Its been kind of a roller coaster week for us. Lilly had her first ballet performance last Saturday, part of her ballet school’s Nutcracker. Saturday was also my Grandma’s 96th birthday, so we hosted my extended family for cake and dessert at our home after dinner at a restaurant. Needless to say it was a busy day. Unfortunately for me it ended with a nasty virus that left me exhausted and nauseous for the next three days. I’m finally able to eat more than toast and soup — just in time for Christmas.
Good thing too, because our annual holiday meal involves things like beef tenderloin and creamed spinach and twice baked potatoes and, randomly but not-to-be-missed…Monkey Bread. This tradition started when I was a child. My grandmother used to order cinnamon pecan rolls from a local bakery for Christmas, but after some years the quality of the rolls diminished and we started making our own monkey bread instead. Now its just part of things and a delicious tradition at that. If you’ve never made Monkey Bread, its easy to do using Grands Biscuit Dough. You toss the biscuit pieces in cinnomon sugar, then top them with a buttery caramel sauce before baking. I add apples and cranberries to mine sometimes for a festive touch. You can find my recipe here.
For anyone wondering how Lilly did in her recital (especially if you followed our ballet class drama this fall), she was AMAZING!
This was the first time she’s ever performed in front of a crowd and this wasn’t in the dance studio or a random gymnasium. This was the ballet school’s company-wide performance of The Nutcracker, done on a serious auditorium stage at a local university. This was a BIG DEAL. I feared she might see the stage and end up in tears before it even began but, it turns out she’s a natural.
Lilly was part of Madame Ginger’s Bon Bon dance, for those familiar with the Nutcracker. She wore a smile from the minute she got on stage until the minute we left the auditorium.
She was amazing and I think it definitely sealed her interest in ballet. I don’t consider myself a crazy stage parent — if she wasn’t into it, that would have been fine, but I couldn’t help be filled with pride watching her on stage. I love my girl.
Anyway, last weekend was a whirlwind and today I’m looking forward to spending most of the day in my jammies, cooking, watching Christmas movies and getting ready for church and Christmas Eve dinner with the family tonight. Wishing you a very merry Christmas Eve!
