Madeline Takes the Stage: Part 1

Nobody who has ever met her would believe it, but Maddie actually has a little bit of stage fright. Part of it might be due to the fact that I am horrible at practicing the songs with her, so she only knows them from what they rehearse in class. The other part is a shyness that only comes out when asked to perform. She is definitely not shy with people in general. So, she had the first of two Christmas performances this Sunday at church, and things went a little better than expected. She realized why she was up on stage about halfway through the first song and began to sing along and even perform the choreography. When they handed out the little jingly bell bracelets for the second song, she was so distracted by the shininess that she forgot to sing. She did, however, spot her dad and wave at him. The preschool performance is on the 11th, and we HAVE been practicing, so I am hoping for much better results. Most of the pics below are the result of me and my friend Sarah Cameron trying to get all three girls (Maddie, Josie, and Elise) to look at us and take a civilized picture. I think they thwarted us on purpose. Allow me to provide captions to illustrate how I think the conspiracy went down:

Maddie: "Ok, Elise, you look at the camera, Josie, you look away, and I'll close my eyes."

Josie: "Now, you look and smile, Maddie, I'll pretend I can't hear them, and Elise, you turn away."

Elise: "This time, Josie and I will look, but Maddie, you make a funny face."

Maddie:"Ok, the moms are almost fed up; let's all look, but nobody smile. I mean it, nobody!"

Fi, looking on: "What a bunch of incompetents!"

"Hi Daddy!"