The 80's

Well, as you can hear, my new playlist is 80's music. Joe helped me with this one a little. He didn't help me at all with the 70's playlist because he had the audacity to say there wasn't any good 70's music. I think it's fair to say I proved him wrong. But he Does know his 80's music, that's for sure. Have you ever gotten the mass e-mail titled, “You're a Child of the 80's if...”? Yeah, that's me and Joe. Good times, and oh so funny. It was before home computers and the internet, CDs and DVDs, Ipods and BlackBerrys. So, here's to the memories – do you remember?

I watched Saturday morning cartoons – REAL cartoons - Hanna-Barbera cartoons like Smurfs, Flintstones and Shirt Tales, and also He-Man and She-Ra, Care Bears, Looney Toons, etc.

I watched TV shows like Love Boat, Chips, A-Team, Dukes of Hazard, Family Ties and McGyver and The Muppets. I loved David Hasselhoff in Knight Rider, but I very much doubt that the new re-make will be successful. We laugh when we see the commercials for it, and I wonder if I'll see Tom Selleck in a new Magnum PI soon (he might be able to pull it off).

Movies that I loved were Goonies, Back to the Future, The Karate Kid (“wax on, wax off”), Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, E.T., and of course the 5th and 6th episodes of Star Wars. I remember renting a VCR at the store so we could watch rented videos.

At my friend's house I played Pac-Man and Donkey Kong (because we didn't have an Atari), and I watched MTV videos (because we didn't have cable).

I played with Cabbage Patch Kids, My Little Pony....you know, all the toys they've brought back in the past 5 years, and that I've bought for my own kids. I thought that Garbage Pail Kids were stupid. Mostly we played Outside, though, and used our imaginations.

I practically learned the English language, and all about the country, watching Schoolhouse Rock, and I learned to read with Dick and Jane. I read Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, Beverly Clearly and Judy Blume.

I had posters in my bedroom of Corey Haim and Kirk Cameron.
I liked New Kids on the Block, but I'm not excited they're back. And I almost died when I found out that Milli Vanilli wasn't really singing?

I wore pegged jeans, layered socks, velcro hightops, leg warmers, jelly shoes and bracelets, banana clips, blue eyeshadow and mascara, and feathered bangs. If my scanner hadn't broke, you guys would be in for a real treat. I didn't have parachute pants, but I thought they were cool. I felt very fancy when I bought my first pair of Lee Press-On Nails. And I envied the kids with braces who wore colored rubberbands.
I said things like, “Gag me with a spoon” and called people “hoser”.
Before mini-vans, We took rode trips in our big tank of a car, facing the cars behind us (because we didn't have to wear seatbelts), or laying on the floor.
And now kids at restaurants and supermarkets call me “ma'am”, and I say things like, “When I was a kid....”. It all went by so quickly, didn't it?

3rd Time's the Charm

Okay, I know ya'll are gonna laugh at me, but oh well. I can grow things - It's true (see my previous post, "Me vs. Mother Nature" to really appreciate this). A couple of moths ago I was reading an article in LDS living, and it struck a chord. In it, Eldon Cannon likened gardening to learning how to ride a bike. He said, "A beginner will likely crash a few times and earn some scrapes before figuring the right way to balance and steer". Cannon oversees the gardens on the grounds of the LDS Church headquarters in downtown Salt Lake City, so you can assume he knows what he's talking about. I decided to test his theory, because Heaven knows I'd already crashed, and so I planting my "garden" (mostly just tomatoes) for the THIRD time, even though it was so late in the season here. Well, miracles do happen, because I grew plants! I did not know whether or not they'd actually produce anything edible, but that was really beside the point. I was just excited that I grew the roots, and stems, and the green leaves. I consider it one of my greater accomplishments in life. I think the key this time was my unconventional greenhouse.

Here are my plants in my kids playhouse thingy. I never intended it to be a greenhouse, it was an accident. But I'm sure that's what did the trick, somehow, because they kept growing.

When they got bigger I replanted them in a nice shady spot, to shield them from the harsh Texas sun. And guess what? They kept growing! Here they are now.

They have flowered, and I now actually have a few tomatoes growing. I love the smell of tomato plants, and I start salivating at the thought of eating my first tomato.

Of course, at any time now, my cute, and potentially delicious, little tomatoes could be killed by the first frost. However, if this happens, I will still consider myself a successful gardener. I have learned from my mistakes, and by golly, next year I'm going to have the best garden ever! You know what they say, once you've learned how to ride a bike, you never forget.

Through the Eyes of My Child - Part 2

1. What is something dad always says to you? I love you.
2. What makes dad happy? Spending time with us (the kids) on our dates.
3. What makes dad sad? When we're doing bad stuff.
4. What makes your dad laugh? Jokes, and he makes himself laugh (he is pretty funny)
5. What was your dad like as a child? He was a brother, and
he had brown hair and he lost all his teeth (good thing they grew back).
6. How old is your dad? 10 (really, I'm such a cradle robber)
7. How tall is your dad? Taller then Mom and the kids.

8. What is his favorite thing to do? Eat out (I think this is actually true).
9. What does your dad do when you're not around? Go to work.

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for? Making my favorite toys.
11. What is your dad really good at? Sports

12. What is your dad not very good at? Hard games.

13. What does your dad do for his job? Be the teacher.

14. What is your dad's favorite food? The kinds of foods I don't like (don't you like pizza?)
15. What makes you proud of your dad? When he plays sports, and I watch him,

and I cheer for him, and I want him to be on my team

(JT has never seen Joe play any sport, so I don't know where this came from, but it's cute).
16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be? Superman.
17. What do you and your dad do together? Spend time and have dates.
18. What does your dad like most about your mom?

They got married and had babies, so he should love her (priceless).
19. Where is your dad's favorite place to go? Mr. Gatti's

(this is a pizza buffet place, and it's actually the kids' favorite place to go).

20. What is your favorite thing about your dad? He buys us movies.

Through the Eyes of My Child

1. What is something mom always says to you? Be Quiet (it's true)

2. What makes mom happy? Going on a Date with Dad (so true)

3. What makes mom sad? When We (the kids) do something Bad

4. What makes your mom laugh? JT (see JTisms in a previous post)

5. What was your mom like as a child?

She had short brown hair and brown eyes

6. How old is your mom? 42 (really?)

7. How tall is your mom? 30 inches
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Reading Books

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Babysit
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?

Writing children's Books, like a Thousand of them (that would be nice)

11. What is your mom really good at? Playing Video games (huh?)
12. What is your mom not very good at? Drinking drinks Fast
13. What does your mom do for her job? Clean up the House
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Artichokes and Pizza with Vegetables

15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she Cleans up the Whole house

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Sandy the Squirrel on "Spongebob Squarepants". She knows karate (hmmm)

17. What do you and your mom do together? Make things

18. What does your mom like most about your dad? That he's funny (he really is)

19. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? The Movie Theatre
20. What is your favorite thing about your mom? That she looks Pretty (oh thanks)

Fixin' It Up

We really enjoy owning our own house, at least most of the time. We have learned so much. We have worked really hard to make it nice - it needed a LOT of work - and to make it our own. The room we have worked the hardest on, and that we are the most proud of, is the kitchen/dining room. So now I'd like to show it off to ya'll. Here are the only pictures I could find of what it looked like before.

The cabinets were two-toned, mint green and a dirty off-white, with gold hardware. The appliances and sink were the color of that range cover, a yellowish cream. And you can see on the back splash there is a nice marble-effect mint green laminate, which was on the counter tops too.

Here's a good picture of Madelyn on the old floor. I guess they were going for a stone look, but it just looked rediculous to me. And it was very old and stained. But, here is what our kitchen looks like now. Drumroll......

Not bad, aye? We painted the cabinets and trim a nice cream color. We changed the hardware to silver. Tiled the counter tops. Put in laminate wood floors. Did venician plaster on the walls. We got a black sink, and painted the oven black. We did it all ourselves, and I even made the curtains (a little pat on my back).

Now, as long as we're on the subject of fixing things, today I had to fix Madelyn's hair. She got a hold of the scissors again; I don't know where from. She did a real number, on the same side as last time, and I had no choice but to cut it - short.

Yep, it curls up right under her ears. She loves it, which just means that she learned NOTHING! I don't know if I can fix that.