The Pattersons

5.11.2026

Weekend Wrap-Up

It was a FULL few days around here!

Thursday Kylee was honored with the Gary Telford scholarship- so proud of her!

Later that night we went out to fish at Big Creek- no fish but the most beautiful sunset!

Friday Kael threw at Wartburg for his last meet of the season and had a great day! Kent, my parents and his parents went to cheer him on while I did a lot of last minute party prep.

Saturday morning we were at the Albaugh Center early to get set up for Kylee's grad party! My niece Brooklyn surprised Kylee with the sweetest picture collage of them!

Party prep in full swing!

So thankful for all of our helpers!

So many accolades. What a special girl.

Quick bathroom selfie before the craziness (and wardrobe malfunction!)

Our girl. She really made the party planning so easy. She knew just what she wanted.

We had a wonderful turnout and things went so smoothly.

She got so many sweet gifts too!

Sunday morning I woke up to a lovely surprise from the family. Kylee had painted this cute banner and had encouraged her brothers to also write sweet Mother's Day notes.

Kase woke up and cut me some lilacs and presented them to me in this vase- he was so proud and it was so sweet.

It was a beautiful day so we walked to late service church together then just enjoyed the afternoon here. Later my family all came over to celebrate my mom! We had a great time sharing memories and our favorite things about Grandma!

We were all dressed in pink for our annual girls' dinner out.

We headed to Johnny's in Altoona where- surprise!- my aunt, cousins and their daughters were waiting to celebrate with us! My mom was so surprised and happy. It was just the best night and my aunt made it so special with fun games to play and memories to share and all sorts of pink gifts!

It was just the best weekend. So thankful for family and friends and just so thankful everything went so smoothly. We had a great grad party and were able to pull of a really fun surprise for my mom! Thanks to everyone who had a hand in making our weekend so special!

5.03.2026

Weekend Wrap-Up

Kael had the BEST day on Saturday, you guys! He threw hammer at the conference meet at Central (home field advantage!) and he PR'd by 2.5 meters. He was the 8th place finisher overall, top Central guy AND scored for his team! His throw was 50.38 which was so cool because he had been hoping to throw over 50 and it was just the perfect day to do it. Watching his teammates cheer him on was so awesome. I am just so, SO happy for him. Way to go, Kael buddy!!!!

Kase has been having fun practicing driving now that he has his permit. He does a great job!

Wasn't the best weekend for our baseball team but Kase got a couple hits and made some great plays in the field. One of these days we are gonna put it all together and have some more wins!

Kylee joined some friends for Prom pictures and dinner Saturday night. She didn't actually go to the Prom but some friends wanted her to come along for the earlier part of the night and she had fun!

4.27.2026

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!

4.26.2026

Weekend Wrap-Up

Fun weekend! Friday we went to watch Kael throw at Simpson. No PR's this time but it was a beautiful day and always good to see him. Later that night Kylee had a church lock-in and Kase went golfing with friends so Kent and I had an impromptu night with our friends at their house.

Saturday Kylee slept alllll day. So tired from her all-nighter. Kase was back to playing ball! And we played in town which was awesome. It was his first full tournament back and man, was it awesome! His first game he made several great defensive plays, earning him MVP- so cool!

My mom caught this hilarious picture of Kase spitting during his game! It was great having so many people there watching him and cheering him on and it was a pretty good day for the Crew. We went 1-1.

That night we celebrated Kase's birthday at Keith and Cindy's. Kase was pumped about his new skim board! Then he rode his dirt bike up to play sand volleyball with friends and we had a great time hanging out with the fam. Kylee was there for awhile too then took off to watch the sunset at Saylorville with friends.

Kylee was up early Sunday for an all day babysitting job. Kase had a baseball game and we lost so he was done for the day. We spent the rest of our day just getting stuff done around the house.

4.23.2026

Thankful Thursday

I'm so thankful for Kent and all his hard work. Last week he accomplished a huge goal of making it to Level 10 Tier 2 in his business and I'm so proud of him but honestly just so, so happy for him. Way to go, love!

Thankful for Kylee's hard work paying off too! She was inducted into the National Spanish Honor Society on Monday and I'm so proud of her!

4.19.2026

Weekend Wrap-Up

Wednesday Kase and I made the trip to Pella for a couple appointments and he humored me with a picture in front of my favorite pink tulips which were already in full bloom!

Kylee's been having fun with her youth group friends.

And Kael absolutely CRUSHED it at his track meet Thursday! There was some quick last minute shuffling with meets lately because the weather has been crummy and we lucked out with the most beautiful day!

Kael must have been feeling great because he beat his PR for discus by more than 6 meters and also beat his PR for hammer by over 4 meters! I couldn't have been happier for him. He's been a little disappointed with his throws lately so it was awesome to see him so pumped up. Way to go buddy!!! It was great that Kent and I could be there for the discus and my parents were also there. We had to go home for Kylee's senior night at track but my parents were able to stay and cheer Kael on for hammer!

It was a fun night with Kylee and honestly it has been so nice this season not having the stress and pressure of racing. Her hamstring has been bothering her still and she just hasn't been up to competing yet so we have just enjoyed cheering on her teammates!

Kent and Kase headed to Kansas City for baseball. By all accounts it was a fun weekend for them.

Saturday was my birthday and I woke up to the sweetest note Kylee had left for me. (She had left for Indiana to visit a friend at 4AM Friday morning!) And I had the nicest day- my parents came over to help me sort and organize stuff for Kylee's grad party and they were a huge help. Later Kael came home to spend the day with me. Then he and Emma invited me to join them for dinner so we went to Portofino's and it was so fun. Super kind of them to include me!

Sunday after church Kael headed back to Pella and I ran to the mall. The baseball boys had a tough day Saturday for games but Sunday played well! Kylee is still having fun in Indiana and the boys will be getting home here in a couple hours. Fun weekend! Thankful to all who made my bithday special!