Two Bricks Does the Job

I promised I would post the story of my car getting broke into. A couple of weeks ago, I head into work like normal and park in the "50 Cent Lot", downtown Houston, at 7:30AM. At 8:50AM I get a call from my car insurance agent asking if I put a claim on my car for broken glass. I said no, he must be mistaken, I haven't had an accident. He explained that he got a call from a deputy about some broken glass, but wasn't sure if he was confused. I told him I hadn't been in an accident and everything was fine. At 9AM, I get a call on my office phone from a deputy who explains that someone broke into my car and they have the suspect in custody. He was frustrated because it took an hour for him to get a hold of me. He talked to my insurance agent and the car dealership where I bought the car to get my number. I was shocked; who breaks into a car at 8AM, there is usually plenty of action in a big open parking lot at that time. I was also impressed that the police had so effectively caught the guy. The deputy asks me to come out to the lot, so he can see my driver's license, etc.

The scene of the crime showed deep scar marks on my rear right window (the glass needed to be replaced) and a shattered back window. Apparently it's pretty hard to break a side window with a normal size brick, because it was clear the suspect had thrown the brick several times with no real success. I couldn't help but laugh when I tried to visualize the act. Inside the car were two bricks, one that hit the console/stick shift and landed in the passengers floor, and one in the back seat. They caused a couple scars in the plastic up front and a small tear in my rear seat. To top off the story, I haven't owned this car long and felt so blessed to own a nicer newer car with no defects...so much for that. In addition, I dropped my full coverage insurance about two months earlier, so damages had to be paid out of pocket.

I couldn't help but ask the deputy, how they caught this guy. "Well, he broke your windows and walked across the street to that shop and turned himself in. He just got out of jail and wanted to go back," said the deputy. I couldn't help but feel sorry for this guy sitting in the back of the cop car. You must have a pretty sad life, when you have no one to see and nothing to do outside of jail. Apparently he did the same thing a year ago when he got out of jail. He doesn't steal anything, just vandalizes and turns himself in. The deputy planned to talk with the judge to see if they can get the charges increased this time.

Oh what a headache its been. First I had to locate some gloves and throw the glass away before I could drive to the auto glass place. When I got up to 60 mph on the freeway I experienced a backdraft whirlwind, blowing tiny pieces of glass into my hair eyes and defrost vents. The autoglass guys did a nice job matching the tint on the windows, but messed up all my power locks and power windows, claiming they did not do it, and there was no way I could prove they did it. It was true, my argument that the locks and windows worked when I dropped the car off and didn't work when I picked it up, couldn't be proven. We got in a big fight and I left with no fix.

The good news is, the glass was only $100 dollars more than my deductible would have been, had I owned full coverage insurance. The bad news is, I could have gotten a substantial payout if I had it, because of the torn seat, scarred plastic, and scratch on the door.

I'm mostly glad it was such a small act of vandalism. My friend got his wallet stolen a few months ago, when he was running a marathon. That would be a much bigger headache. I feel blessed.

Funny Frases

When Marty was in the garage working, Celie was bored and probably bothering him. He said to her, "How about you go find something else to do?" Celie asked what she could go do. He replied "Just use your imagination."

So off Celie went, into the house. She came back ten minutes later with a dissapointed and frusterated look on her face and said to Dad, "Daddy I can't find my imagination!"

Ha ha ha. I hope you had a good laugh like we did.

The Scary Cup

C woke up at 3:00 a.m. this morning crying and shaking. She had a bad dream and she didn't go back to sleep until 5:00 a.m. Only because I let her sleep in our room. Which I don't usually allow. She kept on saying that the cup was going to get her. I laid down in bed with her and her eyes were wide open and she was shaking! Poor thing. I don't know why a cup would be scary, but I think that with all the Halloween stuff going on she is picking up on being scared. She started to scream when we were in Wal-mart because there was a monster that lifted his own head off his body. I can't believe they are selling that stuff! Anyway I took a video of her telling what happed in her dream. I guess I am a bad mom, but I think it is so funny that a cup was going to get her.

Here is a picture of what the scary cup looked like:

Frogs and Fun

C has figured out how to play a few games on the computer. She really enjoys it. Even though her attention span is short she loves pointing and clicking on things. One time she hadn't come out of the room for awhile, longer that usual. I came to find her asleep at the computer desk! She is so silly.
She must have been deep in thought.

If you have spoken to C on the phone recently then you would know that her favorite thing to do is catch and play with the frogs in our back yard. I bought her a little bug cage and she has been putting frogs in that thing every day since. We have made some rules so they don't die. No leaving them in the cage for too long, cage and frogs stay outside (that rule was made after this picture was taken!), and don't throw bricks at the frogs! You have to be specific with a 3 year old. My proud frog catcher!

Compost

C's job is to take the compost out. She isn't always happy to do so. She does it anyway though. I wish I had more jobs for her. She takes pride in her job and feels proud of herself after it is done. She is my big helper. Oh, her other job is to pick up J and put him in the playroom when he gets into the fireplace. Good Girl!

Here she looks like a farm girl in the early 1800's. You know, the ones who don't smile and look like they have had sorrow their whole life. (She is usually a happy girl)

Do you like the Boots? Oh yea!

Things we do

C and I have fun going to the library every other Tuesday. We go for story time so she can sit and I can grab books like a mad dog so I can get out of the building with out someone screaming and crying! I do! I grab books so fast while C sits and listens to the stories. I don't even look at the books very much. I just check if they have short sentences or long paragraphs. And yes, I pick the short sentenced ones. C is very well behaved during story time. I am so proud. She is always so concerned about all the kids not keeping the teacher's rules. . . mmm. . . that sounds a lot like some one we all know. Well any way, we have fun going and we love having new books to read at home. J is pleasant, but now that he is crawling he wants to get down and pull all the books off the shelf. Very typical.




We all went to visit M a long time ago at his work. We ate lunch in the cafeteria and met some of his coworkers. We had fun. I couldn't believe how close to downtown we actually live! I was there in no time (with no traffic of course). M didn't want me to take pictures, but as you can see I did anyway. J was hanging on me in the BJorn so he isn't in the picture. Isn't my family so cute?

Crazy Animals

These are my crazy animals! Well, really they are my children. Aren't they cute?

J is already a big flirt with the ladies. Everyone rants and raves about his round head and beautiful smile.

M was mowing the lawn with C in this back pack (just a way to get her out of the house so Mommy could have a break). We had to put her in the back pack because she didn't want to change out of her nice dress and she cries because she thinks we are walking away from her when mowing. She obviously fell asleep and so Daddy took her off and set her on the porch. Since it stands on its own, he left her there. She slept for a long time.

These are the actual crazy animals I was talking about. My friend and I went to a place called McDonalds Farm. These animals are so tame. The dear are aggressive if you have some food.

C even got to ride a horse. She didn't whine or worry about it either. What a relief. She loved it.

What she loved most was following the dear around. She wouldn't even play on the fun play ground, the sand pile, or be interested in other animals.

Army Crawl

I just wanted to document that today J is officially army crawling. He has learned so fast. C can't protect her toys anymore and I've got to baby proof the house again. I need a walker!

Caution Tape

I went off to an Enrichment activity at the church the other night. That means it is Daddy/Daughter night for Marty and Celie. They decided to run a few errands out on the town. They went to rent a movie at the end of their errands. Celie was privileged to walk next to her father instead of being carried. This store, unfortunately, was under construction. They were laying new tile to be exact. So naturally the wet glue areas are marked off with caution tape. As soon as Marty says “Stay close to Daddy”, Celie takes off in the opposite direction. Just for fun, right? She darts under the caution tape and, of course, onto the wet glue she slides. Marty says that she fell and got glue all over her clothes, tummy, legs, etc. Now this isn’t sweet old Elmer’s glue, we are talking sticking-tile-to-the-floor glue. A bunch of the workers rushed to her aid as she screamed in surprise. I think at that point she realized that Daddy’s rules may be worth listening to. Marty picked her up, and while getting glue all over his clothes, he scrubbed her down in the bathroom. An exit solely in her panties was made shortly after; without the movie rental. After soaking in the bathtub and multiple scrub downs to get the glue off was all done, I walked in the door greeted by a stressed husband and happy daughter. She told me the whole story (with Daddy’s help) and even showed me how she slipped, “like this” she said as she jerked her body to the side. All with a big grin. I have to say that I had a good laugh and I’m sure it will be a memorable experience for poor old Daddy. I blame this all of myself of course. I never did give Celie the lesson about what caution tape means! No worries, we did get all of the glue off.

Embarrassing Moment

On a Sunday evening we had a church gathering for some occasion for instruction. Marty, Celie and I attended this meeting and planned to bring some treats to a friend’s house afterward. I put the treats in the church fridge right before the meeting started. The meeting went well and we enjoyed ourselves. As everyone gathered into the cultural hall to have refreshments I went to the kitchen to pick up the goods so we could be on our way. Of course I had a quick detour to the restroom before I made it to the kitchen (being in the 9^th month of pregnancy).

Before I tell you what happened I must set the scene first. The double doors opening into the cultural hall are wide open and directly across from the opening of the bathroom and kitchen doors. People were going in and out and standing near the doors, not to mention the whole crowd of people with visual capabilities that were in the large cultural hall.

Anyway, I of course wash my hands and head out of the bathroom, saying hello to few people as I pass into the kitchen. I had thought I got a deer in the head light look from and older gentleman, but didn’t think much of it. I entered the empty kitchen to pull out my treat and as I reached into the fridge I felt a tug on the back of my shirt. It was unfashionably tucked in my skirt, but more surprising was the fact that the whole back of my skirt was tucked up too, revealing the whole backside of my undergarments!!!

As I quickly fixed the mistake I started laughing hysterically, feeling truly sorry for the how-ever-many-people saw this sad sight. I laughed so hard that I had tears running down my face while my head was stuck in the fridge. A good friend came in the kitchen and asked what was so funny about the fridge?

I then knew why I got the blank look from a poor man who saw more than he wanted to see, at church none the less! I must say it has been a long time since I have been that embarrassed. I guess we have got to have these events every once in a while to keep us on our toes!

Slide

Celie actually had fun going down the slide today! You don’t know what a milestone this is for her. For some reason she would climb up to the top of the slide, start to whine and then climb down and be done with it. She would then hit the swings and never want to leave. I think maybe the summer break from playgrounds helped her relax about the idea of going down a slide. She was so cute today. I saw her go down the first time and her face lit up as she got to the bottom. She came running to me telling me that she did it. I was in shock at first, but then so happy to finally see my daughter feel the joys of a slide. She of course went running up the steps to do it again, and again, and again. I love to see her happy and proud of her own accomplishments. We were both giggly and excited about it on the drive home from the park. She’s my best pal. For those of you that know Celie this news that Celie wouldn’t go down slides my have been a shock to you, but we all have our strange quarks.

Silly Sleepers

Yesterday Marty came home from school a little tired. I let him take a short nap before he had to watch Celie for the evening. When I called his name to wake him he jumped up and said “there’s a bug on the bed!”. In horror he started to swipe the bed with his hands to find it. I looked for it as well. He said it was a big bug. I looked at his groggy face and asked if it wasn’t just a dream. “No, No” he said. I just laughed and figured it was. It wasn’t until late last night before bed when he started laughing and asked me if he had thought there was a bug on the bed. He realized it was a dream and we had a good chuckle.

In the middle of the night Celie was wandering around the house crying and saying she needed to go potty – again. I was just up with her a few minutes before on the potty. I told her to go back to bed. She whined a little and then she was quiet. We all slept in this morning! Yea! It was nice. Marty got up to check on Celie because she doesn’t usually sleep that long. He found her curled up on the bathroom floor! She has such dedication to making it to the potty that she sleeps there! So, I enjoyed my two entertaining sleepers this week. What good memories.

Funny Habits

Celie has been developing these very distinct and compulsive habits lately. Although sometimes it makes me upset when she does them it does make me laugh and remember how funny this mortal life is. The first compulsive habit I noticed was the “crayon scraping”. Instead of coloring with them she hides in a corner or under a table and scrapes the tip of the crayon until all her fingernails are full of vibrant colors. She has taken this tendency even to another level. I have to constantly remind her in the car “no scraping the seat”. I know I am not the only one with crumbs in the car seat corners so don’t be so appalled at the thought! She knows very well that she shouldn’t be doing this. She even tells me after she has done it saying “Oh no, mamma, I scrape”. Yea, that makes everything better.

Another funny habit is that of the toilet paper routine! We have been potty training and she is doing well. At home she will go when she needs to most of the time. She can even go by herself as well as wiping, flushing, and washing hands. After I started to let her wipe by herself I noticed that she would, with out thinking, pull the toilet paper down a bit, tear it off, and throw it in the potty. Then, she would do it again, but this time use the toilet paper to wipe. I tried helping her to understand that the first piece was as good as the second, but she reacted terribly. It was like the disruption of her routine would simply destroy all comfort she had in life. I think she is getting better now.

My favorite one happens in her daily prayers. This is partly our fault by unknowingly teaching her, but I think she knows better yet does it anyway. She used to give prayers very normal, starting out with Heavenly Father, thank yous, bless this and that, and the name of Jesus Christ Amen. She started to skip saying Heavenly Father and go one with the rest. So as parents do, we told her to remember to say Dear Heavenly Father. Unfortunately we told her after she had finished her prayer. So now she begins her prayers: Jesus Christ, Amen, Heavenly Father and on with the rest. She says it so fast so we aren’t able to catch or correct her, she finds that funny. Just thought I would share some sweet things about our sweet Celie. She is a funny girl and I love her oh so much.

Purse Theif

Marty and I were making our first trip to a Super Wal-mart a few weeks ago to have a look around. After we purchased a few things and were getting in the car I noticed two teenage boys suspiciously pushing at one another like there was something they wanted done, but neither one wanted to do it. They were two or three cars away from us standing next to a large, older car with all of the windows down. Marty was busy putting Celie in the car seat while I watched one of the boys finally reach in the car and pull out a black purse. I had thought that we made eye contact earlier (during their pushing) so I was astonished that they went through with it and then made eye contact again. I wanted to yell out "Did you just steal that purse right in front of me?", but I was too surprised at what just happened that I watched them walk away. To my greater surprise they walked straight over to an expensive, red sports car opened the door, put the purse in and went in the store to shop!! Like I said, they were young teenage boys. Not smart on their part.

It took me a while to convince Marty that I just witnessed theft in the parking lot, but he acted quickly and caught sight of the boys walking into the store. He quickly went to the service desk and told security what had happened. An undercover-looking guy came out to look at the two cars involved and called police, meanwhile the boys are still shopping. Marty went in with the security guy and pointed the boys out in the store and they even made eye contact a couple of times, I think they were starting to realize that we were on to them. They came out of the store shortly after and I watched them walk to the red car and pull out the purse like they were going to put it back, but as soon as it was in their hands and the car door was shut, the police showed up! They weren't very gentle either. They were hand cuffed and put into the police cars quickly. The Wal-mart security says that this has been happening a lot lately, so lesson learned: Roll up windows, lock doors, and just don't leave your purse on the front seat!!!! We felt proud of our little service to the community!

Scary Bags

Celie is so funny some times. Lately, when we are getting Celie dressed for the day near her closet, she will scoot far away from the closet and act like there is a monster hiding in there! It took me a while to get her to show me what was so alarming to her, because she couldn't describe it to me in words. She wouldn't get close enough to the scary object for me to know and she was so traumatized that she wouldn't answer me when I would point to things. Crazy! I thought maybe it would be some bugs hiding in there that she saw crawling around during the day (which would be something I would be afraid of). Finally I decided that it was the pile of bags in the corner of the closet. Bags! Not the metal parts or the mouth of the bags, but the bags as a whole. I hope she doesn't go to sleep scared every night. Also, in the morning when the lights are dim and she is eating her breakfast I will hear a gasp and perhaps a drop of the spoon in her cereal bowl. Of course I come running, only to see her staring wide eyed at my purse which is set on an end table by the door. She gets over the shock very quickly and gets back to life like nothing happened. Now, when she is caught by surprise from these monsters, she tells me: "Mom, I scared. Scary bags!"