Thankful

The other evening, when we got home from running errands I told Ashley she could ride her bike for a couple of minutes before we went in to eat dinner. But, BEFORE she could ride her bike I needed to go start boiling the water for the ravioli that we were going to have for dinner. So, I go inside and get the water started and then return to watch the kids ride their bikes. I decide to take a few things in from the truck, you know how all the kids stuff can pile up in the car so, I am doing that and just putting it on the counter right inside the garage door. Lastly, I put my keys and purse inside too. (Can you tell that I have made a MAJOR mistake). I tell Ashley its time to go in, she starts putting her bike away, I open the door for AJ to go in. I realized I needed to put Aidens bike away so, I go do that and then turn back around to open the door to go inside and IT'S LOCKED and Aiden is in the house. He locked the lock on the handle. I panic, I run through the back gate to check the Arcadia door in the backyard, its locked....I run back around to the garage door and I can hear him crying and knocking on the door. I tell Ashley to run next door and tell Miss. Anna and Mr. Larry to come here. At this point she is crying and I felt terrible because she was so scared. As soon as they come outside I ask them to call 9-1-1. Oh, my cell phone was also in the house. They call and within minutes but what felt like hours we could hear the sirens coming in the neighborhood. They walk up and I am on my knees by the door, knocking on it and calling for AJ. I can still hear him crying and knocking on the door. As long as I could still hear him I knew he was not in the kitchen near the boiling water. When they walked up, I looked up and saw a friend of ours, I was surprised to see him but so relieved to see a face I knew at this moment. They immediately went up in my attic entrance in the garage and down in the house and at the same time other firefighters came in through the Arcadia door. They jimmied their way somehow to unlock the Arcadia door. When they brought Aiden out to me he wasn't even crying. AMAZING! I was so thankful that they were able to get to him as quickly as they did. Ashley had gone into my neighbors house to be with their kids. The poor girl was crying and hid in Allen's truck that was in the garage during most of the ordeal. The firefighters were so good with the kids. They gave them hats and stickers. The rest of the night Ashley asked several questions, over and over. She was trying to process what had happened. I retold her the story 3 times and reassured her that she did such a great job. Aiden was so thirsty from crying but other than that he was a happy little boy. Lesson learned, keep a spare keep somewhere besides inside the house!