So this evening, it was a bit cool and the girls wanted a fire in the fireplace, so I figured it's time the girls learned how to start a fire. Some of you who've read the previous blogs and newsletters I send are probably thinking this one will end with yet another emergency room visit or claim on our homeowners' insurance policy (Remember the encouragement I gave Morgan to ride her bike down the huge hill that ended up in her arm being fractured?). I may very well be writing this from a hotel room because our house has burned down... alas, I'm exceedingly happy to relate the fact that we are all still alive and unburned, though I am realizing that with the instruction on how to light a fire came no lecture about the proper and improper use of fire-building techniques. It's a good thing my oldest children are girls, because if Dan was the firstborn, I would have been in serious trouble... at least it's my impression that boys are way more likely to burn, damage, and destroy that are girls. At any rate, I decided to teach Morgan and Lillian how to start a fire.
Here they are at their best in the first of the documentaries on urban fire-starting:
In all, they did a great job... much better than most Tenderfoot Boy Scouts... maybe it's the ex-Scoutmaster in me that makes me want to help the girls be more successful than some of the boys I taught... no one ever had to teach me how to build a fire... we just lit stuff on fire! Like the time I lit my younger brother Joseph on fire.
There are still disputed details about the story when Joseph or I tell it while the other is around, like whether Joseph was willing to be lit... I say he was and Joseph says he was forced or at least compelled by me. Regardless, his shirt was ignited and we were on our way to prove whether "Stop, Drop, and Roll" actually worked. I wasn't trying to kill him, though if we had done such a thing in today's world, I have been jailed for sure on a count of attempted murder. I wasn't even trying to hurt him; we just wanted to find out if "Stop, Drop, and Roll" really worked!
In the end, we realized it burned to have your shirt on fire, so instead of dropping to the ground, we pulled it off... over his head. That of course was what mostly burned off his eye brows and bangs. I think back and realize that we surely lied about the cause of the burned eyebrows and bangs... we probably blamed it on that old stove we had growing up that you had to lift the stove top to light the pilot lights each time... probably some lie like, "We didn't realize the burner was on before attempting to light the pilot lights". Uh-huh, yeah right... Sorry for lying mom! Well, he survived.
One thing's for sure... I realize that teaching your kids... or any kids for that matter... how to start a fire should be the lesson AFTER how to put one out! There's always next family home evening for that activity. It should accompany the lesson entitled, "Don't do stupid things."
P.S. Here's a few more recent pictures:
Here's a beautiful woman witha wild animal in her lap! That's Dan in the awesome Hippo costume that my sister, Megan, made for Kate... yes, we still love it Megan. You rock!
Here's one of the trees in the front yard... AWESOME... we love the leaves that turn into these fabulous colors and the girls are totally looking forward to the leaf pile. Kate is sure that when she jumps into the huge-o-booge-o leaf pile that she's going to have the time of her life. To be honest, I and sure she will.
Well, it's official. We're now fully qualified residents of Huntsville, AL. We've been to the US Space and Rocket Center. It was way cool. To be honest, we've been twice, but the photos attached are from our first landing there. In the photo above, the girls are standing under one of the engines of the famous Saturn V rocket... you know, the kind that took the Apollo crews to the moon! Mondo Hugoso!
Here's Lilly in front of an astronaut that has a bad case of social anxiety... I feel bad for him. His mother pinning a sign to him and all. He probably got beat up a lot as a kid... nerds usually do... and those are just the type that turn into astronauts.
Here's Kate giving Neil Armstrong a run for his money... she's trying to make it back to Earth safely in the Apollo command module... no don't puch that button Kate!!!! Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!
And finally, here's the girls taking a stab at scaling a wall on Mars! I was going to make some comment about one of the climbers not being able to get back down, but to protect the innocent, I'll refrain.
Here's one of the trees in the front yard... AWESOME... we love the leaves that turn into these fabulous colors and the girls are totally looking forward to the leaf pile. Kate is sure that when she jumps into the huge-o-booge-o leaf pile that she's going to have the time of her life. To be honest, I and sure she will.
This is what I envision Mrs. Who looks like (a character from A Wrinkle in Time--if you haven't read it you should!)
