But, they're tasty

My dearest K. He is so cute, filled with personality and resolve, except when it comes to hamburgers and hot dogs. We were driving home from school and K asked if we could have hot dogs for dinner. I told him, "but honey they are made from cow." He replied, "but they're tasty."

So, K has clearly decided that these things are just too tasty to give-up. Not that we eat them a lot, but clearly vegetarianism is not his forte in its full form. You can imagine the joy experienced by my husband at this realization. It's funny, making efforts to provide vegetarian meals for K, seemed to quicken his realization that it wasn't for him. So, I guess in the future, when he won't let something go, the best thing to do is to show him the reality of what he seeks and then just let nature take its course. How come I have feeling that might back-fire on me one day???

Oh no, but guess who came home from school talking about some awful video he saw on how animals are treated. T is such a sensitive soul, where is this going. Did we just trade one vegetarian for another. Yikes!

Meat to Eat or Not. . .

Our 4 year old is a very deep thinker. When he starts learning about something of interest to him, he really focuses in on it to a degree I just wouldn't expect from a 4 year old. From understanding death, to understanding the differences between boys and girls, to really understanding the internal workings of the body, to practicing his letter sounds (constantly quizzing himself and us on letter sounds), he will focus intensely on a topic for months. He even does this thing where he walks around our living room coffee table, around and around, for up to 10 minutes at a time. If you ask him why he does it, he simply replies, "I'm just thinking."

So, his latest focus is on meat, specifically where meat comes from. He now realizes that meat comes from animals. He is constantly asking about every animal he knows and what that animal eats. And, has recently declared that he WILL NOT eat any animals. "If it doesn't have meat, it's not a meal" is my husband's favorite saying. So, this is going to be interesting for the cook of the family. Knowing K, this is something that he will take seriously and completely for quite some time. . .

The Countdown Begins

A good countdown! And, finally, a countdown that doesn't involve moving, yeah!!! For Spring Break, we are going to Italy - woohoo!!! The plan is stay in Sorrento for a week, using it as our base to see Casserta (Queen Amadallah's Castle for you Star Wars fans), Pompeii, Crete and the Blue Grotto, and a high-speed train trip up to Rome for a day of sight-seeing. Rome could be a trip in and of itself, we know, but the boys are so excited about the other parts of the itinerary that we decided, this time, it will not be our focus. Let's just hope there is a next time!

Screaming Momma

Yes, instead of screaming Meemies, we have Screaming Momma. We took the boys skiing on the weekend. They just love it and we love that it is now something we can all do together.

K is too much like me when I was young. I had a need for speed, a little dare devil/risk taker if you will. And, unfortunately for us, that is clearly the way K is rolling. Funny how having kids totally changes things. Well, that and having had a major ski accident when I was first learning that put me on crutches for 8 weeks. As you can imagine, when it comes to skiing I am very very cautious now!

So, I went with K and Dani (the instructor) as K wants Momma with him. Dani makes K ski from one side of the slope to the other, using snow plow and turns to keep speed under control. The problem comes in when K skis with his big brother. T is a great skiier, going down reds, having good control even at faster speeds than I would ever dare attempt. And, K, well he wants to keep up with his big brother. So, what does he do? He is snowplowing, but going STRAIGHT down the hill, bombing it if you will. Oh my goodness, I'm yelling, yelling, yelling, "turn, Turn, TURN!!!! Go from side-to-side like Dani showed you!!!!" I think the other people on the slopes probably thought I was nuts. Luckily, S is a great skier and was able to keep up with him and occasionally get him to turn. Of course, I was yelling at S to catch him and make K turn. Even more fodder for the locals, look at that crazy American Mom yelling on the slopes. I think I need to ski in front of K instead of behind him. Yikes! I suppose, failing that, a stop off for hot chocolate with a shot of Brandy will do the trick, at least it will give me the illusion of doing the trick.