Only 23 shopping days...

...until I begin my Christmas shopping!!! AAAGH!!!

Elijah, Noah, and Jacob visited Santa Claus over the Thanksgiving holiday. Elijah has been very secretive about his conversation with Santa, but he finally disclosed the secret last night. He only wants one thing for Christmas this year -- a robot dinosaur. Robin asked him, "Have you ever seen a robot dinosaur?" Elijah's reply: "No, but he's Santa Claus. He can make ANYTHING!"

So...if either of you can tell me where to find a robot dinosaur I would be forever indebted to you!

While pondering the robot dinosaur, I was taken back in time to all those Christmas mornings where I would wake up with all kinds of fun stuff under the tree. So...in keeping with my love of the Top Ten list...here, from the home office somewhere in the North Pole, are the top ten "under the tree" gifts that Santa brought to me as a child:

10. Evel Knievel Dragster (1976): I saved my own money and bought the Evel Knievel moroThe only thing that would've been better than this would've been an Evel Knievel Rocket. Then I could've dug the Snake River in my back yard and had a blast!
9. Baseball Cards (1978): Santa Claus brought me 100 packs of the 1978 TOPPS cards for that year. I think I chewed every stick of petrified gum that morning as I opened each pack.
8. Gnip Gnop (1977): Each side had three balls...and the object was to get your balls to your opponent's side before they knocked theirs to yours. Fun game!
7. Baseball glove (1978): But not just ANY baseball glove. One signed by the GREAT Joe Morgan -- former 2nd baseman for the Cincinnati Reds (and the Astro's...and the Colt '45s). I twitched my elbow just like he did all through little league. It's a shame that it didn't work so well for me.
6. Air Hockey Table (1979): This established the Campbell house as the place to hang out. My entire family played with this for hours on end. One day the game got rather heated, and the legs on one end broke. So my dad simply broke the legs off the other end, and we played on the floor.
5. Pinball machine (1975): No, it wasn't a big, fancy arcade-style machine. It was a little table-top model, but it was awesome. I tried to charge my family a nickel for every time they played...but it didn't work out.
4. Bicycle (1972): Yes, Santa Claus brought me a bicycle before I was even three years old. But my mother has always fancied me as an accelerated student. It was yellow with the "regular" seat (no banana seat for me -- kids in my neighborhood would beat you up for riding on a banana seat) and was called "The Super Bee." This is the same bike that I was riding in '75 when I knocked my two front teeth out.
3. Mattel's Handheld Football (1981): It made car trips great for me...and my family.
2. Atari 2600 (1982): The original!!! Keep your crummy ol' Play Station 2 and XBox 360. Give me 3-on-3 football, Pitfall, Combat, and Yar's Revenge!
1. Johnny Bench Batter Up (1979): The greatest gift EVER. A baseball attached to a pole with rubber bands. You could hit the ball and the pole would spin around until the rubber bands brought it back the other way. The only problem -- you couldn't order replacement rubber bands. So when you used up all the rubber bands you had a great back yard decoration.

Feel free to share yours!