April birthday boys

I hope I remember to take a picture of my two boys together every single April.  I so cherish these photos and look forward to watching Kase "catch" Kael! 

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a memorable weekend.  Kael's birthday was so much fun! We kept with the golden theme and I think he had a really great day.  Gold balloons in his room, giant gold "13" balloons, gold plates at breakfast, some gold wrapping paper- it was so sweet that Kael noticed and appreciated it all! 

The whole day was just how I think Kael hoped the day would go.  He made breakfast with Kent...

then had fun hanging around in the morning and opening presents.

Kael made cupcakes and homemade ice cream for his party!

Spent the rest of the morning playing around with new gifts.

Had lunch with family! Kael planned for us to grill burgers but it was so windy out we ended up having to grill them inside on my grill pan but it worked out just fine!

He got to spend the evening with his friends at Perfect Games.

He was happy to let the whole family tag along.

Kael's buddies were such a fun group.  Teenage boys are awesomely funny and sometimes surprisingly sweet and polite.

There was a friendly bowling competition.

And lots of {sweaty} laser tag.

Meanwhile, I babysat all the cell phones.  Ha!

When we got home Kael got a special singing birthday telegram by these neighborhood cuties!

And then we ate pizza.  Lots of pizza.

And the cupcakes! 13 candles in the words Happy Birthday!

After Kael's friends left we let him ride his new hover board in the basement for awhile.  He's really good at it! So are Kylee and Kase.  (I know.  Kase.  On a hover board.  What am I thinking?!)
Then we all sang to him and gave him an embarrassing amount of hugs at 7:51- the exact minute he was born. I was so happy for Kael and so happy for how well the day went for him.

Saturday it was cold and gloomy out.  We spent the morning getting a few things done around the house, then Keith and Cindy came to visit. They got to see everyone ride the hover board! Then Kylee, Cindy and I went to the dress shop in town and started looking for dresses for Kylee to wear in Kyle and Julia's wedding this summer.  We had some fun girl time!

Then we had lunch at El Azteca to celebrate and Kael acted embarrassed about being sang to and wearing the sombrero but I think he had fun with it.  Later that day Kase went to a friend's house and the rest of us went to the gym.  Later my parents stopped by to see our hover board skills!

Sunday morning we woke up to snow.  None of us were very excited about it but the kids did go out and have fun playing for a little while.

The net was frozen so the ball got stuck!

Later that afternoon Kael went to a movie with a friend and the rest of us went to the gym.  We spent the rest of the night relaxing.  We're sure ready for it to warm up around here!!!

Happy Birthday, Kael!

What a special day for Kael- today he turns 13! A teenager! And his golden birthday, too! Such a cool day- he turns 13 on the 13th which also happens to be Friday the 13th and a no school day! 

Here are pictures of Kael from all of his birthdays!

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Here are a few thoughts and stories on Kael at age 13. He's content to stay at home, hanging out with family.  He loves a cozy day in and says that rainy, gloomy days are often his favorite. He equally enjoys spending time with friends and has been outside nearly every day after school with a group of kids playing basketball.  Kael loves a good pun, but is now getting really into riddles.  He knows all the stats on current and past NBA players- he continually amazes me with his knowledge and memory.

His teachers report that he's always very respectful and is a good kid.  When he spends time with his grandparents, they always let me know how appreciative Kael is.  The teenage years have a reputation for being tough years but I'm not anticipating too many road bumps with Kael.  He's a happy kid who doesn't ask for a lot.

I've got some special (golden) gifts for him and we plan to spend the morning baking cupcakes and making homemade ice cream for his party with friends tonight. He's looking forward to laser tag, bowling and arcade games, and maybe most of all- pizza.  I'm really looking forward to spending time the day with my smiley, joke-telling, sports-loving teenager!

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful Kylee has a phone.  She is so sweet and appreciative and I'm really glad she has I feel more comfortable leaving her home with Kase sometimes.  Also, she has already been asked to babysit now that she has a phone.  She's so excited!

I'm thankful for spring pictures at school.  I don't always purchase them like the fall ones but seeing the kids at the end of the school year compared to the beginning is so fun.  Kase looks so grown up here!

I'm thankful for my new phone.  Learning anything new and techie is not easy for me but so far, so good!

Weekend Wrap-Up

The spring busy-ness has fully arrived at the Patterson house.  Now, if the spring weather would just show up too?! 

Kylee was certainly glad Kent was home after a one night overnight for work.  He's not gone very often and when he is, he is definitely missed.

Kylee is keeping busy with cross country and also volleyball camps.

Friday night we had a lazy night at home then Saturday we packed full of fun! We started the day with the Chamber Chill Fun Run.  It was very appropriately named- I think the temperature hovered around 20 degrees while the kids ran!

Pre-race stretching

Pattersons and Reamans, ready to run!

All kids were happy with how they finished.

And Kent and I were proud of our runners!

My friends and I had fun watching.

As soon as the race was over, we went to Uncle Kyle and Aunt Julia's to celebrate the April birthdays (Kael, me, Kase, Cindy all have birthdays in April).

Everyone made it so special.  Cindy had this awesome snack tower for Kael!

Kent and Kyle were twinning.

Kase was thrilled with his gifts!

Kael too!

This was Uncle Kyle's idea...

Truly I am overwhelmed with how thoughtful everyone is and how lucky I am to have married into such a great family.  Cindy took time to make sure everyone would have their favorite foods- Kyle and Julia were awesome hosts, and everyone really picked out gifts that were just perfect for the boys. 

Finally, it warmed up a bit and the sun came out so we went across to the park and tried out Kael's new drone! Well, technically everyone else went while I got to stay back and hold Kellen while she slept and chat with Kaity!

Love this crew.

We had to leave the party sooner than we wanted but were glad we got to spend a few hours with everyone! We dropped Kylee off at a friend's house then took Kael to a birthday party.  I'm so happy for him that he got to be a part of it and he had a really great time.

Sunday after church we bummed around home for a bit then Kent and I got new phones.  Such a learning curve for me and anything techie that is new takes so much getting used to! So I was thankful that Kent took care of most of it.  We met some friends at Trail Point to swim, then Kylee went to a friend's house and Kael's friend came here to play Nerf guns with Kael and Kase. Later we had family movie night.  It was a great weekend!