Paper Flakes and Warm Wishes

 We spent today cutting out snowflakes, napping, watching The Princess Bride, and packing. Tomorrow we are traveling to Bulgaria to celebrate the New Year with some of our closest friends. There will be a little skiing, lots of laughing, and hopefully lots of real snowflakes! To all of our friends and family members spread across the globe who are celebrating Christmas today, we send you all warm wishes for a very Merry Christmas! Buon Natale! and Joyeaux Noel!

December List

Family Tree:  a festive, glowing, collaborative beauty of a tree.

Pandora Joys: right now I am loving the Diana Krall Holiday station and the Dolly Pardon station (seriously, if that station doesn't make you sing and dance while doing the dishes, then something is wrong with you or perhaps you should spend a summer working on a dude ranch). 

Food Court Magic: I am sure you have all seen this a million times already, but it really is moving and makes me wish I could have been there.

Weird and New: It's that time of year for top ten lists and this one is quite unique.

Historic: And it's about time. Makes me very glad we took the time to fill out those surveys we got earlier this year.

Awkward and Thought Provoking: the photos got me laughing and the related post had me nodding in agreement.

Thin Spaces: Eren's thoughtful post has been perched in my mind for the past few weeks.

Sentimental Souvenirs

 See that little tub of peach lip balm in the first photo? My dad gave that to me during our last Christmas together. He had a tradition of spending Christmas Eve afternoon sipping tea, eating Gateaux Nana, and shopping for all of us at one of our favorite little shops in the whole world: The Kitchen Shop in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. I always looked forward to the ecclectic little gifts that he would put under the tree for us. I keep trying to remember what else came with this tub of lip gloss that year, but I can't. And actually, I never really used the lip gloss until after he died. I loved the little Art Deco tin and kept saving it. I am like that. I save things. And somehow that little tub of balm re-emerged one day and I put it on my bedside table. It's been there for the past two years and I use it on a daily basis. It reminds me of my dad, it's pretty, it smells good, and guess what?...it really is good stuff. 

So when we started planning our trip to Spain, I wondered if I might be able to find the lip gloss in Madrid. That's where the tin says they are made. I am not a big souvenir person, but as soon as we landed in Madrid I began the search to find these little colorful treasures. It became an obsessive hunt of stopping in every pharmacy, every perfumeria that we passed. I found a few in one shop and bought those to send my sisters and my mom. And then on our last day in Madrid, we hit the jackpot in a small pharmacy near the train station. I didn't realize there were so many scents and designs. I bought one of each. Feelings of success and bittersweet joy flooded over me as the hunt came to an end and the connections between Spain, Louisiana, my dad, and one last Christmas suddenly merged into a small plastic bag full of sweet glosses...strawberry, violet, orange, currant, vanilla, and peach. Sometimes souvenirs can be very good things.

Painted Gifts

Amazing to see what kind of magic can happen with a few tubes of acrylic paint and two creative kids. I love all of the gifts the kids have been making this holiday season. They made the paintings for Adam using this tape technique. Painted pots for teacher gifts. And who can resist a brightly painted pine cone?

December Garden: The Taming of the Shrew?

Can you believe it's December and we still have eggplants in our front garden? Unfortunately, we also have something else going strong in our garden. It seems like we have been invaded by a tunneling fiend that likes broccoli and marigolds (yes, marigolds), but thankfully doesn't like lettuce.  My hunch is a Sicilian Shrew, but we have not had any sightings to make an official id. I am hoping that getting some cooler weather might discourage him/her/them from the rampant digging. Anyone ever dealt with something like this in their yard/garden? Any suggestions to prevent me from turning into a grouchy, garden shrew?

Big Blog Family

Sicilian eggs fresh from the local farm and this interview fresh from Ohdeedoh. I was very honored and to be honest, a bit shocked to be interviewed and included in their fabulous Big Blog Family series. So, "hello, ciao, konichiwa and welcome" to anyone who might have wandered here from that shiny, sparkly space. And to those of you who are already friends and family from the real world and the blogging world: thank you for reading, commenting, and hanging around for this crazy little ride of ours...who knows where we will end up next!

Viva Santa Lucia

Saint Lucia Festival, Belpasso, Sicily

Another amazing Sicilian festival! Elaborate moving displays which have been made by townspeople since the 1600s, music, festive lights, flags, church bells, fireworks, and eyes, lots of eyes all in honor of the patron saint of light. I was familiar with St. Lucia celebrations (especially the Swedish version), but prior to moving to Sicily I had no idea she was Sicilian. Siracusa is her birthplace and I am told their festival is worth seeing (aiming for it next year), but I was drawn to Belpasso because of the carri. They call them floats or chariots but they don't move like in a parade. They are installed the along the street and the crowd moves together to view each one as it is lit up and moved by hand.

I am so glad we went. I really love the Saints' feast days here in Sicily. I am always moved by the intense devotion and the long standing traditions. In our modern world of instant replay, evidence-based research, and Facebook, I find it comforting to stand in a crowd of Sicilians praying and honoring their town's saint. They don't watch parades on tv, demand proof of the story, or build relationships through social networking; instead, they work together all year to prepare for the festival and then they stand together on a dark, cold night and sing. It is truly a special faith experience. If you live in Sicily and you have not attended a feast day celebration, you must do it at least once before leaving.  

I also love these celebrations because I love the stories of the Saints. I always have. I have vivid memories, sometimes even nightmares, about the stories of the Saints that I studied in school (twelve years of Catholic schooling). It is hard to beat the drama, the intrigue, the heroism, and the related miracles. And of course, St. Lucia has special meaning for me since she is my name saint. We didn't get a chance to try any of the foods mentioned here (I think they are more prevalent at the Siracusa celebration), but I still found the information very interesting. So as a continuation from my last post regarding the complicated nature of December, here's one more layer:  my Jewish children have a mother with Catholic roots who is still devoted to the Saints and revels in the Sicilian feast days.

Navigating December

Tis the season for decorated trees, stockings, Christmas carols, and Santa, but in our house it is also the season for on-going discussions and the need for some type of emotional GPS system (why hasn't that been invented yet?). It's a complicated time of year for all of us. For me it comes with many layers and memories of Christmas pasts. I grew up loving Christmas and to be honest, I still do, because it carries with it some of my favorite smells, tastes, traditions, feel-good movies, and family gatherings. I can't quash the fuzzy, warm feelings mingled with a bit of homesickness that always seem to swell up inside me when I catch the glimpse of a Christmas tree through someone's window. But now that I am the proud mama to two Jewish kiddos, Christmas has become a little murkier.

Prior to getting engaged, Adam and I went to interfaith counseling. Not just a couple of sessions but two years of counseling. We had lots of issues to wade through together and individually....San Francisco Jewish boy in the military meets Cajun, Catholic, country girl. That's not exactly an easy mix, but we were best friends, we were in love, and we took our relationship seriously. There were intense conversations with our families, our friends, rabbis, nuns, and other interfaith couples. There were moments of disappointment and loss; moments of humor and humility, and moments of clarity and peace, and we eventually came to some decisions regarding our future together. One of those decisions was that we would raise our children in a Jewish home. 

That decision has turned the month of December into a bit of a quagmire for us. When the kids were younger and attending a Jewish preschool, things weren't that tricky. We didn't need to explain what Hanukkah was to the teachers or school friends. We didn't have to explain why we didn't have a Christmas tree or why the presents were wrapped in blue paper instead of red. At that time we were also living in the States and we were able to travel to Louisiana each year for my family's annual Christmas/New Year's celebrations and being there made the holidays feel like the perfect mix to me. But now that we are living overseas and the kids are older, I have to admit that the holiday season has become more challenging. 

Last year was hard for Noah. He was the only Jewish kid in his class, the only Jewish kid in the entire elementary school, and actually probably just one of a handful of Jewish kids in all of southern Italy. And guess what first graders love to talk about in December? Santa. Lots of Santa discussions and suddenly Noah realized not just that he was different, but that he was the only one who wasn't getting a visit from Santa and it pissed him off. There's just no other way to explain it. He was mad. And I can't blame him. I even have to admit to very briefly considering changing our stance on the whole Christmas issue...maybe Santa could make a quick visit? But that didn't feel right. Having been raised in a Catholic family, attending Catholic schools for twelve years, Catholic Mass twice a week...Christmas is very clearly lodged in my mind as a sacred, religious holiday. It is not something to be twisted on a whim to include a surprise visit from Santa to a lone Jewish boy in Sicily. It just didn't feel right and if you know Noah in real life, you know, that he is a skeptic and he would have seen through that ploy faster than the singing of Jingle Bells. 

I am glad we didn't add Santa to the mix, because it has opened the doors for some good family talks about being Jewish. That's the duality of being in such a minority group here: we have to work harder to solidify what it means to be Jewish.  If we want to celebrate Jewish holidays or have services, we have to travel to larger Jewish congregations or we organize our own with the other Jewish families here (now at a grand total of three), and so we do. If want special Jewish food or holiday items, we have to plan ahead and order well in advance.We are forced to be more purposeful and thoughtful in our practice as a family, as parents, as individuals and that's a good thing. But it isn't easy.

Which brings us to this December...Noah is not mad like he was last year at this time, but we are continuing to deal with December related issues. During the past week, Noah has come home with four different school related issues. None of the issues are happening in his classroom, but they are taking place in the special classes...Santa projects in art class, Christmas cards in Italian class, Christmas carols in music class, school-wide Christmas performance...and when Noah asked to do different tasks, there wasn't an alternative. Which means we have had to speak up at the school multiple times in the course of just one week. I know that this is part of the deal. We have to educate and advocate, especially while our children are young, but sometimes I wish it didn't need to be quite so much work. And I don't mean the physical work of calling or talking to school staff, I mean the emotional work of it. I have to admit it is starting to make me a tad bitter about Christmas and I don't want that to happen for me or for the kids. Because although we don't celebrate Christmas in our home, it is a part of who I am and who my family is and therefore also a part of my kids and that is the sticky part of all this December business. 


I know we aren't the only families out there navigating these December issues and I know that every family has it's own way of mapping it out. This is just where we are this December. Trying to stay the course, trying to smooth out the wrinkles, trying to stay connected to roots, while also moving ahead to uncharted territory each December.

Succulent Gifts

So easy, so green, and so succulent! I wish I could ship these across international borders because I love how quickly and easily these suckers grow. I wrapped these little pots in gold ribbons for the "photo shoot" but since Camille helped to plant these for her teachers, I'll see if she wants to personalize them even more with a bit of acrylic paint. Read more at The Magnifying Glass and be sure to check out the other fun gifts from nature. Are you growing or gifting anything green this holiday season?

Alien Brains and Monster Snot

It isn't always easy to come up with a home made gift for a big brother who is into Legos, Star Wars, and Pokemon. But I think his reaction last night indicates that Camille succeeded! Ooey-gooey alien brains and monster snot turned out to be a huge hit. Easy enough for Camille to make and disgusting enough to delight Noah. We used this great tutorial from Skip to My Lou. Once you get to the stage of near solid, just dump out the extra liquid and immerse yourself in the slimey fun. After we got to that stage, we bottled them up in empty baby food jars and Camille made some great face labels for the tops. 

My favorite part of the whole gift are her drawings that describe the monster and the alien. "The Monster (named) Horn: double headed with eyes on each head, two horns, snot coming out of his head, no nose, lots of sharp teeth, claws, and only one leg". And the "A Friendly Alien: It is a girl alien, but soon it will be mean just like the monster and then they will live happily ever after".

As Noah was opening his gooey gifts, I couldn't help remembering this cool alien gift he made for Camille when he was five. We can't seem to go wrong with aliens in this family!

The Eighth Night

 Hanukkah 2010

"I'm Freezing

and I want to go home, NOW!"

Camille was the trooper of Sunday's hike. Poor Noah fell early in the hike and tore up his knee pretty badly so Adam had to carry him back to the car. They sat in the car and waited for the rest of us to finish up the hike. Camille did great until the very end when the chilliness finally got to her. I can't blame her. If someone had taken a picture of me at the end of the hike, I am sure I would have looked like this too. The promise of hot chocolate got both of us moving again. And let me just say for the record: Italian hot chocolate is truly amazing, but it really does taste best after a chilly afternoon hike on Mt. Etna.

Exploring: Parco dell' Etna

Yesterday our friends showed us one of their favorite hiking areas on Mt. Etna. It was beautiful, but very cold compared to the sunny 70 degree weather we have been experiencing at the base of the mountain . When I loaded up the car, Adam was teasing me about bringing way too many jackets and hats, but his teasing quickly turned into appreciation when we climbed out into that brisk mountain air. We did a quick little hike in an area that was fairly flat and even had a paved trail for part of our hike. I love the interesting mix of nature that is found on this active volcano of ours:  beautiful pine trees, wispy grasses, rose hips, clumps of dried thistles and other prickly plants, some snow, and black lava rocks. In just a few more weeks that whole area will probably be covered with snow and hopefully we'll return in thicker jackets and snow boots to do a bit more exploring. 

Sevilla

 An intoxicating mix of cultures, super saturated colors, meandering streets, tempting tastes, secret courtyards, nuns selling cookies, and sunny days. We loved Sevilla and November seemed to be a perfect time for visiting. 

Hanukkah Greetings

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah. Gifts still need to be wrapped, dinner still needs to be prepped, but the menorahs and the cards are ready. Our Hanukkah cards were easy to make and reminded me of previous collage fun. Cutting up magazines seems to be the theme of our recent holiday decor and gifts. Too bad I couldn't figure out a way to construct some Bakugan creatures out of magazine scraps because that really would be impressive, wouldn't it? Leaving you with this link to a favorite Hanukkah tune and sending you all wishes for a very Happy Hanukkah!

A Piece of Family History

85 years ago Adam's cousin, Abe, started up the Harlem Globetrotters. Tonight we watched them play in a high school gym on an American base on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Ocean. Pretty cool to watch a piece of family history in action and still going strong. If you ever get the chance to see the Harlem Globetrotters, do it or at least watch this. They are amazingly graceful, funny, and full of spirit. Tonight made me very proud to be an American and a part of this Jewish family.

Visiting The Prado with Kids

One of the highlights of our recent trip to Madrid was our time at The Prado Museum. Our Spanish friends kept insisting we shouldn't bring our kids, but I am so glad we stuck to our plan and brought them. It's one of the reasons we work so hard to travel with our kids, especially during our time here in Europe. 


Growing up with two artists for parents, we spent a lot of time in museums and galleries. My first trip to the Louvre was when I was three and my sister was one and just starting to walk...pretty cool place to take those first steps. We took family trips to see specific shows and even spent an entire summer traveling by train to visit some of the best museums in the States. Our visits weren't just spent wandering aimlessly through gallery spaces, my parents talked with us about what we were seeing, we read books, we made our own drawings, and bought post cards of our favorite pieces to hang up at home. And so I follow in my parents' foot steps and feel strongly about taking our kids to art museums and letting them see masterpieces up close and personal.


Here are a few things that made our visit to the Prado such a success:


1) Reading
In the weeks leading up to our trip, I ordered several books about Spanish artists that I knew we would be seeing at The Prado. As I already mentioned, Katie and the Spanish Princess was a perfect fit for Camille. She also loved reading the Katie books that are set in England which we read during our trip this past summer. It is fun to see how the paintings literally come to life, quickly pulling Katie and the reader into their stories. I highly recommend the Katie series for all families, but especially those planning trips to Europe. For school age kids (and adults, too), I highly recommend this series of biographical books. They are concise, but entertaining and educational. Noah loves these books. He gobbled up the Goya and Velazquez books and while touring the Prado he kept telling us stories of the artists. I really was impressed by how much he absorbed and how excited he was to see some of the paintings he had read about in real life. 


2) On-line Tickets
I know The Prado is one of the top museums in the world so I shouldn't have been surprised to see the long lines of people waiting to buy tickets, but I was. I am very glad we decided to make use of this modern advantage instead of waiting in line with two kids who I am sure would have quickly become bored and antsy. That would not have been a good start to a museum visit. Kids are free so when you purchase your adult ticket, also "purchase" the free ticket for your child.


3) Timing
We bought tickets for the early morning and I think that was a good decision. During our first hour in the museum, we had most of the rooms to ourselves so the kids really got a chance to see artwork without the big tour groups that started appearing later in the day. Early in the day also meant our kids were more focused, less whiny, and actually very pleasant. After our first hour, we took a break had a very nice breakfast snack in the museum restaurant which had a great selection of fresh fruit, pastries, drinks, and delicious tortillas.


4) Musuem Map
One of our first stops in the museum, was the information desk where we picked up a map and a children's packet. It is wonderful to see how many museums have packets specifically for kids. The Prado packet was in Spanish, but was still easy to figure out. But actually it was the museum map that turned out to the be the most exciting thing for us. On the back of the map were tiny snippets of paintings (Noah is holding this in the first pic) and the room number where they could be found. It was essentially a ready-made scavenger hunt and it quickly turned our visit into an exciting adventure. We each picked several paintings that we wanted to find and then worked our way through the museum on a quest to see the whole painting. 


5) The Gift Shop
We concluded our time at The Prado with a visit to the gift shop where each of the kids chose a large print of their favorite paintings (which are now hanging above their beds). The gift shop also has a nice selection of art books for all ages.


6) Play and Eat
After a good couple of hours at The Prado, we happily followed the Delicious Baby's advice and headed across the street to the playground and VIPS (next door to Starbucks). Both were perfect post-museum spots. 


And here are a few more helpful links
The Artful Parent and Tinker Lab: visiting museums with kids
Travel for Kids in Madrid (other cool spots near the Prado) 
10 Tips for Visiting The Prado

This is a fairy.

While I was working in the yard this weekend, Camille built a sweet little fairy house at the base of the tree in front of our house. She then marched inside, created this drawing, asked me to dictate the above letter, and carefully placed it inside her house. This morning she found a very tiny little note written to her from the fairies. She was ecstatic and so was I. It reminded me of Noah having a very similar experience at around the same age. And now that I think about it, it was kind of around the same time of year, too. I guess it is official: we don't do Santa, but we do fairies and I love that.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving 2010

Sicily, Italy

Making Menorahs

Take a look at what we have been up to over at The Magnifying Glass. Hard to believe Hanukkah starts next week!

Tuesday's List

What does it say about you when your to-do list starts with "Find the snail eggs"? Between making a costume for Squanto (Noah's role in the Thanksgiving Play), making menorahs, and trying to get Hanukkah packages ready to ship, I somehow lost the snail eggs. More specifically two African snail eggs from Noah's classroom snails. His teacher offered them to us yesterday with the comment that they make perfect pets and then she quickly followed up with "But do not let them escape!". The kids were so excited to have their first official pets and I somehow lost the darn things before they even hatched. Guess who is going to be up late tonight searching for snail eggs, sewing (or more likely just stapling!), and making gingerbread for the first time ever. Yes, that is on the list, too. Have any advice on that? Is it just me or does it seem like the to-do lists get a little wacky around this time of year?

Recently I have been enjoying Aimee's List-It Tuesday posts. One day I hope to find some time to sit down and whip up some fun, interesting, and cool looking lists, but for now I am back to snail egg hunting. 

***The snail eggs have been located! Check that one off of the list.

Silly Bands and Dirt

Today marked the start of a new school garden. Purple Sicilian cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, tulips, daffodils, allium, and bearded iris. Working with the kids today brought back good memories of this special garden and this and this. It also made me realize that silly bands, muddy hands, and baby plants make me very happy. So what's making you happy during this week of Thanksgiving?

In Search of the Spanish Princess

 

Here's the scariest thing that happened to us while we were in Spain: we lost Camille. Seriously, we did. We were spending the day in Madrid with our Spanish friends. Admiring the beautiful buildings, the plethora of green spaces, the museums, and the very talented street performers.  We all crossed a busy street, stopped to admire one of those street performances and then we realized Camille was not with us. My heart stopped. I really think it did. We all burst into action. Calling her name, searching, calling louder. Adam and Nando ran back across the street we had all just crossed (did I mention it was a very busy street?) and there they found her sobbing in the arms of a very kind Spanish storekeeper. Relief, tears, disbelief, and more relief....she was back in my arms and stayed there for the rest of the day. I got lost when I was five...wandering around the campus where my dad taught. I still remember how scary that feeling was and now I know what it feels like as a mama. It's still a scary feeling. 

And here's the tie in to the title of this post: the above picture was taken the next day very close to where Camille had gotten lost. It's across the street from the Prado where the real paintings of the Spanish Princess Margarita are on display. In the days leading up to our trip, Camille couldn't stop talking about the Spanish princess thanks to this book (we love, love this series of books...more on that later). I am happy to say that we did indeed find the Spanish princess: the paintings and our very own sweet, Mei-Mei.

Segovia

A castle perched on top of a hill, old walls, twisty streets, and a dramatic roman aqueduct...this Spanish town has a ton packed into it and like El Escorial it is worth the day trip from Spain. We got there late in the day because we had an amazing and very leisurely lunch at El Rancho (about fifteen minutes outside of Segovia). It really was one of the best meals I have ever eaten. Here are some tips on visiting Segovia with kids.

El Escorial

 Magestic, both literally (the Spanish royals are all buried here) and architecturally, El Escorial is an enormous and important historical site surrounded by mountains on one side and rolling countryside on the other, it's worth the day trip from Madrid. My favorite spots were the library and the Hall of Battles. After winding your way through the impressive halls, treat yourself like royalty and eat at Charoles.  And if we make it back to El Escorial one day, I would love to do this bike trip with the kids.

An On-going Exchange

The highlight of our recent trip to Spain was a very special re-union and a good ad campaign for the positive benefits of cultural exchange programs. While in high school Adam was an exchange student in Spain. At the end of his summer program, he met a Spanish boy on the plane who was preparing to start his exchange experience in the States. They started chatting and soon realized that Nando was actually going to be attending Adam's high school and living in is small California town. They quickly became friends, classmates, and soccer team mates. After his year in California, Nando returned to Spain and Adam visited Nando and his family during the following spring break. And then eighteen years passed. 

As we were planning our trip Adam pulled out a small business card he had kept all of those years. It had Nando's picture, his full name, and the name of the Spanish rotary club that sponsored his exchange year in the States, but there wasn't any contact information. Adam quickly jumped on the internet and the phone until he was able to track down some contact information. A few days later Nando and Adam had their first phone conversation in eighteen years. There were tears, laughter, and a very generous invitation to have us stay with their family during our time in Madrid. And that is just what we did. 

The tears, the laughter, the hugs, and the hospitality continued to overwhelm us once we arrived in Spain. Nando is now married to a wonderful woman, Theresa and they have a delightful six year old son, Pablo. His parents and brother also quickly made us feel right at home with amazing nightly dinners, lively viewings of Spanish soccer games, and even some flamenco dancing in the living room!  It turns out that Nando is now the Vice-Mayor of his hometown. He proudly showed us around the town and the various projects he has been a part of during his term. He took us on fabulous day trips to the beautiful towns on Segovia and El Escorial. He arranged for Noah to play in Pablo's soccer game on Saturday morning with all of the other six and seven year old boys in town and presented Noah with a special Spanish soccer ball. Theresa surprised Camille with her very own flamenco dress and taught us all a few moves. Despite, the language barrier, Pablo made our kids feel right at home. Soccer, swords, and silly faces can obviously overcome any barriers! As we watched our children play together, we started to speculate about what might happen ten years from now...perhaps another generation of exchange between our Spanish and American families, wouldn't that be wonderful?

Recycled Turkey

 We got back from Spain last night and had a fabulous, fabulous time until we walked through the front door of our house and poor Camille started vomiting and couldn't stop. That did not make for a nice night after a long day of traveling. So today Camille and I stayed home, played go-fish, read Amelia Bedelia, and made a turkey. A spontaneous--use what is lying around the house- turkey! Isn't he funny? We went a little crazy with the magazine "feathers". Who knew tearing colored pages out of magazines and rolling them up could be so much fun?  The buttons are from my sweet, button-loving girl. Camille has a growing button collection and it made me smile when I overheard her asking Noah to add buttons to her Chanukah list. I promise to post pics and stories of our Spanish adventures soon, but for now: gobble,gobble!


Recycled Turkey:
paper bags
newspaper (for stuffing the body)
one rock to weigh down the body
egg carton (eyes and beak)
paint
buttons
glue
magazine pages rolled and taped into tubes: "feathers"

Travel

"Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it." Eudora Welty

We are headed to the land of Ferdinand, tapas, and Picasso. Stay tuned for stories of our Spanish adventures when we return next week.

Camille 5

A birthday morning interview with the girl who has been signing all of her recent drawings with "Camille 5". We all had fun hearing her responses and taking a peek at Noah's interview at the same age. Happy Birthday, Camille! I have a feeling five will be a very big year for you!

L: What are you going to do now that you are five?  

C: Draw a spider and I want a guinea pig because I am sure that I can feed it. Please, please! And I want to learn how to jump rope. 

L: What is your favorite food?

C: Couscous and corn and tofu and sushi and I think I might like pumpkin pie.

L: What do you worry about? 

C: Bugs. When I get older, I won't be scared of bugs.

L: What do you want to be when you grow up?

C: A babysitter because I like to read books to little kids.

L: Who is the funniest person you know?

C: Daddy when he tells me jokes

L: Who is the smartest person you know?

C: Noah

L: If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

C: New York City. I want to skip in New York City.

L: Anything else you want to say about being five?

C: No

Charming Cefalu

Fresh seafood, pleasant beach, twisty little streets, nestled on the edge of the Madonie Mountains, it is easy to see why parts of Cinema Paradiso were filmed here...can't wait to return.