Roosie's Senior Year - First Day

Today was Roosie's first day of her last year of high school. She is excited of course. Me, not so much. I have had to pray a lot about God giving me grace to get through the end of this season of life and to move on to the next one. I have just dreaded this moment since my children were young; even more once we began homeschooling. I have treasured the closeness we have shared over the years. Even the days filled with frustration were blessed days. I'm not sure what to do with myself now that our homeschool journey is on its last year. I hate leaving behind the many things we have learned and created. BabyGirl encourages me that she wants me to help homeschool her children one day. I truly look forward to it. I must say I am excited and proud of the wonderful young people my children have become. They are so talented, caring and always a source of encouragement to me. So, as this year moves forward, I will add the new memories we make to the treasured ones already in my mind. God gives grace freely. This I know for truth. I will bask in it as my Momma's heart breaks and cries over the passing of the years. Pray for me. Blessings! Nikki

The Great American Solar Eclipse 2017

We are blessed to live in Tennessee , which was a prime viewing spot for the Great American Eclipse. Unfortunately we were outside the path of totality by a few miles. We had a wonderful show though. BabyGirl, Roosie , Toodles and I were able to have our own little viewing party. Tman and Hoopy had to work. We made viewers with boxes and they worked well. We also had a welding helmet that we shared to gaze at it. It was amazing to watch God's work in the sky today. As I said earlier, we were not in path of totality so we did not have complete darkness, but we did have some wonderfully weird lighting. Also the crickets cut loose at  full volume for 2 minutes then stopped. The drop in temperature was noticeable for us also. The show didn't last long but it was worth the wait. I'm just very thankful today for the goodness of God and His masterful works. Blessings ~ Nikki

New Year New Hello

Let me start off by saying how much I truly, always, enjoyed blogging. Many years ago I joined Homeschool Blogger and Homestead Blogger to find socialization among fellow homeschoolers, homesteaders and Christians. I loved the outlet that blogging gave me. I loved the many people I “met” in cyberspace who shared so many common dreams and goals as my own family. When those sites went down I was so lost. I started these blogs here on blogger but still lost touch with so many from the other sites. Still, I had a place to come and document our lives, share things I had made for our homeschool and things I had made to use in our ministries at church. Then as our life needs began to change and I headed back to school and into the work force, these blogs got lost in the shuffle. I had big dreams and goals of coming back and dusting off the blogs but again, no follow through.  Now don’t get me wrong, I had no dream to be one of the super mommy bloggers. Still don’t. I believe my super mommy power is in the home not the web. But I do miss the outlet blogging has been for me; especially as I battled through some issues with depression and anxiety. I should have come here to put words to page…it has always been a comfort to me to write. I may not do it well but I love it. Anyway, my lovely daughters have convinced me to get back to my happy place, to say something, even if I’m the only one who reads it. So here I go again. Read, share, enjoy if you can. And hey, maybe say hello to let me know you have been by. Encourage me when you see me lagging.  Blessing everyone! Nikki , TnMtnRose