Our 14 year old!

 Zeke is 14! We had a great time celebrating him in January!  

He chose this delicious chocolate mint cake from my new Great British bake-off cookbook! 

It was very delicious! For his birthday dinner he chose BBQ Chicken pizza with olives, chips and pineapple salsa, and fruit salad!

BIRTHDAY INTERVIEW! 2/13/2026

What is your favorite color? Blue

... food? Pizza and Jelly Beans (he got 2 lbs. for his birthday!)

... movie? "The Adam Project" 

... TV show? "Grizzy and the Lemmings" 

... book? "I really enjoyed the 'City Spies' series." 

... fruit? Pears 

... animal? Elephant 

... instrument? Trombone and piano 

... YouTube channel? "This is a hard one! I like Project Air, Mark Rober, and Sheet Music Boss." 

... video game? Factorio Space Age and Minecraft 

... band or singer or favorite thing to listen to on Spotify? "Sheet Music Boss and Home Free." 

... thing to do every day? "Read a book." 

... thing to learn? "My favorite subject in school, I feel like, handwriting. In general, my Arduino class (he just started this coding class on 2/8 and received a Arduino kit for his birthday which he'd really been wanting)." 

... about Naomi? "She's cute and cuddly." 

... about Zoë? "She is artistic." 

... about Levi? "He always tries to be fair, even if it's over-the-top." 

... about Mom? "My favorite thing about Mom is that she makes us do these blogs every year." 

... about Dad? "He lets me assist him on doing jobs and stuff. I really enjoy that!" 

What do you want to be when you grow up? "A plumber, an electrician, an HVAC technician. You know, the usual stuff a kid wants to become." 

What do you like most about homeschooling? "The schedule is very calm and we're not rushed as much." 

What are you most looking forward to this year as a teenager? "I am looking forward to start saving for a car. And I look forward to moving up into high school." 

Birthday lunch at Five Guys -- yum! 

New Rocky Mountain National Park sweatshirts from Grandma! 

Our new ax-throwing game from Grandma 

I finally got around to taking Zeke to the Union Station train set-up at Christmas time. He loved it and even I was impressed at all the work and details. Zeke enjoyed explaining all the different gauges, set-ups, and things I didn't understand or truly appreciate :) 

When he's a grown-up, everyone will want to invite him for Thanksgiving because of his excellent cranberry sauce! Also, he cooks regularly for the family on Monday nights. He has learned to make Tuna Mac Cheese 'n' Peas; BBQ Chicken Pasta, Chicken Enchilada Pasta, and just regular Ground Beef and Red sauce pasta. 

Noteworthy this year: he does tons of dishes for us, as long as he's allowed to put on headphones and listen to his Spotify playlist. We support this easy trade-off! 

November butcher day up in NE. We processed half a beef which goes a long way to supply our family with quality meat for a good portion of the year! 

We finally got around to another bake-off challenge between the kids. Zeke and Naomi teamed up in October to make these Brownie Cauldrons during our Harry Potter movie month. 

He does not fear heights! He probably got up here to get a frisbee or something else accidentally thrown onto the roof! 

You can read anywhere! Including at Lake Olathe on a beautiful day when everyone else was playing in the water :P 

Your final year of middle school! It's hard to believe you will be a freshman later this year! Your diligence and responsibility has improved. Your patience and understanding have grown. You offer help more often and make many mature choices. You've begun to pull the vehicles in and out of the driveway for us. You help with repairs around the house with Dad. I think you're going to be ok after all :D 

You went to middle school camp with Restore. You seemed to really enjoy your time with the other 8th grade boys -- they were quiet and put their things away. You enjoy your small group leader, Talon, a lot too! You loved that Talon let you sit in the front seat and be part-time DJ! 

Other notable activities: you began homeschool band in September, playing trombone. You seem to really enjoy it! We've started going to Costco together on Monday nights during our together time. I like the company and you like checking out all the new products in the electronics aisle. You waited so patiently for us to enroll you in your Arduino class on Outschool. You seem to really be enjoying it and there are 2 more sessions that you can continue to learn from as the year progresses. You helped us very much during the renovations on our new house last year. You are an invaluable part of our family team! You continue to help set-up and run lights (with an adult) at Restore, about 1 time each month. SOON, you will be allowed to do it all on your own! I am both excited and nervous about this possibility, but I know you will do well and step up to the challenge. You seem to truly understand all there is to know about how it works to set up and run, so now it will be a matter of paying attention during the service and keeping everything working smoothly! I love that you are such an avid reader, you like to play around with different songs (be ear) on piano as well as add little elaborations on the songs you are assigned. I love looking out our front kitchen window and seeing you relaxing in our swing, just thinking your own thoughts. I appreciate all of your hard work, the good conversations we have, and the way God make you uniquely you! You are a great kid! Love, Mom 

Levi is 12!

 Levi Olin you are 12! We had fun celebrating you this month, although we all ended up getting sick, so your party was not quite as lively as other years. 

Birthday lunch at Kome Sushi! Your favorite! 

You chose banana cream pie doughnuts for breakfast. We made a valiant attempt and the filling was great, but the gluten-free yeast donuts were not as fluffy as I'd hoped. We'll have to keep experimenting. You enjoyed helping! 

Birthday Interview -- December 27, 2025

What is your favorite color? "Green and Gray"

 ...movie? "Family Switch" 

... tv show? "Carmen Sandiego" 

... book? "Chop Wood, Carry Water" 

... YouTube channel? "Snake Discovery" 

... favorite video game to play? "Hogwarts Legacy {he got it for Christmas}" 

... sport? "Football and basketball" 

... fruit? "Blueberries and bananas 

... animal? "Hognose snake" 

... thing to do everyday? "Playing outside, probably playing video games." 

... about Naomi? "That she's always up to do something, most of the time." 

... about Zoë? "That she plays board games with me." 

... about Zeke? "He tries to include me on his projects."  

... about Mommy? "That even if we play the same game over and over, you still like to play." 

... about Daddy? "That he includes me on building his fish tank." 

What do you want to be when you grow up? "A veterinarian." 

What do you like most about homeschooling? "That Mom helps me with school when it doesn't make sense." 

What is your favorite food? "I like BBQ Chicken pasta and pizza, pad thai." 

Anything else you want to remember about turning 12 (or are excited about)?  "That I get more stuff to do, like responsibilities; that Mom and Dad will probably say 'yes' to more things." 

We enjoyed our A&W Book Club celebrating "Treasures of the Snow". We made paper lanterns, carved soap, and ate fun snacks! 

The Splatoon cake we made for your party! 

For the fall semester you worked on a WWII project and you decided to share it with us since we celebrated your birthday on Pearl Harbor Day (December 7). 

Your Thanksgiving contribution: Green Bean Casserole. Our best one yet! 

We helped process a beef in November. You liked helping with the ground beef. 

We completed a National Parks puzzle during some of our first cold days of the fall. 

Mustache painted on at Fall Fun Day with Restore. 

Another bake-off -- you and Zoe worked together to make the Forbidden Forest cake from Harry Potter 2. 

At the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain during our family vacation in July in AR. 

You went to your first church camp at Encounter Cove, MO with the other 6th grade boys from Restore. 

Levi -- you are full of energy, zeal, and intensity for life! You awake ready to work, talk, play, move, be alive! You've begun to read morning devotionals in a book called "Catching Whimsy" by Bob Goff. I love that you come upstairs so diligently and start reading to start your day. I pray it will give you wisdom and knowledge about living well and growing closer to God. You have pursued regular work this year and walk Rubble (from our previous neighborhood) around 3 times a week; in turn, this has increased your fitness because you either ride your bike there (about a mile away) when the weather is nice or, recently, you've begun to walk all the way there and then take the walk with Rubble, and then we come to pick you up. Your goal for the coming year is to walk there and back! I'm so proud of the ways you are pursuing to be healthy and active and I pray you will continue to do so as you grow older. You are dedicated to learning in school each day, enjoying the trumpet in the homeschool band, making good progress in your piano skills, serving at church in the Kindergarten room, growing as a leader at Kick. They have invited you to begin taking the combatives class with the adults starting in 2026! I think you are ready -- you have been in jiu jitsu for 6 years, I believe, and I think you're ready to be challenged and pushed to the next level. You are an assistant instructor in Lil Champs and have just started helping in Junior Grapplers as well so I know you are making good progress even though I am not there to see it each week. You are gathering resources, doing research, and asking experts questions about getting a hognose snake. It looks like this will be happening in the coming year as well, which makes me nervous, but I think you are ready for the challenge and it will bring you lots of joy. I admire the way you move through life and I think it will be for your good as you grow into an adult -- the self-motivation, willingness to jump in and serve, the single-minded focus, and pure effort you put into all the things you pursue. I love you buddy and can't wait to see what '12' brings! Love, Mom   

 

Zoe is 10!

 Zoe Kayte turned 10 in August! So this blog post is terribly belated. But I will go for it anyway! 

New Birthday plant from Daddy 

Crossing into CO on 8/3 

Lots of fun drinks on our trip! 

Hiking around Rifle Falls State Park 

A beautiful morning to explore outside! 

The hot springs were really neat!! 

A little visit with your CO cousins! 

At the top of Sugar Loaf mountain on family vacation in AR! 

Special time with Momma 

Book Club fun at Line Creek 

Girls' Club at Spin Pizza!! 

Snowy fun! 

BIRTHDAY INTERVIEW! 11/24/25

What is your favorite color? Blue 

... food? Stuffed Peppers or Hawaiian Pizza 

... movie? "Lilo & Stitch" or "That Christmas" 

... TV show? "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" 

... book? "Paws" 

... fruit? "Blueberries and strawberries, I can't pick one, they're both equal." 

... animal? "Axolotl and cat and a turtle." 

... instrument? "Flute" 

... band or singer or favorite thing to listen to on Spotify? "K-Pop Demon Hunters" 

... thing to do every day? "Read a book." 

... thing to learn? "History" 

... about Naomi? "That she listens to me when she wants to play Barbies. Like, when I say 'I don't really want to play anymore' she says, 'Ok'... she's fine with it." 

... about Levi? "That he plays board games with me." 

... about Zeke? "That he helps me with math." 

... about Mommy? "That I bake with her and she reads me books at night." 

... about Daddy? "That we listen to LOUD music; just like it says in my baby book!" 

What do you want to be when you grow up? "A vet is what pops into mind. But also a singer, I think." 

What do you like most about homeschooling? "That I get to sleep in and that Dad cooks breakfast." 

What are you looking forward to about being 10? "That I'm in 5th grade and almost in middle school! And all the new clothes!" 

What was the best part of your 10 year old trip to Glenwood Springs? "Misty's Coffee Shop -- the s'mores steamer! And the Hot Springs! And the pizza place." 

Zoe Kayte, you are full of justice, fairness, intensity, and expressing yourself. You speak up for yourself and others, defending those you feel are being picked on or singled out. It was very interesting to go on your 10 year old trip with you and realize how different you are when you're on your own, not around your siblings. You weren't sure what decisions to make when no one else was forcing you into a decision. You were quiet and wanted to keep things pretty low key and chill. Which made both Dad and I realize you are more like him than we realized! You are really starting to express yourself more and become outspoken. You walk around at church and the kids in your class often call out to you "Hi Zoe!" Even at Kick in September, a girl walked up to me and asked if I was "Zoe's mom" :) You do a great job helping me in the kitchen and I look forward to many days in the future cooking and baking together. When you did the baking competition with Levi, you were often more cool-headed and kept telling him that everything was going to turn out just fine. You continue to wear the "Zoe-look": wide headband with ponytail, every single day. I'm not sure when this will ever change. But I continue to encourage you to try other things. And we have made some progress; during school time, you'll often have your hair down for a couple of hours which is a relief to me because I know your hair needs a break from that same position! When we were planning your 10 year old trip, I asked you what was the most important thing to you, and you told me "swimming". I was partly surprised because we don't swim a whole lot throughout the year, but then it made sense because you really do love it, I just forget about it. So we made sure to swim every day of your trip! And that seemed to make it a great trip for you! And now I'm going to look into swim lessons for over the winter so you can have time to do exercise that you love. You are starting to read chapter books on your own, but still love to snuggle with Naomi and I at night while I read to you both. Some of our favorites together have been the first two Anne of Green Gables books and the first two Harry Potter books. You love Girls' Club which we have on the first Wednesday of every month! We alternate between going out to eat + shopping and eating in + watching a show. I recently purchased "Full House" on Amazon prime so we have been watching that together for Girls' Club time and it has been a lot of fun. You really like Stephanie's character. You began playing flute for band this Fall and at first it was very challenging and I thought you might quit, but you have persevered and are doing SO WELL! You practice diligently and so, you have made excellent progress! Your tone has improved, your note reading has improved, and you look forward to going to band every Wednesday. I'm excited for your concert in a couple weeks! Zoe, I look forward to the year ahead with you and all you will say and do. You make me laugh often and I'm very thankful for that. I pray you will grow in your knowledge and understanding of God in the year to come, that you will love others well, and that you will find joy in the simple things in your life. Love, Mom  

Naomi is 8!

Naomi Irene, you are 8 years old! Let's start off with your birthday interview! 

New Birthday Bracelets 

Birthday lunch at CFA with Mommy and Daddy 

BIRTHDAY INTERVIEW! 11/16/25

What is your favorite color? Black 

... food? BBQ Chicken pizza 

... movie? "The Princess Switch" 

... TV show? "Barbie" 

... book? "Owly" 

... fruit? "Strawberries and bananas" 

... animal? Birds 

... band or singer or favorite thing to listen to on Spotify? "K-Pop" 

... thing to do every day? "Play with Barbies" 

... thing to learn? "Math"

... about Zoe? "That I play with her a lot. And she lets me." 

... about Levi? "That we're playing games!" 

... about Zeke? "That whenever I say 'can you dance with me?' he will!" <3 

... about Mommy? "That she cooks good food." 

... about Daddy? "That he gets us money." 

What do you want to be when you grow up? "A vet." 

What do you like most about homeschooling? "Because we get to stop and do something else if we want. Like if my brain is hurting, then I go do piano." 

What are you looking forward to about being 8? "That I get to sit in the front seat and I don't have to use my booster!" 

Daddy worked hard on your Barbie birthday cake! 

Family bike ride -- you did great the entire 5 miles! 

Beautiful face paint at Fall Fun Day!  

Caramel Apple Party

You enjoyed your 8 week session with Allegro KC choirs! 

You like math, Dozen a Day (piano), and reading lessons with Mommy!  

You sold lemonade for your summer business in August! 

Sleeping Beauty

We climbed to the top of Sugar Loaf mountain on our family vacation in AR! 

A fun boba summer drink from Starbucks 

Naomi, you are a bright light in our lives! You love to dance with Zeke, play games with Levi, and play Barbies with Zoe. You help me bake and cook and enjoy going to Hy-Vee with Daddy so you can get the 25 cent gumball. You had only one front tooth for over 6 months and I was starting to get worried about it, and then just in the past few weeks all the missing ones, including that front one, have popped through -- woohoo! Some of your favorite foods are chips, chicken and dumplings (which we ate for your birthday party dinner), pad thai (from Tasty Thai), and breakfast sausages dipped into the yolks of fried eggs. You have really expanded your diet this past year and are eating a greater variety of veggies and foods. You love your Dozen a Day warm-ups for piano and take great pride in practicing them daily and then teaching them to your siblings if they're struggling with one of the exercises. You continue to love babies and I hear you say "Awwww!" whenever a little baby looks at you or is nearby. I look forward to the year ahead with you and can't wait to see all the ways you change and grow (and the things that stay the same)! Love, Mommy