School Days and Birthdays

There is so much that I need to catch up on!  School is in full swing and we've started all of our fall activities. We now have a preschooler and 1st grader in our house!  We gained a new resident at our house, as well, with Bullseye joining us.  He doesn't have a barn yet, which I'm sure he dislikes very much, but hopefully that will change in the near future.  Nick and the kids get out to ride at least two or three times a week usually and he is a very welcome guest.  I love seeing the kids have so much fun with him and help out in taking care of him.

We celebrated birthdays in August, and Gracie and Owen each had a day to have friends over.  They both wanted to have the day to ride Bullseye with their friends, so Nick spent two afternoons doing that.  We also fit ISU fan fest into our schedule and Huxley Prairie fest activities, including the kids pedal tractor pull.  Gracie and Owen both won their divisions.  Pretty important stuff.

Bullseye's first day at our house.  Owen was leading Gracie around.  Getting him here was not the easiest task, but he seems happy and Nick and the kids definitely enjoy his company!  Thank you Grandma Deb for sharing!

Gracie's first day of school.  Gracie is not lacking activities so far this fall.  She has to log reading minutes for school and brings home words that she has to learn a practice.  She loves first grade and her teacher.  She spends Monday nights doing both gymnastics and soccer practices, Tuesdays are reserved for soccer games until the end of October, and Fridays are her dance and tumbling nights.  She loves soccer and has told me that she could play for two more hours every night.  I think she likes dance and gymnastics equally, too.  It will be hard for her to choose when she gets older, I think.  I'm glad that she likes to be so active, though.  She has finally said that she wants to learn piano, too...as long as grandma teaches her. :)

Gracie and Mom on her first day of school.

Owen and Gracie on her first day

Gracie and Owen at Prairie fest with their pedal tractor pull trophies.  They were so excited.  Owen and his friend Tate actually both had a full pull, but then they did another round will added weight.

Gracie's ISU butterfly face.  We spend a couple hours at Fan Fest before hosting Owen's birthday party at our house.

Owen is a Cy-Pirate!

Boys getting horse rides at Owen's birthday party.  It was a hot day, so we got out water guns, a sprinkler and a slip n slide for all of them.

Owen with his Spiderman cake and all his friends!

Owen's first day of preschool!  So far he's doing pretty well with it.  He was so excited on back to school night to take all of his supplies to his classroom.  Owen doesn't have many activities that he's involved in right now, but loves playing with his friends.  He wants to do wrestling, of course, when November rolls around.  He also keeps talking about doing soccer and t-ball in the spring.  He can't wait until next year, too, when he can do flag football!  I keep telling him that he needs to stop growing and just stay 4 years old.  He usually giggles and tells me that he wants to have another birthday.

Gracie and Owen at the first ISU football game.  Gracie got to take a friend since the game fell on her birthday.  They both still get excited to go to the games, although by half time, they sometimes want to leave. We still need to get up to a volleyball game because they enjoy those, also.  We have managed to get to a few Ballard football and volleyball games.

Gracie's horse cake for her birthday.

Gracie with her friends at her birthday party.

Gracie and Ryleigh being silly.

August went by so fast and here we are in October now.  What happened to September???!!!  I'll get more recent pictures posted soon with our activities.