As soon as my youngest daughter, Elyssa Turquoise, saw Loretta Lynn walk out onto the stage, she went crazy with joy.  It was so great to see her smiling and laughing for once!  It made me feel good too, to know that I could do this for her birthday.  (She just turned five on Thanksgiving weekend.)

Throughout the entire show, Elyssa bounced up and down in her seat, clapping to each and every song that Loretta sang.  She sang along lustily; there isn't a Loretta Lynn song she does not know.  And to top it all off, after the show, we got to go backstage after one of Loretta Lynn's band members had spotted the exhuberant child.  We got to meet not only the entire band, but Loretta Lynn herself!!

Elyssa was so happy she cried.  I was crying, too.  Loretta was very sweet to my daughter; she posed for a picture with her and gave her an autographed CD and photo.  I was surprised to see how little Loretta is: she was shorter than me and about as big as a minute weightwise.

I was surprised to learn that Loretta was in her seventies: she didn't look past fifty five! 

After that experience, Elyssa announced to me that she wants to be a singer, just like Loretta, and has been singing around the house ever since.  Well, I got her a child's karaoke machine for Christmas; she hasn't stopped singing once.  For her young years, Elyssa has a powerful voice and sings in perfect pitch.  She sounds like she was born to be on a stage (perhaps the Grand Ole Opry stage ...?)!

Meanwhile, we are getting ready for our next pageant (the first one of this year!), which is in February (next month) in Galveston, Texas.  Elyssa has been practicing hard; she is determined to win this thing.  The last several pageants she has come close, but not taking the top prize.  Elyssa is still happy though that she did as well as she did, and I am happy that she has kept a good attitude about this.

Her attitude is this: "So I didn't win.  No big deal, but as long as I placed, then that's cool!  I'll just try harder next time!"  Elyssa is absolutely amazing!!

And it seems that the other kids haven't been teasing her as much about her learning disabilities, which is a huge relief on both of our minds.  Elyssa has struggled with learning to read and write and has only recently learned to write all her letters and numbers and can finally print her whole name: "Elyssa Turquoise Jenkins".

Meanwhile, Elyssa has told me that if she doesn't win this pageant, then she may go into singing only.  That is a shock, especially since Elyssa has always enjoyed doing pageants.  Yet if she wants to stop doing pageants, than I am behind her and am willing to support her wishes and try to get back to being more of a normal mommy not only to her, but to our other two children, Eden Patriac (2) and Charm Tallent (7).

Charm Tallent used to do pageants as well, but she stopped doing them about a year or so ago and has since turned from "girlie queen girl" to "all-out rough-and-tumble tomboy"!

Eden, meanwhile, continues to be a typical two-year-old boy: loud, adventerous, brave, and downright unpredictable.  He can get into more trouble than one can shake a stick at! LOL

Well, Elyssa wants me to watch her sing on her machine, so I will let you go.  I want to watch her perform; after all, I AM her biggest fan! :) Until next time, this is Jocelyn Jenkins saying so long; may God bless you always!

Jocelyn.  :)

~To be continued.~