Christmas 2013

We had another great Christmas.  Spent Christmas Eve at Chris & Laura's house and then Christmas Day with the Potts.  I'm not sure how Christmas rolled around so fast again.  Seems like we had just had it 6 months ago and it was here again.  Oliver lost his very first tooth on Christmas night.  I told him it was pretty awesome that he lost his first tooth on Christmas.  He got so excited, his whole body started wiggling around and he waved his arms in the air and said "Well, I kind of thought I would lose my first one on Christmas since Christmas is for miracles."  He lost his second one about 6 nights later.  Between Santa and the tooth fairy the kids made out pretty well this year.

Berk's Horse Show

On November 16, Berkeley had her 3rd horse show.  She signed up for the "walk" category and won 3rd place.  It was freezing cold and windy that day and we were all frozen solid and completely numb when it was over.  She groomed Ellie, (a retired race horse) and spent all kinds of time giving her treats and preparing her for the show.  Ellie accidentally stepped on Berk's foot and Berkeley pushed and pinched her till she finally moved.  Berkeley never cried...I kept asking her if her foot was ok and if it was painful to walk on.  I was scared to take her boot off to see if it was broken.  Berkeley kept insisting it was fine and never made a peep about it.  Another little girl got stepped on by a smaller horse a couple of months ago and cried so hard we figured it was broken and has not been back to lessons since.  Not Berk, since she has been stepped on, she has fallen off Ellie twice while jumping her.  All she has done is silently cried for a minute and then Miss Sarah, her instructor, has gotten her right back up there riding again.  I can't believe it...I can't hardly watch anymore for fear it's going to send me into labor, but Berk is a hard core rider.  I think she has figured out that if she gets hurt I won't be able to handle it and won't let her ride anymore.  I think she's right :)  It's really nerve wracking to watch your 8 yr old fall off an enormous horse.  It must be in her blood though, because she can't seem to get enough!  Nice job Berkeley-you have a way with the horses and they seem to really love you.  You are one BRAVE little girl!

Berkeley's 8th Birthday

Her new show outfit.  Can she get any cuter?

Berkeley had her 8th birthday party on Nov 8.  We gave her a choice and she decided to invite 8 friends from her class.  She invited one boy who she has known since Kindergarten who actually ended up coming (brave little Brandon).  All but one came and let me tell you, it got a bit crazy!  We had pizza, cake, pinata and plenty of stuff to keep them busy, but I SOOO prefer having summer birthday parties so everyone can be outside instead of cooped up, going crazy.  She had fun and got tons of arts & crafts type presents which kept her busy for the next couple of weeks.  Next year we will limit the invites to 4 girls instead of 8.  
We bought her an official "show outfit" for when she goes to horse shows.  She loved it and looked so cute in it with her new, sassy haircut from Aunt Laura!  I can't believe she is in 2nd grade already and this year will go by in a blink, just like all the others.  How can she be 8 years old already???

Halloween 2013

For Halloween this year, Berkeley was "Bloom" from some show/movie that I've never heard of, Oliver was "Iron Man" and Finley was "Rapunzel".  We went to our old neighborhood and spent about an hour and a half, ran into some old neighbors and had a great time.  It didn't rain on us which was another huge bonus.  The kids got tons of candy and were tired out by 8:30 so we headed home to bed.  I've never been a huge fan of Halloween, but it was fun seeing all the kids and puppies roaming around in their costumes!  Gotta love it!