A massive random catch up!

  Since the first quarter of school is over, I guess it's about time I posted about the first day of school.  The kids are loving their teachers and are off to a fabulous start!  Kelston couldn't have been more ready for kindergarten.  Although he was nervous, he has absolutely loved it.  His teacher is awesome and he has a very small class which has been great for him to get to know the other kids quickly.

  Matsen had the same teacher for kindergarten and first grade, so this is his first year of having a different teacher, which took a little adjusting, but he is doing great now!  And I can't believe Jazlyn is in her last year of elementary school, AAAHHHH!!!  She loves being the oldest kid and is also having a great year!!

 Kansas City has a fun cultural festival every year where they have booths from just about every country imaginable and you can try their food and watch traditional dances from their cultures.  This was our first time going and it was a big hit!  The kids loved getting passports and having the different booths stamp them.

  Jazlyn started viola this year with her grade's small orchestra.  She is really enjoying it and has been pretty good about practicing it and the piano still.  I have never had experience with string instruments, so it's a bit of a learning curve to learning how to take care of it, but really exciting too!

We also celebrated Jazlyn's birthday.  She's growing up into a young lady.  She's a wonderful example and help to her younger brothers.  She's still a bookworm, loves to play with friends, has learned to french braid, and is very responsible with school and always doing her very best.  I'm so grateful that I have a daughter, especially a girl as sweet and special as Jazlyn!!!

  We got a zoo pass and have enjoyed a couple of Saturdays enjoying the zoo.  The kids especially love the penguins!

  Have some recycables sitting around?  Leave it to creative Matsen to create something out of them.  This boy is always coming up with a plan and making something.  I can't wait to see what he'll be when he grows up.  He has lots of artistic talent and organizational skills going on that he definitely didn't get from his mother!

  Jazlyn is enjoying girl scouts.  They used some of their cookie selling profits to go ziplining a few months ago.  I think she was pretty nervous, but she ended up really liking it and got to have a couple of turns.

  The first time we went to a Royals game as a family.  We had a great time.  Afterwards Shelten said he wants to go to a Royals game everyday.  He thought it was the best thing ever.  I had a yucky cold that night and felt pretty bad, but it was so worth it to go just to watch the excitement on the kid's faces.

  Sometimes we get thunderstorms here that for some odd reason usually coincide right when bedtime's happening.  This particular night, Shelten went and snuggled with Jazlyn and to my utter amazement, they actually fell asleep.  And yes, he still sleeps with a binky.  Any tricks for getting rid of that painlessly?

 As a much belated birthday present, I went to an Alabama concert with Wes, one of the bands he grew up listening to.  I was not thrilled about going (just not my fav group), but it turned out to be better than I thought it would be.  And of course, it was fun just to be on a date with my wonderful husband.

  We have had the nicest fall here.  Kelston had his first pony ride and also fed the goats at a fun family farmstead close by.  The goats are so aggressive that Shelten had no interest in feeding them.  At one point, they yanked the bottle out of our hands and tipped it up in the air and fed themselves.  It was hilarious, wish I could have snatched a picture in time.

 
  Wes has recently taken up the new hobby of a fisherman.  We live really close to a couple of small lakes which makes this super convenient.  The boys, especially Kelston, think it's the greatest thing ever to go fishing with Dad.  They've caught several fish and are really bummed about it getting dark earlier now so they won't have time to go fishing on the weekdays.  This melts my heart to see them having so much fun together.

I celebrated yet another birthday, thirty something.....

And now flash forward to Halloween.  Isn't this an adorable fire fighter?  He had fun trick-or-treating, but alas, the fire fighter had not had a nap and after 30 minutes asked to go home and go to bed, to which Dad willingly obliged him and took him home while I stayed out longer with the big kids.  Amazingly, he wasn't sad or complaining about having so much less candy.

The group pictures did not go well this year.  Our fire fighter was not cooperative and left the scene (maybe to go fight a fire?),

 The boys carved their pumpkins all on their own.  They would carve things all day if I let them.

Thanks for reading this long hodge podge of catch up!