Another Christmas, Another Round of Clayton Performances

Clayton performances kept us busy again this Christmas.  As hectic as it can get, it is rewarding to watch the girls perform and showcase what they have learned during the many hours of practice.  It was an interesting set of performances because Brooke seems to have really found her niche in performing.  She is in an advanced boy/girl group called Good News and she really shined.  She remembered to smile and be enthusiastic during all her performances and never forgot to keep singing while dancing, which though it may sound obvious, is easy to forget when you are putting so much into the routine with both singing and dancing.  You notice that a lot of the performers forget to sing at times.

Brooke's group did a "Scrooge Medley."  It was absolutely darling.  The songs and the dances were adorable.  For the first time, Brooke has learned to do lifts since she performs with boys.  This is also the first group she has gotten to use handheld microphones in too.  We're really excited that she is enjoying Clayton so much.  She did fabulous and so looked forward to every performance.  The best part is she gets to go on tour to Southern California with her group in June.  My little girl is growing up way too fast.  She'll go on tour and to girls' camp this summer with the young women.  A new era is upon us.  I am trying to embrace it.  I am both looking forward to it and feeling a little sad about how much Brooke will be out of our home and busy with her own little life.  She's a great kid though and I know she will have wonderful experiences.

I promise I'm not playing favorites by having less pictures of Anna.  Truthfully I took most of the pictures with my (as opposed to Mark's) camera and the flash didn't put out enough light and I didn't have a lot of pictures to choose from.  Also, Anna has decided she doesn't enjoy Clayton anymore and she kind of "showed us" by refusing to smile or sing in most of her performances, so I didn't have many pictures of her looking happy.  Honestly, it breaks my heart because Anna is really talented at this kind of performing.

Lainie is the same bubbly, enthusiastic performer that she has always been!  She actually did the same medley this Christmas that Brooke did her first year of Clayton-or at least some of the same songs.  She even wore the same costume Brooke and Anna's group did that year with the addition of a matching hat.  I wish we had known that when costumes were ordered and we could have recycled one of the dresses. I think we already passed one of them on to D.I.  Now I guess we have two again!

This year the girls seemed to have a few less performances, which was nice I think.  Among the three of them they got to perform at a few nursing homes, Wheeler Farm, Festival of Trees, and Valley Fair Mall.  This was the first year they weren't scheduled for Zoo Lights.  I was on the fence about that one.  It's always freezing there, which makes it tough on the kids.  But it's also a fun place to go and we wouldn't make it there (and didn't this year) otherwise.  Also, I tried really hard to be on time for all of their call times this year and I did a pretty darn good job if I do say so myself.  It's amazing how much more enjoyable it makes the experience without the stress of running late.  I am trying. . . . .I really am.