Flashback on the 15th - Fire Dept Open House

Almost. Two. Months.

How did that happen?

I long to take a few minutes with my notebook and just stare at this screen and let my thoughts flow.

But there has been very little time to sit in the quiet.

Quiet...that would not be the first word I would use to describe my life since February 21.

It's funny how a simple phone call can change you life.

So much to write about what God has done in the last 2 months. Yet it feels like it would take a year to put it all together into words.

I am confident there will be a day for all the thoughts swirling in my heart and mind to fall onto paper.

But until then, something simple and fun...another flash from the past!

Last September our local Firehouse hosted an open house one evening. It was packed with great family adventures such as a medical helicopter...that landed AND took off before our eyes!

Wow, and that's the best picture I got of Caleb.

Nice facial expression son, very nice!

Sammy smiled so sweetly with her "2 missing teeth" grin!

The kids jumped around in the bouncy house and took pictures with Spot, the fire dog.

One of the things I really liked was all the fire safety drills they did. Each child carried a small piece of paper with 6 different stations listed on it. When they completed each skill, they got it checked off. The stations were really great. At one in particular, they had the kids lay on a bed, then a fireman sounded a fire alarm and walked them through crawling on the floor, touching the door to see if it was hot and finally exiting a window. They also told the kids to remind their parents to practice family fire drills regularly and have a set location outside to meet in case there was a fire.

Umm...that reminds me....

But my favorite part was watching the kids handle a fire hose.

Caleb couldn't have been prouder!

Hannah spent most of the time in her stroller, but we let her out at the end to practice her driving skills.

Oh, and one more thing I forgot to mention. At the end of the evening, Sammy was very determined to finish the 6 skills and toss her sheet into a large bowl. I remember she whispered to me, "Mommy, I think they give prizes!"

And so, about a week later, the fire chief called my phone and told me that Samantha had won the grand prize. A remote controlled, water shooting, so large it takes up most of my kids' bedroom "FIRE ENGINE!"

That picture really doesn't do it justice. It's a mammoth thing.

So our great fire chief pulled up into our driveway one afternoon in his fire chief SUV...with his lights on, mind you...and handed the engine to Sammy.

It was a pretty sweet thing, I have to say!

Now if we could just find an extra room in the house to store it in!