April = NURTURE

April's word of the month was supposed to be GROW. But for the last week that I have been brainstorming about the word and how to apply it to my life, and I was coming up with nothing, nada, just a big blank. So tonight I thought, OK what else is associated with grow? And the word cultivate, and then nurture came to mind. Nurture clicked with me, and I started jotting down all of the things I could nurture, and I knew that was the word for me. Didn't plan on changing it, but it isn't too far off from grow! I am more excited now about this month and my word for it, NURTURE. I think my whole family will benefit. I have to also keep in mind my overall word of the year, BALANCE. Boy that is a tricky one. It isn't perfect every day, but when I can reflect back over the course of several days and feel like it has all fallen into place, that makes me feel so good inside and is worth striving for. So anyway, here is what I will work on this month: ...John - relationship top priority to me, find creative ways to show him respect and love and time. ...Asher - confidence in himself, creating art, imaginative play, board games, being a big brother. ...Allie - more one-on-one time just on the floor playing, being silly, sign language, singing. ...ME. I desperately need some rejuvenation and something out of the daily grind. I need a hair cut and a pedicure. I need to eat better and pamper myself a bit so that I can be a great wife and mom. ...scrapbooking - get photos organized and my ideas down on paper and implement plan of action to get all of our books caught up to date. ...less fortunate - donate boxes, go through more unused portions of house to donate. ...houseplants - need better maintenance care and also re-potting. April will be a busy month for us, with the baby chicks to still take care of, bees on the way, and the baby turkeys coming too. Also, John has his wisdom teeth taken out on the 14th, Asher has kindergarten registration on the 7th, and this week Ash is on Spring Break. I am so ready for Spring weather to arrive and to get going with fresh things on the farm! John has ordered fruit trees and they will arrive later in the month; he also bought 20 blueberry bushes from Lowe's today as well as raspberry bushes and one grape vine to replace a dead one in the vineyard. Quick funny story - the other day Asher and I were sitting on the couch and Anna the cat was on my lap. I was petting her, and she was shedding like crazy. Asher looked down, gasped, and said, "Mommy, stop! You're gonna rub all her fur off!" I just love the stuff he comes up with. :) Oh, and we are still waiting to hear back from our heat pump repair guy. Meanwhile we are able to run the emergency back up heat so we are doing alright, just burning through the propane. And on the subject of repairs, found out the deep freeze has at least one if not three things wrong with it. It isn't under warranty, cost us $150 for the guy to tell us that. He did write down the part numbers for us to order and install ourselves as to have Sears do it would cost almost $900 (freezer wasn't even that much!). So we have ordered the first part on the list, it should arrive tomorrow, and praying that fixes the problem.