#kuwtp: Nutter Butter Ballerina

Tonight, our nutter butter ballerina danced in her very first version of The Nutcracker. She was absolutely beautiful...

Since she was three years old, she has been wearing one size or another of these soft, pink leather ballet slippers. While viewing ballerinas from the audience, one might think they are nothing but dainty; however, the up close and personal view speaks something altogether different!

I mean look at these shoes. They look like they do because of the often 6+ hours of ballet a week that she commits. They smell like they do because of the intensity of practice. Those wrinkles and creases and odors are there because of her dedication to something she loves. Never once when I have said, "It's time for ballet" has she whined or dropped her shoulders as a silent signal saying "Really, I'd rather not." Nope, not ever. It is part of who she is and it shows.

It shows as she flits around the house. It shows when she leaps through the Target parking lot. It shows as she twirls through the grocery aisles. It shows in her ballerina posture. And it absolutely, positively, most definitely shows when she is ever so gracefully performing on stage. While I do love watching her dance, what I really love is watching her face as she dances. I can just see it - I can see how much she loves it and that makes my heart so excited for her. She is my nutter butter ballerina.