Prairie Oak Homestead

Being a helpmeet to my husband is something God created me to be. Genesis 2:18 . It wasn't good for man to be alone. He needed a woman. He needed a woman to be complete and to help him. As a helpmeet to my husband, I help him with wood splitting , stacking, any repairs that need tools handed to him, doing household chores that he is not able to do as he is working all day, etc. I'm a listening ear for him when he needs someone to listen. Doing all these things, I glorify God because I am doing what He created me to do. As a Christian, I want to glorify the Lord. That pleases Him. And because I love Him, I want to please Him. I'm created to love my children. Titus 2:4 . God created women to give birth, not men. :) We have a special duty. As the husband works by the sweat of his brow, woman nurture the children. I realize this is not always the case. Some woman work and the children go to daycare. Some instances that is a necessity. But, if you are able, w...

Despite today's rain raining on my parade, I still have the wonderful memory of yesterday filled with sunshine and time with my husband. He surprised me with lunch at an Italian restaurant that serves gluten free pasta and bread. It was sooooo good! Then he took me to the mall and let me shop. He walked around with me, was very pleasant and kind, and carried my bags. He was gentle and loving. He didn't complain about me taking forever to find something decent. It really reminded me of when we first started dating. It was so relaxing and enjoyable! He also bought me some real perfume for the first time ever. It was the "real" good stuff, not from Walmart. I felt like a princess all day. His actions made it one of the best days we ever had. The stuff wasn't what made it great. It was his gentlemanness. I will remember it always.

Starbucks came out with this on May 5th. I just got the chance to try it last night. All I can say is WOW! It was wonderful! If I didn't know it was gluten free, I wouldn't believe it. But, it is and it's very moist and flavorful. They did a really good job with it. It cost $1.95 and is worth it. (For an occasional snack. lol) You can see it is individually wrapped for your safety. It won't get cross contaminated this way. It is made in a gluten free facility and shipped to Starbucks. Woohoo!

Today, I'm going to finish mowing. I started yesterday, but it takes 2 hours to ride and I had to stop early to make a meal for someone and go out with my son and husband. I also have to debloom my rhubarb, weed my blackberries and strawberries, and weed whack the yard. That should keep me busy for a while. ;) I enjoy being outside on days like this. It's supposed to be in the 80's and sunny. Yay! One thing I wanted to mention about wearing pants again is that I seem to be more approachable. I have had several people talk to me that didn't when I wore skirts only. I think I must have intimidated them before. It's more difficult to wear pants. Really? You say. Yep. I have to be more mindful of my actions and speech. I can get too relaxed in jeans and forget myself. In a skirt/dress I was more aware of my attire and acted/spoke accordingly. Also, it was easier for people to see that I was a Christian and now to "see" that I'm a Christian yo...

Frugal tip #6 Hanging out laundry Today's tip is one of my favorite things to do. It is so peaceful outside to listen to the birds chirping and singing while you hang laundry. I can watch the chickens and the neighbors horses as I hang the laundry, too. It's just slow, simple, and my kinda thing. :) It saves tremendously on the power bill. It really does. This time of year all we use for power are lights at night, computers, washer, and oven. No air conditioning, lights during the day, tv during the day, or dryer. It helps. One tip for hanging clothes on the line that I can give is to hang your shirts upside down. This eliminates "clothespin shoulder". I had to post a picture of the chickens just coming out of the coop for the day. They are growing and I'm really looking forward to fresh eggs late summer/early fall. It's not the best picture. Sorry about that. lol.

I am soooo excited about this one!!! Monicals pizza is now selling gluten free pizza! That was my favorite pizza place before being diagnosed with Celiac. They have a dedicated gluten free work area, too. Gluten free utensils and pizza pans. *big cheesey grin* I am happy that there are restaurants starting to understand the gluten free diet. It helps so much to have options while out and about! Thank you Monicals!

This is so hard to do. For some reason, I have been extremely tired lately. I seem to lack motivation for daily things. I'm just tired. I don't like it. I probably need some different vitamins. Sometimes my immunosuppressive medication can be a little taxing. My body will eventually straighten up and I'll feel better. I'm just not very patient. lol. I need to mop, do dishes, run the dishwasher, do laundry, put away clothes, and hem some stuff. If I just get started it won't take very long to accomplish and maybe I can rest the rest of the day before supper. It's hard for me to just sit and rest. I think that's why we enjoyed traveling and speaking for missions. When we would go out of state to talk to a church, we would stay in a hotel. It was wonderful! You HAD to rest. There was nothing else to do but sit on the bed and read or watch tv. Well, yes, we did sit in the hot tub, too! It was nice. Maybe we need to just get away for a weekend s...

It's another rainy day here in Illinois. Living in the country our roads flood and wash out. It's not any fun when it dries up and there are huge holes in the road. Anyone who has visited us, knows this all too well. Hunter enjoys playing in it. I don't know why. He's a boy. lol. This is the road. You can't really tell, but I'm telling the truth, really. He doesn't look too happy here! lol. I told him to put his hood back on! Someday the road commissioner is going to fix our road. Ha! Well, he will someday. In the meantime, if you visit, just drive real slow and watch for the canyons.

Yesterday was a great day. Hunter got me an ipod shuffle for Mother's day. He also made me a jewelry box. It was so sweet. He says I won't be bored doing my outside chores now. I can listen to music as I do them. :) That's nice. I had my mom, Ryan's mom, and Ryan's grandparents over for lunch. I made hamburgers (which hubby grilled), potato salad, roasted corn, strawberries, and turtle brownies. It was a nice time. The turtle brownies turned out really good for gluten free. I wanted to post the recipe for you. Here it is... Gluten Free Turtle Brownies 3 oz unsweetened chocolate (I used a ghiradeli bar) chopped up 1 1/2 sticks of butter (softened) 3 eggs 1/2 c brown sugar 1 c white sugar 1 1/2 t vanilla 1/2c gluten free flour mix plus 2 T ( I use domata ) 1/4 t salt Preheat oven to 350 and use 9 x 13 pan. Melt chocoate and butter in bowl over simmering pan of water. Set aside. Beat eggs and sugar. Add cooled chocolate and vanilla. Mix in flour and sa...

This is Tigist. She is 7 years old and from Ethiopia. We support her through Compassion. This is a wonderful organization that helps kids from all over the world. It helps them with food, school, and medical care. God laid it upon our hearts to support this ministry. We can write each other, send pictures, and extra money for birthdays or Christmas. They have translators to translate the letter for her and us. Pretty amazing! Her face tells it all. She looks so worn for 7 years old. As though she has been through a lot already in her 7 years. She looks a little angry even. I would ask that you would pray for Tigist. Pray for safety, strength, her family, etc. I would also ask that you would prayerfully consider supporting a child. You can click on the button on the right side of my blog. It will take you to Compassion. Look it over. Pray. Act. It doesn't take much.

It's a rainy day here in central Illinois. It usually bums me out, but we have had several wonderful days of sun and warmth. I will not complain! ;) So, I am taking this opportunity to work inside the house to get some cleaning done. I have some pants to hem up, too. I have been very fortunate to find some jeans at the thrift shop for $1 or $2 that are named brand even. :) Not that that matters too much except they fit better. They are just a little long, so I need to sew them up. The rain is actually relaxing today. I suffered a migraine for 2 days and I think it's finally going away. Yay! This is what our Doberman Magnum does on rainy days. I think he has the right idea, but I need to get some things done instead. :) My husband is probably getting wet at work today. I always feel bad for him when he comes home soaked. Roofing is no fun in the rain. I will be here to warm him up with some coffee and good company. Well, I'd better get back to work. I need to c...

Just posting a few pictures of the chickens in the fenced area they get to run. It's really fun to watch them run around! Hunter likes playing with them, too! He has a few that are his favorites. We have been blessed with several days of sunshine! That makes me very happy. :) I got some cleaning done today. I need to boil some corn so I can make fried corn for later to go with our deer steaks. Hunter has boy scouts tonight and we have small group. It will be a busy night. :) Hope everyone is enjoying sunshine today! It feels so good to soak it up!

I got so excited when I went to the store Monday. General Mills has recreated most of their Chex cereals to be gluten free! This is wonderful because we used to have to get fancy cereal from the health food store if you wanted gluten free. Now it's inexpensive and I can get it right there at the regular store. Yay! Thank you General Mills! As you can see, same great taste, just gluten free!

Well, this is an interesting frugal tip. Frugal Tip #5 Point the shoot of the mower AWAY from the house. This will save you lots of money on windows! I know from experience. We've had a LOT of rain and our grass had gotten tall. My son was supposed to pick up all the wood chips in the front yard. (These were from the log splitter) He did not do this. I could not tell due to the higher grass. Result=broken window. :( I did not yell at him or anything. I think my silence scared him enough. lol. He offered to pay for the glass to be put back in. I may let him do it to teach him responsibility. What do you think?

The weather here is yucky, AGAIN. :) It seems like it's been yucky for weeks and weeks. Where or where are you sun? I am finishing up one last curtain panel for church. I'll be glad to be done with it. It was harder on me to do than I thought it would be. Hunter needs to do some schooling today. I have to clean and do laundry. I love it when the house is straightened up. :) The yard needs mowed and the coop needs cleaned out, but everything is so wet that it will have to wait. This spring has required a lot of patience and faith. My husband works around the weather and it hasn't been good. It's been very tight for us. It's teaching us to lean on the Lord more and wait upon His provision. He always provides. Of course, we do our part to be good stewards of what He does give us. We stretch that dollar like a rubber band! lol. Getting to know the Lord in a deeper sense is so good for us to do! I encourage you to get into your word and learn more about ou...