Monday, November 26, 2012

Dance Moms at Studio K?!

Oh yeah. It's true. Saturday, Nov 25...Paige, Kelly and Brooke Hyland from Lifetime TV's hit show DANCE MOMS came to my studio, Studio K. They brought along Brittany Pent (Brandon from the show's sister!) and held two master classes as well as did two meet and greets.

It was amazing.

First of all, Kelly Hyland is so down to earth, sweet, kind, caring and a wonderful mother to her girls! She was so grateful to me for hosting them (excuse me?!? haha!) and gracious to all the fans. She answered a thousand questions, posed for hundreds of pictures...it was amazing. She even spent time chatting with Rory and tucked a note Rory wrote her (a scribble on a piece of Doc McStuffins paper) in to her purse.

The girls were super sweet. They were SO TINY. Neither of them are 5 feet tall and then are so skinny. Paige has abs for days and Brooke's shoulders and arms are insane. They are gorgeous dancers. I felt privileged to have them dancing and tumbling in my studio, let alone grouped with  my students. (And Britt Pent...when you win your first Tony, I'll be yanking the pictures out and saying I knew her when! :))

 
The girls were so polite, so sweet and hilarious. They picked on each other like every other set of sisters. They signed countless autographs, answered nervous questions and tried so hard to make the kids feel at ease. They are very mature, very astute and professional young ladies. Kelly and her husband are raising two wonderful girls in a crazy circumstance!


 
Some funny moments from the day...
 
Watching half my elite team thunder down the stairs, out in to the snow, in leos, tights and jazz shoes when they saw their car pull in to the parking lot. HILARIOUS. Totally fan girling! :)
 
At one point during the day, there was a q&a session with the kids who took the classes and the Hylands. Rory raises her hand to ask a question and when it's her turn she asks...
 
What happens if you POOK (Rory's way to say puke) in school?
 
Cue hysterical laughter...and instant mom embarrassment for me! Thankfully, Kelly is a mom and knows how 3 year olds can be. She cracked up and graciously answered Rory "Well honey, they'll send you home!"
 
Omg. I'm mortified again just retyping the story.
 
 
Brooke and me! Excuse my puffy face and tiny eyes...it was a LONG day. I got over 225 phone calls in the 36 hours leading up to the event. Aiyaya.
 
 
 
My favorite piture of the day...sweet Paigey and my Rosie! I could just scoop Paige up. She is a such a wonderful little girl. I can't imagine what posesses crazy Abby to scream and degrade her so much...but that's another post for another day. This picture is when Paige desperately wanted a pic with Rory. Paige thought Rory was just hilarious and adorable all day. Well at the end, Paige wanted a pic with her...and Rory was not having it. Paige was bribing her with chocolate, pepperoni...anything! It was awesome. Finally she just scooped her up and Rory was KICKING HER. hahaha omg. All I could think of was Rory is going to bruise her, she'll go to pyramid this week (they are filming right now!!) and Abby will be yelling at her "Why are you all bruised?!" and then Rory's tantrum will be talked about on reality tv. ;o) Thankfully, no Dance Moms girls were injured in the taking of the above pic. :)
 
It was, in all honesty, the second best day of my Studio K career so far. (Second only to Disney Day, of course :)) We are already planning to have them back in the spring/summer. They are so special and I'm grateful I got to share this time with the Hyland family and my students! Wonderful day, wonderful energy and a wonderful family!



Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Oh hi there.

Hi. Remember when I used to faithfully blog? At least four times a week?

Oops.

Welcome to my real life.

This season in my life is stressful. I've really been doing pretty darn bad lately. Time to be honest.

 Trace has been sick with one tiny thing after another all fall. Colds, allergies, pink eye and now as of yesterday a sinus infection. Nothing major, just tiny bumps in the road of life BUT. When he is barely 2...it's rough. Lack of sleep, weird schedules and so many Dr. appointments. Yuck.

Rory had the whole hairball saga of 2012. Thank God, it turned out to be nothing but a small infection but still. It was brutal. It did a number on my emotional health. Lately she's really ben embracing her three year old attitude. (Ahem) Almost every school morning, she gets in a fight with me about something...clothes, shoes, coat, backpack. This morning she refused to wear her coat. So I said fine. Go out to the car without it on and see how it feels.

Needless to say, it was 41 degrees this morning. She put her coat on before she even made it off the porch. Mom: 1 Rory: 0. She's gotta learn and I figured a little "experiential learning" would do wonderes in this case.

I'm in the middle of ordering $16,000 worth of costumes and another $2000 of tights. To say it is intimidating is an understatment. It's the worst part of my job. Add in a student choreography concert, a visit from Brooke, Paige and Kelly Hyland from Dance Moms on Sunday, competition rehearsals, Saturday morning acro, the holidays...

Man it's been tough.

That's the thing about depression. All these little things pile up in my mind and I can not shut it off. Anxiety takes over some days. I'll be able to do nothing but lay in bed for a while. Some coffee,, some light tv (Duck Dynasty anyone?? :)) and a nap. Deep breaths. Prayer. Music. Comfy sweats. Time to myself...

Anxiety and depression never just go away when it is a legitimate chemical imbalance. They come in waves, highs and lows. I know that this season in my life is a low and that's okay. I'm working on turning this in to a high. I'll get there. I'll swing back up. I'll recoup. But not today.

And that is okay.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Talking Politics.

I love politics. I love being educated on issues and having intelligent debates. I am a business woman, a mother, a Christian, a fiscal conservative, pro-gay equality, undecided on a lot of issues Republican. I'm a happy hodge podge, which is certainly how I hope most Americans are.

I had an interesting discussion with one of my students last night. She is a very intelligent, well informed 15 year old. Her parents have raised her very well. She's knowledgable and is one of few high schoolers I've ever met that has formed their own opinions, based not on parents or what's cool, but what she really honestly believes. She was telling me how she has already decided that she's going to register one of the two major parties so she can vote in primaries but isn't going to hold herself to her party when it comes to the final presidential election each time.

To this young girl's parents...I give you a standing ovation.

Too often, way too often, I see my students voicing the popular opinion or regurgitating what they hear at home or from teachers without being able to give any reasons they feel that way or believe in that side of an issue. That doesn't fly with me.

It's unfair to "raise your children Republican" or "raise your children Democrat."

There's an episode of 7th Heaven that I think of all the time. Lucy Camden is curious about religion and interested in exploring different religions, even though her father is a protestant minister. Rev. Camden indluges Lucy in this quest. He gives her books to read, information and answers any questions she has to the best of his knowledge. He is open, even though I'm sure if he was a real person going through this with  real daughter, it'd be eating him up inside. ;)

The point I'm tryin to make is this. Do I hope my kiddos grow up and have similar views and opinions as I do? Of course. What parent wouldn't want that? But what I'm not going to do is say that "WE believe this..." and "WE believe that..." I'm pledging to say "I believe in fiscal responsibility especially pertaining to the national debt and small business owners" or "I believe in the death penalty" and then I'll follow up with my reasons and ask my kids what they think, what questions they have, what opinions they want to form. I want my children to be well educated on all sides of issues. I want them to explore, research and question. Nothing ever gets changed if we just follow blindly in the footsteps of those before us. We must question. We must explore. We must seek change where we believe change is necessary.

Our country was founded because religious pilgrims in England dared to form their own opinions and seek answers in a new land. Imagine if those people had just stayed the course of their parents, walking in the path worn down by so many others. It's imperative to ask questions, seek answers from all sorts of people and allow your opinions to be different from those around you.

I will accompany my children to the voting booth when it is time for their first elections. I will stand proudly by as they select the candidate they honestly believe will be the best for each position...city, state or federal. I will teach them to respect the President and all elected officials, until they do something criminal that tarnishes that respect. Criminal, not just something we don't like or necessarily agree with. Like it or not, elected officials get elected because people voted them in to office. There's no question in this election who earned the title of President. (And thankfully so. Regardless of whom you vote for, it's always better to have it be a clear cut win or loss then a nail biter.)

I hope my children grow up in an atmosphere of questioning, curiosity and information. I hope they read the papers, digest the information and allow their opinions to change as they grow and change. I know mine certainly have...4 years ago voting, my personl "hot button issues" were totally different than my current issues. I've grown, I've change and I allowed my views to grow and change along with me. I vote for the person I honestly believe will do best...and that's the best anyone can do.