As soon as we decided to send Mason to Heritage Study Center, we began to hear the murmuring of how BIG of a jump it was from Kindergarten to First.Grade.at.Heritage (said as one word). It made my palms sweat, it made me want to do school with Mason all.summer.long (almost!), it made me second guess my kindergarten curriculum (should have picked something more demanding), it made me want to un-enroll him from Heritage--it kind of made me crazy.
A mere 7 days before Heritage started, I received this pile of books and the first week's lesson plan. I went through it that first night at 9:30p (that was my first mistake) and started drafting the withdrawal letter in my mind. It just seemed too hard! Too much! Too everything!
I figured I could blame it on the pencils. I didn't want my son to go to school with a bunch of pencil snobs, after all! Heritage "strongly recommends" Ticonderoga pencils. 24 of them to be exact...which comes out to be about one shiny new Ticonderoga pencil for every week or so of school. How can they be that good if they need to be replaced so often?? I can't quite figure out why they are the World's Best Pencils...but they sure are the World's Most Expensive pencils. :)
I talked myself down off of the withdrawal ledge after a night of sleep. I pushed down my anxious thoughts and prayed and prayed and prayed. I was a nervous wreck the night before the first day of school. And, when a friend asked me to text her a picture of Mason's first day, I sent her this:
Mason, on the other hand, was calm, composed and excited! And quite handsome in his uniform, I might add :)
I survived. He loved it. And then we got to work. The first several weeks were quite the adjustment for us both. At one point, Mason summed it up perfectly: "Mommy, I want to go back to Kindergarten!" I did, too. But we pressed on and on and on. And, as we pressed on, we both got faster and more confident with the curriculum and I started to see that wonderful thing called PROGRESS!
Thankfully, my mom is helping with Levi and Ava two mornings a week so Mason and I can have focus time. I am not sure I could do this without her help! And Levi & Ava have loved extra time with Gram--making play dough, going on hikes, baking, and all sorts of fun adventures.
And, although they call it HOME-schooling, Mason and I have found some fabulous places to go to do school! The Hudson library has a fabulous study room, lots of natural light, and a beautiful patio for lunch outside (which is only a 5 minute walk from my dad's office)
And Parkside Church has a beautiful commons area with bistro tables and couches, giant windows, fresh coffee and $1.00 muffins -- Now this is homeschooling in style!
So proud of my firstborn. He has showed such determination and perseverance this first month of school. Mrs. King remarked at the Parent Open House that, in the first 3 weeks of school, he had come farther than any student she has had....and he has! He is continuing to gain confidence in his abilities, momentum in his reading, and joy in the process!
I know there will be many hard days ahead, but this sure has been a good lesson for me in staying the course!
We had a lovely time celebrating Ava. It was so fun buying pink napkins and plates and making pink frosting. I made her a giant pink cupcake cake and another pink cake with white sprinkles and a beautiful pink pendant made by my friend Tonia {who is not pink, but who most certainly has a rosy disposition}. 
Ava LOVED her birthday balloons and wore a cute little pink shirt with the number 1 on it and her favorite pair of jeans. She bounced around from grandparent to grandparent to aunt to aunt and was just the happiest little birthday girl on the planet.
