Aloha

Sniff sniff - Ryan graduated from preschool today. To celebrate, his class held a luau and followed it up with an awards ceremony. Here's what Ry's certificate said:

The award for
BEST MEMORY
Is presented to Ryan Kerper
Ryan sure knows a lot about all different things (especially countries). He must read a lot of books. We are always amazed at what Ryan remembers and shares. We hope he remembers that we think he is pretty funny!

The cute part: When he received his certificate in front of the crowd and shook the teacher's hand after her speech

The not so cute part: When he walked back to his seat, waved the paper at his friend, and shouted, "In your FACE!"

Clearly, he won't be winning an award for humility anytime soon.

Boom

The boys recently hit up Boomers for some family fun (at least that's what the slogan on their website says). Charlie is navigating his way through the big boy toys and seems to be holding his own on the bounce.



Since I was absent from all the family fun (having to work and all), looking at this picture pretty much summed it all up for me.

Cole: It was me...I did it...I'm proud of it...and now I'm outta here so I can go do it again
Charlie: Why?! WHY?!?
Ry: I'm so over this. Let's go hit up the snack bar. Peace out.

Army Of One

When you have 3 young kids and another on the way, you quickly learn there are some battles that aren't worth fighting (Translation: we're tired and don't feel like negotiating).

With that in mind, the story.

Ryan claims he wants to be in the Army. He loves wearing camouflage, lines up his little soldier guys for battle, and has been writing back and forth with our cousin who is serving in Iraq.

So imagine his delight when our friends dropped off some hand-me-downs for the boys, and buried in the bag were a few Halloween costumes. He was "that kid" in Lowes stomping down the aisles in his full get-up chanting, "Hut, 2, 3, 4...hut, 2, 3, 4..." Awesome.

Feelin' Fine

It’s been a crazy week in Kerperville. Our little Charlie had to be admitted to the hospital for 3 days, but he’s been discharged and is doing great. His time away has taught me many things:

• We’re extremely lucky to live 30 short miles away from the #1 pediatric hospital in the country
• The boys are even more lucky to have a dad who happens to work at said hospital
• Phil is a saint for camping out in Charlie’s room for 3 days and sleeping on a tiny plastic couch

Cha was his usual smiling and happy self most of the time – I know this because I made Phil send me a picture approximately every 5 seconds so I could see with my own two eyes that he was okay. Three cheers for for smart phones!

The best thing I learned this week is that the boys have complete and total trust in their dad. When I first told them what was going on, this was the conversation I had with Ry:

Me: Guys, I have news. Charlie is sick and had to go to the hospital
Ry: Did he go to the Children’s Hospital?
Me: He sure did
Ry: Is Daddy taking care of him?
Me: He sure is
Ry: Okay, so Daddy’s got it

Here are some pics of the patient (the thing on his arm was just a brace to keep him from pulling out the IV that he had in his hand). As you can see he was all smiles – we’re just glad to have him home!

I Am Not Quick Enough To Answer All Of These Questions

The other day in the car, Ry was quizically studying a harmoncia he had been playing with. He asked me in a concerned voice, "Why do a lot of the toys that Santa brought me say 'Made In China'?"

Really?

Mess

One of Charlie's teachers sent me this pic. As she put it, "I turned around for one second to get more paper and this is what happened."

Atta boy, Cha...true artistes do not depend on conventional techniques. I'm sure that at one point Pollack covered himself in paint and threw himself against a canvas, only to generate a gazillion dollars.

I'll wait patiently for my cut of this particular masterpiece.

Spidey

We had a community yard sale last weekend, and our neighbor was painting faces for the kids.


The pros: Ry looked totally cool and spent the first few minutes hamming it up and shooting his pretend web blasters.

The cons: After those first few minutes were up and the mirror was put away, he started to forget that he had paint on his face. This eventually led to him spreading the red mark of Spidey all over himself, others, and most notably, the couches.

It didn’t take too long for me to burst his bubble and force him to wash it off. Call me cruel, but in the end my couches thanked me. At least I got a picture!

Silly

Last week Ry came home from school cradling a package. He told me I couldn't see it until Mother's Day and ran inside to hide it.

He came flying out of the house about 5 minutes later, saying that he found the perfect place for my present and no matter what, "Don't look between the fish tank and the typewriter."

Finally the big day came and I was sent on a hunt for my gift...Ry was shocked to find that I was able to quickly pinpoint its location. Inside the bag I found a bracelet buried underneath mounds of tissue paper:



He told me that his teacher had each kid in class think of a word that describes their Mommy. I like to think that his interpretation of "silly" means I'm fun and that I don't take life too seriously. I was truly touched by his sentiment - much more meaningful and personal than if my bracelet said "happy" or "loving".

A perfect present from a silly son to his silly Mom. Happy Mother's Day!

Sicko

Cole recently came down with a bug - I didn't realize how bad he looked until I compared a sick pic to a healthy pic. Yowsa!

The problem with a sick Cole is that he goes into absolute denial about his condition. He still tries to run at full throttle, only to eventually crash and burn and beg us for a nap.

Luckily he’s feeling better and back to tearing it up Cole-style. Batten down the hatches!

Heartbreaker

This morning Ry landed himself in time out for some offense I've since forgotten. I told him to go sit on the step and he said "Aw, c'mon. You're breaking my heart."

Happy Third To Cole

It was just three short years ago that we became a family of four. Cole's birthday was last week and his besties gathered at the Bouncehouse to burn off some energy and celebrate.

I made the fatal parenting mistake of telling him about the party when we booked it (about a month in advance) and of course, I paid the price. Every day I heard, "Are we going to my party?" or "My birthday is tomorrow!" Lesson learned.

Everyone had a good time - even poor Charlie (who learned the harsh reality of what happens when you catch a ball with your face instead of your hands).

Just for old time's sake, here's something I dug up from the archives. In true Cole fashion, he learned to run before he learned to walk.

To my spunky little fireball on your third birthday, you may exhaust me, but I love your energy...I love your zest for life...I love that twinkle in your eye...I love that you live with passion...I love it all!

Love Ya Mean It!

This weekend was a true test in basic math:

(1) Post-surgery baby +
(1) Pregnant mom who pathetically waddles around after 3 kids +
(1) Husband working a total of 24 hours between Saturday & Sunday +
(2) Big brothers who just want to play +
(Lots of) Wonderful people who helped me out over the last few days =
A HUGE THANKS FROM ME!!

So to sum it all up, you guys rock! For everyone that fed us, invited the boys for playdates, came over so I could have 5 minutes to shower, and helped in other countless ways, I'm truly appreciative.

I wanted to share some pics of the patient after he got his "silly juice" in the pre-op room. He went from happy to loopy in t-minus 5 minutes - by the time they took him back he was like a little blob of mush getting carried away from us.

Here's to a speedy recovery...will continue to keep you posted.

They Rocked In The Treetops All Day Long

The boy's school hosted their Spring Gala on Friday. It was held outside - the bright sun and clear skies were a perfect backdrop for showing off Charlie's baby blues.

After Cryfest 2010 (aka Cole's performance at his school's Winter Gala in January), he had a chance to redeem himself. Seasons change...people change...this time instead of hysterically screaming through the entire song, he chose to just gnaw on his hand.

Ry's class performed a killer rendition of Rockin' Robin. It was completely uneventful but still cute, mostly due to the bird masks and wings (aka hands on hips).

Oh what joys await us with the Summer Gala? Please stay tuned and place your bets...

This Post Is Boring, Pics Are Cute

Last year we attempted to take the kids to a cool park in Lansdale, only to get all the way out there and find out it was closed.

Phil took them back last week, and luckily it was open for business. It was hard to get much information about their adventures - when I asked Ry his favorite part he said, "Going to that park." Cole threw in, "Going down the slide."

So I apologize for the lack of scoop - I just wanted to post this because I thought Phil got some good pictures of the kids. Will try to hone my investigative reporting skills before their next trip.

Green Monster

In the good old days, kid's t-ball teams were sponsored by the local hardware store or the pizza place on the corner. In the new millenium, I guess we choose not to bow to the pressures of corporate sponsorship (Ry's league is divided up by Major League teams).

Imagine Phil's heartache when he learned that his firstborn would be part of the Red Sox. I think it pains him to see Ry wearing a Boston hat, but he fights through it for the good of the team.

Go Sox!

The Many Faces Of Cole

Those of us who know and love Cole are well aware that he inherited his mother's flair for drama. He was hamming it up this morning until he got totally distracted by a bird. He snapped out of it long enough to hit me with me a sweet lil' smile. Love that kid.

We Are The World, We Are The Children

Today in their free art time at school, Ry decided to draw some of his favorite flags. He said, "Libya is my favorite because you just have to color it all green. Djibouti is trickier because it has a star, and they're hard to draw."

I'm not going to lie - I had to google search "Djibouti" because (a) I'd never heard of it before and wasn't convinced it was really a country, and (b) I had no idea how to spell it.

Next I had to search "Libya flag" and lo and behold, it really is all green. How boring!

The fun continued after dinner and he asked for help painting flags for The United Kingdom and Vatican City (I had to help with that one and let me tell you, it's complicated. I seriously don't know what parents did before google, but thankfully it's saved me quite a few times today).

As we were wrapping up I turned to help Cole clean up, only to find him drinking the paint water. I guess artistic vision can be found in many different forms.

Allah Yissalimak! (Goodbye in Arabic, the language of Djibouti).

Deep Thoughts...By Cole

Cole: Let's play I Spy. I'll go first. I Spy with your little eye...
Me: No, you say "I Spy with my little eye"
Cole: Okay. I spy with your little eye...
Me: No, my little eye
Cole: Your little eye

I guess it does make sense from his perspective...just repeat 1 million times and it about sums up our conversation.

Cha-Cha-Chillin'

Now that the weather is getting nicer, the boys are more than happy to stretch their legs outside in the sunshine. Luckily Charlie is a great travel companion - this comes in handy when we're forced to multi-task (i.e. Feed him in a bottle with one hand and push Cole on the swing with the other).

For now he's totally content to just plop in the grass and watch his brothers stir up trouble...until he starts crawling...then the true multi-tasking begins!

Sunshine, Waterfalls, and Bugs

The boys went for a hike at Valley Green in Fairmount Park last week. Ry's favorite part: "Eating lunch with Daddy by the water." Cole's favorite part: "Carrying my sandwich inside my backpack."

Despite the two ticks that we pulled off of Phil, it seems that the trip was a success (although if he ends up getting Lyme Disease I'll likely take the opposite stance).

Cheese

A tranquil lake and ivy-covered rock proved to be the perfect setting for the boy's school pictures. Luckily these were all completely fake, otherwise the outcome would have been much different (i.e. Charlie sitting nicely in the foreground with Ry and Cole doing cannonballs into the water).

Thank goodness for props.