Friday, November 16, 2007

First Fall Fire


We moved into our new house in May. We loved our old house on Huron Street. It was our first house and was the site of lots of memories for us. Eli was born while we were there and spent the first two years in our cute yellow house. It was nice and cozy. The neighborhood was great. There were only two downsides to it in Carlye and I's opinion. One that it wasn't quite big enough for a family of four (even with my minimalist will forced upon everyone in it) and two it didn't have a fireplace. For some reason my wife and I both have this strange nostalgic association with fires in the fireplace. We both like wood burning fireplaces the best as well (are there any other kind?). It's strange. We are opposites in so many things and yet we both share this strange romantic feeling about fireplaces (more the literature definition than the relationship one). So when we moved into our new house you can imagine that the sadness of leaving our very first house was somewhat lessened by the wood burning fireplace in our new living room. Of course it was ninety degrees at the time so our gratification was not instant.

At any rate it got cold here during the night on Wednesday so I figured why not break in our new fireplace. I decided to enlist Eli, our two and a half year old, as a helper and by doing so I think I made his year. He is a funny kid. He loves helping Carlye and I so much. I mean when you give him a job or a chore now he actually says thank you and if you don't give him a job to do he will throw a tantrum (seriously, who does this kid get this from?) So I figure we might as well take advantage of the current state of affairs while it lasts.

Anyways, he helped me bring up the wood, the kindling, and the newspaper (literally running up the stairs with a log as big as his head just so he could run back downstairs and help me with another one). We then loaded the fireplace, stuffed the newspaper under the logs, arranged the kindling, and fired her up (couldn't resist). It was a perfect first fire in our new house. We kept it burning all evening and the four of us sat around the living room, reading, studying, playing with puzzles and stickers. Basking in the warmth of the fire. Staring into the flaming embers. Enjoying the smell. Nothing like it. Before I put him to bed I thanked Eli for all of his help, saying " I couldn't have done it without you." To which he humbly replied, "I know." I do know who he gets that from...his mother.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love your new blog. Mom

Anna said...

welcome to the land of blog! finally. we loved having you at the house tonight for chili. I'll deliver extra cupcakes tomorrow!

Anonymous said...

Bah hum bug: gas is so much nicer. Of course, the only job Eli would have is flipping the switch, and he wouldn't be able to help you clean all the ashes.

Leslie Ruth Petree said...

Yes. I know from personal experience that Eli gets that from his mother :) But you know, the woman really is right 99.999% of the time.

Welcome to the blogroll Steve! Glad you're here.