Jack is FOUR

Jack turned four years old at the end of January and as usual, Markelle threw a great party. All the kids had adorable animal hats, and the animal cake was awesome.

Jake was more than a little excited for Jack to open his present.
(The two of them may or may not have sneaked it out of hiding and played with it earlier that week.)

Sarah has literally worn this little lamb hat every day since the party.

Cute little Van.
I can't believe he's turning one next month.

Birthday boy.

Funny Ian.

Saying hi to Nona and Poppy on the iphone.

Isn't Mia sweet?

All the "party animals".

Happy birthday, Jack!

I miss John Hughes

The other night I stumbled across a documentary on the Biography Channel on John Hughes and the making of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. It was pure bliss.

I've actually been thinking a lot about my relationship with John for a while now... actually, I've been thinking a lot about my infatuation with the eighties, and after watching this special on Ferris, and psycho-analyzing my movie and music collections, I think that it all may come down to John Hughes.

I mean, there were other great parts of the eighties too... Yaz, Depeche Mode, The Go Go's, Back to the Future, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Say Anything, Stand By Me, Xanadu, U2, The Cure, The Clash, Pee Wee Herman, the Cabbage Patch, the Hearthrob board game--I listened to my Blondie CD so much it wore out and had to buy another one... but it's John Hughes' that holds my eighties heart in his hands.

Let's face it though-- I'm a little too young for the eighties. I was a teenager in the throws of the nineties: the era of grunge. And while I rocked the straight-hair-forever-in-flannel look and saw Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins in their hey-days, I was secretly hoping that Echo and the Bunneymen would go on a reunion tour.

I'm sure a lot of my "eighties thing" can be attributed to my aunts. Lara and Lisa taught me everything I needed to know about big hair and big hair bands. My parents saw Ferris Bueller several times in the theater when I was a kid, but didn't really appreciate Hughes' stuff until I was a teenager myself. There is just something about those movies that totally get me... so much so, that my sisters even threw me the greatest John Hughes movie themed 30th birthday ever.

Sixteen Candles: Oh, Jake Ryan! You can drive me anywhere in that sweet sweater vest of yours. And I'm pretty sure this features some of John Cusack's first work ever.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off: This is a Lee family favorite and in my opinion, Hughes' best film. It's timeless and funny and thoughtful all at once. It has great dialogue and too many perfect movie moments to count.

Some Kind of Wonderful: I just love that Watts gets the guy in the end of this one. Also their kissing scene in the mechanics shop still makes me sweat and swoon.

The Breakfast Club: Maybe his most serious content and oh, so good. A great one for breaking down the lame social barriers of high school. Killer last song, too.

Pretty in Pink: My favorite. Not sure exactly why, but this one was always the one I went back to and watched again and again. This movie may also be the reason I dated Blaine in the first place. Plus, the soundtrack is amazing. I think my favorite moment of this movie is Duckie Dale's lip sync scene in the record shop. Oh, man. I should watch this movie soon. It's been a while.

There are other greats too, Mr. Mom, She's Having a Baby, the Vacation movies, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, The Great Outdoors, Uncle Buck... the list goes on and on.

The man was a genius.

"Early Evening"

 I think the best thing about this clip is that Michael J. Fox is the voice of the "teen wolf"... thank you, Phineas and Ferb. This show just gets me. :)

Happy February

I know, I know... this is a ridiculous amount of pictures.
But these little sweethearts are so freakin' cute and my new photography lights are so freakin' awesome, that I'm posting {almost} every one I took.
Happy February.