The Gentry World: "The Happiest Christmas Tree"

Ready to go!!

Cheer Section

Strike a pose!

And again!

Making chocolate Santas!

They look like Santa, right?? HAHA!

Grace had her first dance recital on December 9th! How is she old enough to be up on stage dancing in a recital already?? Grace could hardly wait for several reasons: 1. She was lucky enough to have Nana, Papa, Grandma, Aunt Laura, and Reggie ALL come down for her big show!! 2. She got to FINALLY put on her tree costume and shake her patoot! And 3. She got to wear lipgloss! We were instructed to put a little blush and lipgloss on the girls so the lights wouldn't wash them out. I bought Grace her own tube of pink, strawberry-flavored lipgloss and she thought she had died and gone to heaven!

On Friday, Grace woke up early and I was praying that she would take a nap and pep up a bit. Luckily, she did and was excited and ready to go by show time! I, on the other hand, was a NERVOUS WRECK the entire day! Parents, I don't know how you keep your cool when your kids are competing or performing on a regular basis. I kept asking Grace if she wanted to practice her dance beforehand and her response was the same every time, "No. I think I'll just wait until my recital, Mommy." It was almost as if she was saying, "MOM! Chill out! I've got this!" Alright, but I practiced in my head ALL day. Am I the only mom who did this? And worse yet, does that make me a "stage mom?" NOOOOOOO!!!

We couldn't wait for Grace's cheering section to arrive in Knoxville and were SO lucky that we have family who made the 6hr road trip and took off from work to watch Grace's dance that was 1.5min!! You've got some folks who love you, kiddo!! Her dance was to "The Happiest Christmas Tree." If you haven't heard it before, you'll have to check it out here. WARNING: This song WILL get stuck in your head for DAYS on end. Proceed with caution!! Anna even starts singing along once we someone hums the tune! Let's just say it's a tad catching!!

It was finally time to head to the auditorium and I was in panic mode that we wouldn't get good seats. Should we get close enough so she can see us? Or will seeing us throw her off? We arrived to a parking lot already FULL of cars and my heart beating out of my chest thinking we would be in the balcony.
Parents were told to check their child in and then have a seat in the auditorium. Annnnd here is where my tears started. She is only THREE and I really didn't like the idea of just dropping her off backstage! But I guess there is a method behind the madness and I followed my instructions once she was safely inside her dressing room. I came out to find that my seat savers did great and we would be able to see her just fine.....SHEW!

Grace's class was up 4th in the show. Thank goodness as I'm not sure Anna would've lasted until the 30th performance! The second performance was the first class of 3yr olds and, once again, my tears started to flow. REALLY! I didn't even have a kid dancing and I was already crying!!

It was time for the trees to take the stage and they all looked so teeny-tiny up on that big ol' stage! Grace walked right up to her spot and NAILED it!! WAHOO!!! I might act like she was doing a double-back flip with a triple twist off the springboard in the Olympics, but to a mom watching her daughter's first ever big performance, it sure felt like that!! After her performance, her teachers gave them each a medal and she had the biggest grin on her face when I got to grab her and bring her back to our seats. We watched about a dozen more dances and then headed out for home. On our way out, Grace put on an impromptu performance in the hallway that included poses of every kind and even a "walking up the wall" move! HYSTERICAL!! We have some on video which you will see once Matt is finished making Grace's recital movie.

We were sad to see Mom and Dad head out early the next morning (yes, they drove ALL this way just for ONE night!!) for a Christmas party, but we got to spend another night with Grandma, Aunt Laura, and Reggie! We got in a little Christmas shopping, made some Christmas candy, AND watched the Hoosiers beat Kentucky!!! WAHOO!!!!!! And, yes, we're still watching the game and highlights!!

We had such a great weekend and cannot say THANK YOU enough to our family for coming all this way!!! While I didn't take as many pictures as I would've liked, we made some great memories!! THANK YOU AGAIN!!!