Remember Missle Pops?

It's Thrift Store Friday!

As some of you may know, each family at Dominic's school is required to volunteer 48 hours of service time through the school year. We're already racking in the hours for the coming school year. Rudy finds pleasure in working at the SJV Thrift Store. (It's a numbers thing.) I'm afraid each time he volunteers to work that he'll come home with some piece of junk that we don't need laying around the house. Last time it was more flashlights! We don't need flashlights. Rudy must get about 3 of them EACH after-Christmas sale each year. He has a fetish.

Anyhow, along with some Corning/Pyrex cookware (mainly for his mom) he got something for Dominic....

It may be 90 degrees outside,
but it's even hotter on a flannel blanket!
...and yes, I prewashed it before I let them have it.

And, Dominic spent a good portion of the day in his box. Folks, the air quality here is very smoky, due to many wild fires burning in Northern California. It's been nearly a week of unhealthy air and we're cooped up indoors. I am so looking forward to nights with fresh air coming in the open windows, and days where the kids can go out and ride their bikes in the backyard, play with their squirt guns, run through the sprinklers, etc.

Here's what our Saturday looks like....yuk!

A box of fun!

Dominic has been getting a lot of newsworthy blog posts lately. He's been quite entertaining since he's been out of school and staying with me for the rest of my maternity leave. This is it! Next week, he's outta here....and off to daycare with his brothers and cousins.

Dominic's favorite hangout this week has been inside a cardboard box. Whatever! Wish I had a box to hide in sometimes. I threw in some Devin pics just because he's so darn cute. Donovan's been a pill lately... he'll get his blog time later.

...he's even decorated it himself!
You know... gotta have that homely feel.

Sure, they get along just great.... for now!

"Hey mom, take this shot!"

Squeaky clean!

Oops, he did it again!

We seem to be on a roll...this is Tooth #5! After losing #4, I asked Dominic if there were any more loose teeth (ya know, in case the tooth fairy needs to save up for gas!) and he showed me this one. At the time it wasn't very loose, but he wiggles the heck out of them. Lo and behold, this one came out just as easily as the other four. A little bloodier than the others, but considering this one was "knocked out" with a hammer, I see why!!! Yes, a hammer. Dominic was playing at his workbench with his tool belt on. I'm not sure how hammer met face, but he thought it was pretty funny!

Not quite a Seahorse...

...but still a Guppy. Dominic finished his 2-week swim lessons today. I think he did well for his first lesson on his own. He just has a few things to work on before advancing into the Seahorse class...like, not inhaling water! He's still a little shy going under the water to swim, but likes to bop in and out of it. Today was a "play day" in class and the instructors made a wave pool for them to swim across (or run!) as they forcefully diverted water using wakeboards. The kids love it. They played Sharks and Minnows, in which Dominic was one of the remaining "minnows" to survive; played a big circle of "motor boat"; and lastly, they got to go down the slide in the deeper water. Much to my surprise, Dominic managed to be the first to do this enthusiastically out of 2 classes attending. I was in such shock that he actually was going to go down it that I missed it!!! Apparently he went down with his instructor and I was too far away to realize it. I just saw him get out of the water (...and unfortunately headed off to get a band-aid from another instructor for a scratch on his elbow from rubbing against the slide on the way down.) He was done! He didn't want to do that again! I was proud of him for doing it anyway. I'm afraid the rest of the sessions are too full than he might have to take another Guppy class next summer. He'd be the oldest in the class, but perhaps by summer's end he'll be that Seahorse!

"Yeah...uh huh, I did it!"

Can you achieve Zero-G?

We opened one of Dominic's gifts today that he got at his party last Sunday. It's called a "Zero-G" by BlipToys. I've seem them at Target. Anything that has to do with any Law of Physics gets a "thumbs up" from all of the men in the house. Basically, this device lets out a stream of air in which you try to balance items on. The package came with two balls and a disc. Seen here, Dominic prefers the ball in the disc at the same time. He's gotten pretty good at it, but sometimes interrupts the air flow and creates frustration on himself in trying to get it going again. He was having a good time!

Yep, he's a clown!
(the ball is levitating in the air flow - cool huh?)