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.