Showing off all the precious tchotchkes in her treasure box to an avid and jealous audience.

Despite the fact that no child will spend time alone in the basement (they’re all convinced a Black Widow lurks around every corner), they’re all perfectly content to make giant messes here together. I’m so grateful to have a room that can stay trashed without me constantly seeing it. (if you saw photographs of this…

R tending to E’s little cuts and bruises. (apparently the walk between our house and theirs is a treacherous one!)

Attack birthday kisses for the birthday Mamele (grandma). It was a low-key celebration this year: V (sister) and I went out for lunch at a downtown, rooftop restaurant with Mom, then gifts and dessert with kids and spouse at our place (D was on a guys’ trip to Chicago). Mom’s birthday kicks off a lot:…

I found this roll of coloring wrapping paper in the basement and E enthusiastically accepted the assignment. By the time we were ready to celebrate Mom’s birthday later the next day, an impressing number of rows had been carefully colored.

In the past six months or so, N’s favorite thing to do has been to perform for others – usually a combination of dancing and acrobatic feats. She usually has roughly forty-eight seconds of solo attention before her siblings discover the exhibition and crash it. This photo came ten seconds before ghost-clad (A) and shark-clad…

It was a “makes me think of the good ol’ days!” morning. The kind where I text V at 7:40am and tell her to walk over with the kids for breakfast. She’s predictably late, I’m predictably low on the right toppings, the kids scarf food down and disappear to play Legos after using (predictably) way…

For the first 7 or so years of parenting, I rarely had individual moments with kids (or so it seemed). It was more of a constant, full-pack, jibber-jabber of high pitched voices all demanding my full attention at the very same second for 24 hours a day. In the past year, though, I’ve started having…

Feeding and watering the chickens is a whole lot less fun when it’s so cold outside, but I love how politely the chickens act with A. (they’re a far less patient with me!) While this chore usually involves a lot of moaning and groaning, today – under the watchful gaze of my camera – A…

N: methodically putting on mittens, adjusting her hat, zipping up her jacket. E: Disgustedly watching the slow pace, alternating between licking the washer’s window, kicking the rug, and whining to “hurrrrrrrryyyyyyyy upppppppp.”