Little Okie Homestead

There are some days, like the one I'm having today, that makes having faith a hard thing to trust in. I have shared before that my hubby doesn't want any more kids and that I do. I have always felt that we would have four kids and I have been counting on God to provide us the kids He wants us to have. Today I took Goose to the hematologist to get his blood checked to find out if he has the same blood disorder as Monkey. With Monkey we knew when he was just a few months old what he had but didn't get the actual diagnosis until he was a year old. With Goose they tested him after birth and everything was fine. He has been developing on track and showing no signs of HS. At Goose's last check up they did a blood draw to test for everything again as a final make sure everything is OK  blood test. Well it came back with some abnormalities. I figured everything was fine that they were just being over cautious and made an appointment with our hematologist. Well that was to...

Have you heard about common core? It is absolutely horrifying when you read about it and discover what the government is trying to teach our children. Now we are a homeschool family and this still affects us! It also affects many children that I care about and I really want to find out more about it and how to stop it! Our schools now have the power to collect data on our children while in school about everything in their lives and ours. They will not only  collect test scores but income levels, our children's posture and pages upon pages of other data that can not be related to raising the education level in our country. When you start reading things about common core it will scare you! Or it should! Please do your research! Start right now and help our next generation before it is too late! We need to stand and stop this now. I'm still new to my research but I'm so horrified that I have to share so you too can start looking into it. I know many of ...

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...

Marriages are under attack every where! I see it happening in friends families whether part of a church or not. I think it's evils way of trying to break our spirits! If he breaks a family he not only breaks the parents spirits but the children as well! Now some situations can turn out better than they were before but there will always be scars left on everyone. I don't know about you but I want to keep my family together at all costs! The great news is Biblically it's not that hard! Debi refers to Proverbs 17:22 and 15:13 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. - Proverbs 17:22 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit. - Proverbs 15:13 So in laymen terms smile! Be happy! Let your husband know no matter what your current circumstances are that as long as you are all together you will be happy and make the best of it! If you haven't been living this way, which I haven't been lately, ...

Being convicted by God is never fun. I know because it happens quite often if I would listen to it more. Most recently I was talking to someone to help me figure out some issues I have been having with our current living situation and with Monkey. I reached out to her because she knows my family really well but also has chosen to live the homemaking life style that God has called us to do. She also is raising 7 children in her home so she has been through every stage that I know I will go through with Monkey. Basically, she is what I would consider an expert in homemaking. (I have been watching legal shows lately that always have 'expert' witnesses.) Anyway, I knew that she would be completely honest with me and that she would have great advice. So I packed up my tissue, a trash bag, and my water and headed out in the car to talk to her in the parking lot on the phone so I could have some privacy. I expected to cry during our conversation, more from hormones than the subject...

So I finally downloaded pictures and I thought I'd share the cute pictures of my little boy after his surgery he had in April. No one should have surgery at 3 years old but poor little Monkey had to have his gallbladder removed due to his blood disorder called spherecytosis.  I had to stay in bed with him afterwards. He didn't want me to go anywhere. However, being pregnant made it so I had to use the bathroom quite often so luckily he was OK with Aunt Tiffany or Grandma holding his hand while I went. He hadn't been aloud to eat for almost 48 hours. He was starving! He ate almost the whole plate of pancakes and the nurses were shocked he could eat so much. They kept encouraging us to get him up and out of the room later in the afternoon after the surgery. So we headed out in the wagon first. He wasn't to happy about being moved and we made him walk a little bit in the room but he was glad to be out.  Granny and Great Po...

Yep I'm being wimpy but not in the way that I can't handle the pregnancy or the baby although I know I have times like that too. But in the way that I hate leaving Monkey. Last week I had to leave him twice and you would think that I would like the break since I sometimes complain about being so tired after having him all day (he has a ton of energy and I just don't). Nope! That wouldn't be the case. Instead I freak out about him leaving. I just can't stand him going somewhere or being with someone else.  This isn't a case of 'staying at home with him' either. We have had date nights where we have my parents babysit or even someone else. I have done night classes at church and had a babysitter. I have had girl nights out and had babysitters and I welcomed them all. Heck, I planned them and arranged for him to have a babysitter and gladly took the time to enjoy myself. Not now! I can't think of any other reason then the fact that I'm pregnant ...

If you have read this  post  or this  post  you have an idea of what has been going on. If you haven't here are all the details. It's going to be long and detailed because it's a full month of medical drama but you will not believe what we have been through if you stick through it all! March 31st was Monkey's 3rd birthday and he had a big party that was going to start in a matter of less than an hour when Hubby decided that he had to be seen by a doctor NOW! So a friend and I rushed him into urgent care and after he was all signed in I headed to my parents house where Monkey was awaiting guest to arrive. Shortly after arriving I got the phone call that they were taking Hubby to the ED instead because the urgent care office couldn't help him but he wanted me at the party, so I stayed.  My friend was texting me updates and it seemed he was getting the help he needed. I tried to enjoy the party and enjoy watching Monkey play with all his friends.  After ...

So I'm finally at a place where I can update what has been happening. It has been a crazy month. So Hubby is still in the hospital. He has this rare lung infection that is causing fluid build up in his chest cavity and although he is on a very powerful antibiotic it has not been killed off. They have drained most of the fluid when they found that some of the fluid had turned to solid. That's when the talk of surgery started. They did everything they could and it was breaking down. They were going to discuss surgery this past Wednesday when they decided to try one more option. So later that day they put in a larger chest tube and a new small one to help get the fluid out and hoped that it would break down the solid part. Well thank God that worked! They have drained almost all of the fluid and are thinking that he might be able to return home later this week. We will find out more today after the doctors review the CT scan from yesterday.  When all this was going on Mo...

This month is a hard month for us as a family. We have been hit with every obstacle that could come our way and it just seems ridiculous. Most of them seem completely out of the blue and something that we are not prepared for and others are things that we knew were coming up but thought we were prepared for them except when you add everything together. Seriously I'm not sure what else we can take on.  Not all of it is bad but still adds stress. Needless to say I have been on my knees a bunch this month and it's only the 6th! I'm praying and trusting God with everything that is going on. He is the only one that can see the big picture and knows where we are going. He's going to lead us to the right places and He will provide everything we need as long as I'm asking for it. I know because He gave me what I asked for but it just seems like He did it at the wrong time.  There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven. -E...

So I'm not done with my vacation photos yet (by a long shot) but I wanted to share some more true life struggles with everyone. I never want my life to look perfect to anyone because it's not and I know that it never will be as long as I'm here on earth. So here I go... Vacation was great. The stress of getting everything done before wasn't so great and now coming back isn't all that great either. I love being home and before we left I was in a great routine of being the homemaker that I'm striving to be and caring for my family. Now though it just isn't happening. I have no motivation to do pretty much anything. I just want to lay around and read (which is not something I was able to do on vacation). I have gotten all of the laundry done from our trip, the suit case back to the people we borrowed from, food in the house so we can eat at home, and I was even able to get the vacuuming done throughout the house. That's big accomplishment because of all ...

I'm not perfect. I think you already know that as no one is perfect on this earth even though sometimes people can look like it on the outside. I do post many things about the good things going on in my life because I would rather talk about those then dread on the bad or negative things. However today I'm going to make sure you know that I'm not perfect by a long shot. Since about last Wednesday (so over a week now)I have been struggling. I haven't been doing great in my alone time in the Word, I haven't been praying like I was, I'm craving foods that I shouldn't and eating them instead of praying about it and have gained a few pounds back, I'm not doing great on the house work and I'm struggling in making the right decisions in my parenting as Monkey is entering into this new independent/I'm not listening stage. I know what has caused this struggle and I have been working on it but I have been doing alone and not letting God help me through...

So about once every 6 weeks I struggle with the idea of be a SAHM. My hormones get all crazy and I get lethargic and can barley function much less be the mom that I want to be but here I am still a mom and still at home after 2 years.  It has been a long day with up and down battles with myself and Rex. I hate right now that on these days I'm stuck at home and can't get our of the house. It takes much more energy to load up a car and leave the house than to walk to the park that is almost right behind my house but still on days like this I want to get far away not just around the corner.  I did have some high points today that remind me why I love what I do.  We headed outside for some much needed sunshine and fresh air and played with chalk. This is Rex's first time playing with chalk and he really enjoyed it.  Another great thing about chalk is that it can be a fun way to teach as well. For Rex it is fun but for me not so much. See I'm allergic ...

Last night was a crazy night. We had a very busy day and Rex did great all day. He played great with all his cousins, he listened, he took a nap, he ate good so whatever happened in the few hours before bed I have no idea. The little turkey wanted to play outside in our backyard...no big deal. I just just finished watering our plants and Rex decided that it would be fun to play in all the water. Of course I told him no because it was after 7pm and I didn't want him wet. Well he didn't listen. Finally I had enough and decided it was time for a bath so we came inside. I got a phone call then and a friend needed me to babysit because of an awful car accident her family was in so I hurried upstairs through Rex in the bath (without letting him sit on the potty first because it normally doesn't matter if I do or don't) and I scrub him down. Miah comes up to the bathroom to watch Rex so I can leave. It ends up that I don't need to babysit so I'm getting ready to head b...

So our poor little guy is still sick. He now has a cough that keeps him up most of the night. Sunday night I spent most of the night sleeping in Rex's twin size bed with him. But since Miah was gone last night I decided that I would just move Rex to our bed. I put him in his bed and he kept waking up coughing and crying and he would calm down but only while I was in there. Once I left he would start crying again which would lead to coughing. I figured we would both get better sleep if we were together but I wasn't spending another night on a twin size bed when we have a California King size bed that would be empty all night. So we cuddled up and I slept really good. Rex woke up twice and coughed but I just helped him sit up and get it out and then he would drink some water and go back to sleep. Because the bed was so much bigger than his I didn't spend the night getting kicked! Miah and I had an agreement from the beginning that we would never allow our children to be in be...