Life goes on as usual here, nothing earth shattering or newsworthy. I wil try and pick my brain to fill you in on what's been going on though.

Saturday, April 14, we had a family work party. Steve and Jesse put together a new play system/jungle gym from Costco. Joe and I mowed our four acres. Sarah fed us and helped clear our bank of dead, burned ice plant. The other three boys had fun playing on the trampoline, new swingset and helping mom whenever she barked orders. I also learned how to use an electric drill!

We go every Wednesday night to watch Jesse (17) and Jacob (22) play indoor soccer together. All the guys on the team are guys that my oldest boys have grown up with. I get to sit in the stands and visit with Mariah! She is a young lady that is now twenty-three, teaches science to junior-highers, and grew up with my oldest two boys.

On Monday I dropped ten pounds of frozen chicken on one of my toes. You know the whole packaged chickens from Costco that come two to a package? I had some laundry in right hand and tried to pick up the chicken in my left hand. Didn't work. It flew straight down to my toe. My little boys thought I was going to have a baby because I was using that breathing that ladies use at that time. I was trying not to cry and get past the pain. My toe is now a dark maroon color between the first bone and the toenail. I've tried to take it easy and stay off my feet late in the afternoon and into the evening.

I was able to use my Easter ham bones yesterday. I made red beans & rice. I LOVE meals like that. Our friends make a bean/rice dish that is made in Brazil, but I can't make it like they can. I think I need a personalized cooking lesson!!

I finished reading Sexual Predators in the Church. The author recommends taking your children to the bathroom if they need to go during the service instead of just allowing them to go on their own. We usually have our boys go before the service, but sometimes mom/dad get caught up in a conversation with someone and can't break away for a reminder.

We're still waiting on a referral for our adoption. I'm almost done reading The Seed From the East. After watching John & Kate plus eight and reading this book I have a new appreciation for those parents who have so many little ones at one time. If you haven't seen John & Kate plus 8 it's a show on TLC about a family who has twins and then had sextuplets. The first show the sextuplets were one and the second show they were two. The parents do a wonderful job of keeping their family a priority.

Planning our last quarter of school. I like planners from www.donnayoung.org. Found out Sarah needs Algebra 1 before she can graduate. She wants to graduate a year early so we need to figure out exactly what she needs to complete next year to do that.  Algebra 1 didn't use to be a requirement and since 2003-2004 school year here in California it is a requirement. I have no idea what those people who are learning disabled will do. I know my second son would not have passed. He has a short term memory and the concepts would have escaped him.

Pretty boring stuff, I know.