And the answer is...

Sorry for not posting this earlier. We spent a lot of time outside today, enjoying the beautiful weather, before it gets junky again. We've been extremely fortunate to have such nice weather in early November.

If any of you thought that the kids were hurt in any way, I apologize for misleading you. That's totally not what happened. Here's the story...

The kids and I were getting ready to go outside to play. Connor had his shoes on. Sasha was searching for her socks and shoes. I was cleaning the kitchen while she was looking.

I thought Connor was helping her. It sounded like they had gone upstairs to look for her socks.

Sasha kept asking me, "Where Conna goin'?

"He's upstairs, honey."

"Where Conna goin'?"

"Babe, he's upstairs."

There was a long pause and then I heard a man's voice.

"Hello? Hello? Uh...your dogs are running down the street and the kids are outside."

"WHAT?!!!!"

I ran into the foyer and saw the front door wide open. Both kids were outside with puzzled looks on their faces. And, Ernie, my next door neighbor was chasing after the dogs.

Turns out Connor didn't want to wait for Sasha to find her socks. He unlocked the deadbolt on the front door and took off.

The dogs saw this as a great opportunity for a jail break and bolted.

In 5 seconds I had a million different scenarios run through my head, including:

A. Leave the kids here, jump in the van and go after the dogs.
B. Leave the kids here, run down the street w/Ernie.
C. Throw the kids in the van without putting them in their car seats.
D. Throw the kids in the van, buckle them quickly and floor-it down the street.

I chose option D.

The man that invented automatic sliding doors on minivans is a genius. Pure genius. I quickly opened the doors and told Connor to get in the car. Now!! He obeyed.

Sasha was unsure of what was going on. She was hesitant to get in the van. So, I picked her up, buckled her in and went around to finish Connor, who was already sitting in his seat and had started strapping himself in.

By the time that was all done, Ernie had already caught the dogs. I don't know how it happened or why they listened to him but they did. Normally, they give us the preverbial "finger" and run faster. It's never that easy. I guess the Gods were looking down on us today. Or something like that.

I drove down there and the dogs hopped in the van. Again, thanks to the guy that invented automatic doors. I didn't even have to get out of the van and presto! The doors were open. Love it.

Thankfully, two neighborhood boys helped Ernie lug the dogs (or was it the other way around?) down the street and into the van. My dogs are big and strong. And it's a lot to handle without a leash.

We drove back home, unloaded the troops and I gave Connor a talking-to. I told him that he is to never, ever, ever open the front door without Mommy or Daddy with him. He has done this before and the dogs did run, but all 5 of us were home at the time. Dustyn and Kim ran after the dogs. We didn't have to bring the kids.

So, I made a plate of iced pumpkin cookies that I had just baked and we walked them over to Ernie's house. I had Connor apologize and say thank you to Ernie for helping. He mumbled it, in typical Connor fashion, but at least he said it. And even if he didn't really learn anything by going over there, I felt it needed to be done.

I don't know what I would have done if Ernie hadn't been home yesterday. I would have been screwed. Seriously.

We really lucked out with the neighbors we have. Ernie and his wife Cathi are wonderful. They're the kind of neighbors that are there to help whenever you need it. Once Cathi called us when we were on our way into work. We had left our garage door open and she wanted to know if she could close it. How many neighbors would do that? Ernie has come over on multiple occasions to help Kim with whatever project he has going on. The last one was the kids' swingset.

On the other side of our house, live Victor and Lupe. They have two young boys, one just 2 days older than Connor and Sasha. Before they moved in, we had these drug dealers living there. They were awful. When Victor and Lupe moved in, they started taking care of the place. They have added tons of landscaping, trees, an amazing vegetable garden, and paver paths. And they take care of it. Weekly. During the kids' birthday party, they came over with a huge jell-o mold that resembled Winnie The Pooh. This thing was unbelieveable.

And it's not just Ernie and Cathi & Victor and Lupe. It's Chris and Lisa. Carol and Rich. And a handful of other people that make this place a neighborhood. A friendly neighborhood. A safer neighborhood.

We've been talking about moving to Arizona for years and years. I would love to have a house out there. To raise the kids there.

But, honestly, the one thing that's keeping us in Chicago (other than the garbage economy) is the people. Not just family or close friends. Our neighbors, too. Finding a neighborhood with people you can trust is rare these days.

We are very grateful for the neighbors, the friends, we have. Leaving them would be tough.

Anyway, before I get all mushy and stuff...

That's what happened. Everyone is safe and at home. Kim and I are going to buy a chain for the front door. Cause I know that even if I tell Connor to never, ever, ever do it again. I know that if he wants it bad enough, he'll do it.