The New Miss National Teenager...

Our own Miss NC National Teenager, Lindsey, was named first-runner up in the finals! We were thrilled for her! Our Miss SC, Kylie, was in the top 10. Go, Carolina girls!!!

Who will take the Miss National Teenager title?

Hi gang. Thought I'd keep up the blog until next week. This Saturday evening, the 2007 Miss Junior National Teenager and Miss National Teenager will be crowned. We are so hoping one of our girls will take the titles. We got Miss NC Junior, Meredith McNelis,competing for the Jr. title, Miss SC Junior, Alexandra Durkee, competing for Junior...Miss NC National, Lindsey Gray Richardson, competing for Miss National Teen and Miss SC National, competing for National Teen. If one of these girls wins, the awards are huge! Miss National Teenager gets to choose a full-ride scholarship to either Oklahoma U. or Eckerd University in Florida. Also, full travel paid to different states for a year, etc.

I'll send more pictures later. Take care!

Tarhill Winner!!! NC brings home a National Crown!!!

Yay!!!! Miss North Carolina Junior Sweetheart, Emily Farrington, brought home the crown and is Miss Junior National Sweetheart!! We were thrilled!!!! Also, our Miss SC Senior Sweetheart, Samantha Niehmeyer was Top 10 in tonight's competition. Emily's year will be huge. We're so happy for her! Can't wait to see you all and share the pictures. Thanks to you all who have followed along and provided love and support. Yay!!! What a week! We head home tomorrow. I tell you what, I'll never watch a pageant on TV the same way ever again. Just remember, these girls work as hard as any athlete, dancer, etc. I have a new respect for this world. I always thought it was fluffy and fun, but it's really much deeper than that. All of these girls have such dedication and perserverance. Alex has learned so much this week. I hope one day she chooses to do it again. (Give me a few years, though.) And...she'll have to save her money. This world is fun...but it "ain't" cheap!!!! Love you all. Enjoy the new pictures!

News Flash!!!!!

Hi gang! The new Miss National Preteen was crowned this morning and is Miss Tennessee! She was the absolute perfect choice! She was sweet, smart and had hundreds of hours of community service!! We were all thrilled for her. Plus, she lost her father 8-weeks ago, so this was so bittersweet for her.

Alex did so great!!! I'll send pictures later. She didn't make Top 10 but that was OK with her. There was one award though...I was given the first Annual National Moms' Award! A total surprise!!! Got to go on stage and everything. Funny.

Will upload all of the pictures later!!!! Love you all!

Pageant Eve?

I honestly didn't think I'd be nervous, but I am. Now I understand why you see Miss USA's and Miss Universe's cry so much. When you've worked this hard for days, it will be fun and sad to see it all end. I don't know what I expected, but it's been a wonderful and an amazing ride. I wish you all could have been here. What I'll miss most are the sweet people I've met. Miss Pennsylvania Preteen's family has become so dear to us. There are seven of them here, all for her. The grandmother looks like she's in her forties, but is so cool. They've been so supportive of Alex, too. They're all from the north and have those thick accents, but with southern hearts! I've also become friends with Miss SC Sweetheart's mom, Stephanie. She's been so great with our younger girls, even bought Wesley a toy! Miss Iowa's mom shared with us how she got her daughter into this pageant because she had been severely bullied at school and had no self-confidence. She's confident and beautiful now, with an internship at a Fortune 100 company and a full scholarship to a top university. Miss California Preteen is a working actress in Hollywood and has appeared in "Little Miss Sunshine," "The Young and the Restless," Disney shows, Walmart commercials, etc.

Moms, if you have daughters (Smiths, Sigmons, Sipes, Struebings, Brooks, Valentims.....) I hope you'll consider this pageant. It's been such a great experience for Alex. It truly doesn't matter if you win, just being here with these motivational speakers, directors has been worth it all.

Tomorrow morning at 9:30am is the Finals. They'll do their first production number, then they'll call out the Final 10. Those ten will compete again in evening gown and question. They'll then pick 4th, 3rd, 2nd 1st runner up, then crown the very first America's National Preteen. Whoever wins will get a $2,500 scholarship and be booked on the first publicity trip to LA. Do I think Alex could win? Probably not this time. There are some pretty impressive 12-yr olds. I would love for her to make it into the Top 10. If not, she's fine with it. We've learned more about each other, made new friends and found out just how blessed we are to have you all in our lives. We'll be coming back with some souvenirs!!! Good night ...and please pray that whatever happens, God will be glorified through Alex and her actions. See you tomorrow!

Saturday Afternoo

I have a few brief moments by myself in the hotel room so I thought I'd chat. I can't thank you all enough for your love and support. Christy, Grandmommy, Michelle, Sydney, Sinclaire, everyone!! We love, love the messages. Keep them coming!!

Today was the awards ceremony for talent, speech and supermodel. Our director said that one of the judges last night has been a Miss America judge for 20 years. She told her that in all her Miss America years she has never seen talent like the preteens displayed last night. She gave the first perfect "10" of her entire career. The little ventriloquist and the violinist were the talent winners! We were thrilled! I was so happy to see that it was EXACTLY who it should have been! I was so proud of our girls for being happy for them! Also, our Miss NC Jr. Sweetheart, Emily Farrington won in her division for Supermodel! She'll get a photo shoot by a top photographer and appear in Supermodel magazine. yay!

Alex had her 30-minute interview session with the judges this morning. She said it went GREAT! She said she was the "comedy" for the morning. Lord knows what she told them. Tomorrow is the BIG day, so I'll let you all know who the Queens will be. We're excited!

All of the NC/SC girls for the next week's pageant have arrived and we are thrilled to see them. We have such a strong group. Our director, Rhonda, thinks NC/SC girls will all place in the top ten. Wouldn't that be great? Huge winnings are at stake for the girls competing in the Jr/SR National Teenager. The winners each get a $25,000 scholarship, I believe. Hope Alex wants to compete in a few years. That would be a great way to get to college.

Another great motivational speaker today, Rick Kress. A preacher from Iowa, he encouraged all of the girls to set goals for their lives, then reminded them that it's God who still controls their futures. He had us in tears and received a standing ovation. I tell you, I feel like I've been at a week=long motivational convention!

An Amazing night

Oh my goodness. What an amazing night. Tonight was the big night...talent, supermodel, everything. I can't tell you how proud we are. First of all, the level of talent for the preteens was phenomenal. There were fabulous singers, dancers, instrumentalists, even a martial arts black belt. Alex was right there with them. She played her piano piece like a pro. If you have a daughter, I strongly encourage you to get her into this pageant. These girls have learned so much about poise, self-confidence, teamwork, you name it. There had to be 300 people in the audience and these girls were better than any American Idol. I am amazed. There was a little 9-year old who could honestly do Broadway tomorrow. A ventriloquist who was only 10-years old, a violinist who could play with a symphony, I just can't tell you how great they all were. Marty was in tears when Alex played. This has been such a special week for our entire family. Tomorrow is the judges' personal interviews, so we'll see. We've had many of the directors and staff tell us they think Alex will make top ten, but we can't even believe it. We're just telling her to do her best. Please pray for all of these girls. They've all worked so hard. Again, I wish you were all here with us. Sorry I'm rambling again, but it's 1:30am. I'll try to call everyone tomorrw. Again, thank you for all of the messages. Sigmons, can't wait to talk with you.

Today is the Big competition day!

Hi gang! Something went wrong with my post, but I'm trying again. It's Friday and we're getting ready for the Evening Gown and on-stage question. Tonight is the Talent competition. She's a little nervous today. Everything is going well but we are both running on pure adrenaline. She got to swim last night and was really happy! Wish me luck with hair today. I wish our hairdresser was here!! Thanks to you all for sending your messages! Sigmon girls, we wish you all were here. I'll post more pictures tonight. I've met the sweetest people! Rhonda and her daughter Courtney got here today. They are our state directors. I know I'm rambling, but will try to sound more coherent later. Marty and Wes are here, too. Love you all!!!

Day Two!

Here's my new favorite quote: "If you wake up in the morning and you're not six-feet under and you don't have a chalk outline around you, you're blessed! Make a choice to have a great day!" Isn't that great??? That was from Dale Smith Thomas, the motivational speaker Alex and I heard today. She's the owner and director of "Bootcamp for Beauty Queens" and has been on Oprah, Dr. Phil, etc. She was so great! She told these girls today, "you live in the United States of America! I don't want to hear you whine or complain about anything!" Love it!

Alex had a busy but great day. She started off in registration where we were ushered from table to table, only to find out she had only minutes to get into her dress and head down for a talent rehearsal. She's playing the piano, so she's wearing a really pretty evening dress. I've never styled hair so fast!! Orientation was after that, lots of info and the speech by Dale. I can't tell you guys how great she was. She had us in tears and in stitches. I asked her to put Charlotte on her speaking schedule. She is a terrific corporate events speaker.

Tonight Alex had a four-hour rehearsal and is dead-tired. You'll all laugh, I had to hem one of her production outfits with tape!!! Ha! It worked, by golly.

Tomorrow is the personal expressions preliminary where she gets to wear the jeans she decorated. We'll check in with you tomorrow! Thanks to all of you who have left messages. We read every word and feel your support! Good night and God Bless you all.

Music City, USA, here we come!

OK , we made it! Alex and I dropped Wesley off in Waynesville with my parents. Thanks mom and dad! We met Cathy and Hannah Houck, our SC queen and mom, and we all headed off together. Great trip, but Cathy wanted me to navigate the mountains down to Tennessee. Good ol mountain driving!!

This is so much like the first night of college! Alex is meeting all of the the girls, we've been decorating our door (don't ask), girls keep coming in and out of our room. I tell you, if there was 80's music and a keg, I could swear I was back in college! (Not that I drank, no siree, not me!)

The best part of today is seeing that all of these girls are JUST like Alex. All nervous, but sweet. I was so proud of how Alex started going up and meeting girls on her own. Hey, that's worth the price of all of this! I've met some really interesting people, too. A travel photographer stopped by and looked at my camera. He and his wife shoot and write for AAA magazine. Cool, huh? The moms are all really sweet. I'll post more pictures tomorrow. Here's two more for today. Thanks so much for writing your sweet messages. We love them all!! Will write more tomorrow.

Two Days before and counting down....

Wow. It's 11:26 Sunday, July 15, 2007. If you had told me one year ago I would be preparing to take my daughter to a pageant, I'm sure I would have laughed. Life sure can take some interesting turns. Let me tell you, when you pray, God hears you. And sometimes laughs, I'm sure of it. A little over three years ago, we weren't sure how Alex was going to make it. She didn't have much interest in school, or anything else. After much prayer, consults with her pediatrician and a visit to a wonderful child psychologist, we discovered that the only thing holding Alex back was fear...and a touch of ADD! But, hey...have you seen my office? She gets it from me, I'm sorry to say. I always tell her that we "creative folk" tend to lose focus, but that how we get art!!! Sounds good, doesn't it?

Alex began her fabulous year around May of 2006. She won the Charlotte Observer essay contest and got to attend the movie premiere of Cars! Red carpet and everything? From that point on, she got it. The harder she worked, the more rewards happend. She got straight "A"'s for the first time ever, got to name the school mascot, won the Wolf Pride award...as I like to say in Vegas, she's playing a winning table. It all culminated with this pageant. Wow.

So, here we are two nights before we leave, wondering if it will be great or be a giant mistake. Many (and you know who you are) think I'm setting her up for what surely will be a disappointment. Others of you have been so wonderful and supportive. The bottom line is this...if I can give Alex an opportunity to meet other girls from around the country, make new friends, learn how to speak in public, gain self-confidence, be gracious to those who win, and be proud of who she is, then it's all been worth it. Plus, she and I will have a mother-daughter memory that will last forever.

Pageant gown...$150 Pageant fees - $540 Bonding with your family...Priceless.