The Van Wreck

So here's what happened to the van...not the greatest picture, but the best I could do under the circumstances! So far the repair shop has the damage at $12,997.07, but they aren't done yet.

This picture didn't save the right way, but the highlighted picture is of the accident scene. The van that hit me is sitting in the middle of the intersectioin and is just a dark blob just under the tree line at the top left corner. The van that hit us was a Toyota Sienna. The whole front bumber area of the van was gone. It is sitting where it hit us, I think. Our van slid across the intersection and ended up half way up the curb! Luckily we didn't hit the fire hydrant that was right there at the corner! We were pretty close though! As we slid, I remember turning the steering wheel, but I don't know if that helped us at all. I don't remember why I was trying to steer the van, maybe so we wouldn't hit the fire hydrant.

As I entered the intesection, I remember seeing the van coming, but there wasn't anything I could do. I just remember thinking something like...oh no, wasn't my light green??? Then I heard the BOOOM CRUNCH and was so sad that my new van had just been hit. As we slid across the intersection, the airbags deployed and started hissing as they filled with air. There was a lot of dust or something floating around. Then we hit the curb and ended up on the curb/grass about a foot. WOW!!! So this is what the van looked like from the inside with the airbags!

Once I got out of the van, a guy came over to me and said he saw the whole thing. I asked him what happened and he said the guy ran the red light. The guy who hit me and cut in front of him just before the accident. The guy who saw the whole thing stayed with me until Edd arrived. Edd talked to him for a few minutes, then the guy left.

The guy who hit me came over and kept saying that he was sorry. After like the 3rd time he said it, I got pretty mad at him and let him know it!!! I told him that he needed to be more careful. He'd said he didn't see the light. I told him that he was lucky that he didn't hurt us more or even kill us. I let him know that I was pretty upset that he hit my brand new van too!!! I guess I sounded pretty ticked off, which I was, but I noticed that the officer directing traffic looked over our way.

The tow truck driver had quite the time getting the van off the curb/grass and onto his flatbed truck. Once he got it on there, Thomas was quite interested in the front passenger tire. It was squished nearly off the rim. Pretty impressive sight for a 2 1/2 year old!

Anyway, I'm glad that is all over. I'm sad that it happened. But I'm thankful that I was in my new van and not the old one, even though it would've been a little easier to swallow seeing the huge dent in the old van. In fact we probably would've had a party!!! :) If we'd been in the old van, we probably would've been hurt pretty bad. So I'm counting my blessings! :)

Yesterday was 100 DAY for Mattie!

She was super excited that they made it! Aimee was a little confused why Mattie's 100 Day was in February when hers was in January. I had to remind Aimee that we missed 10 days of school at the beginning of the year so Mattie's 100 day was later than Aimee's! It has been a hard week for the kindergartners at Shadow Forest Elementary, where my kids go. Someone broke into the school over the weekend and set two fires in the kindergarten area. So they have been meeting in the art room, library and any other free space in the school while the Kindergarten area is restored. It's a good thing they had fun stuff to do this week to help them!

"Be careful, Momma! Don't crash!"

Sweet Thomas tried to keep us safe today. On the way home from swimming lessons, he said to me, "Be careful, Momma! Don't crash!" I told him that I was being careful. Unfortunately, seconds later we got hit by someone, who ran a red light. We are all OK, but the van got pretty banged up. I'm thankful that we were in our new van because we were quite protected. It was weird to hear the curtain airbags deploy! Edd left work and came to help us get home.

Once the kids got home, Thomas told them what had happened. Apparently, he didn't leave any details out of his story. Aimee told me later that Thomas had even told her about the airbags!

Tonight, Thomas was having a great "Thomas Moment!" He was singing at the top of his lungs in Aimee & Mattie's room. Aimee said he was singing them a lullaby! :) He was going around and around their room singing, "DINOSAUR BONES!" "DINOSAUR BONES!" over and over and over!

After he left their room, he found one of his dinosaurs from Grandma Cutler. It was on the floor in the boys' bedroom. Thomas was so excited! It was one of those dinosaurs that grows when you put it in water! So he ran to the bathroom and held it under the water waiting for it to, "bwow" (like blow except with a "w" sound for the "l"). He said something really cute and way to grown up for his age, but I can't remember it now. Probably because after that, he wrapped it in a blanket and headed off to Bethany's room with a pillow too!

He decided that he's going to sleep in Bethany's room again tonight, even though we put the air mattress away, which is where he's slept the last couple of nights. So I laid down next to him for a little bit to get him to settle down and that's where his cute sentence escaped my brain.

The picture of Thomas for the day was taken on Aimee's b-day, but he was wearing the same outfit today! He still had the shirt on when he was singing his dino song for the girls!

He's a sweet kid! I'm glad that we survived our day and that we are both OK! :)

"APPOHTIZED"

Well, I finally have a free minute to post something! This week Thomas has been talking about when Aimee got "appohtized!" I guess it made a lasting impression on him. I think it's cute how he says baptized. Another cute word mix-up for the week: "Jason's Penney's." Last night, Aimee and I went to JC Penney's to get my Valentine's Day watch sized. So tonight at dinner, Aimee was talking about the cute clothes and dresses she saw at Jason's Penney's that she hoped I'd buy for her. She said that she thought I'd said Jason's Penney's instead of JC Penney's. Then she remembered Jason's Deli was where Jason's is from. Cute kids!

Updates on the rest of us: Edd is super busy at work again! He might, if ExxonMobil will let him, get to go to Japan for business. We'll see if that happens though, I'm not counting on it.

Anne is learning to share the computer again, which means it's back to late night computer sessions.

Bethany survived her region orchestra experience. She just turned in her course selection card for HIGH SCHOOL last week! Wow!!!

Andrew is loving the nice weather and plays football with the neighbor kids. He is also preparing for the TAKS test.

Aimee is a big helper at home, she likes to take care of Thomas! :) She is also enjoys occasional playdates and just started her Spring soccer season.

Mattie is sick right now, I think it's the flu. She was so sad to miss her first soccer game of the new season. Mattie is excited to ride her bike again! She had a bad fall last April and hasn't been on a bike until just a few weeks ago. She was at her friend's house and they were playing outside when I came to pick them up. I was surprised to see Mattie riding a bike!!! Peer pressure at it's best!!! :)

Thomas, or better known as "T REX," loves to play dinosaurs. He loves to watch all of Andrew's old dinosaur DVD's. He loves to look at all the dinosaur books he can find around the house. Dinosaur by day, but "just Thomas" by night. When he gets tired and is fussy, we ask him if he's T Rex and go through the list of creatures that he likes, he will answer, "NO!!!" When he's done, he will say he's "Just Thomas." With the new year, a new Thomas has evolved...one who likes to attend Nursery!!! AMAZING!!! :)

I'm having some technical difficulties with my camera right now. So I don't have many great pictures from Valentine's Day, but I'll try and get something new posted! Until then I'll have to borrow a picture of Aimee from Edd. Hope he doesn't mind! :)