The Van is going to explode!

So... it has been a while since I have had a good Brigham- Benjamin story. (For those of you who don't know who Benjamin is.... he is Brigham's best friend. They are the cutest boys. They can't get enough of each other. They do, however, have very active imaginations and are ALL boy. Having said that, they tend to get into a little trouble at times.) On Monday Benjamin was playing at our house. I needed to start dinner when I realized I didn't have eggs. I told the boys they needed to come with me to the store. Of course they were in the middle of a very important game where they were playing tigers and did not want to be interrupted. So I promised them they didn't have to put shoes on. They could stay in the car (OK all you moms thinking how horrible this is... I live in a very small town and sometimes a mom's got to do what a mom's got to do to survive! I know it's wrong!) On with the story: I pile the boys in the van and head to the store. When I got out of the van I locked the doors and ran in. It took about 10 seconds to grab the eggs, but of course there was a small line at check-out. I was probably in the store for about five minutes. As I am leaving the store I see Brigham and Benjamin running through the parking lot barefoot (actually Benjamin was running in his socks.) As they are running they are crying and screaming hysterically, "The van is going to explode! The van is going to explode!" I am sure it was quite a sight for everyone seeing two little boys running in the winter, during the rain barefoot screaming and crying. I am sure everyone was wondering where their mother was. My first thought was to panic. I couldn't understand what they were saying and I knew that Andrew was still in the van. When they told me the van was going to explode I couldn't help but laugh. After I settled them down. I found out they tried to come out of the van. Since I had locked the van, when they pushed the automatic doors to go out, the doors had beeped at them. Of course they assumed, as any four year old boy would, this meant the van was going to explode, so they booked it out the driver door and ran as far from the van as they could leaving poor Andrew strapped in his car seat to survive the explosion on his own. It took me a while to convince them the van was safe and they could get back in. I guess that's what I get for leaving these boys alone in my car!

Christmas Fever!

I know I haven't posted FOREVER... but I had to post this story so I don't forget it. The other night I got off the phone and Bodell is smiling at me. She starts (in the sweetest voice.) "Mom, well... we were wondering... if we could open our Christmas presents tonight." Of course I immediatley respond, "Absolutely not!" Then Shae jumped in, "we want to open all the Christmas presents under the tree." All the presents under our tree are the presents that the kids have given to each other. Shae continues, "we bought them ourselves so we have the right to decide when they are opened." Hmmm, I must admit she had a pretty good point there. So they can tell I am starting to falter. They started to really push the "PLEASE MOM!!!!" So I decided that I needed some reinforcement. I tell them to call their dad who was driving home from work at the time. They tried calling him, but he was out of cell phone coverage. So they continue to beg and I can tell the excitement is building. So, I say why don't we call Heather and ask for her opinion. I knew that Heather would get a kick out of the situation. (Heather is my sister- who by the way ALWAYS opens her presents early. She even had a mini Christmas when she was here for Thanksgiving, because she wanted to give her presents to my parents.) The kids got excited about this idea. Shae said, "Yeah, ask Heather she is nice." So I dial Heather. Shae immediately rips the phone out of my hands and starts telling heather what they want to do. Heather, to their surprise says she doesn't think they should. Shae got mad at her because she opened some of her presents two weeks ago. I talked to Heather and she tells me she doesn't think the kids should open any presents because, "being tortured by presents is part of Christmas." I hung up the phone and the kids were mad at Heather. I think they thought that she betrayed them. Then Josh walked in the door and the kids start an all out assault of pleases on him. Even Andrew got in on the action. He started following Josh around the house saying, "please dad." Even though he had no idea why he was saying please. Finally we caved. We decided to let them open ONE present. The excitement was more than we all could handle. I must admit watching them open that one present got me pretty excited for Christmas morning. They are going to be fun! I had to laugh at the kids response after opening presents. They said, "next time when we want something we are asking Dad not Heather!"