April has come and gone and I haven’t posted a monthly update! Time flies when you are busy!

What happened this month? For the family:

* Easter spent with family

* Paige got second place in the Kossuth County Poetry contest for her age level!
* We lost our dog, Shyla, after a lengthy illness. She had been a good, loyal dog for 11 years!
* I have a new niece and the kids have a new cousin! We are all excited for my brother and his family!
* We adopted a new to us dog, Emmie, on April 21 and unfortunately had to put her to sleep on April 30 due to her kidneys failing. We are happy that we got to be with us for 10 days and had a good time with us!
* I cleaned the living room carpet. This is a big deal everyone! The water was just nasty!
* I cleaned out the closet in the living room to hold more things much more efficiently!
* Shali had her first prom!

Now, following the outline set by the Preparedness Challenge on Homestead Revival, I will let you know what we did to be a little bit more prepared and sustainable.

Food Storage:
* Added rice, flour, oats, and more canned goods to the food storage
* Added a half of beef to the freezer (yum, so good!)

Emergency Preparedness:
* Started a 72 hour kit in case we need to leave home unexpectedly
* Started a vehicle emergency kit for my van in case we become stranded somewhere. Shali’s car will be next.
* Added to the First Aid supplies: gauze, pads, tape, ibuprofen, band-aids, antibiotic ointment

Sustainable Living:
* Started bell peppers indoors
* Kids started watermelon seeds indoors (I can’t wait to see their results!)
* I tried to started onion seeds indoors, but that did not work out. I have bought started bulbs now and just need to get them planted.
* Bought two Blueberry shrubs
* Started thinning out raspberries.

I haven’t been able to get much done in the garden with the much needed moisture we have been getting. I might just have to kick off my sandals and get muddy! I hope to get onions and potatoes planted in the next week. I have some potatoes to plant that I spouted myself, but I will have to buy some to supplement. I also want to get my 5 gallon buckets ready to plant tomatoes.

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

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