What I Wanted For Christmas

"Are you going to get around to writing your letter to Santa?"

This question is not rhetorical, yet my older children treat it as such.  Annika goes on to list her letter writing priorities - thank you card to James, letter to Anna, and then maybe something to Santa.  I don't get the delay.  They've made some hints about toys they like.  We ask about Ingrid and Erik.  They said, "Get them a doll and a bus."  Done.

I thought the letter writing was one of the bests parts about the Santa experience.  I wrote my letters with details and included pictures on some occasions.  Woody remembers asking for the electric race car set one year.  I remember asking for a Bugs Bunny pencil sharpener and desk set.  I got a yellow calico flowered set instead.

I was browsing Etsy.com a few days ago and came across a picture of a vintage 70's Barbie pool.  The pool I had during the very, very short time I played with Barbies.  That got me searching for a few more pictures of some of the Christmas toys we (my brother, sister and I) received over the years.  Enjoy the memories.

4 Year Check Up

It's so true that every child is different.  Take today's task of going with Ingrid to her four year check up at the pediatrician.  Woody has been taking the kids to their well checks for the last many months.  When today's appointment was discussed, we agreed that it was my turn to take one of the kids.  I took a few hours off from work and sighed.  This is the visit with a few of the "biggie" vaccinations - the ones needed for kindergarten.

So I packed carefully.  Fancy Nancy Colorforms to keep her entertained.  Her Fancy Nancy stuffed dog, Frenchy, packed in my purse for comfort after the shots.  Her favorite Fancy Nancy skirt, shirt, necklace and hair bow to make her feel special.

We explained to her that there were a few shots with this visit.  She shrugged it off.  When we got to the doctors, Ingrid was all happy that she got to carry the "blue card" - her shot record.  "Hand it to the nurse when she calls your name" I said.  She took my words as a solemn oath and took great care to hand off her card.  Once someone commented on how pretty she looked, Ingrid gushed and then started a lengthy conversation about everything and nothing.  And she kept flashing her smile.

Dr. McKenna had a great conversation with Ingrid and pronounced her fit.  [I already knew that.  We were really here for the shots, thank you.]  Inclusive of her Fancy Nancy clothes, Ingrid weighs 32.2 pounds and is 37.6 inches.

Then came the shots.  Ingrid looked like it was a normal every day occurrence.  When it came to holding her hands so she could have her shoulder pivot toward the nurse, she closed her eyes.  And that was it.  And then she opened them, cracked a little smile and pivoted the other way.  Two more shots - zero reaction.  Nothing.  Nada.  She opened her eyes and said, "How was that, mom?  Thumbs up?"  Oh heck yeah, Ingrid.  Thumbs waaaaayyy up.  Way to go, girl!!!

Ingrid was rewarded with three bracelets and a sticker.  Plus high fives from all of the office providers on her way out.  The fancy girl in the corner room rules!

The Fancy patient arrives at her appointment.

Fancy Ingrid in the Fancy Paper dress playing with her Fancy Nancy colorforms.

The fancy paper dress.  "Tie it in a bow, Mommy."

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.

Two Books I Have Not Read

There are two books I haven't read yet. I thought I should flag for the future. One book I had heard about but never found the time to sit down and read it from cover to cover. Excepts are found everywhere and most people recognize the title. After thinking about the book this week, I thought Annika should have been one of the guest authors or atleast subject material. She certainly summed up her feelings about Kindergarten in very, very Robert Fulgrum style.



Here's how Annika responded to the axiomatic question about her experiences on the first day of school.

1. Annika said she held up her dress and still was able to avoid touching the toilet seat.
2. Annika said she burped real loud at lunchtime and the class laughed. And she was proud of it.
3. She didn't need to answer any more questions about 1-2-3-4, because she already knows how to write her numbers.
4. Her substitute teacher was Mrs Happy-Good. (Not true).

By Friday she announced she didn't need to do Kindergarten homework because she already quit the class so the homework was no longer necessary.... Very flippant, very funny.
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The second book I came across during a google search. We were looking for pictures to run through the laminating machine to show what was in our baskets on the kids shelves. We reorganized the puzzles and games to make things neater. We also removed some of the last infant toys.

This book looked intriguing while looking for a picture of the old "Cootie game".

Warman's 101 GREATEST BABY BOOMER TOYS
The Essential Baby Boomer Toy Guide - A Reference and Price Guide.
by MARK RICH

Techincally, I'm not a baby boomer, but I can relate to many of the games listed below, some of which we played this weekend.

I have a few different retro toys I would have picked for review, but the list looks interesting enough.

Bubble Creations

Morgan and Annika have figured out a new way of creating monster sized bubbles using Suave shampoo and their hands. Morgan created about 20 of these things while I was washing Ingrid. She's mastered bubble in bubble, two handed bubble, over the elbow bubble, and view glass bubble.

This is such easy bath fun, I think it deserves the "retro toy" label - no plastic needed!

To the Land of Make-Believe

We've been re-discovering the joys of one of the best children's television show of the 1970's again - Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. We have one DVD with four shows on it, including one about school buses that fascinates Annika. For me it carries a bit of nostalgia. I dutifully watched one episode of Sesame Street and one episode of Mr. Rogers before my nap every day after morning Kindergarten. I loved the trolley.


It was with great delight that I found a replica trolley from the show made in the U.S. Holgate Toys is a wonderful store of well made wooden classics for children, most of which were designed by the brother of Norman Rockwell.

This is definitely a Retro Toy.


In an uncanny move for Morgan, I found her creating a hanger for a toy airplane out of the family Lincoln Log set this afternoon. A roof problem made her rethink the plan. With a little ingenuity, I helped her change it into a horse stable.



This is definitely a Retro Toy.

Playskool Village

We pulled out another retro toy for the afternoon - Playskool's Village set. Todd, Susan and I got YEARS of use of this set. We even still have the original mat. Morgan and Annika set up a grand community with multiple families. It was fun hearing them vocalize their imaginative families and play scenes.

Retro Toys for Fevers

Annika has a slight fever and Ingrid's pink eye's confirmed. It was a blessing that our neighbor called and volunteered to take Morgan to school with her own daughter. The girls were still sleepy.

Currently, I am attempting to multi-task - work, take care of the girls, laundry, and a little, little blogging for fun.

Keeping the girls entertained has been pretty easy so far. They watched some cartoons, ate yogurt and organic pop tart pastries. Now they are playing with another RETRO toy. Can you remember these? I found these at a website called http://www.backtobasictoys.com/

More Retro Toys

Here's another toy that we received from the attic. Do you recognize this classic? Todd, Susan and I had this set that my mom kept in great condition. I loved the pieces and pretended I was building colored trees with the colored ball tops - like the book, The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss.

Enjoying the weather for the day, we spent some time with the older girls playing with this set while Ingrid took a nap.

Elmo Wasn't Born Yet.

We are starting to get some of the weather pattern from California this weekend - clouds and rain. For us in the desert, we'll always welcome rain and clouds. The girls were indoors for part of the day, playing with some of their Christmas presents.

It was most interesting watching Ingrid - she's enjoying some independent play with the retro Fisher Price Sesame Street set from 1974!! I like the term "Retro" instead of "Old". Annika stopped by to see Ingrid's play and asked again why wasn't their an Elmo figure. It makes me feel real old to have to explain, "Elmo wasn't born yet or Elmo didn't exist when they made this set." She seems to think they must have forgotten. It's too hard to imagine life on Sesame Street before Elmo.

I had a 33 RPM record of Sesame Street songs - some of the old ones. It has been very difficult finding them on CD or MP3 to recreate the record. The record is too far scratched to re-record.

Woody plays Checkers

Morgan is missing her dad and her sisters. They are spending today at Disneyland. I can't wait to see the pics.

For now, she said she was going to play checkers with Woody. When I turned around I found her literally playing checkers with Woody.

Retro Christmas Fun

This year we made good on our effort to avoid "Made In China" toys and focus on the toys of Christmas' past. (Literally). This was made easy by the wish lists from our daughters: chess set, tea set, diary, bath toy. It also was made easy because my parents did some "attic shopping" on our behalf. Mom and Dad sent our family Lincoln Log set, Matchbox cars (the ones that were made in England!), Fisher Price A Frame Houses, HO Train parts, Tinker Toys, Erector Set, wooden Judy, Playskool, and Sifo puzzles, and plenty of board games. We are saving some of the above for the future because Ingrid is so small. It was very fun for me going through the boxes and remembering our old toys. It was equally fun to see the girls unwrap the toys and love them all over again.

Additionally, we bought some new HABA toys from Germany for the girls (http://www.oompatoys.com/ and http://www.moolka.com/) . Morgan's tea set is a retro set from the Ideal Toy company bought on Ebay in the bubblegum pink color she loves.

We didn't completely avoid the China thing - the mat for the Lincoln logs from Pottery Barn Kids that I love is China made.

It was a great day at the Chungs. Here are a few photos of the early morning (and late evening).

This one's from Christmas Eve (Annika did not enjoy the "dress")

Christmas Morning photos below