Dreaming of a simple way

Tommy in his dress blues

Trevor & Hannah

My brother Tommy and his wife Karly

My little brother

Well, I've mentioned my brother Tommy in previous posts ( I think) I say little but seriously he is 6'6" and weighs 240 lbs! So not little at all! All three of my brothers are big guys and my dad... I myself am 5'10" and weight over 200 lbs, my 5 year old son William is often mistaken for a 7 year old! He is 63 pounds! Anyway, size is not what my post is supposed to be about. It's supposed to stick with my younger brother. He was home (meaning in Oregon) for the past 3 weeks from the middle east. He left today. Why? His wife Karly was pregnant with their third child (first girl) and he was here for her birth and then her funeral. She had been diagnosed at 20 weeks gestation with Trisomy 18. It is not a hereditary disease but does have to do with her genes. They named the baby Hannah. She looked a lot like my brother even though she was 8-10 weeks early. My brother is the kind of person that holds his emotions in, like a lot of men. Well we found out on early Sunday that when he drinks that is when he lets his emotions out! Apparently he was at a bar in town with his wife and some of their friends and something happened where he got kicked out of the bar. I am not going to go in to a lot of detail but a lot of things happened and his stress just finally was too heavy for him to carry anymore. So he is not going back to the Mid. East like was planned, he is going to Norfolk where he'd been stationed before going to the ME for about a year, for some evaluations. We don't know how long he will be there or if he will go back to the ME. He wants to go back to the ME. Our family would like him to be safe here in the US of course! But we are just praying for him. He apparently has been having nightmares of Middle Easterns killing him and hadn't told anybody. He is the oldest person in his platoon and the only one with kids, and a family to take care of "back in the states". That has got to be a tremendous stress on him having to keep his "double life" in order and going smoothly. I don't know if there is anyone reading this, but if so, please pray for him. Thank you.

Blessings

Katie

The River

Good stuff on my Homestead

Well, today was a fun day. I have spent it out at my mom & dad's house about a half hours drive from home. The reason being is mostly because my younger brother Tommy is home from the Mid. East for only a few more days, and also my other brother Josh who is a teacher (highschool teacher for kids that are "at risk") just started Spring Break! So he is down here from the Salem area (about an hour from my parents home).

Today my mom had me look up apple tree pollinators because she has 2 apple trees that she planted when ma and pa first moved in (about 6 years ago) and was told she would need to get a pollinator tree. So I looked it up and found out that that means another species of apple tree that happens to be a good polinator. There were 7 types that were good pollinators for her zone (8-9) that I could find. Two of the main types were Golden Delicious and Granny Smith. We were also looking for semi dwarf size. They get to be about 13 - 15 ft. tall . There are also dwarf and regular sized trees. So anyway, after I gave my mom that info, she started calling some nurseries and I was looking through a book of local nursury "ads" and found one that was only about 5 miles from her! She hadn't even know there was a nursery in her small town! So we were excited about that and decided to just go drive to it instead of call.

Turned out they had several Granny Smith trees, so we got one for $15. The owner of the place also lived there and had some farm animals, mini horses & mules, llamas, emu and others. So William and my nephew Trevor who both came along were excited about that! Especially the emu. Also my mom found out that the man had just been diagnosed with cancer.  So I will pray for him tonight.

That is it for now.

Blessings

Katie

photos

I am trying to figure out how to add pictures to my blogs, can anyone help me out?

Katie

addition to Updates

I have 3 brothers Nathan (33), Josh (30), Tommy (24). I'm an only girl.

My brother Tommy went to Mass with my mom and I last Sunday for the first time since he was a kid!! He wore his dress blues to Mass and surprised me! Thank you Lord for all you do!

Katie

Updates

Well the last week has been really busy and really hard. My "little" brother and his wife delivered their 3rd child (1st daughter) on Wednesday (March 14th) and she lived for 1 hour. We had expected it. Little Hannah Mae was diagnosed back in January with Trisomy 18. My sister in-law was at 20 weeks gestation at the time. Hannah ended up wieghing 2 lbs 1.4 ozs. She was so beautiful and looked further along in gestation to me, other than size. My sil decided to not try and go to full term. The doctors told her that it was a danger to her health. She would be more suseptible to toxemia. So Hannah was born at 30 weeks gestation.

We had her funeral yesterday and my little brother read a letter that he wrote to Hannah at the end of it. It was so sad and emotional for me to see him pour his heart out. He is a US Marine also and was dressed in his "dress blues" and looked like the epitome of strengh when he got up to read it, and as he read the letter his innocence and humanity shone so intensly. He came home from the Middle East for this event and leaves next week to go back. He won't be home again until June and then he and his wife and 2 boys will move to Camp Pendalton to be stationed there for a couple years.

His older son Trevor is also my son Williams' best friend, it is going to be so hard to say goodbye, but atleast they will be a whole lot closer to us than they were in Norfolk, VA.

We are planning on going down to see them in July or August (or maybe September) and also go to Sea World which William has been wanting to do (and me too!).

William also had two dentist appts. this week and has NO CAVITIES!! So that was good news. I guess the reason he was putting his fingers in the back of his mouth was because he is getting his 6 year molars. He also had a full day of doctors and therapists for evaluations in order to get services, That was a really long day. I am pretty much fed up with the entire medical community right now!

Blessings,

Katie

Sunday at home

Well, I am up early this morning. I am meeting my mom for mass at 9am then John wants to take William and I out for breakfast. He needs to get a part for his truck afterwards. I have been catching up on laundry and general house chores lately. Sometimes I just get so overwhelmed and I end up just "shutting down" for awhile and then I have a lot of catching up to do. I know I only have one child, but he can seriously make some messes and it is so hard to keep up with him and get him to pick everything up.

I'm also pretty selfish and need a lot of "me" time for a mom I think. Maybe I wouldn't need it so much if I were more of a giver, more self sacrificing. I don't know. I need some sun and hurries up and gets here. The gray is depressing.

Katie

Been awhile...

So, it's been awhile since I've blogged anything. Guess I kind of forgot about mine while I was reading the more fascinating blogs on homestead.

Anyway.... we are doing well. Homeschooling is behind but we are catching up at a steady pace. I am hoping to get some chickens next month. John says no and I still have to check the city ordinances to see if it's legal. My backyard is fully fenced and we have a shed that will make a perfect coop. The local Coastal Farm Supply gives 5 free chicks away per address each spring. So that is what I'm planning on doing.

We got a kitten in November. We had been having mouse problems, and now I think just the presence of a cat is keeping them away. Milo is cute, orange and can be quite a rascal. He was neutered a month ago. William is so in love with his cat. He is mostly an indoor cat and only goes out with us once in awhile.

The weather here has been so funny lately, sunny... rainy... hail....... snow.... then sun again. sometimes all in one day!

William got new orthotics for his feet last week. We also made appointments to start his speech and occupational therapy back up again. so that will start in a week.

My sister in law and brother who were expecting a baby in May found out that the baby has Trisomy 18 which is fatal in practically all cases. So she is being induced next week, she will be 30 weeks along at the time. They have 2 boys already and the baby she is having next week is a girl. Please keep them in your prayers, Tommy & Karly.

Also Tommy has been in the Middle East for months and is coming home for this occasion, for 2 weeks paternity leave.

So that is my update for now. Hope all of you are well.

Katie 

(in a nutshell)

I'm Kate. I would love to live in the country. I am Catholic. I have one child, William. He is 5 and has autism. My husband is John. He grew up on a farm and is not rushing to get back to that lifestyle. He does want to have a small peice of land however (no more than 10 acres)within the next 3 years. He is a truck driver currently looking for work after finishing school.

We live in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, known for fine wine and bad allergy season which the youngest member of our family is suffering from right now. We are homeschoolers, pet lovers, non-vaccinating, Christ centered folks.