Hello, my name is Robin and I am a child of the 80's......Hi Robin

I was getting ready to throw a yoga tape into the DVD this afternoon when I had a funny flashback. I wonder if my children will remember me trying to focus and breath and stretch the way I remember my mom doing her exercise. Being a child of the 80's had some very funny perks in retrospect, as did most other era's I imagine.

I remember getting up in the morning after my dad had gone to work and putting on my red and white striped leotard with red tights and leg warmers. My sister would complement me with her matching purple striped leotard, purple tights, and leg warmers. Then we would roll around on the floor next to my mom doing some sort of body electric stretching and jostling that would complete the mornings exercise. We were careful, of course, not to roll over onto our precious Atari 800 because we knew we would have a fun filled evening of "Miner 49er" ahead of us. Ahh yes, these were the days before Jazzercise hit the roller rink and Madonna was feeling oh so pure.

As the thoughts of snap off sleeves and parachute pants flood back into my mind I will attempt to re-focus, breath, and yoga up. I will set aside the thought of big macs in Styrofoam containers and early mornings with Chilli Willi the Penguin and Woody Woodpecker long enough to ask you what your favorite memory of the 80's is, that is if you are old enough to have one.

Baking a baby surprise cake

In the interest of baking I'm sharing my surprise. We have recently had a windfall of wonderful events in our lives ranging from my husband finally finding a good job to hitting some milestones in the pregnancy. With these great things comes what I thought was a drawback but turned out to be a lot of fun.

My husband wasn't able to attend our big ultrasound yesterday so I went it alone. The tech asked me if I would like to find out what the gender of the baby is and I said yes. Then she scrolled over and I saw that we were having a boy. She prepared me "now I have to warn you that these are not always 100%" and I said "Oh, It's a boy!". Then she said "yes, it looks like a boy" I'm thinking we are shooting pretty close to 100%.

So, in honor of our new little boy I baked my husband a chocolate looking cake with a surprise inside. I know that blue food isn't always the most appealing but the kids loved it and we had a great time. I used Betty Crocker's silver white cake recipe and added food coloring to change the color. Let me tell you, a little bit goes a long way too. Soon we were all eating like smurf kings and queens.

Sleep punching

Inspiration can be found in the oddest places. I have been following a blog called"sleeptalkin man" that has recently become a blog of note and as I find humour in his odd and fascinating words I can't help but think about my strange sleepwalking and sleep behavior over the years. Not long after my husband moved in with me, before we were married, while we were yes...sinners....he informed me of my behavior. I would get up in the middle of the night and go about house business. One night I tried to escape through our bedroom window. He asked me what I was doing and I told him I was just opening the window. I guess the snow outside didn't phase me but luckily he demanded I go back to bed and I appear to take orders quiet well.

On our honeymoon I was rudely awakened by the light on the porch outside of our cabin in the woods as I made my way out of the house. Once again to be startled by my lovely husband asking me where in the world I was going.

Finally, last night it manifested itself again. I fell asleep while watching a movie. My husband came over and sweetly attempted to wake me from my chair with a kiss on the cheek. Apparently I balled up my fist and punched him in the face. Then I woke and said "hey, I just punched you in the face". He didn't get a shiner, just a little red mark. He said he was lucky because my hand was tangled in a blanket which slowed the blow. I suppose the moral of the story is that he knew I was capable of sleep movement before we were married, so he was asking for it.

The Master of the House

Every morning when I wake up and make a run for the bathroom, our dog, a sheltie mix, sneaks into our dark bedroom and hunkers down into my bed. Let me clarify, my side of the bed. Then, I stumble back into my bed and find myself shocked when I practically squash the animal. Now why is it that my mind cannot be trained during the wee hours? His little brain has found fit to make a conscious effort to take over while I'm on momentary sabbatical from dreamland and I still cannot discipline the animal to stop getting into the bed!

Now, here is the kicker. He is 7 years old and what the vet refers to as "geriatric" and we have NEVER encouraged him to get onto the furniture. It's actually a "no no" at our house. I do not use harsh discipline on him although I must admit I have been harassing him over stealing a cheeseburger from the "kids table" back in mid December. I believe he is still remorseful of his actions.

"Basil, did you take the cheeseburger (glare)" He quickly hangs his head and makes a solemn exit into the other room. The point to this ridiculous story? Apparently I am trained and he is the master. The picture is what I found one morning after seven years of kicking the dog out of the bed. My poor husband obviously rests well knowing that I am right beside him.

A homemade dress for me...and Cher

Congratulations to my cousin and one of my best friends on their upcoming wedding! Now to find a dress.

After some time spent at the local fabric store I have determined that maternity clothes are not stylish nor do patterns exist that would allow me to make something stylish. I have since resorted to converting my own selection into something that I would find suitable. I have some very nice gray fabric with shadow's of embossed modern tree type stuff and I think it would make a really cute dress.

My grandmother recently came to the conclusion that she nolonger sews and has no use for all of the patterns she has collected over the years. She gave them to me and I just love them. I scrounged through mine and then her's thinking I could update something a little retro. Then I saw it. The picture had the cutest little red dress with a pretty and simple style that I could add a sweater to while it is cold and remove as the season progresses. It could be dressed up for a special occasion or worn as an everyday dress. I began searching the pattern over for size and anything I would need to know in order to create it. Then I read something that made it apparent I would never ever in my wildest dreams fit into this dress.

Wardrobe suitable for 11 1/2"-12" (29cm-30.5cm) dolls such as Donny and Marie, Farrah, Wonder Woman, Ken, Sonny and Cher, Tennile, Super Star Christy, Ballarina Cara and Tuesday Taylor, and 18"-19" (48cm-48.5cm) dolls such as Chrissie, Tiffany Taylor and Super Barbie

I shake my fist at you Wonder Woman and your fantastic sense of fashion. DARN YOU DONNY AND MARIE.....and to think of all of the times I placed you on your stage in your purple and pink performing gear and twisted the little platform do you could dance the night away. Well, back to the drawing board.

Break out the crystal and paper bag, we are having guests

Tonight I entertained some friends after a long day of babysitting another friends 2 children as well as watching my own. I don't know why this was such a task but I'm going to lean towards the whole being pregnant thing and not having a brain about me. Now, here is where mommy hood and entertainment collide.

Before kids: The house would be very clean, food would have been well thought out, and the table would be magnificent.

After babysitting with 1/2 hour prep and my little ones still in tow: I overlook an army man and parachute on the floor, I didn't run the vacuum, and I made chicken noodles two nights in a row with anticipation of guests. Shall I continue? Brace yourself because this is the part where I turn into every woman's nightmare. I wholeheartedly and in all seriousness forgot to brush my hair and put on makeup (I did shower earlier thank you very much). I served the meal on the kids plastic tablecloth due to an oversight of clean table linens, and I know I kept "messing" with my nose since the pregnancy has left it bloody for weeks. GROSS! I feel so incredibly unglamorous. I can't describe how unglamorous this day has been.

Please send this blog to all of your friends who are engaged or thinking about having children. It is your duty as a good human being to let them know what may or may not become of them. If anyone wants me for questions I will be scraping the peanut butter off of my ponytail.

My name is Evil the two collared dog

My 4 year old son "I'm a dog who stole a sausage biscuit and it made me evil. Sometimes I'm not though and I'm a super hero dog. Rhino GO! Everybody attack! Dragon Dinosaur ATTACK!"

Kids are so random. I really had no idea until now that they were capable of such bizarre and entertaining conversation. I have to admit at times I feel like I'm a 16 year old with no real clue raising these two munchkins. I guess it's best just to put on the brave face and act like everything that happens is part of the grand scheme that I have meticulously planned out for their upbringing. I try to nurture creativity and learning but admittedly enjoy a quiet evening filled with popcorn and The Little Mermaid.

I would have never thought that sitting in my children's rooms at bedtime while making up absolutely ridiculous stories about nothing and giggling all the while would be more entertaining than hitting a club with some girlfriends. Who could have convinced me that I would weave a tale of elaborate detail all purely fabricated, just to explain why Santa didn't really look like Santa this year. Life changes I guess. Isn't it wonderful.