Convention and a Birthday

Last weekend was the FPEA Homeschool Convention and my birthday! I just love convention - being around so many people of like mindedness about raising our children, the sessions, the vendors, the lack of sleep! No, really, I look forward to it every year with anticipation to be re-inspired, re-encouraged and re-juvenated. It is a full and exciting 3 days in my life each year and it always falls around my birthday, so it's like all of Florida is there to have a big party for me! Not really, but you know what I mean! I love spending my birthday there and I usually get to see all of my best friends that day which makes it even more special. Out of nowhere, someone will inevitably run up shouting HAPPY BIRTHDAY and give me a great big hug! I love it! So, here was the weekend:

Thursday was Leader's Day and I learned a lot about co-oping that I can't wait to share with my group. We had a wonderful catered lunch where I met new people, heard about updates on Florida Homeschooling and then a Ladies Tea with a hilarious speaker to keep up from being too serious. She reminded us of a verse in Deuteronomy 8:3 that she shares with her family when they ask for dinner: "The Lord humbled you and allowed you to hunger!!" Thursday night, I spent 4 hours in the vendor hall perusing every type of curriculum you can imagine and left feeling tired yet ready to review my notes, sort through brochures and tackle the rest of the weekend.

Friday was my birthday and the kids and I met up with Mark early after he left work to all go to convention together. I got to spend the whole day with all of them! We went to a lot of sessions that were just incredible. This year, it was so hard to chose which session to go to because so many were good. But, we did our best at picking the right ones and felt like we made good choices for our family. We heard an excellent talk on the power of our words and how we effect our children by what we say and how they can have a positive or negative impact on each other. It could have been a church service! He even used scripture! One of the best sessions I have ever gone to was titled Overcoming Your Goliath's and it was just powerful. We spent more time in the exhibit hall showing the children the things we are considering for next year to feel them out on what will work best. So many decisions to make in such a short time, but we never did make them all! There is always E-bay! Anyway, normally on Friday, my friends and I all go out to dinner (my choice) for my bday and to share what we did that day. Unfortunately, this year, several were unable to be there and we decided to postpone it to include everyone, but Mark and the kids still took me out (Mimi's Cafe - one of my favorites!) and we had a nice evening as a family.

Saturday came way too early, but the girls and I were up and at it early to hear the 9:00 session called "I'm Spread so Thin, You can See Through Me" - can you imagine why I felt like I needed to be in there for that one?? Mark and Caleb decided to hang out together here on Saturday and catch up on some guys time. So, really more of the same on Saturday - lots of sessions and shopping (window shopping!). By late afternoon, we were ready for some well earned rest. And boy did we need it to prepare for Brother Wayne Frances preaching Sunday morning! It was such a great weekend and I am reinspired and full of ideas for the new year. Holly, amazingly, begins High School this year, so we begin a new chapter of our Homeschool Book that I call "DeVore Life!" The journey is exciting if we learn to enjoy each step and not be worried about pushing for the end result. I will leave you with two quotes that inspired me from the Ladies Tea and hopefully they will bless you, too. "Plan like it really matter, because it does. But if plans fail, let it go like it doesn't matter, because in the end, it really doesn't." And... "Work like it all depends on you, but pray like it all depends on God, because it really does!"