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<\/a><\/p>\nHave you been to a homeschool convention before?\u00a0 If not, I cannot encourage you enough to go to at least one.\u00a0 You might find yourself surprised.\u00a0 Ours is coming up soon and I am so very excited!\u00a0 Looking forward to the weekend away, getting to see an exhibit hall full of curriculum (I might be a little bit of a\u00a0curriculum junkie), and all the marvelous workshops!\u00a0 I come back so refreshed and renewed.\u00a0 What a perfect way to end the school year for those who break for the summer or an awesome break for those who school year round.\u00a0 If you cannot make your local convention, check to see if they offer the audio files of the workshops.\u00a0 If not, you can find some on\u00a0you tube, the\u00a0podcasts app,\u00a0or on the vendor’s websites.<\/p>\n
One of the things I didn’t expect when I began to homeschool are the friendships that have been developed through the various groups.\u00a0 For as long as I can remember I knew, without a doubt, that I would homeschool my kids.\u00a0 It was something that the Lord showed me way back when I was an education major in college.\u00a0 After I had Sweet Pea, I started researching curriculum, seeing what was out there, and learning more about homeschooling.\u00a0 I came across a curriculum that I really liked the look at and it looked like it was a great fit for our growing family.<\/p>\n
Christmas time comes around and they have a Secret Sister Ornament Exchange time.\u00a0 You sign up, fill out a questionnaire,\u00a0and\u00a0send it\u00a0in.\u00a0 You get someone’s name and someone else gets yours.\u00a0 You pray for your sister over the course of about a month and then send them an ornament.\u00a0\u00a0There is a lot of fun with clues and trying to guess who you have and who other people have.\u00a0\u00a0I believe I joined the ornament exchange the first year.\u00a0\u00a0Since then I have been in the ornament exchange every year and have gotten to know the ladies in the group.<\/p>\n
Another thing the group has is an annual retreat!\u00a0 Yes,\u00a0it does seem crazy at first.\u00a0 You\u00a0fly or drive somewhere to meet up with a group of homeschool moms that you\u00a0have never met in person\u00a0and spend the entire weekend with them.\u00a0 Every year the group who attends varies and you will meet new faces as well as see old faces.\u00a0\u00a0Last year,\u00a0my hubby surprised me at the last minute the night before the\u00a0retreat and said we had the money for me to be able to go!\u00a0 This was the first year that I got to go!\u00a0 It was a surprise for everyone but\u00a0one person.\u00a0 She kept it a surprise that I was able to come at the last minute.\u00a0 I blogged about my weekend.\u00a0 Click on any of the three links below and you can get a taste of the special weekend that we had!<\/p>\n
Super Surprise 1<\/a> To help with the costs of this year’s retreat our group is fundraising one of the items we are selling are\u00a0Yankee Candles<\/a>.\u00a0 I will receive\u00a040% of sales from my link\u00a0to help me with the expenses of the retreat.\u00a0 There is no pressure to\u00a0buy anything.\u00a0 Thank you for any purchases made!\u00a0 These weekends are super special and I look forward to being blessed by spending a wonderful weekend\u00a0with\u00a0beautiful and\u00a0Godly women.<\/p>\n That is about it for this Monday evening.\u00a0 It is getting late and with children in the house the mornings come early.\u00a0 Please\u00a0do check back later this week as I do have a couple of reviews that will be publishing soon. \u00a0Have a wonderful and blessed evening!<\/p>\n\n
\nSuper Surprise 2<\/a>
\nSuper Surprise 3<\/a><\/p>\n