Autumn in Richland

Last week's comings and goings:

1) Kelly gifted me a series of quilting classes, to be taken together with her, for my birthday. We had our first quilting class last week and it was a lot of fun; I finally got some confidence at the sewing machine. Last time I set foot on a sewing pedal was about 25 years ago and totally unsuccessful. I hated it! Every time the bobbin or whatever got tangled, I quit. This time I don't quit quite so easy...

2) Megan and "baby Tate" (actually 2 years old but the kids like to call him baby Tate) came to visit this past weekend and the boys enjoyed having a little play pal. Olin and Tate got haircuts, we visited Bill's Berry Farm, we had a mini girls' night out, we went to Stick + Stone Pizza and Tate got his first experience with fire and cooking at Fujiyama. Just like Olin, he hated the fire. :)

3) Seattle: We drove up to Seattle for a very quick one-night trip on Sunday to visit my grandma who is here visiting from Taiwan (I'll post a family photo once I get it from my mom). In the meantime, here's a photo of us at Din Tai Fung from Sunday night. FYI Olin's new face is this tongue-sticking-out business. Leelee has now mastered the photo posing and no longer does the total cheesy face.

4) Carpool. It has been sheer joy finding a carpooling friend, Alaina. They just moved about 1/2 mile from us and we are now starting to share in the duties of three (yes, three) drop offs and pick ups. Prior to carpool, we each had a 9am, noon, and 3pm trip to school. Last week, she did the 9am and 3pm and I did the noon. I also told her I would take her 4 year old for a playdate from noon-3 so she could unpack in a little more peace. It was a win-win, and so glorious to only go to school once!

carpool playdate Claira

5) Diwali: Leelee's class celebrated the Hindu celebration called Diwali today. Each child got a little sticker on their forehead. As you can see, as the day progressed, Christian's sticker migrated ever so slightly off center!

6) Piano lessons: I started piano lessons a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it. In my former life as a piano student (ages 4-12), I don't think I ever fully appreciated the beauty (and genius!!) of classical music. Anyway, I found a piano teacher here in Richland who actually trained with my old childhood teacher, Mrs. Haney, and I am so happy and surprised that she is letting me plunge right into my ultimate goal piece: Fantaisie Impromptu by Chopin (I figured she'd make me do months of really boring stuff before I got to the juicy stuff).  I think it will take me 1-2 years to learn this little beauty, but I think I can do it.  I've already been practicing more this past week than I probably did my entire last year of lessons as a 12 year old. hehehe.