For my 8th birthday my mom caved in after all the bugging and had a small birthday party for Dan and I. Our birthdays are relatively close to each other, so we combined the party, half Dan's friends and half of my friends.

To start we had to purchase supplies. We went to toys r us and got all the fun little plates and whatnot. We also had to get food and cake as well.

From the looks of it, it looks like we invited Nick Caputo, Noel and Kevin Stalker, Scott Vogt, Jason, Chris Smith, and Blake Peters. We had a lot of fun that day. I remember playing foose ball downstairs and playing video games. But not a whole lot more. Mostly just being a kid goofing off.

But theres one thing I remember of this most was that my mom was not happy about spending 50 dollars on all this stuff. We didnt have much money growing up and this was asking a lot it seemed when I recall her putting stuff away at the counter of Toys R Us. It totally didnt affect me as a kid (even though I am sure I was mad if she put stuff away), but as I get older and look back upon it, I realize just how tough things were at times for my parents. We werent dirt poor, but money didnt come easy. Recently this and other memories have resurfaced, I have tried reflecting upon the fact that in many instances we got a lot as kids. I never felt deprived at all, it was wonderful! I had a nintendo which was given to me by my aunt Linda, we had clothes given to me by my cousins Noel and Kevin, my aunt Barb always was buying us toys, my grandma gave us a whole collection of star wars toys, my brother and I maintained many hobbies growing up like skiing, collecting cards, fishing and much more. My life growing up, was never deprived... I was the selfish one and got what I wanted a lot. My family bought many things new as well. But I guess where I am getting at was that we were always very careful at what we spent, and my mom always had to be mindful of our expenditures. I can say almost 90 percent of my childhood I didnt understand our money troubles. But my parents were so amazing in giving us everything we needed. It is unbeleivable now when I reflect upon it.

My friend Michelle and fiance Susan always say that I am a ultra-cheapskate. But I can guarantee that your life growing up wasnt as tight as ours. I might have the money to buy things now, but people act out their childhood and how things were when you are growing up. Its what you learn first that is the most influential in the way you act today. I am truly thankful for everything I used to have as a kid. And the funny and ironic thing is that many of those things are thrown away and gone. Only photos remain to give a glimpse of what things were like back then. So I encourage and emplore each of you to find an old photo of your room as a child and look at each and every toy and item in your room and try to remember your perceptions at the time. You probably could post 50 memories about each thing in your room. Its really a lot of fun to do once and a while.. Theres nothing better than reminiscing!! Especially on memorycrawler!