Almost Spring Days

Tomorrow is Spring! We have been having a few days that have been Spring like. Its been chilly but at least no rain. We are still drying out from the last rounds of rain we've had. This morning the moon was so huge and yellow. I do not think I have seen many times when it was as beautiful as today. I would much rather have chased it with my camera than go to work this morning. Good news is I am finally wrapping up my first class in my RN to MSN program.
Tomorrow is Roosie's 19th birthday also. I cannot believe how old my kids are getting to be  :) She has to work so we are having a family night to celebrate her birthday on Saturday. I hope everyone has a great week. Enjoy Spring ! ~ Blessings ! ~ Nikki

It's Me Again Margaret ( C'mon I know there's a Ray Stevens fan who gets that)

Hello again blog world. I have thought so often this past year of getting on here and writing but either my heart or my head would not allow me too. All my good intentions of returning to this blog and leaving behind written memories went by the wayside. This past week I had determined that I was coming back . I'm putting my words down , even if no one ever reads them but me. I was blessed this weekend to see that another old blogging friend has returned also. Maybe we can both be blessed by blogging again.
I first started blogging on Homeschool Blogger many, many years ago. It was never my intent to be one of the "super Mommy Bloggers", which is great if that is your calling ; but it was never mine. My blog was an outlet for me, a place to store our homeschool journey memories and collaborate with like - minded families. Now blogging, and even homeschooling are so different. Still, I like to share my thoughts and whatever moments of creativity I may have.
We ended our homeschool journey in May of 2018 when Roosie graduated highschool. I will share some pictures later. I feel I have to put them on our homeschool blog if nothing else but to give the story its ending. I shared a little on that blog, Wisdom House Homeschool, of the struggle I was facing with all the changes coming my way. It was hard, very much so. 2015 is when the changes began , with kids leaving home, weddings, a baby, my "baby" turning 18 and graduating . 3 years of transitioning into a new season of my life. I'll share a secret with you, I have battled depression in the past. It was a hard fought battle. I hate to say that with my change of season, depression came knocking again. I would sometimes find myself feeling like I was sitting in a dark hole. I lived life. Went to work, came home, did things that needed doing; but lost all desire to go beyond that. Like I said, I thought often of this blog, the happiness it has brought me over the years. I would say to myself, "Today is the day you do it. You're gonna blog, and write and make things...". Then I would just sit and stare at walls. Countless times I apologized to Roosie that things had changed so much for us, that I could no longer be a stay at home her last years of school. I carried so much guilt over that. It suffocated me at times. I cried going to work cried coming home, cried if I was home alone, cried reading emails from homeschool groups, cried ... well, you get the picture. Let me say that even though she got the short end of the stick, Roosie was so gracious to me. She was always telling me to stop apologizing, everything was fine. I love all my children , and my Deidel with all my heart, but I have to say that my girls have been such a rock for me through this change. They have encouraged, listened, cried with , laughed with and at me, helped me find faith when I could not see it within myself. Roosie and BabyGirl have been my crutches that helped me limp through. Now things are much better. I have left the shadow behind me. God is faithful as always and no desert is too dry, no night too dark. I am enjoying this new season of my life. My grand-baby Deidel has been such a blessing to me. God sent him along at just the right time. He knew my Momma arms needed something to hold and love and watch grow. I am enjoying the wonderful young men and women that Toodles and I have raised. They are good people. Even though they gave me all this grey hair. Toodles and I are now enjoying the extra couple's time we have. We try to date as often as we can and watch TV together, or just hang out. I'm going back to school again. I'm working on earning my Masters in Nursing Education. I want to be able to teach online , from home...cause home is still where my heart is. Plus, when BabyGirl has children, she said I'm going to homeschool them so I have to get back home somehow. But I still have to work til I die. Online teaching is the best of both worlds :) I hope some of you readers are still around. I appreciate all the comments and encouragement through the years. Bear with me as I get my blogging groove back, and share things , and grow to be the woman God would have me be. Y'all know I ramble , use run on sentences and terrible grammar ; but I promise I taught the kids right :) So grab a cup of something warm or cool, relax and scroll by sometime.  ~ Blessings !

Friday obviously the 13th

Today is just another day but for poor Toodles it was a rough one. He had to have surgery today to remove infection and metal fragments from his finger. Now its a long night in the hospital for IV antibiotics. At least he is feeling much better than yesterday. Nasty nail =1 Toodles =0 Prayers appreciated for a quick recovery. ~ Blessings !

Sleepy Days and Baby to Be

It's such a beautiful day! Spring decided to spring on us last week; and it has been marvelous I must say. Of course the doors and windows are open and the fans are running. All that lovely breeze, sunshine and white noise makes me want to nap. It looks like winter may visit again for a day or two next week but for now I'm enjoying the warmth. I'm planning out what I want to do with the yard and house this spring. I have it all in my head I just need to get it to paper so I don't forget it. Forgetfulness comes with the territory I hear. What territory you ask? Well, the Mamaw territory! See, I'm gonna be a Mamaw in October! I'm, we all, are super excited. Tman and his lovely wife are expecting :)  Time to get into baby mode :) it's been so many years since a little one was in our home. I am a blessed woman for sure. Blessings ~ Nikki

First Day!

Today was my first day on the job as an RN. I have a long week because of orientation and training but soon I will have my 3 day work week. I will have longer work days but at least I will be home at night and for most of the week. Spring has sprung here which makes us long to do more things outside for school. Everything is finally blooming, including some surprise tulips in our new yard. We have been doing some garden planning and outside clean up. We dug a firepit the other day. We have to get some pavers to line it but at least the hard part is done. We have gotten to spend the past two weekends helping my parents build a shed. Hoopy and Tman learned some valuable work skills from their Dad and Papaw during the construction. There is still some work to be done but Hoopy statred back working weekends at his summer job and Tman got a new job at a local ranch. BabyGirl is continuing at her job without me ( I miss working with her) and Roosie just celebrated her 15th birthday Friday. So many changes are happening ! Seasons *sigh* But as always God is good :)

Nurse Nikki

Tonight I officially became a nurse, not registered yet but soon :) The pinning ceremony was tonight and graduation is tomorrow. Its been a long road but we made it. So thankful for my family who stuck by me and bore the hardships and for God giving me the strength and courage to do it. Now I can have time to blog again :) Blessings! - Nikki

A little while back the Weather Channel posted a graphic that said the Southeast would be seeing a cooler than normal summer. I'm not sure the weather has seen that graphic because it is absolutely not conforming to it. *sigh* We have been floating in the 90's with high humidity for weeks and there does not seem to be any change coming soon. Maybe we will have an early Fall this year. Right now everything is drying up in this heat. My pretty spring flowers are a long gone memory. 
With the heat outside, we have been working on de-cluttering our house inside. Today we are finishing up our "desk switch a roo". BabyGirl bought a new to her desk at a local thrift store yesterday. She needed more space for her editing. She gave her old desk to Roosie who needed more space for her drawing. Roosie gave me her old desk for me to use in the kitchen since I needed less space than the big table I was using to study on. Now I think we are all content. 
Last week I worked in the kitchen trying to rearrange things so that it felt more open. I got rid of one of my storage shelves and moved some others around. I think I have it just about perfect. The kitchen seems bigger and brighter. I still have to switch around some things in the cabinets but I will work on that Monday. 
Toodles used my shelving unit I took from the kitchen to organize his stuff on the carport. By recycling items this week we have managed to meet a lot of needs for each other. 
My favorite part of this de-clutter and rearranging is that now my Mamaw's antique metal cabinet is used solely in housing our baking ingredients and pans. I used mason jars and post-it labels to create storage bins for things like chocolate chips, coconut and baking powder. It looks so nice and neat and it is easy to find things in a hurry now. Is anyone else doing any de-c;uttering this summer? Blessing!

Homemade Doughnut Holes

Happy Friday! Because it is Friday and stormy and well, it is just a "gimme somethin' sweet" kind of day ... (play fanfare)... I'm gonna share my easy peasy doughnut recipe. Ok , in reality they look more like doughnut holes but they are fried dough dipped in sugar so really, what does it matter? You are gonna love me for the simplicity of this recipe. At the very least you will like me a little more :)

Sorry for the fuzzy photo but my tablet would not cooperate today.  I have on my plate a pumpkin pie spice , chocolate , and plain doughnut hole.

Homemade Doughnut Holes
2 cups self- rising flour
1/8 cup white granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla (use less if you don't like the flavor. :0 WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?)
1/2 cup milk
** To make chocolate ones, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup cocoa. Adjust that measurement to your preference. Adding this dry ingredient means you will need to adjust your milk measurement.**
Mix together until you have a wet sticky dough. You do not want it to be runny. You can make it a drier dough and roll into balls but I just prefer to drop mine into the oil from a spoon so the wet dough works best for that.
Drop into hot oil and deep fry until golden brown. Drain on a paper towel for a minute and then drop into a paper bag filled with your mixture of choice. Mine is cinnamon, sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Shake the bag until the doughnut holes are covered ( do about 2 at at time). That's it :) Except for eating... which you will do. Do it fast though or your kids will beat you to it. This recipe is by no means healthy (it's fried dough so ...) but it is yummy and quick. Enjoy , let me know if you like it! Blessings!

Hello...again...oooh Pinterest

No excuses for this huge break in posts except  for : school. But that is done for summer and graduation is in sight; December 14 as a matter of fact. I am so ready for having some extra time. Every free moment I had this past semester I tried to spend with my family. Now we can have a much more relaxed schedule and just enjoy the "winding down" time of summer. We have some schooling to finish up for Hoopy and Roosie but just a few minor things. We will have it all wrapped up by month's end. Big thanks to my DD BabyGirl for making me a new blog set. I figured since the snow finally stopped ( here at least) then I should take away the winter theme from my blog.
The weather channel is calling for this to be a colder than usual summer for the Southeast but I find that hard to believe since we have been soaring into the 80s the past two weeks.  We have had some strange weather patterns to be sure this year.
With warmer temps and summer come the lovely summer holidays! Memorial Day and July 4th are just around the corner; so I have been perusing Pinterest to gather ideas for decorations and of course food. Check out my Pinterest board 'Merica ( yes, I know...but the kids and I find our country, redneck humor bone just had to do it) to see some great ideas for the patriotic holidays. Be sure to follow that board to see all the new stuff I pin. Blessings!

Bible Study Journal.

While perusing the internet yesterday I came across a Bible study journal that I just adored...really , it was pretty great. But as it goes, there are not many extra dollars floating around our budget, and I do have this awesome Office suite thanks to my DD, so I made one similar to it that fit my need.. Overall I like my creation. I did add in a picture journal spot on mine. I use picture journaling of Scripture to help me wrap my mind around the principle of the words....here is an example.

Please don't be jealous of my insane artistic talent... it's a gift...what can I say ? (heehee) Anyway...that is one way I help commit verses to memory. Maybe it will work as a great tool for you also. Now on to the Journal., you can download it here , Bible Study Journal. If you happen to have any difficulty just comment and let me know and I can email it to you. Have a blessed day! Blessings ~

New Notebooking Pages

Be sure to check out the new notebooking pages I talked about on our homeschooling blog. Wisdom House Homeschool.

It is COLD!

Maybe it is just me, but I think it is COLD! Is the weather feeling more like Fall or Winter where you are? The blessing challenge is going great so far. I have been blessed so much in return :) Have you joined in yet?

Well, the blessing challenge has been going very well so far. I am trying to find little ways every day to be a blessing to someone. I have also determined each day this month to voice what I am thankful for. I have been using Facebook for this interaction. Whether we realize it or not every day holds special moments that we should be thankful for. Lots of times it is easy to be discouraged with everything we have going downhill in our lives but finding the beautiful moments in each day helps to lift our spirits. It does for me anyway. November has settled in very well here in the Smokies. We are having some very cool nights and sitting by the fire-pit is one of our favorite activities. The leaves put on a spectacular show this year. Now they are on the "falling" side of Fall. The girls and I have been taking some nature walks the past few weeks. I will be posting about those on my homeschool blog , Wisdom House Homeschool. I'm still not sure what our Thanksgiving plans will be this year. What are your plans for turkey day?

Day 1 of the blessing challenge

I was able to get in a small blessing today. I was immediately rewarded with a huge smile. I like being able to make people smile! I had to go to class this morning but was able to work outside in the flower bed ; clearing out so that it looks better for winter. Today was so beautiful after the stormy day we had yesterday. The sky was so blue it hurt to look at it. The colors on the trees this year are spectacular also. After I cleaned the flower bed , Roosie and I sat in the swing and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon til I had to go to work. When I got home tonight there was a barn owl calling in the woods by our house. I got really excited when my lil screech owl came back this summer, but having a barn owl in the neighborhood makes me really smile :). Well Happy November ! It is late and I have clinical in the morning. God bless and don't forget to join the Blessing Challenge over at http://livinglifewiththeloves.blogspot.com/

30 Day Challenge

Pat over at Living Life With The Loves is hosting this great 30 day challenge! I'm taking part for sure :) Want you join us? 

This is what Pat has to say ......
This is the challenge-for 30 days starting November 1st through November 30th-you will pray and ask God to show you someone you can be a blessing to.
     What you do for that person each day is up to you. It doesn't have to be big, cost a lot of money and might even be free.  It might be a note, a call, a visit, bake some cookies, take them some flowers, make them a meal, watch their kids, the options are endless.  The only given is you give for no reason other than to be a blessing to someone else.
     Let's see at the end of 30 days what God has done through you, me, all of us.  Will you meet me in this challenge?  Comment below if you are taking the challenge, post on your blog if you have one or your facebook page or you can comment on my facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Living-Life-With-The-Loves/201693106596152

Head on over to Pat's blog and join in the blessing!

Ramblings for today...

October is quickly fading away. Today it feels more like Fall than ever. The wind is gusty and the temps are hovering around 49, with drizzle and sleet mixed in with the sun in the valley here and snow on our highest peaks. The leaves should be glorious after this cold snap. Life has been moving quickly too. Nursing school and clinical has been taking up a lot of time. Our homeschool is leaning more toward very eclectic and almost unschoolish this semester; which is just fine and dandy with us. The kids seem to be learning more by choosing what they want to study in their social studies and life skills. Everything can be quite overwhelming to me sometimes; especially with work too but praise God the chaos is never more than He can bear. I once lived by numbering my days and I have really gotten away from that lately. So my goals for the rest of this year are to get back on track with scheduling my time and getting some more preps in order. I have so much reading to do too so that I can get caught up on everyone's blogs. If there were an award for being an inconsistent blogger, I would be an ideal candidate for it but I'm hoping to get more involved with my blogs ( I know I say that a lot) again. It was once my "time out", my "me" time, and it brought me great pleasure. I miss it :( 

Happy Surprises

We had a wonderful surprise visit this weekend from Preacher's sister and her family. Great times were had just relaxing and goofing off together.now for an evening watching Mountain Men and hopefully a good night's sleep. Blessing's y'all!

Wreath Remodel

Today I took an old wreath and decorated it for the July 4th holiday. I found the sheer ribbons and the bow at the Dollar Tree. I took the bow apart so that the stars and thin ribbons could be used on another part of the wreath. The sign was a gift from Rooosie. She got it at the Dollar Tree too. She marked out the A in America because we always redneck the word to Merica around here. We goof around a lot like that :) The sunflowers I've had for a while so I just tucked them in. I think it made a cute addition to the kitchen.