My Romeo

Parker was chosen to play Romeo in his fifth grade classes version of Romeo and Juliet. He was picked because of his awesome memorizing skills and because no other boy would take the part. I know that makes Parker seem like the default Romeo, but he really did an awesome job! And he was the only boy who actually memorized all of the parts for tryouts. Mrs. Taylor said that he was the best Romeo she's ever had. He added humor, expression and romance to the part. What a STUD!

The girls all wanted to be Juliet, so they rotated with each performance. Parker worked with a total of three different Juliet's. Can you blame the girls?

Even with the hordes of attention from the older girls, Parker's heart never faltered far from his true love... Emily Jane.

Elastics

Every Thursday morning we head over to the rec center for a little bit o' elastics.... or gymnastics! Kate just adores her gymnastics class and does a different routine each week. She's worked on the parallel bars, balance beam, rings, pummel horse and floor. She is a very proud girl and loves to show us her tricks at home. Kate pays attention and minds her teachers very well. And last, but not least. Kate is the cutest little bug in her class! 

THEIR PLAYIN' BASKETBALL!

YES!!! The parents of Parker and Grace are finally able to LIVE THEIR LIVES THROUGH THEIR CHILDREN! They are playing basketball and loving it! Ahhh... The glory days.

When I first told Parker that he had to play basketball on a team he totally freaked out. He told all of our extended family how I was forcing him to play and how much he disliked having his freedom taken away because of sports. Tantrums were flying out all over the place. Quite comical actually. Well, after his first practice and game HE LOVED IT! Now he shows off his "skills" to the kids in the neighborhood, scores every game, works hard at practice and just loves the sport in general. He's a boy after his parent's heart. Who knew? I did!

Grace is a total natural at seeing the court and hustling. She is the best passer on the team and is always looking for the open lane and how best to fill it. I got the privilege of coaching her cute little team and loved every minute of it. It was so fun! I think that I had a better time than she did. I'm gonna coach her teams for the rest of my life! We just have so much fun together.

That's a wrap!

Christmas Day

Chirstmas morning brought Legos, Webkinz and extremely hard to find and sold out instantly in stores..... Zhu Zhu Hamsters. Oh and let's not forget Daddy's delicious Christmas Crepes!

Legos

Merry Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Butler

Helping make the turkey dinner.

Christmas Eve With the Durrants

Parker Party With Santa

Christmas with the Parker family was a blast. It is even rumored to be the "best party ever!" We started with good food, great company and even funner things to do. The children made snow globes (my idea) with baby food jars, plastic christmas lights, glitter, beads and a bit of Mom and Dad's help with the glue guns. It was a craft that even the grown up "kids" enjoyed.

We were all surprised when we heard Aunt Janet's door bell ring and found Santa waiting on her door step with a bag full of goodies and notes to each child.

Santa had to hurry back to his work shop and after he left we went downstairs and celebrated the Chirstmas season with music, dancing and games.

We didn't forget the true reason for the season. The children preformed the nativity to the same song that their parents did when we were that age. Priceless.

Party at the Charleston

All holiday's at the Charleston are fun! We love visiting Grandma Donna on these special days. Not just because we get great tasting food and play fun games, but because we get to enjoy Grandma Donna's company and the sweet spirits of the people living at her assisted living center. Thank you, Grandma Donna, for a wonderful evening.