Children's Fire Safety Challenge

Nicholas wants to be a fireman when he grows up.  He's not in the least bit unsure of it and declares it with confidence and determination.  His plan is to work at Edmond's Fire Station 3, which is just down the street from our house.  He chose that station in particular because he can live at home with mommy and daddy and won't need to own a car because he can just walk to work each day.  He's also very reassuring that I won't have to clean house anymore because he'll take care of it for me when he gets off work at said fire station.  Oh, the sweet, heartwarming dreams of a 4 year old boy who wants nothing more than to live with his parents for the rest of his life.  I'm hugging these moments close for as long as I can because I know they'll begin to fade fast. But Lord, what I wouldn't give to keep him this sweet and innocent forever.  Who knows what life he'll choose to lead or what profession he ultimately ends up pursuing, but I'm encouraging this firefighter obsession while it's here.  The Edmond Fire Department hosts a Children's Safety Challenge a few times a year, which allows kids from 4-7 years old a few days at the fire station learning all kinds of important fire safety tips and what it's like to be a real, live fireman.  When they announced the dates for the latest class during spring break, I jumped on the opportunity to make my kid a very happy boy.  He loved it.  Loved it! He was so proud of everything he learned, and explained all the rules to us with such excitement and animation.  For instance, you absolutely must wear your helmet when riding your bike, otherwise you'll hit your head and turn your brain into a melon.  Or worse, your marbles or cream filling might fall out.  Yikes!  Also, it's wise to check how your smoke detector sounds so you don't confuse it going off with the sounds from your favorite video game.  He remembered this very reasonable advice while in the shower that first night and had to poke his head out to tell me all about it.  After 2 days in the classroom, the kids all "graduated" with official certificates.  Then all the families were invited back the next morning to watch the children play the role of firefighter while they ran the obstacle course.  The course was littered with various exercises which simulated fire hazards, like breaking down the door, crawling under smoke, putting out the fire with the fire hose, and dragging victims to safety.  The whole course is set up in the children's safety village, which is a small scale "city" the fire department built for teaching kids real-life scenarios.  Seriously, this village is totally cool.  It has several city buildings, a park, streets complete with traffic signals and street lights.  Their commitment to educating children is absolutely amazing and something I really wish had been around when I was a kid.  Nicholas got to run the course with his friend, Silas, and the two of them were the cutest little firemen I've ever seen!  There is no doubt in my mind that we'll be doing this again this summer.

Step 1: Put on your gear.

Step 2: Alarm goes off while sleeping in your bunk.

Step 3: Drive to the call, sirens wailing and lights blaring.

Step 4: Break down the door to check for victims inside.

 

Step 5: Crawl under the smoke while looking for victims.

Step 6:  Once you locate the fire, use your fire hoses to put it out.

 

Step 7:  And finally, drag the victims to safety.

The Nicholas & Jillian Show

 

We met up with Ryan, Cindy, and Jillian this weekend at the lake. Saturday's weather was absolutely perfect so we spent just about every minute outside soaking up the warm rays. We did some fishing, boating, rock throwing, golfing, BB gun shooting....you name it, we did it.  Nicholas and Jillian played their little hearts out from the moment their eyes popped open until they collapsed into bed that night. They have such a sweet relationship and it's so fun to watch their imaginations run wild.

 

Taken shortly before Nicholas fell in the water.  Just his legs got wet but I think

the cold shock has taught him to be a little more careful in the future. 

 
 

 

 

 Not his beer.  Swear.

Um, please ignore the red blotches on his face.  This mommy feels real

bad that I somehow missed a few spots when smearing on the sunscreen. 

 Luckily, he was fine by the next morning.

Later, gators.

Cannonball King

We just resumed swim lessons after taking a break over the winter months.  Of all the activities we do, I think swimming is Nicholas' definite favorite.  I wasn't sure we'd be able to start up again with our busy schedule, but we made it happen and he couldn't be more thrilled about it.  I think one of the reasons he loved it so much was the coach he had all last year.  As he advanced in class rank, this same coach followed him and they developed a really great friendship.  He just loved her so much and I think she felt the same way about him.  Unfortunately, when class started this month we realized she was teaching a different class which meant he would have a new teacher for the first time.  But he adapted really well to the change and it hasn't slowed him down one bit.  It just surprises me how much they learn and how fast they learn it.  In the last few weeks he's been learning swim strokes, how to dive deep for rings on the pool floor, and has improved his back float by leaps and bounds.  I feel like I'm pulling out my phone to take video every other minute.  At the end of each class, the teacher gives the kids a few minutes to practice jumps or dives, whatever they prefer, in the deep end.  I'm not sure where it came from but Nicholas decided he would try his version of a cannonball, which was really just him jumping freestyle and yelling "CANNONBALL" as he did it.  So right before the next class I demonstrated how to do a real one and he immediately caught on.  Now he's the official cannonball king and has started a new trend among all the kids who quickly followed his lead. 
I hope you enjoy the videos of our little fish in action!

Gone Fishin'

When Nicholas was about 2 years old he became completely and totally obsessed with one video that we watched over and over and over and over....Bill Dance Bloopers.  Bill Dance is a famous fisherman who has his own TV show and somehow Greg ended up with this DVD of his bloopers like 100 years ago.  Nicholas wanted to watch it one day so we gave it a whirl and the rest is history.  We watched it at least once a day and probably much more than that for longer than I care to remember.  Seriously, we drove all the way home from Colorado to Oklahoma that summer and Nicholas watched nothing but that video.  We couldn't believe it.  The movie itself was silly and nothing short of mind-numbing, but he loved it with every bit of his heart and soul so therefore it has been cemented in our family memories as something very special.  I can remember many nights I sang him to sleep with Bill Dance's theme song on perpetual repeat.  As with many things involving children, once was never enough.  He doesn't ever watch that video anymore and he can't remember the words to the song now, but he definitely remembered his old friend when he got the chance to meet him face to face last weekend at the Bassmaster Classic Expo in Tulsa.  I wasn't there but Greg sent me this picture of our boy. And like the complete sap that I am, I got all choked up. 

I've been told that seeing him at events is very rare, so this was just perfect timing.  He even got an autograph on the bill of his beloved Bass Pro cap as well as one from Jimmy Houston, who's another  fishing legend.

(P.S.  Nicholas told me he was scared of Jimmy Houston at first because of his hair.  I get it.)

Overall, I think they had a great afternoon and they returned with a very happy, very sleepy boy.  He had a big bag of cotton candy and about a million booth freebies to play with, so all was good with the world.

 

 

 



 

 



All You Need is Love...and Perhaps a Little Snow

This year's Valentine's Day was preceded by the perfect little winter snow storm.  And after the major let down over Christmas break, Nicholas was more than ready to get out in the middle of it and have some snow fun.  Usually I prefer to do without any form of snow, ice, sleet, etc. but this particular snow was just my style - just cold and wet enough to stick to the grass and put a beautiful blanket of white over everything...everything but the streets.  And it was one of the prettiest snowfalls I can remember, with giant, fluffy flakes gently drifting through the air.  As soon as we got home that afternoon, Nicholas and I suited up and headed out to play.  We made snow angels, giant snowballs, and even made a sad little attempt at a snowman.  He was short and lumpy, he didn't have arms, and his eyes, nose, and mouth were made from crap in the garage I scrounged up in less than 2 seconds, but hey, he was ours and we loved him.  By the time our fun was ending, Nicholas had reached his max of the cold.  Once he decided he was done, he was DONE (cue the tears), so we retreated to the house to warm up by the fire and watch the snow still falling outside with some cookies and milk in hand.  By the next afternoon, all but a tiny bit of snow had melted away and it was back to 60 degree weather and nothing but sun. 

 

Officially over it....

And then came V-Day.  We didn't do anything over the top, but we did have Nicholas' school party in the afternoon and then delivering of the homemade cards for the grandparents.  Unfortunately, I'm not really the crafty type which Nicholas will likely inherit from me (sorry, son) but we committed to making those cards with full force and I have to say they were pretty neat in the end, even if they were a bit plain.  And to top off the whole day, we made a Menchie's run after Daddy got off work and stuffed our faces with yummy fro-yo.  So, like I said it wasn't anything too exciting but it just the right amount of special with my two amazing Valentines!

Checking out his gift from Grammy & Papa, which included a new helicopter t-shirt!

 

 And this awesome Batman balloon from Mimi!  He wasn't too sure about it in the beginning

and actually told her she could take it home with her.  But he eventually warmed up to it and now Batman is living in his bedroom closet. 

And my beautiful orchid from my beautiful boys.  Lucky mama.