Happy New Year

Today I am leaving for Salzburg so I won't be making any posts so if you read this you'll know what is going on.

By the way, when we go to Salzburg we're stopping by a place that has a 5000 year old man in ice. And they have snow there and I like snow.

I had a nice Christmas. I hope you guys did, too.

Sorry, I've gotta go. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. I'll be back in a week by the way.

The Meaning of Christmas

The real meaning of Christmas is not to get but to give and I gave my money to people in Ethiopia and Alaska. The real real meaning of Christmas is the birth of Jesus--la nascita di Gesu.

The money I used was from mine and Jesus's. This was money I saved during the year from my allowance. I had €30 and I gave €15 to Ethiopia and €15 to children and their parents in Alaska.

Also before with Samaritan's Purse I gave money to help the children in Sudan. I got a certificate back from Mr. Graham.

I always worry about them. The children in Ethiopa are very very hungry. The people in Alaska need homes. They were burned down in a fire. I would like that if you would help them. Just click on Samaritan's Purse

MERRY CHRISTMAS

BUON NATALE

The new dog of Viticcio

The new dog of Viticcio's name is Pepe and she is cute like my dog Scratch. Pepe is only two months old. She is a mixed breed. Pepe means pepper so she is a little peperoncino--a hot dog. OK-who wants to eat her.

She likes me but then the other night she barked like crazy. My grandparents and Camilla's parents didn't sleep but Camilla and I slept fine. Now Pepe sleeps in the laundry room by the tractors.

By the way Pepe is Camilla's new dog but she comes running over to me because I take care of her more when she is sad and when she is cold.

Here's a picture of Pepe.

My Time at Poppi

We went to Poppi for 3 days. At Poppi I went to the Guidi Castello (castle), the hotel was across from the castello.

This is the picture of a fresco in the chapel at the castle and I took the picture.

The castle had a little diorama of a big battle. It also had dead knights and one dead horse leg on the floor. And I got a little knight figure that came with a horse. I actually have two. I liked the castle. We were able to listen to a tape to know what we were looking at. When we went into the prison, we saw one of the prisoners and there was a trap door. I am not sure why but he didn't move a smidgen.

This is me about to enter the prison door. I had fun there!

Do you like my new wheels?

I think you would like Poppi!

We met some friends at a piazza in Rufina . With these friends I bought little pop balls. When you throw them on the ground they sound like mini grenades.

One day we went to the SANTUARIO FRANCESCANO (Santuario della Verna). I learned about Saint Francis of Assisi. I learned that he was a monk and Franciscan monks have to give up everything they have. In one of the pictures I saw showed an angel giving stigmata to St. Francis of Assisi. Oh, and also, we saw a rock that looked like it was floating in mid-air. It was humongous. But it really wasn't floating.

St. Francesco had to sleep in a cave. The cave he slept in was not warm. He just slept there with hardly any clothes. It was very wet. It would be hard for him all the time. It would be hard for him to all the time be a monk. I don't want to be a monk.



This is a picture of a monk there. They only have to wear sandals and they aren't even very good.

We ate at the restaurant right on the mountain where the sanctuary was.

They also had a big nativity scene but baby Jesus was missing. I wonder who stole it.



Today we left Poppi and now we are home--home sweet home.

It's Starting to Look Like Christmas

In my house we have lots of pretty decorations. And we have a Christmas toy that is a little like a jack in the box but it is not.It is what I call a honey bear in a box.



And we have our stockings in the fire place and a cute little snowman. We have a snowman wobbly body. And we have a little dancing Santa.

We brought everything from home in San Diego.

We don't have a Christmas tree yet.

But you all know what Christmas is really about. It's about Jesus when he was born.

Picture by Me

I love Jesus.

My Recipe--It's Goooooooooooood

This is my recipe.

Farfalle pasta (butterfly shaped)
A little bit of spicy tomato sauce (arrabiata) and some regular tomato sauce
Olive oil and chopped garlic
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese mixed up with it. (I really wanted mozzarella but we didn't have any.)


The reason why we made this is because my grandma didn't know what to cook for dinner and so I came up with an idea. Aren't I bright?

It was very good.

This is me chopping the garlic. We forgot to take a picture of the pasta when it was finished.

Il Fantasma di Viticcio

Here is a video of me saying my story in Italiano. After the video you can read what it means in English. Don't be scared. It's not a real story. It's a mystery.

The Ghost of Viticcio

In 2006 I was at Viticcio in my room when the ghost arrived in my room. He was funny.

At a certain point the lights went out in my house and the window opened and a big owl entered my room and I was scared.

I turned all the lights on and then there was nothing left and the window was closed.

MYSTERY!!

Viticcio is where I live.

Borghetto's Victory

When I went to The Sagra del Tordo in Montalcino, I picked the winning Quartiere. The four quartieri are BORGHETTO, RUGA, PIANELLO e TRAVAGLIO. BORGHETTO e il Quartiere ha vinto. (BORGHETTO is the winning neighborhood.)

The competition was with archers. The archers were dressed like the real thing back in the medieval days. I liked it. We got front row seats thanks to our friends and papa.

This is a picture of the archers. You can click on the pictures to make them bigger.


And this one is me with the Borghetto flag and a bow and arrow.

We also saw the real parade and the practice. The real parade was much different. It was with horses and hunting dogs.






We stayed in a palazzo that was built in 1275. It was an old nobles house.

Now watch my video

My Friend Gaby and B-Daman

My friend Gaby speaks English. I like that because most my friends here speak Italian but I'm learning to speak italian pretty good and sometimes I make a mistake and say things to Gaby in italian. She came over on Sunday to play.

She always wants to hold hands with me going to lunch, going to recess, going to everywhere when we go places. One time she sat next to me at lunch when I held hands with the boys. I said "for once can I sit with a boy?" And she said "what?" I think she likes me but not in the love way, just as a friend.

I got B-Daman just two days ago. And the reason I got them is because I got a perfect score in math which was 600 on the STAR test* and also trying hard in italy and because my italian is getting better. The names of my B-Daman are Cobalt Saber and Siphon Striker and this weird little guy that doesn't have a name. I think I will name him Laser Blaster.

I took this picture.

I am getting out of school early today so that we can go to a big medieval festival in Montalcino with an archery contest. I'll tell you about it next week. We are going to be gone for 6 days.


*(added by grandma) The STAR test is California's achievement test which he took last May.We just received the scores now.

My Scooter

This is me riding my scooter at Fattoria Viticcio where I live. I'm pretty good at it and can ride with just one hand. My grandma was afraid I was going to hit the wine bottles, but I didn't. My uncle Jeff sent the scooter from San Diego.



Camilla can ride her roller blades when I am doing my scooter. Here is a picture of us.

Ring a Ding--My New Friend

My new friend Ring a Ding Ding is from North Carolina. But isn't Ring a funny name? And when she was in college people asked her if her little sister was named Bracelet.

I like Ring's cats'names. They are funny: Lemon, Gracie, Stitch and Bradley. And they can talk, they say meow to the cat here in Fattoria Viticcio. His name is meow.

Ring, to answer your question, my italian is getting good. My friends can understand me. But I still have trouble understanding. It's sort of hard to understand because they talk fast.Tomorrow I am going to my friend's house. His name is Tommaso.

I think Ring is like one of my friends I call Uncle Benny. He says funny things too like "my head is spinning" when he is confused.

Here's a Ring. (My nonna helped me do this)



Ciao for now. It's chow time.

My Day At School

I had a good day at school today except that I couldn't concentrate that well because I was too busy thinking about my grandma who wasn't feeling good.

I had fish for lunch and it was verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry good. We put lemon juice on it. I don't usually like fish but this I mean was gooooooooooood.

Tomorrow I have karate and I've already memorized one new move. And one of the instructors told me to get there early for a special lesson from another karate champion but he isn't one of our instructors in karate. I am going to take a picture of my instructor Michele and show him to you.

Here is picture from the goat farm. It was fun.

These are the cute little puppies and the mommy doggy. The puppies are nursing.

The Goat Farm and My Friend Niccolo

I am going to a goat farm with cute little dogs that look like fluff balls. The dogs are all so cute and I really like them.

I think they might have a lot of goats because it is a goat farm. I think I will like it. They make cashmere wool out of the goat wool.

I had my friend Niccolo over to play today. I had to talk to him in Italian and I was good. My grandparents were impressed. Now here is a picture of Niccolo and me.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I am glad you are here.