Little Okie Homestead

As I sit here waiting for the clock to move closer towards midnight I just can't calm my mind down. I just keep thinking do we have everything? Hoping that I haven't forgotten anything important that would cost a bunch to replace. I'm worried about what I will experience once we arrive. I'm worried about how Hubby will react to such a stressful situation. So what am I packing for? A spur of the moment trip to Oklahoma. Hubby's mom has been sick for awhile but with them not being close we have just been waiting to see how things play out. That is what he wanted to do so now we got the phone call that we weren't quite ready to hear. I guess there is a chance that she could pull through this but it's so low that we don't want to risk it. It comes at the perfect time and most imperfect time. Obviously we don't want to loose his mom but his work is slow so making a trip to OK at this moment isn't going to cause much of a difference except on our s...

So to follow up to this  post here's what I plan to do this week and then modify it each week after that! This week I'm going to start planning! I'm going to pick a theme and start to roll with it. I'm thinking our first theme will be around Groundhog's Day, and Daddy's birthday which is the same day! I'm going to request books from the library, find out what programs to DVR so we can watch the groundhog. Make daddy a groundhog themed birthday card, maybe go observe a field of prairie dogs (the closest thing to groundhog's around here). I will make worksheets that have words themed around what we are learning about to help Monkey practice writing. Also do some math and number learning with baking a birthday cake for daddy. Even though I have all these great ideas that I want to plan out in more detail and of course accomplish as well I'm not going to allow myself to stress about getting it all done. I'm going to enjoy the time and activitie...

Sometimes having a thankful spirit can be difficult. We go through seasons where it's easier to say "Why me?" than it is to see the positive things in our lives. I have been through many in my seven year marriage and honestly those are the worst memories of my marriage! So how do you change? You make a choice! Yes, it really is that simple! You might think, "OK this lady doesn't know anything about living a hard life!" And in many cases that would be true! But I have had many of my own struggles. I didn't have good role models growing up to teach me how to be a good wife. The first 3+ years of our marriage was awful! We fought all the time...through our honeymoon phase! We almost split up several times! But we didn't get married to just divorce and move on. We made a commitment to each other and we were going to stick it out! You know when it started to change in a big way? When I started letting Hubby be the leader of the household an...

This week I have done 3 very intense workouts with Jillian Michaels   And on my gosh have I been sweating up a storm! And man my muscles on feeling it! My plan was to workout every morning but Tuesday and Thursday I just had no desire to do it and guess which days I felt the laziest and didn't get much accomplished...yet those days! Thursday I didn't even get dressed! I just didn't feel like doing anything! (I did do work around the house but nothing extra). Well today I felt like I did yesterday except I knew that I had to get my workout in! I felt so good and not even tired on Monday and Wednesday that I couldn't skip again...plus if I keep skipping then how am I ever going to lose the fat that I hate so much?  So even though the kids were up early, I had no motivation, and I just wanted to sit down and eat a big breakfast I didn't! I avoid the temptation of my normal fat inducing routine and did the 20 minute DVD! I got Pilot back to sleep (so I should b...

The thought of trying to start homeschooling has been overwhelming and I just haven't been able to get started with it no matter how many times I tired. This time I'm doing things a little different! I'm researching, planning and relaxing! I'm hoping this will be what I need to finally get started! I'm going to make plans in advance for special activities we are going to do and plan our lessons around that. I'm going to incorporate some reading and writing everyday. Numbers or math at least 3 times a week and then art and/or music once a week. I will add things into our reading and other lessons around national holiday's, history, and science. We already do reading everyday. We read several books throughout the day and then at least two books and a Bible story before bed. My goal for this area is to plan and pick better books for what we are currently learning about when we go to the library each week. I also want to start scripture reading and memor...

Teaching begins very young! Some say your baby can learn from inside your body but whether or not that is true or not they do learn quickly once they come out! There are many things that you can do to help your baby learn and grow and be prepared for the learning road they have ahead of them. Today I'm focusing on reading! Goose loves reading books...well he likes listening and looking as long as he has a book in his hands that he can chew on :) We read stories throughout the day with his older brother Monkey and we have to sit with Goose otherwise he will get mad that he isn't included in reading time. Last night he did the cutest thing...he "read" the story along with me! Reading to babies can help them develop more words for their vocabulary and help them learn to talk. He sure was "talking" up a storm through our night time story time. I think it bugged Monkey a bit but he still enjoys having his brother around. Reading to babies also can he...

My phone took the video upside down but it's still so cute to listen to his little laugh! I love it! He's the cutest baby ever!

As I lay here on the floor watching my almost six month wiggle and babble as he reaches for his toys and is starting to do the beginning movements to start crawling I'm reminded of how fast time flies by! I feel like it wasn't that long ago when I was nine months pregnant and feeling tired and ready to meet our new little addition to our family. Now that sweet little baby boy that joined us in July is wanting to crawl, eat and developing quite a different personality than his brother! It reminds me of the advice I received so many times when I was expecting our first baby... "Enjoy every moment! It will go by so fast!" They all were right! That first baby of ours is now almost four years old and I have no idea where the time went. Today and everyday enjoy special time with each baby of yours!

Does anyone else have ideas for blog posts running through their mind all day long? Can you lay there in bed and write out your next post while trying to go to sleep? Then when you finally have a second to sit down at the computer to write something your mind is just blank? I'm mean nothing what-so-ever! This is all I can think about right now! I'm so frustrated that I finally have a moment where our oldest is in bed and the youngest is cuddling with Daddy and I can't think of anything to write. Well, that's what has been going on here. I have all these ideas and now nothing! Come back tomorrow and maybe I will have something and maybe not. I guess we will have to see what my brain decides to do. Seriously...am I alone in this?

Well I'm not sure there should be an exclamation point up there because I haven't been doing so well. I still keep finding myself in this funk that I'm not sure how to fix but I'm trying. I have only 5 more pounds to lose until I reach my pre-pregnancy weight!!! Ya!!! I only was able to workout 3 days last week but that's good still. I was able to drop 6 pounds in the week just by doing a little exercise in the morning and watching my portion size. So here's to another good week...that I have yet to do any form of exercise but I've been watching portion size! Starting pre-homeschooling hasn't gone well either. I really can't make an excuse because I should just do it but I've been in this funk and it's leading me into vegging on the couch in front of the TV way to much during the day. Add a teething baby to the funk and I'm just screwed. So starting today I'm not turning on the TV! I will only do it at night when I'm nursing a...

With the new year here I can't help but think about the things that I so desperately need to change in my daily life. Things that I just can't put off any longer and just need to do. No "New Years Resolutions" here because who ever sticks to those anyway. What I'm talking about is honest life changing behavior that I need to do for myself and for my family! Here's my list that I plan to incorporate throughout the next few weeks and months! A daily schedule for myself (including weekends!)  Getting up at 5 am (or whenever Pilot wakes up to nurse close to that time) Work out Scripture Reading Making sure Hubby gets breakfast in the morning and has a lunch to take to work with him Start more structured/planned learning for Monkey I can't put this off any longer. Before I know it we will have to start kindergarten, 1st grade...and right now I'm so not prepared for any of it. No motivation to plan activities or to them carry them out. I'm s...

Picture borrowed from  Christian Film Database Another movie review! I was so thrilled when I was walking through Best Buy before Christmas and saw this  DVD sitting on the shelf. If you are a boy mom like myself you know that they love super heroes. I struggle to find age appropriated super hero movies for Monkey to watch. He loves Spiderman, Batman, Iron Man, ect. and he has not seen any of the movies/shows that go along with them. Wait...he did watch The Avengers with Daddy one day while I was out. I haven't seen that one so I can't say what I think of it for a 3 year old. Anyway, I love Veggie Tale movies! I think that they do a good job of teaching lessons to kids in a way that they understand and I love the lessons they teach! This one is great because it is about fear and how if you trust God fear can't freeze you. If you have kids, especially boys this movie is great! It helps them get the superheros they want to watch without the bad guys th...

Christmas morning was really fun this year! Monkey was really excited and he actually understood about Santa so this was the first year that he visited. We let Monkey open his Santa gifts before breakfast and then did the rest afterwards. I think it was great doing it this way because he was entertained while waiting for breakfast but we weren't all starving while we opened presents.  Goose wasn't ready to be awake but I couldn't let him miss out on Christmas morning so I went ahead and woke him up. As you can tell by his poor little "why did you wake me up" face! Monkey got a remote control car from Santa because that is what he asked for but he also brought him a bag of Chex Mix because he loves eating it with Popa. Can you guess what he was more excited for? Goose opened his gifts from Santa too. He got 4 little board books to play with or really eat :) Here's Monkey's with his remote control truck. It came with a trailer that tows a mu...

I'm almost finished! One more post after this from Christmas and then it's on to the new year finally! My sister has many families to celebrate Christmas with so we always celebrate early. This year we started a new family tradition of baking cookies for the people that help our community. Here we are delivering them to the paramedics! Here we are at the fire department! They were so nice taking us to see the fire truck and giving all the kids plastic fire hats. They even pulled out the jaws of life and other tools they use. It was so much fun to see how excited they were to be appreciated and share what they do with the kids. Then we headed to the police station! This was the first time that I have ever been in the back of a police station! It was really fun to see where the officers do their reports, training, and bring in the criminals to put them in the cells. Of course it was fun to get in the jail cell and get a picture too! The bars for this cell even have a ...

Christmas was a blast here and I'm finally getting to a point where I can share a recap! My hubby has been off work for almost 2 weeks and we have been doing family time along with a bunch of other things! Monkey was able to drink hot chocolate with Grandma as they decorated the tree! Goose joined in on the fun of decorating the tree too! Hanging ornaments with care!  Most of the time ;) Every year we bake Christmas cookies at Granny's house.  Here is is making reindeer! Goose made a few too with Mommy's help! Then he joined Daddy on the couch for some cuddle time! How cute is that? Monkey was also part of our churches annual Christmas program.  This year he sang Joy to the World. During practice he refused to sing & so I bribed him with ice cream after church if he sang on Sunday. He sang and smiled and even did the hand moments! Christmas Part One of Three! Read part two here  and part three  her...