Likely story (bad guys part 2)

Since we've been busy getting the house ready to list, Daddy hasn't had a chance to repair our stylin' car w/ keyless entry and keyless startup. That means I had my first "thief" tutorial this weekend so that I could start the car w/ our handy screwdriver and drive to work Sunday.
I was assured since I was a quick learner (maybe I'm not as innocent as I seem :-)) that I would be fine and have no problems.
Well, I was off and running early Sunday morning. I had even remembered my IPOD since our radio is now a big black hole in the dash. I was jammin to "You are God Alone" singing along that God is on His throne through the good times and bad (good thing because I was just about to get to the bad part) and I stopped at a red light at a major intersection. I was the first car in the center lane and then the engine died. I'm thinking "don't panic," so I pulled out the screwdriver to turn the car off and try to start it up again. That didn't work. I am in the worst place possible so I turn on the hazards and call 911. What seemed like half an hour later (more like a super long 10 min.), I see the wonderful flashing lights behind me. This is maybe the only time I've been glad to see those bright lights in my rearview mirror.
My next dilemma is about to begin as the cop walks up and I have to try to explain why I'm driving a car w/ no ignition and using a screwdriver for a key.
Despite my worry, he was very kind and I must have either looked innocent or too scared to have actually been the "bad guy" and he laughed about my having to drive that way.
Long story short, our little "buzz" is in the shop again and we went to look at a "new to us" car yesterday.

Bad Guys

Today I answered the phone to hear the words ...."This is 'so and so' with the Dallas Police Department...." Those are never good words to hear. Well, the bad guys struck and broke into Daddy's car at work. They broke the ignition and stole the radio. They drove the car from the first floor of the garage to the sixth floor.
We are ready to get rid of the car anyways, so I wonder why they just didn't take it. Come to think of it the car is so LOUD (Ketchup and I unaffectionately call it Buzz because it sounds like a giant bee), they couldn't have snuck away with it so they gave up.

Daddy just told me that another good thing is that the cd I had just given him for Easter was not in the car because I took it out to put it on Itunes. The other cd's in the car were sermons on the holiness of God. Too bad they didn't take those; they could have used them.

The dreaded words....

We went at lunch today at McDonalds (our normal Wed. routine), and I asked Ketchup if she played on the playground outside or inside at church. I was not prepared for the words I heard next.
"Me and a boy played boyfriend and girlfriend on the outside playground."
Oh, I can feel the knife in my heart as I type this. Boyfriend & Girlfriend- eeck!
I tried to calmly find out more about this "game" as my mind started racing to her wedding day (ok, I'm exaggerating a little:-)) She said she doesn't remember his name (oh, no!), but can remember what he looks like. He has blond hair and the last time he was there, he wanted to play this game with her. I asked if there were other "girlfriends" and she said she was the only one. She said today she planted flowers for his birthday. I guess that can't be all bad.

If I'm not posting as often (like I did anyway), it's because we're putting our house on the market. We would love to be closer to daddy's work and our church. Less time in the car equals less money on gas and tolls. God willing, we can sell quickly and get back to a normal life. Until then, we have to have a clean and clutterfree house. Needless to say, I'll be busy around the house for a while.

This is a picture of what the kids were doing as I blogged. They're going to hate it when I have to pack up some of their toys. Now they have proof of which ones they might be missing.

Meet our new family members!

SnowKetchup and SnowBounce. They joined our family yesterday, but have just about melted completely now. We had lots of fun in the snow. We got about 4 inches of really nice thick snow. Winter isn't bad when you just have it for about a day and a half. I can't imagine having to bundle kids up like that every day for a few months.

Snow!

We were supposed to be studying plants this week in school and take a field trip to the arboretum, but this is Texas. That means that it did not snow one flake all winter long and this week it has snowed twice (each time on soccer practice night - thank you God!). There are big, fluffy flakes falling as I type. So we will be studying the fine art of snowman making tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll have some good pics to share.

A Tale of Two Teams

Since we have 2 soccer players, the past two Saturdays have been soccer filled. The difference between Ketchup's team and Bounce's team is striking. Ketchup's team is the one scoring all the goals and every player is interested in playing and does a great job. Bounce's team is much younger and is the team being scored on most of the game. The coach is often just looking for a player who isn't crying and who wants to play. Bounce was a "cryer" the first game, but since has improved so much. He is excited to go in and play and actually played a large portion of the game today. We are proud that he didn't quit. He is so much smaller than most of the boys (who are older) that he does well to keep up.
Ketchup had a great game and scored 2 goals. She is very fast (her long legs help a lot) and often breaks away from the rest of the players to score. Today we were proud that she was a great teammate and didn't take the ball away from her teammate as they both ran down the field to score.
It is interesting to experience both sides of the game: the dominating team and the team just trying to play and learn the game. Regardless of the score, they both had smiles at the end of their games and were happy to devour their snacks!