A Quiet New Years

The girls slept the New Year away - retiring around 9:00 PM.

Woody and I watched a movie. Inbetween, we took pictures of the girls while sleeping. I know, cheap fun.

And then I thought, what have I done on past New Years?

The "biggest" New Years I had was spent along the Champ Elysee in Paris. The French know how to really celebrate big.

The "lowest" was the Millenium. I remember watching some of the New Years celebrations, first in Australia, then Europe. The next thing my feverish body remembered was January 2. That's right - I slept more than 24 hours with the biggest flu in my life.

I can remember lots of celebrations large and small. I prefer the small.

Today we played games with the girls, had two kindergarten friends of Annika's join us for dinner and then gave our girls baths, followed by reading and bed. Really, really small NYE.

30 years ago this evening, my family celebrated "small" and oh so cold - it was negative 38 degrees on Lake Millac in Minnesota. We played games, including Hangman - the same game I play now with Annika - with our friends, the Kepps, at their cabin. We ate, bounced around like kids and wore two layers of clothes. I found a couple of photos to remember the cold and the game that is now in our family room here in warm Phoenix.

Happy New Years! 2009 predictions include unique challenges and delights for the Chungs.

The Day Started Out Normal

The day started out normal. It is Christmas break and the kids are at home. I had some work for the hospital and again, got an early start around 6 AM while everyone was still asleep. Policy reviews and editing can be mundane, but after lunch (or really around 1:30 PM, I hadn't eaten yet), Woody said he was taking the girls out so I could work in more quiet conditions.

He started packed light jackets, sweatshirts and a blanket, but I didn't really seem to notice. The girls got ready and the two youngest went out and Annika came back in blurting, "We're going to the mountain." Again, I didn't really take too much notice. I assumed they were going for a drive in the Phoenix area up South Mountain, or to Usery Mountain where Woody used to work, or perhaps Piewstewa Peak. I really just shrugged it off. It was the boot packing that got me curious.

"Where are you going for the afternoon?"

I dunno - maybe Payson - wanna go?

"You mean The Rim?"

Hmmm. Drive up to the Mogollon Rim or continue working on policy revisions... Hard Choice.

I jumped up and pointed out where the kids' winter boots are stored. A quick leap into the attic brought down the space bags filled with heavy jackets, hats and mittens. Something ought to fit in here. Without trying anything on, I grabbed a 2T, 5T and 8. Hats and Mittens? It was easier to take the whole bag then attempt sizes on "Handwarmers". My kids have very little cold weather interaction. Back of the car filled and off we went.

North of Payson, we stopped in the town called "Pine". It's next to the town called "Strawberry". The girls found the names hysterical. Anything can bring on a fit of giggles from the back seat. We stopped at the Cool Pine Cafe. I can't recommend it and here's why. It's a little run down and quaint. Since it was well after 2:30 when we arrived, we were the only guests. We were told some items weren't available on the menu. The cafe was closing tomorrow. For the season, we inquired? No, after 48 years, the owner is retiring. We were literally some of the last customers.

Bellies full, we continued to the Rim, driving the 260 Highway and jumping off on some side roads. Woody liked hearing the GPS voice continually say, "Recalculating".

We reached our destination and took out the sleds. The temps were in the mid 40s. Here's the fabulous results of Ingrid's First Snow!

The Chung 5.

No question about it, she loved the snow!

A natural snow beauty.

Annika's always grinning.

Frosty's looking grand.

Christmas Delights

The girls are enjoying their Christmas toys and books while the adults are relaxing with cups of tea. We hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful day with family and friends.

Annika just asked (actually demanded) that she eat candy quickly. "I need to eat candy right now!" Why, I ask. "Because, I need to see if my Spiderman toothbrush works."

Happy Christmas Eve

Happy Christmas Eve and Happy Birthday Jesus

From the Chungs.

**Tracking Santa's Route on NORAD - Krasnoyarsk, Russia!!!

Christmas Letters to Santa

The girls usually write their letters to Santa earlier in the month, but this year, it seemed to slip until late - like today.

The Christmas Card Photos That Aren't in Your Mailbox

It's true. I proactively sought out professional Christmas pictures in November - to get ahead of the crowd. I even brought a child wrangler/babysitter to the photo session to assist with the chaos of getting holiday pictures with a wardrobe change. I checked the clothes and packed them well. The girls arrived with their tummys full and we were told it was a 50 minute delay. It seems everyone had the same idea as I did. The 50 minute delay spread to 1.5 hours. We were not amused.

Now, over a month later, I'm finally addressing the envelopes of our Christmas card photo. No letter this year, I finally decided. I'd only be repeating tidbits from this blog so why read it twice?

But here's something you won't find in that Christmas card. The attempts to get three girls to sit still and smile on cue - or even to look at the camera. With three days before Christmas, here are our children, in all their best:

Morgan's 5th Annual Christmas Cookie Party

I can't believe it's been five years since we starting doing cookie parties for Morgan. Again this morning, we invited some of Morgan's school friends and her two friends from preschool, as well as Annika and Ingrid for a morning of decorating, cooking, and laughing. Lots of laughing. Lots.

We made white chocolate covered pretzel rods and decorated them, sugar cookies, and fudge. The girls were divided into teams to make the fudge, each team reading and following the recipe. The results were good and I was glad to send it home with them.

For those interesting in seeing past pictures of the fabulous aprons made by my mom, click here and here.

Update to the Backpack Chronicles

It has been awhile since I have posted about my friends, Audra and Ash. They are missionaries to Peru, currently studying Spanish with other missionaries in Costa Rica before heading out into the field.

Audra was my college roommate and Ash was in the guys dorm and was in several of my classes.

They have partnered with several churches and individuals to fund their mission. But some of that funding has dropped, and they may have to return to the U.S. , interrupting their mission to serve the people of Latin and South America. Here is Ash, explaining their situation. It's been fun to hear his voice again, after sitting on the opposite side of many debates in class - 20 years ago!

We have enjoyed the blog of their adventure [Here]. One of their teenage daughters is sharing her facebook page, profiling the life of a missionary kid in Latin America.

We are praying for the McEuens for their continued work in Latin America. If you are interested in finacially supporting the McEuens, there is a link on their blog front page in the upper right corner. Above all, please consider this family in your prayers.

Of course, this posting would not be complete without another cute picture of the McEuen's youngest daughter, Soraya, out and about in Morgan's backpack carrier. What a beautiful child!

Christmas Break Reading

Tomorrow starts the official Christmas break from school. Morgan's excited for the vacation. Not so for Annika. She really wants to go to school tomorrow and the next day and the next day. I think she enjoyed the class parties a little too much.

Morgan and I worked on a list of books for the break. She has been reading a series of owl books and recently finished the first two books in the Guardians of Ga'hoole series. Before picking her up from school, I stopped at the bookstore and picked up the third book.

Before Morgan starts in with that book, I showed her a classic holiday book that I enjoyed years ago. Morgan readily agreed to start with this book before continuing with the owls' adventures. Do you remember this one?

Buffalo Joes

About a month ago, we came across a sale for ground buffalo meat. It was about the same time we heard that Randy was getting ready for deer season and the stories of the good venison sausage and venison jerky were making us feel a little left out. There is deer hunting in Arizona, but you're more likely to come across coyotes and javelinas here in the desert part of the state.

So the ground buffalo went in the freezer. This weekend, I was determined to get it out and try to find a way to cook it. I really had no idea what to make and ended up on Google. While surfing, Morgan and I came across American Indian buffalo meat pies. Morgan liked the idea that we were eating something her doll, Kaya, a native American of the 1700s, may have eaten. I seriously doubt it was the same, given the choices of spices that readily exist today. But I let her go with the thought.

The next night, I used an organic sloppy joe mix, onions and the rest of the meat to finish off our experiment with buffalo food.

Both results were good, including a thumbs up from Ingrid.

We'll Write Soon

I haven't been on for awhile and have several posts in draft that I will attempt to finish and get on the blog. In the meantime, enjoy the following pictures from this morning. We're on our way to Scottsdale to meet a friend from California for breakfast.

Thanks for the sweaters Grandma!

Two Men to do Christmas Lights

In an effort to better our outdoor Christmas lighting from last years response (click here), Woody got a start right after our return from California. He called his friend, Kevin, and the two of them set off in search of LED Christmas lights for the house.

Kevin's son Matthew joined the girls playing Wii. Morgan and Matthew are now competitors in Bass Fishing, each trying to land a bigger fish and giving pointers where to cast. The friendly competition included tips for tipping the "rod", lure choice, and reeling speed.

Eventually, Kevin and Woody got the lights up on our house and on the bushes. All in all, it looks quite nice. You'll have to take my word, we haven't taken a picture yet.

Getting Ready to Set Up the Tree

The week is winding down and we're looking forward to getting the Christmas decorations out this weekend. I'm in a festive mood, but will wait until time permits to get all the boxes out of the big attic.

In the meantime, here's a tree decorating photo of long ago...

I'm not sure why my dad is wearing a purple cap or why I chose to wear a sweater that didn't exactly fit...

The Most Unique Cash Register I've Seen.

At lunchtime, we stopped at a market and local Verizon store in a L.A. suburb. Outside was a vendor selling typical Korean mini muffins with red bean paste. Delicious and fresh, the muffins are common in the area. What was most unique was this man's "cash register" made of hanging buckets!

Take a look:

Packing for Thanksgiving

This year again, we are making the trek to California to celebrate Thanksgiving with Woody's family. As a Korean family, they are not accustomed to creating this culinary feast. That's why I am bringing all of the tools and supplies and commandeering the kitchen for the day.

Before we go, there are lists to make and fulfill, kids to bathe and dress, and stuff to pack. All the while, I have a full plate at my desk at work that I am squeezing into two days. We also have a doctor appointment with Morgan downtown Phoenix today. A compromise was made for that. Woody will be in Phoenix, but not have enough time to get home to bring her back to Phoenix. I will get Morgan out of school and drive her to the Chinese Cultural Center near the airport and Woody will take her the rest of the way.

In all the fret of planning is the lack of general housework going on at the homefront. It looks like a Kansas tornado here. I'm not sure where we will fit some of that in, but somehow we'll get in cleaned before we leave in the morning.

For now, Ingrid wants to make sure we don't forget her doll. She's got a fullproof solution - the Korean podaegi wrap:

More Organization and Structure

I knew it was coming at some point in the girls' young lives. In my attempt to continually modify the structure and organization of the house, we've added the framework for a chore chart and reward system.

To date, I've introduced it to the three girls and gave them a start up run. Then, the chore chart (really the notes page) went missing. It's still missing. The girls did great - trying something new is usually exciting. I'll have to repost later with more observations.

Here's the idea (in concept while I search for my notes). I have lists of potential chores for each girl. The list is intentionally large, like a menu. These are additional help chores, not the basics that they need to do every day, like self grooming or dressing.

To earn one "Chung Cash"*, the girls need to select a certain number of chores off the chart and complete them. The number of chores is based on a ratio that I call: "Age to Chore Chart Ratio". This ratio, and corresponding table, explains to Morgan why she needs to do one more chore than Annika and why Ingrid needs to only complete one thing to earn Chung Cash. Really, Ingrid's just playing along at this point, but we planting the seed for the future. Morgan now gets the difference and understands the fairness.

Age________ Ratio______ Number of Chores for 1 "Chung Cash" - rounded up
1 ____________0.5 _________________1
2 ____________0.5 _________________1
3 ____________0.5 _________________2
4 ____________0.5 _________________2
5 ____________0.5 _________________3
6 ____________0.5 _________________3
7 ____________0.5 _________________4
8 ____________0.5 _________________4
9 ____________0.5 _________________5 and so on.


The chores are the five minute variety - straighten the shoes at the front door, put away folded clothes, put away clean silverware (no knives), match socks, make beds, etc.

So what's so good about "Chung Cash?" *The girls came up with the name. I'm struggling with the plurality of the name, or lack thereof. There's no plural form for Chung Cash. Except, however, if you decide to change it to "cache" which describes my money saver daughter, Morgan. Chung Cash is redeemable for things such as computer time, or it can be pooled for a movie rental. The favorite choice is conversion to cash. Three Chung Cash(s) equals one dollar. Math wiz Morgan, drew in air, and blurted - that's 12 chores for a dollar!

I brought her back to Earth and explained the earning potential per week is $2.33. More number crunching, this time with Dad's calculator, and she's guessed the day she will have saved enough for the American Girl doll she's eyeing.

Annika wanted to know how much a fish cost. I wonder where her mind slipped from chores to fish. I should have put on my Supply Chain hat and explained TCO - total cost of ownership. But I think that was enough math for one day.

I'll share more after we finish creating tracking charts and designing the actual cash.

Ingrid got in on the action after Woody suggested Annika start off by straigtening shoes. Ingrid was in the right place and the right time and got to the shoe rack first. She lined up her sister's shoes while humming and wiggling. Dancing while doing housework - That's the ticket Ingrid.

Old is New Again

We spent friday evening in the playroom/family room watching the girls making old toys new again. Sitting by the fire, Woody and I watched the older girls play Playmobil (a mixture of Todd's union soldiers, fort horses, and new pieces). Ingrid busied herself with her dolls - feeding them milk, wrapping them in blankets and telling them "shhh". She then pulled out the Fisher Price Doctor Kit and began to tend to the three little dolls.

Personally, the dolls (all three of them) were much easier to tend to with the blood pressure cuff than this unlikely, and presumably unwilling, patient thirty years ago. Oh Snoopy, you were such a funny dog.

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

In honor of my uncle's birthday today and our family theme of great children's books, I'm posting this picture of my grandma reading to uncle Chuck and my mom.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHUCK.

Pea Sandwich with One Strand of Spaghetti

Last night, we had spaghetti for dinner, with peas on the side. Morgan had big eyes - this is one of her favorite meals. Annika likes it, but tried to pretend the peas weren't there. On other occassions, we've resorted to saying the alphabet for each pea she eats, using milk, lining them up, and other such strange tricks. On this setting, Annika noticed Ingrid had a piece of toast with her spaghetti and was piling everything onto the toast. Annika asked for toast and and said she'd eat her peas, if we let her make a toast sandwich with them. That was fine with us. We handed her a half piece (triangle) of toast. She gingerly piled the peas on the toast and then picked it up. Guess what? The peas rolled off. Undeterred, she looked over at Ingrid and got an inspirational idea. She put the peas back on, and then took a piece of spaghetti and roped the peas in like a fence on the toast. Self-absorbed, and humming with her own grin of ingeniuity, she picked up the toast and ate the "pea sandwich with one strand of spaghetti".


Maybe I should get her this book to go with her new food creation:

Yesterday evening's reading instead included the third go-around with Annika's library book, David Shannon's A Bad Case of Stripes. Annika laughs and laughs at the book. After getting this as a reading book from school, Annika decided it was the BEST BOOK EVER! This opinion comes from the toasted pea sandwich creator.

Happy Birthday Grandma

Today would be my grandmother's 89th birthday. I still miss her. Happy Birthday Grandma.

Giving It Your Best

Annika's ready to try bike riding with two wheels. She traded in her toddler bike with training wheels to Morgan's outgrown bike. In the end, it a great effort, but the strength for balance isn't there yet. We admire Annika's willingness to try and her desire to move up in bicycle-dom (12 inch wheel to 14 inch wheel), but we will let her work at her own pace.

Zoolights

Tonight we made our annual trip to Zoolights - nighttime at the Phoenix Zoo. The tickets are sponsored by the hospital. We saw many of my colleagues there enjoying the night with the lights. We have gone every year since before Annika was born. It's always a fun event. A couple of years ago, Grandma, Grandpa, Susan and Randy joined us.

This year the event was held on a Friday evening. The air was sharp and cool - cooler than we expected after a high of 81 degrees during the day. The light show wasn't as spectacular but we sat through it twice. The talking Giraffe was somehow silenced, leaving the girls disappointed. They were amazed how the giraffe knew their names last year. A thermos of hot chocolate brightened their spirits.

The girls grew tired and we made our way out. It was nearly 9:00 by the time we got back to the car. A fun evening, but it's hard to believe the Christmas season is nearly upon us.