It smelled like books!

This weekend I attend the MidWest Homeschooling Convention. Oh. My. Gosh. I don't even know where to begin. Seriously. First of all, it was so refreshing to have some time to myself. I love my boys and I missed them a lot, but I truly needed some time to myself. It was amazing.

I have never been to a homeschool convention. I'm a homeschooling newbie for starters. At first, I was reluctant to spend the money and time away from the boys to go, but quickly realized that it was time and money very well spent. It was incredible. I only wish I knew how to not buy books. :)

I attended some great workshops. A lot of them really helped me see things from a new perspective and gave me a greater insight. Jessica Hulcey, by the way, is hilarious and practical. She gave me some of the greatest advice and I left her workshops with pages of ideas and notes that I am so excited to implement in our home. Amanda Bennett, while I did not meet her in a bathroom, is a truly amazing woman. I'm still humbled to have shared dinner across the table from her and her husband and can not wait to get started on some of her unit studies, as she is the go to gal for that!

And the books. The curriculum. The tools, the tips, the maps, everything. It's as if someone asked me what my dream day would be. :) Well, not really because my dream days are always days when I'm with all of my boys, but this was such a close second. I got to pick books up, look at them, flip through them, really look at the content and think "Would Adisson benefit from this? Could he learn from this? Is this his style?" It was incredible!

I did not buy curriculum. Well....sorta. I did buy a Bible study from Explorer's Bible study and also a First Steps in Faith Study from The Bennetts. But other than that, one of the best things I took away from the convention is the fact that I'm using the best thing for us already. Being a new homeschooler, I just want to be sure I'm doing the best I can to educate my son...well, that would be a true statement whether I was a new homeschooler or not. It's not that I've had doubts with what we're doing, but I need to know what else is available. There's always been a particular curriculum I've been interested in but I'm always in sticker shock. I listened to their workshop this weekend, stopped by their booth and held the books in my hands. And it's just not for us. What is for us is what we're doing!

I did find a few other things I'd like to purchase to help me teach Adisson some Science (it's an area of difficulty for me) and a few other things. But overall, I'm sticking with what we're using. We're a happy Five in a Row family and I'm pretty sure it's going to stay that way!!

Ok, I've got more to talk about but it's late, I'm exhausted and I want to sleep. More later....

It's always too long when we're apart.

Exodus 14:14...."The Lord will fight for you, you need only be still."

Sometimes I worry I'm not listening enough, that I'm still searching for my own answers instead of listening for His.

I miss my husband. I prayed for so long that he would get to come home sooner than 15 months. That someone would get up one day and say that 15 months is just too long to keep a soldier away from his family and reduce it back to 12 months. I've come to terms with thte fact that isn't going to happen. Which leaves me with ten more months to go.

That's a long time.

Again.

My husband came home.

My husband left.

And we did stuff. We went to Ohio. Visited with family. Went to the Newport Aquarium. Went to a casino (just me and Adam went with his grandma, not the kids.... :) Had a great big family dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Hung out with family. Came home from Ohio. Got a new TV (new to us....it was my aunt's). Went to Shogun. Went to Nashville. Shopped....a lot. Stayed in a hotel room (NOT with the kids!). Came home in the worst snow storm this area has seen in a lonnnnnng time. Went furniture shopping (scored some great deals and some gorgeaous furniture!). Painted our bedroom. Got our new furniture delivered. Went out to Logan's (a family tradition for us). Painted Easter eggs. Went to Nashville. Visited the Frist Center for Visual Arts. Went to the Grand Ole Opry Museum. Went shopping (Adam and I loooooove to shop!!). Went to our hotel room. Got up this morning....and took him to the aiport. And watched him leave.

Again.

And it so sucks.

And I miss you a lot. And I love you a lot. And I wish more than anything that you could be here with us all of the time. And sometimes I wonder if we are doing what is in the best interest of our family by staying in this position. I wish I had that answer.