{swimming and sponges}

Yesterday was Gerard's last day of swimming. He'll need to take the Red Cross Level 1 class one more time to complete all the skills necessary to reach Level 2. Not bad for a 6 week program!

I tried to take a picture of him with his certificate, but all I got was their superheroes pose. Reminds me of my cousins Allen and Paul.



Today we did another project. My friend Angie saw this idea in a magazine and I thought the kids would have fun making sponge water bombs. They were easy to do and provided hours of fun this afternoon. Here are the directions if you'd like to make them too:

You will need:
sponges
scissors
string
marker and ruler, optional



Directions:

1. Using sponges directly from the package (they are slightly damp and easy to cut) cut 5 relatively equal strips. If you are anal like me, use a ruler and marker to divide the sponge into 5 sections.




2. Repeat with 2 more sponges.



3. Line up and stack the sponge strips 4 in a row, 3 rows high. Center a string underneath the stacks.



4. Tie the string tightly and double-knot to create a ball shape.



5. Optional: use left-over pieces as a bunker for army men. Or to protect cute little stuffed animals. Or cute little girls.






6. Soak and have fun!











LOOK OUT, GERARD!!!

{pictures}

So much for sleeping in.... Morgan was up at 6:00 and Gerard soon followed at 7:00. Looks like we may be taking naps today after the gym and the park.

Here are a few pictures from last night. This one is a picture of the sun setting at 9:30:



Here is Gerard after he caught his first firefly:



And the gang playing with their glow sticks:

{meteors!}

We took Gerard out tonight to watch the meteor shower with Shauna, Chris, Maddie and Abby. Poor Morgan and Savannah were just too young this year. It was an absolutely gorgeous, clear, cool night without too many mosquitoes, and the kids had a blast catching fireflies, playing with their glow sticks and hanging out on the blanket watching for the shooting stars (we saw quite a few!) I actually think they had more fun watching the airplanes, but who cares! It was a neat treat for them and I'm glad we did it. Now hopefully he'll sleep in a little tomorrow! Of course Morgan will be up at her usual 6:30, I'm sure.

I took just a few pictures before it got too dark so I'll try to post them tomorrow. I'm off to bed now!

{airplanes are cool}

It was supposed to rain all day today, so instead of our usual Monday pool playdate we decided to go to the air and space museum. Of course it ended up being a beautiful day without a drop of rain, but that's OK. We went with our friends Angie and 2 of her 3 boys and we all had fun at the museum. It's acually more than a museum -- it has original Air Force bombers and jets and engines from the space shuttles, but it also has cool rides and simulators. Even Morgan went on a ride (her first!)

{she's a big girl now!}

Well, maybe not QUITE yet, but Morgan certainly is GETTING to be a very big girl. She's almost ready for a big girl bed so I've been feverishly looking for cute bedroom furniture for her. I had something very specific in mind, unfortunately I couldn't justify spending that much money simply because it was from Pottery Barn Kids:



I found something similar at American Signature Furniture and I went to see it today and I really like it. If we do get it I think we'd get the twin bed (headboard and footboard), dresser, mirror, and night table. Right now our issue is figuring out where everything will fit in her room. The placement of her window makes fitting the night table a little tricky. Our only other option is to get a headboard with storage in it and skip a night table. Not my first choice.

Oh, and for those of you who weighed in on the boxspring debate, this one DOES take a boxspring. Woo hoo!



And speaking of becoming a big girl, Morgan got panties today!



She is very excited about wearing them and the IDEA of going pee pee in the potty. She has yet to actually GO pee pee in the potty, so we'll see how the panty-wearing goes. Wish me luck (and patience)!

{the perseids are coming, the perseids are coming!}

In case any of you are interested, the Perseid Meteor shower will be at its peak this week. I plan on taking Gerard out (or waking him up?) to see them. If it's a clear night, we should be able to see DOZENS of shooting stars per hour. Check out these sources for more information:

NASA
Meteor Showers Online
IYA2009
Astronomy

{good book}

If you're looking for a good book to read, check out The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Arleen recommended it to me, and while I had a little trouble getting into it at the beginning, I eventually couldn't put it down. It takes place in Nazi Germany and is narrated by Death. Very interesting! It's our current book club book.