Mom, Can I Tell You A Story?

This is the new phrase I have been hearing from both my children. I hear it all day long and it has been fun. It all started on Saturday after we went to the Air Show and saw the Air Force Thunderbirds (and they were awesome). We got home really late and Jackson absolutely had to read a book before he could go to sleep, even though he was exhausted.

So I said, "Jackson, how about I tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was an Air Show. And the Thunderbirds came to the show and did lots of tricks. They flew high in the sky and did loop de loops. They flew upside down and sideways and they were really loud and so cool. And they did it all for a boy named . . . JACKSON!"

He was thrilled and went straight to sleep, and ever since then, my boys have said, "Mom, can I tell you a story?"

Jackson's stories are awesome, and they go on and on and on. Hayden's are very short and to the point, but both of them always begin with "Once upon a time" and end with 'The End." My favorite opening line from Jackson so far has been, "Once upon a time, there was a Grandma Jones, and she lived in a hotel . . ." Jackson usually refers to himself as "Jackson the red dragon" and whenever he has a line in his story, it is followed by, "said Jackson the red Dragon."

Hayden's stories crack me up. First he would tell me the same story over and over. It went like this:

"Once upon a time, there was a drrrragon! And there was a Ghost-es! And the ghost came up and scared the drrrrragon away! ROOOOOAR! The end."

He has now made up another story and it goes like this:

"Once upon a time there.Was.A.Airplane! And it went up really high in the sky (This is when his chubby little hand goes as high above his head as possible) And.Then.It.CRASHDED!" (Then his chubby little hand hits the ground with a lot of force.) Then he calmly says, "The end."

I haven't listened to the radio in the car for days. They just tell each other stories. Kids can be so funny.