Ella's Stage Debut-December 19, 2008

Ella's class were the maids in the Nutcracker (yeah I didn't know their were maids in the original production either). But, their job was to come out after the party and tidy up. They did a super job! I was so proud of Ella. She was not scared a bit. She walked right out on stage and kept her eyes glued to Ms. Heather doing every move she did...on a couple second delay. This is such a big step for Ella. Just 6 mos. ago I do not think you could have gotten her out on stage like that. Her confidence is on the rise.

That red duster in Ella's hand is the other major story of the night & my major overreacting. The duster was a big part to their routine because they used it in all parts of their dance. Well, we get to the Capital backstage and seeing the other little girls running around with their dusters makes it dawn on me that I have not seen Ella's duster since we took these pictures at home. I quickly realize she left it laying in the living room & I forgot to pick it up & put it with her other stuff.

Well I quickly became one of the dreaded stage moms running around frantically trying to figure out what to do. I have never been one of THOSE type moms. Usually I am pretty laid back, but the thought of Ella being the only one on stage without that stupid little duster crushed me. She was so looking forward to this night & I wanted it to be perfect. I ran to find the stagehand to see if Ms. Heather had extras, but she was clueless & zero help. She said if there were none in the lost and found then they didn't have any.

So the other moms suggested running to the Dollar Tree to try to pick up a regular duster just to make due. I just imagined my poor Ella up there with a Swiffer Duster looking like a Proctor and Gamble commercial while the other little girls were all cutesy with their fancy red ones. I ran to find Matt and he zoomed out to search for one. In the mean time the crafty moms sprang into action with their crafty-mad momma skills (imagine MacGyver in heels.) These are definitely the type of women I would want with me in case of emergency. One found a hanger from the dry cleaners with the paper tube around it. They broke that off & started collecting red & purple feathers from the ground that had fallen off of the other girls dusters. They then took hair ties & wrapped the loose feathers to the tube. And I have to admit it looked pretty darn good.

With stage call quickly approaching I call Matt and inform him to abort 'Mission Feather Duster' and head back as quickly as possible. Within 5 minutes we were up ready to go on stage, and I just knew Matt did not make it back in time. I stood at the side of the stage bawling through the whole performance. I was so sad that her daddy was missing her first recital...all because I made him bolt for a silly duster. I was also crying because watching Ella with the big smile on her face out on that big stage made me realize how big she is getting. I can't how fast these 4 years have flown by, and that night was just a prelude to all the big changes ahead in life. Who would have thought that this whole situation would make me so emotional?

Well...as it turns out Matt had ran back into the theater with literally 30 seconds to spare. But, not without breaking every traffic law imaginable, and as he puts it, "Highly motivating a couple in the back parking lot to scurry out of his way!" I just imagine one of those scenes in a movie where a husband is trying to get his pregnant wife to the hospital before the baby is born in the car. I am surprised we didn't have law enforcement waiting for us afterwards.

Oh, and about that duster...as soon as we walk up to the stage I see Ms. Heather holding three dusters in her hands. So there really shouldn't have been a crisis at all...next time I will not trust the stage hand and go directly to the boss. No actually next time I will make a checklist & make sure there is nothing left behind at home.

(Sorry for such a long story)

Ella & the girls from her dance class.

We were very grateful for everyone that came out to support Ella in her first recital. I know it isn't the most exciting thing in the world, but I know it meant alot to us and her.