I probably must include an obligatory "first day of school" post. So here it is:

Rutledge's first day was a big success. It was a birthday already, so they had a little party, and the theme of the week is gingerbread men. Tomorrow they will make and eat gingerbread men as part of their "extended day."

Tomorrow is my first day teaching Junior Great Books for this session, and I am more or less ready. Our first story is "The Happy Lion," which is one of my favorites, and I have such sweet memories of doing this in past co-ops. Pre-Algebra starts for the older boys. I hope it will be a productive, if not rude awakening that they need to pay attention to detail.

This afternoon was our first art class at Art Adventures. Though I didn't see any of what they did and primarily dropped off and picked up, the reviews from the kids were overwhelmingly positive. This series of classes was a super deal at a studio with a strong reputation.

Today was also a day of endings. Walter finished Brainware Safari, a program we had purchased through Homeschool Buyers Coop. There is a lot of overlap between this program and Learning RX, so they complemented each other nicely. Brainware Safari is not nearly as intense and has far fewer levels, but it was still a fun and productive experience, and Walter was done in less than half the time that the company suggests you use the program (and not everyone finishes all the levels). Ollie has about 25 levels left, and Frances will start the program this week. Check it out at www.getbrainwaresafari.com!

Tomorrow is the beginning of Suburban tennis season. I honestly have no idea how to fit this in to my life right now, but I'm going to try to do home matches. We have a kickoff social and round robin in the morning, which I'm going to try to attend to the best of my ability. In the evening, the twins have their first clinic associated with their suburban team. I'm just glad that we're close to home with this one--there's nothing like riding your bike to an activity!

And so it all begins. The new school year, the new schedule, and a new set of activities.