It was a FULL few days around here!
Thursday Kylee was honored with the Gary Telford scholarship- so proud of her!
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!
I am so glad Kael was able to come home yesterday to celebrate his birthday. We went to Rube's- one of his very favorite places and it was so great to all be together to celebrate him!
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| Kylee and I were there too- I was taking the picture and she was at the head of the table on this end so I couldn't get her in the shot. |
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| My favorite strong man. |
Kael has had a busy spring with track meets and we love going to support him. So far I think we have had someone at every one of his meets! Whether it's me and/or Kent, or some of the grandparents we are so lucky to have such a village who loves Kael. And he's so easy to love. Kael is patient. Kael works hard. Kael lifts heavy things. Kael loves his family and spending time with them.
Grandma Cindy brought some fun weightlifter decorations to his party and this is something that Kael is so proud of- his strength. Getting on the leaderboard at Central was such a big goal of his and I truly couldn't be happier that he crushed that goal! He has hopes to keep moving up that board and I just know he's going to do it.
Kael continues to enjoy playing guitar and I love when he's home and get to hear him play. Every time he goes back to school I always say, "Kael it's going to be too quiet around here without you!" Kent loves when Kael is home because Kael is just fun and so easy to be around. He and Kent love playing video games or watching movies together or even just sitting around and watching sports together, talking about players and stats- which is another strength of Kael's! He is so very knowledgeable about all things sports. He would kill it in any sports trivia game.
Kael has really gotten into poker this year. He plays often with his friends at school and had a pretty big win last week! We plan to find a time once he's moved home in May to take him to Prairie Meadows and let him try his hand there now that he's 21.
We love you so much Kael and we are so proud of you! Happy 21st!!!!!
I can't believe this is the last year my April birthday boys will wake up in the same place together. It has been an absolute joy getting a picture of them together each year and seeing how they've grown.
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