Flaming hot banana bread...

After I got Jackson down for a nap I preheated our oven and started mixing together a batch of dairy-free, egg-free banana bread. I replaced the eggs with pumpkin. I was never able to find out if pumpkin/banana bread was any good because while mixing the batter it started to smell hot, I turned around to flames shooting out of my oven. Ahh! I grabbed the telephone and headed into Jackson room. I informed the dispatcher that my oven was on fire and she transferred me to the fire department who advised that I get my young son out of the house and that they would be on their way. I felt that the phone call was taking FOREVER, as I was still in my house trying to wrap my sleeping baby before taking him outside, all the while, holding the phone to my ear, making the task much more difficult.

Whew! Finally outside. Now what?

Jackson peeked his sleeping eyes open and said "Where goin' Mommy?" Aww, how cute. "We are going to go the neighbors house kiddo." And off we went. Luckily Barb, our across the street neighbor was heading outside to take her dog for a walk. We headed back into her house where I could leave Jackson in the company of Barb, Sponge Bob Square Pants and Barb's dog Mickey. Yay! The boy is safe, and now I hear the fire sirens.

The St. Paul fire department put out the fire and used their mega-powered fans to blow the smoke out my front door where I stood waiting. By the amount of smoke that came out my front door, you would have thought we had lost the entire kitchen!

After getting the all-clear, we headed back into our smoke and soot-filled home and called the husband. Of course in a moment like this, he isn't to be found, but was located by some coworkers on the guard stand. Knowing that it must be an emergency, he came quickly to the phone. I made sure to tell him our story quickly: "Everyone is fine, but we had a fire in our oven."

Now we are in the next stages, cleaning and getting rid of things that were damaged. Ugh!