kale is too busy reading to open his other books.

that's monsieur spade to you.

the gang's all here.

kale teaches jp about shopkins "they're anything you can buy in a store, but with faces and sometimes little legs".

we decided to do christmas one day early, because more time to play with our presents that's why.

a little qt with the new yorker.

successful christmas tree hunt.

despite the traffic we made it to portland in time for stories with mimi.

the long awaited magic game with calvin and his brother.

together they are wearing one full track suit.

runners!

the finished product.

tips from a master.

we went to nat and erin's last night for a little casual mid-week hang out, only look what nat had all ready for us when we walked in.

last night of hanukkah, people. gotta get those candles looking sharp.

riley belongs to the same school of thought as me - the 'why take your bike helmet off inside when you're just going to have to put it back on' school of thought.

this is the part of the party where everyone politely stands around and listens to descriptions of the various cookies, right before the part where they rush the table channeling their inner cookie monster.

erin takes the job of 'cookie labeling supervisor' very seriously.

can you even call them christmas cookies if they're not covered in red and green sprinkles?

menu perusers.

that time when you get a splinter in your toe and your mom lets you lie on the counter and read while she tweezes it out.

happy hanukkah, lovers.

thanks to the magic of the ipad no one has to fight about dreidel rules.

final game of the season pep talk.

time to make the applesauce.

storytime.

all eyes on oren.

kale practicing his 'i'm a disaffected teenager' face.

teaching eli to play (a slightly altered version of) spot it!

well look who stopped by for a little cousinly visit.

craig and kale wander out to sea.

pk's on the beach - turns out you don't need a tennis court to play soccer.

pretty sure that soccer ball was our best purchase ever.

body surfing in the gnarly swell off key biscayne.

taking careful notes on how the big kids get into the pool.

what about these cuties?

whole group shot (minus the photographer because somebody has to take the picture, that's why).

the grandspecials (dave & jeri) renewed their vows on their 50th wedding anniversary. so we had a little bay-side ceremony about it.

cousin audra is still learning the intricacies of flyers-runners, but by next year i'm predicting she will be all up in that scrum.

did i mention it's november?

those lips, that hair. sheesh i love this kid.

heading to south beach. ready to get our swim on.

everybody loves dessert, even if they're just having grapes because they are a baby and don't know about pumpkin pie and no-bake cheesecake yet!