I had a wide and varied library with me, but chose to dabble a bit in romance since I read romance novels so infrequently.

Now I remember why!

To boot, pun intended, these two romance novels were… wait for it… FIREFIGHTER ROMANCE NOVELS. Win.

The first was The Firefighter’s Secret Baby which started as a joke and then made its way through Denise, Sassymonkey and Elizabeth before being delivered to me. I love friends with humor. The book was somewhat different than I had expected. It was full of (cheesy) suspense, with things being blown up and people chasing the main characters. A baby is obviously involved. So is the FBI. And the mob. And the previously mentioned firefighter. And some kind of triggering adoption-speak, but it was too cheesy to be too triggering.

Kind of lacking in the realism factor. But that’s okay. What’s not okay, however, is the crazy sex the main female was having less than a week after a traumatic birth experience. I laughed. A lot. Not at the cheesiness of the writing (which, yes, it was still cheesy), but at the thought that any woman could read that section and possibly think that sex so shortly after birth would feel that good. Also? No mention of the breastmilk that was likely pouring at that point since she wasn’t nursing the baby. I had a good laugh.

This book was part of the Atlanta Heroes series… and, sadly, I want more to be available already.

As an aside, thank you to Denise, sassymonkey and Elizabeth for signing the book before sending it to me. That sentence is brought to you with a side of cheese. (Ha!)

The second was an accidental find at the library right before we left for camp. Island Sojourn by Katrina Thomas is another firefighter romance, with a small twist. This time the main female character is the firefighter, which is the fire time I’ve seen that in any firefighter romances I have read. (And I’ve read a few.) Of course, the man that she meets and falls for while on her beach vacation to the Outer Banks is, you might have guessed it, a firefighter as well. She’s a professional and he’s a volunteer.

This particular book was somewhat more believable than the previous one. It involves a lot of sisters, a beach house and shenanigans pulled by said sisters to get the younger sister someone to date. And marry. I kind of resented the fact that they were pushing her to date and marry just like them. Maybe she wanted to be single! Maybe she wasn’t interested in men! Maybe she was seeing someone on the sly back home! Get off her back, nosy sisters! But, as it always does, it worked out in the end.

This book had a great fire scene… until they sent the man in to make sure that she was okay. Granted, she ran in without a mask or any gear, which was silly. And she probably did need some rescuing. But I kind of resent the “let’s rescue women” theme in romance novels.

In the end, I kind of enjoyed both reads more than I wanted to. FireDad had a great time making fun of me any time he saw me reading either book. I would have made fun of me as well.

If you know of a firefighter book, romance or not, that I need to be reading, please let me know!

Firefighters Coloring Book doesn’t have an imaginative title; it is what it is. It happens to be a Dover Coloring Book which I actually remember from anatomy class in high school. The Firefighters Coloring Book is a typical coloring book with black and white pages that leave room for even wide, toddler based crayons to add life and color to the page.

This coloring book follows firefighter Mike through his day. He arrives at the fire station. He changes into his fire gear. He tests and cleans equipment and fire engines. He does some drills. He goes out on inspections. He eats some lunch. And then he rushes off to put out a fire. He then fights the fire and even rescues a baby. Mike is a hero.

I love coloring books that tell one story as you continue through the book. Some of our licensed character coloring books jump all around and you’re never sure what you’re favorite big red dog will be doing on the next page. I like organization and cohesive flow. My kids might not care about such things but, really, I do. As such, coloring with them in books like this one doesn’t usually resolve in a full on body twitch from me. Usually. Have you colored with a two and a four year old? Save us all if I color the shoes the wrong color. I digress.

(Yes, I colored that page. What of it?)

The two page spreads for various scenes, including the wide fire truck, are my favorite parts of this coloring book. I like how it allows for a bigger presentation of the big red (or whatever color you want to color it but, really, fire trucks are red) truck. I think giving kids more room to create and color and imagine is always a positive thing.

Other Dover Coloring Books with a fire theme include the Firehouse Coloring Book and the History of Fire Engines . The latter looks a little more complicated than my preschoolers’ fingers can handle so we’ll hold off on it for awhile.

I’ll be sure to bring you more firefighter coloring book (and printables) reviews in the near future!

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[Have you entered my $100 giveaway yet? Why not?]
[Disclosure: Links are through the Amazon Associates program.]

We finally got to see Toy Story 3 yesterday. I say finally because we’ve been excited about the release since it was announced last year. We waited three days to see it due to a desire to avoid the crowds of which there were many with an opening day total of $41 million. My whole family loved the movie. No doubt about it.

There are some reasons why this movie worked even though sequels can sometimes flop.

1. The movie is genuine. While Disney has a long history of sequels that fall flat, this movie could stand alone. At the same time, the writers pull just enough from the previous movies as they would with any other trilogy type series. Toys who are no longer a part of Andy’s room are mentioned. There is a wonderful flashback scene from Andy’s Mom’s camcorder. You feel like you know the characters. But, at the same time, the movie stands on its own. The new characters are just as well-written and well-voiced as ones from the past. If your children had not been able to watch the original movies due to Disney placing them in the vault in preparation for the release of this one, they wouldn’t be too confused as to what is happening on screen.

2. It’s funny for kids and it’s funny for adults. Like most cartoon feature films, jokes have been written into the movie to make those accompanying the kids to the theater laugh a little. Even more so, most of the funny stuff is funny no matter your age. Spanish-mode Buzz’s dance? That’s funny whether you’re three or thirty-three or fifty-three. It’s also incredible animation. In fact, my husband says that whoever thought up the idea for Spanish-mode Buzz should be given some kind of award. The hilarity that ensues is simply fantastic. Mr. Potato Head has to take on various shapes during a few scenes in the movie and those are amusing to say the least.

3. The parents care about the characters already. I was a teenager when the first Toy Story was released but, like many of those my age, I had a younger sibling who was all about Buzz and Woody. I fell in love with those characters back in the day when cartoons were supposedly beneath me. In college, I took my then-boyfriend’s cousins to the theater to see Toy Story 2. One of the first feature films I bought for my children was Toy Story, followed shortly behind by the second movie. I wanted them to love the characters. And they did. For a year and a half, we struggled to find toys. The boys actually have my brother’s original Buzz Lightyear from back in the day. BigBrother’s teachers occasionally passed on toys that their children had outgrown. And then, as the end of the year approached in 2009, they began gearing up for the release of Toy Story 3. And the toys were everywhere. (See the next point.) When it came down to it, as an adult who loved these characters, I cared what happened to them as Andy was going off to college. I cared about Andy. I simply had to go to the theater, something we rarely do, and see the end result for myself.

4. Clever, all-encompassing marketing. Toy Story 3 is everywhere. On the front of Ritz crackers, Nutrigrain bars and Sara Lee bread. Fruit snacks and cereals. There are two separate iPhone apps, a two different Wii games and a great Disney website full of games just right for the intended age range. They even made the Avon catalog, notorious for ignoring that there children who might not want to wear pink cupcake shirts. There’s an Aflac commercial. Both Disney and ABC Family ran marathons of the original movies, including the not-well-known straight-to-VHS Buzz Lightyear movie, this past weekend. While mostly overwhelming and somewhat annoying, the marketing has been effective.

5. It’s Toy Story. Plain and simple. Unless the writers really screwed up or they made a complete departure from the storyline like they did with “The Outer Space Movie,” as my sons call it, Toy Story 3 wasn’t going to fail. Toy Story is more than a movie. Buzz Lightyear is more than a space ranger. Woody is more than a Sheriff cowboy. Jessie is more than a cowgirl with bright red hair. Rex is more than a wussy dinosaur. Hamm is more than a big pink pig with a smart mouth. Mr. Potato Head is more than a spud with an grumpy attitude. They are our old friends, come back to play.

As you can tell, I loved the movie. My husband loved the movie. More over, my children adored the movie. They sat quietly, completely absorbed through all but one scene of the movie. During a particularly scary section, BigBrother yelled at the screen in hopes of achieving the outcome he desired. Otherwise, they were completely quiet, something that is a rarity around these parts. The best part about Toy Story 3 is that it did not meet my expectations; it exceeded my expectations.

I have a feeling that the kids will likely be seeing the movie again in the theater with grandparents. I’m hopeful that the DVD will be released before their birthdays in November or, if not then, by Christmas. It will probably be another movie in which I buy two copies in case anything happens to the original. That’s how much we loved it.

All that said, I was weepy for a majority of the movie thinking of what we might someday do with all of our Toy Story toys when our boys head to college. For now, we will play with them until their arms need sewn back on and their colors have faded and the memories are forever imprinted in our minds. These toys are our friends and Toy Story 3 reminded me of the fact that these days won’t last forever.

Let’s play.

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[Disclosure: Amazon links are through the Amazon Associates program.]

Firehouse Food: Cooking with San Francisco’s Firefighters is a beautiful cookbook in itself. It’s 224 pages of amazing photography, outstanding recipes and a bit of humor here and there. The introduction is a surprisingly moving one as well. (Who cries when they read a cookbook introduction? Just me.)

The dedication of the book also speaks volumes about firefighters and cooking.

To San Fransisco’s firefighters,
who understand the sustaining power of a nice hot meal.

Ah. True.

I actually borrowed this from the library as it is currently unavailable on Amazon or Barnes and Noble (though used copies are selling anywhere from $47 to $120!). I didn’t want to give it back to the library. I really, really didn’t want to do it. I did. After I renewed it three times. It’s just that good. I know it’s because I’m a sucker for both good food and good photography, but really, doesn’t it seem like a perfect addition to our household? I was sad to see it go.

We made quite a few recipes from the book while we had it, including the one for Irish Soda Bread. In fact, FireDad was the one who made the soda bread which was his first attempt at baking something other than pre-made cookies. Quite honestly, the two of us could have sat and picked at that delicious concoction for hours. Carbs? Love em. Sweet carbs that aren’t overly sweet? Love ‘em.

The only complaint that we had about this particular book is due to the location of where these firefighters live juxtaposed with the location in which we live. San Fransisco firefighters have much easier access to a wide variety of fresh fish than we do here in land-locked central Ohio. A large number of the recipes called for various kinds of fish and seafood. While our family loves seafood, it’s not easy to come by even in our reliable local grocery store (unless it’s Lent). There’s no fish market here. As such, some of the recipes were not possible for us to consider, let alone make.

That aside, the cookbook had a wide variety of recipes that we’ve adapted and placed in our rotation. A few pasta recipes were actually great hits with my kids as well as one of the various chicken recipes. There are many great sides including some great Caesar salad options which are apparently the big thing with San Fransisco firefighters. Each house has their own recipe.

What makes this cookbook truly great is that while it was still being printed and sold, some of the proceeds were donated to the SFFD Surviving Family’s Fund. I wish I could have gotten a copy back then (originally printed in 2003).

When it boils down to it (pun intended), we loved this cookbook. I only wish that we could get our hands on it to have in our own cookbook library. If you happen to see two copies, pick one up for yourself and send us the other! (I did just learn that the book itself is available to view on Google books. Check it out!)

I’ll have another firefighter cookbook review in July! Stay tuned!

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[Disclosure: Amazon link is through Amazon Affiliates but the book is no longer in print.]

I can’t make these things up.

Yes, really. If you asked him what he wanted to be, his reply was that he wanted to be a fire truck. Not a firefighter. A fire truck. Shortly thereafter he picked the human profession of paleontologist. My brother is kind of weird unique. All the same, it has been a long running family joke for years. Even my cousin who wanted to be an elephant doesn’t get teased as much as my brother for his grown up wishes.

We received Fire Truck by Peter Sis as a gift before BigBrother was born. It’s a cute little board book that warms my heart for various reasons.

The book features a little boy named Matt (which just so happens to be my brother’s name). He loves fire trucks. He thinks of them first thing in the morning. They’re the last thing he thinks of on his way to dream land. He loves fire trucks. As you might guess from the story that lead into this review, he wakes up one morning and he is a fire truck.

The board book then launches into a double pull-out page of what Matt the Fire Truck has on him (1 ladder, 10 boots). It’s a great little counting lesson as well as a lesson as to what fire trucks have on them other than firefighters. The only bad thing about this particular pull-out page is that it is easy to tear off the one side. Even my children who are particularly great with everything from paper pages to pop-up books have managed to tear the page off (accidentally) twice. Glue on the “hinge” makes it workable again.

Matt the Fire Truck then zooms around his house putting out fires in book shelves and rescuing stuffed animals. Until he smells pancakes (which are BigBrother’s favorite, by the way). A review on Amazon claimed that the book ended too abruptly. I feel it speaks to the attention span of younger children. “I’m a fire truck, I’m a fire truck, I’m a… ooh, pancakes.”

I love reading this book with my boys. It is one board book that we have decided to keep despite the fact that they’re both into longer books with paper pages now. I can imagine reading this to my grandchildren someday and telling them about how Great Uncle Matt wanted to be a fire truck. I also can’t wait to buy the book for my brother and sister-in-law when they begin to add to their family.

I learned today that the book is also available in a hardcover. I may purchase it so that we can retire (and save) our much loved board book.

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[Disclosure: Links are through Amazon Associates.]

You might have heard their song Kandi on the radio (video here). It’s a catchy little tune that gets stuck in my head and that my kids seem to like to sing along with at the top of their little lungs. Me too, really. The rest of the album provides other great sounding songs. Here is the track listing:

Hometime
Astronauts
Kandi
Slip
Simple Day
Givin Up
Chocolate
All Balloons
Chosen One
UFO
Amazing

I really like the songs Astronaut and Givin Up. My oldest son, taking the occasional break from any one of his kids’ song listening sprees, really likes Astronaut and UFO. Then again, he’s infatuated with Buzz Lightyear so when I told him the names of those songs, he was all about it. That’s one thing I like though: the kids don’t make me turn off the album while we’re driving in the car. I like it when we can agree on music. (I know that won’t last forever.)

I was lucky enough to attend the One eskimO show in Columbus, Ohio this past Friday. I took OutnumberedMom along with me. We were both very impressed with the drummer in the band. He was simply phenomenal. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. While I won’t explain it properly, he basically sat on a box, drummed on it, the drums, stepped on a tambourine and generally was percussive god. Add in the solid vocals, the addition of a horn and some great guitar playing and it was a very enjoyable night of music.

They’re touring elsewhere. I suggest you catch them!

Jun 01 Toronto, ON The Guvernment
Jun 03 New York, NY The Beach at Governor’s Island
Jun 04 Boston, MA House of Blues
Jun 05 Essex Junction, VT Camplain Valley Expo
Jun 06 Hunter, NY Mountain Jam Festival
Jun 08 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Thtr
Jun 09 Grand Rapids, MI Orbit Room
Jun 12 Memphis, TN Minglewood Hall
Jun 13 Kansas City, MO Crossroads
Aug 14 Denver, CO Mile High Festival

If you want to catch a listen, we’re giving away the album and a t-shirt thanks to One2One Network. Go ahead and leave a comment on this post telling me whether or not you attend concerts in the summer and, if so, which ones you’re planning to catch this summer. The giveaway will be open through June 4th at 12:00 noon. I’ll need the winner’s info ASAP so be sure to keep an eye on your inbox!

My overall feel for the band is that I’ll likely purchase what they put out in the future. And if I’m purchasing music, you should know I like them. A lot. Check them out. You can download Astronaut for free and like them on Facebook. Get to commenting!

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[Disclosure: I received a free album and attended the show for free.]

The Body Scoop for Girls

1. I didn’t have enough information about my own body or cycle and thus felt ashamed for years. Years meaning well into my twenties, after I was married.
2. I didn’t see a gynecologist until I was 21. I won’t tell you when I was first sexually active but as the suggestion is that girls see a gynecologist between 13-15, I might have figured out earlier that my cycles weren’t normal years and years and years earlier.
3. I want to raise boys who understand and respect women. Knowing what I can know to help them understand things as well is very important to me.

For the most part, I really liked this book. As I read through the chapters and listened to Ashton’s advice, I kept wishing that this book had been around when I was going through puberty, adolescence and dealing with all those life changes. In so many ways, this book brought forth the things that I needed to know and hear but was not learning or hearing at school or at home. From the information about periods and mucus (I didn’t know to call it mucus until I was trying to conceive) to the positive body image talk (I had an eating disorder though high school and college) to the urge to postpone sex until after the age of eighteen, it’s everything I needed.

One section that made me roll my eyes, however, was the anti-piercing section. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want my teens (of any gender) running out and getting piercings (visible or not-so-visible) without my knowledge, permission and presence. If any gendered teen of mine asked for a genital piercing, I’d have to say no. However, I thought the book was rather one sided against piercings in general. The truth is that there are experienced piercers who run clean, sanitary studios and perform their piercings with pride and knowledge. More over, any fan of piercings knows that a VCH isn’t going to actually pierce the clitoris. For more information on piercings, visit The Piercing Bible. Never get anything pierced without researching both the styles of piercing and the actual piercers. More over, teens, my young friends, don’t ever get a piercing without your parents’ permission. It’s not cool. (Sorry for the side track but it’s a pet peeve of mine when people put down piercings or piercers without giving all of the information!)

Back to me being ashamed of my body back in the day: it was so bad that I wouldn’t even change my pad if another girl came into the bathroom. I was horribly embarrassed about anything body-wise. I don’t know if it’s because I knew nothing or because I got my period at the young age of 10 or if I would have been equally embarrassed if I had been a late bloomer. I do know that a book like this, using the friendly, understanding language that it does might have made a difference.

I’m passing this book on to my friends with girls who are just entering the world of puberty. Do I think it needs to be read at age 10? No. Do I think moms of girls should be reading this before their daughters hit puberty so that they know the proper terminology to use? Yes. Do I think moms of girls should be gauging their daughters’ maturity levels so that they know when they’re ready to read it on their own (or together)? Definitely.

The SV Moms Group is doing a blog tour for this book. Check out all of the other reviews by visiting this post!
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[Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my candid review. I received no other compensation.]

Very simply, you can raise or lower the top shelf with just a turn of the handle. I thought it would be a silly feature, one that I wouldn’t use all that often. I was wrong. Quite honestly, I use it much more than I thought I would. It does help that we don’t normally have anything very tall on the second shelf, thus allowing us some wiggle room on the up and down motion of the top shelf.

I have lowered the shelf to put a 2 liter bottle on the top shelf. (We don’t drink pop all that often. Mostly pizza night. And mostly FireDad!)

I have raised the shelf when I had a bunch of leftovers after a get together with my friends, thus leaving more tupperware in the fridge than usual.

I have lowered the shelf to stack a bunch of juice boxes that I was taking to t-ball.

I have raised the shelf the one time I had too many cupcakes in my house.

Up and down it goes. And smoothly, which is a happy surprise as well. What I thought at first would be a worthless addition has become a frequently used function! Those smart folks at Frigidaire must know what they’re doing!

Please tune in the last week of May for the video that I promised you last month. We’ve finally worked out our video kinks (I corrupted the file while messing with it, sadly) and reshot a few of the scenes so I think we’re ready to go!

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[Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Refrigerator to facilitate my review.]

That’s why I’m in love with these kids t-shirts.

It’s no surprise that TheBrothers love things that go. Fire trucks are just a part of our everyday life. Their love of all things wheeled is not limited to the big red truck, of course, and covers just about anything that moves. I, however, am tired of the wordy, gaudy, cheaply made shirts in retail stores. I wanted something simple but something fun. I found it with Shirts That Go. They look realistic. They’re well made and soft.

Both BigBrother and LittleBrother are pleased though I don’t know why BigBrother is making this face.

These kids t-shirts are quality made. In fact, I waited to review them until they had gone through two washings (and dryings). They held up just fine. No fading. No peeling, like you get with your extremely cheap t-shirts. They still look just as good as the day they came out of their fancy pants box. As a mom who spends money, quality is something I absolutely have to have and I’m pleased to find it.

Not only do they have fire truck t-shirts (both red and blue) but train t-shirts, airplane t-shirts and a growing catalog of, yes, shirts that go. I like how the designs aren’t overly cheesy or baby-ish. They’re big. They’re bold. They’re fun. I would definitely make another purchase. Sizes start at 2 and run all the way to kids’ 12 which means that I can dress the boys in things that go for quite some time.

That said, I’m so excited to be giving away one of these Shirts That Go to a very lucky winner. The winner can choose their choice and size of shirt!

Here’s how to enter:

MANDATORY ENTRY: Visit Shirts That Go, look through their offerings and tell me what other things that go should they offer on their shirts! They’re looking to expand their vehicles and want some consumer opinion so this is your chance to be heard by a company! You may leave one comment of this type.

As always, there are some extra ways to win! Please leave a comment on this post for every individual extra entry you complete. Meaning that if you do three of the extra entries, you will have left me a total of four comments with the mandatory entry included!

1. Follow @FireMom on twitter and copy/paste this into your twitter stream: Like fire trucks? Airplanes? Win a t-shirt for your kid from @FireMom & @shirtsthatgo! Enter here: http://bit.ly/shirtsthatgo

2. Follow @shirtsthatgo. They’re new. Tell them to tweet!

3. Like Shirts That Go on Facebook.

4. Blog about this giveaway on your public blog. Be sure to include a link to this giveaway.

5. Share this giveaway on any other social networking site (Facebook, Stumble Upon, Digg, etc). Please leave one comment for each of those shares!

6. Take this survey for the company! Yes, it’s very similar to the first mandatory entry but is a simple two question, check box/entry box survey that gets you a free entry. Don’t complain!

Don’t forget to let me know which of the extra steps you completed so that you get extra credit!

This giveaway will be live through Wednesday, May 26 at 7:30pm. At that time I will visit random.org, pull a random winner and contact that winner via e-mail. The winner will have 24 hours from initial contact to claim the prize before I pull an alternate winner. Winner’s information will be forwarded to the company who will handle prize fulfillment.

Best of luck! And remember: girls can wear shirts that go, TOO!

It’s so super awesome. And my parents are jealous.

[Ignore the lack of stuff in general. It was a few days before grocery shopping day!]

It’s not as if it takes up no room. You can see that it does. But the smart people at Frigidaire were wise enough to put a shelf at the very top, just in front of the ice machine, so that we’re not losing two whole shelves. We call it the ice cream shelf… mainly so that the ice cream is out of reach from little fingers. More over, the reason that this freezer has so much more room than my parents are in the way the shelves are set up. The door shelves are roomy, more than you would think. The bottom bin can hold a lot more than frozen pierogies. And the pull out drawer with the shelf above it is probably my favorite freezer feature. We keep our frozen veggies in that drawer. Easy access!

Basically, I’m in love with our freezer. Of course, I’m not that hard to please. Our last freezer didn’t have a working light anymore. Or a working ice machine with auto dispenser. And, really, it was way smaller than what our new freezer offers. My husband? Has been converted.

Thanks, Frigidaire!

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[Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Frigidaire and received a Frigidaire Refrigerator to facilitate my review.]