Picture Books of the Week

This week's assortment of books is brought to you by Connor and Lex's love of all things fire truck.

Fire Fighter Piggywiggy by Diane Fox. One of many Piggywiggy books, but definitely our favorite, because in this one, Piggywiggy pretends to be a fire fighter!

Rescue Bunnies by Doreen Cronin. This book is funny. Even for adults. It has one liners from adult movies sprinkled throughout the dialog. Connor doesn't understand why I think certain parts are funny, but that's okay by me.



Alphabet Rescue by Audrey Wood, better known around here as "Letters on a Fire Truck." Kevin and I used this book to help Connor with letter recognition when we first got it. He knows all of his letters now, and I think that he likes this book so much because he learned so much from it. Plus, it has that all important fire truck thing working for it.

When we read this book, we often end up getting out at least one of our toy fire trucks, and then we load it up with all of our magnetic letters that stick to the refrigerator. It's a good time.

In Which We Visit River Street

Our second vacation destination was Savannah, Georgia. We toured the historic River Street district.

The Whole Family
(Even including Johnny Lemur and Baby TeeTee)

It turns out that watching boats on the river is immensely entertaining to my boys. They could have spent hours just watching the boats go by.

Look, Mommy! A Fire Boat!

While we were watching the river, a HUGE ocean cargo ship came down the river. We stayed to watch it pass. It was the biggest boat that either Kevin or I had ever seen.

If you click on the above picture, I think you can blow it up and look for the man in the blue suit standing near the railing on the back of the ship, just to give you an idea of how HUGE this thing was.

After looking at the boats, we headed over to Savannah's famous Candy Kitchen.


Connor didn't want to try any of the free praline samples. Do you see how he is making a cross with his arms in front of his mouth? He just started doing that when people offer him food that he doesn't want to try. I think I've been letting him watch too many Katy Perry videos.


Our last order of business in Savannah was to eat lunch at Olympia Cafe.

Wordless Wednesday

...and the award for...

Last night was the Academy Awards. You know, the Oscars.

We had a Red Carpet Oscar Viewing Party. You know, any excuse for a party, right?

It was the hottest party on the block. Definitely the most smokin' party on the block.

Literally.

Right after 6:00 PM, right after our first guests arrived, I set the kitchen on fire while making fried ravioli.

I was using Giada De Laurentiis' recipe for fried ravioli. But Food Network Barbie, as I like to call her, let me down. She didn't mention anything about needing a fire extinguisher. Fortunately, I keep one under the kitchen sink anyways.

I had started heating the oil before the door bell rang. Then, after I greeted Wendy and her family, when I had about half of the ravioli breaded and ready to go into the pan, I noticed that the oil was getting very hot. So, I turned it down, but when I added the first little breaded ravioli, the oil was still too hot. Or something. Because that's when the blaze started.

It seemed huge and it seemed like it took me forever to turn around, get the extinguisher out of the cupboard and turn back to the fire. I swear I must have been moving in slow motion, but I guess that was just my perception of the situation. I got the pin out of the fire extinguisher, and I remembered that Kevin had told me in the past to aim before using a fire extinguisher, because they only have like 20 seconds worth of chemical release in them. So I really thought about where to shoot before I pressed the trigger. Then I heard Ted tell me to go ahead, so I did. I was going to empty that tank, but then I heard Ted tell me that I could stop. So I did. It turns out that 20 seconds is a really long time when everything is moving in slow motion.

Then I wanted to ask where the kids where, if we needed to call 9-1-1, whether or not the fire was out, if we needed a new stove or new microwave or new house, but I couldn't make my mouth work. I had used up all my brain power, and all I could do was stand there. But then the fire alarms went off and I noticed all the smoke, and decided that we needed to get the kids and go outside.

Red Carpet Fire Drill

Once we were outside and Kevin and Ted had made sure the fire was really out and taken the smoking pan outside and opened the windows to air out the smoke, I decided that we were going to order pizza. Thank you, Pizza Hut!

...and the award for best use of a fire extinguisher goes to...me!

Because it was still a lovely warm evening, we sent the kids out into the backyard to play with the sandbox and some golf clubs, and Wendy and Ted helped us start to clean up the mess. You know, while we waited for the pizza to arrive.

And the Award for Best, Most Helpful Guests EVER goes to Wendy and Ted!


The fire extinguisher left behind a white, powdery substance that you can see covering the stove top, except where the pan had been sitting. We used a shop vac to clean most of that up.

The black soot was mostly removed by using a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

I don't think this picture does the mess justice. It was worse in real life.

Everything is mostly cleaned up. I think the only things that were ruined were food. I'm not entirely done taking the microwave apart for cleaning the inside, but I think it still works fine. We shall see about that, and about the stainless steel pan I was using. Getting the powder out of the toaster is going to be a little bit tricky, too.

I'm so thankful that no one was hurt. I got a few small burns on my hands, but none of them even blistered, so that is definitely a huge win.

Kevin asked me if I saw my life flash before my eyes, and the answer is "no." The only thing I saw was how huge the fire raged so quickly.

Kevin also told me that he was happy that things happened exactly the way that they were supposed to. Everything went according to our "if there is a fire plan."

So the moral of the story is: keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. And some Mr. Clean magic erasers in the house. Oh, and buy a deep fry thermometer.

Fire hydrant

Look what we found on our walk around the block!

Best Birthday Ever

Dear Diary,

Turning 30 wasn't so bad.

I had a really great day.

We went to the store and bought Halloween candy. I got carded for a purchase of alcohol. The cashier noticed that it was my birthday and wished me well.

We went to Scramblers for brunch and I had their chicken crepes, which are one of my favorite things. The only thing better are the chicken crepes at Bon Vie.

We went to the mall, and Lex had his 12 month photo shoot.


I bought treats for myself.

I got my hair and makeup done, and I got a massage!

We had a fabulous beef tenderloin with veggies, and I all had to do was put it in the crock pot since I had made the meal the night before.

I got presents in the mail!


We went Trick or Treating and passed out candy, Play-Doh and stickers.


I ate too much candy. Mostly just Reece's Cups and Tootsie Rolls.


I got tons of random compliments on my spider web tights, which I wore all day long. My witch hat didn't make it into the photo, because it kept blowing off. I only wore that when passing out the candy.

I also had a magic wand, and Connor was seriously wary of that thing. Every time I got it out of my pocket, he dodged it like it was a loaded gun. He told me not to change him into anything, because he wanted to be a firefighter for trick or treating.


My son apparently believes that I can do magic. He also believes in the Easter Bunny. But not Santa Claus. That one is just too far fetched for him.


Our neighbor is a retired firefighter, so he let Connor borrow his old helmet.

The end.

I am Julie, and I am now 30 years old.

Fireman Connor

At Lex's birthday party

Friday Flashback: Fireman Edition

January 2008
Connor 18 Months Old

Fire Prevention Week

As part of Fire Prevention Week, our local fire station had an open house on Saturday, so we stopped by to visit our very own firefighters.

They were very nice, and answered all of Connor's 3,294 questions. They let him try on their gear, and they were floored that he asked to see the ambulance. I guess that's not a very common request.


Lex woke up halfway through our tour, and joined in the fun!


Doesn't he look so tiny up there? It was very high up!

After prying him away from the fire station on Saturday afternoon, we took him to the Cincinnati Fire Museum on Sunday. It seemed like we were the first family there when they opened, so Connor and Lex could run around freely and play in their interactive fire engine for as long as they wanted.

This engine was fully equipped with lights and sirens that the boys could turn on and off and on and off and on...

This is the old fashioned water pumper. I think this was Lex's favorite part of the museum.

My favorite part was the fire pole that you could slide down. Connor did it a few times, and he started to get the hang of it by the end.

The most helpful part of the museum was the Safe House, where you could practice home fire safety. We showed Connor how to open a window and climb out.

Friday Flashback

September 2009

Fire Chief Connor

An Update on Connor

I know you were laying awake in bed last night, wondering when I would post again about Connor and his current milestones, so here is the post you've been waiting for!

Connor, now 3 years old, but not yet 3 and a half, loves jokes. He knows two so far:

• Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side!
• Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide!

He loves pajamas. He would wear pajamas all day, every day, if we let him. We frequently have pajama day, and pajama parties. And pajama parties aren't complete without two of his other favorite things, movies and popcorn. Right now, his go-to flick is Monsters, Inc.

His newest obsession is with firemen and firetrucks. He has decided that both he and Lex are going to dress up as firemen for Halloween this year. We already have both costumes, and Connor has been wearing his quite a lot. In fact, there is a real danger that he is going to wear it out before trick or treat night. In that case, he will just be a firefighter that just recently battled a really big fire.

The best part of the fireman obsession is that I can get him to water the garden and new grass seed for me, just by telling him to pretend that there is a fire and handing him the hose. It's been wonderful! He has sprayed down that little tykes play house in the back yard approximately 350 times, each time saving all the people inside.

The biggest change I've noticed with him lately is that he is always jabbering away. As he plays, he talks and talks and talks, to no one in particular, and he makes up the most elaborate stories as he is playing. He has a very vivid imagination.