tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44429588880003213792024-03-14T04:50:31.558+11:00Stan & Eishaand the kidsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger346125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-45387104058238556562018-09-13T00:12:00.000+10:002018-09-13T00:12:45.857+10:00trick or treating!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-39967470137505232312015-01-13T18:23:00.004+11:002015-01-13T18:23:58.587+11:00Olivia turns 11!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This year Olivia turned 11! She has had a very big year and has been a true inspiration to me and become a great friend as I pick her up from late nights at Les Mis, we get to girl talk and all in all she is such a good girl with a really great heart!</div>
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Birthday breakfast!</div>
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Stan and Olivia during Olivia's disco party- Olivia loves to dance and this year she invited over 50 kids to her b-day party-I eventually had to put a limit!</div>
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Simon, Maddy (Olivias BFF) & Nathaniel</div>
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David</div>
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Ben, Charlie & Cooper</div>
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Isaiah and friends getting ready for the cake!</div>
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Blowing out the candles!-</div>
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Olivia was worried the pet shop (figurine in the middle of the cake) would melt</div>
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Olivia's first slow dance...with her daddy :)</div>
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Happy birthday Olivia we love you so much!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-62460507865031907672015-01-13T18:07:00.000+11:002015-01-13T18:07:01.906+11:00Music update!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Olivia had a really busy July- Dec. It basically boiled down to Les Mis (4 nights/ week for kids- adults do 8 shows a week, so she had an easy schedule), invitations to sing at various functions about once/ fortnight, and then her usual singing competitions. </div>
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Below are some pictures from her competitions. First, 'Fast Track basically it starts with prelims, goes to semi's then finals. Each round is spaced apart by 6 weeks and you have to preform 2 songs each time. There are 4 judges and they pick two kids to go through each time. The Finals are in Feb 2015, Winner gets 10K towards recording time at a studio. Adult winners are in the running to be signed by a recording studio. So we will let you know how she goes during the finals!</div>
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Another competition Olivia participated in are the Eisteddfods. Each town will hold one a year. Last year Olivia traveled around to different towns competing in various events. She went from not placing to honorable mentions to third place and then second place. She never got a first place so this year she was determined to get at least ONE first place. In addition, she would only get one chance at first place because we didn't have time to travel to different towns this year with Les Mis etc... We took a day and drove up to Bendigo.</div>
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We love the Bendigo eisteddfods because they have a huge turn out, the audience is really involved and they are a little bit more lenient when it comes to accompaniments. In some towns you are required to have a pianist, Bendigo will let you have a pianist or a backtracking, which opens up the types of songs you can sing. </div>
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This year Olivia took home 3 first places medals: Musical Theater- she sang Quiet by Matilda the musical, Ballad- she sang clown by Emeli Sande & Contemporary- River deep Mountain High by Tina Turner. She was pretty happy! </div>
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She also was lucky to be invited to sing for a cancer fundraiser with fellow voice contestants Jack Lyall and Belinda Jo. Each kid sang one song and then they did a group number, "One" by U2- glee version. 10K was fund raised for the cause, it was a great night! </div>
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Olivia also sang for her school soiree (no good pictures from this one), its a musical event where kids from the school get to showcase their instruments. She sang for her Churches Stake carnival party, which had an awesome turn out</div>
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And then she got to sing a duet (I am Australian) with Opera singer Paul Bianco and a children's choir from her school at the Palace theater- It was extra special because she had just been given Australian citizenship.</div>
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Miss Mary had her first a piano recital! She has been taking from a lady down the street and I can honestly say I wish she had been my piano teacher when I was a kid- she is so good!</div>
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and a few months later Olivia and Mary played a duet together for Mary's second recital. We were pretty excited to see the girls playing together!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-79253660987044747512015-01-13T17:45:00.005+11:002015-01-13T17:45:57.272+11:00Melbourne Zoo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
With the weather turning from winter into spring, we have taken advantage of the warmer days and gotten out of the house- today we went to the zoo!</div>
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Olivia and a giant pelican!</div>
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Then our favorite- the butterfly exhibit!</div>
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I think Mary got the most butterflies!</div>
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Giraffes!</div>
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Family time!!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-78976346694757691332015-01-13T17:37:00.001+11:002015-01-13T17:37:26.991+11:00Mary turns 9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
My gorgeous Mary is now 9 year old! She is one of my favourites!</div>
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Mary loves cooking and basketball. So we decided to have a cooking party!</div>
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All of her best friends came over, we decorated aprons (the crayon didn't really show up on black :( and then we divided into teams and had each group make something to eat afterwards!</div>
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Pippa & Alara- following the recipe </div>
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mixing!</div>
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Paige (Mary's BFF and bball teammate) and Mary</div>
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Natalie- Mary's other BFF :)</div>
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Tiffany & Millie (also a bballers)</div>
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and the cook-off!</div>
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Chocolate cake vs. muffins vs. cookies!</div>
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waiting for it to bake!</div>
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Decorating and eating time!</div>
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I love the cake!</div>
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Mary blowing out the candles</div>
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and opening presents! </div>
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Mary is such an easy girl and her friends were always the best birthday attendants! </div>
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love kids like these</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-48773998606322733572015-01-13T17:28:00.005+11:002015-01-13T17:40:40.819+11:00Stan's Travels and new hobbies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So the trick to working hard is playing hard right? Stan recently got into cycling around Melbourne. He was training for a race with one of his co-workers, Richard Gosper. Rich's dad is Kevan Gosper (wiki him)- he won a silver in the Olympics in track and is now a member of the international Olympic committee. This awesome association made Stan pedal faster :)</div>
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Another fun thing Stan got to do was go to Barcelona Spain for Bain Manager training! </div>
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He is a lot like his dad and got quite a bit of traveling in in between meetings!</div>
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He had a great time, but was pretty excited to come home and see his family! Miss you always Stan!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-88927220820645130262015-01-10T01:09:00.004+11:002015-01-10T01:20:17.072+11:00Autumn leaves!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Autumn pictures!</div>
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Beautiful trees!</div>
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Playing in the leaves</div>
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Family Pix</div>
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Thanks for the photo bomb Olivia</div>
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Thomas is still picking flowers for me!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-65726332873719088712015-01-09T22:49:00.000+11:002015-01-09T22:49:15.300+11:00Thomas' 6 year old Birthday party!Lately Thomas has been crazy about all things science! He really really really wants to be a scientist when he grows up. In fact, he was getting his blood taken the other day (more on that later) and he asked the lady what happens to his blood later and she said "we take it to the lab..." and then Thomas started yelling " I am going to work in a lab when I grow up, and I am going to be a scientist!!!"<br />
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He tells me every night when I put him to bed that "when he is a scientist, he will make a potion to help me not be a grandma, so I can be his mom forever and not die." This is why I love 6 year olds.</div>
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So there is a guy from our church (Ben Fairbanks) who is an actual scientist. He came to Thomas' birthday and did demonstrations for the kids. Everyone was really excited and Ben did such a fabulous job! Here are some pictures of the party.</div>
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Changing the color of water from clear to red to clear again!</div>
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Making your own Gak</div>
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I love this one of Thomas</div>
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And Elephant foam...you light it on fire-</div>
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Later we had cake and ice cream and blew out the candles!</div>
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6 years old already!!</div>
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Happy Birthday Thomas! We love you!!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-38039251437543372962015-01-09T22:39:00.001+11:002015-01-09T22:39:15.030+11:00Day trips at the farm!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
We recently took a trip to Collingwood Farm. </div>
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I couldn't believe it was just 15 minutes from my house and we had never visited it!</div>
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Petting the goats and sheep</div>
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Olivia and the horses</div>
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Milking the cows!</div>
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Another lovely Saturday!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-11602580640196635582015-01-09T22:32:00.003+11:002015-01-09T22:32:48.569+11:00Mary's basketball season!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So while Olivia has found her passion in singing, Mary has found her passion with basketball. She has been playing on a team now for two years. They train 1-2 times a week and then have a game each week. Mary LOVES it. Her best friends from school are on her team and honestly, she went from dainty and polite to stealing balls, shooting baskets and being a pretty good guard. Here are some pictures of her team!</div>
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This is after their last game. Mary scored 5 baskets and their team (The Lakers) won the game! They weren't in the play offs this season (their team got 2nd place last season and then they got bumped up into a harder division). In the new division, Mary's team struggled to win games again- but by the end of the season they were starting to beat other teams in their division- it was pretty exciting!<br />
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Mary and Paige- BFFs</div>
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Proud daddy and Mary!</div>
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Proud daddy and Mary! Good Job Mary!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-20093139870020209852015-01-09T22:22:00.003+11:002015-01-09T22:22:49.519+11:00Bestest Foundation- Galla Dinner Party!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Sorry it has been so long since I have written, I have been very very busy. Here are a few quick updates of some highlights from the last 6 months-</div>
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First, Olivia was invited to be one of two entertainers at the Bestest Foundations Galla dinner party. The second entertainer was Anya Nissen (Winner of The Voice- adults). Olivia couldn't believe she was asked over other kids (from The Voice-kids) to sing, but we later learned Gina Boon (part of the board of directors) had seen Olivia on TV, when she talked about her friend Millie Flamm (who died of cancer). It was then that Gina decided to have Olivia sing at this event. </div>
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The Bestest organization helps families who have children who are battling terminal illnesses or who are severely disabled, that fall outside the regular catchment of other mainstream non-profits. The stories they shared at the dinner, while soliciting donations, were absolutely heart breaking. Bob Hawke (former prime minister) helped co-found the organization after he finished his political run.</div>
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When they asked Olivia to sing, they offered to donate 2K to Millies Princess Foundation, which was just icing on the cake. The Flamm Family was so grateful! The galla dinner party is held every 18 months. It is hosted up in Sydney near the botanical Gardens overlooking the harbor bridge.It is SPECTACULAR. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IK96InGH4Ww/VK-qYWRWyzI/AAAAAAAAOCs/kAp0_cb2Rtw/s1600/Bestest-159.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IK96InGH4Ww/VK-qYWRWyzI/AAAAAAAAOCs/kAp0_cb2Rtw/s1600/Bestest-159.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Gorgeous right?</div>
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Here is Olivia running through her songs during the sound check, she is almost as tall as the podium.</div>
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The tables seated 10 people (each seat cost 1K) with 25 tables total.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3MKQZ6ZYp0w/VBe3n-jxM9I/AAAAAAAAMwg/VjZYo5mXmok/s1600/WP_20140908_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3MKQZ6ZYp0w/VBe3n-jxM9I/AAAAAAAAMwg/VjZYo5mXmok/s1600/WP_20140908_003.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
There were 25 chefs flown in from all over Australia. Each chef donated their time and talked about the honor that it was to cook for this event. They were some of the BEST chefs in Australia.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K72UCBsR1mI/VBe3n83apcI/AAAAAAAAMwc/pVI9X_SH_fs/s1600/WP_20140908_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K72UCBsR1mI/VBe3n83apcI/AAAAAAAAMwc/pVI9X_SH_fs/s1600/WP_20140908_004.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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Miguel Maestre-celebrity chef</div>
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Olivia and I</div>
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Daddy and Olivia</div>
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Olivia and Anya Nissen</div>
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Olivia and Larry Emdur- co-host of the morning show. He introduced Olivia before she sang and interviewed her afterwards.</div>
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Olivia and Former Prime Minister, Bob Hawke</div>
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All in all, it is moments like these that make me wonder how I got so lucky as a parents to experience events like these through my child. I hope she always uses her voice to help people!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-4227922962535063612014-09-18T12:08:00.002+10:002014-09-18T12:08:53.532+10:00Les Miserables red carpet & the after party!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Up until NOW the theater has been doing preview shows of Les Miserables, but once you have opening night you are in full swing. On opening night all the critics come to write reviews of the show. All the participants of the show give gifts to each other (Olivia came home with loads of cards and trinkets, one card was from Cameron mackintosh himself). I felt so embarrassed, we had NO IDEA so we didn't have cards for anyone!</div>
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On opening night there is a long red carpet for those watching the show to walk on. Media will line up outside the red carpet (as the red carpet is sectioned off) and take pictures of the cast or other notable people coming to watch. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cdS9KGHii5M/U-n7XKUx88I/AAAAAAAAMmE/UTLCkdBh0PQ/s1600/les%2Bmis%2B10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cdS9KGHii5M/U-n7XKUx88I/AAAAAAAAMmE/UTLCkdBh0PQ/s1600/les%2Bmis%2B10.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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After opening night there is an after party! The after party is quite exclusive, and to get tickets is very tricky (I know, because they only let one parent accompany Olivia to the red carpet event). The town that hosts the very first opening night usually has the biggest red carpet/ after party. After Les Mis finishes in Melbourne it will tour to Perth, they will also have an opening night but their after party will be a much smaller. Since the kids don't usually tour with the production company (they will get new kids when they go to other parts of Australia), Olivia was super lucky to be part of the Melbourne cast and to have Melbourne be the opening city!</div>
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Below are some pictures from the red carpet and the after party.</div>
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Finding red carpet attire for a 10 year old was not as easy as you would think! We ended up hiring a friend named Polly King to sew Olivia's dress. We were smitten with the end result! She sewed it in just a couple days based on this picture: </div>
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We got as close as we could (put more fabric on the back and went with a silver necklace instead of gold). But were very happy with the end result. Seriously, this woman is talented and she wasn't that expensive either!</div>
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Olivia Swinton & Stanford Swinton</div>
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Here is Olivia Swinton with Patrice Tipoki</div>
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Here are the les mis kids!</div>
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Here is the Les Mis cast!</div>
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And here are some pictures of the party!</div>
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Crazy Chandelier!</div>
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Olivia was shown on TV for The Voice Kids on Sunday, and the following Thursday (4 days later) was on the red carpet for Les Mis. She was nervous to go to the party because she said she wouldn't know anyone. Instead it was the opposite, everyone was coming up to her to say "are you that little girl on TV?" She was on cloud 9, and had the TIME OF HER LIFE! The best part was, most people introduced themselves to Olivia- so Stan didn't have to try to place people! Thank goodness!</div>
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Here is Olivia with different people from The Voice 2013, (Below she is with Harrison Craige, (the winner of The Voice 2013). He also approached Olivia after recognizing her from TV and to say she was smitten would be an understatement!!</div>
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Olivia Swinton and Harrison Craige at opening night of Les Miserables<br />
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Here is Harrison with some of the other kids from Les mis. He was SO NICE, and sat and talked to Stan for some time, offering any help he could to Olivia.</div>
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Olivia Swinton and Simon Gleeson</div>
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On our way out...2:00am? we bumped into Simon Gleeson (Jan val Jan). He had also seen Olivia on The Voice kids and told her that his daughter LOVED Olivia and he even got her autograph- all I can say is Simon Gleeson is the nicest guy ever! Thanks everyone for being so supportive of Olivia, I never expected or anticipated any of this. I just feel so happy for her!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-43617183567164386052014-09-16T13:19:00.002+10:002014-09-16T13:19:35.218+10:00Olivia's first performance with Les Mis!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So the teams for the kids have finally been decided. Up until now, Olivia has been paired with different Gavroches, Cossetts and at the very end she got paired with Jackson and then they didn't shuffle the teams anymore! Olivia was so happy! What are the chances that she would know another kid in Les mis AND that they would get paired together?! The second kid in Olivia's group is called Cassidy. She plays cossett and is the only kid who has previously been in a musical (she played Molly in the musical Annie.) It's a good team to be in! </div>
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Here are the kids before their very first show. As a treat for the parents, the company gives the parents a couple of free tickets. There was one for Stan and I and Mary. Then a couple hours before the show I asked if they had any spares and we got one more for Mary's friend Paige. The girls dressed up and had a great time together.<br />
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Here is the list of cast members</div>
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After the show Olivia had flowers and gifts waiting for her. I didn't realize the first performance was such a big deal. Olivia's and Jacksons voice teacher (Cherine Peck) gave them both a matching bathrobe with their name on it and the Les Mis logo. Olivia wears it over her costume to keep clean and to keep warm, as the theater can get cold.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ShwX7m9vZkk/U-moB2qddvI/AAAAAAAAMi8/0AhtyVSdp4M/s1600/WP_20140628_028.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ShwX7m9vZkk/U-moB2qddvI/AAAAAAAAMi8/0AhtyVSdp4M/s1600/WP_20140628_028.jpg" height="238" width="320" /></a></div>
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Stan and I also sent flowers and got her a small necklace with cossets face on it!</div>
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Jack Lyall (Olivia's friend from The Voice- kids who is currently preforming in the Kind and I) sent a balloon bouquet- </div>
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Crazy triangle. Here is Olivia with two of her voice teachers (1) Patrice- voice teacher from Sydney (2) Cherine- voice teacher from Melbourne. Patrice is playing fauntine in Les mis with Olivia.</div>
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and to top it off, it just so happens they know each other. Cherine and Patrice toured in Lion King together. Patrice played Nala and Cherine played Shenzi...it's a small world after all!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o2AjhOEdN54/U_3W8-OzG7I/AAAAAAAAMuw/bF8Z7eEOEk8/s1600/j.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o2AjhOEdN54/U_3W8-OzG7I/AAAAAAAAMuw/bF8Z7eEOEk8/s1600/j.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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Here are some pictures from the show-</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XT1Hxy0n_wg/U-n7xfP4kII/AAAAAAAAMmk/rvOd622csY8/s1600/Les%2Bmis%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XT1Hxy0n_wg/U-n7xfP4kII/AAAAAAAAMmk/rvOd622csY8/s1600/Les%2Bmis%2B2.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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The cast Olivia gets to preform with</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hv3L0oyhTdg/U-n7xgbmIVI/AAAAAAAAMmo/iUpKNdUz-g8/s1600/Les%2Bmis%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Hv3L0oyhTdg/U-n7xgbmIVI/AAAAAAAAMmo/iUpKNdUz-g8/s1600/Les%2Bmis%2B4.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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Simon Gleeson (Jean Valjean)</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J3IscuKH54E/U-n70aLHcpI/AAAAAAAAMnM/nJDZpiJRUok/s1600/Les%2Bmis%2B6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-J3IscuKH54E/U-n70aLHcpI/AAAAAAAAMnM/nJDZpiJRUok/s1600/Les%2Bmis%2B6.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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All in all the kids did fantastic...here is to the beginning of 6 more months!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-12610277600338154042014-09-16T13:08:00.001+10:002014-09-16T13:08:06.397+10:00Talent begets talent- singing to cross country.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So this is a crazy concept. Part of Olivia's training for The Voice- kids (8:00 am audition time) was to get up earlier in the mornings and go for a run. Her voice teacher said it would help her lungs, wake her up and get her ready for an early audition. So we ran...every day....for several months. </div>
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Here we are running on a track at 9:00 am during school holidays- yes, I would time them around the track- I only had Mary and Thomas come along during the school holiday/ two week break.</div>
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Once The Voice- kids was over, we stopped running. A few weeks later, Olivia's school had cross country qualifiers for districts. Olivia placed! We couldn't believe it- we didn't know Olivia could run. The truth is, she is tiny compared to her peers, but she had trained (albeit, she was training for voice and so this was icing on the cake, but she was in shape and used to running when it came time to qualify). Here are some picture-</div>
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First- qualifying at school- she came in the top 5 for her grade of about 100 kids.</div>
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Here she is about to take off- </div>
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She ran with a stitch (cramps) the whole time, but she still managed to lap a few of her peers. Her goal was to not walk.</div>
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Here she is holding her side-</div>
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The course was a 3K</div>
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I love this picture she is so proud of herself!! About 6 weeks later was divisionals (so the top 5 kids from each school against each other going for districts) To get to Districts you needed to place in the top 8. </div>
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Again, we didn't train :-) I told Olivia just to have fun since we were doing a sport we didn't know much about. Other schools had been training daily with their cross country kids and they were taking this pretty serious. </div>
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Here is Olivia about half way- she is starting to pass people up.</div>
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She was 4th place the whole race and right at the end a group of 6 girls started to sprint to pass her. I was screaming for her to run faster but she kept a consistent pace the whole race. </div>
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She ended up having this girl in the white shirt get in front of her, but she still got 7th overall and qualified for Districts! Wooohoooo! </div>
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Again, she was pretty proud of herself. This time she had no cramps and took almost 2 minutes off her original qualifying time- 2 minutes is a TON in cross country! She told me the girls behind her kept yelling "slow down, or you will burn out!" she told me "mom I wasn't going to burn out- I felt good!"</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oIbbgXh_lX0/U_1i-aGClSI/AAAAAAAAMtI/SVRirdJFgEw/s1600/xcountry%2B10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oIbbgXh_lX0/U_1i-aGClSI/AAAAAAAAMtI/SVRirdJFgEw/s1600/xcountry%2B10.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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My little runner!</div>
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The next section was Districts! By now, Olivia was in the full swing of Les Miserables and I was having to email the show to see if she could continue with these comps. We were playing it by ear, but in the end they didn't need Olivia on the day of the race so we got to go. During districts they again take the top 8 (but the bottom two are alternates) for State!<br />
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To sum it up, it was a cold rainy day- Olivia was grumpy tired, and she got a cramp. She didn't qualify for state, but in the end we laughed about how far she got- who would have thought?? Go Olivia!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-19864640481955320472014-09-16T13:03:00.000+10:002014-09-22T23:01:01.029+10:00Three peaks challenge & Bright, Victoria<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Stan recently participated in a 3 Peaks Challenge, which involved climbing 3 mountains in 3 states in 33 hours. The mountains were some of the highest in Australia and they hiked day and night (one night it was poring rain!!) Once they were done they would get on a bus and drive to the next mountain. He was fundraising money for Whitelion, which is an organization that helps troubled youth from 12-18 yrs. At work Stan overseas a program called "Bain Cares." Stan facilitates opportunities for Bain employees to give back to the community through pro-bono consulting to non-profit organizations in trouble, clean up opportunities in the community, and even high adventure fundraising opportunities for interested employees. It is fun and Stan really enjoys doing this for other people. </div>
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The final day of the three peaks challenge ended in Bright. Stan wanted to know if I would come and pick him up (it was a 4 hour drive each way); he was tired (hadn't slept more than a couple hours over the three days and two of the three days it was very bad weather.) He said it was gorgeous, but I wasn't too keen on loading up the kids for an 8 hour drive so he came home on the bus! </div>
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The next weekend Stan suggested we take the kids up to see the leaves. Most of Australia does not have deciduous trees, so bright is a bit of a spectacle. Bright gets snow and lots of rainfall. I think the reason it is called bright is because of the rainfall- everything is bright beautiful colors. It reminded me a lot of the east coast in the USA. Soooo-since it is officially autumn, we decided to come see Bright as our last weekend away trip!</div>
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We stayed in a holiday park and just relaxed. We took a long walk along the river and got pizza at a nearby playground- it was so nice to just let the kids run around!</div>
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Thomas throwing a footy with Stan.</div>
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I love the fall and all these leaves!</div>
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We were also lucky enough to show up during an autumn festival,<br />
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Roasting chestnuts!<br />
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Thomas smashing nuts.<br />
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The next day we went for a hike. Here is Olivia having breakfast before our hike!</div>
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Lucky in love</div>
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We wanted to go up to one of the highest points in bright- you can see into NSW...but once we got to the top there was a bunch of rain and fog, so we couldn't really see more than 10 meters :(<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-89981688719072976942014-08-28T12:40:00.000+10:002014-08-28T12:40:32.774+10:00Fashion show!So- after all this Olivia attention, Mary and I decided to take a girls night out to the Melbourne fashion show. It was our first fashion show. Mary dressed up and on her seat there was a little gift with nail polish and lip gloss. When the runway started all the models came out with their various outfits. I was amazed how they all looked identical to each other. The only thing different was the hair length and hair color and on occasion skin color- it was like a room full of life size barbie dolls. Some were very skinny, but they all had the same look. It is a cool experience to have, but I wouldn't necessarily do it ever again!<br />
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Mary posing on the runway</div>
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My Mary bear, growing up very fast!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-49744860207683031072014-08-27T13:24:00.004+10:002014-08-27T13:39:22.712+10:00Behind the scene, Les Miserables rehearsals! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So I just thought I would give everyone an idea of how it all works before the show actually opens. I found some pictures online from the early days of rehearsals</div>
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Here is our kid group. There are 12 kids (4 Cossett's, 4 Eponine's & 4 Gavroche's) there are 4 teams of 3 kids and each group takes a couple turns on stage each week. The picture above was our first day of rehearsal! The two adults in the picture are the kid chaperons. They monitor the kids at all times and give us (as parents) feedback if we stuff anything up (lunches, drop off times, forgetting things etc...) They run a tight ship, but I am grateful they do!</div>
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Here is what the music room looks like when the cast come together to sing through the show. Olivia told me that sitting in the room was an overwhelming experience. She said everyone has amazing voices and they all sing very powerfully. She said it was probably like sitting in heaven with a bunch of angels around you.</div>
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I think she is right, these are some of the best singers in Australia and the cast come from all over the nation to be a part of this amazing production. When the show is not in their home state, the cast members stay in a hotel. When the tour goes to their state they get to stay at home. This picture is focused on Simon Gleeson (Jean Valjean), the tall guy is Hayden Tee (Javert) and then our favorite Patrice Tipoki who plays Fauntine.<br />
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On the first day of rehearsals Olivia was very nervous. She said she walked in and met everyone and the first person she saw was Patrice. Patrice gave her a big hug and asked how Olivia had been. Olivia told me she was so happy she knew at least one person in the group. Patrice was Olivia's very first voice teacher in Sydney. Patrice then moved to Brisbane and Olivia moved to Melbourne and now two years later they were able to see each other again! I was also over the moon to see Patrice!<br />
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Luckily for Olivia Patrice was not the only person she knew in the cast. Jackson Rudge (Gavroche) was also cast in the musical. Olivia and Jackson go to the same dance school, have the same singing teacher and now that they are rehearsing together have become best of friends. I am so happy for Olivia to have a built in friend and another adult at the opera house to keep an eye on her since I am not able to stay with her and watch.<br />
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After a few weeks of rehearsals at the Opera house, the cast were able to move into the theater and start practicing on stage. Here is a picture of all the props getting loaded onto the truck.<br />
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The show will be at 'Her Majesties Theater' which is in the middle of the city right near a hub of other theaters. I was so excited, because that theater is directly across the street from where I work! This meant when Olivia had lunch breaks we were able to meet up and hang out!</div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Once the kids were in the theater they worked through stage movements, lighting, sound, the orchestra came to start rehearsing with the cast, this is called the Sitzprobe which Olivia said was AMAZING!</span></div>
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The technical aspect of the show is amazing. The set was imported from England and they even bring their own stage so the props can fit into the grooves necessary for moving from scene to scene. The backstage area is so small that some of the props are hoisted into the air just to make space for other props to come on during certain times of the show. The parents were given a backstage tour with the kids, which was really fun since the kids were amazing tour guides. </div>
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Olivia showed me her dressing room, where she gets tutored, where they eat, color pictures etc. Olivia is at the theater 4 nights per week. Two of those nights she is on stage, the other two she is behind stage, in full costume ready to go on in case the other kids needs her to fill in. How often do kids get used to stand in if the other has a problem? Fairly often (not a ton) but it happens more often then you would think!<br />
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After 8 weeks of rehearsals it was time for OPENING NIGHT!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-40539173751996572252014-08-27T13:20:00.000+10:002014-08-27T13:20:19.827+10:00Weekend at Phillip Island<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
After Olivia was eliminated from The Voice- kids, she had 4 days before her audition for Les Miserables. After we found out she got the part for Les Miserables, and realized what a time commitment it would be (4 days/ week and every weekend would be taken until December) we realized we would not have time for a holiday for a good year. We packed up the car and drove an hour east to Phillips Island for the weekend, we stayed in a holiday house, went fishing and just let the kids play. It was long overdue and since we had spent most of the summer with family, filming The Voice-kids and then going straight into school- we hadn't had a weekend away for a very long time. </div>
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Here are some pictures of the kids fishing. Olivia and thomas caught a fish straight away, but nothing seemed to bite for Mary.</div>
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The summer is gone and autumn came sooner than I would have liked!</div>
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After an hour we left the lake and went into an indoor area loaded with fish. Mary was sure to catch something here!</div>
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5 minutes later....</div>
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Afterwards, we ate the fish for lunch and then went onto the chocolate factory and some time at the beach!</div>
<span id="goog_884881544"></span><span id="goog_884881545"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-80103278212663647842014-08-27T13:19:00.003+10:002014-08-27T13:19:46.057+10:00Tenilles Wedding!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So my baby sister Tenille got married! I flew out to the USA for two days (yes I was in the air longer than on the ground), and got to see my gorgeous sister say "I DO" to Jake Gorringe. Here are some lovely pictures of their big day. </div>
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First their engagement photo- Jake proposed by bridal veil falls with just the two of them. He got down on one knee, asked my dad for permission and did everything the old fashioned way- so he is a keeper!</div>
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Here is Tenille right before she walks down the aisle</div>
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Here is my dad doing his last walk with Tenille before giving her away-</div>
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I didn't get many pictures from the ceremony, but here is Jake "kissing the bride" </div>
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I love Addisions' (flower girl) face! </div>
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Man and wife!</div>
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Tenille and Addision</div>
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Tenille and the bridesmaids</div>
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all the nieces and nephews...welcome to the family Jake!</div>
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Tengelsen kids-</div>
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The family</div>
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Sisters </div>
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Wedding photo's of the couple-</div>
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The cake at the reception later that night!</div>
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Dance party- here are Tenille and Jacob (my little brother)</div>
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Daddy daughter dance!</div>
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and they lived happily ever after-</div>
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Congrats you two!!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-26916553625801654562014-08-03T14:10:00.001+10:002014-08-03T15:52:50.830+10:00Les Miserables!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: start;">
For those of you who are sad for Olivia because she was eliminated from The Voice-kids, don't be! It just so happened that 4 days after Olivia was eliminated from The Voice- kids, there were auditions being held for the Australian tour of Les Miserables. Had Olivia gone through to the next round of The voice- kids she might have missed out on a shot to be a part of the world famous Cameron Mackintosh production of Les Miserables!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cOF6PlrCsZw/U4hVhtIKykI/AAAAAAAAMQ8/AwQZyxwoSdM/s1600/les+mis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cOF6PlrCsZw/U4hVhtIKykI/AAAAAAAAMQ8/AwQZyxwoSdM/s1600/les+mis.jpg" /></a></div>
From start to finish, the audition process took 4 months. Olivia auditioned the first time with a group of 10-11 year olds. She made it to the final cut and then received a phone call a few months later (Cameron Mackintosh himself reviews the final group) that they had decided to cut almost every kid from the first audition. Only a few remained and she was one of them. Now they were opening up auditions for kids younger than 10. The benefit of having kids 10 and older has to do with government working restriction. Once the kids are younger than 10 there are more restrictions. So she prepared for a second string of auditions with kid ranging from 6-11 years old.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vLSiTQmOoyw/U4hdPz4_D1I/AAAAAAAAMSo/otbHMyVNJfY/s1600/WP_20140208_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vLSiTQmOoyw/U4hdPz4_D1I/AAAAAAAAMSo/otbHMyVNJfY/s1600/WP_20140208_002.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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Here is Olivia zoning out. Usually there is a lot of draining energy at these auditions and you have to keep your head in the game. Kids crying, singing, talking, being excited etc.... Everyone copes with auditions differently. Olivia just ignores the hustle and bustle and zones out. When they do the auditions you go round after round and can get cut at anytime. Some rounds are singing, some acting etc..It's more a game of how long you can stay in. In between each round, a couple girls would go ahead and the rest would come out in tears. Overall about 150 girls auditioned for the parts of Cossette and Eponine. They needed 8 girls total (so 4 on each part).</div>
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We didn't hear anything for ages and after a very very long wait, Olivia was informed that she had been selected for the musical and she would get to play the part of Eponine & Ensemble! When she found out she screamed with excitement! I asked her "are you disappointed you didn't get to play Cossett and sing 'castle on a cloud?' She said "NO, I am just grateful they would think I was good enough to do something so big as Les Mis!" She would have played any part they offered her and I am so proud of her for (1) being grateful no matter what and (2) for giving 100% no matter how big or small the part! <br />
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Honestly, I am busting with pride after Olivia's gracious loss on The Voice- kids and now her genuine excitement for her role in Les Mis. She really does have a heart of gold.<br />
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To sing in Les Miserables is pretty much a dream come true for the whole family. I have a soft spot for Les Mis; when I was 16 years old my parents took me on a trip to England, and Les Mis was the first musical I ever saw. I have the poster framed in my house with the original tickets!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y11006OCKdA/U93HlJG1U4I/AAAAAAAAMiE/A9ndlE9akmQ/s1600/Les+mis+olivia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y11006OCKdA/U93HlJG1U4I/AAAAAAAAMiE/A9ndlE9akmQ/s1600/Les+mis+olivia.jpg" height="320" width="237" /></a></div>
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Here is Olivia during one of her first days rehearsing in the theater!</div>
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<b>Crazy story:</b> Olivia's very first voice lesson was from a girl in Sydney named Patrice Tipoki. Patrice was a friend from church and when they started lessons the first song Patrice taught Olivia was "Castle on a cloud." Unfortunately, Olivia's voice lessons were cut short, and after only 6 lessons our family moved from Sydney to Melbourne (8 hours south). Shortly after we moved, Patrice's husband graduated from school and their family moved up to Brisbane (10 hours north of Sydney). We didn't expect to see them again, but as fate would have it Patrice landed the role of Fauntine! Olivia couldn't believe she would be singing alongside her old voice teacher! Crazy hu??<br />
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Throughout the play Olivia has 3 outfit changes (1) a peasant costume, for the beginning of the play when John Val John is looking for work (2) a beautiful blue dress and bonnet during the master of the house scene when she plays Eponine and (3) a street costume during the second half of the play when she is part of the french revolution riot, and sings a short solo in the song "turning" when the girls are cleaning the blood off the streets after the revolution.<br />
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Olivia is at the theater 4 nights a week, with 8 performances happening each week. Olivia will rotate with 3 other girls (there are 6 night performances with two matinee performances (Wednesday & Sunday), and Mondays are always off!)<br />
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So far it has been a big learning curve for us, but we are doing well! I am so proud of Olivia for all her hard work! Honestly, she is amazing! Here is the webpage in case you want to have a peak! http://www.lesmis.com.au/about/cast-and-creative/ensembles/<br />
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And if you have never seen the play- GO! It has such a beautiful message and if she only ever gets in one play, this is the one we would pick! We love Les Miserables!<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Above is Her Majesties Theater in the CBD of Melbourne and below are some pictures of what the city looks like right now!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-17958835721356874592014-08-01T11:35:00.002+10:002014-08-01T11:35:19.812+10:00Movie Star Planet!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So this picture is a bad example because Olivia's video eventually didn't pop up anymore and you now have to search it, BUT a few days after Olivia's blind audition's were shown on TV there were a few kids that were advertised on a kids video game called "movie star planet." Olivia was playing the game with a friend and then all of the sudden her video popped-up along with Alexa (this girl is on fire) & Robby (the scottish kid). The three of them popped up for about two weeks until they were replaced by some other popular you-tube clip. Olivia would sit on the game and see comments from other players about her video. She kept telling me "I want to tell everyone that I am her!" I didn't want her too for safety reasons, but it got really funny when someone created a movie star person called "Olivia" that looked like her and would talk to other kids, but Olivia wasn't that person. We watched this character for a while and decided if this character did anything bad we would notify The Voice- kids legal team to have them take down this false identity of Olivia. </div>
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Either way, interesting right?</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-48919263290598627452014-08-01T11:16:00.001+10:002014-08-01T11:16:37.354+10:00Pavement United Brands!So it just so happens we have a friend who has just opened a tween clothing company called Pavement. <u>www.pavementbrands.com </u> (why won't it link to the web page!)<br />
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He has managed several successful businesses in the past (gumboots, happy lab, smiggle...just to name a few) and when we told him about Olivia on The Voice- kids he said he would sponsor her!!<br />
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It was free clothing for us and free marketing for him so a win/ win!! At first I thought 'this will be fun,' but once I came to the head office and saw all the outfits lined up on the wall, Olivia felt like a movie star. They had a full table of head pieces, accessories, shoes, and if anything didn't fit they would run downstairs to the warehouse and grab another size. We would take pictures of each outfit and email them to wardrobe at The Voice-kids and then hey would pick what we wore from Pavement.<br />
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Pavement realized that The Voice-kids ultimately has the final say, so we didn't feel bad if The Voice-kids picked something else. All of Olivia's casual on-camera outfits ended up being from pavement (from head to toe- hair all her headbands-accessories, clothes and shoes). What I liked best about working with pavement was that it was our choice. Olivia liked some clothes and didn't like others, and ultimately got to pick out a couple free outfits that she liked. On top of it, if I needed anything last minute, they had shops all over Australia and someone would run the goods over to Fox Studios. </div>
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Below are some of my favorites, but there were so many I don't even know where to start!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yIZG2_lSZm8/Uzu1fniPd6I/AAAAAAAAL8o/ypvxIDLly3s/s1600/photo+(11).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yIZG2_lSZm8/Uzu1fniPd6I/AAAAAAAAL8o/ypvxIDLly3s/s1600/photo+(11).JPG" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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Here was Olivia's blind audition outfit!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NlmvJkAJ--w/Uzu1geWDzJI/AAAAAAAAL8w/YzEeW3z7ETg/s1600/photo+(37).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NlmvJkAJ--w/Uzu1geWDzJI/AAAAAAAAL8w/YzEeW3z7ETg/s1600/photo+(37).JPG" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KNkBJn-BXX8/Uzu1gcRuKII/AAAAAAAAL80/gZZpxppY7v8/s1600/photo+(38).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KNkBJn-BXX8/Uzu1gcRuKII/AAAAAAAAL80/gZZpxppY7v8/s1600/photo+(38).JPG" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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Here is the outfit Mary wore during Olivia's blind audition </div>
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Olivia ended up wearing this fury vest (above) and these shoes (below) for her battle round.</div>
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Here is the outfit Mary wore during Olivia's battle round (which ended up not being shown on camera) and the outfit below is what Olivia wore during her training session with Delta during her battle round.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dPpEwGRBcXo/Uzu19cxx9dI/AAAAAAAAL9g/0RqaY3L_1Qo/s1600/IMG_2914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dPpEwGRBcXo/Uzu19cxx9dI/AAAAAAAAL9g/0RqaY3L_1Qo/s1600/IMG_2914.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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Since Olivia wore their clothes on TV they followed up by offering to feature her on their web page with a few other Voice Kids that we also hooked up with Pavement. It has been incredible and I can't believe all the support we have gotten from people just coming out of the wood work for her! We love you pavement!<br />
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Here are some blog posts by pavement about Olivia:<br />
https://www.pavementbrands.com/blog/performing-tv-and-starring-les-miserables<br />
https://www.pavementbrands.com/blog/we-heart-olivia<br />
https://www.pavementbrands.com/blog/go-olivia-sienna-sebastian<br />
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and an email I had a friend show me in on her phone- I was like "send that to me!"<br />
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We heart pavement!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-24739122784357859502014-08-01T10:59:00.003+10:002014-08-01T11:01:01.507+10:00Women's weekly photo-shoot!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
A couple weeks ago Olivia was asked to do a photo shoot with 6 other kids from The Voice- Kids for a magazine called Women's Weekly. It started at 9:00 am and finished at 12, giving us just enough time to run Olivia across the city for a 1:00 call time for her matinee show of Les Mis. The overlap between Les Mis and The Voice- kids has not been easy, but it has been pretty exciting.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L430h3kJugM/U9rh4Al36gI/AAAAAAAAMgE/3lGwizvpst4/s1600/photo+(16)+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L430h3kJugM/U9rh4Al36gI/AAAAAAAAMgE/3lGwizvpst4/s1600/photo+(16)+-+Copy.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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They spent the first bit of time doing hair, make-up and wardrobe. Olivia's hair was curled into ringlets and I was so worried it would look too pretty when she showed up to les Mis (since she needs to look like she came off the streets) Les mis didn't mind at all- Phew!</div>
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Here are some pictures of the kids during the photo shoot- they took singles and group shots and did interviews with all the kids!</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8izJGQ_Cs0k/U9rhlaUf1dI/AAAAAAAAMfA/0EyiCY6BHCs/s1600/WP_20140719_007+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8izJGQ_Cs0k/U9rhlaUf1dI/AAAAAAAAMfA/0EyiCY6BHCs/s1600/WP_20140719_007+(1).jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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Here is Olivia with Jack Lyall (they do voice lessons at the same place)</div>
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Here is the computer getting the pictures from the camera. They do a few takes then everyone crowds around the computer and makes changes.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Swmlw5megjM/U9rhmVVE78I/AAAAAAAAMfQ/pL831vMPAK4/s1600/WP_20140719_009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Swmlw5megjM/U9rhmVVE78I/AAAAAAAAMfQ/pL831vMPAK4/s1600/WP_20140719_009.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
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Olivia and Ethan (who everyone has a crush on)</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uhyDHQW6DYc/U9rhmhvG0nI/AAAAAAAAMfY/bLcVunTXf-g/s1600/WP_20140719_010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uhyDHQW6DYc/U9rhmhvG0nI/AAAAAAAAMfY/bLcVunTXf-g/s1600/WP_20140719_010.jpg" height="320" width="234" /></a></div>
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Olivia and Imogen (probably the tallest girl in the competition with the shortest girl)</div>
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All in all- another great time!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-40840095455035624202014-07-29T08:21:00.001+10:002014-07-29T09:36:19.428+10:00Olivia's battle round for The Voice- Kids (youtube clip)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/qp_fbmN2lIk/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/qp_fbmN2lIk&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/qp_fbmN2lIk&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;">To all my overseas friends, here is Olivias' battle round for The Voice- kids. As mentioned before she had to sing against her BFF (grrrr) so it was bitter-sweet for both the winner and the looser. I am gra</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;">teful that all the 'goodbye' comments on the Voice- kids FB page have all been about Olivia's personality and how they will miss watching her. It melted my heart!! I will try to find the whole clip- where they introduce everyone before they sing, it is super cute! Thanks everyone for your support! Go TEAM DELTA!</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-66Iue-m91K8/U9bW-eQjZJI/AAAAAAAAMdY/k--alFpg8ug/s1600/photo+(1).PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-66Iue-m91K8/U9bW-eQjZJI/AAAAAAAAMdY/k--alFpg8ug/s1600/photo+(1).PNG" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.44444465637207px; line-height: 20px;">Honestly, these compliments are just the icing on the cake from the fabulous experience we have had so far! So many other battle rounds had upsets (where the best singer didn't go through) and all the comments are bagging on the person who did go through. Olivia was legitimately beat by Alexa so I am pleased with the outcome. Other battle rounds had little kids paired up with big kids with the bigger kids going through. This resulted in comments bagging the show and how the battle was 'unfair' Olivia's group was mostly 10 year olds with one 9 year old. They picked the best singer and the comments were nothing but kind. All I can say is I am very pleased! Go Team Delta! Go Alexa!!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4442958888000321379.post-16734396189166815712014-07-28T00:13:00.000+10:002014-07-28T00:13:24.798+10:00The Voice-battle rounds part 2! During the battle rounds you have to sing in a trio against two other team members and at the end of the song the celebrity judge gets to pick who they want to advance to the next battle round. There are two loosers and one winner (this is done so the kids don't feel too sad walking off the stage alone- they have a friend). Since each judge has 15 kids, they have 5 groups of 3 singers. After the battle round each judge will have 5 kids left.<br />
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Olivia was on team Delta and was feeling pretty good since she had gotten all three chairs to spin in the blind auditions. Most kids only got 1 or 2 chairs to spin. There was one other girl who got all three chairs to spin, her name was Alexa, her BFF...and that was who Olivia got paired up to sing against! Alexa was the same age as Olivia (but taller- as most kids are). The second kid Olivia had to sing against was actually a duo- a 9 year old boy( Anthony) and girl (Tamara) who auditioned with a duet. So it was the 4 of them on the battle stage (which looks like a boxing ring- see image below).</div>
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Interestingly enough, Olivia had to sing 'Stop' by the spice girls. Olivia had recently learned about the spice girls once we found out Mel B was a judge. We never would have guessed that Delta would pick a song preformed by another judge. The song was a surprise for Mel B, and the whole studio was in on it. They dressed the kids up like minuter spice girls- it was pretty darling!</div>
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Olivia was supposed to look like baby spice, Alexa was scary spice and Anthony/Tamarra were a sporty spice duo. Apparently this song was a huge success in Australia (much bigger than it was in America) and pretty much every person on the street knows the song (it's true anytime Olivia would start humming it, a perfect stranger would comment on how much they loved that song).</div>
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We were all feeling pretty good until we saw how the song was broken down. Olivia got to start the song (1st verse), Anthony and Tamara did the next bit (second verse) and then Alexa got to belt the chorus. This continued throughout the song and once Olivia understood she wouldn't get any lines to belt we realized this would be a very difficult battle round to win. </div>
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Instead of giving up, Olivia created a few improv's on her regular lines to compete with the belting lines. They were GOOOOD, but when she showed them to Delta, Delta said she needed to stick to the regular notes. So then Olivia decided she would just have to put a lot of spin, vibrato, growl, sass etc... on the notes she did have. I can honestly say she did her personal best with what she did have. She was hilarious and any time she rehearsed with Delta or the stage crew she would make heads turn. My favourite memories were the dance moves she invented any time she sang. </div>
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For some reason, unlike the blind auditions, the battle rounds were a lot less stressful, they were just fun!! The ending would be bitter sweet because only one could go up. </div>
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Alexa & Olivia having dinner the night before the battle round</div>
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The picture of the day (colored by Alexa & Olivia)- just so you know this is a big deal because the kids are all coloring for hours and the submissions start to pile up.</div>
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Hanging out at 3:00am after someone pulled the fire alarm in the hotel....</div>
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getting ready to climb the Sydney Harbour bridge-</div>
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On the last day the girls did their battle round. The song was a huge success. Mel B was so surprised and the crowed was jumping out of their chairs! Everyone was dancing and singing and clapping and you actually could hardly hear the kids at all, but Olivia had the time of her life singing on stage. At the end of the song Delta said some nice things about each of the kids, but it finally came down to Olivia vs. Alexa. Olivia told me knew she had been beat when Delta kept coming back to her and talking about how much she liked her. Alexa was the better singer, so it was fair- but you could tell Delta adored Olivia and that she was sad to let Olivia go. </div>
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It should be noted that anytime Delta walked with her group of kids for the cameras, she would pick Olivia up and put her on her hip. She did it the whole week and Olivia would constantly come to me after a practice with a lipstick mark on her cheek- she didn't want to wash her face! </div>
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After the battle rounds, the kids exited. Alexa went off to be interviewed by the cameras and Delta ran after Olivia- and ended up catching our whole family in the tunnel. She stopped us and gave Olivia a hug and told her how sad she was that she couldn't take her through. It was a very kind thing to do and it meant the world to Olivia.</div>
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The main reason Olivia picked Delta to be her coach was because Delta was a childhood cancer survivor. This reminded Olivia of her friend Millie Flamm who recently died of cancer; Olivia saw Delta as a huge inspiration. Currently Delta is considering an offer to be part of the "Anything can be project" http://www.jmdiazphotography.com/anything-can-be-2</div>
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It is a book where kids with cancer share their dreams (what they want to be when they grow up) and then the picture is altered so it looks real. The back half of the book features celebrities that have had cancer and shows how they have made their dreams come true. All proceeds will go towards the Millie Princess Foundation. </div>
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