Home

In the months I have not been writing, apparently I have been taking many photos of the same thing: our kids inhabiting our home fully, in between school, tennis, dance, robotics, math. I love seeing these photos, and I would love to have them archived, since they show the kids doing I've always imagined a home is best for: curling up with a book or sprawling on the floor with a good board game. Without too much comment, here is how the last six months have gone:

Sava reads his first New Yorker piece (did not finish it but got through a few pages!)

in a frenzy of journaling

every now and again, a coding exercise will replace a book

Mama, I'm booored! I don't know what to do! (we love boredom here)

Sava and Nicole: buddies since Kindergarten

Home is also the buying and cooking of food,

the sharing of food with friends,

Thanksgiving 2016: the Quinns and the Ronkins

and neighbors, 

Sava and Taylor blow candles for their birthdays

the writing of "stories" while it storms outside, 

the taking of momentous photos in front of the giant bookshelf,

Dress as Your Favorite Character Day: Tin Tin and Laura Ingalls

Piano Recital 2017

the daily commute from and to,

the endless handstands,

the shenanigans,

Stephanie's Ponytail, anyone?

the occasional meal out, followed by frequent requests, especially from Raya, for a "home meal,"

and the real reason why "home meals" are fun: you can eat in your underwear!

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The other thing I seem to be fond of photographing is family outings "up the hill." The kids are reluctant to go there midday, but offer it as an alternative to early bedtime, and they have never been known to refuse. It's a way to digest dinner, reconnect at the end of a long week, and get some of the physical energy out that otherwise comes out in weird ways, ahem. Raya loves cartwheeling when we go, and both love to play the "tickle game": we chase and tickle them, they giggle and collapse.
The Hill, in all its seasonal glory:

The tickling and other silliness.

The first and only time a child has asked to come posing running with me.

she might be a dancer

The balancing and jumping from the stretch bar for runners on top of The Hill.

 

 The cartwheels.

And the best part: the smiles and the bonding:

Home is good.