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.

Corny

This weekend we met up with some friends at the Marlborough Valley Farms. When I read on their website "8.5 acre corn maze" and "corn cannon" I was a little concerned about either losing the boys or losing an eye. Luckily only half of my vision came true.



I sat with the baby while the team entered the maze. When our friends emerged without my family, I knew we were in trouble - turns out they got totally lost and ended up busting right through the corn to get to the end. As Phil put it, "This corn maze is not included on Google maps."


A classic moment: Ry is trying to bury me, I'm trying to get Cole to stop eating the corn, Charlie is trying to eat as much corn as he can before I catch him.



Dean just chilled in the carrier. When I took him out at home there was a small layer of hay and corn feed lining the bottom of his seat - good thing we didn't let him get too close to the animals in the petting zoo.


Last on the agenda was a hayride through the farm. They stopped at a pumpkin patch and everyone hopped off to pick their own.



We ended the day with Charlie getting into the drivers seat and pulling us home. Tally ho!

The Latest On Our Littlest

Well there's not much to report on Dean, but I felt like I needed a post on our little man.

He's almost 3 months old and is waking up out of that newborn haze. The boys have nicknamed him "Deanbo" and I'm hoping that it's sort of like Rambo. He's going to need some super-human strength to contend with 3 older brothers.

Their hugs and kisses are a little rough, but they have the best of intentions. Love you, Deanbo.

I'm Glad Phil Was A Boy Scout

Last night Ry had a bad dream. Based off what he told me, the Statue Of Liberty collapsed into a pile of leaves and just her head was sticking out of the ground.

It may not sound scary, but he considered it a nightmare and was stressed about it allllll day. Before he left for school he said, "I wish that the daytime was really long so we didn't have to go to bed and have dreams."

He started crying at bedtime, despite my textbook coaching that nightmares aren't real, we'll keep him safe, etc.

Always the creative thinker, Phil went downstairs and concocted a dream catcher out of straws, black string, and tape. He hung it on the bed and Ry went right to sleep.

Well done, Daddyo.

Quads

People tell me all the time that my boys look exactly alike. I never noticed deep resemblances until I started dipping into the archives of everyone's baby pictures. Wowsa.

Here's a compilation of the whole team. I considered adding captions so you could tell who was who, but then I figured that would take out part of the fun. And I know you read this blog for the never-ending fun.

These are in no particular order, and all four are included. Can you pass the test?

We Now Bleed Orange And Black

Our good friend Trish has had Flyers season tickets for the last gazillion years, and she shared the wealth for last week's pre-season games. Ry and Cole both got to have their own night out with Dad, thus giving Trish extra time at home to raise chinchillas in her living room. True story.

First up was Cole to watch the Flyers beat the Islanders. Despite the exciting open to the game with lights...announcing the players...national anthem...etc...his favorite part was getting a soft pretzel in the shape of the Flyers symbol.

Next up was Ry to watch another winning game against Buffalo. Traffic kept them from the extravaganza at the start of the game, but the foam finger purchase totally made up for it.

Thanks for the memories Trish. Let's go Flyers!

On The Good Ship Lollipop

Ry asked to make his Christmas/Hannukah list today:


He gets a thumbs up for the Philly pride, however his cousin gets a thumbs down for introducing him to the [*expensive*] world of DS. At least he didn't include the iPhone that he petitioned for the other day. He's 5. Puh-lease.

We asked Cole what was on his list. His reply: "Pretty flowers and a blanket covered with lollipops."

Clearly feeling the need for a manlier response, he followed up with: "But I want Superman and Iron Man to be holding the lollipops."

No words.