May Wrap-Up

May flew by so, so quickly. We are in the home stretch towards summer vacation (2 more weeks) and even though our summer schedule is pretty much the same as our school-year schedule, I'm looking forward to the slightly less hectic pace. I'm working on vacation plans for the week of the 4th; really, really looking forward to my girls' weekend at the end of June; really, really, really looking forward to our family vacation in Mexico at the end of the summer (all-inclusive resort near Puerto Aventuras), and hoping to make the most of the pool and the beach and all the other opportunities summer has to offer.

One of my summer wish list items for the past 3 summers has been to grow tomatoes or other vegetables. This spring, I finally got on that and bought and planted a cherry tomato plant and a pepper plant. The tomato has grown like gangbusters (it really needs a bigger pot) and the pepper is doing great, too. So far, I have been hand-picking insects and bugs off of the plants. I don't want to use pesticides, so I need to research some "safe" repellants. (And order some lady bugs, and maybe a praying mantis? Can you order a praying mantis? LOL) But we seem to be okay for now. We have about 6 tomatoes growing, and lots of flowers blooming.

We're also growing a Venus's fly-trap, and that looks great, too. I'm feeling pretty proud of my mad green-thumb skillz. (Of course, it's been a very wet, cool spring, so it probably has nothing to do with me. The hard part is yet to come!) And the boys, especially Seth, love watching their plants grow. Seth has decided he wants to sell the tomatoes for $1 each when we pick 'em. Go for it, buddy!

Finally, I need to recap our Memorial Day weekend. We were busy, visiting friends, getting haircuts, and joining in our city festivities. On Sunday, we celebrated Ed's cousin's baby's first birthday. After the birthday boy dug into his cake, he started breaking out in hives around his mouth and on his arms and legs. His parents asked me about my experience with William and his allergic reaction to peanuts. I told them that I gave William Benadryl, so someone went out to buy some. When they got back, I offered to squirt it into his mouth, although Ed's cousin was pretty skeptical that the baby would swallow the medicine. I sort of laughed at him in that "let an expert do the job" kind of way. (The universe will always find a way to knock you down a few notches when you start to think you know everything. LOL) As his mom held the baby, I squirted the Benadryl in his mouth, (aiming at the back of his throat) which he promptly spit back out (all over his mother) and then he proceeded to throw up all over his mother. It was awesome. Thankfully, the mom laughed hysterically, the baby was fine (felt great after a bath and opening some presents!), and they didn't hold me personally responsible.

On Monday, we woke up at our usual time and at the last minute, decided to take part in our city's 3K fun run. We made it to the starting line on time and started running. At first, Seth was not happy about how many people were there, but then he started running and I had a hard time catching up with him. Ed got lost in the crowd, as well, so I was trying to keep my eye on both boys by myself. We ran for about half a mile and then ran-walked another half mile, and then William found a friend and started walking, and Seth decided he was done. So I carried Seth the last .8 miles of the race while William happily chatted it up with his friend.

Later that afternoon we walked back to the "town center" for the festival and then marched in the town parade--William with his Taekwondo studio and Seth and me with the baseball league. Thankfully the weather was awesome--sunny but not too hot. And while I was tired and sore, it was a very happy tired and sore. Can't beat that!