Where do I begin with March. We finished planting the garden at the beginning of March. This year we did Tomato plants (12 Roma and 6 Sweet 100 Cherry), Corn, Lettuce, Bell Pepper, Celery, Onions, Carrots, Herbs, Banana Peppers, Watermelon, Spinach, Beans, Jicama, Radish, Zucchini and added 6 more Green Chili's plants. In addition to what we already have. I'm excited this year because the Apple trees look really good and have a good amount of Apples on them already. Last year I had enough to can 6 quarts of Apple Pie Filling. I hope to be able to can more this year and maybe some apple sauce. The grapes are coming in strong and can't wait until the middle of summer to eat them.
The kids had 2 weeks off for Spring Break. It started off good and we did a little hike at the San Tan Mountains with some friends. In all it was 3 moms and 10 kids. We ended up hiking about 2 miles and I carried Mattie on my shoulders most of the way. Towards the end of the hike my friend offered to carry Mattie so I could have a break. Mattie loved it and wanted nothing to do with me. I would call her name and she would turn her head away from me and not look at me. After the hike we got lunch and I took all of the older boys for the afternoon to play. After that day I think the Spring Break went downhill. Everyone got sick. Mattie ended up having tonsillitis. This was a total shocker since she showed no signs of it. David had ear infection and respiratory infection. Dan and I both had strep and I also had bronchitis and Dan also had a sinus infection. We had our fair share of doctor's appointments and medication.
Picture of all the kids at the beginning of the hike.
Janelle carried Mattie towards the end of the hike. She loved Janelle and wanted nothing to do with me.
Michael is in Cub Scouts and this was his first time doing the Derby Car. Unfortunately he did not do very well but still had a good time. I did not know that you could re-shape your car. Next year it will be much better.
March was also the Blue and Gold Banquet. He made a cake with dad and decorated it as the Arizona State Flag. Mattie and David helped bake the cake.
In addition to the busy Month for Scouts. Michael had his first Science Fair at school. He did it on gravity, and do objects fall at the same rate of speed. We were surprised to learn that night that he received second place for his grade level. He had fun doing the project once he got started. He was very excited to learn that he got second place. He typed everything out himself and we helped him correct the grammar. He cut the paper out and glued it on the poster board. I'm very proud of him and he worked very hard on his project.
The Friday before Easter (Good Friday). Turned out to be a really bad Friday. I was at the shed in the back yard. David and Mattie were playing in a pile of rocks and Dan was running on the treadmill that is on the back porch. I always feel like I have to explain this because we are not white trash, just moved it there while we do some work inside the house. Michael came outside and Mattie saw Michael and wanted to go over to him. She decided to walk behind the treadmill. I saw it happen and before I could react she fell on the treadmill, while Dan was running. I ran over to her and picked her up. Her hand was hurt and she was bleeding from the mouth. I took her inside and was cleaning her up. I knew she was hurt but did not realize how bad it was. She was doing a low soft cry, which is not normal for her. Dan was with me and said "We have to go to the hospital know". I asked why and he showed me her hand. I will admit I panic thinking her hand was broken. It was cut and swollen. We got everyone in the truck and I sat with Mattie in the back. She was in her car seat but because of the sore on her shoulder we could not buckle her in. We took her to the ER that is luckily just a few minutes from the house. The hospital was great and thank goodness not busy. We walked in, and she was already in the system, so we did not have to do any registration . They front desk confirmed names and the address and then when we were ready to sit in the waiting room, the nurse came out to get us. He took us to the triage area, took one look at Mattie and said forget it, I'm putting you in a room. The doctor followed us back and told us that he was going to listen while the nurse talked to us, so that we don't have to repeat ourselves. They gave her some pain medication right away. Turns out her hand was not broken but had a rubber burn on it and also her shoulder. For a few weeks we cleaned and wrapped the hand twice a day. Her shoulder we only had to keep cover a little over a week. It has healed really well and she no longer has it wrapped. I can honestly say she hated me for those few weeks. She would see me coming with the medication and gauze and we try to run from me and start crying. Her situation could have been so much worse and I'm sorry it happened and hate myself for having it happen but I'm thankful that it was not worse. We were told that if the burn went any farther she would have been transported to the burn hospital. I think about how fast all of it happened. From the time of her injury to the time in the truck was about 5 minutes. From the registration desk to the time the nurse called us back was about 2 minutes. We were at the hospital for about a 1 and 1/2.
After the doctor left and just given her some pain medication. Look at her forehead all wrinkled up and her face. This is her I'm in pain face.
While waiting for the X-ray results she and dad fell asleep.
David and Michael. They both were so well-behaved. They sat in the chair the entire time watching cartoons. The nurse brought them Popsicles.
Hand picture is at the hospital.
Doing the bandage change at home the first night.
Shoulder.
Face at night. It was a little banged up and had a few bruises from the fall.
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