Little Okie Homestead

As I reach the end of this pregnancy I'm getting anxious and excited to meet our Baby Girl and snuggle and cuddle her. I keep thinking that I can't wait until she comes out! I can't wait to see her pretty little face and her cute little toes! But it also has me thinking about how life is going to change for my boys! Monkey has already expressed how he gets ignored when a baby is around. This poor guy still asks me questions when people in the store comment at how cute Goose is but fail to say anything about him. He doesn't understand and now there is going to be a new baby... and a girl baby at that. Girl babies seem to hold a different standard of cuteness to the public. People tend to admire little girls in their dresses and cute hair bows more then little boys wearing superhero shirts covered in dirt. And then poor Goose! ties been the baby now for almost 4 years! He's going to have to adjust to having a mommy that has to put a babies needs first. He's go...

Today has been a hard day! My pregnancy hormones sure put me to the test today and failed miserably! I slept or laid in bed the majority of the day. The boys watched movies when I was resting or it was actually nap time and they were resting too. This is part of the season we are end as I'm nearing the end of my pregnancy. Some days life needs to be slow and we need a TV in bed day! We did venture out and get the chicks and chicken food and Hubby prescription (which had its own emotional stress with the fact that the stupid medical insurance we have to carry does absolutely nothing but cost us money and helps pay for nothing!). By the time I was home I was ready to curl up in the fetal position and just cry my eyes out! I couldn't handle listening to either of the boys say another word. I knew where I was at and I knew I needed a few minutes to pull myself together and I needed to ask for help. Today I'm grateful to be living so close to a really good friend. I knew ...

A day in the life of beginning a farm while building a tiny house.... First we didn't get home to the micro house until 9:30 last night as Hubby was trying to get the flooring finished (he only has one small section in the kids room left) before the dark set in and before he had to head back to work for the next week in a half. Then of course we have to get everything cleaned up and prepared for rain that is coming in before we could head home. We were out there putting paint samples on the wall to make sure we got the right colors and I brought out dinner so Hubby could eat at a decent time. So we get home and frantically get the boys in bed so we relax and hopefully fall asleep. Of course with all the drama of the night we were both wide awake so we laid in bed watching TV until after midnight! Not a good thing to do when the next day is booked full! Oh forgot to mention that Hubby had a flat tire we had to figure out before we could head home too! So the morning starts with no...

Man could we handle more stuff right now? I'm not sure that we actually could but of course we will get through it like everything else. Before we left for Colorado and when we got back Hubby worked his butt off trying to get progress done on the tiny house. I'm proud to say that we finally have electric and plumbing throughout our tiny house. Except for the boys room because it's still full of cabinets that we have to get moved out of there when it comes time to install them. He was actually even able to get half of the insulation up as well. Isn't our tiny bathtub awesome!  Progress made right? We should be so happy! Well we were. Then we came to the realization that paying full rent and finishing the tiny house was not going to happen in time for Baby Girl to arrive. So what's the next step? That's what we had to decide. I know it's not pretty but it isn't really that bad.  It was cheap which we needed and Hubby is able to fix...

I've shared that we are having a home birth. We still are planning that with all the changes that we have going on. Because of us doing a home birth we had decided to forego the gender ultrasound because my midwife does not require us to have an ultrasound. So we had spent months telling everyone that we weren't going to find out the sex of baby #3. Then I started to thinking. I would have the ultrasound right before Christmas and how much fun would it be to not only surprise my family when we were home visiting but also to surprise Hubby as well. Hubby was not thrilled about us not finding out. He wants to be prepared and know that we have everything we need before baby arrives. So it came down to debating in my head which surprise would be more worth it, waiting until baby comes or surprising everyone on Christmas morning. Well by the title you might have guessed what I decided to do. I had a friend babysit the boys so I could go and have the ultrasound done. I made sure ...

I say this will a heart full of emotions from getting through our first full week of more structured homeschool. It has been a huge adjustment not only for me but mostly for Monkey. He loves doing worksheets and sitting at the table reading directions from the workbooks I buy at Wal-Mart and working by himself. But now it's time to bring in more learning than just practicing writing words and counting simple objects on a page and writing numbers. I've gone back and forth a lot on what type of education I want to give my boys. I know that I want them to love learning. I want them to love to read. I want to them have fun during their school work. I have looked at curriculum after curriculum and still haven't found any I really love. I thought Sonlight was perfect but then changed my mind. I wanted to try unschooling and let the kids learn as they play and enjoy life but they were begging for structure work. So finally I looked at Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool  again. ...

More and more progress just keeps being made! We can't believe how fast things can come together! We can't wait to see it finished. It's so funny! Each step we take forward we beam with excitement! We can feel it getting closer and closer...but then when we start to discuss what steps are coming next we once again realize just how much work we still need to do and how much money we still need to accomplish it! These days we wonder if it will ever really become a reality or if it will forever be a dream. These are the days that I think about starting a GoFundMe page just to see if anyone would help make our dreams come true. But then I think about why that page was created and I think that what I'm looking to accomplish just doesn't fit what the page is trying to accomplish.  But to move on to the more exciting stuff like pictures and the progress of the outside of the house being finished! This time I decided I would actually label so areas so you co...

We have made so much progress on the tiny house! It feels like it is finally coming together. Like it might actually happen and become our reality! We couldn't be more excited. But because I have been a big slacker with sharing updates here with you it's going to take a few post so that I can share lots of the progress with pictures. So here's we go from where we last left off. Don't remember what I last shared because it's been so long? Ya me too! Check out the foundation and the floor plan because apparently I have written about anything else! So the next step was to get the framing of the walls built. Thanks to the wonderful baby growing inside me and the fact that I have never in my life built a wall before I got to sit back and watch Hubby do all the work. I enjoyed watching the boys play and 'help' and reading on my kindle in the shade. Since Hubby has built walls before he was able to get the whole house framed in ONE day! It's paying ...

A few days ago I was in my bedroom listening to a podcast about the power of prayer. We all know that prayer has power, amazing power that we can not explain but it doesn't always mean we pray consistently or use it for the powerful tool it is. While listening to this podcast I kept feeling like I needed to make sure I was praying more consistently. It's one thing I'm awful at. I will pray if a friend asks for prayer and I will even pray for them for weeks or months if requested. But when it comes to lifting up my husband or my boys in prayer daily, it just doesn't happen. I forget to pray for everyday things, like keeping my husband safe while he's away at work, helping the boys maintain good attitudes throughout the day, and sanity for myself to work through the struggles that are bound to come up throughout the day with two boys stuck in the house because of the ice storm that just hit our area. So while I was listening to this podcast my brain started work...

I'm happily settling into my second trimester finally! It seemed like the first trimester would never end! This was the worst pregnancy that I have had so far. I have had nausea, exhaustion, crazy food cravings and plain just sickness. But that seems to have past. But with the second trimester has come a whole set of new pregnancy symptoms. I am getting headaches that knock me off my feet. The only way to get rid of them is to lay down, sometimes I have to take a nap for them to go away. I'm also having really bad ligament pain. I can't walk for long amounts of time without having horrible pain throughout that night. It's a little frustrating. BUT...along with the negative there is a lot of good! I have my energy back. I can actually am keep up on my housework as long as a headache doesn't take me down. I also feel more like myself again. My family is very excited that things are starting to return to normal. I'm cooking dinner when we are home, I haven't...

So I know it has been awhile since I have written anything but I have to tell you that I have sat down wrote part of post and then get called away for kids, laundry, dishes, meals, etc and things run into each other and I never get back to the computer. You should see my desk! It's covered in dust and spider webs because I hardly ever get a chance to sit down to do anything over here! I normally do my writing at night. It's when my brain just flows with ideas and I can write easily but I'm exhausted by 8pm (well really by 3pm but can't go to bed that early) so I'm in bed as soon as I get the kids in their beds. This week I'm officially 8 weeks and things are looking up! I have started to remember my vitamins daily which means that I'm getting help with my nausea. I've also learned that if I make sure that I don't get hungry that I don't feel sick. Another trick I learned from a friend is to do my best to stay away from sugar because it's...

I have been having a problem getting the email to switch over from the heart of a homemaker to In His Perfect Timing so I'm making some changes and I don't want you to miss out on anything. Please check back over the next few days and make sure that you are still getting emails from the blog. If not please resign up so you don't miss any of our adventures as I try to fix this. Thanks!

I shared our official plans on facebook but I know not everyone saw it so I want to make sure and share here. These are the final plans. Nothing can be changed now because we have already framed all the first floor walls. This is the first floor and we have all the walls framed. It's exciting to see things coming together. I can finally start to visualize what it will look like and how small it will actually be. I love it though! We are so excited to see it coming together and the boys are starting to be able to see it too. I think that's the most exciting part! Goose can give you a complete tour of where every room is going to be. Goose loves being outside hanging out with Daddy while he's working. I have been asked how in the world we are all going to fit in this tiny house and I'm hoping this will show some of the ways we are going to make it work with a growing family. The boys will both be on top bunk beds and we are making the bottom beds to fold up agains...

Our real life homeschool is very laid back during this part of our year. We love being outside and enjoying time with friends. Warmer months it's always easier to have play dates and enjoy the pool in the hot afternoon. We are starting to get a little more structure into our days though. Our typical monring looks like this: Boys wake up naturally. Normally between 6:30 and 7:00 in the morning.  Boys read or play quietly while Hubby gets out the door and Mommy gets breakfast. With a baby on the way I have to eat as quickly as I can in the morning.  Boys eat breakfast. They normally make themselves cereal as they are tired of the eggs and bacon that I normally make them and they enjoy the independence.  Everyone gets dressed and brushes teeth for the day. Morning chores come next. Goose normally picks up the living room, bathroom and our room. There's always something on the floor that needs to be put back where it belongs. He also helps me getting laundry start...

I wasn't called to be normal! I was called to be different from the rest of the world and I feel it almost daily how different my family truly is! Homeschooling, homesteading, and homemaking are so far from the norm in our society. Then if you add in that I'm a Christian who is married to an unbeliever that adds a whole new aspect to being different. And of course our goal of tiny living. But it's working! Our family is a strong family unit. We work together, spend time together and make decisions together. We choose to make sacrifices to keep our family strong and connected and we love helping people around us when an opportunity arises. Homemaking is an important part of our lives and how we choose to be different. I'm not just a stay at home mom. I don't just merely stay home. I'm actively making a home for my family. I clean, bake, organize and create a loving and caring atmosphere for my family. I make choices on saving money by cooking most even...

It's that time again! For nausea, hiccups and headaches. Well actually this is the first time I have suffered from any of those but everyone will be happy to know that after 2 pregnancies I'm finally starting one with pregnancy symptoms! Did I really think I would be lucky enough to get away with a third one without any morning sickness, heartburn and whatever else most women experience? I was hoping so but I'm happy to have the few pregnancy symptoms to come along with this next little one! It's still very early. I'm only beginning week 5 but I want to share everything I'm experiencing as life is growing inside me! It's a wonderful time and I can't wait to see who God brings into our lives. Not just the little one but for a support system and other mama friends. So to start out these last few weeks have been great! I've experienced symptoms very early! I was exhausted for almost 2 weeks and could barely function. Then I got an awful stomach bug...

I was trying to read more each week and at least complete one book a week. That's not happening. I have so much to do between homeschool, housekeeping, homesteading, cooking healthy meals, and helping build the tiny house that reading a book each week is just not going to happen. So instead I'll just share what I'm reading and make sure to share a review whenever I might actually finish a book. Below is what I'm reading in order of importance. I'm a person that just can't read one book at a time. I also lose interest in books sometimes and that causes a problem with trying to finish it but I do try to finish books I start as long as they are benefiting me in some way. Currently I'm reading... Desperate by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson Strong Mothers, Strong Sons  by Meg Meeker The Five Love Languages of Children  by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell The Unprocessed Child   by Valerie Fitzenreiter

In homeschooling there are so many options... Classical Homeschooling Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Unschooling Unit Studies Montessori Then you start looking at all the different types of curriculums you can buy... Sonlight My Father's World Saxton Abeka Online Homeschools and Private Schools It can become so overwhelming! I went to school for teaching. I completed my associates degree in human services with an emphasis on early childhood education. I taught in all different age classrooms while getting my degree and had my own pre-kindergarten classroom for a year before I became a personal nanny. Then Monkey came along and I never returned to work. If anyone can homeschool especially at this age it should be me! I've taught this age before. The problem is I'm homeschooling because I don't want to send Monkey or Goose off to a traditional school that has class for 7 hours or more a day with homework. I don't want to simply do school at home ....

Building the foundation of our house on top of the trailer is one of the most important pieces of our tiny house. If our floor is not built properly or strong enough then our entire project will fall apart in front of our eyes! Hubby has studied all different ways that mobile homes and tiny homes are built and read about the most common problems people encounter to try and save us some future problems. First we needed to add 10 foot 2x6 boards to the trailer to expand our living space from 8 feet to 10 feet wide. (Picture 1 and 2 above). Of course the boys want to be apart of every step which we love even when it slows it down sometimes. And of course it's still summer so getting them to wear anything but underwear when they are home is about impossible. But with the heat I would be running around in my underwear too if I could ;) After we had all the 2x6 in place we add plywood on top to create a sub-sub-floor. (Picture below). One of the problems many people encounter i...