Ice Festival

Every year we have a couple of ice festivals in Interior Alaska. One is in around Christmas time and the other is in February and March. Ice festivals to me are like dog sled races. I could take them or leave them, which is why I've never bothered to write about our attending them before, even though we've brought our kids as young as infants. If the temp is above 20 and the sun is out, we'll go and enjoy a few hours outside, but below that they can be painful activities or all too short. Today, it was near 30 and sunny and the International Ice Festival, which has been going on for weeks, will end in a week. We had an excellent time walking through five-foot ice mazes, crawling through three-foot ones, spinning in ice bowls, and of course sliding down the large, dangerous slides of glare ice. The kids loved every second of this adventure.

Snowboys

Suite Dreams and Winter Themes

January and February are gone already and March is here. It has been an interesting winter across the globe. I read in the Daily News-Miner today that in Fairbanks, AK the first three weeks of December were the warmest ever on record, January was the fifth coldest ever, and February was the warmest in 10 years. Minnesota for the longest time had less snowfall this winter than Texas but on "leap day" was dumped on so badly that people had to stay home from work and school. Above you can see someone has made it out on skis 4 times now, which means he's becoming comfortable enough to lean, turn around, and even glide a little. I think I've made it out 8 times, excluding with him, so assuming March is nice I should meet my goal of 10 trips. Above right, the boys are waiting for their friends to arrive to take them to ice skating lessons. Twice a week for five weeks a kind friend has offered to bring our son and another woman's daughter with her own to take lessons. This has been nice because it was quite hard to bring him the six times we did since the little brother isn't quite ready to be on the ice with us yet. Our older son continues to attend preschool two afternoons a week and the teacher reports he is very well adapted and social.

Sometime in January, my husband and I took on a weekly commitment. He is teaching his 4th class (3rd different course in all) for the local university's Process Technology program. And I joined the Fairbanks Community Band. Finding the time for both leaves little time for other projects around home, but they are both very challenging and rewarding. It is always fun to meet new people, friends of friends, and just yesterday I without much effort recruited one of my favorite friends to join the band. The photo above is of us before the community service concert Suite Dreams and Winter Themes, which was held at the Pioneer Park Theatre.

These guys are the absolute best. This last week has been exhausting. My weeks normally go smoothly, without drama but each day I received a piece of news that was shocking to me ... a young friend with cancer, a leak and water damage at a friends home and rental property we watch, and several other horrible things that I won't get into. But, just as I started to get tears in my eyes at the end of the week, the little guy who is barely two says, "Mommy, don't cry anymore." His understanding of the world and language skills are about as good as the average kid twice his age. And then they both started saying, "Please take pictures of us." And I remembered I haven't been taking pictures lately. These boys are full of energy, giggles, "roars," "args," and punches. No week is too tough with their love and animation.

Bring Spring On

One day not too long ago, I realized we had sunlight in all rooms of the house. Since we heat with wood, I can surely say the house plan we chose and the large windows for which we opted are wonderful. Not being from here, it'd be much tougher for me to remain happy in a smaller or darker place. I feel like the kids' energy is amplified also. They run more quickly and shout more loudly. The boy above who has been a knight for months now (but was a pirate in photo in honor of a pirate birthday party) has a running list of things that he would like to do "in the grass," such as juggle, axe wood, and camp ... all of which I agree can be tough to do with mittens and extra gear.

Today feels to me the warmest day of the in entire winter. We've had a few days since late October where it's been warmer than today's +15F but some have had a bit of wind, moisture, or were too early in the year for us to really appreciate them. Warm winter days just don't start to feel really warm until February or March. And I suppose it's just as well because by this time of year the snow is deep and as fluffy as can be. I look forward to this coming week of +15's and I know the boys do too.

A Little Boy's 2nd Year Celebration

We had a quiet birthday party at home today, just me and the boys. It actually was not that quiet but more-so than having a bunch of kids over. The boys awakened to some new movies, new swords and shields, a fishing game, and a pancake breakfast with juice. The birthday boy chose to eat only juice and then after playing took a long nap. During his nap, his big brother and I enjoyed a movie and baked a carrot cake. The little guy is nuts for carrots. Cousin Jennie called to give her wishes. After attempting to blow out candles and successfully eating the sweet treat, we headed to the post office to pick up gifts from Grandma Linda, Grandpa Greg and Auntie Laurie, talked with them on the phone. And just as dad arrived home from work, we enjoyed a surprise visit and Hawaiian gifts from Papa Bob and Grandma Barb. It was a great day shared with close family near and far.

A Wonderful Dozen Visits

My parents came to visit us for their twelfth time in six years.  I am getting better at controlling my excitement before they arrive and our disappointment after they leave.  I plan things to occupy myself and the kids until our next visit and it seems to work pretty well.

While my parents and I were out shopping, my husband made my mom a red velvet cake with cherries inside for her belated birthday. Puss in Boots here had a good time helping to make it and blowing out the candles. That night my mom, my dad, and I caught the flu ... probably from our son who barfed momentarily a couple of days before us. Sounds like a scenario last February when they visited? Yes, almost an exact repeat.

We had a warm 1st week and were able to play and walk outside but as soon as Christmas arrived, so did the cold. It did not, however, keep us inside or home.

Because I do not have any siblings and my husband's siblings are younger and without families of their own, it means that the boys are the only grandchildren on both sides and the only great-grandchildren that are still kids. They were spoiled by us and grandparents with things like skis, skates, the rocking horse my dad made for me when I was two, a pirate ship, a hunting camp, knight castle, and much more.

The boys had a lot of attention and asked for their grandparents still. Actually, as I am typing this and my son is watching a movie he says, "I want grandma and grandpa to stay here, mom." It's a good thing they will soon retire. Until then, we remember them by having pillow fights each night on their bed, playing with their gifts, reading books about Minnesota, and eating my mom's (my grandma's) cinnamon and sugar bread rolls. Besides, we have memories of sitting outside at -25 and watching fireworks with them, ice skating, swimming, and much more including fantastic cowboy and indian costumes and wooden bath boats made by grandma and grandpa.

I received a scroll saw for Christmas and hope to make many gifts with it. I want to take a knitting class and learn how to expand my knitting capabilities, which should also help me gift creatively. Tomorrow, I join the Community Band and will play the flute in a group as I did from 5th grade - college. I am looking for a used but maintained piano on which the boys will take lessons and hope in other ways to incorporate more music into our lives. I have joined the Ladies of Leisure ski group and want to ski ten times this year which would be probably the most times ever in a year or at least the most in the last fifteen years; I am up to four so I should make it. I want to bike with the Dirt Divas again this summer at least four times a month and bike to the art exhibits on First Fridays at least once. I want to bring the boys camping two times and backpack with either my girlfriends or my husband before I find it completely intolerable (I'm 30!). I want to teach my son before or during age four to skate alone (almost there), ski (he shows promise), swim (I've been slacking here), and to read (he's starting to sound them out) since he shows an interest and promise in all of these valuable skills. I think I will stay busy this year or at least until March, when we plan to see my parents again.

Homemade Laundry Soap

A month ago, a friend shared a pint jar of home-made laundry soap with me. It's opaque white, smells like ordinary soap, and a similar consistency to any liquid detergent. After laundering our clothes with it a couple times a week, it is half gone, and I can tell it works just as well as the earthy brands we have been using for the past couple of years and as well as the mainstream brands that give your clothes odor and leave chemical residue to boost the reflection of light (color!) I like to buy the environmentally-friendly detergent brands because they tend to be fragrance-free, biodegradable, and have fewer additives, which means they are healthier for us as well. Making soap at home seems to me like a good way to keep using a green product but with fewer packages to recycle and at a fraction of the cost. For the price of one jug of liquid detergent, which is not even a gallon in size, I can easily buy the ingredients required to make 15+ gallons of comparable soap at home.

Ingredients:

4 cups hot water

1 bar Fels Naptha or Kirk's Castile

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1/2 cup Borax

Directions:

Grate the soap and add it to a sauce pan that contains the hot water. Stir until melted on medium-low heat. Fill a container with 5 gallons of hot tap water. Add the soap, borax, and washing soda. Stire until dissolved. Cover and let thicken overnight or until cool. Stir again.

Use:

1/4 cup for high efficiency (HE) machines

5/8 cup for regular machines

There are numerous websites that describe the previous in more detail, with variations, and with photos. For example, here is a diaper site that describes how to make two different powder versions of this soap, which they call detergent for some reason (mistake?). I think I will make the second, the heavy powder, because I already own liquid castile soap, using liquid instead of bar means I don't have to grate it, heat it, or deal with multiple bars since a little liquid goes a long way, and because making powder soap is not only easier than making liquid but it takes up less space.

Note that stores usually sell detergents, which are synthetic, and here we I am talking about making soap, which is composed of natural substances. There is no question that soap is easier on us and our environment, but detergents are better at removing hard-water residue. So, for diapers, which need to remain absorbent or in hard water locations the price of specialized diaper detergents can be a necessity unless other steps are taken to strip the fabrics.

Christmas Preparations

In four days, my mom and dad arrive for a half-month long stay with us for the holidays. We are all extremely excited and I know I probably won't have time to blog while they are here. So, here are some warm photos, not in any particular order. The photo below was taken two days ago, while the boys decorated the tree. I didn't think the excitement of putting up the tree would start so young but it surely did. I had been bugged for a week and that was fine because it turned out that they were excellent little helpers.

In late November, I got the itch to make things. So, I dug into the closet to see what I could find. In 2006, my husband and I knitted scarves for everyone we knew; it was a fairly inexpensive way to give gifts as we were just about to put a house on the foundation we'd built and were saving money. We personalized them with 'Handcrafted by ...." tags. In 2008, I begged him to make me a scarf because we didn't have any leftover and he did but it sat only half finished until last month when he taught me how to do his knit and I finished the second half of it. So, if you see me sporting a bright green scarf, that is it, the scarf of many memories.

Because we had knitted so many scarves we had remnants of many different yarns. I didn't know what to do with them, so during christmas of 2006 I think it was in Minnesota I knitted all of them into squares. This is also when my cousin Jennie learned to knit :) Anyway, the squares sat in my closet until I recently fashioned them into neck warmers ... and then I converted them into purses because they were too flashy for neck warmers, which my son calls "warm neckers."

Apparently, they also make good hats! And I love that even though this was taken half a month ago, they're wearing the same shirts they wore above when they decorated the tree. And my son, who prefers to be called Puss in Boots, has a sword in his belt in both photos as well.

I have such really great friends here. One friend organized a party that was held at my house. She spoiled us with the best food we've all had in a long, long time with the theme "Tapas," which is basically spanish bar food. Everyone exchanged cookies and gifts and dressed up in pretty and ugly sweaters. We've been to some fantastic white elephant gift exchanges in the past few years but this was new to me because it was all women and all close friends.

Let's not forget our annual kids' party with our son's oldest friends. Last hear they made gingerbread houses and this year gingerbread people and of course exchanged gifts, got into fights (not my son), and ate. Some things never change.

This week at preschool there is a gift exchange where my son will exchange a book with the kid with the glasses; this kid has all of the same interests as our son does: dragons, knights, lions, dinosaurs, etc characters with an element of danger. Another day there will be a visit from Santa and a party where I will help with games and sit down to eat with the kids. This is the 6th time in 4 months we've had the opportunity as parents to participate in the preschool events or fieldtrips so that is pretty neat.

Today, I am going to a friends place to make swords and shields for the boys and in a couple of days I am going to print dragon drawings onto shirts for them. This blog in some sense provided those dragons as they're from my talented friend in England, who traded me the drawings for the photos I posted for the high bush cranberry triptych. All my son wants for christmas is skis and ice skates and the other is too young and too content to ask for anything, but it'll be fun to make some things for them too. I think I'll stop there because I know they're going to be spoiled by two sets of grandparents.

Two Series

I ended up submitting two series of photos for my final photography class project because a chinook was expected to arrive when I was scheduled to reshoot my original idea: "A Painter's Work" ... or something like that. I am not good with titles. In fact, they canceled public school, a day in advance because of the expected icy roads and snowfall ... but it really never came. The roads were fine and I was able to make it to the painting studio at the university for a second shooting of my friend painting. The images turned out very well considering I had to keep the existing fluorescent light on because there were always other artist working in the space and supplement that light with 3 large halogen lights. In an Adobe camera RAW program, I was able to adjust this harsh light and make it more natural. This actually is a little variation of the series that I submitted. This one fits better in webspace because they are all vertical.

I also completed the other idea: "Night Comforts." This idea began as I grabbed a bottle of milk in the night for my son using only the fridge light. I thought to myself that there are a lot of things that keep us up at night-- dogs, bathroom breaks, noisy streets--and they all have dim light that would be neat to capture with long-exposure. The idea quickly changed from night annoyances basically to night comforts because my original series had a toilet in it and it just didn't seem to fit. Here are some fairly universal night comforts lit by firelight, fridgelight, candlelight, barlight, and flashlight. In this series, I wish I had used more negative space. My best photos, which had a lot of negative space, were not included because one of a blanket on a bedpost lit by hall light was too light and the other of a beautiful blue bottle of of Bombay (which I've probably never tried before but it's pretty nevertheless) did not have a cracked open bottle. All of the other ideas are "in progress" so a closed bottle didn't fit as well as one poured into a glass.

Nothing in Moderation

Apples from a couple fairly young trees

My parents and uncle and aunt with their horses

Blueberry wine from the organic berry patch

Over 10 cord wood, all from down trees, a lot for a small vermont castings :)

There's always work and fun to be had on the Boondocks Farm, where I grew up. I love these photos and the fact that electronically I can see some of the things we missed this fall. Last time we visited the farm was during the month of June. Next year we hope to be there in late July - early August for the boys' first blueberry season (they love berries ... what I asked mom to bring me for christmas this year in her suitcase/cooler) and again in late October - early November for fall preservation, birthdays, halloween, and also white tail deer hunting opening season.