Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful that Kent totally came through for me (and really, for you, dear readers) with an air card so I can have internet access to get a Thankful Thursday post published on, well, Thursday.  We haven't had internet all day yesterday or today but my knight in shining armor brought this air card home from work and voila! Thankful Thursday!

I'm thankful for my smiley guys. 

This has Terry written all over it. :)

I'm thankful we got to spend one last evening with Uncle Kyle before he shipped off to South Carolina for basic training.  We're so proud of you, Kyle! We'll miss you!

I'm thankful that Kylee got to start tumbling this week. She was all smiles the whole time.

One day this week Kylee was at school, Kael was at school and I was not babysitting anyone so it was just Kase and I home alone.  I fed him, then decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. I was thankful for a little rest.

I'm thankful that even though it was raining, Kent's company outing at the I-Cubs wasn't cancelled.  His parents had come to stay with Kase and Kael was tired from a grueling day of football practice and a birthday party, so he opted to stay home too.  Kent and I enjoyed a rare, but very special evening out with just our Kylee Kay.

I'm thankful for all the insta-friends in this new neighborhood.  There is a certain easiness about friendships around here since so many of us are in the same phase of life, which, in turn makes it easy for my kids to have built-in buddies too.

I'm thankful for good doctors as my pregnant sister's blood pressure continues to be high.  Please do keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

I'm thankful for the book I'm reading, Organized Simplicity. I have the best of intentions, thinking I'll follow lots of the suggestions in the book but in reality I'm going to have to settle for being inspired and just feeling organized by reading such a book.

I'm so thankful that people trust me with their kids.  You have no idea how many people I got calls/texts from in the last couple weeks, "I have to fill in the blank, can you watch the kids for a couple hours?" or "My regular sitter bailed, can I drop my kids off with you for a little bit?" or "I'm running late, can my kid come home with you from school for a few minutes until I get there?" I absolutely love being that girl.  The one who you call when you're in a bind.  Seriously, call me.  I'm available.  One friend paid me the highest compliment, "If you can't watch my daughter I'll probably just take her with me because I really just don't trust anyone else." Awwww. :)

I'd be crazy not to mention that I'm thankful for the start of Hawkeye football season this weekend! It is Kent's absolute FAVORITE time of year and I love seeing him so happy. Plus football season just begs for family and friend get togethers and I'm anxious to try out a few new tailgating recipes.

Here's to the (almost) weekend!!!

Weekend Wrap- Up

This weekend has been one of our more productive ones as of late.  With family to see, practices to attend, errands to run, and a yard to water and seed (btw, thanks for coming back 95 degree heat) it seems like we n-e-v-e-r have a big chunk of time to dive into any house-type projects.  This week we put our noses to the grindstone and got a big start on a lot of things.

I couldn't have done any of it without Kent's help so I truly appreciated that he put aside the things he wanted to get done (he does have a big 'ol garage to organize now...) and help me with the stuff I never seem to find time/have enough hands to do.

I found this wall map on clearance at Kohl's- Kael was really exited about it.  I challenge any other seven year old to a state-naming contest against Kael.  He knows all the states, in size order from 1-50, he knows most of their capitals, knows most of the top ten states for hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes and is really hoping to extend the list of states he's been to.  Anyhow, it's been sitting around the house for more weeks than I care to admit and it took all of five minutes to put up.  :) He helped me with the placement of all the stickers and now has fun playing weatherman and gives a weather report to all who are interested.

Saturday morning between rainshowers I really needed to get out of the house and noticed some neighbors were having a garage sale.  The kids and I started walking over to check things out as Kent called jokingly over his shoulder, "Don't buy anything there! They're Nebraska fans!" I never seem to have much luck at garage sales but there happened to be lots of stuff there I  could use.  Boxes and boxes of new picture frames selling for quarters.  An umbrella stroller I can use for Kase (you might remember that our old one got stolen at the Mall of America? The nerve, right?!) and then I stumbled upon...bunk beds! I couldn't find a price sticker so I wasn't sure they were for sale, but the garage sale was almost over so the lady said, "I think I was going to ask $50 for them, but if you want them you can have them for $30".  Not only were they super inexpensive- they were literally three houses away from ours so we didn't have to mess around with getting a truck to haul them or wait for them to be delivered or anything.  I was insta-happy. Ahhh the excitement! Kael and Kylee have been dying for bunk beds since we moved in.  Kent spent Saturday afternoon (between running Kael to and from football practice and a birthday party) putting the bunk beds together and hauling the borrowed bed back to my parents' house.  He rocks.  The kids were literally beside themselves and, as I hoped, have spent hours playing on them and having "slumber parties".

I had high hopes of getting myself a Command Center all ready before the kids headed back to school so they'd have a place to put all their papers and notes when they got home from school.  A place where I could leave them reminders and hang up their school calendars.  Well, it didn't get done before school started, but this weekend it did! It's not totally finished yet but I'm so happy to have a place to catch all the school paperwork.

I have been pinning home office/front room desk ideas since before we moved in.  I have been scouring websites and all the stores in town but had not found a desk the size/shape I wanted.  Lo and behold, I send Kent to Homemakers and he comes home with The Perfect Desk, the proceeds to spend the last few hours of his beloved weekend putting it together for me.  Ahh I love him.  And I love that I FINALLY have a place to sit and do important things like...update the blog and cruise Pinterest.  ;)

The house still has (almost) nothing on the walls and no real "decorations" to speak of, but darn it we have a desk! and a place for school papers! and bunk beds! I literally could  not be happier and absolutely could not have done it without Kent.  With a new (or old) house, there's always lots to do but I am thrilled with the amount of stuff we got done this weekend.  Little by little we are most definitely making this house into our home.

I absolutely intended to post pictures of all the things mentioned above but my little Kaser is wakin' up and I can literally hear him smiling through the monitor. (Yeah, we're old school around here.  No video monitor- just the same old one we used for Kael and Kylee ;)  I'm not about to miss out on his sweet 'just woke up and am thrilled to see you, Mom' smiles, so pictures can wait.

What did you get done this weekend?

Back to School Beautiful

If there ever was a girl who was excited and ready to go to school, it's this girl.  She was up and at 'em bright and early this morning and ready (and begging) to walk out the door by 8:00 even though school didn't start until 9:00.  

She walked into school with a smile on her face and I walked out with a smile on mine too.  She's gonna be great, this one.  This girl of mine sure is something special. 

Twice a week she gets to eat lunch at school this year and she was so excited about her monkey lunchbox with a pizza lunchable inside. 

The Real Deal

Were you anticipating a post as exciting as last year's first day?

Back to school craziness has (kind of) settled in and we're finally catching our breath and falling into a rhythm.

It's a blessing and a curse living this close to the school.  I can see Kael at recess and I love that he waves at me every single time I see him.  Evidently in second grade it's still cool to wave at your mom, and honestly, for Kael, I don't think he'll ever get "too cool" to wave at me.  The Real Deal, however, is that it's tough watching him play.  He always reports that he has fun at recess but I can see he hardly ever plays with anyone.  I know that for Kael, it is enough just to find someone he knows, wave at them, or just say hi then spend the rest of recess playing alone.  Because if it were me, I'd be lonely.  I'd be looking for someone to hang out with and Kael might not be.  I have to realize that sometimes, he's happy when he's alone.  I watch some of the other kids play at recess I notice a bunch of boys his age kicking balls in the field- something Kael LOVED to do at his old school, so I mentioned it to him one night.  "I bet you'd have fun playing ball with the boys in the field," I said. His Real Deal response? "Sometimes I'm kind of shy, Mom.  I just like to play on the playground and monkey bars." 

We are blessed with an incredible support system built into this new school.  Even though Kael's not on an IEP and has no extra assistance or modifications at all throughout the day, he has so many people who are looking out for him.  Two of the neighbors have girls in second grade who, bless their hearts, always seem to be kind to Kael.  They chase him occasionally at recess and always wave at him.  They even find time to glance at our deck to wave at me. There are a couple teachers we are friends with who I know are *secretly* keeping their eyes out for Kael. The Real Deal is that in life, Kael won't always have an associate to help him out, so I have to be ok with the idea that he's just going it alone this year.

Kael came out of school yesterday and I could tell by the way he was walking that it hadn't been a great day.  Kind of a slow walk, shoulder slumped.  "Hi buddy!" I offered, enthusiastically.  "Mom, a very bad thing happened to me today. I dropped my tray at lunch." The Real Deal is that bad things happen whether you're in a new school or not.  He handled it like a trooper, from what I can gather.  And after school we had a friend over who told Kael reassuringly, "Someone drops their tray almost every single day at lunch at my school!" I could have hugged the kid to death, for saying something to brighten Kael up.  The Real Deal is that when bad things do happen, you surround yourself with people who are going to make you feel better.

Kael came out of school the other day and gave me kind of an embarrassed wave.  I noticed he was walking next to a girl I didn't recognize.  He gives me a cool shrug of the shoulder and says, "This is Eva.  She's in my class.  We're walking home together."  He proceeded to walk right on by me.  I loved it. He just looked so confident and happy. The Real Deal is that I can worry myself crazy about him but I can't change the fact that some days are going to be Drop Your Tray At Lunch days, and other days are going to be Make a New Friend and Walk Home With Her days.

We went to Kylee's open house and she just seemed so, well, old.  Mature.  Smart.  Together.  Gosh I hope she's not bored this year. Kylee's teachers told her at the open house that she will get to be the first Star Student of the year.  "We thought you could show the other kids how it's done- you'll be such a great example!" The Real Deal is that people have awfully high expectations for Kylee.  They set the bar high and she always seems to reach it. She starts school on Monday and I can't wait to see what this year has in store for my best gal.

What are you dealing with this weekend?

Kase is 4 months old!

We had Kase's four month old checkup the other day and man, was he a champ.  By the grace of God we somehow squeezed his appointment perfectly between feeding time and naptime.  He smiled and charmed his way right through the checkup.  His doctor kept commenting on how strong he was, how well he followed things, how well he noticed things, "Most kids don't do fill in the blank until their six month checkup!" she kept saying.  I smiled proudly, but tried to wait until I got home to pat myself on the back.

At four months, Kase weighs 15 pounds, 4 ounces which puts him in the 50% for weight.  He is 25 and 3/4 inches long, putting him in the 80% for height.  His head continues to top the 90%- he's such a Patterson.

Comments continue to roll in on how strikingly similar Kael and Kase look.  That tends to be the second most frequent comment- the first being, "Oh my gosh he is sooo dark complected!"

In other 4 month news, Kase HATES his car seat, LOVES being outside and eats as often as he wants. My attempts to settle him into a nice little schedule are to absolutely no avail and I'm just fine with that as long as he's happy.

Kase loves his Grandpa, and he loves his thumb.

Holy smokes, where have the last four months gone?? Love ya to death, Kase Alan.

Thankful Thursday

Whoops...I wrote this post and meant to schedule it for last Thursday.  Oh well! Here ya go...


I'm thankful the weather turned cool enough for Kase to wear a sleeper to bed.  His belly could no longer be contained in his summer jammies. :)

I'm thankful that when I wear running clothes, people (often falsely) assume I have been or am going for a run, thus excusing me for looking the way I do- you know: no makeup, hair in a ponytail every.single.day.

I'm thankful we squeezed in a trip to the fair.  Super thankful we (almost) made it to the car before the skies opened up and it started pouring!!!

I'm thankful that Kael got placed on a football team with one of his friends, whose dad is the coach.  It's going to be a great season!

I'm thankful to live in such a wonderful community.  Besides being TOTAL chaos, how cool is it that Kael got to "high five" all the high school players as they ran onto the field for their first game?

I'm thankful that my in-laws were able to stay with the kids last weekend while Kent and I enjoyed an adults-only afternoon at the I-Cubs.

Happy Thursday!

Back to School

Yesterday was the last official day of summer break and I wanted to do something fun.  We threw around a few ideas: pool, go out for lunch; then I suggested that we go shopping and pick Kael up something new for his first day of school.

"Nah. I like my old clothes," he replied.  I wasn't surprised at all by his response.  There's plenty of new stuff going on for him right now...might as well stick with clothes he's comfortable in.  Insert Super Cheesy Mom line here..."That's fine Kael! You don't need new clothes for your first day if you don't want.  Besides, the best thing you can wear is your handsome smile!" I didn't actually say that.  But I thought it. I could tell he was thinking about school so I asked him if there was anything he was excited for or nervous about.

I anticipated his response and had little mini-speeches/pep talks all ready in my head. In bold is what I thought Kael might say, in italics, my imagined responses.

I'm so excited for pepperoni pizza! No doubt! I wish I could have pizza for lunch! Lucky you!

I'm worried the other kids won't like me. Of course they'll like you- you're such a likable kid! Just be yourself and the other kids will realize what a valuable addition to the classroom you are!

What if the school work is really hard? Kael you're so smart, I know you'll do great.  And it's supposed to be a little bit difficult- if you already knew everything then you wouldn't need to go to school, right? 

What if I get lost on the way to the bathroom? You can always ask a teacher, Kael.  If there's ever anything you don't know, or anything you don't understand just ask, OK?

I didn't have to use any of my lines because Kael didn't say any of those things.  He sat quietly for a minute then finally asked, "Mom, can you tell me what PE stands for?" You bet, buddy.  That's one I can totally handle. In other words, Kael doesn't seem to be at all worried about starting a new school. Some of the things I thought he might worry about aren't even on his radar. He's going to totally rock the second grade, I can just feel it.

2 for 2nd grade. 

Yes, we really do live that close to the school! :)

His teacher is really into the "team" theme for her classroom this year. He was excited about all the sports stuff!

I've seen him come out for recess a couple times and he looks over and gives me a big wave.  I can't wait for him to get home and hear all about his first day!

Kylee Kay

I turned open Kylee's baby book to write about her birthday and realized there's not a designated spot for "5th Birthday" like there had been for the previous four birthdays.  Just one more sign that she's growing up. The next page is "First Day of School".  Kylee's fifth birthday may not have its own place in the baby book, but it was sure special anyways. :)

Here are a few pictures from the celebrations. These first pictures are from when we celebrated with my mom and dad.

My mom sure knows how to make a birthday girl feel special- just look at that pink, fancy spread!!!

Kylee requested that my mom make a lemon cake for her.  The cupcake candles top it off perfectly! 

These first few are from Kylee's actual birthday and our own family party.

Kent flew in from DC the morning of her birthday- she was so happy to see him!

Chocolate donuts at the park.  Yum.

Kylee's Red Velvet cake that she later shared with all the new neighbors. 

The next photos are from her Ice Cream themed party with friends.

Party ready! 

Kent commented that I somehow managed to assemble a Dream Team as far as birthday party guests go.  Honestly all the kids were so well-behaved! 

It was Kael who ultimately busted the pinata open.  Big brothers are awfully nice to have around. ;)

I remember when my mom made me a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with the number 5 in M & Ms so naturally I made one for Kylee.  She LOVED it, and between you and me I'm pretty sure it tasted better than the red velvet cake. 

Here are some of the toppings for the ice cream sundae bar we set up.  I didn't do such a great job with pictures and forgot to take another one once it was all set up.

Party favors.  Cutest mini ice cream poppers ever. Kudos to Kent for finding them!

Now fast forward to when we celebrated with Kent's family.

Kylee and her birthday twin, Grandma Doe. 

Seriously can you believe this cake?! Maybe you noticed that I was super impressed with it by the fifteen pictures I took of it.  

Oh she wanted this puppy so badly!

Evidently, back in the day, Grandpa used to draw pictures on all the grandkids bellies, so he drew an alligator on Kylee's.  She's totally in the club now. 

Sandwiched between two brothers, Kylee has all the middle-child personality traits:

*Kylee is F-U-N.  Seriously this girl isn't going to miss out on anything and if there isn't something fun going on, she'll make her own fun.  She has more fun than anyone I know.  I remember a few years ago when she was bouncing from one fun thing to the next I thought to myself, "Wouldn't life be so fun if you were Kylee?" And it would.

*Kylee's charming, magnetic personality just draws people to her.  When we're at a park or a pool, the kids  gravitate towards her and the parents talk about her.  Whatever 'it' is- she's got it.

*She can totally hold her own but she also knows when to give in.  She'll push Kael to the limit then back off just before he gets too upset.

*Kylee carries the weight of the world on her shoulders sometimes.  Even one of our new neighbors who had only known Kylee a couple weeks commented, "She's just an old soul." It's so true.  Mature just isn't quite the right word- she is mature but it's something more.  If you spend more than a minute talking with Kylee you'll probably feel like you're talking to someone your own age and not a five year old.  She's well spoken and she just...well, she just gets it.  She has more figured out about this world at 5 than most people do at 25.

*She has amazing energy.  Everything she does, she does it fast.  Like faster than me.  And faster than my dad.  And that's saying something.

*Kylee is nothing if not caring.  She would do anything to help someone in need and she wears her middle child peacekeeper badge proudly.

*She is emotional but poised.  Confident but questioning.  But there is one thing she never is: wrong.  Hmm...wonder where she got that from? ;)

Happy Birthday to my sweet Kylee Kay!