Idol Watch

A few surprises this week. A few of my faves didn't shine as bright as I might have wanted, but there was one performance that I will never forget. David Cook really rocked it out. Who knew this side of 'Billie Jean?' Wow. Loved, loved, loved it! The Michael Jackson cover had me at 'hello' -- and speaking of which, did you catch his version of the Lionel Richie song? For your listening pleasure, I have included both.

Billie Jean


Hello


Honorable Mention: Michael Johns. Love me some Queen.

Sent Home: Poor Chikezie. There were a few others who should have gone first.

Happy Birthday, John

--picture by Lilly

Lilly and Nick help with our family tradition of breakfast in bed.  On the menu: pancakes with strawberries and bananas, bacon and extra-floaties (okay, country-style pulp) orange juice.  [there is an on-going battle in our house whether orange juice is more righteous without the pulp a.k.a. 'pure' or with icky floaty things in it... John likes floaties, hence the choice of the day]

Mmm....

The best birthday gift-- all these sweet sugars!

Gift from Maddy and Stephie: A Night at the Movies.  

They gave us $20 [weird to get cash from your kids], and they provided free baby sitting so that we could go to see Vantage Point-- which, by the way, was very good.  

I surprised John with tickets to go to the The Police!  This is the tail end of their reunion tour.  He was really excited and I am thrilled to go.  Yeah for presents that we can both enjoy!  

--picture by Nicky

"Mommy making Daddy's cake."  I look messy, but happy!  

John's favorite: Carrot Cake

Happy Birthday, Johnny!

Idol Watch

American Idol. You know you love it.

The big winner of the night was David Archuleta!

He did a crystal clear version of 'The Long and Winding Road.' Yes, it was a little bit safe, but I think that he now has his confidence back from his lyrics amnesia of last week. Phew! The YW Pres. breathes a sigh of relief that Everyone's Favorite Mormon Boy was on top last night.{grins}

Love love, love Michael Johns, but he really did lousy last night. Ack!! The guy can sing Queen and Simple Minds, but The Beatles had him baffled. So sad. He is definitely a contender, though, so I look forward to next week. He is not in danger of elimination by a long shot.

Brooke White, our other LDS Hopeful; not-so-much last night. She looked a little lost up there without her guitar or piano, and she did a bit of the LDS shuffle, that looks very out of place on the Idol Stage. She definitely has amazing talent, but missed the mark just a smidgen last night. Sniff, sniff.

Our Resident Rocker, David Cook, definitely has a horse in this race. He has been doing amazingly well. He is crazy talented, but last night wasn't quite as magical, and Simon let him know that, 'I don't think that you were as good as you think that you were...' Classic Cowell. Love it.

Okay, this is our local boy Jason Castro, and he really is amazing. I don't know that he has the 'idol' factor, but let's just say, if I were 20-something, I would be swooning over his soft voice, gorgeous grin and amazing eyes! My mom would have something to say about the hair, but... come one, have you ever seen dreads look so amazing?

Lastly I would like to talk about Chikeze. Funny name; serious singer. I have been hot and cold on this guy. He does Luther Vandross very well. He croons like there is no tomorrow. For a few weeks he fell on his face- I actually was wishing that he would go, but I am back to liking this very talented, happy-go-lucky guy.

But... tell me, is it just me, or does he look like Isaac from the Love Boat?

Global Storming

- March 6th Snow -



Here in Texas it is a rare treat to have snow. The kids (and most parents) dream of Snow Days filled with snowman building, snowball fights and hot cocoa by the fire.

Armed with rubber boots and older sisters' mittens, out we went to have some fun.

Nicky was quite happy to throw snowballs at the tree. This transformed into rubbing the tree with snow, he said that he was, 'dusting the tree.'



Lilly had fun throwing snowballs at mom, and trying her hand at snowman production. She made this one all by herself and was quite pleased.

Catching Snowflakes on their Tongues



Playing Tag in the Snow


Maddy and Stephie also had fun in the snow with their friends, but mom wasn't there with her camera- much to their pleasure, I am sure. So in case you are wondering why I am always posting pics of the bitty kids and don't have many candids of the big girls, it's because the big ones go off and do their own thing or freak out when I snap pictures!

Jesus Christ, the Son of God

Last week when I went to LDS.org, I saw that there is a new website completely dedicated to the Savior. wow. I have only looked around a bit, but it is such an amazing resource. It is jesuschrist.lds.org.