Also, can someone hold a fundraiser for new curtains? Yikes.

While I was proud of my husband, I was also paying a lot of attention to one little boy hidden among the legs of firefighters as he took in the ceremony. If he ever becomes a firefighter, it’s because of little moments like these. Well, and the smoke in his blood. It’s there; ask any firefighter who begets a firefighter who begets a firefighter.

The award comes as a result of a call that many of my followers watched play out on twitter. A mayday was called, the first ever for our city. And the bravery and teamwork of others brought everyone out safely. The article in the paper describes it as “acts of valor.” Any firefighter knows that’s just the stuff that sells newspapers. FireDad tried to shrug it off. “It’s just my job.”

His award was the Unit Citation which is given for “a team effort under combat situations including all participating staff members who, in support of departmental operations, distinguished themselves to effectuate the protection of life and property.” Which again, FireDad will tell you is just a fancy-pants way of saying he did is job. Whatever the case, I’m proud.

And so are these boys.

And I’m proud of the other firefighters who received medals yesterday too.

But speaking of pride, do you remember the test that FireDad took last month while I was away in Vegas? There was a delay in the reporting of the results. They were read today. FireDad passed! And placed high enough that he gets the promotion! WOO!

Yes, I think pride describes the past two days quite well.

Pride is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

He hasn’t changed much. I mean, look at him.

He’s still a baby face as he was in this picture five years ago. I don’t think he’s been asked if he’s old enough to drive the fire truck recently but he still regularly gets carded. He may look the same but he’s changed a lot as well. In good ways… mostly.

The adjustment period of being on the fire department wasn’t always easy. Of course, we further complicated things by immediately conceiving and adding BigBrother to our family. And then we bought this house. And then we had LittleBrother. So from picture frame one to picture frame two in the above photo, a lot happened. Yet he never backed down from the challenge. I suppose that’s the firefighter in him.

I won’t say that I worry less when he runs off to a fire. We all know that I worry. I will say that I’ve gotten used to the worry which is entirely different than not worrying. Adjusting to the schedule was also a challenge, one that I think we both struggle with at times as well. I think, as I said above, we’ve struggled most while also undergoing other personal life changes and challenges. The sleep deprivation of the newborn phase doesn’t always work well with the sleep deprivation of firefighting or the sleep deprivation of solo parenting brought on by firefighting. But we made it through that… twice over.

For five years, I’ve sent him off to work every third day, knowing that he’ll be home twenty-four hours later. For five years, he’s come home twenty-four hours later and made the coffee, helping me get the day started for forty-eight hours together. For five years, we’ve learned more about the fire life and about each other. While this particular anniversary isn’t our anniversary (ours is in December), it’s still a milestone I think we both celebrate.

I mean, five years means three weeks of vacation instead of two. Celebration indeed.

I can’t wait to see what the next five, ten, fifteen and twenty years bring us with regard to fire stories, memories and family life. No more pregnant shots like this:

Or this:

But, most definitely more of this:

Happy Five Year Fire Anniversary, FireDad! We’re proud of you!

(But really… three weeks of vacation! WOOHOO!)

Five Year Fire Anniversary is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

We made jokes about being sick of each other by the time our thirteen days were up. We laughed and said we’d never make it through a seven day vacation and associated travel, let alone the full thirteen days. But, at the risk of sounding horribly sappy: it was flipping wonderful.

We took walks on the beach. We splashed water at one another. We went shopping without children (which is the benefit of vacationing with extended family). He bought me my first-ever fishing pole which is pink with lights. Then he took me surf-fishing, taught me how to properly cast in the ocean and even let me re-bait my own hook. (I’ve been fishing before but have never owned my own pole. With lights.) We sat on the deck in the evenings, silent and still. We teased and we poked. We laughed and we joked. We spent time with our boys together, taking them to the aquarium. We splashed with them in the ocean. We argued with one another over whether or not to go east or west at one point. (Perhaps I was wrong because I wanted to stay at the beach? Yes?) We learned dorky information about the route home (like the state line between Virginia and West Virginia is inside the East River Tunnel).

And, of course, I took lots of pictures of the two of us.

(Also: I wear a lot of green because it’s my favorite color. Obviously.)

We don’t have a ton of pictures of ourselves. In fact, the photographer we hired for our family portraits on the beach made sure to get some of the two of us by ourselves because we haven’t had any of that nonsense since we got married! I’m hopeful that they turn out well and that FireDad isn’t making his “I’m Purposefully Trying to Mess Up Your Photo” face. Like this one.

And so, yesterday came, bringing our vacation days to a final end. FireDad woke up to an alarm, something we didn’t do since we set out on vacation at 3:00 on August 15th. He showered, got ready and came in to give me a kiss. I felt sad as he left, knowing it will be a long time before we have another thirteen days together. I did roll over and snuggle into his pillow, catching a bit of sleep before the boys woke me up. We spent our day without FireDad running errands and doing the school orientation thing. But by dinner time, we simply missed him. So we stopped at the fire department and got some time in with our favorite firefighter.

He came home this morning and we’ve worked our way back into our normal routine. I’m sad that he has to leave us every third day but, really? The bed last night? All to myself? It was good.

–

Having returned from vacation this past weekend and  not having done the grocery shopping until just this morning (we did a lot of pasta), I have absolutely no pictures of food to share with you for this week’s You Capture theme. We’re lucky we ate. (We also did pizza. And went out for Mexican yesterday. My diet? What diet?) But, as we’re back in our routine now, hopefully I’ll have some pictures for next week’s challenge: Old Signs. Ooh, fun.

Thirteen Days is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

For the record, even though he has a baby face, FireDad is older than sixteen. Just clarifying that I’m not breaking laws.

Sadly, FireDad is working today. We’re heading to the fire department this evening to give him gifts and take some yummy goodies. We’re sending all of our love to the best daddy in the world. (LittleBrother does send his love which is shown in the interview video by his napping. He’ll have a video next year. Promise.)

Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there!

Happy Father’s Day: Interview Edition is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

I informed FireDad this morning as we enjoyed a quiet, no-kids morning (as they have been kidnapped by my mother-in-law). He smiled and said it was okay. I asked him if he was upset. He said, unsurprisingly, that it was fine. I said, “That’s a shame, because I was going to make it up to you later.” He would like Redbook, our readers and the world to know that he is now very saddened by his loss. *wink, wink, nudge, nudge*

We had a good time with it. He had a good time with it. He took it all in stride, has endured months of, “So, did you win,” questions and has done it all with his beautiful smile. These, of course, are just a few of the reasons that I love him. I love that he can take something as cheesy as a “hot husbands contest” and barely bat an eyelash. I love that he agreed to pose for the newspaper. I love that he loves me despite all of my crazy antics. I love his sense of humor. I love how he is with our boys, how he is with the Munchkin and how he loves with his whole heart. I love everything there is to love about him, even when he leaves his socks on the bathroom floor. (Mainly because he puts up with me leaving my towel on… every… floor.) That’s love, folks.

He may not have won the popular vote on Redbook… but he’ll always be my hottest husband. (I mean, right?!)

And that’s how he feels about that comment.

Thanks to EVERYONE who took the time to vote. Thanks to everyone who tweeted, blogged, emailed, talked on the phone and generally spammed their real life friends with the URL to vote for my (hottest) husband. Thank you to all who have laughed with us and poked fun at my husband as he honestly had a good time. Thanks to WHIZ-TV for airing a piece about the contest and the Daily Jeffersonian for photographing my (hottest) husband for an article that ran on the front page of our local newspaper. And, lastly, thank you to my mother-in-law and father-in-law for not only combining genes but raising one wonderful, strong, funny, intelligent, mannerly and loving man.

I am the luckiest.

Did FireDad Win Redbook’s Hottest Husband? is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

And Applebee’s wants to know about him and the many men and women like him.

Applebee’s has launched something called their Realburgers for Real Heroes contest. In essence, they want people like you and me to nominate our favorite “real life hero” to win a great prize pack. Here’s what they have to say about the definition of real life hero:

A real hero might be a favorite fireman, parent, coach, volunteer, teacher, or best friend – people who are
making a difference in your life and neighborhood every day. Who are your heroes?

Sure, it’s easy to call FireDad a hero. I mean, he saves lives! But what about a coach or a teacher that has touched the lives of students for years and years? What about a parent who has gone above and beyond the call of duty in how they actively parent their children? What about the best friend who stood by you as your world crumbled? What about that woman who started the organization that changed your life? What about those you come in contact with, every single day, that are actively working to better the world around them? I know that you know someone to nominate. In fact, if you think about it, I bet you know more than one person to nominate.

What’s to win? Other than a big old pat on the back and some recognition for a job well done?

The Grand Prize Winner will receive $5,000 and a year’s worth of free Applebee’s Realburgers. Just for nominating, you’re automatically entered into a weekly sweepstakes drawing for a $50 Applebee’s Gift Card.

Free burgers and money. Sounds good to me!

You can nominate your Real Hero through July 5th. After that, people will be able to vote for their favorite Real Heroes on the Applebee’s website from July 15th to the 23rd. (I know I’ll be checking in to see who others view as their heroes. I love reading stories that warm my heart!)

As we’re hoping to spread word about this contest, we’re hosting a little giveaway here on Stop, Drop and Blog. You can win an Applebee’s prize pack with a few things (an aromatherapy ball, lip balm, cookie butter, pen, photo holder, calculator, stress apple and some other stuff). How to win?

1. Tweet this contest by copy/pasting this into your tweet stream.

Nominate a Real Hero in your life & win an Applebee’s prize pack: http://ow.ly/ebdg Now thru July 5th! #SDBrealheroes

After doing so, come back and comment with the individual URL of the tweet.

2. Blog about the Applebee’s contest and this associated giveaway, linking to both the Applebee’s contest page and this post here. Come back and comment with the link to your live, public post.

3. Send this post here to StumbleUpon, Facebook or any other legitimate social media site. Please comment with each site you have submitted to.

The giveaway is open through the end of the contest (in the continuous hope of reminding people to vote for their Real Heroes) on July 5th, 2009. Comments will be accepted through 11:59pm on that evening. At that point (or, the next morning), we will visit random.org and pull a random winner. The information will be forwarded on to Applebee’s so that the prize pack may be shipped.

Don’t forget to nominate your Real Heroes! Today!

_
[Full Disclosure: I received no compensation, monetary or freebies, for posting about this. Our family is simply well aware of how real life heroes need recognition.]

Who Are the Real Heroes In Your Life? is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

Leading up to our Spring Show, I had a few dreams about the performance. Well, I’d really classify these as nightmares as they always went horribly. I think I had a total of two. Two nights ago, I had another dream about the show, though it had been over for two weeks. Again, everything went wrong. But I didn’t wake up after the show ended. And the dream, er, nightmare didn’t end there either.

On my way home from the theater, I came upon fire trucks and an old, tall church in the city that was on fire. Most of the flames were out by the point of my arrival. So, of course, as this was a dream, I made my way into the Sanctuary where I found my Husband. He was crying. So was his friend. After some discussion, I found that another firefighter to whom he was close was injured and another, one who was in our wedding, had died during an explosion in the fire. This dream went on for quite some time. I woke up with tears in my eyes.

Subconscious at work much?

In all of the years we have been together, I don’t think fire has entered my dreams in this way. I don’t know if that is in direct relation to the recent influx of fires or if it was just time for me to have that kind of a dream. When FireDad arrived home, I asked him if everyone was okay. He looked at me as if I had two heads. (But, yes, everyone is okay.) I later asked if the two firefighters who were harmed in the dream-blaze worked on the same shift. (They don’t.) When I explained my dream, he just kind of smiled at me. He knows me too well.

It’s curious, though, why I had such a nightmare now. My logical, rational, experienced fire-wife side knows that it is just because of the fact that fire has been so prevalent in our lives as of late. Plus, if you add up the years, I was probably due to dream something horrible. But my anxious, worried, loving fire-wife side doesn’t want to consider things like premonitions and omens and other such nonsense. I find it weird, really, that I’ve never had a dream of this nature when FireDad has had to dart off in the middle of the night, leaving me alone with my worried thoughts. Instead, it happened on a calm, no-fires night.

I had no such dream last night. (Though, perhaps, this was due in part to the thunder waking me up at 1:30 and 3:00. Also, we had a storm at 11:00pm which was in its full blast form at 11:34, causing our satellite to go out just one minute before Conan came on for his first Tonight Show appearance. I was sad.) I am pleased that FireDad switched with someone and is off for these three days in a row. His presence is calming and physically seeing him with my eyes is probably what I need right now. However, I know that if there is an all-hands call, he’ll be off in a flash even if he isn’t scheduled to work that day. I wonder when my next fire nightmare will be.

I think perhaps I need to start doing yoga before bed.

Nightmares & The Fire Wife is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

You turn to technology, of course.

I wish I could take credit for this idea. But I can’t. FireDad gets all the kudos for this one even if it was semi-accidental. He was sitting at his laptop one day (one exceptionally whiny, rainy day) when he decided to surf YouTube. For what? Fire trucks. Fire sirens. And all the varying degrees of noisy but wonderful searches. BigBrother stopped whining, stood next to the chair and exclaimed his joy over and over with each new video. LittleBrother did the same. We had an instantaneous winner on our hands.

There are videos of fire truck sirens in parades. There are citizens watching fire trucks zoom past. There are the sirens going off over volunteer departments, alerting their members to a call. Any kind of siren you want, old or new, can be found. And it provides some great “time-wasting” and giggling. We actually turn to this on days like yesterday and, according to the forecast, today. We normally play outside after supper but when it is raining or, worse, storming, we have to find something else to use up that time. This is just one of the things we happen to turn to because giggles before bedtime… ? Yes, please.

And so, a few of BigBrother’s favorites:

And, perhaps my favorite “siren” video, brought to you by BigBrother:

Awesome.

And so the next time your little one wants to go see some fire trucks, plan a virtual trip. But be prepared to listen to sirens at maximum volume for a good half an hour. Have some ibuprofen ready. And enjoy your virtual fire truck ride. (Make your own video(s) while you’re at it!)

Virtual Fire Department Visit is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

[For more Wordless Wednesday, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.]

Wordless Wednesday: Laughter is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.

FireDad, not surprisingly, had to work. So, we took some birthday love to him at the fire station. I have words but, after a very long dress rehearsal, I’m exhausted. As such, let’s look at the event.

We would have rather had some more time with the Birthday Boy but, alas, the fire life strikes again. I’m just hoping that this year is great for FireDad. I know we’re happy to be spending it with him!

[It's taken me all day to get to posting this but, well, better late than never.]

Happy Birthday, FireDad is a post from Stop, Drop and Blog. Want more of Stop, Drop and Blog? Like our page on Facebook! If you have questions, contact me or hit me up via twitter.