Back into the swing of things -- and that means lots of fun stuff for the kids at school and at various performances culminating for the holidays. Yesterday, was Cate's first real piano recital. She's been really enjoying taking lessons this Fall. She played "Jingle Bells" and ended it with a flourish -- the full "ballet curtsy." She played well, and with confidence. It is pretty fun to see her gain confidence on stage -- she was so nervous last year when she had her first stage performance of the Nutcracker with her ballet class. She ended up actually enjoying being on stage and now looks for opportunities to be in the spotlight rather than shying away from them. If she gets nothing else from ballet, that will be enough!

It's also fun to see her enjoying music and piano. So far, we haven't gotten to the battles of practicing. She's at an early enough stage that the practice isn't too demanding, either. I hope she continues to enjoy -- maybe she'll be the one who ends up being the musical one in the family.