0.5 and ALMOST 2.5 Photos

From time to time, I aspire to start a photography business, to spend the big bucks and have my family photographed by a professional outdoor photographer, to snap that one perfect image that would unedited look amazing blown up and pressed onto canvas.

I dream sometimes.

I think the reason that I don't do many photo shoots is because I'm afraid of disappointing myself, of realizing I really don't have much talent, discovering my camera isn't good enough, or of spending a lot of money and being disappointed by the work of another photographer. I know taking a digital photography course would give me a ton of confidence but so far it just hasn't fit into the schedule.

This is what I came up with 5 minutes one day and 5 minutes the next day. My kids are easy subjects because they're adorable even when they're grumpy. I forced myself to take some photos now because my son is almost grown out this antique yellow sweater. My German step-grandmother knitted it for me (I think) when I was born. Or perhaps it was handed down to me too in which case it's probably over 30 years old.

It's hard for me to choose sometimes. Is it better to have the subject looking at the camera, or just catch them mid-play?

I love how my sons can already play together. People who have kids further apart just don't know the sweet childhood interaction they're missing out on.

Changes

I feel fall coming. And by fall I mean a brief, frosty season and then 6 months of bone-chattering cold. We recently had a long week of 85-90, humid (for us), and it was brutal. If you're like me and you've lived in Fairbanks for over 5 years your body is conditioned for the cold; anything over 80 feels like fire. We did playgrounds, lakes, pools. And yesterday the Tanana Valley State Fair started and it has been raining and cool ever since. Any Fairbanksian will tell you when the fair comes, it rains. This is how I know summer is almost over.

There is a 3-day long country and bluegrass festival in Anderson, AK (near Denali National Park). My husband had driven to Chitna, 7 hours south to dipnet salmon from the Copper River. So, our friend Sadie helped me take the boys down to listen to music for the day. We met our Good friends down there. And all of the kids were on their best behavior.

After a lot of brining and mess in the kitchen, I smoked 2 loads of salmon like this. Mostly red salmon, some silvers. It takes about 8 hours to smoke a load of salmon. I smoked about 35 fish tails after my husband vacuum froze the main portions of the fish.

And what we didn't smoke or freeze fresh, we canned. We preserved 45 fish total. The weekend my husband went, Alaska residents were allowed to take home 40 fish each. Somehow we ended up with a few of his dad's fish. I'm not even going to relay the 3 day long fishing adventure. It was utter chaos but a ton of fun. I'm so glad I wasn't part of this dirty work.

Today, we met all of my closest friends at the middle school swimming pool in North Pole. My husband had gone to high school where the pool is and he was VERY pleased to see that since then they have installed water-injected slides. It was our baby's first time swimming, and he did fabulous.

I am cloth diapering my son. I find it to be actually more convenient than disposables. They have such great technology now. I never have to run to the store for diapers again . . . or take out the trash. Here my son sits with all of the diapers and covers that I will need to diaper him until he's potty trained. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. And trust me. If I like this, anyone can do it, because really I'm kind of a lazy person.

They sell a washable diaper pail liner and bag for your diaper bag, so once you're ready to do the wash you just throw the bag and the diapers and covers in the washer with the Charlie's soap. No mess. No stench. No gag. No puke. You could put them in the dryer, but I actually use my stairway railing. It's so dry in our climate that they dry very quickly like this and I feel better about saving some of our planet's fossil fuel.

And look at this cutie. He is eating baby food now. So far only rice, oatmeal, and bananas. I've decided not to make his baby food. I've never been very excited about food preparation. I have a two good friends who LOVE to cook and my husband does too. I envy them. But, when I found organic food stored in glass jars at Walmart for a reasonable price, I knew this was the way to go for us. I hadn't found a food processor or baby food maker or freezer storage trays that met my approval and I'd been looking for a while.