Isn't he Precious!
On the 9th of March, Washington turned 11 years old - and we finished the last requirement for the last Webelos pin on his birthday. On this busy day was a lot of firsts for Baby Enoch. Our first day back to iFAMILY, first time shopping & running errands, first time to visit Grandma (She says he's the cutest baby she's ever seen - I think she meant since the last one).
On that Friday, March 11, we spent the day helping a friend finish a quilt for their daughter's wedding. After 50 + hours of driving, Shakespeare passed the tests and received her driver's license. That was a major goal and accomplishment that she had been working on. She also earned her personal progress award this month. Also, Washington was able to finally ride in Aristotle's big truck on an asphalt delivery. He just loves spending time with his Papa so it was a highlight adventure.
March 14th brought about Shakespeare's 16th birthday. After Seminary, we went shopping for her gifts (because I hadn't gotten around to it before) and although it wasn't for her birthday, we came home with a family gift (that's what Aristotle called it). We bought an X-box with Kinect with the requirement to the kids to exercise everyday for an hour - and they could count Kinect. I never thought I'd ever allow a video game in my home but when it encourages physical activity, even I don't mind playing it myself.
The next day our big pig got out of the pen while my older kids were gone to mutual and again, our amazing neighbors came to my rescue. Some even coming so far as from Rigby to chase it down for me. I am so grateful to have friends who come to my rescue when I need them. I guess it happened again while we were in town a couple days later and was brought back again by our neighbors. Needless to say, Aristotle shot the pig and now our freezer is full - with a new, stronger pig pen in the works.
The following day, March 16th, we spent the day at iFAMILY again and visited Grandma to make sure she ate and took her medication again. Afterwards we stopped at our cousins, while I ran to the store. After I finished picking up some groceries, I put Enoch and Joan of Arc in the van and quickly shut the door to hurry home. Immediately, I realized I shut the door too soon for her to have time to remove her hand. Her poor little hand was shut in the sliding van door! I felt sick as I looked at the expression of pain and shock come across her face. I tried to desperately open the door but it was jammed and I couldn't relieve her pain. You know those times when panicking makes things worse - well, I was about as panicked as I could be - screaming, crying, hitting the door trying to unjam it, calling everyone for help. I still get sick thinking of the pain I caused my sweet little two year old baby.
Sometime during the month, Washington got a haircut.
On March 19th, we had our monthly family party. The theme was an Unbirthday party. When I originally planned the theme, I was thinking that since I would have a new baby and three birthdays in the month of March, that having one big party with friends, cake & Ice cream would be sufficient. But of course, each birthday had it's own cake and treats. The unbirthday party was fun but not many of the guests were able to come so it was lacking the numbers needed for some of the activities. I had a nice visit with the friends that came though.
The next day, Hypatia gave a talk on 'the first vision' and I gave my Relief Society lesson on 'Service'. It was one of those lessons where I had a lot of room for improvement, so I got far more out of it than I'm sure anyone else did. I'm still reflecting on the subject in an effort to improve.
Monday some friends came over and helped us butcher, grind, & wrap our slaughtered pig. I got to visit with my friend and hold the baby while the dad's and kids did all the work.
March 23rd, Washington received his Arrow of Light Award along with the remainder of the Webelos pins & the 20 pins patch. He set that goal and we actually made it. The same day, Hypatia didn't get to go to iFAMILY or Pack mtg because she got a fairly bad case of pink eye from the friends that helped us with the pig. She didn't like having to stay home when fun things were going on.
I felt impressed to improve on several areas of life this month (something about a new baby and bigger projects - go figure). I've felt a strong desire and, believe it or not, ability to eat healthier - for the entire family too. In fact, I even made a commitment to NOT EVEN ONCE eat refined sugars. I've been loving how much better I feel and the empowerment of healthier food choices. I've also been working on finding the balance in my life between self-reliance and serving my fellowmen (inspired by my RS lesson). I'm amazed at how little I actually do for others outside of my family and am attempting to remedy that -- I know, seasons, but it has been an eye-opener. I've also felt impressed to be more valiant at keeping the Sabbath day holy. I put together a Sabbath basket with all those activities that we're supposed to work on but never get around to because my Sabbath was always occupied with naps and planning. Like Family History, letter writing, Personal Progress & Faith in God programs, faith promoting stories, etc. It's been interesting how different the Sabbaths have felt since focusing on making it an extra special day.
We went to a friend's open house, followed by dropping Hypatia off to go with Aristotle on another delivery. It's becoming quite the papa/child date. Aristotle's birthday came and went on March 27th. I think he even had to go work.
Then, in March we decided to start a family blog so the kids could publish their papers and have some type of accountability for their schoolwork. Austen was especially happy because she has been wanting one for quite some time now. We decided on the same name as the newspaper we started after reading 'Little Women'. We're attempting to figure out how to operate the blog, how to download pictures and how to get in the habit of recording our life experiences on a fairly regular basis. Overall it has been a fun and busy month.
