How Do You Celebrate Turning 5 Months Old?

With PEAS ... of course!

And what does every new pea eater need?  An official Pea Cooler.  It's a bit like a wine taster but doesn't have quite the same perks.  Pea Cooling basically entails blowing a bit of hot air on your younger brother's peas and J How gladly offered his services.  He's so thoughtful!  

Nothing Says "Fancy" Like Burgers and The Opera ...

At our church on Christmas Eve, a clip was played from "Britain's Got Talent" ... showing that we really shouldn't judge things by the package they arrive in. In the clip - Paul Potts, a cellphone salesman from Bristol, England, announces to Simon Cowell that he would be singing opera. As you can imagine ... Simon rolled his eyes and waited for an ear piercing sound to emerge. Much to everyone's surprise - what emerged from Paul Potts was anything but awful! In fact, his voice was fantastic and he ended up winning the entire competition.

After hearing the clip and learning that Paul Potts would be coming to Arizona ... we immediately bought our tickets!
My mom watched the kids and Ben and I hit the town ....

Nothing says "I'm Going to Attend the Opera" like a little pre-singing burger and fries!


Ahhh .... not bad for a self portrait!



The concert was fantastic ... we came home and bought the CD! OPERA MUSIC! Who would have thought ... there might be laundry covering the floor, dishes stacked 3 feet tall in the kitchen and dust bunnies hopping all over the place ... but now we can drown it all out with a bit of Paul Potts .... suddenly, things just don't seem quite so crazy anymore!

13 More Pounds ...

And Eli will weigh the same as J How ... who at almost 26 months old is still 2 pounds below the 30 mark!  Eli Bennett ... almost 5 months ... 14.2 pounds ... is just a little chunk of LOVE!  

No Need to Keep Watching American Idol ...

I know ... I too am addicted to watching Brooke White and the 2 remaining Davids belt out fancy little tunes each week but really, there is no need to waste anymore time sitting in front of the television.  Don't believe me ... well, just listen for yourself:

Impressive, eh?

Easter Dinner ....

Easter would not be complete without a visit from the Bella Bunny .... 

and EASTER CANDY!  J How has a jelly bean stuck in his mouth and can't figure out how to get it out!  Poor kid, he worked at it for a long time before he just gave up and ate more!  Notice the fancy glass with "wine" in it just in front of J How.  Apparently it's apple juice but I got a bit worried when I thought it was wine and looked over and saw How chugging it ... and before he caught his breath asked for my glass.  Who puts apple juice in such a nice glass?  I need to buy Bella some plastic!

And of course ... How didn't want to forget the ducks with orange feet (as opposed to those crazy ducks with feet of a different color) on Easter.  So the crew trekked over to the golf course and gave the ducks a gourmet feast of stale cereal!  Eat up!

Thanks .... Cake and Pap Pap

J How and Eli loved their Easter presents ... How ate WAY too many jelly beans.  One fell in the toilet (long story) and Joshua was not at all happy that I wouldn't let him retrieve it.  Good thing there were plenty more :)  Thanks for sending such fun gifts!

(I'm a rookie at posting video ... I'm not sure how the Eli dancing part got back on here ... but it only lasts for a few seconds ... then the REAL thank you video comes on!!)

Easter ... Take Two!

We actually went to church on Saturday night since Ben had chapel for the Angels this morning ... so I did a little spot check on J How's shirt and put everyone back in the same outfits.  A family picture was an Easter must!  The gals in J How's Sunday School class were giving me grief because his 18-24 month pants (which should have fit MONTHS ago) are still about 3 inches too big in the waist and they're being held up by a shoe string!  It's all right ... at least I found a blue shoelace to match his blue pants :)

HAPPY EASTER ... HE IS RISEN!

Good Friday ....

A new church in our neighborhood had a Good Friday service in the prayer garden in Agritopia.   

J How ... keeping things real!  He's trying to impress two 6 year old girls with his elephant noises.  This is after he turned around, stood on his chair and said to them, "Hey friends.  How are you?"

How loved the singing and after we finished a very reflective song ... How yells "Great singing.  Again, again!"  Not exactly appropriate for the tone of the evening but what are you going to do??

We left before the service ended but I left with such a special memory of sitting on the dirt path with J How, looking at the stars and listening to him sing the words to "I'm Forgiven."  Well, his own words ... but it was just precious to hear!

BIG Bost Brother Breakthrough ...

Nothing to call Dr. Phil about but this is BIG ....

Joshua deals with Eli in many ways but his favorites include:  completely ignoring him, having an immediate crisis when Eli enters the room or telling him what to do ... "E-why ... stay right here," or "E-why ... don't move," or "E-why ... stop crying!"

So today, we were leaving my mom's house and J How gets in the car to hear the familiar sounds of Eli crying and he didn't select one of his normal responses ... instead he said, "Oh E-why.  What's wrong?  Why you crying?"  

There is hope!

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By the way ... Eli has a bit of RSV (that makes my children 2/2 in catching that fun virus) ... test showed up negative but the doctor feels that is only because he's been sick for about 10 days now and the test only shows up positive at the beginning of the cycle.  Love it!  Better get out the bleach!  

HAPPY St. Patrick's Day!

And ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Dad!

I Left Him Alone for 4 Minutes ...

I was super inspired by my friend Mikele ... who sent her kiddos to their Grandma's house and spent the past 4 days organizing her home.  Either that or I was embarrassed when Mikele and her husband came over on Friday night (after they had just spent 4 days organizing) and they saw the mild disaster we live in ... a place I like to call HOME!

Ben had baseball chapel this morning and Eli was still sleeping ... so what better time to stick J How in front of the computer, watching Jack's Big Music Show and clean the bathroom with a little elbow grease.

In the midst of my scrubbing (and more scrubbing ... maybe I should do this more often?) ... I came back into our bedroom to grab a cloth.  In the time I was gone ... my adventurous 2 year old had climbed onto the desk, found the remote control and was turning his head back and forth between the computer and the tv so he didn't miss a second of either program.  I told you he was talented!  Of course - I documented it before scolding him.  Really, someone should write a book about the discipline of a blogging mom.  Maybe it could go like this : Notice the poor behavior, capture it on film, make sure the picture is not blurry, and then discipline the child.

Ugh ... and I did just notice the incredible amount of dust that appears in this photo - behind the tv ... I'm off to find a dust cloth!  

Just Another Day in Paradise ...

It went from dirt ... to some pavers and more dirt ... to a beautiful patio ... and with the addition of a fountain and a few plants ... I'm beginning to like the whole idea of a small yard. 

This weekend ... we're adding 2 more vines and a tree!  Anyone want to come over for something yummy to drink?

Watch Out Tiger Woods ...

We've got a serious golfer on our hands ...
Check out his follow through ... impressive!

Yes, this does beg the question ... why is he only wearing a diaper ... and I really don't have a good answer for you this time. I wish I did ...

Always Thinking About the Little Guy ...

There's nothing like trying to explain to a 2 year old that the metal birdie really doesn't need a drink ... because it's not really alive?? Yep, I thought that was too deep of a topic to get into on a Tuesday morning ... so I just went along with his plan. "Of course the birdie needs a drink .... how thoughtful!"

He Might Be Small ... But He Can Still Groove ...

Does J How Have a Future in Stage Diving?

A Few of J How's Favorite Things

No, not small paper packages tied up with string.  I only wish he were that easily amused!  How prefers being a bit more active (and a bit more destructive!)  His latest interests include golf (go figure), water fountains and sweeping.  

He starts at the top of the stairs, perfectly positioning the ball on the grout and takes aim.  I heard a loud crash yesterday as How hit the ball with such impact ... the head flew off the club and into the kitchen.  I was a bit alarmed but that's what you get for buying your kid's clubs at Walmart!  

After a game of STAIR GOLF, How likes to take a refreshing break with the cups and water.  This activity is a bit like Groundhog Day.  Here is a typical conversation:

How: "Oh wow.  Water."

Me:  "Yep."

How:  "Oh bubbles."

Me:  "Yep. The water makes bubbles."

How:  "Here, you do it, Mom."  (Wanting me to fill up the cups with water).  

Me:  Fill up all the cups and dump the water.

How:  "Thank you, Mom."

Twenty seconds later ... 

How:  "Oh wow.  Water."   You get the idea ...  

Not bad ... but just replay that conversation - WORD FOR WORD - about 39 more times.  He's a bit like a broken record but it keeps him entertained. 

And finally ... SWEEPING!  He didn't learn this one from me which might explain why his technique needs a bit of polishing.  Oh well ... he's not super productive but he sure does think sweeping is fun.  Think I can keep him fooled for much longer?

Did anybody else notice that How lost articles of clothing as the post continued?

Oldies ... But Goodies ...

This could be very fun ... hunting through all sorts of Bost memories ....  This is Ben taking down our Christmas lights - in JULY - 6 months late after we FINALLY received a notice from our HOA that lights shouldn't be up past January 10th.  Ben told our neighbors that he was keeping it real ... adding a little trailer park love to our sweet Agritopia.  How thoughtful of him!

And you have to love my caddying skills.  Here we were - at the Long Beach Open - where I agreed to "caddy" for Ben.  That commitment basically meant I would drive the cart around and occasionally tend the flag.  I guess on this particular hole - I also expanded my job description to include cleaning the golfer's face?  Had to make sure he was LOOKING GOOD!

FANCY NEW COMPUTER ...

We got an iMac ... fancy little deal of a computer but I have no idea how to upload pictures ... edit pictures ... pretty much DO ANYTHING except use the keyboard.  So ... as soon as I get my lesson ... WATCH OUT BLOGGING WORLD  :)

Oh ... wait a minute ... I just found this crazy picture of our first anniversary ... eating some frozen cake with a bit of freezer burn!  YUMMY!  And it's nice to know that I had the same hair color 4 years ago.  Here I thought I was being so creative with my darker hair.  I guess not.  There were just so many colors in-between I forgot I've done this one already :)

So I can find old pictures ... now I just need to learn how to add new ones.