We have a Winner!

Just a quick not to say Ingrid is walking!!!! Sue and Randy picked the right day. More later with pictures.

Cheeseburgers in the Rain

This evening, we made a stop at the Verizon store (hardly worth the trip) to attempt to keep our old phone plan and its great rate. It didn't work... Afterward, since the temperature had dropped from a whopping 113 degrees to a balmy 105 degrees, we walked to a 50's burger place called Cheeburger, Cheeburger. No sooner than we arrived, a thunderstorm rolled in. It was pouring rain but the atmosphere inside was very cheery making the rain actually a fun part of the evening. Plenty of music and childrens fun to make it very cozy.

Woody was the great dad and sprinted the whole way back to the car while we walked along the covered promenade outside/next to the restaurant. What a great guy! He was so wet!! We turned all music off and sat in the car and listened to the music made by the rain. For desert dwellers like ourselves, it was certainly a joyous sound.

...

"I'll wait here in the car, Dad,"

said Annika as they pulled into the parking lot of the pediatrician. Annika arrived for her four year checkup in full tongue-in-cheek mood. Obviously she did go in and go through with her well-check. Our healthy four year old received three immunizations, three toys, and three big hugs for bravery. Otherwise her hearing and eyesight are great and she weighs a whopping 30 pounds, 6 ounces - which makes her not very big, unless you count her brave smile. Yeah Annika.

Tonight's Reading

Tonight we got everything going in record time and we were able to read two neat books after baths. One book was Todd's when he was little.

Anyway, we did a google search on the author Vernon Grant and found out that his claim to fame was not the famous Mr. Mixie Dough children's book. Actually, he's better known for creating Snap, Crackle and Pop from Rice Krispies. What do you know. The girls throught Mr. Mixie Dough was a great story.

Chung Contest Number 3 - When will she walk?

OK. We all guessed wrong. We still have a beautiful box of Korean treats to send to the person who guesses the day Ingrid will start walking. For now, she pushes a wheeled cart and walks alongside furniture but hasn't taken the first independent step.


So, the contest starts again! Pick the day you'll think Ingrid will start walking or just provide a comment for the heck of it...What have you got to lose?

A quick hint about posting comments. First type your comment; then click "other" for your identity and fill in your name. Finally, click publish your comment.

Lazy Saturday and Tonight's Reading

We stayed home today. Our biggest accomplishments were shampooing the car mats and finding a recipe for a cold soup called Yeolmu kimchi naeng myun which is great tasting but not easily made.

My mom's finally upgrading to DSL. Yeah!!! Now I won't have to worry about downsizing before I e-mail or post. Welcome to th 21st Century. Dial-up was so 80's.

Tonight we read wonderful, whimsical rhyme books. The illustrator, and daughter of the first book's author, was at the Scottsdale Children's Literature Luncheon and autographed these books for Morgan and Annika:

H a p p y B i r t h d a y ! ! !

Hip! Hip! Hurray! Annika Turns 4 Today!

Today is Annika's 4th Birthday. Annika is the daughter that keeps me smiling. Annika, you are so special and so fun. We spent your birthday at Peter Piper Pizza and followed it with cake and presents at home. We fulfilled your wish and had a "Superhero" party. I'm still smiling...

Tonight's Reading

Morgan read this entire book to Annika this evening. She is now able to sound out many more words and her reading is smoother; she's picking up more words with her eyes. With Annika's birthday tomorrow, I convinced Morgan to finish her weekly homework packet one day early so she can "play" tomorrow.

Annika wants Superman eggs tomorrow for breakfast. I have no idea what that is.

Ingrid's Walking Update: She really wants to walk but is hesitating. No go today.

Abby's Birthday

Today is my cousin Abby's birthday. Abby is one of my younger cousins. I found this picture of Abby from a family event. Abby is the one on the left. Now she's a grown up culinary expert in Salt Lake City. Happy Birthday Abby. I hope you had a great day.

Note: If anyone has an updated photo of Abby you want me to post for all to see, just e-mail me.

Happy Belated Birthday Katie

It's birthday season. First off, I want to apologize for missing one of my cousins birthdays. At one time in my life, I could rattle off all the birthdays of my aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandmothers and cousins. I can't anymore. Needless to say, I missed one. Katie, my cousin, had her birthday on August 6. I looked through my archives and came up with this grand portrait of Katie. Now she's grown up, married, and about to have a baby of her own! All while working as a cool physical therapist. Happy Birthday to the soon to be mama!


Note: If anyone has an updated photo of Katie you want me to post for all to see, just e-mail me.

Nothing Exciting and Tonight's Reading

It's been a bland day with little excitement beyond the ordinary trappings of suburban life. Woody's regular schedule started. Ingrid began daycare. Dinner was a tuna dish. Baths, bedtime reading, Pengu search and lights out followed.

Tonights reading: A Bargain for Frances, by Russell Hoban. Published 1970.

Ingrid's Walking Update: Maybe she's enjoying the wait. Who knows....

Do Penguins Sleep Standing Up? "Whatever"

Have you ever had one of those days where every question from your child is conceived in left field or beyond? That was our day today. Our older two daughters seemed to be asking a lot of "why-styled" questions lately, with their minds trying to process these absolute outlandish ideas. My answers today ranged from "What??????" to "Where did you get that idea?" and of course, the standard answer, "I don't think that's possible." I'm so exasperated, I think I've muttered, "Whatever," in response far too often today.

Annika has been carrying around a plastic penguin for the last few weeks like a doll. She has enjoyed several daily secret conversations with Pengu, her named penguin. Pengu has had baths, and has eaten PBJ sandwiches (make his small, mom). And so, it came as no surprise when Annika started in with the Penguin questions. "What do Penguins eat?" "How do they talk?" "What's the big Penguin look like?" "Do Penguins have car seats?" "Do Penguins sleep standing up?" "Can she have a pet penguin?" (The last question came from Morgan.)

Annika showed us Pengu's fancy bedding for the night. "Look mom, see, this is how pengu's sleep!"

"Whatever..."

12 Month Check-up

Ingrid went for her 12 month checkup this morning with Dr. McKenna. Dad and Harmony went along, too. Ingrid is a very healthy girl. There are no concerns about her development. She's 29 inches long and 18 pounds 3 ounces. That mean's a backwards ride for a little longer, Ingrid!

Ingrid also received three shots today and managed everything well.

For those of you still in the "running" over Ingrid's "walking" contest: Not Yet, but maybe soon.

Send us a comment once in awhile so we know you're out there.

P.S. New toy shopping site I'm enjoying: http://www.oompatoys.com/ (from California originally, now based out of Madison, Wisconsin)

Birthday Girl Turns One!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY INGRID KRISTINE!

I absolutely cannot believe Ingrid is one year old today. It has been a wild and crazy and blessed year for us. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful gift from God in our littlest girl. Ingrid, you are an amazing child! God Bless You.

Toy Recall

All of us have now heard about the recent toy recalls, mainly from Mattel. Our family is no exception. I had no worries about the early recalls last year: Easy Bake Ovens and Thomas the Tank Train items. We have neither products. The recent lists had me looking at some of our items. Thankfully, we own none of the items listed - no Elmo, no Dora, no Polly Pockets, and no Barbie and Tanner. However, we do have a vinyl bib that's under scrutiny. We haven't used it yet. Now we probably never will use it. We'll just have to find out how to dispose of it properly, if necessary.

So what are our thoughts on this subject? As two of our daughters' birthdays draw near, we started looking at the gifts we had set aside for them and wondered if we should be cautious in the future about Made in China toys. Fortunately, we do not buy a lot of presents for our girls.

So here's what we decided. For the girls' birthdays and this Christmas, we are going to not buy any 'Made In China' toys go forward. For the items already purchased, we are reviewing each one against the list and against our conscience. Annika's T-Ball set is being exchanged for one made by Louisville Slugger. We picked up two Crayola art/crayon kits for her, Crayola is an American company. We have already discovered some websites devoted to Buy American or other sites of some high quality European toys. Now we'll have to be quite selective. Sale Ads will no longer be tempting.

It turned out that we had one item for Ingrid's birthday tomorrow that was made in China and was painted wood. We'll reserve it for now and rethink our options. Today, we bought her some new Avent (made in England) sippy cups for her birthday. She's only one, it really doesn't matter what she's opening.

We'll continue to keep the blog updated in our quest to buy American and quality European toys this year and document our quest and the change we made related to this quest. Fortunately, two toys already bought for this Christmas fit the requirement: Classic Colorforms and Shrinkydinks. Now who can forget those?

Tonight's Reading

Tonight we picked out two books that were recently sent by Grandma from the 2007 Nordic Fest in Decorah, Iowa. As I understand it, my great grandmother read these books to my grandmother and her sisters and brother. My grandmother read these to my mom from the library. And my mom found these reprints in paperback for her granddaughters. Traditional Swedish tales of Triplet Girls named Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka (and their male counterparts, Snipp, Snapp, Snurr) were written by Maj Lindman.

The girls liked the dog story best. The pictures are courtesy of skandisk.com

Ingrid Update: Not yet walking, but cut two more teeth. Way to go big girl!

Ingrid's Tol Ceremony

The Tol (or Dor) is all about the birthday celebration and picking up objects is one part of the first birthday ceremony. It is done to predict the child's future endeavors or occupation. The “stacks” in the picture are rice cakes and candies (in this makeshift ceremony, we found some plastic molds at the last second and didn't have to spend the night stacking the cookies and Korean cakes we had bought). Here's a description/explanation of the event from a Life in Korea website:

“In the past, due to a lack of medical information, Korea's seasonal temperature differences, and many childhood related diseases, the death rate for children was extremely high. Many children died before their first birthday. After the age of one year, the survival rate steeply increased, making this milestone a very happy one for the child's parents. It has also been a custom to celebrate a child's 100 day birthday (baek-il) , but in most areas this birthday is less important than the Tol and any celebrations are smaller in scale.

Tol has two meanings in Korean. The most common meaning is a child's first birthday. It can also be used as a generic description for birthdays: Chut-tol (first birthday), Du-tol (second birthday), Seo-tol (third birthday), etc.

Birthday Table
The parents prepare a special Tol table to celebrate the child's birthday. The main food includes ddeok (rice cakes) and fruits. Over 12 different kinds of ddeok are prepared, including paekseolgi (white steamed rice cakes), susu-kyongdan (rice cakes coated with rough red bean powder), chapsal-ddeok or chal-ddeok, mujigae-ddeok (rainbow colored steamed rice cake), songp'yeon (half moon shaped rice cakes), injulmi (coated glutinous rice cakes), and gyep'i-ddeok (puffed air rice cakes). Among these, paekseolgi and susu-kyongdan are always included. Fruits can vary according to the season of the birthday. Different colors of seasonal fruits can be prepared and displayed in a row. Also, a bowl of rice, sea mustard soup, and many other various foods can be displayed.

Along with food, other items are needed for holding the Toljabee event. Items such as large bundle of thread, a brush, a Korean calligraphy set, pencil, book, money (10,000 won bills), bow and arrow (needle, scissors, and ruler for girls) are arranged on the table to predict the child's future.

Table Setting
The birthday child will be placed at the table so that the other guests can face him or her. Parents often sit the child on the bolou (Korean traditional mattress) and several bangsuk (Korean cushions). Since the child is small, this allows for getting better pictures. For the background, a Korean traditional screen is used at the hotel or other banquet hall.
Toljabee Event
In this event, the birthday child goes around the table and picks up items that attract him or her. The child's future is predicted according to the what he or she grabs. After placing the child in front of the table, the child's father becomes the guide for the child to go around the table and grab whatever he or she wants. The first and second items the child grabs are considered the most important. Usually Korean parents place the items that they want the child to choose near to the edge of the table. The child's future is predicted according to the items:

-bow and arrow: the child will become a warrior
-needle and thread: the child will live long
-jujube: the child will have many descendants
-book, pencil, or related items: the child will become a successful scholar
-rice or rice cake, money: the child will become rich (some resources say choosing a rice cake means the child is not smart)
-ruler, needle, scissors: the child will be talented with his/her hands
-knife: the child will be a good cook.”


The ceremony planned for Los Angeles, was cancelled and some family members came here for Ingrid's homemade Tol. We're calling Ingrid’s future one of "Intellectual volunteerism". She readily grabbed pencils but kept trying to give the $100 bill back! Maybe it means she’ll start a new innovative non-profit corporation… You never know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Hanbok dresses were sent by the girls' great aunt from Seoul, Korea. As we mentioned in Saturday's blog, we attempted to get professional pictures but left after the photographer couldn't find the right end of the camera. We'll try again. The dresses are certainly beautiful.

Ingrid's Tol

We'll write more about this tomorrow. It's very late but we had a good Toljubee ceremony at home after a nice brunch at the Hilton Hotel in Mesa, Arizona.

Date Night

So that is what the inside of a theater looks like! I can't remember the last time I saw a movie later than the matinee. Woody and I went out to the Elephant Bar and Harkins Movie Theater tonight. We got home just before midnight with everyone tucked into bed. Sweet. Harmony, Andy and Mihae fed and bathed the girls, let them dance, and put them to bed. While they played, we sipped wine and watched the latest Harry Potter installment.

Earlier today we attempted to get professional pictures of the girls up in Scottsdale. The operative word being "attempted". The photograher could get anything we liked and was not cooperative. We left in disgust. We'll try later this week.

Ingrid's walking update: she's getting her groove on...it should be soon.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARMONY

Andy and MiHae arrived today to start the weekend of birthday celebrations. Today was the first of four family birthdays: Harmony, Harabagee, Ingrid and Annika. We took Harmony out for BBQ and Famous Dave's BBQ, a local favorite. They don't take reservations and the wait was approximately 45 minutes. The bbq food was really, really good. We went for a walk along the mall's green areas after eating. The weather had cooled down after dark.

BreakingNews about Ingrid's Walking Update: Nope, not yet...

103.7

No, it's not a radio station. It's more like this:

"Hello, this is [FILL IN THE BLANK] school, [FILL IN CHILD'S NAME] has a fever."

Yes, in a week where everything has changed for us, our children decide to add drama by getting sick. It started Tuesday with Annika and continued through today with Morgan and Ingrid somewhere in there. Tonight is Ingrid and Annika (second round). Morgan has a cough, too. She's sleeping in our room. Our hallway counter looks like a pharmacy. Thank goodness for the hospital grade tympanic thermometer.

Our plans for the weekend Tol ceremony are on hold (again). We had planned professional pictures of the girls in their matching Korean Hanboks that were sent from Seoul. The toljubee ceremony was planned for Sunday after brunch. I'll explain these more in detail when and if the "show" goes on. For now, here are some pics of the sickies.

(Grandma's package of American Girl magazines and trading cards arrived in PERFECT timing to keep our eldest entertained while maintaining separation from her siblings. Thank you Grandma!!!)

Tonight's Reading

We are planning on having Ingrid's Tol ceremony (Korean 1st Birthday party) here on Sunday. Everyone is flying over for the weekend. Woody's mom is already here helping us with Ingrid and the girls while Woody starts classes.

Needless to say, there was a lot of hectic phone commotion as we were figuring out different flight arrivals. Woody's brother and his girlfriend are flying out of Burbank. Woody's dad is flying from Ontario airport.


Trying to get the girls through with their baths was tough. But smartly, we started early (at 6 pm) and had a soup and sandwich dinner after baths. Everyone was pretty much done before 8 pm. Now Annika keeps finding excuses to get back up. Her best is that she's afraid she might not be quiet enough for Ingrid so she should stay up. But two minutes later, eyes drooping, she's asking to go back to bed.


Morgan, Annika and I read Dr. Seuss tonight:

"These boots are made for Walking"

For those of you participating in the latest Chung contest, Ingrid is....still crawling. To help out the earlier predictions, we went out last Thursday and bought Ingrid her first pair of shoes. She had a pair of hand-me-down (x2) white crib sneakers but this is the first real pair of shoes she's worn for more than one hour at a time. Ingrid liked the noise the shoes make when she bangs them on her car seat.

Our week has been a whirlwind to say the least. Woody has been on a waiting list for the last three years for the Radiography Bachelor of Science program through Gateway/NAU. He didn't get a letter this spring so we assumed it would be another year of waiting. The school called last Wednesday and asked if Woody was interested. We've had to arrange daycare, tuition, immunizations, fingerprints, and updated CPR class - all by this Monday. Wow!
We are very excited and thrilled. Woody's mom arrived today to help out with Ingrid while Woody goes through a two week orientation. After Ingrid turns one (in two weeks), she'll be able to go the daycare/preschool that Morgan previously attended and Annika now attends. We were very lucky the director let Ingrid jump ahead on the daycare's waiting list.

Bedtime Preparations

Our family is typical. Bedtimes goes smoothly, bedtime doesn't go smoothly. It all depends on which way the wind is blowing. We have a routine. It's neatly tucked away in our utopian dreams. If we hit most of the routine, we're feeling pretty good. Baths, hair combing, pajamas, teeth brushing, reading with Morgan, reading with Annika, last bottle for Ingrid, finding Ingrid, finding Annika. Now where's Ingrid?? She's mastered crawling and is constantly on the move.

Tonight was one of those A+ nights. After a snack, teeth brushing, baths, reading and dancing to polka music, we still had enough time to casually get our children to bed. Wow! Everyone stepped to pace and we were all set. Morgan was in charge of the toyroom, Ingrid got a daddy spa treatment "facial", Annika made sure everyone had hydration for the night and the younger two tried to hide in plain sight. Like we couldn't figure out the giggling. It seems the girls thought one bed was enough for all of them. We were standing next to Ingrid the entire time she ventured on Annika's bed. After careful explanation as to why Ingrid was not staying in Annika's bed for the night, the girls graciously made their way to the right bed, set their classical music (Annika likes Christmas music right now), and promptly feel asleep. I looked at Woody and asked how did that just happen. A bit of bliss to tempt us. These days are made to allow us to reflect on our children as God's children and how blessed we are to be given the opportunity to care for them.