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! 

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for a beautiful service yesterday for Grandma Jenny.  She was such a special lady and we will miss her so much.  It was a nice day celebrating such a special grandma! I'm thankful the kids have so many wonderful memories with her.

I'm thankful the kids got to spend some time with family yesterday.  They love Kellen!

I'm thankful that Kent's family is willing to oblige when Kael wants to show how strong he is!

I'm thankful for a night catching up with my sisters on Monday night! Can't wait to spend more time with family this weekend.

I'm thankful Kase lost his tooth at school the other day.  Is there anything more exciting then getting one of those little tooth boxes? 

I'm thankful for the first dandelion bouquet  of the season.  Kase arrived home after school on Tuesday and proudly presented me with a palmful of flowers.  He also wanted to leave some for the Tooth Fairy under his pillow!

I'm thankful for all the wonderful people in my life who made my birthday special.  I woke up to the sweetest card from Kylee sitting right by my morning coffee- she had snuck down the night before to leave it.  So special.

Then Kent got home from the gym with a gift for me- the Hamilton CDs and tickets to see Hamilton on Broadway in a couple weeks.  Wow!!! I'm so excited.

At work I was gifted a few of my favorite things- chips, guac and salsa! They know me so well. After work I got to have lunch out with my parents and had the nicest time talking with them.  Tonight we're headed to Kael's track meet and I can't think of a more perfect way to finish out a birthday.  I am one lucky gal! 

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a weekend!

We kicked it off with Kylee's last volleyball practice on Wednesday night.  The girls had brownies to celebrate! 

Thursday night Kylee had a friend spend the night and they went to chalk their teacher's driveway for a fun birthday surprise.

They loved sneaking out late at night!

Friday the kids didn't have school.  We had a nice, lazy day around the house.  Baked cookie bars, built forts.

Played hide and seek- can you find Kase?!

We did get the sad news about Grandma Jenny passing away, but Kent was thankful to be able to take the afternoon off work to go up to Collins to spend some time with his family.

Friday night was Kael's party with his friends- they had fun going out for dinner, doing the arcade and seeing a movie .

Meanwhile, Kylee was playing volleyball with her friends at the gym and got served in the face and ended up chipping her tooth a little bit! Bummer! It isn't too bad though so we will be getting it looked at on Monday.

Saturday morning was Kael's actual birthday! Kent took him out for breakfast then to the DOT to try for his test.  He didn't pass and was pretty bummed but I think he's already been spending lots of time studying and will better know what to expect next time.

Kent had a Little League coaches meeting and Kael had some fun birthday visitors!

Kylee and I were at the gym all day- she and her team were playing at Regionals!

They played great all day and ended up first seed!

When we got home, Kael opened his gifts, we went out for Mexican, then home for some cookie cake! He picked our family movie that night- Guardians of the Galaxy.  It was a great night.

Sunday we headed to Drake for some more volleyball!

I just love this team and their coach!

Kase had a buddy to play with and read to between games! It was fun to get to play our friends' team in the championship!

Winners! So proud of these girls and how they played.  Kylee even had a few hits and got her hand up on a block! Fun, since she is the setter!

We went out for pizza and dessert after the tournament.  A big thank you to everyone who came out to watch her play this weekend!

When we got home, Kent and I went for a walk. The kids played outside and later Kylee and I went shopping.  What a fun weekend!

Happy birthday, Kael!

Happy birthday, Kael! 14! Gosh I just love this kid. 

We had a busy week leading up to a busy day today and Kael was so awesome and patient about waiting to truly celebrate until this evening! We were split up in all different directions today (volleyball tournament, soccer game, coaches meeting...) and I didn't even get to see Kael all day until 2:00! Thankfully Kent was able to spend the morning with him and he got to go out for lunch with my parents too and had lots of phone calls and texts from family and friends!

He's growing up so much. He really appreciated the card Kylee spent a lot of time making for him.

And he actually laughed out loud, for a long time, at the pizza card I got him. I love his sense of humor.

He's catching me, isn't he?!

So, so strong.

We had a great time watching his soccer game today! I was afraid I might miss it if Kylee's volleyball tournament ran long but they got done in enough time and we were all able to watch Kael and his team win this afternoon!

Here are a few of my favorite photos and thoughts on Kael from the last year. 

He really enjoyed our cruise vacation and especially enjoyed the freedom we let him have there. He was very respectful and very very thankful to us for letting him stay out late at the Teen's Club! Kael is the most thankful kid, ever.  He says thank you for everything, always.

Kael's sense of humor is one of my favorite things about him.  He's always up for a cheesy photo and still appreciates (rolls his eyes at) a good pun.

Kael and Kent are pretty good buddies.  As Kael continues to grow up I see a lot of Kent in him.  Their shared interest in sports, music and movies have had them spending a lot of time together lately!

Kael had so much fun at the Vikings game with Kent this year.  I love how much Kael knows about sports, athletes and sports stats. His memory continues to amaze me!

Seeing Kael dressed up just takes my breath away.  His daily outfit choice would be shorts and a t-shirt, but lately I've noticed him complaining less when I ask him to dress up.  He had a few concerts and events this year where he needed to get dressed up and he looks so handsome!

There can't have ever been another kid who complained less about an injury.  Kael never mentioned being annoyed about having a cast, or sad/disappointed/hurt when it happened.  He just took it all in stride and handled it so well.

Kael loves family time.  Spending time with relatives is really important to Kael and he equally loves having family come to events of his.  We're so lucky that so many people can make it to his sporting games, but also to special events like the Veteran's Day breakfast at school.  So many people just love Kael and I'm thankful they are willing to take the time to spend with him!

Kael is really growing up.  You guys, watching him play on our home football field last fall- the same field our high school team plays on and watching him get in on some tackles and call for the huddle- I was just so happy for him and really proud of him.

Kael is the first to admit that he enjoys football practice and he loves being part of the team but games aren't his favorite.  He's not super competitive and just loves the game of football itself.  At the same time, it means so much to him that his family is all there to watch him and he's so appreciative of everyone who comes out to support him. By chance we ended up at the same restaurant as some of his buddies after the game last night and he joined them instead of sitting with us and I could tell he felt like a million bucks being part of the group.

Fast forward to this spring and Kent and I had gone for a walk and told the boys they could go out and shoot baskets.  When Kent and I got home, I walked around the corner and immediately wondered who was at our house.  From a distance it looked like adult men but as we got closer, I realized Kase had gone in the back to play, and the adult men shooting in our driveway turned out to be Kael and his buddies.  I can't believe how much Kael has matured and has really started looking older.  He likes to measure himself back to back against anyone he think he may be *nearly* as tall as! He's hoping to catch and pass Grandpa Keith soon.

Kael really wants to pay for his own things. He likes having his own money and wants to get a job soon. I often send money with him to track meets so he can buy himself a Gatorade between races but every time he tells me, "Mom, it's fine- I have my own money I can spend!" Earlier this year he and a friend were walking home from school and Kael stopped at Smoothie King and quickly texted me asking if it was ok if he bought a smoothie for his friend too, since his friend hadn't bought any money.  He's such a thoughtful kid and would literally give you the shirt off his back.  On vacation one day I was chilly and had only a light jacket on- Kael took his own jacket off and insisted I wear it over my own while he wore only a t-shirt. It's things like this that make me so proud of the young man he's becoming.  Kent and I often say how we only have a few short years left with Kael in the house and we really want to make the most of those years.  We truly enjoy spending time with Kael and the teenage years continue to be more fun than they are challenging.  He's a great big brother- offering to carry Kase anytime we have a long ways to walk and occasionally he even carries Kylee.  He's proud of how strong he is getting and is enjoying lifting weights both at school and at the gym.

I truly feel lucky to be Kael's mom.  He's such a joy to be around.

What a special birthday- 14 years old! We will soon have another driver in the house! Kael has been out practicing a few times with Grandpa Keith.  I have no doubt in my mind that Kael will be a safe, responsible driver. 

We plan to head out for dinner soon and Kael doesn't want to make a big deal of his birthday.  He doesn't want to have anyone sing to him at a restaurant, and he doesn't really want a cake (but I did get him a mini chocolate chip cookie cake that I hope he loves). I can't wait to spend the rest of the night celebrating the awesome kid that he is!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for track season! This is Kael's first year doing track and he seems to be enjoying it! We've loved watching him.  He had an especially great leg of the 4x200 race at Valley on Tuesday!

I am thankful for running into family at the meet at Newton! We had the best time catching up with you guys!!

I'm thankful the weather has been nice for the track meets so far- looks like that's about to change.  It's supposed to be pretty cold and rainy the next few days.

I'm thankful the school year is close-ish to being over.  Kase is so done with getting up and going to school every day.

I'm thankful our April birthday fun starts soon! I've had a great time starting to get gifts and plans together for the boys.

I'm thankful for random kindness- I bought a gift card at Orange Leaf yesterday and the guy working the counter told me I could have a free fro-yo for my gift card purchase.  That made my day!

I'm thankful for dinner at Pizza Ranch with some of my dad's side of the family on Wednesday.  So good to get people together and catch up!

Happy Thursday, all!

Weekend Wrap-Up

What is it about the first few warm weather days of spring?! It felt SO good to get outside and it seemed like the whole neighborhood was out and about!

Friday night we visited Kent's grandma- she fell last week and hasn't been doing so well.  She was awake and comfortable when we were there.  Afterwards we had dinner with Kent's parents.

Saturday morning we got some things done around the house then the kids played outside for most of the day! Kylee and I met up with a group of her friends to go roller skating.  What a fun group of kids.  Then they went to a park for a little while.  In the meantime, Kent played baseball and basketball with the boys...took a group of Kase's friends to practice hitting for their upcoming season, went fishing with Kael while Kase played at a friend's house- he had a fun time with the boys!

Saturday afternoon Kael had his first soccer game of the season. I love watching him play soccer and it was such a nice day for his game! Afterwards we had dinner with my parents.  Kylee had gone to my niece's sleepover Carmen Sandiego themed birthday party and had so much fun! Cousin time is the best!

Sunday I had a book club brunch with friends.  Kent played baseball with a whole group of neighbor kids and then took our kids on a bike ride.  When I got home we went for a walk, Kase played at a friend's house and Kylee met up with some friends at the park.  Kent and Kael played some driveway basketball and we pretty much just spent the entire day outside! Later Kylee and friends got caught in a brief rainstorm and had the best time splashing around. Kael and Kase eventually joined and they spent the evening playing basketball and color tag. 

What a great weend!