Tornadoes, Tomatoes, and Hawgs, oh my!

I've been telling these stories all week, so I figured it was high time to document them. I really need to start printing these blog posts out. That way, I can tape 'em into the kids' journals.

On Wednesday, we picked up the kids and were getting Arlington County text messages about a tornado warning for the DC metro area. I was scanning the skyline when I asked Tim something like, "Do you see a tornado anywhere in the sky?" And from the backseat, we heard Gabriel's voice saying, "WHERE? WHERE's there a tomato in the sky?" We had a good chuckle over that one. Can you imagine suddenly scanning the skyline for giant tomatoes? I actually started thinking about the movie, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! :)

And you should've heard us attempting to explain what a tornado is to a 4-year-old. Tim finally interjected, "We'll just show you one on the computer when we get home, Gabe." Of course, lo and behold, we got home to no Internet connection. Our power had gone out and everything was out of whack. To my surprise, I remembered some pre-Internet research skills....and pulled my favorite copy of The Wizard of Oz off the shelf to show Gabriel a picture of a tornado. He thought that was pretty cool. We did show the kids some YouTube videos of actual tornadoes last night. Sofia, naturally, was "'cared." Gabe wanted to watch one after another.

He also informed us all that he wants to be a policeman when he grows up. At one point, he'd tell everyone he wanted to be a daddy when he grew up, and at another, he wanted to be a teacher -- both of which were endearing. But policeman? Not exactly a mother's first choice for her son! I said, "Gabriel, that's a dangerous job; why do you want to be a policeman?" to which he responded, "Because Mom, they get to ride motorcycles." OMG. I guess I should've seen that one coming! Yee-ikes. It will be interesting to hear all the different career choices the kids announce over the years! :)