Oh Kenna girl - 11?  Really?!  This.  Is.  Crazy!!  

Happy birthday sweet girl!  You are such a treasure and I absolutely love having a front row seat to watching you grow up.  You are SUCH an amazing kiddo and bring so much joy and energy into each day.  No one loves a celebration more than you - you look SO forward to this day each year and are always so sad when it has to end.  You've grown up a TON in this past year.  You'll be in 6th grade in the fall and I'm SO thankful we have an Intermediate school for you to go to one more year before you make that big jump into middle school.  I hope and pray that you continue to move mountains wherever you go - your energy and your zest for life are unmatched.  I can't wait to see how God uses you in this next year.  

You LOVE a good game and this one has been on your list for some time;)

I'm SO glad I convinced you to do GOTR with me this year!  That 5k was something I didn't know I could still do and I loved every minute of pushing myself with you!

Impromptu birthday celebration with the neighbors

Those poppies!!  Must be a sign of a GOOD year to come!

This.  I love your sweet side.  Every night before bed you still go in his room and tell him good night and give him a hug.  Never stop that, ok?  

Birthday morning traditions

Did I mention you love celebrations?  Cake #3

And cake #4!!  This one was at Auntie Amy's house after our concert.  They surprised you with balloons and a cake and then absolutely LOVED on you for the next few hours.  You were in HEAVEN with all that attention and made us all laugh with your goofy antics. 

Our first concert did not disappoint!

A little more purple in that hair - you really did ROCK that look this summer!

Gosh I love you!

Our family post tax day fun!

First tourney of the year and we're bringing home some hardware!!  

You have worked your BUTT off on pitching and it is really starting to show!

Best.  GOTR.  Practice.  Ever!

Getting all fancy and taking your girls to church after a sleepover - love.  love.  love.  

Hanging with the softball girls

Oh kenna girl.... who knew you were such a rule follower?!

Remember that time you had to write a speech in 48 hours, memorize it AND you rocked it and got gold.

Oh the arm breakers!

StuCo state..... gone virtual!

Purple hair.... and a cast.  Yep, that's my kenna girl!

When you insist at stopping at Office Max to get sharpies on your way back to school after getting a cast.  

This guy.  Gosh he's crazy about you.  He'll always be your biggest cheerleader, your biggest fan, your biggest support.  And he'll ALWAYS have your back.  

Spring break at the beach (well kind of)

Proof it pays to speak up.....gosh you look amazing!

Nothing like a good baking day with Aubs

Your school spirit is THE best

Campfire with the bball girls.  I LOVE how you get along so well with so many different groups of friends!

This was a GREAT study in Ruth and I loved spending those nights with you

Never stop twinning with me ok?

You were a rockstar helping me decorate for this Valentines event at church.  "Your response after - Mom, I loved being able to order adults around".  You're such a born leader.  I love it!

A little bball hardware

Snuggles and our new favorite - the Voice!  I just love our time together watching it and hanging out.

You were so emotional packing up our offices and getting ready to move.  You soooo take after me in that regard.  So many memories at that old office!

Always the world's greatest gift getter

SO glad to see you on stage again in Best Christmas Pageant Ever

This guy absolutely adores you.  That look says it all.

Introducing Hobie Clark!

Never be too old to match your brother in snowflake jammies, ok?

Gosh I LOVE this new tradition!!

We do make a mean charcuterie board, don't we?  I'm glad I've passed that along to you!

I could go on forever with so many great memories from this past year.  You Kenna girl are a gift - you really are our gift of happiness.  Never stop being you girl.  You are AMAZING!  

Happy 11th birthday!!

Love you Kenna Girl!!

 

Happy SEVENTH birthday Alex!

Oh snuggs, the day is finally here - you're 7!

You, sweet boy are a delight.  You're sweet, thoughtful, incredibly handsome, goofy, happy, kind, smart, athletic and full of joy!  

You are the MOST excited kid I've ever met and I LOVE that about you.  Literally everything gets you excited.  When you were little you used to wiggle your hands in little circles anytime you got excited and now you just jump.  Got a hit in baseball - run to first base and jump in excitement.  Watching a baseball game, jump in excitement.  Playing nintendo, jumping on the couch in excitement.  Find out Jakey is at the front door waiting to play with you, jump in excitement.  It literally is all day long.  And I love it.  Big or small thing, you're SUPER excited.  I worked from home a lot this past year and any time you went outside, I could hear your excitement spread through the entire neighborhood constantly.  You are full of PURE joy and it really is contagious.  Every coach and teacher you've ever had has pointed out this quality in you and I would have to agree.

You LOVE all things baseball and are convinced you'll be a baseball player and an inventor when you grow up.  You're in the first grade this year and you are LOVING it!  After you went virtual when covid hit last March you weren't so sure about going back to school in the fall.  You are my homebody for sure!  You didn't mind much when the world shut down for a few months and you were left virtual learning on the ipad, playing with neighbor kids, reading, hitting your wiffle ball around in the backyard, bike riding and watching PLENTY of Dude Perfect.  So when school opened back up this fall, you were a little nervous about going back.  But you, sweet boy, are ROCKING it and LOVING it!  And I'm so proud of you for it!  Your teacher is a GREAT fit for you and is challenging you and pushing you and its really starting to show.  You came home yesterday and declared that you LOVE writing!  Which is funny because that was our BIGGEST struggle in quarantine - getting you to write.  But you worked SUPER hard this summer writing out your Bucks and Brewers scores (from last year since noone was playing) and you got SO good at it! 

Your favorite thing to do - hit the wiffle ball around in the backyard.  I think you did it just about every day during quarantine.  Here you are so impressed that there is ICE on your bat that you left outside overnight.  Never too cold to hit the ball around! Even if it is only September here....

In fact, you love wiffle ball SO much that when Mama suggested a wiffle ball birthday party you were ALL over it.  You had an absolute blast playing a pick up game with your friends and neighbors.  You skipped around the field with a HUGE smile on your face the whole time.  You were in HEAVEN!

And let's not forget when you went to open your gifts and got your very own pack of orange tic tacs!

You LOVE a good snuggle with daddy.  I love the way you both laugh SO hard when you watch TV -here you are watching Dude Perfect.  You discovered it shortly after quarantine started and I think you have watched just about every episode.  

Oh that crack...... you still can't quite figure out how to cover that up.  You may have a bit of a reputation for it these days..... Someday you'll figure out how to get those pants up all the way.  Right?!

Your first day of FIRST grade!!

Bring it on!

You ADORE this woman here.  If there is one blessing that has come out of quarantine, Hope is DEFINITELY it.  After camp shut down we were struggling to figure out a plan for the summer.  Hope was looking for a nanny job and saved the day!  She is SUCH a good fit for our family and you and Makenna both just love her to pieces.

My rockstar writer.  You are SUPER interested in all things president and assassinations and are becoming quite the little smarty pants. 

You are still loving our morning mama time, which I absolutely TREASURE.  This has been our favorite book to do, and we are on our second time through.

We were SO excited when we made it to the ballpark this year AT LAST!  It was only a Milkmen game but it felt SO good to do something normal!

Did I mention that crack?

Daddy was SO excited to coach your team once again this year.  You had a GREAT season and are SUPER exited for next year when you get to play for the JUNIOR CHARGERS!

Fishing - oh kiddo, you love to go fishing with me.  It's one of my favorite things to do with you and I wish we would have made it out a few more times this year.  I'll never forget that first "large mouth bass" you caught - lol!

Yep, this is totally you - blankie and baseball.

When you and Daddy found out the Brewer game was FINALLY on but only on MLB tv, you snuggled up and watched it on daddy's phone.

More fishing

Our one and only family covid test (so far!)  Thankfully we were all negative and after one short day of quarantine complete with binging on Dude Perfect and movies we were back in action!

I must admit this hand holding is happening less and less and that makes me a a little sad...however that quarantine haircut hair pictured here I do not miss. Oops!  Sorry, buddy!

Those eyes.......

We invested in a batting cage right when the world shut down and it saw a LOT of action this summer!

virtual learning

Your Thursday night zoom story time... in the patio deck box.... with your crack hanging out for good measure...

Let's not forget the RECORD you set in pop a shot!!

On Monday's this spring you didn't have any e-learning so we tried to get out and go into the city on adventures.  One day we found this amazing little trail by the lakefront and you and Makenna had SO much fun!

more e-learning...

Another Monday adventure..... riding bikes around Miller Park

Your first Thursday night zoom story time with your teacher

Let's not forget about your obsession with cracking open the coconut this year....

Living your BEST life

You really did LOVE quarantine.

You lost your FIRST tooth!

Oh kiddo, you are going to be a heart breaker....

Inside and out, you, sweet boy are such a gift.  

The things you say continue to crack us up on a daily basis...

"Wiffle ball is my love language"

"Wiffle ball is my happy place"

"Clamson"

"Calepittar"

"Walicha State (Wichita State"

And things you are into:

-Books, books and more books - mostly ones on the Presidents, Assasinations and baseball

-Playing outside with Jakey, playing 500 with the neighbor boys after school, lots of wiffle ball, throwing the ball against the front door, LOTS of pitching and video games when mama actually lets you play

Favorite foods:

-Orange Chicken

-Culvers

-Honey nut cheerios

Favorite shows:

Dude Perfect

Quick Pitch

Flip or Flop (with mommy)

Any sports you can find - in quarantine it was a lot of

PGA bowling with daddy

Best friends:

-Jakey

-Griffin

-Caleb R

-Will

-Ben

Happy birthday Alex!