Very Strange

Okay, first let me say that I know it's a little late but I've added a quick poll on the right hand side of my blog and I would love your input.  It closes tonight before AI results show is on.

Well, I just finished watching Idol from last night (yes, I know, a little late) and what was up with Paula?  

Basically, as I'm sure everyone would agree, the contestants improved greatly on their second songs over their first.  I do find it weird to hear Neil Diamond songs with as much vibrato as David A. puts into them, but hey, that's just me.  I definitely see Syesha and David A. doing Broadway stuff and being great at it in the future.  I'm not really sure what type of songs David A. would release if he were to release a record.  Adult Contemporary maybe?  Brooke's first songs was a little spastic I felt like and was much calmer the second go around.  Of course, I loved David Cook's performances (especially the second) and definitely feel he could release the second song as his own and it would be a hit (be surprise).  I did feel badly for Jason Castro during his second song because I felt like Paula's weird comments would fluster anyone.  I mean already giving him a bad critique before he's even performed?  What's up with that?  Personally, I feel Jason Castro should be the one to go home, but I've been wrong frequently lately so who knows.

Brooke White

As most of you know, Brooke White is one of my favorite contestants on AI and I always hope she does well on the show week after week.  Well, since I'm writing about AI on my blog, I've gone to the official website and read the bios of all of the contestants.  One thing that I noticed about Brooke is that one of the routines she does before she performs is she prays.  Another statement she made that I was impressed with was when Dolly Parton was on the show and she was singing about Jesus.  Brooke seemed very touched by the experience of the whole show that night and one thing she mentioned was about how Dolly sang about Jesus.  So, I did a little research on the Internet yesterday and did a search on yahoo and put in "Brooke White" & Christian.  Well, I must say I was quite surprised to find out she is a Mormom.  I'm not sure why I was so surprised because from what I know about Mormons (not the polygamy kind) they live a very "moral" life as well.  Anyway, my lesson of the days is that just because someone is nice and "seems" like a Christian, doesn't necessarily mean they are one. Sometimes we can assume someone is a Christian but little do we know we have a great witnessing opportunity in front of us.

Wow, I was surprised.

I am honestly stunned, yet again.  I am getting really bad at this prediction thing for American Idol.  I totally am flabbergasted that Jason and Brooke were not in the bottom two.  I'm wondering if Carley's choice of song had something to do with it.  I believe she did a great job with the song, but I don't know about you, but I don't know much about the show "Jesus Christ Superstar" and I'm not sure if the show makes fun of our Lord and Savior or if it's good or what.  If any of you can enlighten me I would appreciate it.  So, I'm wondering if there were a lot of people in the same boat as I and for that reason did not vote for Carley due to the lyrics of the song.  I don't know, something to think about I guess.  

My vote is for David Cook yet again

In my humble opinion, I believe David Cook did a bang up job and I really feel that he's the one to beat.  It doesn't hurt that I absolutely love "Phantom of the Opera" and in particular the "Music of the Night" song.  I had the opportunity to see the traveling Phantom Broadway show when it came to Tulsa in college and it was such a fabulous experience.  

Now, unfortunately it's time to talk about Brooke.  I want her to do well so bad but I just feel like she is struggling and hanging on by her fingernails.  I believe either she or Jason Castro will go home this week.  As much as I wish it would be Syesha, I don't think that will be the case.  She definitely held her own tonight.  I also thought Carley did great job and has secured her spot for another week.  David A. sounded, of course, like he always does.

I apologize for the lack of posting in the last couple of days but I'm holding the fort down this week.  Alli and her cousin Will spent the night with Grammy last night so that was such a big help but tonight it was back to reality.  The hardest part for me when I go solo is getting both of the girls to bed.  But, we survived and they were both asleep by 9:20 p.m. which wasn't too bad but could have been better.

Have a good night!

Kristy Lee's Departure

I must admit that I was quite surprised that Kristy Lee left AI tonight.  I actually thought she did a good job on her song last night and I really thought Carly would be the one packing her bags tonight.  Goes to show that my predictions are getting worse as the season winds down.  Carly wasn't even in the bottom three!  I also thought it was very clever how Kristy Lee incorporated Simon in her last song.  It's too bad she didn't do that last night (but I'm not sure if they're allowed to change the words)!!

A Sign that I have one sensitive 6 year old Girl

Okay, I just have to share this little story.  I don't know how many of you have seen the "High School Musical" movies but my girls absolutely love them.  So, I got them the soundtracks from both of the movies to listen to in the car.  (Plus, they are much better to listen to than Barney all of the time, if you catch my drift).  Anyway, as we were listening to Gabriella sign, "Gotta Go My Own Way" Meredith says, "I don't like this song because it makes me cry."  I was like, "What?"  So, she repeated her statement and said something about Gabriella is sad during this song.  UGH.  She is six years old!!  Have I mentioned that I can't even take her to a Strawberry Shortcake movie because there's a villian in it that's scary?  My two girls are so opposite which is fun at times, and trying at others.  

David Cook's Night to Shine

If you didn't watch last night, it was Mariah Carey night.  Personally, I thought the contestants did much better with her songs than last week, surprisingly enough.  Here's a rundown:

David Archeletta:  Typical good job but sounds like every other song he sings.

Syesha:  I enjoyed her song Vanishing and had not heard Mariah's version so that helped as well.  I thought it was a great improvement but she still bugs me for some reason.  I just get a "diva" feel from her.

Brooke:  I really liked her "unplugged" version but I could tell she was struggling in the middle with the piano playing and singing at the same time.  I actually voted for her because I feel like she may be at risk and I like her.

Carley:  Ugh.  I want her to do so well and I know she can but she just didn't "let loose" on the song last night.  I have a bad feeling she may be hitting the road tonight.

Kristy Lee Cook:  I really thought she did a great job. It's unfortunate she didn't step up her game earlier on because now I think the judges are against her and want her to be voted off.  I feel they are really hesitant to hand out complements to her because they want her off the show.

David Cook:  Rocked the house.  I couldn't believe what he did with Mariah's "Baby" song.  If it was released today, it would definitely be a hit and I would buy it!

Jason Castro:  I really enjoyed his performance and I think he did enough to stay on another week.  However, I feel he may be going home in the next couple of weeks because his songs also sound quite a bit a like week after week.

I hope I didn't forget anyone.  We'll see tonight!!

Mother's Day Out trip to Chuck E. Cheese's & Alli's con

I'm sure as you've figured out from the title that Alli and her class went to Chuck E. Cheese's on Wednesday.  She was quite excited about the trip and for once it was absolutely no trouble getting her to go to "school" that day.  After I picked her up that day she said she had a great time and that was about it.  However, when I took the girls to church later that night while I had choir practice the MDO director, Linda, told me the traumatic story of their adventure.  Apparently Alli and a little boy in her class were following Chuck E. (which I'm sure he loved) and he then went into his dressing room.  The little boy then opened the door to his dressing room (without knocking, I'm sure) and there was Chuck E. without a head.  Alli then screamed, "Chuck E. broke his neck off!"  Linda said she had a worried look on her face.  So, being the good person she is, Linda asked the manager if Chuck E. could come back out with his head on so the kids would know his okay.  He complied and Alli then said, "Chuck E.'s okay!" and she was relieved.  Later that night, before bed, I asked her if she thought someone was just dressed up as Chuck E. and she quickly said no and there is just a big hold when he breaks his neck off.  She then tried to "break" her neck off to no avail and I explained that people cannot do such feats without blood, etc. and she seemed satisfied.  It's funny that I would assume they would realize that someone is dressed up in that costume but I guess not.  Meredith is completely terrified by Chuck E. and I still haven't figured out why.  Alli also told me that she and her buddies got in trouble by getting on the stage with Chuck E.  What can you do?

Oh yeah, I have one more story about my dear Alli.  Yesterday the girls had completely destroyed their rooms and I threatened them with no tv, outside, etc. (the usual threats) and I go in Alli's room a little later and Meredith is cleaning it up.  I asked her what she was doing and she said that Alli suggested that she clean Meredith's room and Meredith clean her room.  So, big surprise, Meredith was hard at work and Alli was playing.  I told Meredith to stop cleaning Alli's room and asked her if she really thought Alli would clean her room.  She said no and I said go clean your own room.  Why is it my three year old is conning my 6 year old???

What just happened?

I am truly stunned.  I cannot believe that Michael Johns was voted out tonight.  Now maybe it wasn't the strongest performance of the night but it was certainly not the weakest.  I was really surprised that Brooke was the first one called out on the stage and I'm assuming that means she had the most votes.  That really bodes well for her to make it to the finals.  For some reason, I was really ready for Syesha to go home and was irritated that she didn't and Michael Johns did but I guess I'll get over it.

American Idol - 4/08/08

Another night of American Idol has come and gone.  To be quite honest, I wasn't totally impressed with any of the contestants last night.  However, my vote did go to Jason Castro because I probably enjoyed his "Over the Rainbow" song the best of all of them.  I did not enjoy Syesha talking back to Randy and, like last week, wonder what she was thinking by picking that song.  She picks songs that are totally impossible to do as well as the original performer.  I thought she did do a fine job on Fantasia's song but that song was special to Fantasia and cannot be duplicated, much like Whitney Houston's song.  It's unfortunate she picks songs like she does because she probably has one of the more powerful voices but her ego gets the best of her.  Also, unfortunately, I was unimpressed by Carley's performance of the Queen song.  I really felt like she was angry during the song and kind of lost control of it.  Brooke's song was also kind of ho hum but that song is designed that way.  I thought she could have also had a better song choice.  I thought David Cook's performance was weird and I agreed with Simon that it was a little "pompous."  I kind of felt like the whole writing on his hand thing at the end of the song was just meant to get more votes rather than from the heart.  I also felt like he was convicted of a crime since he just kept singing "We are Innocent."  Okay, lastly, my prediction is that Syesha will go home due to simply her attitude.  However, Carley and Brooke may be down in the lower tier as well.  I guess we'll see tonight!

Little Girl Singing Lord's Prayer

My friend Melissa e-mailed me the link to this video of a little girl singing the Lord's prayer and I thought it was too cute to pass up.  So enjoy!

Oklahoma Fun

Me and the family headed over to Broken Arrow again this weekend.  We just went over Saturday and came back this afternoon.  The main purpose of this trip was to celebrate the wedding of Casie and Aaron.  Casie is my brother's wife's sister (Carrie's sister if you're familiar with her).   Meredith was supposed to have a soccer game on Saturday morning and we were supposed to head over after her game but the game was cancelled due to muddy fields from the extreme amounts of rain that we've received lately.  

Oh yeah, speaking of soccer, Meredith did start her third season of soccer this week and had a game on Thursday night before the rain moved in.  Meredith's team played her friend Allison's team and got beat pretty good.  Meredith did score the only goal of her team which was pretty neat for her.  Meredith's age still plays with the boys so we need to work on getting a little more aggressive.  (Corrie, do you have any advice??)  Anyway, we always have fun during soccer season, win or lose, and this season I'm sure will be no different.

Okay, back to our trip to BA.  As most of you know, my mom's dad, my Papa, died last April so my parents and grandmother are in the process of moving all of the stuff out of Grandma & Papa's house since my grandmother has moved in with my parents and are supposed to sell and close on the house on Friday.  Well, one of the items somebody gave my grandfather was a little motorized chair (I call them jazzy's) and my dad brought it over to their house because he thought the girls would have fun on it.  Boy, did they ever!  We looked so goofy riding up and down the driveway on that crazy chair but the girls loved it and Alli only had one minor wreck. Quite humorous.

We all had a great time at the wedding as well Saturday night and the girls were well behaved during the service.  I was a little nervous about Alli but they are such girlie girls that they loved watching a "bride".  Carlee and Cydnee, my  nieces, were the flower girls and they were so cute. 

Carlee is 3 and Cydnee just turned 2.  Carlee made it down the aisle without a hitch but as Cydnee was walking down the aisle she found Alli and Meredith and stopped to visit for a little while.  She finally headed on down to where she was supposed to be.  Once Cydnee made it to the front, Carlee returned back down the aisle to retrieve the flowers that they had dropped. too cute.  I have included pics of my brother, sis-in-law, sister Staci and her boyfriend Jake, nieces and the bride and groom.

Happy Birthday Will!!

We had a big time tonight celebrating my nephew, Will's, 5th birthday.  The party was at a hotel here in town with an indoor pool so the kids got to swim which was great fun for them all. Cousin Sarah was there to help with the kiddos in the pool so we didn't even have to get in.  (I love not getting into a swimsuit).

Becky, Michael's sister, made Will a neat chocolate cake with farm equipment on top which was right up Will's alley and delicious too.  Here are some cute pics of the kids.

American Idol Countdown

Okay, so I didn't really vote for Brooke this last episode but I thought this was a neat little widget on the AI website with the countdown to the next episode and I do like Brooke the best as a person overall.

Get this widget!

Adios Ramiele

I predicted it right this time.  It was time for Ramiele to go and I definitely believe she had the weakest performance last night so it was a good decision.  I hope everyone enjoyed Dolly telling Simon that she had Jesus and Ryan has Simon.  I thought that was pretty funny and well deserving!

Oh yes, I have finally updated our family picture on the right side of the screen.  Our church took family pictures on Easter and it actually turned out pretty good.  I haven't figured out the airbrushing techniques that magazines use to make me look thinner yet.  I'm sure you all have noticed that Alli is no longer a baby in in this picture.  

4-1-08 American Idol

I must say that I did enjoy the songs from Dolly Pardon night.  She just seems so personable and has done so many good things and written so many great songs, it's always fun watching her.  As far as the competitor, my vote went to Michael Johns, the last performer of the evening.  I just really enjoyed his performance and thought he really showed his skill and talent level.  Of course,  also like David Cook and Carly's performance as well.  I always feel sorry for the person that has to go first and unfortunately tonight it was Brooke's turn.  I did think she did a good job and I felt she and the other musicians meshed well together, unlike Simon.  I think, hopefully, she's popular enough it won't be an issue and "Jolene" is always a great song to hear.  I also thought Kristy Cook did a great job on her song as well and she looked very nice.  This genre was right up her alley as Randy had mentioned.  As far as those I think that are at risk for departure would be Ramielle (weird song choice) and possibly even Syesha.  If I were to pick it would be Ramiele's turn to leave.  I just think she acts young, which of course she is but she doesn't have the maturity that David Archeleta has.  Oh yeah, I had a feeling that Simon would not like Jason Castro's song just because "Jesus" was a main them throughout and religion doesn't seem to be something Simon embraces in songs.  However, I thought Jason did a fine job and felt he really put his heart into his performance.  Okay, that's enough from me boring you about my takes from the show.  I didn't even bother to use different paragraphs.