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Chad checked out one of Leah's dance classes and snapped a few photos. These pictures are shot through small glass panes in a door, so they're not the best shots, but they give an idea of the class. Here's Leah paying attention to her teacher at the beginning of class.

They play a bit with musical instruments, like the maraca she has here.

They also play with stuffed animals, moving them around and placing them in different locations like on their bellies.

Leah's got her wand and skirt on and is getting into character in the fairy dance.

Leah loves to walk on her toes, which comes in handy at dance class.

I set up a playdate at Molly's gymnastics club for Leah and some friends to play. Leah always has to sit back and watch at Molly's practice, so she was super excited to get to play this time.

She knew exactly how to freeze after jumping on the tumble track.

Leah was only willing to get in the foam pit once. After that, she was happy to play with the blocks from the side.

Hmm, might not be the best snack idea.

Leah has been constantly dancing around the house since The Nutcracker so we decided to sign her up for a dance class of her own. Molly's studio has a Creative Dance class for 2 year olds, so we're giving it a go. Here's Leah ready to go to her first class and very excited about it.

But really, who needs a class when you've got these great moves? :)

Molly's last Nutcracker performance was in the Great Room in Historic Savage Mill. It was a much fancier venue than the first 6, as it is typically used for weddings and receptions. Molly's ready to go for the Children's March with her two compadres.

Promenade two by two.

One smiley mouse ready for the battle between the Nutcracker and the Mouse Queen.

One small victory…

followed by a bit of rest...

and a different mode of transportation.

Molly smiles so much during her performances. She really enjoys it.

It was another great show,

followed by flowers for all the ballerinas. Molly was thrilled!

Molly kept up her regular ballet class in addition to her Nutcracker rehearsals and performances. The last class before Christmas was Visitor's Day, so Grams, Pop, Aunt EA, and Aunt Caroline joined Chad and I to see what they did in a typical class. I believe this was their Superman stretch.

They definitely work on balance and posture. Here Molly is balancing a bean bag on her head while standing on one foot.

Molly loves ballet and has fun at every lesson.

Here's Molly at Nutcracker performance number 4, dancing in the Children's March.

The mice may not win the battle with the soldiers, but Molly did have a small victory along the way.

Molly's shaking her tail during the closing bows.

Three little mice.

Huddle up, mice.

Here are the girls in their Children's March costumes with their dolls from the show.

There are still two more performances to go. Check out the schedule if you are interested.

We got back from Gatlinburg with only a couple hours to spare before Molly headed off to her first performance of the Nutcracker with the Columbia Chamber Ballet. Here she is in her costume for the Children's March (along with her makeup artist and littlest fan).

Dancing in the Children's March.

Molly's other scene is the Battle scene, in which she is one of the little mice.

Leah loved the performance (when Molly was on stage and when she wasn't). She was glued to it, and occasionally hopped out of her chair to mimic the dancers on stage.

Aunt EA was nice enough to hang with Leah during the performance while Chad was in back filming. Leah did occasionally take a break from watching the dancers to wave to Molly on the sidelines.

Hooray for the first performance!

One down, six more to go! If you'd like to see Molly perform, here is her schedule. I know she'd love to see you! And if you can't make one, check out the video of her first Nutcracker performance.

Saturday was picture day for soccer. We decided to get a very minimal set (just 1 team picture) of the official pictures, and just take some of our own. This was Chad's favorite.

This was Chad standing behind the photographer when Molly was having her official picture taken.

Team Dynamo (minus 1)

And then we had a game to play!

While we like to show Molly engaged in the action, the reality is that she spends a lot more time socializing/playing with other kids. We spend a lot of time telling her to go to the ball instead of talking. This game she spent a lot of time hanging out with Emily.

As you may have seen, Molly's first soccer game did not go well. The second one went much better. Here's a highlight reel of some of the best moments. Molly did great. She went into the game every time the coach told her to, and participated the entire time. After spending much of the last game on the sideline, that was a huge improvement.

It's time for soccer again. This year, Molly's not just doing clinics. She's on a team with practices and games. These are some shots from her first practice.

She's ready to go!

Excuse me, Ava.

Molly and Simon are having fun trying to chase Coach Joe to get the ball away from him.