Kase is 14!

So many big milestones this year with birthdays it feels like! My parents are both 70 this year, Kael turned 21 and Kase is 14! He has already passed his driving test (thank heavens for the Skip the Trip option so he could take it online at home!) and is just really starting to grow up.  He recently got his braces off and is looking super grown up too.

Kase surprises me every single day. Just when I have him figured out he'll throw me a curveball (sometimes literally) and I am caught off guard.  Sometimes when I think he'll be tired or stressed after a busy week he's the exact opposite and when I think he would be worried about something (like a broken ankle) he seems totally unbothered. 

Kase has an incredibly wide circle of friends.  The other day he asked me, "Hey can you call me out of school so I can go out to lunch with some friends?" Um...no sir I cannot.  Who are you friends with that their moms are just calling them out of school so they can walk to the nearby taco shop? It makes me realize that I truly am sometimes clueless about his life outside of this house.  Which is not to say he hides things from me, he is just far and away my least talkative child.  Kase is on the go what feels like all.the.time but he definitely requires uninterrupted down time.  He'll often get in the car after a workout and say, "No questions I can't talk right now I just need a minute" and I'm thankful that he's getting mature enough to be able to explain that to me.  But it does mean that when Kase talks I try really hard to listen because it's usually about something that really matters to him or something that he really wants explained. 

Kase continues to excel at anything physical.  He just picked up snowboarding last year and this season he made it to the finals in a local competition.  Last summer he just decided one day (night actually because why not wait until the last second before daylight ends to make it even more exciting) to try to slalom and of course he just popped right out of the water and did it. He makes last second shots, he is the guy you want at bat when there are two outs and the bases are loaded. He thrives under that kind of pressure. 

School, however, is a different story.  Kase HATES school.  Honestly even the social part of it is draining for him most days.  Every year about this time I start a countdown in my head so each day I can let him know just how few days he has to endure getting up and out of bed and thrown into another stressful school day. He comes home exhausted, overstimulated and I truly just can't wait for him to have a break from it in a month or so. 

 

Kase's new favorite thing to do is try recipes he sees on TikTok so I'm forever finding my kitchen full of teenage boys because if you feed them they will come and they sure do.  Some current favorites are crispy beef tacos and spaghetti sandwiches. 

Kase has also decided to pick up golf and tennis/pickleball/ping pong because of course he has, even with a broken ankle he's out there every day hitting the ball against the wall in our garage. And he golfs nearly every night with a neighbor friend in the green space near our house- it's so funny to see them zipping around on their electric scooters- their versions of golf carts I guess. 

I just know big things are right around the corner for this guy. We love you so much, Kaser!