Tennis brings back a lot of great memories for me. It was a real bonding sport for my family. I still remember going out to the courts as a kid watching my mom and dad play with their wooden rackets. It wasn’t until middle school that my dad put a racket in my (and my sisters) hands. Thinking about it now I bet it was because we were bored out of our skulls over summer break and he wanted to give us something to do!

That summer and every summer after that for the next 5-6 years we played. He rounded up friends and friends of friends and we played until the sun went down and we couldn’t see anymore. We also gathered around the TV during the big 4 tournaments and watched Sampras, Agassi, Courier, Seles and Graph duke it out for the championship.

As the Wimbledon finals approach this weekend I was inspired by the green grass and white attire, but this week instead of choosing my favorites I took the plunge and made my very own treasury. I hope you enjoy!

My little ones first Christmas card photo!

My family has quite a few holiday traditions and now with my own little one I hope to continue those and start a few new ones that we can continue through the years. Last year she was only 4 weeks old so while she celebrated Christmas she didn’t get to participate in any of it. While she’s not old enough to understand Christmas I believe she does know that it’s a special time of year.

For as long as I can remember my family has had the same Christmas tradition. All morning my mom would be preparing pho (Vietnamese soup) for our after mass dinner. Before we left for mass my mom would line us up in front of the tree and take photos in the new Christmas outfits my mom had gotten for us. After mass we would head home to devour the Pho and open gifts.  We were either too impatient to wait until morning or my parents didn’t want to wake up early with us! (As a new mom, I think it’s the later one!)

After my brother was born (he’s 10 years younger then me) he started his own tradition and got to open one gift on Christmas Eve morning. After the gifts we would light a fire and play with our gifts or watch a movie. Then we would leave out the cookies and milk for santa before heading to bed.

On Christmas morning we would wake up and race out to see what Santa had left us in our stockings. To this day we still have pho and open gifts at my mom’s house after mass.

With such fond memories of my family Christmas I hope to provide the same for my kid as well as starting a few of our own traditions. Such as:

1. Buying a new ornament or adding to our snow village each year. My husband and I have been doing this since we got married.

2. Baking cookies on Christmas eve. Gingerbread cookies are one of my favorites and I love having them to munch on during the holidays.

3. Making and using an advent calendar.

4. Decorating the house and tree with home made crafts and decorations.

As a child I had a lot of lovies. There was a teddy bear that I’ve forgotten the name of but he’s present in quite a bit of my childhood photos. Then there was Christina the faux Cabbage Patch Doll my dad made me. There was also the real Cabbage patch doll I eventually got (and also named Christina). Finally there was Sally. The famous one of them all.

She was a talking doll and would say “ma ma” or cry whenever she was turned on her tummy. My sister and I shared a room at that time and after countless nights of hearing Sally babble on and on, my sister had enough and convinced my dad to make her stop. Being the inventor that he is, he hacked into her voice box and added an on/off switch. But that’s not what made her famous.

It was my short lived career as a hair stylist that did it. To this day I have no recollection of actually doing it but it happened. I cut her hair. It wasn’t pretty – as you can see in the picture! Thinking about it I wonder if I wanted her to have short hair like I did or if I had just gotten a hold of some scissors. What I do remember is making my mom wash her hair in the bathroom sink in order to make it grow back. To my dismay it never did.

After I grew out of the lovies stage, my mom kept Sally and I recently brought her home for my own daughter to play with. I think she might adore her as much as I did. My little peanut loves to touch her face, hands and feet and try to gauge out her eyes (!!!) but what she likes the most is the kisses that Sally gives her when she wakes up from nap-time. It’s sort of a routine now and the little peanut always smiles when she sees Sally.

I’ve been debating on if I should find a doll restorer in the area to bring back her pretty golden locks. I kind of like that she’s got some character (that’s what I call it!) and it’s a little reminder of my childhood.

What do you think? Should I have her hair restored or keep it as is?

Some of the fondest memories I have of my childhood were all the games and toys we made growing up. Being one of seven kids of immigrant parents, we didn’t have much, and we learned quickly not to ask for much either. So we had to be really creative with what we did have. I remember my older sisters making game cards from notebook paper. They drew pictures of different types of flowers (two of a kind) and we’d spread them face down on the carpet and play the memory/matching game. Not only did it show the creativity that my sisters had, but also their talent for drawing. The flowers weren’t just cartoon pencil drawings, they were real-life looking (some flowers were even exotic!).

I also remember my oldest sister making a Raggedy Ann and Andy doll for the younger sisters. She even sewed clothes for it! She also made clothes for the one Barbie doll that we five sisters shared. When I became old enough to make my own toys, I made little people out of paper and made clothes that could be taken on and off. Oh, that was a lot of fun–making the house out of a cardboard box and “building”  furniture for each room, i.e. stove, chairs, cabinets, etc…all out of paper! I recall most of my playtime lying on the carpet, entering a whole other world of make-belief.

Sometimes I wish that we could rewind and go back to the good ‘ole days where kids used their imagination more and learned how to live and play more simply. I didn’t have much growing up, but I’m thankful that my childhood experiences taught me how to be creative and to enjoy the simple things in life.