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 :)