Ain't Nothin' Gonna Break My Stride

This guy has had a fever, cough, and runny nose for the last 3 days. Most sick kids prefer laziness over playtime...but our little man won't be held down. Fly Coley, fly!!

Overheard

I was upstairs cleaning up and the boys were downstairs playing...

Ry: Coley, will you be my best friend?
Cole: Ya
Ry: Okay, great! We'll be best friends forever!

When Mom's Away The Boys Will Play

The boys headed to the Philly Zoo on Monday while I was at work. Phil had Charlie strapped to his chest in the Baby Bjorn and was pushing the double stroller packed with the older two...apparently this drew sympathy from all of the zoo-goers and he soaked in all of the attention.

Ry took this picture of his littlest bro - he's been really into the camera lately and was even playing around with our tripod the other day. The Kerper Studio Photography legacy lives on!

Trick Or Treat

After all of the parades and parties, it seems like we've been celebrating Halloween forever. Alas, the big day finally arrived and we started off at a neighborhood party.

Charlie met his match...two peas in a pod, ha!


We were hanging in the kitchen and realized that we hadn't heard from Cole in a while. We found him in the Dining Room (also the location of the dessert table) and it appeared that he helped himself to a cupcake. How he managed to get chocolate on his eye is anybody's guess.


After a rockin' pinata and lots of pizza, the boys were on the move. Time to find more chocolate.


Cole was slowing everyone down by taking (what seemed like) hours to make his choices. Whenever he was offered the candy he would pretend to be considering each piece carefully, "um...um...um..." and then he'd finally plunge into the bowl and grab as many as his hand could hold. The charm of this approach only lasted so long.

As I nibble on their bounty I wonder: (A) Which neighbor was giving out the full size bags of Skittles - c'mon - I can't compete with that, and (B) Is there anything better than a pair of faux Batman briefs and a sleepy Transformer??

Happy Halloween...bring on the Turkey!

Pumpkin Eater

Ry and I carved pumpkins on Halloween...his was your traditional jack-o-lantern but we made Cole's (the smaller one) into a "robot that needs to go to the dentist."

Everybody's Talkin'

This morning I was singing Ghostbusters…

Me: I ain't 'fraid of no ghosts
Ry: You're singing the words wrong. It's supposed to go "Ice cream for no goats."
Me: Really...
Ry: Yea - cuz goats don't eat ice cream

He shot me a look of "duh" and said, "That's it, I'm outta here." Like he couldn't even stand to be in the presence of someone who (a) Got the words wrong and (b) Was under the impression that goats do indeed eat ice cream

Then...

Cole was standing at the screen door.

Cole: Mommy it's dark outside!
Me: Hey, who turned the lights out?
Cole: Mr. Mark did [our neighbor]. He turned the dark on

Philly Phever

Cole (Hamels), Charlie (Manuel), and Ryan (Howard) rooting for our World Champions! Honestly, we didn't name our children after the Phillies players...it just sort of worked out that way.

This is the definition of brotherhood...covering Charlie's eyes from the Yankees. Go Phils!

Hair...Hair...Everywhere

I swear...when these boys arrived at school their hair was perfect. It was combed neatly to the side with just a smidgeon of gel for shape.

Of course they still look adorable...but that hair remains my nemesis...it's on!

The Sky's The Limit

The boys had a Daddy Day today...hanging out at the park with their heads in the clouds...

Introducing...Leaf Boy

Tonight Ry found an old mask buried in the depths of a drawer at Grammy & Poppy's house. He put it on and declared that he was "Superboy."

He went outside and as he jumped into the leaf pile he sang, "Make way for...Leaf Boy!"

At dinnertime we came to learn that we were sitting with the all-powerful "Nugget Boy."

I think you catch my drift...hopefully "Chore Boy" will make an appearance tomorrow night when it's time to clean up after dinner. Until then, "Sleep Boy" rests upstairs in his lair with his faithful sidekick, "The Cowlick Kid".

My Own Mark Anthony (Not J-Lo's Husband, The Other One)

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.

To Everything, Turn...Turn...Turn...There Is A Season, Turn...Turn...Turn...

The leaves are at that point where the color is so bright and vivid you want to stop every 5 seconds to take a picture. The sun is finally out and the weather is warm...not chilly...thank goodness for a day in the beautiful sunshine!

Boo

The boys had a Halloween parade at school on Thursday. On Wednesday night Ry asked if we could put on their costumes to "practice." I'm pretty sure that laying around on the couch doesn't constitute practicing, but it was a cute moment anyway.

Onto parade day. We wrangled the babies into their little outfits and put them into these industrial strength strollers. Poor little guys had no idea what was going on and half of them were crying...Charlie just chillaxed in the back and sucked on his pea.

Then came the 2 year olds. They must have told the class to march on the yellow line for the parade - as you can see Cole took this instruction very literally. The rest of the kids were running around in utter chaos, but our young Batman decided to stick to the line (all of a sudden he's become a rule follower??)

Just when I couldn't handle anymore of the Halloween thrills, out came the 4s - Ry's behind the Pirate and in front of the Rainbow Cat. He's been wearing his costume ever since we got it (yes, that was us in Wegman's with the kid in the Transformers mask) but it didn't take away from any of his excitement.

I think that all of the people screaming and waving at the kids got to Ry's head. Here's the big shot waving to his adoring fans.

Having 3 kids in 3 different classes was a little crazy (I definitely should have changed out of my heels) but totally worth it to sneak the candy out of their goody bags. Next stop - another parade in town this week. If only I had that industrial stroller to cart all of those kids around!

Soaking In The Sun

We paused from a busy weekend to have some backyard playtime in the sunshine. You'll note that in the second picture Cole has his tongue hanging out of his mouth - it seems that going down a slide takes maximum concentration for our little guy.

Wood Resealing = Bad. Ice Cream For Lunch = Good.

We were all home the other day, so we decided it was the perfect opportunity to check out a park we heard about from a friend. It's a gigantic wooden castle with slides and major fun-ness, so we piled into Big Blue and took a ride up the Turnpike to Lansdale.

As we turned down the driveway, the castle loomed in the distance. The boys started screaming, "The castle! It's the castle!" We pulled up and...buzzkill alert...the entire thing was closed for wood resealing.

Luckily we weren't too far from Freddy Hill Farms. To make up for the playground guilt we were feeling, we let the boys eat ice cream for lunch (homemade, delish) and then checked out their farm.

They had lots of animals - baby cows, pigs, chickens, llamas, deer, buffalo - when I pointed out the reindeer Ry said "his nose doesn't look very red" but I think he was still impressed. Not as impressed, however, as he was by the discovery of a catepillar.



We rounded out the trip with a visit to their pumpkin patch. I think I've officially given up trying to get a picture with all 3 of them looking cute - between Ry's lemon face, Charlie's look of major concern, and Cole's hair (in his defense it was very windy that day) this was the best we could get.

Happy Fall!

Coley K Plus 8

When I tell you that Cole has a cowlick I'm really not kidding. I was performing my daily slick down the other day and had a revelation. He totally has the Kate Gosselin hair cut - just not on purpose.

Hey Kate - if you need a stand-in or stunt double I've got the perfect option!

Charlie's First Day

My little man started daycare this week...before we left for his first day I snapped a pic of the boys. Time for another round of "here's what they were thinking..."

Ry: Seriously mo-om...just take the picture already. This smile isn't gonna last forever.

Cole: Motorcycle for breakfast? Sweet! Where's my cup? La la la la...sure I'll smile but I'm not gonna look at you...la la la la

Charlie: Finally, my chance to bust out of this madhouse. What are we waiting for...let's go!

A Perfectly Flawed Photo

Our camera battery has been lost for weeks. Now we know why...it was under the vaccum (gee, I wonder how that happened) and let's face it, it's been awhile since that sucker has been busted out.

Charlie was the first victim of our camera recovery.