oh, and: a trip to the fire station.

sound boring?  great!  because I love it when life is boring.  I mean not that mine ever is, so who am I to say?  although sometimes I wish it were just a little (boring) you know... but then I would probably just complain about my boring life.  ohmygosh LOL my brain must be entirely gone to blog about boring stuff like this.  if only you could see me giggling into my balled-up fists.

but seriously.  wouldn't it be nice to have just one day to do absolutely nothing?  to actually feel bored?  no obligations!  no appointments!  no chores or work!  no wrestling with crabby kids!  no poopy diapers!  no mind games!  just you, alone in your quiet house that doesn't resemble a war zone!  and what's up with the exclamation points!  I have a disease! 

alright, alright.  bet you can't tell we're wrapping up the last few days of winter break around here, huh?  needless to say I'm going a little stir crazy/shack happy and on the verge of tears.  could I just lock these people in a cellar until Monday?  or slip a dose of benadryl in Rowan's soup?  I considered it, you guys.  my heart is a little smaller than a raisin.

yeah, well.  we all have our moments on this roller coaster ride called "motherhood." (maybe some of us more than others :) sometimes we're doing loop-de-loops with our hands in the air going "wheeeee!" and everyone has big smiles on their faces.  and next thing the ride takes a sudden lurch and we're thrown to the left or right or spiraling out of control and we're all screaming "aaiiieee!" let us off at the next stop, please!

I'm convinced though, as long as I stay ON the track, albeit mostly hanging on for dear life, I'll get through these days.  until then, you'll have to put up with my incessant babbling.  ha, that might be a while, bummer for you!

and how did a trip to the fire station turn into a post about the trials of motherhood?  my sincere apologies!  and if you're still with me, thanks for listening!

anyhow, it was one of those drizzly, gray Sundays.  the kind of day where you think that the more often you peer out the window, the sooner the clouds will dissipate.  but no.  instead, the clouds only seem to thicken and become darker and more ominous.  what to do?

just then I had this faint recollection of something my aunt had said when she was here last May helping out after I had Scarlett; you should bake cookies and bring them to the firemen sometime.  hey, great idea! (fyi- there's a fire station just down the street from us.)  

so that's what we did.  packed up a container of Christmas goodies and traipsed down to the station.  when we got there, Myra rang the doorbell.  I wondered what the firemen would think when they saw us all huddled around the door.  sure enough.  "is this a daycare?" one of them asks as he opened the door.  "um, actually no. we live in the neighborhood just up the street and thought..."  before I could finish, he interrupts and says, "oh, so you have all the neighbor kids with you?"  I just smiled, nodded my head and said, "yeah, something like that."  

they were more than happy to give us a tour.

on the left: sliding down the pole.  all of these were blurry, and I didn't want to ask if the kids could keep sliding down until I got a decent one.  

on the right: demonstrating the thermal imaging camera, which detects body heat and therefore can spot someone trapped in a smoke-filled room where there is little to no visibility.

the jaws of life.

it's fun pretending to be a fireman.

Rowan was in his glory... except when I wanted to take a picture.  then he just chewed on his sleeve and refused to look at me.

 Jake got to dress up in all the garb, O2 tank and all.  love the picture on the far right.

  

thanks guys!

so next time you're bored, make a trip to your local fire department.

you might learn something new!

-jessica