Happy Birthday Kase!

9 years old.  I love that God gave this one to me.  

My best friend posted this saying recently about her daughter and I told her I'm going to steal it.  Kase "came out of the womb with boxing gloves on".  He just did.  He is always ready for a challenge or a fight which can be exhausting at times but isn't always a bad thing! 

Sports come so naturally for him.  In fact, the last time we saw my grandpa he was watching the boys shoot baskets then play football and he made his way over to me and said, "It just comes so easy for Kase, doesn't it?"  I replied, laughing, "Yes, it does. But don't tell him that! He is already confident enough as it is."

I can't think of the last time Kase played with a toy of any kind. Every waking minute he is playing football, basketball or baseball with his friends.  If he can't rally enough kids for a game, he finds at least one friends and races them around the school- Kase running and his friend on a dirt bike and Kase still wins every time.  He is fiercely loyal to his two best buddies and if you cross them, you've crossed Kase- big time.  They've got each others backs and Kase calls them "The Golden Trio". Ha. 

Watching Kase be super intense at a basketball game once (both on the court on and off) one of the team moms asked me, "Has Kase always been like this? He just never stops.  He's 100 miles an hour all the time".  The answer is yes.  Kase has always been like this and Kase will always be like this.  He's feisty and he's fiery and in a lot of ways I wish I could be like him.  He is opinionated, he doesn't worry at all what anyone else thinks of him and he's going to be competitive to a fault.  He will not let you win even if you are younger than him, or if you are a girl or even if someone says, "Kase can you go easy on me this round?" The answer is no.  He will not go easy. Ever.

Kase will say he hates haircuts but then asks for the trendiest things. Most recently he's wanted a lightning bolt on the side of his head. He is also super into pop music and knows so many more songs and lyrics than I do.  If he's ever in a mood and we turn music on, it's such a game changer for him.

Everything, including door frames, can be turned into a physical challenge. 

Kase has at least 8 best friends within a short bike ride of our house and they are here all the time.  Some of the friends' moms have texted me asking, "Should I start to pay rent at your house?" and "Shouldn't I have had to sign some adoption papers or something if my kid was going to move in with you?" At first I thought all the boys landed up at our house all the time because of our proximity to the school.  Our house is the most central of all of them.  Then I thought it was because we had a trampoline, basketball hoop, hot tub and "the best football yard".  In the end, I think the boys always end up here because that's what Kase wants.  If they ever talk about going to another house Kase always convinces the gang to stay here.  He's still a bit of a homebody like that.  And honestly, I can't complain.  For the most part I love having a house full of rowdy boys and I love being able to keep an eye on Kase and I love hearing them talk about everything from favorite movies to girls in their grade.  Someday I am sure going to miss the after-school-crazy when my kids are all grown up and my house is quiet.

Kase couldn't care less about food.  You guys, I'm serious.  I have to beg him to eat.  He's always got a football game going or a friend he wants to go get or literally anything besides food is on his mind.  We try our best to have family dinners which is hard with the big kids always off at practices and youth groups and when we do, Kase sits with us and eats a little but for the most part I truly think he would forget to eat for a whole day if I didn't make him. 

I often find myself saying things to him like, "That fight and that fire inside of you is going to take you places someday, buddy.  But today is not that day.  Today you have to go to school and follow the rules and also go to baseball and listen to your coaches and do what they say.  Please.  Just do it without questioning authority all.the.time."

This little buddy still LOVES tennis shoes.  He looks at pictures of them online, cleans them anytime they get a speck of dirt on them, and just loves shoes as much as he did back in this picture I found!

Kase was nervous before his first track club practice this year.  He has never done track before but has seen Kylee be involved with this club for years, and I was surprised to see him anxious.  He showed up a couple minutes late because of football practice but then found his group and asked me all sorts of questions.  How far do we have to run? They were doing baseline timed 400s this day so Kase watched the group before his and when it was his turn he ran his heart out and got first in his group! He was so happy. 

Kase is also trying a new 7 on 7 football thing this year. His coach texted Kent after the first practice, " Holy cow ol' Kase can chuck the pigskin.  By far our best QB tonight. Not even close." I love that others are recognizing his value as an athlete and Kase's best friend's dad told me the other day, "We all know Kase is destined for great things athletically and I think it's cool that I'll be able to say I've been watching him play backyard ball since he was 3." 

Kase squeezes every last second out of daylight.  We are all inside one night last week, settled in to watch Dude Perfect as a family when Kase said, "Please, Dad can we go out and play catch real quick first?!" Of course he had already been outside all afternoon with friends and had baseball practice too, but he is all in, all the time for all the sports.  I love this photo of him out there in his Chiefs hat, open robe, Hawkeye pants and patriotic crocs on a chilly night just wanting to get every minute of fun out of the day he possibly could.

Kent and Kase are pretty close buddies right now because they spend so much time together with all the sports.  I love it. 

Happy birthday to the coolest cool kid.  The wildest wild card.  Look out world, 9 year old Kase is coming for you!!!

Happy, happy birthday to the baby of the family.  Kael and Kylee (correctly) accuse me of babying him and letting him get away with more than they did at that age.  He can be so serious much of the time which make his moments of sweetness that much sweeter.  We love you so hard, Kaser!!!!