{boys night out, girls night in}

Saturday night Gerard and Gerard had a "boys night out". They went to the fair and to the demolition derby. (No, we're not normally such hicks.) Gerard had so much fun -- he didn't stop talking about it from the moment he got home (at 9:30 Saturday night) until the moment his head hit the pillow and he instantly fell asleep. Then all day Sunday was spent playing "demolition derby" with his cars. Dangerous. Maybe we should have thought that one through a little more....

Morgan and I had a nice quiet evening at home. We did our nails and makeup. No, not really, but maybe one day. The little girls at Gerard's preschool all have their nails done all the time. It's so cute!

Speaking of school, today was Darci's day to work and I got to watch Morgan and Levi. They were both angels -- Morgan slept for about an hour and Levi played nicely the whole time. Here are some pictures of them playing before Morgan's nap:

And here are some cute ones from this afternoon. Morgan is wearing a 6-12 month outfit, can you believe it?!?!?!?! It's such a cute little Baby Gap outfit from Robyn and Jon -- it has a matching sweatshirt that she wore this morning but it warmed up this afternoon. (Can divas have mohawks???)

"Let's see if I can get all 10 fingers in my mouth!"

{the cake}

Gerard did get a shot of the cake on the video, so here's a picture I was able to capture. Not too bad, huh?

{birthday party}

We had a busy weekend. Debbie came in on Friday and stayed until Sunday night and my parents came Saturday and left Monday. As usual, Gerard had a ball. He monopolized Aunt Debbie all day Friday and would barely let her sit down. However, she was quickly replaced by Grandpa on Saturday, who gladly took his place as Gerard's slave.

We had Gerard's 4th birthday party on Sunday. It was a "Cars" party, and the kids decorated little wooden cars that they then raced on a track that Gerard built. I think everyone had fun. All my hard work at my cake decorating class paid off, and his "Lightning McQueen" cake looked pretty good. Of course I forgot to take a picture of it, but Gerard thinks he got a good shot of it on the video. Hopefully he's right and I'll be able to show you what it looked like.

In the meantime, here's a glimpse of the party:

Aunt Debbie and Morgan:

The kids decorating their cars:

The race for the "Piston Cup":

The cake:

Grandma and Morgan:

The pinata:

Gerard opening his camera, which he has been BEGGING for:

The gang:

Morgan in her swing from Patti and Dick:

{back to school}

We did it -- we managed to get to school on time today! I even had time to take some pictures before Gerard's first day. I seriously can't believe he'll be 4-years-old in just a few days and then next year he'll be in kindergarten! Where has the time gone?

His new teacher just had surgery so she's going to be out for the first week or so. I thought Gerard might not take that news too well, but his teacher from last year is subbing and he LOVED that! I think it actually made the transition easier.

Here are some pictures I took before we left this morning:

And just as a point of reference, here is Gerard on his first day of school LAST YEAR:

{robyn's LABOR day}

Congratulations to Robyn and Jon on the birth of their son, Spencer! Robyn, I can't wait to hear all about it! I'm glad you're all doing well.

Nothing that exciting here. Gerard is all ready to start preschool tomorrow. His clothes are picked out and his backpack is packed. I just hope we can get out the door by 9am! Hopefully Morgan will cooperate.

Today Gerard thought it would be funny to dress Morgan up like a fireman. Luckily we only have the hat -- not the whole ensemble -- and she tolerated it well. Ah, to be the second child....

{happy labor day!}

We've had a busy weekend so far... You know, one last hurrah before school starts. Yesterday we went to Fred and Amy's for a pool party and picnic. At the last pool party I took Gerard to (in June) he would barely get his feet wet, so I wasn't sure he was going to go in the water this time. Much to our surprise and delight, he went in. This time the problem was getting him out! Morgan went swimming, too. Of course she looked adorable in her little bathing suit, and of course I didn't have my camera. (The first time Gerard went swimming we took about a thousand pictures, so Debbie was right -- the second child NEVER has as many pictures as the first!)

Then today we took Gerard to miniature golf. He had a blast! It had been YEARS since Gerard or I had been to mini golf and my score certainly reflected that:

a picture from my cell phone:

And here are some more random pictures of the kids from the last few days:

G'night all!

{a new look}

I got tired of the old look again. What do you think? Gerard thinks it looks "less feminine" but I like it anyway. Very back-to-school, don't you think?

Anyway, here are a few pictures of Morgan's legs yesterday, the morning after her shots. They didn't seem to bother her at all! What a trooper!