{In Short} :: Hill Country Retreat

This retreat was so fun to be a part of. It was especially exciting to get to meet other Charlotte Mason/Ambleside Online moms because I have never met any face-to-face before this weekend!

Some of the highlights were:

:: Encouragement from Silvia, Jen, Harmony & June. Talks on history, narration, highlights from sessions at the Indiana At Home retreat, God's riches for us and our children in a wide land with lots of resources, and the challenges and blessings of schooling our unique children. 

:: White-elephant style gift exchange. We each brought a book and a gift that we love and/or that describes us in some way. This was lots of fun and such an interesting way to find out more about each other! The book I gave was this one (a superb, thrilling and heart-wrenching read). My additional gift was this handmade journal cover, which was Pinterest-inspired and so fun to make. See instructions here:

Plus I was privileged to receive this lovely mug (although I *did* have to fight for it) Haha!

Thanks to Jen for the special delivery from the Indiana At Home retreat!

:: Heather's watercolor lesson & practice. I was so happy to be a part of this and to learn some paint-mixing and dry brush skills to push me past the I'm-clueless stage. There are a couple of videos of our lesson that were recorded. The first one is here. The second is here.:

Silvia making a color wheel and mixing colors:

Heather helping Beth S with some techniques in an impromptu lesson:

The impromptu session grew.

Rosa is working on her lesson in painting feathers:

Some hand-picked Mexican hats for additional practice on my part:

~Network of Texas AO Friends~
A lovely weekend with lovely ladies!

Me, Friedricke, Patti, Heather, Daphne, Beth P., June, Beth S.,
Harmony, Kate, Dawn, Rosa, Jen, Amy, Silvia & Vanessa