Polar Plunge 2014

Cinderella has a Polar Plunge team every year and this year Etta wanted to participate.  She understood that she was going to raise money for kids to participate in the Special Olympics but I think that's about it.  But I did explain she will be raising the money by jumping in a cold pool.  She didn't seem too worried.

I want to thank all of our family and friends who supported Etta (my mom, grandma, Eric's brother, and aunt and uncle).  She raised her goal of $125 which pays for one Olympian to compete.  Plus she got an Adult Small (about three times her size) sweater and a free lunch.  She is very proud of that sweater.  After registering she got to meet Miss Nevada. 

Etta with Miss Nevada

 I even talked a friend of Etta's from gymnastics to participate as well.  She's done one before where they actually had to cut ice out to get into the water.  Needless to say our Polar Plunge was more like a spring plunge since it was in the high 70's.  I wish I had brought my swimsuit too!

Etta with her friend Claire

It was so nice the Cinderella team was in the water at least an hour before the plunge.  Of course this water wasn't as cold as the main pool but the kids had fun splashing around for an hour.

Testing out the water before the Plunge

 Here is the team before the Parade.  Oops missing a team member.

The Cinderella Cold Water Crowns

Etta promised to do a belly flop into the pool to earn her last $25.  I think she forgot about it when she had to stand poolside for 5 minutes until the clock struck noon.  As you can tell, she did not belly flop!  She swam across the pool and when she got out I made her belly flop in which was not recorded.  Claire's mom was recording while sitting pool side.  Of course when everyone jumped in the water sloshed over the side getting her wet, hence the shaking video camera.

She is now telling me she does not want to do that again next year since the pool was too cold.  Hmmm, wonder if she'd sign up to raise money but be a 'chicken' and not jump in?  The highlight of her day was when we won a raffle.  She considers it hers since I let her put 10 tickets into whichever prize she wanted to win.  Of course this was one of them.  Looks like we are going to see the dolphins at the Mirage, paint some pottery, and eat some sandwiches now.

Etta and her raffle prize

I love that Etta is getting active in the community and learning to be a good citizen.  Now if I can only talk Chloe into doing it too!

Clark County Cinderella Pageant

Etta had a local Cinderella pageant this past weekend.  What made this pageant really special is that her best friend from first grade came to cheer her on.  After taking pictures with my cell phone I realize my phone takes really crappy pictures but I just don't have the patience to carry around my nice Nikon.
Etta loves to interview but I heard she was pretty fidgety while sitting through interview.  Good to know so we can work on that.

Just before interview with judges

 All my pictures of casual wear and party dress were too blurry to add to the blog so I'm going to skip right to her talent routine.  She changed her old routine a little to add a couple of new skills.  She bobbled on a few things and she ended a little early (she always rushes when she's nervous) but over all it showed what she can do.

She didn't win the Overall Mini Miss title but she did win the Talent title.  One of the judges came up to ask where she takes contortion and mentioned Etta was her first choice pick which really made Etta happy.

 Here are the contestants, State, and Local title holders.

The little girl in leopard print won the tot Overall Title and I helped her prepare for the pageant the two weeks before hand.  She's so full of personality and super cute.

Kiera, super excited about her trophy and crown.

Sunday is normally contortion practice but the contortion classes and Kung Fu classes were going to perform at the Chinese New Year Festival just across the street instead.  Etta was excited when she was given a little routine to perform with another girl her age with similar abilities.  They performed twice that day and enjoyed getting up on stage in front of everyone.  Sorry the video is from behind stage.  I would never have made it to the front of the audience in time to video it.

First Cinderella Pageant as a Mini Miss

Etta competed as a Miniature Miss for the first time at a Cinderella pageant.  I possibly gave her some bad advice before the competition and I kick myself now.  I told her not to talk too much in the interview since she likes to talk a lot now!  She ended up winning Beauty which is basically second place and I couldn't have asked her to have done any better (from what I saw).  Her talent was amazing and her modeling was perfect.  Another little girl that had a great dance routine ended up winning the overall title. 
Etta will be helping out and performing again for the Cinderella pageant I'm directing this November 9th at the Texas Station.  Hoping for a good turn out!



2013 Nevada State Cinderella Pageant

It's that time of year again.  Etta has been working hard all year long for the State pageant this year.  She's gone to every preliminary in Las Vegas this year to have practice speaking on stage as well as with the judges behind closed doors.  A lot of prep has gone into this week and she was ready.  The morning after the Cameo pageant was a Getting Acquainted Party with all the girls competing.

Ready to get acquainted with all the tots at state.

 Everyone wears the same dress so they all look the same in the following group picture.

All contestants

After the group picture, we had to get ready for interview.



 

I tried a cute new hairstyle with Etta.  It looked awesome, but the hairspray I used obviously couldn't keep the curl up.  Boo, I need to find something that will hold this look!

 

After all the interviews we had a welcome dinner followed by a bowling party.  Etta and a few other tots got to bowl on the same lane and she had so much fun.  

 

 

After the bowling party we headed back to the ballroom for the Souvenir Party.  During interviews parents put a small gift in a bag for each girl and they each get their bag full or goodies at the end of the party.  They do a lot of dancing like the Disco Cindy, YMCA, and several different group dance songs everyone would recognize from wedding parties.

 

The next morning the girls had to get ready for Tot Personality which I like to call on stage interview.  Here are a few of the girls ready to be on stage with Cinderella.

Oh my, Etta was amazing on stage.  Cinderella asked her about her favorite book and she said which book she likes the most and gave a description of the book.  Cinderella asked about her favorite food and Etta said pumpkin seeds because they are salty and crunchy. Cinderella asked what she wants to be when she grows up and her answer was to be a contortionist for Cirque du Soleil. It was awesome, every question Etta came back with a great answer and a huge smile.  It was probably the best on stage interview I've ever seen from her.  The best part, she was excited after it because she felt she had done a great job.

 

After Tot Personality there was a big Fairy Princess Lunch and Party.  The girls were so cute and they had so much fun.

 

 

That night was the Prince Gilbert Party.  Prince Gilbert is a frog prince that is we only see at the state pageant in his true form, but we seem to always have frogs around during the year.

I love her little frog and lily pad dress, which will now be too small to wear after this year.

The next morning was modeling in a party dress.  Here are several of the girls from the Tot group.

Here is Etta while she modeled.

This is the entire Tot group along with last year's state winner in the middle.

After the party wear modeling the girls had a Cindy Fair Lunch and Party.  Each of last year's State winners had a game the girls could play and win prizes at.  One even had a craft.  It was a lot of fun.  Here Etta is with one of her friends from last year who moved into the Mini Miss group.

 

Following the Cindy Fair the girls modeled in their casual wear.  I had a hard time with her hair since we only had 45 minutes to be back in the ballroom so I left her hair straight.  Hindsight, I wish I had done something different, but she still looked adorable.

That night each contestant had to turn in a garment bag with either their talent clothes or tot personality clothes and their casual wear.  If they end up making the top 5 they have to recompete in those categories.  After dropping off the bag the girls have a Pajama Party.  Here she is all ready to go.

There was a huge game of Twister.  It was funny watching the younger girls not really playing it right, but were having a great time.  They also had a book read to them before the end of the party.

The next morning the girls had a two hour rehearsal for the Grand Finals Production.  After lunch  was the big Grand Finals.  They announce the top 10 and then top 5.  Etta made the top 5 and had to compete again in casual wear followed by tot personality.

The top 5 tots in their casual clothes.

 

Here Etta is being interviewed again by Cinderella.  She was asked about her favorite book again, where she liked to go in Las Vegas (great answer with that question!), and what her mom told her to do on stage (another awesome answer that made everyone giggle and give me a hard time!). Man that was a great interview and she looked so cute too.

 

 Etta was perfect all week long and even when she competed for the Top 5.  We had to have a long discussion about possibly not winning, regardless of how perfect she had been.  Last year she got fifth place and cried on stage.  She was so upset. This year, she was warned she was not allowed to cry regardless of how she placed.  When it was down to 1st alternate and she and one other girl was left I was so worried.  I knew how much she wanted to win but she was announced as 1st Alternate.  I was happy because of how she'd done, regardless of her place.  What made me even happier was she didn't cry and she congratulated all the girls in the Top 5 including the little girl that did win.  The bonus, she didn't cry.  She still asks why she didn't win so we've had some great conversations about subjective versus objective and even compare it to grandma's dog shows.  It's funny how she understood the comparison.  She surely has matured and grown up this past year!

 



Tot Top 5

After dinner there were more awards handed out.  Knowing that Etta had placed second, she would be given one of the other two crowns, either Tot Personality or Beauty, based on where the judges believed she belonged the most.  Here are all the tots receiving trophies and crowns.  There are crowns for Cover Girl (best picture from an advertisement), Congeniality (based on votes by all the tots on which girl was the nicest all week long), Photogenic (head shot from the catalog), Tot Personality (or talent for the other age groups), Beauty, and Overall (which was given during the Grand Finals).



As you can see, Etta was pretty darn excited about the Tot Personality crown.  It's funny to think about the first pageant this year and all the pageants last year because she has struggled a lot with speaking on stage.  She's either frozen in fear or been really quiet and reserved so to see her rock the stage all week long during her interviews sure made me proud.  I think she's pretty happy with how she did too.

These are the Talent winners from each age group. 



 
 
 

Here is Etta being introduced to the audience as the Tot Personality Winner.

 

A very happy Etta.

 

 

Etta has a trophy for 1st Alternate to Overall Tot and one for Tot Personality.



 

When we got back to our room I had wished I took her Cameo crown and sash to the ballroom because it would be have made a beautiful picture with the castle in the background.  So we improvised in our hotel room.  Here she is with her Cameo crown and her Tot Personality crown. 



 

 Next year she will be competing as a Mini Miss and will have to compete one of her talents instead of Tot Personality.  It's going to be a hard jump into the next age group, but regardless Etta will want to do it.  I keep thinking about how much she has grown the last two years doing Cinderella.  I know a lot of you think of me as a pageant mom or think Toddlers and Tiaras when we do pageants but it's so different from that.  She has come out of her shell and actually talks with other kids, adults, and has confidence in front of an audience.  I'm so proud of Etta in so many ways.

Cameo Pageant

The night before the Cinderella State Pageant began there was a Cameo Pageant.  It's basically modeling in a nice dress but with a self introduction in the middle where the girl says her name age and where she is from.  Etta was in the 7-8 year old group and I told her it would be hard since she is one of the younger contestants.  She's been working on her modeling since school got out so I knew she could do it, it's just a matter of her doing it right on stage in front of an audience and several judges.

Etta and Tot friend Savannah before heading into the Ballroom for the Cameo Pageant.

My mom and grandma came into town to watch Chloe for us while Etta and I would be at State but they were able to come with Eric and Chloe to watch the Cameo pageant.  Man, Etta was amazing.  She did everything we've worked on and was AWESOME.  Million mile smile and perfect from first X to last X.  I was so proud of her.  I told her it didn't matter what she placed because she had been perfect.

Modeling her party dress

It was nerve wracking hearing the awards being announced especially then when it got down to the final two (Etta and her good friend Sarah).  Then they announced Etta as the winner.  As you can tell from the pictures below she was a happy girl!

 

 So proud of Etta.

Here are the Nevada State Cameo winners in each age division.  Etta has been working hard all year long for this past week.  It sure started off with a bang when she won Sunday night.  I know several of you want to see State Pageant pictures and want to know how everything went.  I'll have pictures and type all about the past week soon.  I need to catch up on lost sleep from this week.

 



A Busy April

I have been missing in action from my blog.  I've been at a spot where there isn't much to talk about other than the girls and their activities or things going on that most people really wouldn't want to read.  But, I figured I'd come on here and say hi to everyone and do a little catch up.  We've been working on getting everything ready for the upcoming Cinderella State Pageant.  We had the girls get pictures taken together as well as some head shots of Etta for the catalog.  I still haven't figured out which one to use.  We are encouraged to find companies to purchase advertisements on Etta's behalf.  This year Eric and I decided to buy a page to just wish her luck.  If anyone would like to purchase an ad (quarter page, half page, full page, or even a business card) or just want to ad something to our page, let me know.  Here are some of my favorite pictures taken of Etta.  Which is your favorite?

 

For the last month or two Etta and Chloe have both been grumbling about gymnastics.  I told them they both could quit if they wanted.  I put in our two weeks notice two weeks ago.  Of course a week later Etta realized that she would miss it too much and asked if she could keep doing it.  I had to make sure she realized she'd be competing again and her BFF will probably be moving and won't be in class with her after they move.  She's now determined to stay.  I was so close to freedom from the gym but another year of gymnastics is in our future.  Chloe however is done.  She is so excited that she won't be going anymore, which I'm fine with but told her she has to replace it with something else.  We're going to look into horse back riding through Horses 4 Heroes this coming week.  They are both in dance and have their recital June 8th at the Smith Center.  I don't think Etta will be in dance next year but Chloe says she wants to do just tap.  Fall is pretty far away but I hope she keeps with it.  I really want her to find the activity right for her.
Etta is still in contortion and enjoying it.  She can't take an extra class now that she's staying in gymnastics due to scheduling conflicts (of course).  Here are some videos of her practicing yesterday.  I thought it was awesome!

We've got a great week ahead of us.  Both the girls are getting their dance pictures taken Friday and Saturday and can't wait to see how it turns out!  Their costumes are super cute.  That reminds me, I need to take in the straps of Etta's ballet dress.  Better get to work.  Seems like a mom's job is never done.

Vegas Valley Preliminary Pageant

Chloe hasn't done a pageant in over a year and she has asked several times to do another one.  Again I told her I'd only pay for her entry fee if she's practice at home.  I was amazed that she did!  So, she was scheduled to do a pageant Friday evening at Sam's Town Casino while Etta was at gymnastics lessons but Etta has sprained her ankle again.  Etta came along to cheer Chloe on as well as help around the pageant as reigning royalty, which Etta loves!

It's great that Chloe can wear all of Etta's hand me downs from last year.  Here she is getting ready for her closed door interview with the judges.  Her favorite lemur stuffed animal came to keep her company.

 

The tot group just before interviews.

 Cheering on Chloe from the audience.

After interview, modeling in casual wear and party dress, as well as on stage interview (which didn't go so great, might have had something to do with the fact that it was about 8:30 and an hour after her normal bedtime) the girls did the disco Cindy.  I have so much fun watching them dance!

While waiting for the awards, the girls showed some sisterly love.  I have proof that they love each other!

First are optional awards (separate from the overall awards) and Chloe won for prettiest party dress.  Yeah, this is the one Etta wore to state so I knew it was a good one for Chloe to wear.

Then came the tot group and I was surprised she won one of the four awards, Tot Photogenic.  I did turn in an awesome head shot of her so that must have done it!  She was so happy to win a crown, sash, trophy, and stuffed frog!

 Happy Chloe!

Here are all the girls for a group photo.  Etta will do one more score card only pageant next month as practice for State.  Etta wishes State were sooner but it gives her time to become more and more comfortable on stage.  If anyone is wondering if Chloe is going to state, the answer is 'no'.  Etta and Chloe would be against each other and Chloe has a hard enough time spending several hours at a pageant.   Five days would be way too long for her.