Thankful Thursday

 I'm thankful for a great first race of the season for Kylee! She finished third place in her race and top 10 for the Jags!

I'm thankful Kent got to visit Kael on Tuesday night and take him out for dinner.  He said that Kael was happy and talked the whole time and was just great.  I'm so glad to hear he's doing well! 

Happy Thursday!

Weekend Wrap-Up

 Kase got his football pads and helmet and is excited to start practicing!

Kael saw my aunt last week- so thankful for people who can check in on Kael for me and let me know he's doing ok! 

We survived our first (half) week of school- our baseball team had bought tickets long ago for the TikTok famous Savannah Bananas! The boys all had a great time.  The team puts on quite a show! Real talk though- it was hot, crowded, and I typically love to be home the first Friday night of the first week of school if it's possible but the team had fun and that's what really matters!

Conga line on the way out. Kylee was at the Jag/Hawk football game- we lost in double overtime! Bummer! 

One of my friends who follows Central on social media spotted this pic for me and shared it to me.  Love it!

Saturday Kylee had a long run then went to the lake with her boyfriend so we took Kase and a couple friends to the pond. Clay caught this first on the first cast!

It was a great day of fishing and swimming.  These boys are getting pretty self-sufficient up there so it's nice that Kent and I can just sit back and relax and watch them have fun! My cousin stoppecd out too so it was nice to chat with him and his family.

This action shot of Kase cracks me up.

This is just the best place for pictures.  It's always so pretty up there. 

Sunday evening we had a chill night here.  Kase played with a friend and Kent played a little football with them then we all played ping pong. Later Kael sent me a picture of him and his friend sitting up on the Central thing so he must have been out having fun!

Sunday Kase slept in which he really needed.  Kent and I walked then went to late church service while Kase went fishing at the spillway with a friend.  After church we cleaned out the garage and had a ton of stuff to take to Goodwill so that was nice to get done.  Then I went to a meeting with some other college moms to plan some care packages for our kids.  Kase then had a basketball game. His team played really great! Beat a team that has beaten us in the past so that was fun. Later Kent mowed, I ran errands, Kylee had a group run and team dinner.  

I was so happy to hear from my family that they visited Kael and had a great time! They took him and his roommate out for lunch and Kael also went to watch Brooklyn's soccer game. Then they visited him in the dorms after and even played some Mario Kart.  I was thrilled to hear the said it looked and sounded like Kael was doing great and seemed happy! Love this so miuch. 

It was a busy but productive weekend and we're ready for our first full week of school! Have a great weekend everyone!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful my niece stopped by with cupcakes last week that she and Grandma Cindy made for us.  The boys had fun jumping on the trampoline with her.

I'm thankful the kids all had a good first day of school!

Love that Kael sent me this photo.

Kylee started her day with an early, hot practice but had enough time to run home quick before school to get ready!

Kase was happy to have a boy bike gang to show up to middle school with.

I'm thankful for one last summer day at the pool!

I'm thankful for these photos from the Legacy Luncheon.  So proud of Kael.

I'm thankful for how well Kase did at Back to School night! He navigated his schedule so well and even got his locker on the first try.

I'm thankful for a bountiful apple harvest and lots of helpers!

I'm thankful for a trip to Urban Air to meet up with cousins.

Have a great weekend!

Weekend Wrap-Up

 Thursday night Kase's team played a couple of great games, including tying with a team who has beat us every other time.  So proud of this buddy and how he leads his team.

Kylee had her Fall Sports night and even had her name announced on the loud speaker as a state qualifier from last year.  Fun to hear her name called out on this big night! We also watched her boyfriend's football scrimmage and he got in for a little while on varsity so that was fun.

You can tell summer is drawing to a close when Kase and his friend get desperate enough to dig into the dress up bin when they have exhausted all other options.  Hilarious.

Later Kent took Kase to the fair (Kylee was there with her boyfriend and Kael was hanging out with his best buddy one last time before school starts).  Kase held a snake!

Mandatory cup of cookies.

Then, when we were all finally together, we took Kael out for a farewell dinner.  We went to Trailside Tap where he has worked for a couple of years now and it was so fun seeing him in his element.  Everyone there wanted to talk to him and wish him well on going to college.  He was so friendly and happy and confident- just so great to see him like this right before he leaves.  The owner even paid for our whole meal and said Kael is welcome back anytime. Man I'm so proud of that kid and I just love him so much.  Thankful we got to celebrate him and be all together one last night. Kent had written Kael a really nice letter he read aloud and got a little teary eyed.  So memorable and meaningful. I did notice later that night Kylee writing Kael a good-bye letter she left on his pillow too.  I didn't read what all it said but I thought that was really special

Later he and Kylee had a youth group movie night- one last hurrah for Kael and that Junkyard group that has been such a big part of his life.  He's made a fantasy football league with them though so he will definitely stay in touch, which I love!

Saturday morning Kylee had cross country and Kael was up early to get packed up and moved to Central! We left as soon as we were ready and Keith and Cindy came over to our house to stay with Kase and bring him and Kylee to Pella when Kylee got home. 

We were greeted at Central by an awesome move in crew.  I only made one trip to the cars! Kael's roommate had moved in the day before so he had the room set up really well and it was nice that his things were all unloaded already.  Honestly the whole process was so smooth.  We did all the things- picked up student ID and parking pass, got all the electronics hooked up and connected to Wi-fi, hung a couple things on bulletin boards, bought some Central clothes from the spirit shop- really nice morning.  When Keith, Cindy, Kylee and Kase got there we pretty much had the room all settled! 

We had a legacy luncheon to go to so Keith and Cindy took Kylee and Kase to lunch at Smash Park. They had a great time. Our lunch was really nice- got to hear from the college president and took a picture for the Central magazine. 

Finished up a few more things then Kylee and Kase played a couple rounds of Mario Kart with Kael and Logan before we all headed to the root beer float social.  It was just so neat seeing Kael so friendly and outgoing, talking to anyone and everyone.  I felt so confident and content leaving him there just feeling like Central is truly the right place for him.  Hope he has the BEST year! We will sure miss him around here.

We got home and Kase had a rare afternoon with no friends around so he did what everyone would do in that situation.  Hauled a mattress out to our backyard and taught himself to do a back handspring into a backflip.  Pretty cool! That night Kylee had pool party at Garrett's then a sleepover with church friends so Kent and I took Kase to Dave and Buster's.  Fun place! He especially loved this fishing game.

Sunday Kylee and I went to late service and Kent took Kase to his annual friend's Big Creek Back to School Beach Bash! It was hot but they had a blast.

Kylee went to Starbucks with friends then out to lunch with another friend after church then headed to Garrett's for another pool party.  Kase had basketball tryouts then a couple basketball games. He played so hard.  Later he had football equipment pick up and Kent had a coaches meeting.  Busy day!

Have a great week everyone!