The results are in!

I'm sure you're all waiting anxiously for the results of our audition on Saturday, but before we get to that, how about a little on our preparation? On Friday, we basically spent the day practising our monologues and songs for auditions. Celestia was to recite the closing Dorothy monologue from The Wizard of Oz. We worked some on expression and body language, but as this is her favourite movie I had no real concerns about her remembering it. I struggled to find the perfect song for her sweet little alto voice to sing acapella (per the requirements for audition) and finally settled on Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid. Tatiana learned a monologue from Alice in Wonderland, and sang Castle on a Cloud from Les Misérables. We spent several hours (my how the time flies!) taking pictures of the girls, as we all needed photos to leave with our applications. I have quite a few that my mom took of me for auditioning, so I wasn't particularly worried about that, but as many cute pitcures as we have of the girls, I didn't feel like I had the best individual photos possible. Of course, the girls wanted to take a few pics of me, and this is the best one from that session. :)
Once we got to the auditions on Saturday, I realised that this thing is SO much bigger than I had known. I really thought that we were going to be auditioning to get a local talent agent, and be a part of their organisation. Come to find out that we were actually auditioning for the privelidge of attending a 5 day convention in Orlando, Florida and auditioning in front of 50-100 of the top names in showbusiness and modeling! The children all went first, because they were actually mindful of the fact that kids are squirmy, and not really able to sit for all that time. That was pretty impressive to me, because the girls and I have been to events before where the children went LAST, because it was really just clear that the people running it did not think of them as important. Sweet Celestia was the VERY FIRST person to set foot on the stage to audition. She stepped in front of the judges, spoke with them, smiled, and froze. The most horrified look came over her face as she said "I forgot! Hang on!" So, she ran off the stage, grabbed her words (Thank God I brought those along for everyone to read over just before they went on!) jogged back on stage (losing a shoe on the way) and proceeded to read her script TO THE PAPER! Bless her little heart, I have never seen her get stage fright like that! She sang her song, and I suppose did well, but there was just too much noise in the room for me to hear. I was just SO PROUD of her for finishing up, speaking with the judges afterwards, and smiling. It just didn't seem to faze her a bit that she had gotten stage fright. What an awesome kid, don't you think? Tatiana went next, and thanks to her sister breaking the ice, remembered her lines. The judges had managed to quiet the audience down, so I was able to hear her sing, and I can tell you that she sounded very sweet! I managed to get towards the beginning of the line for adults, so we didn't have to stay until the very end.
Now, the part you've all been waiting for... (drum roll, please) We got called back!!!! All three of us!!!!! I am in absolute shock. I was told that of the 200 or so people who auditioned, only 30 were called back, and all three of us made it. Any of you who know me will be well aware that this is what I have wanted to do my whole life. It looks like Celestia is following in my footsteps, so for her to have this opportunity at 11 years old is amazing! With all positive news comes a down side however, and the down side to this one is... MONEY. It's not cheap to receive the training they give you before the convention, and a trip to Orlando is also not exactly free. For all of my praying friends out there, please pray that if this is something we are supposed to do, that God will provide a way for it. AMTC (Actors Models and Talent for Christ) has fund raising opportunities, but you have to put a deposit down to receive those materials. They don't want you just flashing their name around and raising sizeable sums of money for a new wardrobe, after all. Jonathan is still not sure what to think of this, and he is in Chicago in business, so we are not able to sit down and talk about it seriously. We may yet decide that this is the end of our road with AMTC. For now, we can only wait and pray that we will make the best decision!
I almost forgot in all my excitedness (is that even a word?) my promise to let you know about some wonderful babies that need our prayers. Today, my pick is a little boy named Seth who is deaf, and waiting for cochlear implants so he can hear.