Autumn At Last ~ Happy Fall Y'all !

It officially, finally here...Autumn ! Happy Fall Y'all. Autumn is my favorite season. This has been a busy year. I managed to finish my first term towards my MSN. Hoopy and his lovely bride will be new parents in November and my Deidel will be 3 soon. Tman finished EMT school, Roosie finished phlebotomy school and BabyGirl is typing out genius as always.Toodles (Preacher) and I took our dream trip out West. On the road for 17 days, what a blessing. I will post pics soon.
I truly do intend to blow the dust off here but time always gets away from me. I do miss blogging though. I have been sick for almost a month now. Bronchitis to pneumonia. So , sadly I don't feel as good as I wish on this first day of Fall. Our weather here doesn't feel much like Fall either. But it is coming, I know.
I thought today of the many years ago when Homeschool Blogger was our platform , that I did a Fall Poetry Party every year. I have a desire to do it again. So maybe be watching for that. Blessings ! Nikki

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 !

Shower Melts for Stuffy Noses

  Everyone here has been so gunked up, stuffy and generally feeling blah. Its a cruddy mix of colds and allergies . I made a small batch of shower melts to help open us up.  I used a regular size ice tray and this batch made 6. I've made these before using Vick's vapor rub but this go around I used Maty's. I had read good things about it and wanted to give it a try for our grandson. Since I had it on hand , I used it for this batch; and they smell divine! Vick's now has a lavender rub , and Maty's has a lavender and chamomile rub. I think I will try those next and make some relaxing bath melts. 

  Anyway, as you can see, I used the store brand of corn starch and food coloring. These brands are cost effective and work great.  You do not need food coloring,  but I used a mix of blue and green to get this minty shade. These are easy to make and only take a few minutes to throw together.

My handy dandy supplies are corn starch, measuring cup, cup of water, spoon, fork, food coloring vapor rub, plastic bowl and ice cube tray. . Yes, that is marker on our kitchen table. You will also find paint, crayon, glitter and glue on it if you look hard enough. This table has seen us through many homeschool years. I treasure each spot. Thanks Momma and Daddy for giving us this jewel so many years ago.

Maty's vapor rub. It is petroleum free. I love the fact it has peppermint ! Y'all know I'm crazy over peppermint! I bought it at Food City for around $5. It is also available at Walmart and Amazon. 

For this small batch I used 1 1/2 tablespoons of vapor rub.

I added the vapor rub to 1/2 cup corn starch.

Using a fork, mix the vapor rub into the corn starch until it is well combined and looks "grainy". It should resemble flour when you cut butter or shortening into it.

Add water by the spoonful , one at a time , until the mixture makes a thick paste. I got carried away with the water on this batch but no worries. I dusted the finished product with corn starch to soak up the extra wetness. This is also the time to add food coloring if you want. I used 2 drops green and 2 drops blue to get this minty shade.

Pour into an ice tray or other mold and freeze for about 20 - 30 minutes.

Remove your melts from the mold. I tossed mine with corn starch to soak up the extra wetness. You can store them in a cool , dry area in an airtight container. We keep ours in the fridge. Toss one in the shower with you to have some nice , sinus opening vapor.

I hope you enjoy this simple DIY . It is a great way to get some cold and allergy relief. Blessings ! ~ Nikki

My Writing Space

I find that I can be more faithful to writing , studying or planning when I have a dedicated spot to work.  When we first moved into this house, I had a small antique desk in this spot, but while it was a wonderful place to write; it did not meet my multi - tasking need for a sewing table also. I found this gem on a Facebook yard sale site for $20. It is large enough to sew on, and gives me plenty of space to spread out and write or whatever. 

I love having the white curtain hanging in my bedroom. Actually it is a king size sheet that I got on sale a few years ago. Our old house had two large windows in the master bedroom that let in all this amazing, natural light. I did not want to cover it up but I did want to have some privacy for our room. I found several of these flat sheets at our local thrift store. I put them on our windows and put a white and lavender bedspread on the bed. Oh my! The ambience was amazing! Every time I walked into our room I relaxed .  Our room now only has one window so we need all the natural light we can get. At night when the moon is shining through  the white curtain, it is so relaxing . Makes for a great sleep environment. When I have the curtain open I get to look out at our meandering country road . It is not as close as it looks in the photo, angles lol. 

Do you have dedicated writing space? Blessings ! Nikki

Happy New Year ! Welcome 2018 !

I hope everyone has had a blessed beginning to the new year. 2018 ! How did we get here so fast? Time sure is flying by! We had a great holiday season. We got to spend the holidays with our family and our grandson Deidel got to stay for Christmas Eve and spend 4 days this weekend to celebrate the New Year. Of course our blessings started a new Christmas tradition a few years ago as the boys married and started their own homes. They all come home to stay on Christmas Eve so we can have Christmas Day together. I hope this is one tradition that keeps going. It is always a blessing to have our children home.
I have definitely been slacking on my blogs. So many excuses to give but really, I'm trying to let God carry me through these transitions in life and just try to get back to doing things that I love, and enjoy Blogging is one of those things. I have to prioritize my days. I have to find time for these little things. Even if no one ever comes back to read these blogs, I will someday. I want to look back and enjoy the memories. On that note, I enjoy going to the Way Back Machine site and looking at our old Homeschool Blogger blogs. Such fun !!You should try it if you ever had a web page or old blog.
Its been a cold start to the new year here in the Smokies. We had some snow and ice last night and bitterly cold temps. It was a light snow, but rumor has it that more is coming. We shall see. For now the goal is staying warm .
Stay tuned to the blog, if you're still there at all. My goals are being planned and I'm trusting God in helping me to carry them out. Pray for me ! Blessings to all ! ~ Nikki

Goodbye October

October leaves today. I hate seeing this lovely month end. No costumed shenanigans at our house this year. My kids are working or at their own home. Reidel Deidel Pumpkin Sneidel is with his mom. It's just a quiet and lonely evening for Toodles and I. I spent some time sitting on the porch with Gryph just enjoying the cool evening air. We had snow Sunday. The quickly arriving cooler air this week seems to be saying more snow is coming. Winter isn't far away. For now I must say goodbye to October. I will see you next year. Blessings! Nikki