Today my husband celebrates five years with the fire department. I celebrate with him, of course, because the past five years have been amazing. Busy. Kind of crazy. Sometimes very difficult. Maybe a bit tiresome and exhausting at times. But amazing.

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!)

As I said, we checked out some special firefighter Christmas books from our library earlier this month. I’ve already reviewed one, A Small Christmas, and now it’s time for another!

Firefighter’s Night Before Christmas is a true gem. Written by Kimbra Cutlip and illustrated by James Rice, the book follows the rhyme scheme of the original Night Before Christmas. I had hesitated borrowing this book from the library in years past because I know how long the original story is and I feared that the boys wouldn’t be able to handle it until now (ages 4 and 2). I was right. They not only handle it well but they really, really, really like this book.

In this particular Night Before Christmas series book, we see how the firefighters have gotten ready for Christmas by playing Santa (warning if you haven’t had the “he’s a helper of Santa because Santa is very busy” conversation), made a meal and so on. They were the “unlucky stiffs” who had to work the “Christmas Eve shift.” This makes us laugh this year as FireDad will be working Christmas Eve (but has Christmas Day off, thankfully). When, much to their surprise, Santa shows up! On an aerial rig with “lights on display,” because what else would Santa drive?

Then, as Santa is sampling their five-alarm chili, what else should happen but the alarm going off? I got all teary eyed when I got to the part that really hits home with any fire family:

We jumped in our boots as we’d all done before,
But a Christmas Eve call was different for sure.
Visions of families flashed in our heads,
While all of us hoped ours were safe in their beds.

Sniffle.

The firefighters race off to fight the fire into the dawning hours of Christmas morning. Tired, they return to their house to find a Christmas miracle: snow, a snowman and a “shiny new pumper.” And a laptop! And a toy chest! And new socks! And a new grill! And a bed! And a TV! And lounge chairs! And finished paperwork!

BigBrother loves reading through what everyone received. He also likes the part at the end of the book where Santa Claus signs the paperwork as “Ol’ Sergeant Nick.” The rhyme scheme of the book, familiar to them from the original story, keeps their attention as do the fun, festive illustrations. One review accused this book of having “halting” rhymes but I’m assuming that reader wasn’t familiar with some of the fire terminology. I do believe that this book will also be purchased for our library of Christmas books. I mean, it’s the perfect addition, is it not?

I think Firefighter’s Night Before Christmas would be a welcome and loved library addition for any fire family raising children. Or even for grandparents who are/were firefighters who like to read with/to their grandchildren. Furthermore, even if you aren’t a firefighter but have children who love fire trucks, this would be a great book to have for Christmas Eve or the surrounding season. This book is actually part of a series, Night Before Christmas Series which has everything from Nurse’s Night Before Christmas to Teachers’ to An Irish Night Before Christmas! I think we may start checking some other ones of these out over the next few years.

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[Disclosure: Book is from the library. Links are Amazon Associate links.]

I love board games. FireDad also loves board games. We’re kind of dorky awesome in that way. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are probably familiar with the game Monopoly. You may also be aware that they’ve been releasing customized versions of the game for the past few years. We recently got our hands on the Firefighters Edition and, I must say, we’re ablaze with love for it. (Punny!)

FireDad and I sat down one Friday night to give it a go. It had been awhile so we familiarized ourselves with the rules. The customizations for the firefighter game were amusing to the both of us. Houses and hotels were fire stations and headquarters. We also had Flashover and Backdraft cards instead of Chance and Community Chest. A 9-1-1 tax, membership and union dues stood out as well. Places to be purchased were also fun fire related names like Probie Place and Fire Chief Avenue. Furthermore, the pieces to play with were fire specific: a boot, a fire engine, a flashlight, a helmet, a fire hydrant and a dalmatian. FireDad chose the truck while I went with the fire hydrant.

We had a great time playing our first time through this edition of Monopoly. We laughed at some of the Backdraft and Flashover cards. In fact, one of my favorites was one that FireDad pulled. He still hasn’t earned his Stork Pin yet so he wasn’t equally as moved.

We had some good laughs over the course of our game, both fire related and simply at ourselves. In the end, FireDad ended up winning because he bought up some land that I kept landing on every single time. I’d challenge him to another match but I don’t think it was luck. He’s just good.

The question remains: would I recommend this as a gift for a firefighter? Maybe for Christmas, a birthday or a fire service anniversary? I would. Most definitely. It’s running right around $40, plus or minus shipping depending on which online retailer you use for your purchase. FireAwards.com has it listed for $39.95 right now (12/7). That might seem steep for some but it’s one of those gifts that will get more use than, say, a firefighter figurine on a shelf. This is something that can be enjoyed by the firefighter and the entire fire family. Forty bucks for a lifetime of family togetherness and laughter seems like an alright price to me!

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[Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this game from Gary at FireAwards.com in exchange for a published review of the game and a link.]

We decorated our Christmas tree yesterday. I only showed you a glimpse of our new star (not a bow, not an angel) and thought that I’d talk a little more about what went into decorating this year. Previously, our tree was a mish-mosh of old ornaments, colors and randomness. My obsessive compulsive tendencies couldn’t handle the mismatched cornucopia of colors and styles. It took me awhile to pick a direction but after thinking about what we had the most of, the answer was obvious: a fire tree.

Over the years, we have collected a number of firefighter specific ornaments. When I say “a number,” I do mean “lots and lots,” of course. I started thinking about their coloring as I hopped from shop to shop after the Christmas decorations were put out in stores (which was before Halloween this year and while some may find that deplorable, it helped in my hunt). I fell in love with a mix of red, apple green and white ornaments at The Store That Has Everything from Ornaments to Soy Based Yogurt. It turns out that the mix was a popular one this year because I found accenting smaller ornaments at just about every store I went to over the few weeks it took me to make my decision. I purchased a huge bundle of them from the initial store (50 larger ornaments) and a bunch of teeny ornaments from various stores. The colors are gorgeous.

In fact, when I started to pull out our specialty ornaments, I realized that the new ones were perfectly complementary to the ornament that is always displayed front and center on our Christmas tree: Santa as a firefighter.

We have a few variations of snowmen as firefighters as well. The reds of their hats or whole bodies were also perfect for the new coloring of our Christmas tree.

Yes, that last one is actually a bell. And it does jingle. But don’t tell the boys. Please.

We have another Santa but I always put him off to the side now. He was a gift from the owners of Teach, Bank, Blog back in 2005, just a month after BigBrother was born. I love the ornament but I feel bad that it doesn’t have LittleBrother’s name on it. So he hangs off on the side that faces my computer now. I smile at him and he watches me to make sure I’m being nice, not naughty.

One ornament doesn’t really match the color theme but definitely fits the fire theme. A firefighter dalmatian, complete with axe. He may be in yellow and blue but he’s a welcome addition to our fire tree.

The funniest fire themed ornament on our tree is a firefighter… Pez dispenser ornament. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

We also have a special series of ornaments on our tree. Robert’s Fire Catalog releases an ornament every year with the date and a different fire truck. I have purchased one for FireDad every year since we have been married. While we were engaged on Christmas Eve 2003 and I’d like to have an ornament from that year as well, I can’t seem to get my hands on one from that year. Such is life. 2004 is my favorite. 2005 is kind of… pink. 2009 may or may not be opened on Christmas morning. Guess FireDad will just have to find out.

One of the gems of the tree is a Hallmark ornament that is a 1938 fire truck. Our batteries are dead so it doesn’t currently do anything except match our colors and look generally awesome. It sits close to FireDad’s recliner so that he can pretend he’s like Jay Leno and has an antique fire truck. Someday.

I hope to add another ornament or two, other than the one from Fire Catalog, this year. As such, if you’re ever stuck for a gift idea for our family or any firefighter, consider an ornament. They’re usually easy to find. Santa as a firefighter is a recurring theme year after year, likewise with the snowmen as a firefighter. Hallmark almost always has a fire truck ornament but I’m not always quick enough to get them before they’re sold out of our local Hallmark. (20 firefighters on our local department plus the surrounding volunteer departments mean that fire truck ornaments go pretty quickly around here. Ebay is always an option.)

In the end, I’m in love with our “new” Christmas tree. I even bought a new tree skirt. And, yes, that is a firefighter snowman sitting next to the tree. I am pleased that our new Christmas tree not only matches itself but reflects our family. Fire trucks, firefighters and the color green. I mean, it’s a win-win-win for us all!

Especially with a star on top.