Nutcracker I and II

Today was a pretty crowded day, but that's what you can expect when it is December 1st!  Madison had two performances of "The Nutcracker" scheduled this morning at Pearce Auditorium.  You can see her above in between performances in a big room they call "The Black Box."  When I think of a black box, I usually think of an airline disaster, so maybe they should change the name.  Or paint the walls.  Make it "The Mauve Box" or something like that.  Anyway, she did wonderfully.  Daddy still tears up at the sight of his daughter on stage dancing.  All the performers did very well, doing a more abbreviated version of the production for a few schools that show up to see this Christmas classic each year.  When Daddy discovered there'd be available seating for the second show, he called Pastor Lance, who came right away.  He wasn't going to miss it!

Here he is with Madison, Daddy, and a few of our other KidPak friends - these girls were dancing in the "Mother Ginger" act, and they did really well also.

The intent was to drop her off and come back later to pick her up.  But Daddy decided to serve as an usher upstairs in the balcony.  I was so glad to do it, and despite seeing "The Nutcracker" twice this morning, I can't wait to see it again on Saturday.

My one regret is not being able to take as many pictures of Madison on stage, and in costume.  We'll buy the DVD and do some screen captures from that, but they won't necessarily be close-ups of Madison.  We're glad we paid a photographer to take a posed shot of her in front of the backdrop.  But the other night when they practiced at dress rehearsal, the China Dolls were not in their costumes.  So no photos that day either.  It's a minor thing, of course.

Madison's day was largely over after this, which was good news.  She needed the rest.  Nana and Ba-Ba took her out to eat at McDonald's - that's the place that Madison chose.  Also, they went for ice cream too, and then returned home to get a good night's rest.  Madison had homework to catch up on, which she did, and then of course a tiny bit of piano practice.  That's another recital that's coming up, but it's still a week off.

Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy were heavily invested in the Christmas play at Free Chapel.  This performance is Sunday night, and the costumes are all done by Mommy, who has been shopping and sewing and working very hard.  This morning, she was up at 4am, as tonight was a dress rehearsal, one that was scheduled a bit earlier than the first schedule posted.  So there was a bit of a rush today to get as much as we could in order.  But it all turned out well, I think.  It was a really late night though.  We had kids there after 10:00 pm on a school night, which is somewhat of a norm for these productions during Tech Week.

One more thing of note:  as it is December 1st, someone special showed up at our house:

He's back.  And this time it's personal!  No, seriously, Jingle Bells is back, riding in with his new friend Snowflake on a tiny sleigh.  I'm sure there'll be more of his typical hijinks to come this month.  He is an elf, after all.