What better way to celebrate than a Fondue Party.  For the last two years, my daughter has asked to have chocolate fondue at her birthday party.  She is not really a fan of birthday cake so we celebrate with fondue instead and the girlies seem to love it.

Following the fondue this group danced, danced and danced with a little karaoke.  They were really sweet, but oh what trouble we are in when they get a little older.

This year my daughter participated in a musical in mid November so she did not perform in the Nutcracker.  This did not stop us from going heading to the closest performance on Sunday.  It was so much easier to sit in the audience and watch as a spectator than it was to watch as the the parent of a dancer.  Performance week is always exhausting due to countless practices, lack of sleep and eating fast food. This year our dance teacher's daughter played the part of Clara and her niece was a baby sheep and a mouse.  Two other local teens had major roles.   We ran into lots of local people at the theater.  It was an absolutely beautiful production.  The Nutcracker has been a Christmas tradition in our family for the last ten years.   My dear little dancer cannot wait for tryouts for next year.  I guess we will be making the long drive to weekend practices- all worth it to be part of such a beautiful production.

We watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and Rose Bowl Parades each year and ooooh and ahhhh at the giant balloons and magnificent floats.  We have our own version of these fabulous affairs- the local Christmas Parade.  Churches, civic clubs, school groups, businesses and local politicians enter decorated floats and automobiles.  Every fire truck in the county is displayed and sounds every bell and whistle.  Children dart into the streets to fetch candy, beads and a few toys thrown by the folks on the floats, cars or marching groups.  Vendors sell carnival toys and local groups sell fried fish plates.  Even the local truck driving schools bring the big truck to town to show it off.

My daughter's dance studio walked in the parade- she loves her BLING!

This past weekend my friend, Amber and I attempted to make cake balls.  We both searched the internet for recipes and great instructions.   Saturday after the parade we met at her house to let the kids play and make cake balls.

The kids decided to sit in the kitchen and watch us like they would watch Rachel Ray or Paula Dean.  For some odd reason we had British accents for our debut cooking show.  The cake balls were far from perfect, but tasty.  Most of all, we entertained ourselves as well as the kiddos.  Check out Amber's much funnier post about our escapades at The Dowdy's Doings .

Our recipes:

Oreo Cake Balls from Mix and Match Mama Blog
Red Velvet Cake Balls from Kelly's Korner

Make sure you freeze the cake balls before coating in chocolate.

Many recipes suggest melting chocolate bark in microwave.  I prefer using a double boiler and melting slowly.

Sprinkles and nuts add a special touch.

Sparkling apple cider toast!

Amateur chefs!

Oreo cake balls before chocolate

Cake balls after chocolate coating and decorating.

This past weekend, my favorite tuba player tried out for district honor band. He was so excited, but also nervous. He hates to have his picture taken, but amused me a few times during the day. After the audition, he said he wasn't sure of the outcome, but at least he understands the process. He said he now knows how to prepare for next year. I am so proud of him for doing something new and different.

This week he will have a performance almost everyday. He will also attend a music festival for middle school band students. So proud of him for working so hard.

This weekend like so many others we watched the SEC championship game. While cheering on our favorite team we also celebrated birthdays for a few of our favorite people. We missed my sister in law Kate as she Was also a December baby. The cake was yummy, but our favorite treat was the Georgia cookies we baked and iced. I can't wait to make more of these cookies.

My guys just finished explaining how teams are chosen for the BCS bowl games. In a nutshell, we were robbed. Even the coach from the team we played last night agreed. Everyone knows SEC has the toughest schedule and has the best following. Bowl sponsors must be upset because some teams playing in the "big games" just do not have a following. Dedicating this post to my favorite sports nuts-Matt and Ev.