Austin's 3rd Birthday

This little boy could not wait for his birthday!

He requested strawberry cupcakes for his birthday dessert.

The following day, Grandma and Grandpa took him to Build-A-Bear for their traditional 3-year-old birthday present. Austin chose to make a dog--Chase from Paw Patrol.

Austin was very nervous about his 3yo well visit, but he did well, even while getting his blood pressure taken and the vision test. He is in the 5th percentile for his height and 21st percentile for his weight. (I'm sad that he's so short.)

One thing that people pick up on quickly is how well Austin speaks in complete sentences with a high level of vocabulary. He says things frequently that impress Matt and me. He loves to volunteer to say prayers and says them independently. After his older brothers all leave for school, he says, "And now it's just me and Mommy." I love spending time with him each day. Austin loves to sing his ABCs and read books and help me bake.

Time Out For Women 2018

A big thank you to all our husbands for letting us have a weekend away!

We did some shopping and enjoyed Jason's Deli for Dinner on Friday night.

Friday night listening to the speakers. My favorite was probably Tom Christofferson--loved the message but his delivery was a bit sleepy. 

Kari put together a cute bag full of snacks, gum, pen, notebook, and these relaxing/nourishing face masks!

Saturday my favorite speaker was the last: Laurel Day. I also really enjoyed S. Michael Wilcox's message about analyzing Christ's questions in the book of John. City of Enoch also had great music.

Any chance to have a break from "Mom" duties feels awesome, but it's even better to spend time with these awesome ladies and be spiritually fed. So fun to bond!

Six Flags Amusement Park

With my parents home from their mission, Matt and I did took advantage of a weekend away at Six Flags at the end of July. The kids were so jealous that we promised we would take them at the end of the summer. So on September 18th, it was their turn to go to the amusement park. To say they were excited was an understatement. 

Just finished the first ride and ready to run to the next one!

Bryson and I on a pirate ship

Bryson driving a car

Austin and I in the backseat as passengers

 Jared and his family decided to join us which helped for switching off and taking turns on rides.

A boat ride

This wigged Caleb out!

When Matt and I went in July, we splurged and bought a fast pass so we spent less time waiting in line. The downside was that there wasn't much of a break between rides, and after the 3rd spinning ride in a row, I almost threw up. I was done for the rest of the day. All the rides just caught up to me! We ended up leaving an hour earlier than we planned on, but we did ride all the rides! We planned to ride some rides again but didn't because I wasn't feeling well.

Going with the kids, I was careful to take breaks between rides so that I wouldn't feel that awful again. However, both Caleb and Carter got sick like I did. They both had headaches and Carter actually did throw up in some bushes. We were all tuckered out and left at 4pm. The boys were bummed that they didn't get to ride one ride that shut down early because someone had a heart-attack on it. There were about 5 rides they missed out riding because they weren't feeling well. :( Because we did the driving and the park all in one day, it made for one LONG day. I have to add that Carter threw-up again in the car on the way home--not fun. The boys are already asking to go back though!

Caleb's 11th Birthday

A big change in our family recently is that Matt is now a seminary teacher and coordinator. So he is at the church every morning at 5:40 am encouraging kids to go to class and filling in for teachers as needed. He usually goes straight to work from seminary but came home on Caleb's birthday after class so that Caleb could open his presents. 

Caleb is playing soccer this fall for his sport-of-choice.

This kid is getting quite good at ping pong.

I met Caleb for lunch with some Chick-Fil-A at school and then a friend came over to play after school. I made his birthday request for dinner: beef stroganoff this year. He also surprised me by requesting banana cream pie for his birthday dessert.

Grandma and Grandpa joined us for dessert.

He ended the night by going to scouts, his first time as an eleven-year-old scout. (He was less than thrilled to spend his birthday in this way.)

We love Caleb so much! He is such a great kid and so well-rounded. He is a good example to his younger brothers and very responsible when we leave him in charge. 

Caleb's Book 3 Suzuki Recital

On August 12, Caleb had his book 3 Suzuki Recital. I forgot to take a picture the night of with his piano teacher, but here is Caleb a few days later with his certificate. These recitals are a big deal because he plays the entire book of songs memorized and polished with great attention to detail. A huge feat!! Caleb does have a tendency to rush, so his sonatinas got faster on the runs. He also completely blanked in the middle of one of his songs and forgot what came next. But overall he did amazing. He is so talented and works so hard!

First Day of School 2018

Bryson was really excited for his first day of kindergarten until he actually went to school. The day was long and a few little things upset him: the teacher asking him to stop doing something that wasn't actually him doing it and getting in trouble for lining up at the wrong time. There have been a few mornings where he absolutely refused to go to school because he just wanted a break. Going 5 days this past week was tough.

Carter and Caleb have both adjusted well, but they both don't like the number of hours spent at school each day. Carter has been very patient with biking with Bryson to and from school each day.

About 10 days before school started, Bryson finally learned to ride a bike! It wasn't his fault that it took him so long; we didn't do a good job of consistently teaching/practicing with him. Any time we did family walks or outings, he rode his scooter. He has done very well riding to and from school each day. The scary part is that there is a lot of bike traffic each morning/afternoon on a small sidewalk. He has had one accident where he rode into the grass to avoid crashing into someone, but when he tried to get back onto the sidewalk, he fell and skinned his knee badly due to the different level of sidewalk/grass at that one part. It was one of the reasons he refused to go to school the next day.

Austin and I have been adjusting to hanging out just the two of us at home. We do something fun each day (outing or playdate) and then he helps me tackle a cleaning/organizing project in the house. With a year off of teaching preschool, my to-do list is long for things I want to accomplish this school year!

Family Vacation 2018 Part 2

Wednesday night, Matt arrived with his uncle's wave runners so that was our Thursday activity!

Matt and Austin on a short slow ride.

Matt and Bryson

Waiting for turns on the wave runners!

Friday we went to Inner Space Cavern

 Water balloon fight and launch

 

Relaxing in the outdoor pavilion

Gavin, Benson, Morgan, Carter

Austin and Carter

 Benson and Carter

Me and Benson 

Family Pictures

While playing on the water mat by the boat dock waiting for a turn on the jet skis, Caleb caught a lip to the elbow so I took him to the Urgent Care on Saturday for some stitches.

 Before shots--bite on the inside and outside that we were worried initially was a tooth that cut through the lip.

After stitches

(looks worse than before because of the shots)

He was a champ! This was our first set of stitches in a house full of boys!

The Shurtliff family vacation is something we look forward to every year. We had a great time with cousins and family. :)