Fear of the Great Mouse King Overcome

Grandmama came to visit in December in order to see Abby's ballet recital (all three minutes of it). She decided to bring Santa a little early....and it was a massive hit with the kids. Little Disney backpacks with blankets inside.

They both would not take off their "bookbags" as Grandmama called them...and Ford literally started crying until we realized he wanted his blanket on him.

And the next morning was the recital, with three of her best buds.

Fordy even wore red for the occasion.

And the daddies conspired behind their daughters flowers.

Proud mamas...

The actual performance (don't blink!) right before it was over.

And it was Abby's choice for lunch afterwards. Of course, it was sushi. Brother got a drawing lesson from Grandmama.

And the very next day Grandmama and Abby and I got dressed up (furs!) and headed to the Nutcracker. The Nutcracker! I thought she'd never make it past the first 10 minutes. She was afraid of the Mouse King before we even arrived. The large bag of gummies in purse was hopefully going to send her in the right direction.

Here she is with her "glass slippers", a top knot and a fake fur. Grandmama and I loved it.

Her nerves started kicking in, just as we saw Clara when we walked in. (Since then, she has wanted to sit in a chair, with her ballet shoes on, holding a Nutcracker "just like Clara.")

Did I mention the pearls?

We left for 5 minutes to give the Mouse King his stage time and then we were back, eating all the gummies and floating on that sugar high, dancing to the music in her seat. It was a grand success.

We think we've started a family tradition.

801. December traditions
802. anticipation
803. looking forward to advent readings
804. ballet success