F I F T E E N

Tomorrow we will be celebrating the big "15"

I can hardly believe that many years have passed since Nick entered the world and gave me the best job I could ever have... MOM.

It has been a long time since I have posted and updated about him and what is going on in his life, so today, you are going to hear a proud Mom brag a little bit.

About this time last year he was faced with the decision of which high school to attend. We helped him lay out the pros and cons to both our public high school and the catholic school, but we left the final decision up to him.

He had been very decisive in saying that he wanted to attend the public high school, so that is where we enrolled him, but when it came time for 8th grade graduation, the reality of leaving his lifelong friends sort of set in.

We talked a lot this summer and made sure he understood that changing schools would always be an option and if he felt he made a mistake, we would stand by him and do what we had to do to get him where he wanted to be.

Throughout all of those conversations, he always stood strong and clung to his belief that even though it would be difficult in the beginning, he felt the public high school was the best choice for him.

As the first week of school approached I think I was more nervous than he was....
He was going from an 8th grad class of 67 to a Freshman class of 832.
THAT IS A BIG CHANGE!!!

There are more students in his freshman class than there were in his entire school.

Well here we are, just about halfway through his Freshman year and I am happy to report that not only is he doing extremely well adjusting socially to the new environment, but he is having one of the best academic years ever.

Some of you many remember back when I started this blog, he had been diagnosed with dyslexia. Because of that, he has struggled with a lot of subjects. The catholic school tried to help and made some special arrangements when it came to testing, but it was still a struggle to keep up at the pace they expected. Nick worked very hard to do the best he could and we knew it. When his report card would come, we knew he would not be a straight A student, it was just not going to happen.

Imagine our surprise when he brings home his first High School Report card and he has all A's and 1 B......and that was a B+.
He is taking all College Prep classes and a some fun electives. We could not be more proud of him!!! He actually loves school and looks forward to going every day. He seems to enjoy most of his classes, but he was lucky enough to get his first choice in electives for the firs semester....Drafting. He is very good at it and I think he is starting to think about career path and where he will want to focus the next few years to set himself up for a good college education. They are selecting classes already for the next school year and he is looking into Engineering and Architecture.

Nick is an all around great kid.... I know I am his Mom, but we hear this from a lot of his teachers and other people who have the opportunity to spend time with him. He is very kind and considerate, has become extremely outgoing, and almost always has a smile on his face. He is the best son a Mom could ever ask for.....and an incredible big brother....I think you all have seen that with your own eyes! The love and adoration he has for his little sisters seems to come shining through in every photo.

The last 15 years have been quite a journey for Nick and it has been really something to watch him become the young man that he is today. Although we want to cherish the here and now with him, I will be anxious to see how the next few years of his life unfold.

Happy 15 Nick!
~We Love you~

You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes.
~Walter M. Schirra, Sr.~

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