The holiday sentiments are up at Starbucks (accompanied by a price hike, as I discovered when I ordered my usual hot cocoa and the price was off! :-( ). And while I'm a firm believer in "not until after Thanksgiving!" for Christmas festivities, I really liked this little sign.
Had my Fall observation in Niall's class this morning, and enjoyed watching a spirited discussion about upcoming oceanic changes and the silly bandz craze. Then Alice and I had a great conference, discussing all the ways Niall has grown and developed. Since she was his teacher last year too, she's seen him come a long ways. Also chatted about the rest of the family, including Tynor's world (she taught Tynor for two years too!)
As part of my observation, I got to watch Tom teaching ukelele to half of the class. Niall has been practicing at home, but not regularly. After watching the lesson, I had renewed inspiration to make sure he gets out the uke for even 5 minutes each night, to get his fingers used to those frets and strings. Makes such a difference!
We finally went for a family swim today, after months of thinking "We should do that sometime." Ended up going to the Mountlake Terrace pool because I knew the water would be relatively warm (compared to Bellevue Aquatic - another good option).
Today I enjoyed several hours of scrapbooking, playing with bright colors and patterns, arranging photos, and adding extras here and there.
Mary, Leslie, and I meet for lunch every other Friday when we can manage it. Today was our second week in a row, because we bumped one lunch forward a week.
Today is Dad's 70th birthday - hooray!
Niall's class has been reading and creating projects around historical fiction books. They set up this display outside the classroom for the rest of us to enjoy the results this week.