Smart Thieves, Stupid Me

What a day.  Have you ever done something incredibly stupid and something bad happens and you kick yourself because you could have prevented it?  This morning I drove Blake to school, got him out, DID NOT LOCK my car, took him in, came out to my car and tried to start it when it said “no key” (car has keyless entry).  My thought process:  “How could that be?  I just drove Blake here.  I obviously had my keys.  Did I take my purse or keys inside?  No.  Did my purse fall out of my car?  No.  Oh crap, my purse was stolen out of my car.”  (Okay, so the words that went through my head weren’t exactly that G-rated but that’s still the conclusion I came to.) 

My heart pounding because I was so incredibly mad, I ran inside and told the principal and we pulled the security cameras and called the police.  While waiting for the police to show up, the principal and I scanned the video and talked about how shocked we were that there was a really dishonest parent out there that would see a purse in a car, grab it, and get in their car and drive off after taking their kid to school like it was any other day.  But you can imagine the look on our faces when we saw a white Land Rover/Pilot style SUV drive up the entry, pull through the parking lot, stop directly at my car, someone quickly got out of the passenger side, opened the passenger side door of my car, grabbed my purse, jumped back in their car, and drove off.  Seriously????  Did that just happen?  And in all of about 20 seconds? 

Now I know it’s stupid that I left my car unlocked.   I do it every time I take/pick Blake up from school (which the thieves either saw me do before or saw me do today…I’m hoping it was just today because the thought of someone watching your habits feels extremely violating).  Randy and I, and other parents, have even left our car running in those 103 degree days while we ran in to pick up our child.  I always assumed it’s just parents around, it’s safe.  It never occurred to me that someone could be scoping out the area.  So if you have a child and ever leave your car running or your car unlocked or any of your valuables exposed because you think you’re just running in for a minute,  DON’T DO IT.  This all happened in 20 seconds…it took them no time at all.  They knew exactly what they wanted and moved quickly.  From now on, I will put everything in the trunk, take my keys with me, and lock the door.   And I’ll also try to be more vigilant in watching what’s going on around in me instead of being so consumed in my own comings and goings.  

The police came and watched the video, got a copy, and even took fingerprints (very CSI-ish!).   Meanwhile, Randy was using the Find my iPhone app to track my phone.  We tracked it less than a mile from Blake’s school and then remotely locked it but the thieves must have seen that it got locked and turned it off because we can no longer locate it anymore.   We also remotely wiped it and AT&T deactivated the SIM so somehow the phone can never be used again.  With all this technology, it’s a wonder that anyone would even try to steal a phone these days.  I could care less about my wallet being stolen but it really bugs me about my phone because there are pictures and videos of Blake on there and that just feels so personal for some thief stranger to be looking at.  And obviously it really bothers me that my car and house keys were in my purse and they know where we live from my license.   But that’s what the locksmith and house alarms are for so that’s the best we can do.   

We went to the Primrose school down the street to ask if they had anything happen that day.  They hadn’t but the same thing had happened there about a year ago.  The lady’s car was running but they only took her purse, not her car.  We also found out from our local insurance company that it happened at another school in the area.  The police and both schools said that it’s fairly common for thieves to target preschools because parents are typically running in to drop their kids off and don’t take their personal belongings or lock their car.  Smart thieves.  Stupid me.  But hopefully you or someone else can also learn from my mistake. 

Potty Training

Got this note from Blake's teacher in his daily sheet from school today:

"Blake had an amazing day potty training wise. If you would like to start potty training here at school in underwear, we are ready when you are!  I think now is a great time!"

Why does part of me just sink when I read this?  Because we're being L-A-Z-Y.  Our child sleeps all night, he knows (even if he doesn't always obey) the word no, we're in a good routine, life is good, and the thought of disrupting all that by throwing away the diapers does not sound appealing.  Wow, what kind of parents are we?  In our defense, it's not like we're not doing anything.  He sits on the potty at home and does his thing and that's great.  But IF something happens, the diaper is there.  No diaper = potential mess for mommy/daddy to clean up.  Another reason - being out and about with no access to a potty or worse(?) public restrooms.   Even though I should be motivated by the money we'll save on diapers, I really have no problem paying for convenience.  So if I bit the bullet and tried to get Blake to put on his new Lightning McQueen big boy underwear today to test it out and he wanted no part of it, who am I to rush him?

Ms. Drew

Since I went back to work when Blake was 3 months old, we have been so blessed to always have such wonderful caregivers.  First with Mrs. Rhonda, who was truly an answered prayer and cared for our baby as if he was her own, and now with Ms. Drew.  

Some people just have that special ability to really connect with children – on an emotional level where they just always know the right thing to do or say to make the children feel better, on a physical level where they really get down on the floor with the kids and play, on an intellectual level where they take every opportunity and turn it into a teaching moment, and on a friend level where the kids just want to hang out with them.  That is Ms. Drew.   More often than not, she has soft music playing and all the kids happily engaged in an activity when I pick Blake up, she picks him up every morning to wave bye to us when we drop him off, and she even offered me a hug when I started to lose it when Blake moved to her class.  


Thank you Ms. Drew for all you've done for Blake and for your incredibly sweet note that we look forward to sharing with Blake over the years:

"In the toddler room I always thought of Blake as confident, funny, and quick to learn. However, having him in my class these last few months has offered me a whole new perspective. While my previous judgements were accurate, they were lacking in magnitude. Blake wins over a room when he walks in. He is not just funny, but hilarious. He has had me doubled over laughing on more than one occasion. And he is not just quick, but that special kind of bright not found often. He is lucky to have such engaging and loving parents. I wish I could express the depth of my love for him, but this note just couldn’t contain it."

You are irreplaceable and will be deeply missed by all of us, but we wish you all the best in Ohio!

Renovating the Dining Room

There's some dining room renovations going on at the Smith house this week. Maybe "renovate" is a strong word. Whatever it is, it's a bit of a mess right now but should be done in a few days. Nothing too crazy, we're not knocking down any walls or anything...just wiring for a couple of sconces and some recessed paneling around the bottom and over to the stairs. I have always loved recessed paneling/wainscoting/board and batten (still not sure I know the difference between each of those) and I can't wait to see it all done!

Here are the "in progress" pictures:

It probably would have helped to move the table to get a better picture but it's there as a boundary for Mr Blake and I was too lazy to move it...

Randy had an idea to use the tops to Pyrex storage bowls to mark the future sconces...fancy huh?

When we were building our last house, we walked in one day to find this carved into the insulation. We still laugh that underneath those painted walls and home decor is the word "Mexico" carved into our beloved home. So naturally, Randy had to make his mark on our new home before the paneling gets added:

I hope to post the "after" pics within the next few days!

"Bunny tried to get me"

Uh-oh. Second weekend in a row that we've had an animal mishap. (This directly follows the "goat knocked me over" episode at the rodeo last weekend.) At a street food festival yesterday, Blake and I went into a mini petting zoo. All was going well with the first bunny:

But then Blake saw the larger bunny, chickens, and turtles that the other kids were holding and wanted to hold a different bunny. The lady put a bigger bunny on his lap, who promptly tried to nuzzle its way into Blake's stomach. Well Blake was having no part of that and immediately started poking the bunny and trying to push it off his lap. I was trying to strike a balance between having the bunny go flying on the floor and being on the next episode of "When Animals Attack" when the lady stepped in and took the bunny away. Blake was D-O-N-E. He wanted out of the petting zoo immediately.

Since we will shortly be entering Easter bunny territory and I don't want him to be deathly afraid of bunnies, I have been trying to convince him that the bunny was just trying to give him kisses but I don't think he's buying it. The last thing he said to me when I laid him down last night was, "Bunny tried to get me." There will be a little petting zoo at our neighborhood Easter egg hunt next weekend and I'm really hoping all goes well or we will need to take a little break from animals.

"Goat knocked me over"

Yesterday we took Blake to his first rodeo. "We" being me and "Jim", Randy's rodeo alter-ego. Check out his cool belt that he's held onto since picking it up at a thrift store for a date party in college. Lucky me that he still decides to wear it now. Just kidding honey. It looked great with your Sevens.

Anyways, Blake enjoyed the petting zoo and seeing all of the animals but I think the thing that's stuck out most in his mind is that a goat nudged his chest and knocked him over at the petting zoo. Every time we've mentioned the animals since the rodeo, he's been sure to mention that "Goat knocked me over," sometimes followed by, "I'm just a little guy. He supposed to not do that." We will only be showing him these pictures in the future and hope that he forgets about that mean little goat.

Actually I'm pretty sure he won't forget driving the tractor:

"Hi, I'm Blake Smiff."

"Reindeer"

Party Planning - Choo Choo Blake is 2!

I just love party planning. I spent so many months planning Blake’s 2nd birthday and my mom’s 60th surprise bday that I’m having some withdrawals now that the parties are over and nothing is on the horizon. I’ve received several questions and compliments on Blake’s party…so I must admit, these are not all my ideas. I pull most of the ideas from different blogs and party planning sites, so I thought it only fair to put together a blog of all of my sources. Plus, I may forget these sources when planning the next party and need something to look back at to jog my memory.

Like a lot of toddler boys, Blake is obsessed with trains. So naturally we went with a train theme for his 2nd birthday: "Choo Choo Blake is 2!" (Confession: even if he wasn’t crazy about trains, we might’ve still gone with a train theme because I'm a sucker for a theme that rhymes.)

Here's the birthday boy. I was able to snap a picture of him while he was standing still to watch an airplane fly over:


After spending a lot of time on Pinterest and Etsy, here’s how the party all came together (links to vendors at bottom):

Invitations
Starting with the invitations, I went to my go-to person on Etsy who modified her invites to fit our blue/green/black color scheme.



The Train
I really wanted Randy to build a train like one I found online for pictures and to have something in the front yard. I didn’t know if I’d be able to convince him to do it but I told him about it once or twice and the next time we talked about it, he had made plans to get together with some friends to build it. Isn’t it adorable? The smokestacks are dustpans, the wheels are bucket lids, and the little track (I’m sure there’s a more appropriate name for that) along the wheels is a pipe! How creative is he? They spent a couple of hours constructing it and then it was my turn to have fun by giving it some paint and adding the letters. I love how it all came together. I just wish we still had some way to use it. Let me know if you know a little boy with a train party coming up!



I also wanted to have a railroad crossing in the yard. I used foam board thinking it was thick and would save me a step since it’s already white and I wouldn’t have to paint it. I don’t recommend that – it was a major pain to cut a straight piece out of it, even with an exacto knife. I stenciled the letters on and colored them in with a Sharpie. At the last minute, I asked Randy to make train tracks on the sidewalk out of electrical tape (thanks pinterest) but we didn’t have enough and the yard was starting to look a little ridiculous so we had to pass on that idea.


And of course what train party is complete without a train for the kids to ride? What else do you do with a bunch of 2-5 year olds at your house?


The Food
And then it was time to plan the food. I knew I wanted a dessert table. If you’ve ever spent any time looking at party planning sites, the dessert tables and backdrops are always adorable. I couldn’t resist. So I covered a piece of board we happened to have with green fabric and used wood glue (or actually, my mom used wood glue) to attach the letters which I made by tracing bulletin board letters onto patterned paper. (Please excuse the drab dining room. We're still trying to decorate our house and just haven't gotten to this room yet.)


Choo Choo Cupcakes

Conductor’s Cake (I bought the little painted trains at Hobby Lobby and painted them to match the party colors)


Caboose Candy - Lollipops, blue and green M&Ms, green swirly sugar sticks

Engineer’s Cookies – which I made using a train cookie cutter and this Cream Cheese Sugar Cookie recipe – these are SO good

Locomotive Pretzels - chocolate covered pretzels
Chocolate Covered Oreo Pops - following this tutorial I found online, I made both white and milk chocolate. I also made oreo pops with yellow chocolate and attempted to draw a RR crossing on them. I got the circle and the X right but there was no way I was fitting an “RR” in there. It’s still on my list to figure out how to do that…

To avoid sending everyone home on a sugar high, we also had a separate table with:
Signal Skewers – fruit and cheese skewers (I made the round RR crossing signals by googling a RR crossing sign, printing it out on photo paper and cutting it out with a 2" round cutter)


Train Track Crackers – snack cups filled with goldfish
Produce Car – carrots and celery

Station House Sandwiches

Log Car – pretzel sticks


Favors
I always say I’m going to do something simple for favors and then I come across something I can't pass up. When I saw train shaped crayons on Etsy, I knew I could probably make these myself. I ordered a chocolate train mold off Amazon, melted crayons in a soup can over a double boiler, poured the hot wax into the mold, let it set for a few minutes in the freezer, popped them out and voila – train crayons!! There’s dozens of detailed tutorials out there on how to do this but that’s really all there is to it. After they pop out, you may have to do a little carving to get a little extra wax off but for the most part they’re really simple. I made it more complicated by having each train car be a different color so I had to repeat this several times to get enough crayons. It would be a lot easier if you mixed up the colors. Each favor also had a train whistle, train coloring book, and a train shaped sugar cookie in a bag with a tag that said “Choo Choo, Thank You!”

The only picture I had of the train crayons was on my phone and I think it got lost when Blake wiped my phone one time, so unfortunately no pic of these. :(

Kids Table
I covered the kids table in white butcher paper and put a bucket with some crayons and train stickers in the middle. I also stenciled some trains on the paper so the kids had fun coloring those too. If I knew what to do with it other than rolling it up and having it take up space in our closet, I would’ve kept it because all the doodling and drawing was really fun to look at after the party was over.


Decorations
Table centerpieces - I loved these centerpieces I came across on a blog and really wanted to use them throughout the party. With a lot of help from my mom, they came together to look like this. We stuffed the buckets with plastic bags (to give a little padding at the bottom and not have to use so many beans), filled it up with dried beans, then topped it off with little candies. We attached a die-cut train to a wooden dowel and propped it up in the bucket. To finish it off, we tied a ribbon around the bucket and taped a cupcake topper to cover where the ribbon meets. The buckets on other tables had yellow railroad crossing oreo pops stuck in them as well.

And this train banner added a little something in the living room…where a lot of eyes ended up being focused due to the Saints playing on TV during the party.



Thanks to everyone who helped pull the party together and suffer through my bossiness: my mom, Randy’s mom, Lightwine, Chad and of course Randy

Here’s the links to all of the party resources. Hope I didn't forget any. I’m so glad there’s talented people out there to make this stuff:
Invitations - http://www.etsy.com/shop/TintsAndPrints
Happy Birthday banner, cupcake toppers, favor tags -http://www.etsy.com/shop/frogprincepaperie
“Blake” train banner – http://www.etsy.com/shop/Dimpleprints
Train rental - http://www.kiddieexpresstrain.com/
Train whistles and train coloring books for favors – Target $1 bins
Birthday cake - Whole Foods
Sandwiches - HEB
Lollipops - Candy Warehouse
M&Ms, sugar sticks – Lammes Candies
Train die-cuts on centerpieces - http://www.etsy.com/shop/dillonsgirl
Blue buckets – IKEA
Train shirt for our birthday boy - http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilshabebe

Party inspiration:
http://www.thetomkatstudio.com/new-to-the-shop-vintage-train-birthday-party-collection/
http://jcaugustine1.blogspot.com/2010/10/all-aboard-graysons-2nd-birthday-party.html
http://atozebracelebrations.blogspot.com/2010/09/train-party.html



And I’ll save my mom’s party for another blog…

Has it really been 5 months?

Wow, really? Almost 5 months since I've blogged about anything? How did that happen? Certainly not for lack of something to blog about. Lately all kinds of things have been popping into my head, so let the blog posts resume right....now.