'nuff said!

Me fighting a fire this past Sunday....

Most of you know I am on the Fire Department where I live. It is volunteer, but a wonderful feeling to be able to give back. This past Sunday was the second fire in a week we were called to assist on. It was a rural property, a double wide mobile home on a basement. Needless to say, this only took 15 minutes to be completely engulfed in flames. The cause was electrical. It was a total loss and luckily the family got out in time. I am the short one on the hose in the pictures below.

AS you see, in about an hours time there was nothing left. It was completely under control in about 60 minutes.

more pics from practice tonight....

Look at him blocking that big kid!

I love this action shot of him.

Trevor getting those knees up high.

A word about the duo....

The boys were fortunate enough to be accepted into Headstart this year. Being that they are 3, means they are locked for the 2 years prior to kindergarten. Some people think that because this is a government funded program it means poor kids in a nasty facility. This is quite the contrary here in Missouri. For one, Missouri's education is wonderful. Did you kow that we dont pay a dime for thier education. Nor do we for Trevors. There is no such thing as "book fees' here. Each child buys a stash of supplies from a supply list at the begining of the year and that is all we pay. So technically we pay about $25 for supplies and they provide the education. It is all tax-supported, which is where taxes should be going (in my opinion).
The boys school is very small. ther eare only 40 kids accepted and there are 2 classrooms. Each class has a primary teacher and and assistant and there is also a floating assistant. They have been separated to facilitate thier own personalities. I love this. The first day Logan cried, but the last week, Connor has been the one to cry when we drop him off. Besides all the wonderful things happening, each boy will have thier own education plan. The teachers meet with us 6 times a year, which includes 2 home visits, to keep us up to speed on thier progress. They also provide assessments and services in speech. The school also is working on potty training. We no longer use diapers, we use pull ups and underwear. (BTW: If anyone wants to send a support package to help out, we could use character undies in 2T/3T as incentives). They also are required to brush their teeth at school twice and hand-washing is a must. The boys are coming home exhausted by their new schedule. They go to school from about 8am- 3:30pm. Another thing I like is that there are 3, 4, and 5 year-olds all combined in the class. The older kids mentor the younger ones. The boys are adjusting well and I am so proud of them.

Connor putting his back pack in his cubby.
John walking Logan to his class first.

Punt and Pass a Thon 9-12-09

To raise money for the organization, they have a punt and pass-a-thon. Trev didn't have time to raise a lot of money, but he participated and got his jerseyHe is on the Cardinals team. He will be # 54. According to his coach, that is a great # to have. The Chicago Bears Brian Urlacher is #54. Trevor is thriving in football so far and is excited to participate. It helps that he has many friends from school in it. The organization is great. All boys get to play in every game and on offense and defense. Also, every player gets a trophy at the end of the season. This has been so good so far for his confidence and self-esteem. We are so proud of him.

He is doing very well in school. Being in football has been an incentive to get his homework done right away and keeps him motivated. Not only that, but he is worn out at night which is good for him. Funny thing is, we found we dont need to medicate him for football. We gave him his pill for the competition and he had no energy and was like a zombie there. Now we know he uses up all of that energy just playing football. He is also learnign self-control when he is off his meds, telling us he will "keep it together" and he has! I could not be more proud. I hope he really likes football and continues to thrive. WE are in a HIGHLY supportive football area. The whole town is big into football and highschool is a HUGE thing. Plus, right now, an NFL first round draft pick and a MIZZOU starter are former Bonne Terre boys who also were Jr Raiders just like Trev.

Trevor threw the ball 21 mph. Not too shabby for a rookie!

LOL, for this competition, I told him to pretend it was Logan and Connor he was dragging.

Look at that arm!!!!!! And Check out spiral! I see a future rocket man!

Trevor starting Football

Gearing up for practice. Trevor has really found he enjoys football so much. Not only that, some of his really good friends are in football too, so that keeps him interested. He is doing very well. He has a good pass too! Watch out football fans, here is an up-and-coming sportsman!