April Birthday Boys

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Weekend Wrap-Up

 

It was a great weekend.  Started off on Friday with Kase taking slime to school for treats for his friends.  Then Kent went and had lunch with him- he was so happy!



 

 

 

 Later that night Kent took Kase and a couple buddies to Perfect Games for laser tag and arcade games.  Kylee was at a friend's house and I got to spend the night with Kael! He drove me to dinner then we practiced parking.  He's getting really good!

 

 

 

The boys ate at Pizza Ranch, then came back to our house for cake. 

 



 

 

The cake isn't very decorated because Kase requested no whipped cream/frosting.  He loved it!

 

Saturday morning he woke to his room filled with balloons.

I made him coffee cake then he opened gifts!

 

 

Then we got word that Kael's soccer game that day was cancelled so we went to the new Avenger's movie! It was a perfect way to spend a few hours on a cold, rainy day.

 

 

Then we went to burn some energy at Climb Iowa! The kids are all getting so strong and not at all afraid of heights.  They all made it to the top several times!

 

 

 

 

We went for an early dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  Kase was so excited to sit on the saddle and get his ice cream and loved that they sang to him!

 

 

We came home and had an early night in working on Kase's new Lego set.  I think he had a great birthday!

 

Sunday morning we made poffertjes.  Partly because we couldn't find the cord to our griddle for our usual Sunday pancakes and partly because Tulip Time is next weekend and we will miss it.

 

 

After church Kent got his new grill/smoker going!

 

 

 

 

Later Kent's parents stopped by then Kael took everyone for a drive to Smoothie King.  Great to have time to talk with Keith and Cindy as they will be watching the kids while Kent and I are gone next weekend.

 

It was still pretty cold out so we hit the gym.  It felt good to play some basketball, run and lift weights.  Kael even benched 100- he was SO happy!

 

We came home and played outside a little since it had warmed up then had a nice, lazy night in.

 

Happy birthday, Kase!

Happiest of birthdays to my Kaser!

Kase lives life out loud, you guys.  He is unapologetically himself- he doesn't care if he's right or wrong.  He's rambunctious- choosing to get from point A to point B usually by jumping, spinning, cartwheeling, running, or climbing and he's got the bumps and bruises to prove it.

Kase plays all the sports, all the time with anyone who he can rally to join him.  He loves playing family kickball, he plays football at recess with the boys and occasionally tag with the girls (mostly I think he just likes having them chase him). He plays with neighbor kids nearly twice his age and has just as much fun playing Nerf guns with a sweet little three year old girl down the street. He's grown up a lot lately- the other day when a kids was calling him names, Kase decided to just come home and sit the next game out.  He told me, "I know my friend is just trying to act cool and say mean things to me when big kids are around so I'm just going to leave."  This response blew me away and really showed me how grown up Kase is getting!


Here are a few other thoughts on Kase at age seven.


He would wear new socks and shoes every day if we had the budget.  He likes his left sock higher than his right sock, his left shoe completely loose and untied but his right shoe as tight as you can possibly pull it. He goes through more outfit changes in one day than I go through in a week! He knows what he likes and right now it is anything with a Golden State logo on it. Also a giant gold chain.  He really loves his gold chain necklace.

Kase does handstands all.the.time and can hold them for so, so long.  If you come to our house, be prepared to be challenged to a hand stand contest.

I hope I always remember Kase like this.  Neon shorts (monochromatic blue if all his Steph Curry things aren't clean- I'm talking blue shorts, blue shirt and blue socks pulled up so high you can only see about an inch of skin at his knee), snaggle tooth (he finally lost a couple that were hanging on by a thread), and he's far and away the only boy in our house who would be caught dead in man tights and even man capris.

On the outside he's a total tough guy but at nighttime he sometimes says he is scared so I'll lay with him for awhile and once I walk out of his room I hear him start to pray.  He says he is thankful for literally everything in his sight ("thank you God for my family and for the sign on my wall and for the Bakugan on my night stand and also thank you for my friends and my favorite shorts") and I also hear him say, "I pray I have a happy life"  Kase keeps us on our toes, you guys.  He plays hard, he sleeps hard, and he is oh so ready for school to be done.  Can't wait to spend the weekend celebrating you, buddy! We love you!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for Bitmoji's from my kids.  Kael and Kylee both sent me the cutest texts on my birthday and their Bitmoji's look so much like themselves it's hilarious!

I'm thankful for twilight drives with my buddy! He's getting pretty good at driving me around!

I'm thankful for the Grand Blue Mile! We love this race every year!  

Kylee was nervous but excited.  

Kylee's running club!

Kase and I ran in the recreational division.  Last year he sprinted/walked/jogged so I wasn't sure what to expect this year.  He ran so fast I could hardly catch him! He finished with a time of 7:54 and definitely gave it his all!

Post-race goldfish crackers.

Kase loved being allowed to warm up with the team!

So tired after the race!

As soon as our race was done we hurried over to cheer Kylee on!

She ran her heart out and finished in 6:01! She was fourth overall in the 13 and under age division! We even heard them announcing her name over the loudspeaker as she crossed the finish line! Such a cool moment.  So proud of the work she puts in for these races!

Kase had fun running around finding mascots to take pictures with.

We are so thankful for Kylee's awesome coach!!

Running friends are the best friends!

I'm thankful for one more birthday to celebrate this weekend! It's going to be a great one!

Weekend Wrap-Up

You guys.  I have so many fun stories and pictures and memories to share from the weekend.  Here goes!

I spent my birthday evening at a track meet watching Kael.  My mom and Kase came long and I had given Kase a couple dollars for the concession stand and he came back and surprised me by bringing me birthday popcorn! He was so proud to give it to me. 

Kael ran so well! I had so much fun watching him. 

Kase busted up his lip jumping around on the bleachers and I sure didn't mind when he sat on my lap for awhile to snuggle!

 I arrived home to these cuties waiting for me to sing a birthday song as I walked in the door.  Priceless!

And, of course, more birthday surprises from Kylee.  She had asked Kent to take her to Target while I was gone and she bought me a bath bomb and some nail polish.  Also the cutest "Do It" cards.  As in, I get to hand her a card and tell her to "Do it" like "play with Kase", "sweep", "get the mail" and things like that.  So sweet and thoughtful!

Earlier in the day my coworker had gifted me some beautiful glasses! Also my boss gave me some chips, guac and salsa! She knows me so well! 

I loved this verse at the top of my devotion on my birthday- so fitting!

Friday after Kael got home from track we had just enough time to dye eggs before going to dinner.  I love that the kids still have fun doing this.  There are fewer and fewer spills each year! 

Kent and Kael spent a few minutes cramming for the driver's test.

Then we headed off to Christopher's for a belated birthday dinner!

The kids were all so good and sat so well.  The kids even sang to me when the waitress brought me out a birthday dessert!

Saturday morning Kase did some serious fort building while Kylee helped me prep some food (and she also helped him with his fort).

Meanwhile, Kent and Kael went to the DOT.  Kind of a long line but it moved fast.

And Kael PASSED!!!! I was so, SO happy for him.

He even drove home and did a great job! We were waiting and cheering for him in the driveway when he got back. What an awesome start to the weekend! He was so happy!

We spent the rest of the day celebrating Easter and April birthdays with the Patterson side.

Kael loved his card addressed to "Bloodhound" (his Apex name or something? Lucky he has a cool uncle who knows about these things.)

I love when Kase surprises me.  He has a giant gift on his lap but spent the time reading the card out loud carefully and slowly before opening the present!

He was so happy about this!

We spent the better part of the morning playing P-I-G.  We all got some exercise and some sun and were so happy.

The Brothers Patterson.

Came back to the house so Kellen could nap and we played cards and had snacks on the deck.  So thankful for that umbrella for some shade! It was getting hot out!

Then we had a fun Easter egg hunt!

What a fun day.  We wrapped up with having Grandma Cindy's famous fruit pizza in place of birthday cake.  Yum!

Sunday morning the kids were up early to see if the Easter bunny had come! Kase loved his new bat. 

Kael and Kylee loved all their surprises too.

We headed off to early church with the whole family.

Sisters!

The whole crew.

We came back to our place for Easter brunch and the April birthday celebration with my side of the family.

It was such a beautiful day out and the cousins all had fun together.

Then there was the Easter egg hunt! It's just not an egg hunt if someone doesn't put the bucket on their head. 

The kids all had so much fun running around the house looking for their color of egg!

They loved all their gifts and surprises!

Then it was time to celebrate the April birthdays!

Kael asked for B and B gift cards this year and he got them! Between all the family birthday and Easter celebrations I think he ended up with seven gift cards!

One of the biggest hits of the day was this box of money! There was a box with curling ribbon on the top and when the kids pulled on the ribbon- out came dollar after dollar! The money was taped together on each end so it looked like tickets coming out of an arcade game and they just kept coming! The kids all loved this.

Of course we had our egg cracking contest too! We did miss throwing the eggs out in my parents backyard off the deck into the creek but we still had fun.

Kent was the winner this year!

 We had some ice cream cake to celebrate before everyone went home.  Such a fun day!

Later I came up to my room and found one more surprise from Kylee! She is so thoughtful all the time.  Love the Easter gifts she left for us!

We finished our weekend by playing outside and later Kent and I went for a walk. We had an early family movie night in.  What an awesome weekend!