Guilty!

So, like, after reading lisha's totally tubular homage to the 80's, I found myself, like, laughing (and cringing) at my memories of growing up during the "Me Decade". Yeah, I was like totally young, but I was able to enjoy the bombdiggity-ness of the era with the best of them!

My Top 10 Fashion Must-Have-Whatevers (not sure if I should call them grodie or mistakes):
1. Jellies
2. Chuck Taylors (I alone had at least 10 pairs - my family as a whole had probably 60+)
3. Legwarmers (and you can bet money that I rocked those things with a coordinating Mary Lou Retton leotard and sweatsuit)
4. Cropped tops
5. Pedal-pushers (they were not called "capris" in my house!!) and culottes
6. Pastel jeans
7. Izod polo shirts (with the collar turned up!)
8. Color-changing glasses (since I liked to coordinate my eye wear with my outfit, my Mom found these nifty glasses that had a set of little plastic colored things that you put in the frame)
9. Cosmetics (Crayon Girl stuff and Tinkerbell nail polish)
10. Frosted jean jacket (complete with buttons and random pins)
(The fashion of the 80's is really not something I wish to relive. And the fact that a lot of it is somehow becoming popular again really boggles my mind.)

Let's move on to Toys!
1. Barbie (I was addicted!! Tropical Barbie was mint - her one-shouldered, flowered bathing suit and very flowy hair were awesome!!)
2. Cabbage Patch Kids
3. Dolly Pops
4. Charmkins
5. Atari
6. Strawberry Shortcake
7. Care Bears
8. Hot Looks Dolls
9. Shrinky-Dinks
10. Kitchen stuff (I had a metal kitchen complete with TupperWare)

80's movies and music are one of my very favorite guilty pleasures. My Top 10 Favorite 80's movies (it was so hard to limit this to 10):
1. Urban Cowboy
2. Pretty In Pink
3. The Breakfast Club
4. The Last Unicorn
5. 16 Candles
6. The Goonies
7. The Princess Bride
8. Spaceballs
9. Annie
10. The Neverending Story

Top 10 80's Songs:
1. Rough Boy (ZZ Top)
2. Angel (Madonna)
3. Drive (The Cars)
4. If I Could Fly (Benny Mardones)
5. Talking In Your Sleep (The Romantics)
6. Don't Answer Me (The Alan Parsons Project)
7. If You Leave (OMD)
8. What I Am (Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians)
9. Life In a Northern Town (The Dream Academy)
10. Eyes Without a Face (Billy Idol)

So, I have like totally got to book. I am so in need of some grindage. Fer sure! But what about you?? Do you share my love of all things 80's? Cool beans!!

It's MAGIC!!

My kids don't like to eat. In order to get them to eat, I have to create "magic" food. Seriously. Examples?

Magic Raisins (Craisins).

Magic Mac and Cheese (that disgusting easy-mac stuff).

Magic PB&J (crust-less roll-up bites) (cut off bread crust, flatten bread with rolling pin, smear bread with pb&j, roll up, cut into pieces).

Magic Toast (cinnamon swirl bread toasted).

Magic Preschool Crackers (Low-fat Honey Graham crackers) (G rediscovered graham crackers at preschool snack-time. He prefers the ones with the cinnamon and sugar on top. I prefer the plain ones. Calling them "magic" was how I got him to try them.).

Magic Juice (pineapple juice).

Magic Spaghetti (my homemade sauce with extra veggies).

Magic Nuggets (homemade chicken nuggets or chicken parmesan).

Basically everything my kids refuse to eat I turn into "magic foods". It actually works sometimes.

As I type this I have "You Can Do Magic" by America playing in my head. And now that that song is there, I'm in an 80's America mood. I may have to watch "The Last Unicorn" since all of the music is by them. The sad thing about this is that I don't even really like the band.

A New Addition!

My newest nephew, Connor Michael, was born on March 22 at 1:35am, weighing in at 9lbs, 2oz and measuring at 20.5 inches. Isn't he beautiful?? That's my Mommy holding him, just in case you cared!

It's a Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood...

Well, it's not actually beautiful here (it's snowing a bit and the ground is a lovely shade of brownish-mossy green), but it's the First Day of Spring! And I did dress the kids up in honor of Mr. Rogers!

Gabriel doesn't have a cardigan, but according to the article from the other day, any sweater will do - as long as it is a special sweater. And this one is his favorite! The Girls are all decked out in their cardigans, and so am I!

Dress-up Day!!

What are you doing on Thursday (as in 2 days from now)? Dig out a cardigan and celebrate Mr. Rogers with me on what would would have been his 80th birthday.

When I was little I loved Mr. Rogers. Probably not as much as my older brother Devin, but I still loved him. I can remember tossing my shoes in the air from hand to hand. I also remember my Grandfather wearing cardigans. I think that's part of the reason I loved Mr. R. so much.

Now that I have kids of my own, I am trying to share that love with my kiddos. And Gabriel loves himself some Land of Make Believe. He wants to ride Trolley and play in the castle with Prince Tuesday. His favorite episodes are my favorites as well - the train trip to the Crayola factory and the Incredible Hulk unveiling. Elliott loves The LoMB too - she prefers Henrietta Pussycat and X the Owl. She has asked for a stop light for the living room and a fish tank, too.

If you're interested, check out this article and don a sweet cardigan on Thursday. I'll post pics for all to see!