Happy 4th

To celebrate the 4th we loaded the kids in the car and party hopped. First stop was our friend's house in Jersey and we fist-pumped all the way to the festivities.

Next up was hanging with some cousins to eat some BBQ and fight over the helium balloons (only a few unfortunate popping incidents).

For some unknown reason - in the middle of all this madness - we decided to paint our bedroom. One coat of primer and 2 coats of Dove's Cry later...we were transformed.

Our final day was spent swimming at our Aunt & Uncle's house and then our annual neighborhood party.

We consumed the family's weight in beer and hot dogs, and had a great time catching up with everyone. Proud to be an American...U-S-A!

Catching Up On Pics: Ryan

Ry has been oh-so-happy to declare himself a 1st grader. He's really into reading non-fiction books right now - which is great until he asks me to read to him. Not really my cup of tea to re-learn the Periodic Table or dissect the inner-workings of an atom.

Luckily, he's also into Harry Potter, so I've got a little bit of an out.

Catching Up On Pics: Cole

Oh my sweet, sweet Coley. I swear this kid is having constant conversations with the devil and angel on each shoulder.

He's wrestling his brothers one minute then begging me to snuggle with him on the couch the next minute. Doing flips on the trampoline then saying both of his legs are broken. Eating a bowl of ice cream then asking for dessert. Putting on Crocs then saying he wants to wear sneakers.

I wonder where he gets all of that from?

Catching Up On Pics: Charlie

Chooch, Cha-Cha, Mooch-Magooch...he doesn't care what you call him as long as you're making him laugh. He's turning into a little jokester and always has that little twinkle of mischief behind his eyes.

Cha can usually be found digging in the refrigerator, pantry, or someone's plate (hence his nickname of Mooch). He still hasn't gotten all of his teeth so we're on double-teething duty this summer. Cheese!

Catching Up On Pics: Dean

Dean graduated from scooting to sprinting in what seemed like seconds. Granted, he's crawl-sprinting, but on the move nonetheless.

He can pull himself up to standing position and also excels at laughing, clapping, smiling, blowing raspberries, and teething.

Shake It, Shake It Baby

At the end of the school year, Cole's class put on a show. Some highlights included a choreographed dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller, and a group sing-a-long to John Cougar Mellencamp's Jack & Diane led by our pride and joy:

You really can't teach these dancing moves...gotta have it in your blood (I think he inherited his skills from his dad).

Run Coley Run

We have some traditions for the annual Dub-C 4-Mile race. First, we all hang out to cheer on the runners.


Next, we bust out the hose to spray down the racers. Occassionally we spray down the spectators as well.

This year, Cole was begging us to run in the race. We kept trying to push him off thinking he'd forget about it. Finally - he couldn't take it anymore - he said, "I NEED to run in the race now!!" and took off. We all laughed. Then I realized he was really on the move and sent Phil on the chase.

Long story short...the little man ran about 1.5 miles until the water table at the park slowed him down.

I think a new tradition is born.

Best. Husband. Ever.

For Mother's Day this year, Phil booked a Girlfriend's Weekend at the Golden Inn in Avalon, NJ. Not only did he score total brownie points for the idea, he scored double brownie points for willingly watching the boys for 3 days in a row.

Beachfront hotel...spa treatments...food and drinks...lots of drinks...heated pool...live bands...did I mention no kids? It was absolute heaven to hang on the beach without having to chase anyone down.

It was an awesome way to celebrate 10 years of friendship with my gal pal Sue. See you next year Golden Inn!

Domo Arigato Mr. Ro-Cole-O

The first thing Cole said to me this morning was, “Mommy, do you want to see my robot dance?”
I don’t know how he learned it, all I know is that I love it.

Sigh

I put the boys to bed tonight, and about 5 minutes later Ry was weeping at the top of the steps and calling for me. I ran up expecting to see blood, but instead we had this conversation:

Mom: What's wrong?!?!?

Ry: What if we get sucked into a black hole?

Mom: Huh?

Ry: A black hole happens when 2 planets collide. What if another planet falls off it's orbit and slams into the Earth and we get sucked into a black hole?

Mom: I don't think we're close enough to other planets to collide into them

Ry: Well what about tornadoes?

Mom: What about tornadoes?

Ry: What if there's a hurricane or a tornado like they have in the South? And we run to the basement and all of the furniture upstairs and my DS gets washed away? I don't think they make DS's anymore [the tears really start flowing at the thought of the destroyed video game]

Mom: We don't live in the South, we live in the North

Ry: But it's cold in the North. It's hot here

Mom: [Tries a different tactic] People come first, then things. If our things get ruined we can buy more things. We can't by more people

Ry: What about fish? You can buy a new fish. If Baseball [the fish] and Sammie [the dog] get washed away in the hurricane, can we buy a new ones?

Mom: Sure. I think it's time for bed

Ry: [Begins to cry even harder] I just thought of something. The sun is supposed to burn for 50 billion more years. What if I live to be 50 billion years old and then the sun goes out?

This went on. And on. And on.

Now hiring a therapist, a scientist and a meteorologist. Accepting applications immediately.

It's Summer Time Summer Time Sum-Sum-Summertime

After a long, cold, snowy, windy, dark winter…the sun is out and the pool is open. I feel like my life is so much easier now that the kids can get outside and drain their energy.



Ry conquered the slide last year, and this year it was Cole’s turn. He was so proud of himself that he asked to show off his muscles in front of the ladder on the way out of the pool.

The next day when I dropped him off at school, he ran to the art table to draw a picture of his slide experience. He handed me the paper, and before I could look at it he snatched it back and ran back to the table. He pulled out a red crayon and said, “I forgot my smile.” Adorable.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day started out like any other…sitting on the side of the road with 15 kids ages 6 to 6 weeks waiting for the annual parade to start.


I said to the kids, “Anyone named ‘KERPER’ raise your flag!” When most of them waved Cole got completely confused. “Mommy, they all raised their flags when you said Kerper, but MY name is Kerper!”

I soon discovered that trying to explain the concept of cousins to a 4 year old is almost as challenging as wrangling 15 kids.

We went to the park for the after-parade festivities. It was hot. So hot. But better than the snow IMHO.