Update

Some miscellaneous thoughts...

We had a visit from two of my nephews a few weeks ago, Hunter and Chase. They drove down during their Spring Break and spent about 4 days with us. Here's the rundown. They saw Alex's first football game (which he won), then went to the Orange and Blue game with us (Gator spring scrimmage). Back at home, they went for a walk with the kids and looked for shark teeth in the creek near our house. I grilled steaks for dinner. After Alex and Bella went to bed, we popped popcorn and watched a Netflix movie, The Hot Chick. Sunday we slept in, ate pancakes, and went to the beach for the day (Anastasia State Park). Monday they slept in while we went to work and school. That night Sofia babysat for some friends while Cristina went to a school fundraiser. Hunter and Chase went over to the house Sofia was babysitting at and played cards with her. Hunter and Chase headed back to Asheville Tuesday while we were at work/school. Overall, it was a great weekend and we all loved hanging out with them. Looking forward to doing it again some time.

Alex's team, the Saints, has played two flag football games. He's playing in the local Upward league, which is a Christian-based sports league. We like that the focus is on fair playing time and promoting positive sportsmanship, rather than ultra-competitive winning-is-everything attitude. He's been begging to play an organized sport for a while now, and this seemed like a good way to go. The fact that they have a spiritual lesson/Bible verse reflection in the middle of every practice doesn't bother us. The coach knows we're Baha'is. He told me a couple of nights ago that he googled "Baha'i" and read about it. "That sounds pretty cool!" he said. "I'm good with that." (Which is a much better response than "I'll pray for your lost souls, you wayward heathens.") He graduated from Appalachian State, which is a nice connection. (Anyway, I'm trying to keep these update points to one paragraph, and I'm straying off topic.) So they won their first game. Alex caught an extra point (no kicking in Upward football...after a touchdown, the team can go for one or two points by running or throwing). In the second game, Alex caught a touchdown pass, but the team lost in the last second by 1 point. After a week off for Easter, his 3rd game is this Saturday. Go Saints!

Cub Scouts has taken a backseat to football the last few months, but we're doing a biking hike with his den this Saturday after the football game.

Our flea infestation continues. Frontline didn't work. I have Revolution now, but I can't tell if it's working or not because so many new fleas keep jumping on them, its hard to tell. We have to get the fleas in the carpets and in the yard under control before the Revolution will really be effective. To that end, I finally bought a big sack of diatomaceous earth (DE), which is not actually earth, but fossilized remains of marine phytoplankton called diatoms. It has the consistency of flour, and it causes damage to small insects when they crawl through it, because on a microscopic level, the diatoms are razor sharp. So DE doesn't hurt warm-blooded animals, but tiny things with exoskeletons get cut up and die. I haven't done a full treatment of the house and yard yet. A friend of ours said she didn't have luck with DE, but others I know (like our neighbors and my parents) say it works well. So I'm holding out hope.

Bella has her first loose tooth. She wants it out! It doesn't feel quite ready, but we keep telling her to wiggle it all she wants. It will eventually come out when it's time.

Sofia had her last band concert of the year last night, and the State competition is this Friday. Before you know it, summer band camp will be here and marching season will be cranking up again. I'm looking forward to it.

My first yearbook arrived last week. 618 books in 45 boxes weighing a total of 2700 pounds. We've been passing them out since last Friday. Still have about 100 to sell. I'm hoping to sell out, which is better than they did last year. We still have 80 books from last year.

That's all I can think of for now.