Prairie Oak Homestead

Today is my *cough* my 34 birthday. :) Most days I don't feel 34. LOL I have gotten some nice gifts. I posted my dad's gift in the last post, but I also got shopping money from my mom. I was able to get two nice denim skirts that are very cute! My husband is going to take me out to eat and then do some shopping for some shoes and such. Looking forward to that. :) I am thankful for a lot of things this year... Thankful for my sight, which I lost briefly in 07. Thankful for my husband of 13 yrs Thankful for my son of 12 yrs Thankful for my family Thankful for people listening to God in their life and being obedient to His will Thankful to live in the country Thankful for the beautiful leaves this year Thankful for the simple things in life Today also marks another birthday. This day 10 yrs ago my husband and I were born again. We were baptized together on this day. Funny story... The particular church we attended then wore white robes to be baptized in. Well hubby wore h...

isn't until the 31st, but my dad gave me my gift early. I just had to share it with you...He is very talented and made this himself out of part of a cedar tree he cut. I am so thankful for him and will treasure this gift always. :) This is an important scripture to me. There are so many applications to it for different seasons of my life. :)

for winter that is... It seems to take a while. LOL. Today we (Hunter and I) are going to work on stacking wood on the back porch. We have a very large rack back there and it will take a while to stack. It's hard getting ready for winter when your husband works from sun up to sun down. Sometimes I need more muscle power. LOL. Hunter does a pretty good job. I also have some more cleaning to do and need to change out the seasonal clothes. I also have some sewing to do today. I'd like to make some more denim skirts. I did buy two online with some money that I got for my birthday coming up Saturday. I've had a headache for two days that I'd like to get rid of. :) It just makes doing your work so much harder. But, I will focus on things above and not on myself, which is so easy to do when you are hurting. It's funny...people usually seek the Lord when they are hurting and not when things are good. I am the opposite. I seek Him and focus more on Him when thi...

The trees have been beautiful this year! I know I've talked about it like crazy, but it just seems so wonderful to me. The simple things in life are what stirs my soul. Here are a few pics from our back porch (the horse is our neighbors)... I went to Arthur today with some friends to get some meat, but stopped at a store called Beachy's, an Amish bulk food store, for a few other things. :) Here's some of them... I got some orange slices, popcorn, and almonds. :) And oh this cheese! THIS cheese... Oh my this CHEESE... Can ya tell I like it? I like it a lot... It's wonderful on chili, tortilla chips, crackers, crackers and deer sausage, by itself....*sigh* I should have bought more... I'm eating a chunk of it as we speak...oh the simple pleasures! :) God is GOOD!

I made this dessert for our small group the other night. Ryan really liked it. I thought it was pretty good, too. I ran out of the spices so it wasn't as bold as usual. I made it gluten free also. Crust One box of Pamela's GF shortbread cookies with pecans, crushed (if you are doing it regular you can use 1 1/2 c of shortbread crumbs.) 3 T melted butter 3 T GF flour mix Filling 11 oz cream cheese 1 c sugar 3 T GF four mix 1 t cinnamon 1/4 t nutmeg 1/4 t ginger 1/4 t cloves 3 eggs 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin 1 T milk Mix crust ingredients together and press into a pie pan. Bake at 375 for about 10 or until golden brown. Beat flour, cream cheese, and sugar together until fluffy. Take out 1/2 c and put to the side. Add the rest of the ingredients except milk to the bowl and mix. Pour onto pie crust. Mix milk with the 1/2 c cream cheese mixture and plop on top of pie in little mounds around the pie. Take a knife and swirl the cream cheese mix into the pie...

Good morning all! It's a bit dreary here in central Illinois, but oh how the leaves look so pretty against that blue/grey sky! I have a goal today to get things organized as much as possible. There just seems to be a little bit of stuff everywhere that's not in it's proper place. I should have the whole day to do it. I'm gonna try real hard! :) Our son has somehow gotten into the habit of leaving his socks and stuff EVERYWHERE in the house. Granted our house is fairly modest in size so it seems like it's overtaking every room. :) I hope to give him a lesson on keeping his socks picked up today. ;) This picture is kinda how my son is while I'm cleaning. Oblivious...LOL Hopefully I can make him more aware that his help is very much appreciated. So, not really a whole lot going on today. Just tidying up the house as it's getting ready to be shut up for a long, hard winter. I like it to be really clean before that happens. :) Hope you all have a bless...