Introducing.....

Rosabella (aka "Rosa" or "Rosie")

and

Sweetie Dawn Pilcher (aka "Sweetie")

Hailey is very proud of her wild and active kitty Rosa, and Ryan wants his Sweetie to get out from behind the washing machine! :) Much more to come when Rosa isn't sitting on my lap! :)

Saturday Live

Saturday was a BUSY day for us. It started with 2 soccer games. The kids were excited to have Grandma Buckhouse there to watch them. Once Hailey's game was over, we headed to Saturday Live. This is a HUGE carnival fundraiser for all the Billings schools. It was so nice and TONS of people out there. We had a great time. The kids got to play quiet a few games, win some candy and prizes, and then they got their hair spray painted. This was Ryan's first time. They both loved it. Of course I wasn't thinking ... they had a birthday party after Saturday live so they look GREAT in the birthday photos!!! :) And, the birthday party was a sleepover too. What a day for them (and me!). The loved every minute of it :)

Big bike

Hailey finally did it.....she is DONE with her little bike!! :) She has been riding the small bike with no training wheels, but was so worried about moving to her big bike. She cannot reach as well on the new bike. However, on Saturday, we were going for a bike ride, and I talked her into riding her new big bike. She didn't want to at first, but finally agreed after I showed her how I start and stop. She got it right away!! Now she wants to go on bike rides ALL THE TIME!! :) Great job sweetie!!!!!

Soccer girl

On Saturday, Sept 12 Hailey started her soccer games. However, her game was at 10:00 and Ryan's soccer game was at 10:00. Nice, huh? So, I wasn't at her first game (bad mommy) but took pictures at her second game! :) As 1st graders, they now have 5 players on the field (1 goalie!!) and also a much bigger field too. Hailey is #5...in the gray shirt with the pink headband on. She isn't nearly as aggressive as the other girls out there, but I am so proud of her for doing it! She wants to be out there, and does her best, and for that, I love her! :) Maybe we need to work on her aggressiveness a little, but as long as she is having fun, that is all that matters. Great job Hailey!!

Homework

Last Tuesday (9/15) Hailey was so excited....SHE GOT HOMEWORK!!! Yes, excited!! She wanted more, but only got one worksheet to do. It seems that her class requested homework from their teacher. Yes, you read that right...they requested homework. I cannot wait to show her this post in a few years....I am thinking she won't be requesting it anymore then! :)

Preschool starts

Monday, September 14 was our "last first day of preschool." So sad, but such a fun day. Ryan has been waiting and waiting and waiting for preschool to start, so he was R.E.A.D.Y!! He wanted to leave a little early, but finally it was time to go outside and take a few pictures. These pictures sure reflect the goofy boy we have!! He was being all silly...and it shows. :)

These two are my favorite. The first one shows the devil in him....perfectly! And, the second one, show my handsome little man without the fake smile! :)

We got to preschool and were unable to take a picture by the church sign as it was covered with big white banners. Bummer! Maybe a different morning we can try it again :) It was fun going into the classroom....Ryan had to go right away and check on the animals. Of course he was happy to see Simba (the guinea pig), the frog and the fish too. After a few introductions, it was time to color their own "person" to hang as decoration on the walls.

Finally, group time on the rug to hear a story while the parents went to a meeting.

After our meeting, we meet the kids outside. Ryan had to show me how he could go down the "fireman's pole." So, it was just him falling while holding on a little, but he had fun with it.

As we left, I thought Ryan would be so happy....preschool has started. However, he was the opposite....SO MAD and UPSET! I asked him why, and he told me it was because it was too short and why did they have to have such a short time on the first day! Poor kid. I reassured him that on Wednesday it would be longer as the parents wouldn't be there, so that helped him a little.

Labor Day weekend

We spent Labor Day weekend at the cabin....minus the Saturday soccer game for Ryan. We had a fun time up there, like we always do!! Saturday we got there, and were able to just play outside and have fun around the cabin. Then on Sunday the WHOLE DeCock family came to the cabin for lunch and hanging out. Now that was FUN!! They stayed most of the afternoon and we had so much fun playing games outside...and even watching Ryan and Chris have a water fight (and RYAN WON!). Monday we spent the day filling the wood box for the winter and then it was time for lunch and coming home. It was great having an extra day up there though.

Here are 2 pics from Wild Bill. It was Thomas' first time fishing...and he did very good! Ryan of course caught the first fish (the people next to us were so amazed...and wanted to keep Ryan's fish!) and then went on to catch more and more and more! :) He is a maniac when it comes to fishing.

Hunter update

On Thursday, Sept 3rd we took Hunter in for surgery. We had to make one last effort at fixing our puppy (well, he will be 9 in November, but I will always call him our puppy! :)). The vet went into his foot from the top AND the bottom and looked to see if there was anything in there that didn't look normal. We didn't expect her to find anything....but she DID! There was a fibrous tissue found by the toe that Chris has ALWAYS said was the problem and it was something that our vet has never saw before. She doesn't really know what it is, but it was something not normal so that was a positive sign for us. He came home on Thursday night and was just the normal Hunter we know and love...just a little tired! :) He looked like this all night....

Friday afternoon Chris and Hunter went to the cabin. Hunter was acting all normal and Chris took him on a little walk. Nothing bad, but just to get him out (and Hunter LOVES these walks). Then it happened.....something we haven't saw in YEARS....Hunter used his LEG!! He was walking on all 4 legs!!! Talk about a miracle. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't an instant thing, but the was touching the foot down. He would NEVER do that before! As the weekend progressed, he used it more and more. He was using it to hold the chew toys, using it to walk, and using it to help when he was going to lay down too. It was AMAZING to see!! You take a look and let me know if you agree.............

When we got home on Monday night, we took the wrapping off his foot. He isn't using it as much, but there is no padding to help him and protect the incisions (I wouldn't be walking much either if I had a big cut on the bottom AND top of my foot!!). He is still doing great and we are so happy. We are hoping this continues to improve for him and soon he will be back to "normal" .... whatever that is! :)

Soccer star

Ryan had his first soccer game on Saturday, Sept 5. He was SO EXCITED and I lost count of how many times he asked me "How much longer until my soccer game??!!?!" He did fantastic too. Went right over to warm up with the team, and sat on the bench while the other kids took their turn to play. Then, it was Ryan's turn! He got out there and was running all over. And, most importantly, he was having FUN! I didn't hear "I am tired" or "I don't want to play" or anything like that. He did want to just stand my the net a few times so we had to "encourage" him to go get the ball first! :) If you need something fun to watch, come to one of these games. I can guarantee a few laughs!!

Here is Ryan with his team at the beginning of the game..."GO TEAM!" And, him in action. Look for the RED shorts and the #7 jersey.

He doesn't look like he is having fun, does he!??! :) And, he was so excited that HE got the snack and not Hailey this time!!

Way to go Ryan!!

A new first

Well, we had another first this morning. One I didn't want to happen, but knew it would. Hailey had her first filling! :( I am SO PROUD of my little girl!!!! This cavity was only because of how the tooth grew in her mouth...not because of brushing, flossing, etc. However, it was a wake up call for me to spend more time with the kids cleaning their teeth. They have done really good with that too!

We went in at 7:30 this morning to try to get done before school started. She was amazing! I could tell she was a little nervous, but they did a FANTASTIC job explaining all the tools, noises, etc BEFORE they started. And, they did the same thing DURING the procedure too. She just stayed still and listened to them whenever they talked to her. After they were done, she told me the only time it hurt was when the dentist "poked" her in the cheek and not in the tooth like he said (this was the SHOT...but they never called it that ;) ). She did think it was funny that her mouth was asleep and she couldn't feeling anything too. She kept telling me "feel this mommy" and I had to tell her it felt the same to me, but for her she couldn't feel it.

We made it to school right after her bus did! She wasn't asking to go home or anything. Hopefully she is fine by now and feeling good. No calls from school so we should be okay for now. I am sure she will milk it when she tells Daddy and Grandma/Papa about it! :) Might be good for some ice cream tonight! :)