In her element!

And, then, every so often, a nice Christmas miracle happens.

Well, I probably should not be so quick to refer to this evening's events as miraculous, but Elizabeth's ballet performance was just wonderful.

It was her brother who freaked out.

I picked the kids up early from school so as to get them home for dinner prior to leaving for the Claremont Club, where Elizabeth had to be at 5:30 this evening. Prior to all of this, my mom agreed to pick up a couple of Happy Meals at McDonald's (yes, I know; go ahead and say it) and meet us at the house.

Elizabeth's school was my first stop, and her eyes lit up when she saw me. I love it when that happens!

"Mommy!" she proclaimed! I think she was ready to hit the road because her jacket was already on.

Then we went to get David at Foothill. Upon entering the computer class where he spends his Thursday afternoons, I called out to him, and he hopped on over to us. Elizabeth ran to him. He ran to her. If it had been in slow motion, it would have been a scene right out of a cheesy romance movie. But this was much cuter. Elizabeth jumped into his arms, David picked her up and swung her around, and attempted to carry her out of the computer lab.

David must have told his friends and teachers about Elizabeth's ballet performance, because one of his girl classmates said, "is she doing ballet?" And then Mrs. Clark mentioned that they all heard about the ballet show and that David would be leaving early.

The three of us piled into the car and headed for home. About five minutes later, Mom arrived with McDonald's in hand, and we munched in the kitchen. By 5:10, the four of us got back into the car.

When we got to the Club, I reminded David, "Sweetie, your job with Grandma Josie is to find us some good seats near the stage, okay?"

"Okay," he said. My mom sort of nodded in approval.

"But I wanna stay with Grandma Josie!" Elizabeth demanded as David and Mom headed for the tent area where the show was to be held and I nudged her toward the main building of the Club.

After a few seconds of coaxing, Elizabeth agreed to come with me. I set Mom and David off on their chair finding mission.

As soon as Elizabeth saw her lovely teacher, Miss Jessika, she lit up! We raced to the women's locker room and dressed her in her pink tights, leotard and ballet slippers. Then came the tutu. Miss Jessika and I convinced Elizabeth that it would be okay for both of us to do her hair, so as to save a bit of time.

Elizabeth's hair fell into place beautifully, and she looked like a real ballerina. A few quick photos were snapped via the phone in my camera, and I gave her a hug and kiss for luck. She waved bye-bye. I was off to find the rest of my tribe.

I got to the tent and found Mom and David at the dessert buffet table. David was piling cookies onto his plate. Mom gave me an exhausted look.

David looked quite concerned. "Mommy, why are the microphones on the stage so high?" He was referring to the microphones that had been arranged to capture the acoustics of the choir that would be singing.

"Maybe they are really tall musicians," I answered.

"But it doesn't look right!" he whined.

Mom interjected, "he's been whining and crying and wanting his mother ever since you left."

"David, what's up, buddy? C'mon!" I implored him.

"I just ... I just ... I just don't think this tent looks like a stage."

Not being able to do a whole lot about that, we grabbed the seats that mom had saved ... second row from the back. David was temporarily satiated with Christmas cookies, and lots of them. We agreed that once the ballerinas were on stage I'd sneak up closer for a few quick photos and come right back.

First, a kids' choir performed 4-5 songs; they were delightful. During this time, I saw Elizabeth being led into the tent area with the other little girls; she was happily holding on to the hand of another adult volunteer (who turned out to be Miss Jessika's own mom!) and sat politely with the others as they waited for their cue. David kept trying to get Elizabeth to notice him/us. He waved. He called out. He jumped. I asked him again to get a grip.

Elizabeth did turn around briefly and saw her brother; rather than flip out and demand to sit with us, she waved happily, and turned back around and watched the choir with her friends.

Then, the 3-4 year old ballerinas were called to the stage. Music from The Nutcracker Suite began. And the magic happened.

Elizabeth and two other girls were the first to be invited to show their two brief dance routines. Elizabeth was masterful at the part where they blow kisses and curtsy. In fact, she liked it so much, that when it was time for the next three kids to come up, Elizabeth stayed up there, looking out into the audience and smiling at her adoring fans.

At the end, each little girl was invited to show a few dance moves of her own choosing. Elizabeth showed a few arm positions and bends that were reminiscent of modern dance. Twyla Tharp would have been proud! I am completely biased but not at all ashamed to say that this girl was lovely!

I ran back to our seats after Elizabeth and friends were done, and the the three of us set off to find our starlet.

Now, some divas demand fresh flowers, Evian water, and specific brands of peeled grapes be waiting for them in their dressing rooms. All Elizabeth requested, as we got into the car to go home, was a few chocolate chip cookies from McDonald's. Wish granted!

My attempts to catch some video were not successful, but I did capture a few good shots of Elizabeth before and after the show, which are included in tonight's posting.

My two sweeties are now snuggled in for the night, having another impromptu sleepover in David's room.

An added bonus for this evening: Glen comes home for the weekend tonight!

I love Christmastime!