Theo and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

The age of three could be the best bloggable age ever!  Theo is constantly giving us blog material. Here is a conversation between Charles and him:

At 8 o'clock this morning (mind you, he gets up at 7 o'clock)

Theo: Loads of bad things are happening to me today.
Charles: I am sorry Theo (trying not to laugh at the word 'loads' from a 3-year old). Like what kind of bad things?
Theo: It is just a bad day. I was having bad dreams. I want to play with Jack and he said no, he won't play with me. And now you are going to wash meme (his blankie which needed washing because it reeked).

This interchange reminds me of one of my favourite books growing up, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Hopefully tomorrow will be better Theo -- but as Alexander teaches us everyone has bad days, even in Australia!

Saturday at the Park with Theo

Today we were at the park when the four-year-old boy that Theo had befriended came up to me and said, 'he (pointing at Theo) speaks Spanish.'

I quickly told the boy, 'No he doesn't speak Spanish.'

Theo then quickly replied, 'Yes, I do, I say adios.'

This mind you was the same boy that Theo greeted by saying, 'Do you want to play with me? I have a game we can play. It is called World War II.'

O'Hare and Keri....

We have just arrived back in the US for Christmas this year. We had a rather uneventful trip - as uneventful as it can be with three kids, six and under. We had a four hour layover in Chicago. We were originally hoping to see Charles's brother and wife but at the last minute they weren't able to come due to work commitments. So very very last minutes I emailed our good friend Keri to see if she might be able to come entertain us for three hours. She had other obligations that day already planned so I told her not to worry about it. But when we walked through the double doors to exit passport control and customs, she was standing there waiting for us! We were all very excited as we were all in need of a pick-me-up after the nine hour flight from London.

Keri played with the kids a while and then we decided that we would plug our laptop in and let the kids finish the Cars 2 dvd (since they hadn't finished on the plane since my laptop battery had died). This was welcomed by all as the kids were really tired and needed some down time and it also gave us some time to chat with Keri without the kids. Keri snapped these three pics of the kids making the floor of O'Hare airport their home:

Last year, while living with her husband in Germany, Keri was a constant help to our family, coming twice while Charles was gone in America. She has become one of our kid's favourite people and for good reason. She is a very special friend, and I am very happy that at a young age our kids already recognise this trait in people. :)

Happy 6th Birthday Jack!

So today we celebrated Jack's actual sixth birthday. We had a great day. We started with breakfast which included Shredded Wheats. This is one of Jack's favourites, but we don't buy it often, if ever before, so he was really pleased with this.

We then went to Willows Farm and had a good time playing in the indoor playbarn. As a special treat we tried ice skating there for the first time which Jack has been longing to do. I think the general consensus was that he liked it if he had two blades on each skate, but when we upgraded him to one blade per skate he spent more time on the ice instead of upright and was not as keen.

Jack on ice:

Jack with one blade falling on ice:

This is a bit harder....

Theo sitting on ice...

Two blades is much easier...

We ended the day with a family trip to Pizza Hut, which is starting to become a family birthday tradition. It was a lot of fun, not to mention the ice cream factory at the end which was an extra bonus. While at dinner we had Jack make a list of everything that he accomplished or learned in the last twelve months. Here is his list with some additions by Theo:

• play football/soccer
• stop thumb sucking
• read
• write
• play guitar
• 2 Turkish words
• eat cucumbers
• lost four teeth
• Jacob's twelve sons
• moved up to Good News Club at church
  
  All three kids at Pizza Hut: 



Before heading to bed for the night, we took his weight and height measurements. Our six year old is 51 pounds and 3 feet 11 inches. Not too bad considering he wasn't even seven pounds six years ago!

Jack's 6th Birthday Party

We celebrated Jack's sixth birthday this past Saturday and had a great time. We had a 'father and son' party where we invited three little boys and their dads over and played a whole host of games. We started with a four on four sided football game. This was super fun, especially considering that it allowed Jack to use his birthday present, which was a football goal for the back garden. We played the Brits versus the Americans. One of the boys invited was both American and British, so he and his dad played on Jack and Charles's team. The game ended in a shootout with the Americans eeking out the win 2-1.

We then headed inside for a 'pub' quiz. This is the British word for lot of rounds of various random games. We had three rounds of trivia: one general round, one music round, and one book round. We also had a round of mad-libs (where the boys each filled in their own with their dad and read them back to the group), a marshmallow and straw tower building session, and a blindfold the Dad and have the son instruct them to a marshmallow round. I think fun was had by all - both sons and dads! We then ended with pizza and cake which was good fun. Here are some pictures to enjoy from the night:

Charles, Jack, and Theo in front of soccer goal:

The dads and sons making marshmallow and straw tower (tallest wins!):

The boys at the party (Theo, Noah, Harry, Jos, and Jack)

And the singing:

Theo, our lover

Yesterday when we were running into Sainburys to get a few things, Theo announced that he thought it was going to rain. I kind of dismissed it verbally and we went into the store.

About 20 minutes later when we headed back out of the store we were greeted by a heavy downpour (I now think Theo felt a few drops on the way in, but I may be wrong!). The following conversation occurred:

Jack: Well done Theo on getting the rain right. Maybe you should be a rain man.
Erin: A meteorologist, someone who predicts the weather?
Jack: Yes, a meteorologist.
Erin: That would be interesting. I have always thought being a meteorologist would be fun.
Theo: Yes, but I can't right now because I am too little.

Long Pause

Theo: I think I want to be a lover.
Erin: That sounds interesting. (With a bit of hesitation) What does a lover do?
Theo: A lover doesn't hit or push and is always very kind to people just like Jesus would want.
Erin: That sounds like a great thing to be Theo. I think you should be a lover on top of whatever you decide to be when you are older.

Theo nods in agreement.

Name that Tune Part 2

Here is Jack's next 'known' guitar piece. He has played a few in between that aren't well known. I really appreciate Jack's desire to count the measures out which you will see in how his mouth moves during the performance and at the end we get a wrong note and his head shakes in disagreement! Guesses please...

Time to Celebrate...

Last week we went to Krispy Kremes to celebrate. Why I hear you ask? We went to celebrate the week anniversary of Jack successfully stopping sucking his thumb. Jack came to me one night and said he thought it was about time he stopped sucking his thumb, especially with his new teeth coming through. He asked me to put a plaster/band-aid on it for about a week to remind him not to suck it, but other than that he did it all by himself. I am really proud of him! And yes, before I get any comments, I know it was years before I gave up thumb sucking, and yes I know that giving him donuts is just transferring one dental problem to another, but it was a fun treat!  :) 

Jack showing his excitement:

And Theo and Addie got to help celebrate:

Thankfulness through the eyes of a five-and-three-year-old

We were greeted with the boys coming out of their room this morning already dressed . They had picked their own outfits (Missouri Tiger football jerseys) in great anticipation of the two-hand-touch football game Charles has organized at College.

Jack's handwriting assignment today was to think of five things he was most thankful for and write them down (note I wrote the title):

Theo was also asked to think of three things he was thankful for. His list went like this:

1. Mommy
2. Daddy
3. Jack

And then we decided that although he was only three, we would allow him a 'fourth', drum roll :

4. Addie (reminds me of a shirt Jason and Natalie made for Dad a few years back!)

A history and theology lesson in one -

Yesterday we were talking a bit about WWII. I find myself talking about WWII a lot more than I ever thought I would due to my boys' obsession with it. We were specifically talking about how Hitler really persecuted the Jews and mistreated them (a huge understatement but my best explanation to a five and three year old). Theo was really engaged and the conversation went like this:

Erin: Who do we know that was a Jew?
Jack: Jesus.
Erin: That's right. Jesus was a Jew.
Theo: Did Hitler persecute Jesus?
Erin: Oh no Theo. Jesus lived way way before Hitler. He was already dead when Hitler was alive.
Theo: Jesus isn't dead. He's alive.

No answer from Mom.... You got me there kid!

Running late....

Today we were running a bit late getting out the door to collect Theo from pre-school. It was classic Erin - trying to do one too many things before loading the kids up.

I yelled upstairs to Jack to hurry up that we were running late. Jack quickly came out of his room  and told me he 'had to poop'. [ed note: sorry for the vulgar choice of words but I think the accuracy of his words helps with the story.]

I quickly said 'Oh Jack I don't think we have enough time. You will have to wait.'.

Jack then calmly said, 'Mom would you rather be late or have me poop in my pants.'

It doesn't take a genius to guess that we were a bit late.

Prague - Part 1

Just recently I was allowed the great opportunity of travelling to Prague with a good friend, Charis. Mr. Thumb Down mentioned this in an earlier post and then patted himself on the back for being such a good husband to allow this to happen. I have to totally agree. He has been incredibly generous to me in 2011 - travelling in February to Lisbon with my 'old' dear friend Keri and then this November to Prague with my 'new' dear friend Charis. Both times he has sacrificially looked after the kids so I can have much needed girl time and see a beautiful city along the way. He is so competent with the kids that I truly enjoy myself and don't worry at all. I am extremely grateful for his servant-heartedness in this area as both trips have been SO good for my soul. Few things are as good as laughing and making memories with wonderful friends.

So when we got not only the 'okay' from our husbands to go but actual encouragement, we quickly made the travel arrangements before either of them could change their mind. They were both being left with a full-time job and three kids (not to mention hers still has a PhD in the making which we appreciate in this family is HARD work!). The time quickly approached and we made some arrangements.

Our taxi picked us up at 4:45 am from our houses. We got to the airport around 5:30 which was early but that fits my style much better than late. We then unfortunately discovered that our flight was two hours delayed - instead of 7:30 am departure we were looking at a 9:30 am departure. We settled down with a coffee for Charis and a water for me and started talking. Two hours passed very quickly and we laughed that we didn't even need to go to Prague - we could just travel and sit in the airport and have a blast. With six kids between us, it was the uninterrupted conversation that was such a treat.

We arrived in Prague a bit later than expected and headed in a taxi that Charis has arranged to our hotel. Charis also arranged our hotel. I have learned one thing by travelling with Keri and Charis: Let your friend pick the hotel. Both hotels in Lisbon and Prague, picked by my friends, where phenomenal. Our hotel in Prague opened right out onto the beautiful Town Square and somehow Charis managed to get the hotel for £30 total which still makes us marvel. It was an amazing location. Here are the views from our hotel:

Some newlyweds dancing in town square:



The town square had tons of little stalls out in the middle selling various things, mainly food. Now Charles likes food a lot, but not nearly as much as Charis's husband. The whole time we walked around we kept thinking we wished that Seulgi and Charles could be with us because they would have been so excited by the sites. Two of our favourites were the cheese stands which had fried cheese, and the ham on the open fires. We tried both and would give two thumbs up to both:

After feasting for a while and packing away some 'energy' we headed up the hill to the castle. We crossed over the Charles bridge which is as pretty in person as the pictures show - really gorgeous:

The castle didn't disappoint either:

And a view from inside the cathedral that is on top of Castle Hill:

The trek up to the castle district was well worth it. The buildings were gorgeous and the views excellent. We did have one really funny thing happen while we were on the top of Castle Hill. Charis and I were taking pictures of the sights when all of a sudden about three women came up and starting hugging me and wanting to take my picture. I now know how our kids felt the whole time we were in Turkey.

It was the most bizarre thing. I would have been a bit nervous if I didn't know that my wallet and passport were safely zipped inside my coat. That is, it was so odd that I could see that it could have been a distraction attempt to steal something of ours. But at the end of the episode, I think they just wanted their picture with me! I still don't know why?? They spoke no English but it was clear that they wanted me in their picture so I smiled and let them hug me. Charis was laughing hysterically but had the presence of mind to snap a picture of 'them taking my picture':

Charis and I were so perplexed by the whole thing. I think maybe they wanted to take my picture because I have fair skin (???) - they were also tourists, from somewhere in Asia we guessed. I prefer the version that I have made up: they thought I was someone famous - most likely Brittney Spears! This version and event in general brought Charis and I loads of laughing the rest of the trip and still does today when we talk about it.

We then headed back down the hill laughing. We decided we would rest before heading out for our much anticipated dinner. Check back in soon for the rest of Prague...

Chicken bone in my lunch meat? Wait a minute!

Mr. Foot Down here, in a follow-up to the earlier post about Jack losing his front two teeth. By the way, just to report, they were helped along by a playground accident at Duxford, with lots of blood gushing out of the mouth, loosened teeth, and Mrs. Thumb Up playing the super-calm, competent mom. That set the stage for the imminent departure of both the front teeth.

I was at home with the kids the next week while Mrs. Thumb Up and a friend jetted off for two days for a trip to Prague (it's hard being such an awesome husband, but never mind that). We were eating wraps with chicken breast lunch meat. At one point Jack handed me a small bit of bone that he had found in his wrap. 'That's weird,' I said, 'usually you don't get bone left in the lunch meat'. I put it on the corner of my plate, and we went on.

A minute or so later, I looked at Jack poised to take another bite and saw a bit less white than I expected. 'Jack, open your mouth', I told him. Sure enough. 'Jack, you lost your tooth!' He smiled widely. 'Now, where did it go? Did you swallow it? Is it on your plate?' We looked around but saw nothing out of place. He must have unknowningly swallowed it, I thought to myself.

A few minutes later, I looked down on my plate. 'Jack,' I laughed. 'I know where your tooth is'. I held up the 'chicken bone'. 'Here it is', I said. He and Theo laughed too. So much for my powers of logic and my thinking ill of the company that made the lunch meat.

Mrs. Thumb Up very graciously says that 99.99% of the time I'm the smartest person she knows, but this falls into that .01%. Judging by how 'bone'-headed I was, I think it's safe to say we need to revise that .01% upwards.

Duxford Day Out

We took a family trip with the Tuckwells and the Grahams to the Royal Air Force Museum in Duxford. It is an amazing museum with loads of history and airplanes. The boys love it (and so do their parents!). Here are a couple of fun pictures from the day. We are very thankful for good friends like these two families to have fun with:

All I want for Thanksgiving is ....

Addie's First Two Syllable Word

Addie has not been the fastest talker in the world, but we think we heard her first two syllable word tonight - not Mama or Dada, but . . .

We'll take that as 'Bible' and ignore all the BaBaBaBah afterwards! :)

Call to mind...

An interaction that occurred today -

Erin: Hi Theo. How are you?
Theo: I'm great.
Erin: What makes you great Theo?
Theo (without missing a beat): Because I get to love you.

Oh Lord, please help me to call this interaction to mind someday when I am cross with him.

The name Theo

Today before pre-school Theo informed me that he didn't want to be called Theo anymore. Assuming he had a 'silly' name picked out instead, I asked him what he would like to be called. He answered: 'Luke'. Such a sensible request for a three-year-old. I told him I liked the name Luke. He then changed his mind and said Theo was okay because there was already a Luke at his pre-schoool.

Yesterday, some friends brought us some 'English biscuits' called flapjacks around to say thanks for a small favour we had done for them.  Jack was walking around the house saying, 'I love flapjacks because they have my name in it.' Then Theo responded by saying he liked his but said, 'I call my flaptheos'.

Singing Jack

Jack asked to sing today. I asked him if he minded if I got the camera out. He said he didn't. I am very aware that my days are numbered where he will say he doesn't mind if I record him so I jumped at the opportunity. Here it is:

Theo and ambulances

Unfortunately, Theo has had a rough couple of days. He had a really bad cough on Thursday so we called the doctor to get an appointment. Our doctor's office was closed for training so they sent us to the 'substitute' doctor. That doctor assessed Theo as being bad enough that he should go be examined at the hospital by a pediatrician (that is how they do it in England). But what was surprising to us, was that the doctor assessed Theo as bad enough that they wanted him to be sent in an ambulance instead of having Charles drive him to the hospital.

The ambulance took him to the Emergency Room and after being examined (note, you get seen a lot quicker if you arrive in an ambulance) and having a chest x-ray, they admitted him because they wanted to administer oxygen over night due to him having low oxygen levels. We were very appreciative of the doctors and care that he got while there.

Charles stayed with him in hospital Thursday night. The three times we have had to stay in hospital with one of our kids we always decide that it should be Charles who stays given the gift he has at sleeping through all noises! This is one time it really is a gift!

I then swapped places with him Friday morning so he could come back and lecture. We were really thankful for our amazing friends who stepped in and helped with Addie and Jack.

The doctors were tempted to keep Theo over Friday night as well, but left it to me to decide as he was improving and seemed well in himself. I opted to bring him home and they agreed since he had been off oxygen since lunchtime. They sent us home with his new drugs and he has been steadily improving ever since.

Today while we were in the car, Jack asked Theo about his ambulance ride:

Jack: Theo, did you like riding in the ambulance?
Theo: I didn't really like it that much.
Long Pause
Theo: I prefer our car.

And that we are very happy about. We pray there are no ambulance rides again!

A conversation among three-year-olds

Last Friday a friend took Theo to pre-school. She couldn't wait to tell me this story that took place between her three-year-old, Jos, and Theo while in the backseat of her car. The minds of three-year-olds!

Jos: Mummy, where is Henry's school?

Theo: Oo oo I know it's behind these buildings

Jos: These ones here.

Theo: No, these ones and that is where Jack goes to school in the holidays.

Katy (the mummy): Oh yeah, Jack went to holiday Bible club there.

Jos: On holiday, we played golf and did hitting the balls with the sticks.

Theo: Oh, I know hitting. Hitler did fighting in the war.

Jos: Pirates do fighting on the game I play with Daddy.

Theo: I have some toy pirates

Name That Tune

In an effort to teach Jack that 'if you play a song right people will recognize it' - here is our latest game: Name That Tune. Please people, come through for me! I need some correct guesses to show this little man that learning to play is rewarding! I know him well enough to know that we will be checking the blog often to see if any 'guesses/comments' are coming in!

Boys' Concert

Jack and Theo have really gotten into this song that we sing at church. Today at breakfast they were singing it really nicely so I asked them if they wanted to sing it for the blog. They said, yes, and here is the result as well as lyrics (in case they aren't intelligible):

Lyrics:


Jesus and his friends got in a boat
Lookin' like they're gonna drown.
Jesus yelled: 'QUIET'
and the storm was calm.
Only God can do that!
Who is this man?

He's the King of Kings,
He's the Lord of Lords.
He can heal the sick,
He can calm the storm.
He's the Son of God,
He can save us from sin.
And He calls us to follow him.

Good-bye Car

Sadly our little Honda gave out on in September. It was such a good car.

When the mechanic told me that it was going to cost £800 pounds to pass inspection and he wouldn't advise putting that money into it, I was so sad. My immediate response was 'oh I love that car. I brought two kids home from the hospital in that car.' He quickly told me, as all good mechanics will, 'Don't get attached to a car, Erin'.

I love our mechanic. Seriously, he is like the nicest man ever. Some times the kids just want to walk by and say hi to him, even when there is no need regarding the car. I cannot really blame them. He is great. So giving the car up was a bit hard for me. We sold it for scrap. I scheduled the guy to come get it the day that I was working so I would be saved the sight of seeing it leave.



That said, I did tell Charles to take pictures. Here they are for memory sake:


Our reliable friend


















And only in England - yes, only in England would someone move a car that is perfectly driveable onto a flatbed like this. It did make good entertainment for the neighbourhood kids though!

Indians?

Tonight when Jack was talking to my mom on the phone she asked him what he learned at church today. He began to tell her the Bible story that he was taught. It went something like this, 'And then the Indians ran into the pigs and ran off the cliff'.

Indians?

Really?

Thankfully Mom knows the Bible well enough to know that it was not 'Indians' but 'demons'! I think we would get a fail in cultural sensitivity and awareness. We'll work on it! And our apologies to our Indian friends!

Our little lady

Addie's latest hobby is to walk around the house with a handbag and a big medal around her neck. No one has taught her this - she just does it. She even insists on taking her bag (with play keys inside) to church, out to the orchard, etc. The medal, which is a gawdy old race medal, is a necklace in her mind. Today she added a hat to the ensemble. She is my fashion plate - and she was very happy to have her picture taken!

Parks in Turkey

While we were in Turkey we visited a great city park. Istanbul has not done the best job of planning so 'parks' are not plentiful. That said, they are trying to develop parks and just happens that a really nice one is not far from our friend's house. We had a lovely time wandering through the park and playing on the 'exercise' equipment that was around.

As a souvenir, we have been trying to get the boys football jerseys of the places we visit. Turkey doesn't have any great football stars so we opted for Lionel Messi's Argentina jersey for both our boys. We also got the Robles boys jerseys as a thank you gift for letting us come. I think it is safe to say that these jerseys got their monies worth just in our visit alone. All four boys would not take them off - it was fun to see them enjoy them so much.

Addie in the Hagia Sophia

Now that Addie is a walker videos like this are even funnier to watch. While we were in Turkey, Addie scooted her way across many famous landmarks and building - this one being the Hagia Sophia.

Three Year Olds

A week ago at dinner -

Erin: Theo you need to eat your carrots if you are going to have anything else to eat.

Ten minutes pass. No carrots are eaten.

Erin: Theo you need to eat your carrots if you are going to have anything else to eat.
Jack: Come on Theo. You like orange.
Theo: I don't like orange. I like white.
Jack: We could put some flour on it and then it would be white.
Theo: Okay.
Erin: You want me to put flour on the carrots?
Theo: Yes.

Erin gets the flour out and covers the carrots in white all-purpose flour.
Theo quickly eats his carrots.

Theo: I like floured carrots.

Oh the logic of a three-year-old.

Ramadan and Ice Lollies

While we were in Turkey, Ramadan was going on. Ramadan lasting 29 or 30 days, is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours. Given that Ramadan fell in August this year means there was a lot of fasting going on given the summer daylight hours. It must be a lot easier to keep to Ramadan rules when Ramadan falls in December and it gets dark at 4:30!

Our friends live in a very conservative part of the city with many practicing Muslims. Out of respect for this tradition, our friends will not eat in public in their neighbourhood during this time, which might make dining out difficult. Our friends, however, have developed a really good relationship with the local kebab place down the street, and this restaurant sets up a table for them in the back garden (which is really just a private personal garden) during this time. We went twice while we were there and had a great time. The food was delicious. There is lots of space for the kids to run around. We aren't offending anyone. It is a big win all around. On our last night eating there we celebrated by getting the kids ice lollies. This was a big hit:

Beginning Hebrew through Jack's Eyes

We had two old university friends staying with us this past week. There was a mini-crisis at one point which meant that I needed to take them somewhere. This was unplanned and given that there were two of them and four of us (three kids and me)and a five seater car, we had a problem.

The quickest way for us to solve the problem was for Charles to take Jack to his lecture and let him sit in the back row for the first 20 minutes while I ran our friends to where they needed to be.

Apparently, he sat in the back of the class and read a book quietly. Charles said he was excellent and many of the students were excited to see him (he is kind of a socialite of the College campus).

When I collected Jack, I asked him if Dad was a good teacher and whether he learned anything. He said, 'No. I didn't think it was that interesting, but Dad did say a few things that made people laugh so that was kind of interesting.' This is Jack's opinion of beginning Hebrew, maybe we should wait a few years to enroll him! :)

Walking Addie

So in the last few days Addie has made great strides as a walker. Here is some of the proof:

Turkey Part 4 - Sand People

While at the beach we decided to build sand people. It escapes me whose idea this was, but here the memories for the record! It is striking how similar Theo and Jack look with just their faces showing.

Theo buried













Jack buried













Erin beginning to be buried (whose idea was this?)













And the finished Erin

Turkey Part 3 - Beach Days

While in Turkey we rented a car for three days. Two of those days we ventured to the Black Sea and found the most amazing beach. In fact, this beach was found by some friends of our friends by using GoogleEarth and then driving to try to find the spot. It was well worth the find. It was an absolutely stunning beach that we had to ourselves!

Here are some pictures from those two days:

Charles and Theo enjoying the waves













Addie and hat



















Theo, Joshua, and Jadon













Addie enjoying the beach



















Jack showing his love of the beach



















Charles and the boys

Addie using Joshua as a pillow

Addie and Jeremy