2010 Christmas

Phew.

In what seemed like a whirlwind of gift wrap and cookies, the Christmas season came and went. The kids had a great time and the grown-ups are pooped. Here are a few highlights...

Ry has been begging us to join our Fellowship's intergenerational choir. He had his first performance at the Christmas Eve service and held his own with the old pros.

After a feast at the house, our neighbors had us over for dessert and Cole indulged. A lot.

Christmas morning was pretty normal. Muffins, Crispy Brunch, presents, and a mini trampoline. Santa did mess up with the trumpet...let's just say he probably didn't realize how loud it was when he shoved it down the chimney we don't have. Of course all of the boys love it so I'm now in a continual trumpet daze.

Overall I'll give this holiday season two thumbs up. Not to sound like a broken record, but the wine helped. Also the smiles on my children's faces. And the wine.

Happy holidays!!

Stir Crazy

I came home today to find Cole wearing this in his hair. Between screams of "heeee-yaaaah" he told me that this was part of his costume and that he was (clearly) a ninja.

Then I noticed that his pants were on backwards.

As I was trying to figure out how Cole went all day with his jeans zippered up the back, I heard Ryan screaming, "Mommy you have to come upstairs IMMEDIATELY! I forgot to do something before I got in the shower!"

Welcome to my life.

Brotherly Love

Charlie is like his older brother Cole - he absolutely loves babies. Two of his first words were "BABY" and "DEAN" (which sounds like DEEEEEEEE but you can still get his gist).

If Dean is fussy, Cha will march right over and take control of the situation. I know it's only a matter of time before they're wrestling around on the floor - so for now I'm just soaking it all in and enjoying the belly laughs.

BMOC

A friend of ours works for the county and invited the boys to the FOP's breakfast with Santa this weekend.

They were completely blown away by the fact that there were donut holes with sprinkles on them. Little did they know that Mr. Claus himself was waiting upstairs.


I don't know if Ry was crashing from his donut-filled sugar rush or if he was just in awe, but something about Santa's lap made him go completely limp.


Cole was pretty much beside himself and could barely even get his wish list out. I ended up translating for poor Santa - apparently he'd never heard of Plo Koon's starship.

When we left the boys were screaming, "HAPPY HOLIDAYS" to everyone they passed - I think they've officially caught the spirit of the season.

Mama's Boys

Not to sound cliche, but if I had a nickel for every time one of my children screams "Mommy" in a day I'd be a rich woman.

The upside of all this is the lovin'. Ry has never been into all that - he's an independent soul and resists my attempts at hugs or kisses. Cole and Cha, on the other hand, love themselves a good snuggle.

Whenever I meet a mom with older boys I always ask, "Do they still let you hug them?!?" Results are usually mixed, but I think it's a sure thing for my second and third born.

Fa La La La La

On Saturday we hopped on the West Chester Railroad Christmas Train. They have guys playing banjos and everyone sings Christmas carols, then the big man himself makes an appearance.


I'm pretty sure Phil took this picture, although you'd think that it was one of the boys based on the composition (he cut the head off poor Santa).

The train goes to the Glen Mills station and back - once you get to the station everyone lines up to sit with Santa. Cole asked for a truck, Ry played shy, Dean slept, and Charlie fa-reaked out.

The next day we went to cut down our Christmas tree. Ironically, the Christmas Train drove by right when we got to the farm.

Here's our tree in its natural habitat (with Charlie semi-mooning the camera)...

Here Ryan and Phil cut it down...

...and here she sits all lit up in the house.

The idea of decorating the tree played out much more romantically in my head than it happened in real life.

In my head there were carols playing softly in the background as I explained the significance of each ornament to a captive audience. In real life, Cole broke glass all over the floor, Ry got the lights tangled up, and Charlie splashed in the tree stand water.

'Tis the season to be jolly!

Thankful

We had Thanksgiving at my sister's house and it included lots of food and plenty of wine. 8 adults, 7 kids. Wine, lots of wine.

We usually have Thanksgiving with Phil's parents and we always decorate a gingerbread house before dinner. Since we missed it this year, my sister-in-law sent home all the fixins and we fired it up at home.

Ry said, "Daddy told me that my side is organized and Cole's side is creative." Can you guess whose side is whose?

I'm thankful for a lot of things. For my awesome hubs, for my 4 crazy boys, and for all of my buds who leave us dinners on the back porch or whisk a kid or two away when we need a breather. For you and you and you - I am thankful!

Wrangler

Phil ventured out to the Delaware Children's Museum with the 4 kids. It's pretty cool to see Charlie start to come into his own and hang with the older boys. He's even starting to perfect his wrestling moves, but here they calmly craft.

The poor ballerina in this video is so graceful and elegant...quite the opposite of the Kerper kiddos. At least Cole is trying to keep up with her moves - Ry on the other hand is trying to karate chop her in half.

It's not an easy feat to wrangle four kids ages 5 and under at a museum. Phil said all of the moms kept coming up to him oohing and ahhing over his mad parenting abilities - smooth moves Daddyo.

Books Are Fun

Ry won an award today in school for his bookmark design. They announced this over the loudspeaker and he got to claim his prize in the office, thus making him a mini celebrity with his bus stop buddies.

We asked him about his artwork and he said, "I just thought really hard and then decided to draw a wall of books." To which Phil replied, "Ohhhhhhhhh - those colored squares are supposed to be books?"

He would not fare well on Are You Smarter Than A Kindergartener.

Banzai

Ry's school had an after school Tae Kwon Do program and they held a little graduation ceremony this weekend. Our young master was not the most graceful of the bunch, but I'd still say he held his own (he's in the front with the bright blue shirt).

Ironically, Phil and I just watched The Karate Kid the other night. Different martial art, I know, but it still put me in the mood.

Here he breaks a board with the fiery passion of Danielson (okay so maybe it's not that fiery but at least it broke!!)

I wonder if I can pull a Mr. Miyagi and get him to paint the house and clean the car? Wax on, wax off young Ryanson.

Heroes

Today was the Veteran's Day parade in town. Ryan is way into learning about wars right now and [for the time being] wants to be a soldier when he grows up, so this was right up his alley. When the vets were marching by he kept shouting, "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!!!"


Cole dug up this flag and waved it while he sang, "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm freeeeeee..." We told him that he couldn't let it touch the ground and he said, "That's right, because we have to show our flag and our country respect." OMG he's actually been listening to us.

A special shout out to our cousin John who served in Iraq. Thank you to John and all of the soldiers who have fought or are currently fighting for our freedoms - you are our heroes!

Cha Cha Van Gogh

I received this note from Charlie's teacher at daycare:
_________________________________________

We got the best picture of Charlie painting today. He turned to face the camera, put out his hands (covered in paint), and said cheese. It's such a joyous, messy moment caught on film. It's great!!!

He also has a sweet way about him to get paint on his teachers. He comes up to us so innocently like he wants us to help him or he needs to show us something, and before we know it - bam - we're covered in paint. This kid is too funny! And very sweet.
_________________________________________

Sounds just like a certain older brother that I know. These boys can charm the pants off anyone. Or in this case, charm the paint onto anyone.

Domo Arigato Mr. Roboto

Last night was Trick-or-Treat and the boys took full advantage of the opportunity. Let's just say that they had to come home halfway through to drop off some candy because their bags were too heavy. Chocolate, anyone?

We were taking pictures on the porch when we realized that number four was strapped to Phil in the Baby Bjorn.


A quick costume change and the whole team was representing. At least Charlie was consistent.

Our neighbors have a pre-Trick-or-Treat party each year. Thank goodness for that, otherwise we would have heard "Can we go yet?!?!?" every 5 seconds.

Cha's favorite part was hiding in the teepee they built in the backyard...he was happily entertained playing peek-a-boo about 7,500 times.

Although I realize this blog post is very Charlie-centric, I still had to throw in this clip of him walking to the party. He toddles like a robot which totally puts him into character for his costume. (Spoiler alert: this video is extremely anti-climactic, but as his mother I reserve the right to think it's cute).

After all the parades and parties over the last few weeks, I'm going to reward myself with some peanut butter cups. Off to dive into the stash.

Healthy

Charlie is only 15 months old but he's already had four run-ins with a hospital gown. His latest adventure was this past week and it was a breeze - he's still smiling so we know all is well.

Here's a montage of our little sicko...I think his New Year's resolution for 2011 is good health.

Fists Of Fury

It's been an extravaganza of Halloween festivites over the last few weeks. Our current roll call includes a ninja, Darth Vader, a robot, and a peapod. I say "current" because Cole keeps changing his mind, and with our trunk of costumes anything could happen before Trick or Treat.

My friend calculated that I'll have the opportunity to attend 24 elementary school Halloween parades...include daycare and that's a grand total of 27 in my future.

Here are some shots of Cole and Charlie from this year's parade. 26 to go.

This is what happened the first time Ry put on his costume. Better not try to take his candy or you'll face the wrath of the ninja.