Happy 14th Birthday, Kellen and Kai

Happy 14th Birthday, Kellen and Kai! 

They are full-on middle-of-the-road teenagers now. They are best friends and never quite worst enemies.

 Both:

-have found joy in writing short stories

-complete their school mostly on time and without direct supervision or having to be told to, though they do still need a regular check in to make sure all the boxes are checked and completed

-really like to stay up late and sleep in (many school days they need a nudge out of bed at 8:00 from Mom)

-have begun taking showers every day on their own volition (yay!)

-shake hands on Sunday with everyone they meet. They carry around a small finger counter and compete with each other for who can get the most handshakes

Kellen:

Height: 68 inches (5ft 8in)

Weight: 126.0 pounds

-still loves baking (cookies, especially)

-goes out on his own to seek out friends to hang out with

-doesn't LOVE playing the piano, but seems to enjoy playing the fast pieces he has learned

-is not afraid of speaking in front of people

-has serious drive and motivation when he finds something he wants to do

-wants to be a dentist when he grows up

Kai:

Height: 67.5 inches (5ft 7.5in)

Weight: 121.2 pounds

-still loves reading, though is now often found playing video games with Kellen

-will go out bike riding on his own to explore the neighborhood and visit their "collection station" in the undeveloped parts of a nearby neighborhood

-loves Scouting and has goals of achieving Star rank by January 2027 (currently is 2nd class and receiving 1st class 2 days after turning 14, 14 months after joining scouts)

-has been reading to Emily while working on getting the Reading Merit Badge

-loves space and exploring and learning about space, stars, galaxies, astronauts, etc.

This year was a family birthday celebration year. The first gift they received was tickets to the Spokane Symphony's John Williams vs Hans Zimmer performance 2 days before their actual birthday. Though we don't have pictures from that night, Kellen, Kai, Mom, and Dad had a great time experiencing the live performance of songs like: Superman, ET, Harry Potter, Jaws, Pirates of the Caribbean, StarWars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, Interstellar, and others.

The boys open their ticket envelopes for the concert

Mirror messages for Kellen and for Kai

Door decor to wake up to

For his birthday meal, Kellen wanted to go out to breakfast, so we spent a Sunday morning brunch at Jenny's Cafe in Spokane Valley.

For Kai's birthday dinner he wanted fish and mashed potatoes and homemade bread.

Kai wanted a cookie-dough ice cream cake for his birthday treat, but Kellen wanted frozen yogurt. So, Mom made Kai his own 3d print solar system cookie-dough ice cream cake with chocolate cake.

And the following day (March 23) we went out to Frozen Yogurt for Kellen's birthday treat.

Kellen enjoys the frosting from off the candles of Kai's cake.

Kai wears one of Emily's mermaid earrings as a... decoration.

Birthday cards fro Grandm/pa Varga

Opening gifts and joking around

Kellen got a drone

Kai got Free Skates- they're like ripsticks for each foot individually.

He had been asking for these and was surprised and pleased to received them.