i'd like to buy a vowel

As the parents to two small children, John and I have resorted to the ever-popular trick of spelling key words of sentences to talk about things without the girls understanding what we are talking about. The only problem with this? Well, John isn't all that great at spelling under pressure.

For example, as we were driving home from E's Chirstmas recital, John wanted to know if we should make a quick stop.

"Do you think we ought to go buy a C-R-A-S-T-E-M-A-S T-R-E-E?" he asked me.
"A what?" I asked.
"Oh. Wait. A C-R-I-S-T-M-A-S T-R-E-E!"

And then there was last night. Being the good little carnivores that the girls are, John felt the need to spell out a dinner proposal for tomorrow.

"Do you want to have S-T-A-K?"

Of course, I'm not perfect either. One night I asked John,

"Should we put in D-V-D for the girls?"

I was shocked (shocked!) they figured that one out. Oh well, at least I spelled it right.