Resolutions, gifts, & siblings

Today Sava brought home a "2018" reflection bookmark that he had reportedly made in language-arts class. I love the entire thing, but I especially like the resolution under "One Way I Want to Grow as a Person: I want to be a better brother."
This boy is already the nicest, most considerate older brother I know. So it warms the cockles of my heart to know that he thinks he can get even better. I also like that he wants to "Try not to wake up in a grumpy mood," and I appreciate that he wants to be "more descriptive" in his writing.

For her part, Raya gave us over Christmas break a list of presumptive gifts that she would--if she could--grant to us. Much of that list is remarkable, starting with the grammar (verb tenses, conditionals, etc.) and ending with the depth of self-reflection. She truly has captured here all of the "flaws" for which we criticize her; she also has managed to tell us what she would "fix" without actually promising to do so. It's an ingenious, persuasive work of art.

And while I am on the subject of sibling love, here are a few more photos from the past months.

Google Family Picnic (yes, there's such a thing):

 Summer pool:

 The ocean at one of our favorite trails, the Cowell-Purissima:

 What happens when you leave kids in the car for five minutes while you shop for dinner:

 When mama's too tired to cook, there's always YouTube to eat at: