Firsts in the month of May

We’ve had some “firsts” happen this week at our house:

• Ernie IV had his first Big Field Trip. His class, along with several other 3rd grade classes, took charter buses to New Orleans and went to the aquarium today. Ernie had a “magnificent time”!
• Max has had Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus this week. That’s the first time any of my kids have ever had it and it’s been pretty annoying in my opinion. Max has had a high fever, along with the mouth sores and the blisters on the palms of his hands and the soles of his feet. He’s been miserable and so have I.
• Max is now sleeping in Emmaline’s room, and it’s a first for him to share a room. He and Emmaline are both really happy about it and Emmaline is now super attached to Max. I think that this could go a long way in solving some sibling rivalry issues.
• We harvested the very first of the veggies from our ginormous garden. 3 potatoes (harvested by accident), a handful of basil leaves, and 2 perfect yellow squash.
• I set up, started, and cooked on our charcoal grill for the first time ever (all by myself) and the result was the most delicious Beef Roast. I’m not sure I ever want to grill on the propane grill again.
• I made Basil Mashed Potatoes for the first time (gotta use those veggies while they’re fresh!). It was pretty much awesome. We had those the same night as the grilled Beef Roast, along with Steamed Summer Squash.
• We used the Repenting Stairs for the first time. Nigel and Emmaline (of course) were the ones to break it in. They liked it. I think they liked that it gave them a structured way to solve their disagreement and a clear resolution plan. They were over the disagreement in about 3 minutes. I’m curious to see how this discipline works when it comes to something more serious than sharing a pair of binoculars.

Good times at the Smith house. School gets out on May 26th, so I am furiously planning the impending summer so that we all stay sane! I will post when I have all of that figured out.