wouldn't have gone wildly careening down the street.

I wish I had Catherine on tape telling the story because it would be pretty hysterical. She says things like "the car was driving all by itself and we were inside!". When I told them how thankful I was that God had our neighbors there to help Catherine then prayed "God please don't let mommy do that ever every again." My stupid mistakes are improving my kid's prayer lifes!

So there you have it, I'm sure I made all of you feel immensley better about any dumb mistakes you've made recently! Please be gentle on me - I already know I'm an idiot and beat myself up for this - maybe you can be brave enough to share one of your mistakes!

Down the Shore

On Saturday my family converged upon the Jersey shore for our annual beach trip. We've had a great week so far, enjoying one of the two times all year my whole family gets together.

The weather has been great and the water warm and clear. For those of you familiar with the Jersey shore you know how rarely the word "clear" gets applied to that section of the Atlantic ocean! I can honestly say that this is the nicest and warmest water that I have ever experienced during our weekly vacations (dating back to my childhood). In fact there are times, like right after I saw a little crab scurrying across the ocean floor, that I wish for the typical murky waters that leave it to your imagination to determine waters underneath. That way you can convince yourself maybe it was only a shell that you stepped on!

Ella has loved being out in the water swimming around. Because it hasn't been too rough, I've been able to take her way out into the ocean and we bob around over the waves. Catherine, on the other hand, wants absolutely nothing to do with the ocean this year. She is more than content to play in the sand for hours on end so it really is fine and after the first couple days we aren't trying to force her into the "yucky stinky ocean!"

The cousins are all having a blast together and it's always such a joy to see the bond between them even though they don't spend much time together. A few days ago I walked into my room and found Ella and Isaac pretending to sleep on my bed, they told me they were in college (sleeping at odd times of the day...probably pretty accurate!). Then I noticed the lump at the end of the bed and peeked under to see Catherine under the blanket. She whispered,"Sssshhh, I'm playing hide and seek with Theo." It was cute how they were paired up with the cousin closest to them in age! Caleb and Norah fit in just fine and Caleb especially at 19 months old seems to really enjoying running around with the older kids. He is quite receptive to all of the attention Ella likes to give him, always giving a big smile and shyly ducking his head. Norah is used to the craziness and just does her own thing, sometimes with the older kids, sometimes hanging out with the adults.

We were on the beach yesterday from 9am-5pm so today we're all taking it easy. Ella and Isaac are mini golfing with their grandparents, everyone else is scattered either on bike rides or walking on the boardwalk, Catherine is on the porch coloring with Matt and I'm taking a few moments to update my blog!

We still have a few more days of beach and family time left and plan on making the most of it!

A Good Night

You ever have one of those nights, that's just a good night? We had one of those this weekend. Nothing special, but everyone was in good moods, the weather was great - low humidity, not too hot, we enjoyed a yummy dinner on our new patio furniture (big thanks to Renee for the heads up on the sale at Lowes that enabled us to get some great deals) on the patio that currently does not exist in our back yard. But it will! Getting the furniture was a step that will hopefully get us moving and making some decisions (basically with us it usually boils down to, hire it out, or have Matt do it....can you guess what the answer will probably be?)

Matt and I finished our dinners and then things got entertaining. First of all Ella had eaten half of her turkey burger and decided she didn't like it so much. It was a big burger so I was fine with how much she had eaten. Lately Ella's into making various concoctions and so she gathered some stuff that was on the table and proceeded to doctor up what remained of her burger. She squeezed fresh lime, added some salt and pepper, and then declared it her best recipe ever! You know what....it actually was good! Nothing complicated, but I loved that she came up with it on her own (and then today she made a big mess with flour, sugar, limes and lemons. A bit overconfident maybe?).

Once the kids were done eating, things really got entertaining. The girls decided they wanted to put on a show for us. This is nothing new in our household, often Catherine will demand complete silence while she sings and/or dances for us or whoever happens to be there! But tonight the yard was filled with boxes from the furniture that provided a backdrop.

(this was taken during the second time around, Matt was watching the first time)

Can you tell that both of them are singing away? When they first started dancing Catherine gasped "Oh no, we don't have any...(music)" Not even finishing her thought she turned to Matt and me "Can you sing?" We laughed pretty hard at that one (especially since the neighbors were on their deck with friends). Thankfully Catherine turned down my offer of "Twinkle Little Star" and they took care of music on their own!

In case you were wondering their show was about getting money for the children who have no parents and live in the city. Sweet, huh? Catherine even offered that if they were lost she would get a map and help them! They sang about letting the money fly out of our hands so they could get it. Ya gotta have a theme!

Finally we enjoyed s'mores by the fire (which was conveniently burning up a bunch of debris from a household project that shall remained unamed until actually finished. I have to a reason to hope!)

Before that though Ella showed us a neat little trick that she learned to do. The hanging swing that we've had since she six months old....she can now hold onto the rope and just hop right into the seat. What??!!! I just never foresaw her being able to do that on her own, and just buckle herself right in. I feel like she just grew 5 inches right in front of my eyes!

Speaking of growing up, my baby turns for on Wednesday! I need to start her birthday post now since for the first time we're having her party on her actual birthday! Can't wait - I'm sure I'll be sharing all the fun we have, but maybe not until after we get to the beach for our family vacation!

zippidy do da...

This weekend, actually Friday night to Saturday to be more precise, we took a whirlwind trip to Maryland to spend some quality (but unfortunately low on quantity) with friends and family.

Saturday was a nonstop day, we were at my sister in laws at 8:30 am and headed home about 12 hours later!

One of the highlights of the day involved this....

And then this....

Then a blur that was very hard to photograh....

Finally, this!

Do you think that she had a good time?!

Matt's sister and brother in law recently installed a zip line in their backyard. It ran from tree to tree and there was a tire on the line that stopped the line so you wouldn't hit the tree. Ella would zoom down the line, hit the tire, swing forward and then bounce back the other way. Every time she did it, it took all my control not to stand in front of the tree in case she let go. She did it, oh...maybe 20 times, and I swear, each time I controlled the urge to throw myself in front of the tree (I did suggest some rigging a gym mat of some sort up there), but I still yelled, "hold on Ella, hold on!"

Matt tried it too...

There he is, trying not to scream (successful or not...I'll never tell!) as we swings towards the tree!

Even this little cutie hopped on for a ride!

I did stand in front of the tree when Catherine went down because she was a bit nervous. The first time her Uncle Steve ran next to her and had his hand on her back making her feel safe. It was so adorable, she came towards me with her eyes squeezed shut! Second time down, she was by herself, coming towards me saying "Mommy I want to get off!"

There are no pictures to prove it, but I went for a few rides as well (I assure you I was completely graceful and composed!). Each time I had a hard time convincing myself that my momentum wouldn't swing me into the tree. I think I might have screamed the first time down (ok, I definitely did, which is pathetic considering the zip lines and swings from 30 feet up that I had to do at YL camps...I'll say it was a scream of exhilaration and not one of "oh crap, that tire will not stop me from smashing into that treeeeeee!!). My mother in law even tried it out as well!

None of us enjoyed it as much as Ella. She would stand on the picnic table and bounce a few times, hoping to pick up extra speed. If no one was waiting for a turn when she got back to the starting point, she'd just go again. And again. And again!

As much as we all loved the zip line, the real high light of our quick trip was this...

Hayden is missing from the picture, but I'm glad at least got ashot of the three girls (and me). When we pulled up to their house Sophia met us outside in her nightgown. She went right up to the girls and told them how much she missed them! Even though Hayden doesn't always want to play house and dress up with them, all four of them really enjoy playing together and just have a blast. I am hoping that Sophia comes up to stay for a few days at the end of the month!

Even though it was a short visit it was worth it!

Grillin' it up!

Either I've had a boring week or I'm not a very good blogger! Probably some of both mixed with a bit of laziness because I haven't felt like uploading pictures from our very enjoyable trip to Chincoteague.

Also I've been a bit busy talking about SYTYCD over at Crafty's blog! Not to mention buying tickets for the Tour! That's right, Renee and I are going to see the Top 10 (eh..12 I mean!) when they come to New Jersey in September- less than 2 months away! I took it upon myself to buy the tickets and believe me you did not want to be in the room with me during this process (unfortunately the kids were, making it that much more frustrating). I was online and got what I thought were pretty good floor seats, but the way they were labeled made me hesitate and I didn't want to spend other people's money on seats that were horrible. So I was on the phone with Renee having her try to look up info while I filled out all the pertinent info before my time expired. I went through all the steps and couldn't find out one way or another so I just told Renee I was going to ahead with it and confirmed the tickets, only to find that I wasn't at the final screen and the tickets expired. Urgggggh. Eventually I got seats, but I can't help wonder what could have been. Sigh.....and I'm over it.

It looks to be a warm week so I want to give you all a yummy easy meal idea that won't have you heating up the kitchen.

Grilled Pizza! I've heard and seen posts for grilled pizza many times in the past but have also skimmed right over them and just thought it seemed like extra work and was it really worth it. After doing it I think that it IS worth it and not really that much work! Rather than go through it step by step I want to link you to a great tutorial over at Our Best Bites. They do a great job of taking you through each step of the way and giving tons of pointers.

A few things I want to emphasize.
-Definitely either make your own dough or buy pizza dough either at your grocery store bakery or an Italian speciality bakery (if you're lucky enough to have one nearby like me!). I don't think a Boboli precooked crust would cut it in this case!
-You must be prepared/organized. The dough cooks very quickly and the grill is very hot, so once you flip the dough you need to add those toppings quickly so the other side of the dough doesn't burn/overcook.
-We made a number of small to medium sized pizzas and tried different toppings. Our favorite was bbq sauce (not too much), chicken, red onion and mozzerella. It went so well with the smokey flavor added by the grill. Definitely try different toppings and types of pizza (We did pesto chicken with feta and pine nuts, but the feta didn't melt well and it was too dry) and figure out what you like best (and then let me know!).

I hope you get a chance to make some grilled pizza this week. It really is pretty darn easy and inexpensive if you use what you most likely already have in your fridge (if it's anything like my fridge)!

I am planning on being back a bit more this week with pictures and stories of our beach trip.

Many random things to share so I'll do it in list format...

1. Today we met friends at a cool Spray Park nearby. We brought one of Ella's preschool friends along as well and kids alternated between running around in the water and playing on the playground a few feet away. After heading home all three girls immediately ran into the backyard and played for 40 minutes in our family pool. Then they came in, dried, ate every piece of fruit in our house, colored, sniffed Ella's scented markers and ended up with multicolored mustaches and then eventually sat down to watch Zaboomafoo.

But the day wasn't over. We were still planning on swimming somewhere else around four, when it was still hot (it just seemed really hot today) but there wasn't as much risk of sun burn. I wanted to double check with Ella before we started the process of getting suits on again. She responded with "no, I'm worn out, I want to stay home."

Mark that date in history. Ella deMontaigne was worn out. There are many times I thought it would happen, but that girl is the energizer bunny and keeps going and going.....

2. But it could also be because of this...both Ella and Catherine have got some sort of mid summer cold going on. We ended up going to the doctors when they woke up Monday morning with deep coughs and Ella was complaining of a sore throat. So they are both on day 3 of medicine...most likely the reason Ella's a bit worn out. It still counts doesn't it?

3. The girls are both attending a summer arts intensive (camp) two mornings a week through the month of July. I love it because it's all of their favorite activities, dance, music, art, cooking, story time and it's not too much time- twice a week for a few hours is perfect for us. It's through ACPPA Community Arts Center, a nonprofit organization that make arts available to children in the community. I ask them every morning when I pick them up what their favorite activity does and they answer, but I really struggle to get any details out of them.

Tuesday afternoon I was making lunch and asked Ella what songs she was learning at music time. She shrugged and I thought that was it but then she looked at me with a sort of puzzled expressions and said "The Beatles?" Then she started to sing "We all live in a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine, a yellow submarine." So I sang along with her. The look on her face was priceless, "Mom, do YOU know the Beatles?" I explained to her that yes I did and that I thought it was so great that they were learning The Beatle's music at art camp.

Catherine decided to get involved and proceeded to sing Yellow Submarine for at least the next ten minutes while dancing around the dining room table. Good times, I tell ya, good times!

4. A little bit of what's coming...I grilled pizza for the first time last weekend and loved it! I'll be back to give you the rundown on it as well as the different combinations we tried and what we liked and didn't like!

5. But I won't be back until after the weekend. We are leaving Friday morning to head out on our once a summer trip to Chincoteague VA. This time my parents will be making their first trip to the island to join us and Matt's parents. I haven't been the beach yet this summer and I am so looking forward to a few days relaxing in the sun (and having a 2:1 ratio of grandparent to grandkid!).

6. Oh yes, I can't forget two final bits of info. Tomorrow night I am joining a bunch of friends to go see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It's been so long ago that I read the book that I really forget so much of it (except some of the major, unforgettable stuff - don't worry, no spoilers from me) and I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie with some fellow fans.

7. Last, but if you've been around here for any amount of time, it's certainly not least....Renee is blogging tonight's episode of SYTYCD. I watched the first hour, and then came down here to write this post and let my DVR gain some time on me. Definitely looking forward to discussing tonight's show! I hope you join in!

Summer Salads

I love salads as a main dish during the summer. Not just lettuce and tomato salads, but jazzed up salads that fill you up without being too heavy and requiring too much work!

I want to share two with you that we've enjoyed recently.

Not Your Mama's Tuna Salad
From Rachael Ray Magazine
Ingredients:
1 cup pesto, either store bought or homemade
Juice of 1 lemon
Two 6-ounce cans water-packed tuna, drained
4 scallions, cut into thin strips with kitchen scissors or chopped
1 jarred whole roasted red pepper, cut into small pieces with kitchen scissors or chopped
Handful of grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 pound medium shell pasta—cooked al dente, rinsed under cold water and drained well
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine pesto and lemon (the recipe calls for more than I use, I love pesto, but I think using a cup with that much pasta is too much - I would say use less pesto or more pasta), add tuna and flake. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss. So easy! Definitely not your typical tuna salad, you get all the benefits of tuna, without the fishy taste that some of you might not like (me not included - I'm a fan!). If you really aren't a fan I'm sure you could try this with canned chicken.

Poppy Seed Chicken Salad
from Sisters Cafe
Spinach leaves
Romaine leaves
Grilled chicken, sliced (grill with lots of lemon pepper seasoning)
Red onion, sliced thinly
Crispy bacon, crumbled
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Toasted almonds (or you can sugar the almonds. Put sliced almonds in a pan with lots of granulated sugar (about equal amounts). Cook on medium heat until sugar melts, coating the almonds as they brown.)

The Dressing:
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard
2/3 cup red wine vinegar
3 Tb Maui or Vidalia onion, chopped
2 cups canola oil
3 Tb poppy seeds
Mix the first 5 ingredients in a blender, then slowly add the oil, blending until thick. Stir in poppy seeds. (or just put them in one of those salad dressing thingies and shake it on up)

I keep the dressing separate from the salad and allow people to add on their own. The dressing is super yummy, but I like being able to control the amount I add and then the salad doesn't get all soggy and you can save the leftovers (but I doubt there will be any).

This makes a ton of dressing. Both times I've made this I've halved the dressing and it's been fine. Basically you can make this salad as big or as small as you want, depending on how many you are feeding. I made this for the first time a few weeks ago and then made it again less than a week later when I was at my parents. Everyone loved it and requested that I make it again when we do our family beach trip next month. (Which is a bit ironic, because the Tuna Salad recipe above is another meal I made at the beach and it was a hit.)

Hopefully you enjoy these yummy salads!

Down to 10

Results night! This is the night when we find out which top ten dancers we'll get to see on the tour this fall. Speaking of tour, the dates and cities have been released and would you believe it that there are NO Pennsylvania dates?! Craziness! But there are two New Jersey dates (huh?) that aren't too far for me and Renee. Maybe we can summon some of our fellow sisters to join us?

Any thoughts on the judging this year? I did some scanning of the old internet earlier because I love to read what others are saying and it's seems like a general consensus that people are annoyed by the judging. I know I get annoyed when Nigel critiques a dancer's hairstyle rather than her dance!

Love the opening number choreographed by NappyTab, music Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes.

We find out that it's Nigel's birthday and that we won't get to see a Michael Jackson tribute show. Happy for Nigel, too bad no MJ.

First up for the cuts.
Brandon and Janette and Caitlin and Jason. I think we all have a pretty good idea who is safe and who isn't. At least I hope. I hope the producers aren't pulling a fast one on us. And the couple in the bottom three is......no surprise, Caitlin and Jason.

Randi and Evan and Philip and Jeanine. My fear is that if R&E are in the bottom Evan will get cut because he's short and will be hard to partner with any other girl. Won't be fair since he really only had one off night. The judges just seem to hold back from fully praising him. Philip really is the weakest, but I imagine the judges want their hip hopper in the tour.
And the bottom couple is....Philip and Jeanine. Wow! Can't believe it!

Ok now it's down to Melissa and Ade and Kayla and Kupono. Tough call. Both performed well last night and I think Melissa and Ade have a stronger fan base but didn't have as memorable of dances last night.

What do you guys think about Nigel's statement about the solos? Basically saying that they don't give very much weight to them? But often when they are talking to the bottom three guys and girls Nigel seems to reference their solos pretty frequently. What gives? I would like some consistency please? I'm glad that after this week it's all up to America.

And the final couple in the bottom three is....Melissa and Ade. I think they're safe. No way should either of them be let go compared to the other two couples.

SOLOS

Caitlin did a cute solo to Stand by Me. Not sure if it's enough to save her...

Jason did his typical routine. Good dancer, but his performances do nothing for me.

Jeanine - I thought her solo was pretty cool but I was distracted by her hideous outfit.

Philip - amazing in his style of course. no denying it. but he hasn't adapted to other styles well.

Melissa - wow, muscles. Lots of beautiful leaps and twirls. I love when she's en pointe, it gives the impression that she's flying/floating...

Ade - best solo of the night. totally cool and funky. Amazing back walkout....so glad we got to see a solo from him. I am convinced he's one of the top guys and it will be a travesty if he's cut.

Special performer - sorry I went right past her so I have absolutely no input to give.

Based on the snippets, are you excited for Season 6 yet?

Nigel gets right down to it and trying to be as positive as possible, lets Caitlin know it's the end of the road for her.

The guys. Jason looks so resigned. So does Philip. But we find out that it's the end of the road for Philip. I'm pretty surprised, I think ultimately it was the right decision but I just didn't think the judges would cut Philip. I think P. is a great guy but unfortunately wasn't able to find success in the other styles. Nigel then says that Philip and Caitlin will both be on tour. Great, but what's the significance of the top 10 if the top 12 tour? Not that I mind at all, I think Philip's presence would be missed!

Surprised, happy, or outraged?

I really did think Jason would go since without Philip they are left with five contemporary male dancers. But the judges pretty much set themselves up for it with how they cast the top 20. I'm definitely missing Joshua and Twitch! Also, I think the girls are stronger than the guys this year. I think all five girls have the tendency to outshine their partners. Now that we vote as individuals it will be interesting to see who has a fan base and who doesn't.

Ok, sisters, let me hear what you thought!

Dancing times two!

It's been a long Wednesday and we've been on the go since this morning. It's so nice to come home from a full day and know that I have SYTYCD to look forward too! Not only do I love it, but it gives me the excuse I need to plop myself on the couch for awhile. Especially when it's my turn for the traveling blog - those dishes can wait until morning, my dance sisters are counting on me!

As usual, I'll probably just blog my thoughts as we go... (I'm going to pause before the judges speak to give my honest feedback - love my DVR!). Now that I'm done I can warn you that a long line of incoherent observations are coming your way and be prepared for me to fizzle out at the end. The judges liked everyone so got sick of writing it over and over again. It was a long night of dances, but there were many bright moments - I wonder if we'll agree on what they were!

After introductions Cat comes out looking very chic in a knee length black number with a gorgeous hair do - it's pinned up into a bob with some finger curls and a cool silver pin.

Tyce is our guest judge. I hope he's left his diva like attitude from the auditions far behind and can channel some constructive criticism towards the dancers.

Ade and Melissa - Disco with Dorianna Sanchez. Again and so soon? I'd rather have more hip hop and less disco. I like this couple and hope they can bring it!

Definitely not as fast as Brandon and Janine's, but I thought they did well. A few times the transition from the lifts seemed slow, but I thought they had good "swagger". That upside down split lift - wow!!! Overall I enjoyed it and was entertained but the judges so rarely like disco - I bet they won't rave as much as they did from Brandon and Janine's. Oh yeah - Melissa fell at the end but I think it doesn't count!

The judges love it! 3 for 3. I went back to see if I could remember more of their feedback and I can't - so they must have been unanimous in their loving of it!

Kupono and Kayla - contemporary with Mia Michaels! I always get excited for a Mia routine, but these guys have had a lot of contemporary/jazz. Interesting....During rehearsal Kupono shares how the theme of addiction hits close to home with him and tears up talking about it. I know his voice is a bit annoying...but come on...that was moving.

Holy cow. Speechless. I thought it was intense and amazing. I thought they both did amazing. I had chills. So dark and intense. Kayla trying to escape Kupono was just so....intense. Sorry for my lack of creativity there! Kayla truly had the look of an addict- no makeup, wild hair, and I was rooting for her to break free.

The judges all liked it. Mary and Tyce both hit on the reason I'm a fan of Kupono - the character and acting he brings to each dance makes it seem like more than a dance. I will never claim his jumps or spins are up to par with any of the others, but he brings something different to the dance floor that I enjoy. But hey, we all have our opinions and I'm fine being in the minority on this one.

Caitlin and Jason - Foxtrot by Tony Meredith and Melanie Lapatin.
Oooh I like the skirt Caitlin is wearing during rehearsal.

So I don't think Jason does macho too well. He's got the market cornered on cute, but not macho! Some crazy lifts and it's definitely fun, nothing outstanding (but it's foxtrot, so...um...I kind of have to wait for the judges!). I LOL'd when Caitlin's dress was covering Jason's face during one lift - I thought for sure we'd have some sort of wardrobe malfunction! Looks like they struggled with one lift at the end.

Nigel likes it - complimented both of them on their technique and footwork. Mary thought it was tremendous - that's why I have to wait for the judges because I wasn't blown away by it. Tyce said they look like stars but could have glided more. Is Tyce hitting on Jason? He def gave him a look there at the end.

OH my, Russian folk dance and hip hop coming up -

Philip and Jeanine - Russian folk dancing with Youri Nelzine and Lilia Babenko (don't ask me how many times I had to rewind to get those names)

This seems like punishment for them.

Ok, so didn't think it was that great. I love this couple and want them to do well but it just didn't seem to work. Perhaps the rosy blush circles on Philip's cheeks distracted me too much?

Nigel is doing the slow clap. Doesn't look good....he thought it was too folky and recommended vodka. He's more criticizing the style/choreography. Mary was 50/50 with it. Tyce thought they did well with the style and was very positive. They both look relieved to have positive feedback at the end!

Randi and Evan - hip hop with our favorite duo Nappy Tab! Yay - can't wait to see these guys do hip hop! Loved Randi's reaction to what her character will be! I am just imagining Matt and I breaking out into hip hop after I told him I was pregnant! I enjoyed it because it seemed so sweet and loving and joyful.

Nigel is caught up with the reoccurring theme of pregnancy this season and I guess he liked it. He really likes the two of them overall - he made that clear. Mary thought it would be a trainwreck but it wasn't. She was watching for Evan to slip up and he didn't. Tyce enjoyed the story telling of NapTab, thinks Evan needs to bring "more" and loves Randi.

Janette and Brandon - Argentine Tango - Leonadro and Miriam. This is supposed to be about sexiness. Nothing about Brandon screams sexy in rehearsal but I have a feeling he'll pull it off tonight. As long as he doesn't laugh. Or talk.

Love Janine's sparkly number. I love the spin she did while lowered a few inches form the ground. Her footwork looks sharp. Brandon pulls off the sexy b/c he's not talking. I loved the final sequence- amazing!

The judges give them a standing O! Wow. I didn't see that coming although I knew it was good. Nigel says it was close to perfection. Mary screams about how good they are and gives them their first class Hot Tamale tickets. My ears are now bleeding. Tyce joins in with a little chest shimmy. Tyce is talking about making OJ and getting all the juice out - basically he loved it too!

Melissa and Ade are up again (I totally missed that they were each dancing twice) and we find out this is their last time dancing with their partners. Sad.

How sweet that Melissa tears up!

Waltz by Ron Montez
I think Melissa's gracefulness and Ade's strength will make this a good performance - plus the chemistry they have helps.

I think they performed beautifully. Melissa looked like she was floating and Ade supported her amazingly.

Nigel, beautiful and played to their strengths. Ade needed more rise and fall. Mary agreed with beautiful but criticized Ade's footwork. Melissa was mesmerizing and flawless. Tyce says the dance needs to rise to the music and they needed to elongate and stretch their lines. Ade was making it look too easy?

Kayla and Kupono.

Broadway by Joey Dowling. Love at first sight. All about acting - definitely plays to their strengths. Joey seems like a tough choreographer.

Dancing to West Side Story. Seemed like a very classical broadway number, didn't seem to excited the crowd. Good but it didn't have that extra oomph...

Nigel agreed....he got up and showed them how it should be, didn't think they brought out the character. Mary said they did a good job, but they could have done more and it was well synchronized. Tyce said that Kupono could have dug in more

Jason and Caitlin. Mandy Moore (yay) with lyrical jazz. It will be nice to see them in their own style finally. What 80's song will it be too this time? Ooops, called that one wrong. Lot of spins and lifts and stuff. I think I'm running out of steam. I guess these guys don't excite me - so sorry to all you fans! Please no hate mail!

Nigel said it was good technically but lacking chemistry. Mary sees the chemistry but it wasn't magical. But then she said great things about them, just not a memorable dance. Tyce said they were in sync and their lines were beautiful but they played it safe. Overall positive feedback but no gushing.

Jeanine and Philip. The jive with Tony and Meredith. Oh no - Randi and Evan did this and they weren't peppy enough. I think Jeanine can pull it off, not sure about Philip. They looked good, Jeanine better. Philip doesn't look too comfortable in ballroom styles, but he was smiling and and bouncing about.

Nigel loved it all around. Mary loved it too and was surprised by Philip and put Jeanine on the Hot Tamale train. Tyce makes it 3 for 3 - he loved it as well.

Randi and Evan. These guys seem to have so much fun together.

They are doing a Samba with....Pasha!!!!! I love me my Pasha! And Anya of course.

The rehearsal footage was so darn cute with Randi feeling embarrassed about sexing it up!

Definitely not a natural fit for Evan, but they have chemistry so that helped pull them through it. Randi did great and they just fit really well together.

Nigel wasn't having it. Evan isn't a hot Samba king, but Randi is. Mary said it was a slow sizzle but they needed to do more and find more fire! Tyce wanted them to be a detective and figure out how to make it hot. Mary jumps in to give Randi the hot tamale shriek.

Janette and Brandon. I knew there was a Wade routine coming up and I've been looking forward to it! Saving the best for last?

Very funky and cool (not surprised)! I loved how in sync they were during the opening sequence on the stairs. I just heard from Renee that she watched it a few times so she can expand on some more of the details of it.

Nigel is calling for them to get the biggest vote of the night! Mary - took the words right out of my mouth (or blog) "the best for last!" Tyce loved it, they all loved it because it was amazing (I agree) and Brandon and Jeanette can do anything.

Sorry I ran out of steam and interesting input there at the end. I thought that overall it was a great night - just a ton of dances to recap! My favorite two performances were Kayla and Kupono's Mia routine (I am a fan of those darker pieces, what does that say about me?) and Brandon and Jeanette's Wade routine. The choreographer has a big impact, I think getting a Mia routine really sets the dancers up because so they both have so many fans.

No clear underdog because they all did well and no one got completely slammed. Janette and Brandon are the definite front runners. I personally think Philip is one of the weakest guys (but I really do like him) and maybe Caitlin for the girls? They are all strong and bring different things to the table. I think if Evan is in the bottom three he might be in trouble.

I know there are many of you out there who are watching and I hope you'll chime in with your likes and dislikes!

Clean Teeth

A few weeks ago Matt and I both had dentist appointments with our new dentist. I don't think I can sum up the nerve to reveal exactly how long it had been since Matt and I had both been to a dentist. Let me put it this way, we didn't love our previous dentist and when we moved we just figured we'd get a new one. Well...we didn't. I won't tell you how long ago it was that we moved and whether or not it was before we had Ella. I am too ashamed to fully admit to how much I've neglected my dental care.

We finally found a dentist nearby and made appointments. Since we were new patients they were well over a month away and Matt even laughed when I told him the date because it was just so far away. Of course things you aren't looking forward to tend to creep up on you rather quickly and before we knew it the appointments were just a few days away.

Matt and I were each certain that our teeth were a mess and we basically began dreading finding out what the damage was.

The day beforehand Matt announced to the girls "Mommy has a dentist appointment tomorrow. Mommy, tell them how you feel about that!"

I looked at Matt liked he was crazy, mustered by some enthusiasm and lied, "I'm really excited about it!"

To which Catherine replied, "no you're not, you're scared!"

It cracked me up that as much as I tried to put up a brave front she saw right through it (or just projected her own feelings on me!).

I am happy to say that both Matt and I were cavity free! When we left we told the dentist "see you in six years!" Oops, I may have revealed a bit too much there!

Weekly update

This past Sunday to Wednesday I was in my home town spending some time with family and catching up with old friends. It was a great few days and the kids were very busy playing with their cousins who were there visiting as well.

A few pics from my time away....

Josselyn, me, and Erin (girls I've known for what seems like forever and was so happy to spend time, all of us getting to be together for the first time in years) looking through all photos.
After looking through those high school pictures I am even less excited about bathing suit season. There's nothing like looking at pics of your teenage self to make you long for the metabolism of your youth.

These three were little water bugs during our afternoon at the lake.

The weather was changing the whole time we were there. A few times the clouds rolled in and we thought it was going to downpour but it always passed and the sun came out and we were able to have a really nice time.

When the clouds were covering the sun it felt pretty chilly and we had to convince the kiddos that it was warmer in the water than out of it. But they definitely didn't need to go this far out in the water. It was pretty windy and I was close to going out and grabbing Catherine before she could get blown away.

Here is my little 15 month old niece Norah having fun in the sand.

Catherine and Theo looking adorable together. I have one on my camera of them both looking at me, but I put these pics on while at my parents and didn't have a USB cord for my camera.

We got home from the lake around 3:30 but no way was the fun over yet! We got out the slip in slide and spent the next two plus hours having a blast as the kids went zooming down the hill and splashing into the baby pool we strategically placed at the bottom.

Would you believe that Chrissie and I both went down the slip n slide, not once, but a number of times? No? Well I have pictures to prove it but they are on my parents camera and I must have forgotten to upload them while I was home. Too bad!

It was funny because when we decided to do it Chrissie went in to get her suit on and my my mom went in to get her camera (of course!) and I ran and went down the slide while it was just me and kids. Just to make sure I wasn't going to completely make a fool out of myself by losing part of my suit while my mom caught it all on camera. Thankfully it didn't and we actually had fun reliving our childhood (I should say mine because that was the first time Chrissie EVER went on a slip n slide) and entertaining the kids.

The weather proved to be a bit of a problem because the forecast would be calling for showers and storms and we would plan accordingly (by not going to the amusement park we were planning on taking the kids to) and end up with a nice sunny day. But in typical central PA style it was still 10 degrees cooler than the Philadelphia area.

Now I'm home not feeling too great with a sore throat and a pounding head. Hoping tomorrow is better!

Our Great Adventure!

I promised you a rundown of my birthday trip to Six Flags Great Adventure and here it is...

The Good:

I still love the coasters! It had been probably six years since I had been on a roller coaster, what with having babies and nursing them and then just letting time slip away. Also, spending a day at an amusment park riding the biggest and fastest roller coaster doesn't always translate into a family activity when your kids are little. I was nervous that I couldn't handle it! But I could and had so much fun screaming and laughing and sometimes holding on for dear life.

The lines weren't that bad at all. We would pass markers that said 2 hr wait and end up at the ride in 30 minutes. I am so thankful for that, because I really struggle with waiting in lines like that. The longest line we waited in was maybe 45 minutes which is not bad at all, especially since we got in it at the 90 minute wait mark. I seriously timed it to make sure because I had a certain spot we had to get to in a certain time and if we didn't we were leaving.

The weather was perfect, it was sunny and hot and then the clouds would move in and it was breezy and cool - alternating like that all day.

I got to ride my favorite coaster Nitro. We got in line and after a few minutes it stopped running due to technical difficulties. It's so hard to decide whether or not to stay or go in that situation because they aren't able to give you any time table (more on that later) on when it's going to work again and usually a bunch of people end up leaving and you're wondering if you're wasting your time staying. Thankfully for this ride it was worth it because from the time we got in line to the time we got to ride it was 30 minutes total - including the delay. In fact after riding it once, we got to back to the start and there was no line. I was all ready to go from another spin, but....

The Bad

While I can still stomach the coasters, we discovered that Matt no longer can. It's ironic that the coaster that I love the most (Nitro) is the one that really did him in. He quickly declined my request to go again, and we decided to go on another one. I think it all caught up to him on that one and we had to take a nice long break on a bench while he sat as still as possible and tried to settle his stomach. Poor guy, he was sweating and shakey, not the most fun way to spend the day. He felt so bad and didn't want to ruin the day for me. He did pull through in the end and decide at the last minute (he waited in line with me and was going to just not get on) to ride Bizarro and didn't feel too bad afterwards (this was after a loooonnnng break from rides.)

Kingdaka is the fastest roller coaster in the US and also has the highest drop. It's so high that the Statue of Liberty could fit under the main arch. You are basically launched up one side and come spinnning straight down the other. You can see it looming over the park when you come in (see previous picture) and it just looks terrifying. We decided to go directly there because we figured the line would be the longest and it would be the one we'd be most likely to chicken out of. The line moved so quickly - from the start of the line to the gate it was 15 minutes total (what a dork am I that I actually know all this!). We watched the people in front of us shoot off and waited for the gait to open for our turn. My adrenaline was seriously pumping and I would count the seconds it took for the car to fall. But...you could see this coming, right?....A voice over the loud speaker. Kingdaka is experiencing technical difficulties, we don't know when it will be ready to run again. A few people leave. We wait. We wait some more. More people leave. We keep hoping that it's going to be fixed soon. No such luck, they finally announce that it will be a lengthy delay and we head out of there. It was closed all day. I kept looking over from wherever we were in the park to see if it was running and it wasn't until we were just getting in the car to go home that I finally saw a car going over the big arch. Darn.

Last night we caught a documentary on thrill seekers and it went through various amusement parks and the crazy stuff they offer. Seriously, some of the free fall and bungee stuff was almost hard to watch. But then they say "We've saved the best for last...Six Flags Great Adventure's Kingdaka!". Matt and I both cracked up - of course, we were seconds away from riding the craziest roller coaster in the country and we missed out on it. I am hoping to make a return trip with friends at some point, but I think that was Matt's last chance at it!

The Ugly!

The prices!!! If it's not enough that it costs an arm and a leg just for a day pass to the park (we got great discounted tickets though), you pay at the very least $15 for parking, $1 for a locker outside of each rollercoaster because you can't take any loose items with you (I would stuff my sunglasses down my shorts!) and the cost of food is just unreal. To top it off Six Flags Theme Parks (all of them) just declared bancruptcy. I can't being to imagine how they are possibly losing money.

Finally, the worst part of what was a great birthday occurred on the final ride, Bizarro. I kept my cell phone with me and just put it into a zipper pocket on my capris (wow, zipper pocket, I really sound like a dork). Somehow just before I got on I just have put it in the wrong pocket and it flew out on the one of the many drops, loops or spins. So less than six months after dropping my Palm Centro into the toilet, I lose my next phone on a roller coaster! The bummer is that I lost my SIM card as well so I have to recollect all the numbers and info I had stored in my phone over the years. So if you haven't heard from me - that's why!

Overall I had such a fun birthday. I really enjoyed spending the day with Matt doing something that was out of the ordinary for us. I am definitely thankful for Renee and Kerin who watched the kids (I came to get the girls from Renee's and they had decorated and made me cards and cupcakes - so sweet and special!)! Thank you all for the birthday wishes!

My budding artist

Yesterday Ella made this sweet family drawing and I couldn't resist posting it.

From left to right, Daddy, Catherine, Ella and Mommy.

Anyone else think that maybe daddy needs a hair cut?

Matt and I both had to work hard to not burst out laughing when Ella showed him (even though I had already seen it and knew what to expect.) He looks a bit feminine to say the least. She actually made two family drawings and I did choose the one in which Matt looks more manly. Ella had so much fun drawing his hair I almost don't want him to get a haircut! In all seriousness, I think she's a great artist. I'm surprised she didn't add earrings and eyelashes to the girls - she's all about the details! Oh, she did add some matching fingernail polish - suh-weet!

It's Wednesday which means it's a SYTYCD night. Crafty P will be doing this weeks recap.

Also, I promise to be back to share the good, the bad, and the ugly of my birthday trip to Six Flags. Yes, there are some of all three (but mostly good, don't worry!)!

Woohoooo

Tomorrow morning Matt and I are dropping the kids off at my friend's house and we are going to spend the day here...

Six Flags Great Adventure!!!

Tomorrow/Today (most of you will read this on Monday) is my birthday so I told Matt the only thing I wanted was to spend a day at an amusement park going on rides other than the carousel and spinning cups, i.e., rollercoasters! It has been years since I've gone on a rollercoaster, pretty sure since before I got pregnant with Ella s0 I am really looking forward to this. I do have this small little kernel of doubt way back in the corner of my mind...what if after all these years I decide I don't like roller coasters anymore? How funny would that be? Oh well, we can always spend the day riding the carousel.

Matt got discounted tickets through our Parks and Recs department (amazing deal, available in most townships in this area) and it works out great that his day off is Monday (hoping for shorter lines) and my friends Kerin and Renee are able to split up watching the kids for the day.

So happy birthday to me. I doubt I'll have any pictures to post, but hopefully will have a good story or two to share. Can't wait!!

Keeping you well fed

I promise I won't spend all summer focused solely on SYTYCD. I am glad to see how many of "you" are watching it and chiming in on the weekly posts. This week starts the official competition of the top 20 dancers so if you haven't already, now is a great time to start watching! This week the only one of us who is a trained dancer will be kicking off the competition between the Top 20. Check out Renee's blog tomorrow night or Thursday morning for her recap.

Ok, I just deleted a long rambling paragraph about the weather and my trip to Ikea. I even started to share a bit about the remodeling project going on over at our house for a long long while now. But I just missed the Pens second goal of the night and really can't focus enough to make much sense.

But I think I can concentrate enough to post two of my favorite new recipes that I've tried in the past few weeks.

Both are easy and seem pretty healthy and light.

Rumba Island Mango Chicken and Rice
from The Sisters Cafe

This is definitely a pantry recipe. It calls for just a few ingredients that you can usually have on hand and if you're like me you typically have chicken in the freezer.

4-5 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
Cumin to taste
Lemon Pepper to taste
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups mango salsa (I found a peach pineapple salsa at Wal Mart and used that, it was great - loved the pineapple pieces in there. I did by Costco's Mango salsa since it's Matt's favorite and plan on using it next time.)

Put chicken breasts in crock pot. Add spices. Cover and cook chicken until tender. Shred chicken on a plate and return to crock pot. Save juices in separate bowl. (I shredded the chicken in the same bowl as the juices and the chicken just absorbed all the extra liquid.)

Add corn, beans and salsa. More salsa can be added to taste. If mixture seems dry, add some of reserved juices.

Serve over coconut rice for that Rumbi Island Grill taste. Garnish with cilantro or parsely, if desired.

Making the coconut rice is a must! By a can of coconut milk and use it replace all or half (I did half and thought that was perfect) the liquied when cooking your rice. I use basamati style rice and it was a good fit. The coconut milk adds a sweetness to the rice that is delicious with the chicken . Try it and trust me - I am typically not a fan of coconut.

Second recipe...

Summer Vegetable and Chicken Hash
from Elizabeth's Edible Experience and Martha Stewart Living June 2009

1/2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 ounces small red potatoes
2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears..I used 3)
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/2 jalepeno chile, stem, ribs and seeds removed, minced (didn't have it, didn't miss it)
1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes, halved (I just used regular red cherry tomatoes)
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken stock
Salt and Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1 teaspoon dried Oregono

1. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and heat. Add chicken. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste and 1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 4 minutes; transfer to a bowl.

2. Add 2 teaspoons oil and the potatoes to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 8 minutes; transfer to a small bowl. Place the bowl of potatoes in the microwave for 3 minutes to finish cooking.

3. Add remaining teaspoon oil, the corn, scallions, and the jalepeno to skillet, and cook, stirring occasionally, until corn turns dark brown in spots, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, and cook until skins just begin to soften, about 1 minute. Add stock, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of pepper, and reserved chicken; bring to a boil. Fold in reserved potatoes, and sprinkle with Oregeno.

Enjoy! You should definitely check out Elizabeth's post for this recipe - great pictures to go along with each step.

Wohoo- the Pen's won and the series is tied! Game Seven here we come!

Top 20

Who will be in the top 20?

You know that it has been said (by non other than Nigel) that they aren’t just picking the best dancers, but casting the show. So it’s always interesting to see who they pick and why? I feel that after watching the show for a few years when it comes down the final night I am rarely surprised because they are looking for various types of dancers - so I think I predicted pretty well who was in and who wasn't. Not always the best dancers, but who the judges feel are the best dancers for the show. Often that’s a big difference!


So here we go….(I hope you guys appreciate my commitment to this -the Pens games was on and I knew I needed to fulfill my duty to the Sisterhood. But thankfully the score was the same before and after the show -so it's all good! Go Pens!)...my thoughts (rarely in complete sentence form) and recap of tonight's episode.

Janette…latin ballroom who auditioned in Miama and did the cool jump split flip. She’s the first one in!

Diana –Brought a monkey with her. Haven’t seen much of her…it’s a no. Lil'C says to own it and say “I wasn’t good enough”. Rough.

Vitolio – Haitain, have we seen him before? Some back story, In an orphanage…on his own since 15. Untrained, danced in the street…He’s in! His personality stood out the production team -

A bunch of no’s…many nameless…so glad they have Cat to comfort them.

Kayla – We saw her audition in Denver. Her grandparents supported her and were really cute.…don’t remember much of her in Vegas
Mia likes her...and she’s in!

I just told Matt that the naughty ballerina is still there and he laughed!

Kupono – Hawaiian – reminds us of Mark! I think he’d be good in the top 20. What do the judges think? Yay – he’s in, despite early criticism (I thought his earlier hair was cool, but the new look really changes his whole look, I think for the better)

All yes's (again totally making up the spelling and not taking the time to check)
Paris Toerre
Jeanine Mason
Ade
Karla Garcia
Johnathan P.

Brandon? Mia just dislikes him so much. Wow, she’s letting him have it! Debbie is sticking up for him. Wow, it’s almost a fight between the judges. GO Mary! He’s in…..and he brought it back to Mia pretty good! What is up with that? Anyone else see what Mia sees in his personality (or doesn't see in his dancing)? I think he just doesn't seem as loud or extroverted as the others. Not funny or goofy - just good. I like his nice smile.

The brothers are coming and I’m dreading it. Ugh.

Tony B is up. Reminds me of Ivan from season 2. He’s in and shocked! He’s one of those out on a limb dancers – in there for the growth!

Max ballroom. He’s in
Caitlin (sister) in – b/c she’s a cute blonde? Still bitter about Natalie.
Melissa – naughty ballerina . She looks fun.
Jason Glover – he’s in, hasn't had much air time, but I can tell he's a good looking guy from what little I've seen.
Ashely Ballerio – 4th time auditioning. She’s in. Can’t wait to tell mom!
Randy Evans – horrible outfit. Matt may have uttered the words "Camel Toe". I can't believe I just typed that. Her love of the unitard is talked about. And.....she’s in. A lot of blondes in this year. Or is it just me?

Alex Wong – seems awesome for what little we’ve seen of him. Similar in styles to others though. Contract with Miami Ballet Company – won’t let him go. Wow – didn’t see that coming. Wow – how did that happen? Did he not think to ask before he went? I'm surprise the Ballet Co. wouldn't let him go, but when you see the beating these dancers go through I'm sure they are just protecting him.

3 spots left.
Philip is next…which means for sure both brothers won’t make it. I like Phil, but not as much as the brother duo. But they still need someone like him – he’s for sure in. And I’m right!

Why do they do this to the brothers. They don't need to narrow it down to the two of them. I for one would like to see both of them in. I think it would add and interesting dynamic. Why….it just seems so cruel and heartless (Kanye, Kris!)? I don’t like feeling like my emotions are being toyed with. Hmmm...perhaps I am a bit too invested in this show? Nahhh....never!

Final two girls
Asuka and Dena – Asuka was my pick to go through - she seems to have a great personality to go with her dance ability. Such an awkward moment, so hard to be happy when the person next to you is devastated.

Final two boys
Evan and Ryan - both are in tears as they process that one of them is through and the other isn't. Seriously this bring me to tears. Especially listening to Evan talk about why he was often counted out as a dancer, too short, too bald - I think he would have been neat on the show and would have been a good support for the younger dancers. But as it turns out, the big brother got his little brother through. I said this earlier that I liked Ryan last year and was pulling for him to make it. But Evan's personality and creativity had me wishing that this was his time. Being older maybe he won't have another chance.

So that's it - I'm thankful this was only one hour long. Looking forward to next week when we really get to know the dancers and actually see them dance!

What do you think of the top 20? Happy? Sad? Mad? Don't care because you know we'll fall in love with them in a few weeks and think it's the greatest season ever? You have all week to discuss! See you next Wednesday!

Vegas Week

It's my turn to take over the Sisterhood of the Traveling Dance! Wahoo!

We're finally past the auditions and getting closer and closer to the main competition. I am going to try and get a post up tonight and tomorrow, since there's a lot going on.

Vegas week is crazy because we've had all these audititions and seen all these dancers, some who've made an impression on us and many we've never seen at all.

172 dancers show up and they begin dropping like flies.


Throughout this whole episode I kind of just wrote down my thoughts- I guarantee you that I will not spell the names correctly and will probably not always have complete sentences...it's a very basic recap with my thoughts throughout....not at all polished or pretty!

We start off with everyone doing solos and a few are highlighted. (Alex Wong, amazing, Tony Bellisimo, had a clever trick with Nigel's picture in a briefcase, on a newspaper, etc). Many seem pretty amazing but Nigel says that overall he doesn't think they're very good and starts cutting people right away. Can you even imagine!?

Some people who had gotten some earlier air time are Chimizee, football coach's son, the widow…45 are cut at this point.

So now the remaining dancers have to prove that they can learn choreography in styles other than their own. Starting with.....

Hip Hop with Nab/Tab

Gabby – (quirky, unique audition - everyone loved her initially) stunk, but got to stay

Mary looking weird – botox? (that's just what I wrote down...I'll have to go back and check it out again)

Hmm...I didn't have much to say about hip hop.

Day 1 ends and they are down to 96

Day 2 starts with...
Ballroom with Jean Marc

Philip Chebeeb, trying so hard…at least doing it. He's staying!
Ariel Coco (Philip's audition partner) looks good to me – got cut, shows what I know!
Nabuya Nagahama (someone wanna look that up, see if I'm even close), a goofball breaker/popper – The judges were impressed, did good. Cried, thanked his teachers...so sweet!

16 more going home - buh bye!

Next up...
Jazz with Sonya
Natalie and Brandon are showcased because they are picking up the choreography so well.

After performing Natalie is called forward, I'm nervous because the judges didn't seem to happy with her. Oh no….please don’t cut Natalie….what!!!!!! Why on earth did they cut her? So annoyed. This poor girl can’t catch a break! One of the things that has always bothered me is that they seem to cut some dancers a ton of breaks (Gabby) and Natalie doesn't do as incredible as they expect and she's gone. I'm mad. Must be a ton of talents contemporary dancers outh there for them to get rid of her so quickly. All the dancers are shocked as well.


Brandon – Mia and Lil C don’t like him. Nigel does. He's staying, but it's never good when Mia doesn't like you.

Gabby – Better go home b/c she stunk it up…why does she get to dance and not Natalie, I’m a bit bitter can you tell. I like her, but it seems like there are double standards.

Sammy Ramirez – popper with the great smile and cool hair, goodbye with barely a glance…

At the end of the day the dancers are told that they have the night to choreograph a group dance to perform the next morning. I tend to think this is a bit rough - these kids have to just be exhausted at this point.

Day 3

Group Dance

Erik/Silky, tapper…his group is not meshing well the night before, they go to bed and hope for the best. They perform and it seems a bit random. The judges don't like it...and most of the group is cut, but Silky gets a chance to dance for his life.



So far the group numbers look painful.

Brandon’s group is up and they do a decent job, but Brandon is still not winning everyone over…

Some guy Jason gets some big compliments! Will we be seeing him in the top 20?

Whoopie cushion brother Evan is part of this one, we haven't seen much of him in Vegas. They are called Nerdography!!! Love it! The judges love it too. Adam Shankman even gets teared up which leads to one of my favorite lines of the night when he says to Nigel "don’t you make fun of me you English bastard! "

68 moving on

Silky, danced for his life, but it wasn't enough, he's going home

Now on to the one that is often the biggest struggle

Contemporary with Mia

Tony Bellisimo – still in there…not bad to me, for an untrained hip hopper…the judges say he is dancing for his life, but with a twist - he gets to repeat the choreography with a new group.

Nabuya – going home, but with a positive attitude.

Sisters Megan and Kaitlyn are still together – one will get cut for sure!
Megan – seems off from everyone else…but they liked her…
Kaitlyn – I think she's pretty good, stood out more than her sister, but of course the judges aren't as thrilled. She must dance for her life…now. Great solo. Squeaks through to the next round.

Evan and Ryan – I like them both…which means one will get cut
Ryan – going through!
Evan – going through!
Love them! So happy to be wrong!

Philip Shibeeb (I have no clue how to spell his last name - just trying all different ways!)– going through? Looks like it...

Go Tony – aw –he’s crying. Debbie Allen says he let them down. But he's going through! Now he's really crying!

I haven't said how much I love these judges. But I do. Especially in comparison to the American Idol judges - these judges seem much more connected to the process and helping the dancers grow. I love how emotional some of them get. I'm really liking Shankman this year!

13 more cut
54 left.
(It's getting late, this will get less and less coherent (is that possible) as I go on)
Next/Last Day
Girls and Guys routines.

Broadway with Tyce – hope he’s not a jerk!

West Side Story routine...girls go first

Bianca tapper gets cut here.
All the Megan’s are getting cut, Gabby, Priscilla, sister Megan

It seems like all the girls who've been given air time are getting cut. 16 left, 6 more will be cut to make up the top ten girls. I really don't know that many who are left and don't feel too strongly (at this point) about who gets in. I remember last year I was super annoyed that the Miami Latin dancer made it in and hope there is no one like that this year.

Now the guys are up and webriefly get to see Evan, Ryan and Brandon
There are more guys in there that I am pulling for at this point.
Now we are down to the final 16 guys and it includes all the ones I'm hoping make it.
Based on the previews the last guys spot will come down to the two brothers. How annoying is that? I really hope they both can make it, but from the looks of it the producers are setting it up for an emotional final moment. Any thoughts on who will make it through.

So that's it. I should go back and spell check and make sure a little bit of sense was made, but I'm not!

Enjoy enjoy, let me know what you think and if any of your fav's got cut and who you're pulling for tomorrow night!