Call me the firegirl (Ella did)

Today, I tried to set the house on fire.

Until today, I've never actually put out a fire. Ironically, late last night I was typing up our homeschool curriculum for the superintendent and wondered 'what will we do for fire safety this year?'

Well, we got that one checked off. According to the discussion I had with the children after the blaze was out:
1-Never turn on the stove and walk away.
2-Never fill a pot with oil to make popcorn, turn on the stove and walk away.
3-Making a phone call from the backyard while stove is on and oil is heating is always a bad idea.
4-Having a serious discussion with husband during heating of oil is a terrible idea.
5-Ignoring the blaring smoke alarms coming from the house, thinking that it is the microwave beeping will only make matters worse.

6-If ever, you are engrossed in a new library book and you hear smoke alarms while breathing in smoke in a smoke filled room. You SHOULD ALWAYS interrupt the book reading to save yourself. You most certainly can bring the book with you. (That one was for Everett who was reading in the living room and managed to ignore the circumstances until he heard mother screaming).

I did all of the above. My kids will probably never let me live it down.

I finally realized that smoke was filling the dining room and saw the blaze on the stove. Yelling into the phone, "There's a fire in the kitchen!" I chucked the phone and ran inside. Can't imagine what Seth was thinking. Probably something along the lines of, "Can't believe I'm married to such a nut case." Or "She's SO overdramatic."

I can't recall what happened next, I probably broke many more fire safety rules. Like yelling and losing your cool. Using the garden hose to douse flames is probably not up there on the "to do" list. But I did it.

Right now five children are sleeping on the floor of Josiah's bedroom because it was the only room smoke-free. We were all rather worked up. I was ready to head to a hotel. They were ready to sleep on the grass in the backyard, since obviously the house is far too dangerous to enter. Ever. Then the sensible husband chastened me (via phone) and told me to "Calm down, it's just a little smoke." Only because he wasn't here to see the leaping flames. And because once he caught the neighbor's trees on fire. That's way worse.