Happy Birthday to Caroline!

Hard to believe this little girl is already 9.
She came into this world on her own terms and has been changing it for the better ever since. 
Happy Birthday DoodleBug!

At CJ's request, we went into DC to the Museum of the American Indian yesterday.   Don't know if it was the cold weather, the impending Raven's loss or the events this past week in Paris, but DC was devoid of tourists and there was the most significant security presence we have witnessed.  We also traipsed around The Castle.  Caroline brought a friend and when we got home we had a Southern dinner of fried chicken.  An excellent day was had by all. 

Here's to the next wonderful trip around the sun for Caroline.  :)

So now we're relaxing before the week starts.  The Christmas tree is down and we're cleaning up the last of the aftermath from the Holidays.  Meals are planned, lunches are made and we're all cleaned up from dinner.  There is laundry to be done and much to be picked up so we can get a clean start for the week.
See?  I'm not joking...because, obviously the best place to make bracelets is in the middle of the stairs. 

Legos?  Anyone want to play with Legos?

On another note, here's a picture of one of the many reasons that I love my Friend Tribe.
Thursday was a challenging day here.  We missed the bus and a certain 1st grader had some behavior problems that resulted in him needing to sit in the corner for classroom discipline.  After discussion, Jim and I have some plans in place to try to get things back on track.  With Jim traveling more than we're used to, any change in routine can be challenging simply because when he's gone, I have to be "on" all day.  There isn't down time.  That's okay and once we're in the groove, things work well.  It will take a few times crashing and burning before we figure things out though, I'm sure. 
After commiserating with my Tribe, *this* showed up at the front door accompanied by a hug and some much needed encouragement. 
Can't tell you if it was the kibbutzing, the hug or the rum...but it helped a lot. 
And I am so very grateful.

Nate and Ben's brotherly relationship is progressing along to the appropriate developmental schedule. 
They go from best friends to beating the tar out of each other with alarming rapidity and frequency. 
We had to pull out the old "hold hands while in time out" trick.
That always makes for good entertainment.  

Here's to an excellent week and none of the ice and snow they're calling for.
One snow day last week was enough!