Mother's Day

Watson Family women (plus Radley - minus Traci!)

American Idol: Take Two

Note: Posts are out of order. To get the full scoop, read the previous post about Lindsay's birthday first.

Gluttons for punishment or devoted fans? Who knows, but we made a phone call and got "Priority Seating" for this weeks American Idol show. Tuesday comes around and we have to face finding another outfit (I don't own "hip, club attire"), the drive back to LA, and the possiblity of another fiasco. But our hopes are high and we feel good about this day. We get there to find out that everyone else also holds "priority" tickets in their hands as well. Another line- but not quite as much waiting this time. We get into the studio for the dress rehearsal and after a few seating issues - we are in the audience watching our favorite show live and in person! It was so fun and sounded even better than on TV. We loved both of Kris Allen's performances especially Heartless! After the rehearsal, we felt like we had made up for the disappointment and craziness of the week before. But the best was still yet to come!

We were hoping to get into the live taping but we weren't sure if it would be possible so near the end of the season. We rushed back out to the standby line and were lucky to get near the front of the line. After waiting only a short time, they brought us back to the studio. We thought maybe they would assign us as seat fillers or cram us into a corner, but they came through the line and gave Lindsay a pit pass which means she got to go up to the area right in front of the stage. They took her away and I didn't see her again until the end of the show. I was really nervous for her and hoping she was okay and having a good time!

Kristen, Bobette and I got in and they led us right to three open seats in the third row behind the judges. Definitely the VIP section. We were right next to the families of Danny and Kris and next to me was E News anchor Jason Kennedy. Jillian from Fox was three seats down from that. The beautiful people were everywhere we were trying to figure out who was famous and who just got lucky like us. We were so excited! Kristen even debuted her Beyonce moves on stage before the show started. Of course it was a little nerve wracking when they came over and told us we were going to be on camera the whole time and not to touch our face or our hair, or talk to the people sitting next to us. Of course my nose was itching the entire show!

Anyway the show was great. We loved it. We were amazed at 1) how pretty and skinny Kara is 2) how short Randy Jackson actually is 3) that Simon had a very strange looking body shape and 4) that Paula is exactly how she seems on TV. She spent part of the time under the table, tripped on her chair a few times and walked back on stage at the last possible second everytime escorted by her male assistant.

Lindsay ended up having the best time. She was right by where the judges walked in and out. Paula came over to her and gave her a hug, Simon shook her hand and she says she got a smile and "eyebrow lift" from Kris her favorite! So I would say that it definitely made up for the disappointing birthday.

After our regular stops at Cheesecake Factory and Anthropologie we rushed home to watch it on TV together. We saw ourselves lots of times (especially Bobette, of course!) but it's easier to catch when you are watching it in slow motion and rewinding back again and again. So fun!

Chris wonders if I will be able to get back to my normal life or if this is just "what you do now". I'll admit, it's hard but I'll get over it soon enough. Of course I immediately put myself back on the wait list. You can too, go to ocatv.com and sign up.

Look out, there's a teenager in the house!

I haven't blogged in so long. I will eventually catch up in order to keep the Keeler family record alive and well. But this one just couldn't wait...First of all, as the title suggests, our dear sweet baby Lindsay who was born now 13 years ago - is an official teenager. How else do you celebrate that big birthday but to take said teenager to the most most popular show on tv - American Idol. I may sound like the best mom ever for planning the best birthday ever but I can't take that much credit. I signed up on the waiting list for American Idol tickets over a year ago. Amazingly I finally got the email telling me I had 4 tickets for Tuesday May 5th- Lindsay's actual birthday. Yeah, we screamed for a while. How cool is that? Well, maybe not as cool as it sounds.

The big day came and after waiting for over 3 hours we got into the studio ready for the dress rehearsal. We were standing right in front next to the stage- Ryan came out and things were looking great. Then Disaster #1 strikes: the stage manager, who was following Ryan down the glowing stairs, actually fell off the stairs because they retracted too soon. She caught herself and was hanging 20 feet above the studio trying to get herself back up. That didn't work and so she fell and crash landed on the stage. Chaos. Paramedics. Blood. Little kids crying. More waiting... Birthday takes a major downturn.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/07/arts/television/07arts-ACCIDENTSONT_BRF.html?ref=arts

Fortunately, she was okay. But they had to take her to the hospital. The paramedics carried her out on the stretcher through the crowds as she gave us all the thumbs up. But the show must go on. Birthday party is back on! Ryan starts up again - we get excited to see the finalists come out. Then disaster #2 strikes. The big A.I. tower malfunctions and the metal globe falls off its axis, but keeps spinning. It is hitting lights and sending glass spraying across the stage the whole things looks like it might fall down. Lindsay and I were literally right underneath the tower. It took us a few seconds to figure out what was going on -the crowd was screaming and the staff was yelling to clear the area. Everyone ran across the judges area to the other side of the stage. As we were all trying to catch our breath and figure out what would happen next, Lindsay and I found ourselves standing right next to Ryan Seacrest. Well, I couldn't let that opportunity pass us by. Wanting to be a good mom, I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hi, Ryan, it's my daughter's birthday today." He was really nice and shook Lindsay's hand and actually patted her head lovingly. He apologized for all the craziness and said this usually doesn't happen! Basically, we all shared a moment. Then, they told us we had to leave. Yeah, after all that they just made us leave. The street was lined with ambulances to take away the wounded - luckily there weren't any.

We were depressed and dejected and slightly in shock over what had just happened. We were heading over to the Cheesecake factory to drown our sorrows in delicious food. When we passed Tracy Morgan walking through the Grove. 30 Rock is our faaaaavorite show so we were very excited. He was nice enough to take a picture with us.

Yes, my eyes are closed! Blurg! But Linds looks so cute! Birthday looking not quite as bad! Two star encounters on the first day of teenagerhood is pretty good. Cheesecake and Anthropologie didn't hurt either. Luckily the story continues and gets better in my next post! Happy Birthday Lindsay!

Easter

Recently on Stage

I don't think there has been a Tony Tobin Trailblazer production that hasn't featured a Keeler. We've been to them all. This year it was Shelby's turn. She and Gillian Warren take a ballet class together. Gillian helped her choreograph a dance for the talent show. We were so proud of our graceful little Shelbs! She did such a beautiful job. Here she is in action. It's short but sweet.

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting...

I am now a believer in martial arts. Owen started Tae Kwon Do last month. It is a boy's dream come true. Where else do the teachers actually say "Shout louder, Owen!"?? Owen was thrilled to be able to test for his yellow belt last weekend. It was a three hours on a Saturday - but so worth it! He had to show his basic form in front of the master and break a board with his running jump kick. He also had to be prepared to tell the birthdays of everyone in the family and the number one family rule (always greet mother and father when you come home or leave the house). He received two special stars to add to his uniform - for good behavior at home and at school. In order to test, he had to have his teacher's permission. The other day I asked him to help me with something in the kitchen. He actually said "I'd be happy to Mother." I just about fell on the floor.

Here he is with the group on testing day. His master Keung Jung Kim is in the black. His other favorite teacher Jef is in the green sweatshirt.

He got a really cool glass trophy that day. Can you tell he's holding it extra carefully? It was a big day!

Nature Church

Every once in a while we like to have what we call Nature Church. Chris wasn't feeling well and didn't think he could sit through 7 hours of meetings, so we all took the day off. We drove out to a nature preserve called Wilderness Gardens. Amazingly, it is only about 20 minutes from our house. The wildflowers were just beginning to come up. They will be really beautiful in a few weeks. It was quiet and peaceful and felt like a warm summer day. We had a little picnic and just enjoyed the scenery. I love nature church.