Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful Kael is doing well after a dental surgery earlier this week.  He is swollen but not in a lot of pain.  And he just never complains.  He's the best patient.

I'm thankful for our health.  There seems to be so much going on right now in the world and so many people hurting or sick and I'm thankful that we are all doing ok.

I'm thankful for a great cross country meet for Kylee on Monday! She has had to miss so many meets- some overlapped with volleyball, one was canceled because of weather and one she had strep throat, so this was her first meet.  It was super hot which she hates and they almost had to cancel it because they didn't have a bus driver until the last minute.  But, she finally got to race! 11th out of 183 girls AND she was the first Jaguar finished! Yay Kylee! 

I'm thankful that the weekend is near.  It's been a long one you guys. 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Here's how we spent our weekend. Friday after school the Power Four played some backyard football, per usual.  Kylee was at cross country practice, which she LOVED and Kent and my parents were on their way to Sioux City to watch Kael's football game! Later Kylee had a youth group open gym night and had the best time. I love how much she enjoys being there and she has a great group of friends to hangout with there. 

Kase and I went to Geisler Farms for an Edward Jones thing.  So great to see some of the families and it was a beautiful night!

Jags won easily! There was a humorous amount of flags thrown I guess.

When we got home, no one was more surprised then me that of all the things Kase would want to do, he chose to work on his math times tables.  

After we picked up Kylee, he even convinced her to join the fun- ha!

The next morning Kael went to work and I had registered for the Jag/Hawk 5K for our family, thinking that we could do it or not and either way it would be a donation to the School Foundation.  At the very last minute we decided to go for it! 

So proud of my runners! First place for Kylee in the 29 and under division and Kase was the first male finished under age 18!

I ran with Kase and we had fun.  Several times during the run he would slow down to a jog and ask me to hold his hand. 

I was actually trying to catch him here...that's me a ways behind him.  Ha! I kept telling him all race to pace himself thinking he would get tired but he had a huge burst of energy at the end!

A well-deserved massage after the race!

We went to the after party so we could get the medals for Kylee and also won a few raffle prizes!

Later twe went to watch our neighbor play ball at Miracle League- so fun! That afternoon we got a few things done around the house then Kase and his buddy watched the Iowa game while playing some games. 

Kent and Kael left for the Slipknot concert- more on that later- but Kase and his friend had fun hanging out then his mom took them to Pizza Ranch for supper and to play games.  They came home with all sorts of fun stuff including Invisible Ink which they had a blast with.

Later they sat in the hot tub. 

Kylee spent the entire afternoon and evening hanging out with her friends.  They met up at the park, then came back here to jump on the trampoline.  Eventually they made their way inside to watch some football games and play ping pong.  Later I picked up pizza for them then they made s'mores and hung out around the fire pit.  Much later in the evening they included Kase and Clay on a game or two of Capture the Flag then Knockout.  Fun group of kids.

At the very end of the night somehow they all ended up in Kase's room with Clay and Colby playing Madden against each other on the xBox.  Hilarious.  Kylee's friends all left by 11:00 and Clay stayed over. 

Meanwhile, Kent and Kael were having the time of their lives at Knotfest in Indianola! Kent sprung for VIP passes for them both and said it was totally worth it.  They got to stand in a special, not so crowded area plus they got sweatshirts and posters.  They both had a blast. I could not be happier for them that they had such a great time and that they have each other to enjoy it with.

Sunday morning everyone slept in then Kent and I went for a long walk. Then Kylee and I went for a drive, Kael worked on his PSAT and ACT practice tests and Kase played with his friend.  After lunch Kylee had Driver's Ed and Kael had a choir concert that he begged us not to come to.  "Seriously we sing a song in German that will last about one minute.  Please do not come." It kinda broke my heart not to be there but that's what he really wanted. He did come home like 10 minutes later!

Later he had lifting and a walk through for the JV game tomorrow and Kylee went to a friend's for birthday ice cream. Kase had football team pictures then a game! We lost, but I'm super thankful for a friend from the other team who sent me these awesome pictures of Kase! He played well.  Another dad sent me all the videos of Kase's touchdown passes and his touchdown run!

We rushed off from Kase's game to quick change at home then head to Jester Park for family pictures.  As you can see, Kase was excited. 

Ha- he may not have looked happy on the way there (jeans- ugh! a football loss-double ugh!) but pictures went so smoothly and we had a great family night grabbing pizza then ice cream on our way back home.  Family pictures are so easy with my kids' ages! And one of Kase's best friend's aunts who also happens to be a neighbor did them for us and she was great. 

Whew.  Once again we fit a lot (too much?) in this weekend.  We are all tired, but happy.  Hoping Monday is kind to us because I think we're all going to wish we had another weekend day! Ha!

 

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for the teenage kid who rolled down his car window and shouted, "Good job! Keep going!" to me while I was on a run yesterday morning.  It brightened my day.

I'm thankful for a comment from another team's baseball coach over the weekend about Kase.  He was pitching well but also made two great catches and the coach said to Kent, "Woah, you guys got Greg Maddux out there!"

I'm thankful for the beautiful weather.  I love, love, LOVE fall. 

I'm thankful for the new A/C unit we had installed for Kase's room.  It is awesome!

That's all. Have a great weekend. 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Wow are we keeping busy and having fun.  Fall sports seem to be taking over our life in the best possible way right now.  Here's how we've spent the last few days.

Kylee had a volleyball game on Thursday at SEP and they won! She played great and her new club coach even got to come see her play.

 

Kase has been so agreeable going along to all of his big siblings' games.  Road trips are a good time for him to get his school reading work done and he always seems to find a friend to play with at the games and has been doing a really good job actually sitting and watching the games too.  It doesn't hurt that he knows all the girls so well after having watched them for so many years! My dad and Keith came to watch this day too and I'm always so thankful for the big cheering section my kids always have!

Friday afternoon Kent and I left town around noon to head to Cedar Falls for the Jag football games at the UNI Dome! We had the best little date day- doing a little shopping and wandering around then grabbing an early dinner before the game.  

My favorite guy to watch the games with!

Kael got to play SO much and even got a tackle! We had a great view of the game and I know Kael thought it was so cool to play there.

I could watch him play football all day! 

Go #98!

I took a lot of pictures.  Sorry not sorry.

I am so, so thankful for Kase's friend who offered to let Kase go home with him after school so that Kent and I could head up to the early game and also super thankful for Kylee, who took over after her volleyball practice and watched Kase the rest of the night even though she wasn't feeling great.  She made him a pizza and hung out with him and even had him Face Time me on her phone when he asked if he could, "Just see Mom real quick before I go to sleep."

Kael was happy they got pizza from The OP on the bus ride home- Kent and I had stayed through about halftime but we were getting beat and knew we had an early morning the next day for a fall baseball tournament!

It felt great to be back with our Crew families. The boys only had one practice so we had set our expectations fairly low as the teams we were playing against all had been playing fall ball and one of the teams was even up a level from us all summer.

But we bounced back without missing a beat! First pitch of the game, Kase rips a triple! I just missed a photo of him flexing his muscles as he reached Kent on third. 

We had a great cheering section again!

Kase pitched during the second game and did great.  His hitting was the best I've seen from him- I think he had four or five triples, got walked once, had several singles and never struck out.  Top to bottom, every Crew player had a great day. We 8-runned two of the teams and almost 8-runned the other one but got time called. 

Winners! More medals for this awesome group of athletes. We had a new player join us and he and his family fit in so well.

These two are the best buddies. This is how they walked off the field after getting their medals.

Kael had been at work all day so when we got home and got all unpacked and cleaned up, Kent and Kael went to dinner at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse! Kent had gotten a gift card for his birthday and I knew he and Kael would enjoy it the most- plus Kent wanted to celebrate Kael for a job well done Friday night.  He even let Kael drive his truck there! 

Meanwhile at home Kylee wanted to go for a drive so once she got some practice in, we stopped at Orange Leaf to celebrate a job well done on driving and a job well done at baseball!

Kent and Kael had a great time together and a great meal.

When they got home we played some twilight backyard KanJam then watched a movie.  Family nights are the best nights.

Sunday after church we got a few things done around the house then Kylee had Driver's Ed, Kase played with a friend, Kael had lifting and team film then went to work and Kase had a football game. 

His team played great! They won easily.  He loves playing QB.  He also had a pick today! We had time to stop by my nephew's game after Kase's game and got to see him make a great play! A super long run. 

Kylee hung out with some friends (boys- insert nervous face emoji here) at the park then they came back to our house to jump on the trampoline. Just kidding about the nervous face mostly. They are good kids and Kent and I know them fairly well and honestly I'm just happy she likes hanging out at our house with them. 

After that my dad took Kylee on a nice long drive.  Or rather, Kylee took him for a drive.  They had a great time together and Kylee got a lot of good practice in! Meanwhile, Kase was at basketball skills camp.

Another busy, fun, sports-filled week ahead.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!