I'm back! I was out of town at a conference the last few days, but am back in DC and very happy to see everyone. Daddy had a stressful few days here while I was gone, with some delayed openings, buses that never came, and ballet pickups that conflicted with conference calls. But I'm back so things are better, and he leaves tomorrow for a week away. The snow is more manageable but it's not gone yet. Still a lot on the ground.

For the girls, they have started a new advisory period. That means no more dreaded PE for M, who now has music. A has PE but a better teacher than M had, but fewer friends in her class, so the jury's out on that class.

The exciting news is that two of their teachers are starting a Puzzle Club on Wednesdays after school. M&A can't wait. We've been working on a new puzzle which recently arrived c/o Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Deb. I think this is my favorite puzzle we've ever done. Poor M&A were under strict orders not to work on it while I was gone, so that we can do it together. No surprise that I love this one:

Sadly that's the Challenger disaster in the bottom right, which is marking its 30th anniversary this week.

Have I talked about N and South Dakota yet? He REALLY wants to go to South Dakota. He also thinks we are going soon. So sometimes I suggest things like "N, let's go through your closet and pull out the clothes that don't fit" and he says "Ok, but let's do it after we go on our trip to South Dakota." Or he'll pick out clothes for our trip. I feel like he might be disappointed if we actually went to South Dakota. (No offense to South Dakota.)

His boots were too small for him, so I pulled another pair from the closet. He kept saying, "These are so COMFY and COZY and I LOVE THEM!" So cute.