Fire Station Visit #2: We rode in the truck!

"One, two fire truck... three, four fire truck... one, two, three, four fire truck.  Jump on board and away we go - in a fire truck.  Put up the ladder and drag out the hose - in a fire truck. " (from "Hard Hat Harry: Fire Trucks" video)

That has become our theme song around here, and that's just what we did on Wednesday - almost.  Our neighborhood station doesn't have a ladder truck, so Joshua didn't put up the ladder, but he did everything else.

We hadn't been to the Fire Station since December, so we went back.  And we had so much fun!

Firefighter Reggie said to get in the truck, but he didn't say we were going for a ride - with the Sirens on too! 

We only went around the station so the ride was no more than 30 seconds long, but we will remember it forever!

Joshua was both thrilled and scared about riding in the truck. Reggie said to get in and buckle up. He didn't tell us that he was going to give us a ride. This was J's face when the engine started, and he realized this was going to be more than just sitting in the truck.

Joshua got to do real firefighter work.

Drag out the hose.

This was a dream come true.

Joshua getting instructions about what to do next.

Getting ready to put out a "fire."

Putting out the fire.

Working the hose like a pro!

Reggie and Joshua pose for the camera.  Reggie was a great host.  He really let Joshua do quite a few jobs.

Since we used up some of the trucks water supply, it needed to be refilled.

Hooking up the main line.

The truck is getting filled up.

Putting the station's main hose back out to drain and dry.  It was a great day for Joshua.  It was very satisfying to him to be able to go to work.  His next wish is to come to the station to help them wash their trucks.  Stay tuned for that one!  I'll have to see if I can make that one work.

Joshua Can Read! (a few words)

Two weeks or so ago, Joshua began saying words and then letting me know what the beginning or ending sound was.  After he does that, he would try to guess which letter was making that sound.  So I have started teaching him the sounds of letters whenever he asks about it, or occasionally when something he has asked about comes up again.  Last week, I told him he could learn how to read because he was able to guess what so many letters were by the sounds.  He got super excited, so I found a book and a CD-rom that taught how to read.  We did a sample of the cd-rom lesson on a website.  The reviews were good and he liked the sample lesson so we bought the book and cd-rom.  Anyway...  it came in the mail yesterday, so today we did the first lesson on the computer.  The lesson focussed on the letters "a, t, s, c, o" and their accompanying sounds. Then it showed how to combine them together to make the words.  After each lesson, there are activities.  One of them was word recognition.  They show the words he has learned and he has to pick the correct word that the voice asks for.  He did that activity twice and on the second time around he got every one correct.  Now he can sight read "at, cat, sat".  And he almost has "cot" down.  The lesson also shows the word on the screen and asks them to type it.  He needs a little bit of help with that still, but I'm amazed at how fast that's coming along.  He only did it once and he's almost got it.

I'm just so surprised and impressed!  I guess he really wants to read!  I can't wait to see if his retention is good.  Tomorrow will be a good test to see if the info he learned sticks with him.  

P.S.  As I write this he is looking at the word LOVE and asking me, "Which letter makes the sound _____?"  Then he says the sound of a letter in that word and wants me to guess.

Eve Knits a Snake

Two things Eve loves are knitting/crocheting and photography.  

Every Sunday, Eve takes her yarn to church and crochets or knits as she listens, sometimes she finger knits things.  On Sunday, she finger knitted this tube and decided that it looked like a snake, so she tied it off and left some yarn for the tongue and split the end to look like a snake.  She had fun playing with it.  When I told her we should take a picture of it and post it on the blog she got her camera out and took this picture of herself.  I think she is so creative with it!

I love this picture ^ up here^

Joshua Climbs A Tree

Here he is - so proud of himself.  Yesterday, he asked me how people climb trees.  So I told him, then he asked if I would help him climb a tree.  I said I would in a little while.  Well, about 1/2 hour later he went outside and just did it all by himself.

You can see that there is a bike resting up against the tree.  Well, climbed on that and stood on the seat to get himself into the tree.

He didn't want me to take him down, so I let him sit there for a while.  All day he would go back and I would hear him call me to come take a look at his accomplishment.  Then when I would try to take him down, he would say that he wanted to stay there for a while.  I think it's so cute!

Malinda's Big Read

Malinda likes to read, but it hasn't been high up on her list of extra-curricular activities.  She has read books and enjoyed them, but picked only very short book.  She didn't really get the hunger for reading, until Twilight.  So many kids she knows have read Twilight (including everyone in our family except Malinda & Joshua.  Eve has only been allowed to read the first three books).   But we thought the subject matter was too grown up for her until recently.  

Now that she is nearing 10 yrs. old, we decided that the first book is an appropriate enough book for her to read.  She was so happy she just read and read and read.  Well, she finished!  It's a very long book, and she is so proud of herself!  I know it will motivate her to read more in the future.  She wants to read more Twilight, but that isn't going to happen until she's a bit older.  So if any of you have some book suggestions, we're taking them.

The Power of Television

Last week the kids had a whole week off of school, and on the first day there was a Pokemon marathon.  So, since the kids have loved Pokemon in the past, we had a nostalgic day of Pokemon.  The weather was perfect for such a day, because it rained all day.

Joshua had never seen Pokemon before, but once the kids explained it to him he was hooked!  He watched right along with them.  After a few episodes, he decided he was Ash (the main character), and ran to get dressed up like him.  Eve has some Pokemon stuffed toys, so Joshua grabbed one of those and spent the next several days being in character.  It hit me once again just how powerful an influence the media is.

I'm so glad that Ash's outfit is jeans and a t-shirt and a jacket.  Joshua has a track jacket that looks like Ashes minus a yellow stripe, but I don't have a picture of that.  It was strange to see him put aside his fireman persona for a while.

Isn't he cute?!!!

Fast forward to yesterday...  Joshua saw Jay Jay the Jet Plane and now he is Jay Jay.  Television is powerful stuff.  BTW, he has not dropped Fireman Sam.  The other characters are just that, characters, but he assures us he is still Fireman Sam for real.

More Fun at Christmas

We haven't taken any pictures lately, but I took these at Christmas time.   We had some friends of ours come over on Christmas Eve to watch the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert.  The kids and their friends were so creative with the "No Ends" that I just had to snap some pictures.  Usually we make fire trucks/fire stations and helicopters, but the kids decided to try something new this time.  They made costumes.

The boys were making helmets and some kind of boxy body - like a robot.   Joshua was a spaceman.  Matthew (in the gray & red) made a rounded helmet - kind of like hair - I don't know what he was pretending to be.

Here's Joshua trying on his suit to see if he needs something added.  Yes, that is Nathan in the background playing ball with David in the house.  And Eve was looking on and helping when needed.

This is our friends daughter, Leah.  She made an angel costume, and I just loved it!  I especially liked that it was  in keeping with the Christmas celebration of the evening.  Kids are so creative.  I love to see what they can think up.