Tennessee Tuesday: CFD

Clarksville Fire Department

I know I have mentioned before that aside from spending time with family, I basically grew up at the fire station.  I loved being there as a kid, and loved all the connections and relationships I had there, and because I loved it, I want my kids to love the fire station, too.  I am sure they do, as we have been in a few of them, and they have been able to play on the trucks every time.

I am sure that I have also mentioned that I have a reverence and respect for firefighters, the same that I have for American Soldiers.  They may not have to put their lives on the line every moment of the day, but when in the heat of the moment (no pun intended) their lives are on the line.  I appreciate each and every one of them. 

We stopped today at the station and asked if it would be possible for me to take a picture of the kids with the firemen.  They said sure, and then asked if I just wanted to bring them back to the trucks. This is a small station, with just one rescue truck and one ladder truck, but it didn't matter to the kids.  They had so much fun, and two of the firemen were happy to show Noah what everything was, including The Jaws of Life.  

I love all these coats.

Hangin' out on the backboard.

He is so small next to this wheel.

This fireman gladly dressed in all his gear for the kids.  Cooper didn't want anything to do with him.

Stay off the road...

The kids are driving!

Cooper wasn't sure about it, though.

New Annie Shots

Due to the fact that my favorite picture of Annie...

was a little blurry when I printed it....

I took a few more of her today.  They're not as good as the first one, but they will do.

PhotoStory Friday: "I Miss You Noah"

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I know I have posted this picture already, but it is Pete's current favorite.

Noah and Annie have a love/hate relationship.  It's about 80% love, 20% hate. When the 20% is happening, you had better watch out.  Noah is somewhat calm, saying things like "Oohh, Annie, I am so mad at you" or "you are making me so mad!"

However if Annie is up, you had better find some earplugs, because her ear piercing shriek is how she shows her anger.

But when the 80% is happening, you want to have the camera constantly rolling, and have a notepad in hand, to record all the sweet things that are said.

Most mornings, when Annie and Noah wake up, they make sure they hug each other. Annie always yells as loud as she can "Bye Noah!" when he gets out of the car, even if the doors are already shut.  The first time I took Noah to school, Annie asked when we were going to pick him up, to which I replied, "after lunch." She waited about ten seconds, and said, "Can we have lunch now?" Frequently, right after we drop Noah off at school, Annie tells me, "mom, I am going to miss my brother today."

But today my heart melted, when she simply turned to Noah in the car after school, with a relieved look on her face and said, "Noah, I missed you", to which he replied, "I missed you, too."

I wonder when all of that will end.  Too soon, is my guess.

Tennessee Tuesday: Patriots Park

Patriots Park is located right in the middle of Fort Campbell Boulevard.  It is between the north and south bound lanes, next to a church.  Patriots Park is a beautiful place dedicated to soldiers who have fought in all the wars.  We took the kids after church on Sunday, and for being right in the middle of one of the busiest roads around, it was very quiet and peaceful. The leaves were bright and colorful, and the kids enjoyed looking at the monuments.  

And here are a few shots of the nice time we had.

Calvin Klein, maybe?

She was tired from picking berries.  See it in her hand?

Beautiful colors.

I love these guys.

Annie's Butterfly Room

I am finally done with Annie's room!

Like I've said before, we are only going to be here until August, so I didn't want to go overboard in decorating the rooms, so I did stickers on the wall, hung wooden letters that spell her name,  and painted and hung a hook board, and that's about it.  She insisted on a butterfly room, which turned out to be really easy.  She loves it!

A Pair of Well-Worn Shoes

I bought these shoes for Noah when school started in August, and this is what they look like now:

I have tried and tried to figure out how he went through a pair of shoes so fast, and all I can come up with is that he is a boy, and this is just how boy's shoes are going to look.  So, we took a trip to the mall for shoes on Saturday, and looked everywhere to find a pair of shoes that I hoped would last a while, or at least until Christmas!  Here's what we got:

They're Skechers, so hopefully they will last a while!

And of course, if Annie is with me in a shoe store, we can't get out of there without a pair for her.  She is such a girl! Here's what she picked.  Good thing both of their shoes were on sale.  I could go broke at this rate.

This is my favorite part of the shoe.

DoubleMint Twins

Remember that commercial?

As part of Pete's graduation present, his parents gave him money to get a Tug-a-bug, an attachment for his bike, so that Noah would be able to ride with him.  We have been waiting for a good deal on one, and we finally got it!  We put it on Saturday evening, and the boys rode until it got dark.  Noah had a blast riding with his dad, and Pete and I had fun just watching his reactions.