FIRST FROST

Today was the first frost in Juneau. It welcomed us with a little chill in the air.It is so crisp. I love days like this, sitting at my couch watching the sun rise. All around you is blue skies and white mountain tops.


Ahhhh. the changing of the season. Today is a day that instinctively, you know you need to put away your summer clothes, pull out your winter gear, and get ready for your heat bills to rise.

The colors are perfect. Blue skies.



I also realize Mattie doesn't have any 2T clothes for winter, so we ventured out on a little shopping trip. We did find some cute fall shirts at Freddies, and then went out to eat at a local diner. The restaurant visit was pretty short...had to get it to go. Hey, what do you expect taking a 2 year old to a restaurant?

We had a little fashion show when we got home. Mattie was excited that her new shirts all have cool pictures on the front of them (pictures of cheerleaders, monkeys, things like that). The light outside that allowed us to take some good pictures.

Amazing fall day.

FRIED BREAD

This weekend was quite enjoyable. This weather has inspired me to cook. Not just cook, I'm talking like canning and bread making. My kids really love to get involved. They love to cook. So this time, instead of making one batch of fried bread, each of the kids made their own. This was sooo much fun! I never thought it could be so much fun. In the end, we had a little mess to clean up, and tons of fried bread to enjoy.

Here is how making memories all began. With a recipe...

ALDEN'S FRY BREAD RECIPE
1 tbl yeast
1 C. warm water
Set the first 2 ingredients to brew-about 10 minutes

ADD in Order:
1/4 C. Oil
3/4 tbl salt
1 C. warm water
1/3 C. sugar
5 cups flour

Kneading. About 15 minutes. My take a little time, getting it to the consistency needed. You might need to add more water, or flour, but you want it so that it won't stick to your fingers.

It will shape into a ball.

rolling. Take a ball of dough and roll it on a floured surface. It will look like a flat pancake. Continue until all the dough is gone.

Frying. You want the oil hot, 375 in deep fryer. On the stove, hot enough that when you test it, it must immediately come to the top. To get even puffiness, flip when one side is golden brown.

Serving. When serving fried bread for dinner, I top it with chili, cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.

PS. Oh Yes, watch your flour bucket around a 2 year old.

FALL

DOESN'T IT JUST MAKE YOU WANT TO STAY INDOORS? THIS IS JUNEAU'S FALL. COLD, WET,RAIN,WIND,DARK,DRERRY...YUCK.

Moose Steak Dinner

I love moose. If this makes you cringe, the sound of eating moose, you might be living in the city. Because, let me tell you, if you were eating moose, you wouldn't know the difference. Moose is what I would call a healthy cut of beef (even thou I would hate to call it beef). But really, I cooked up a pound of burger and it had no grease.

Eating moose is healthy! I think it is as close to organic as it gets. All natural, no game, and the best part is I have at least 350pds of it in my freezer. I feel blessed and lucky. What a land that we live in-to not have to go to the store for meat any longer.

MOOSE STEAK

Worcestershire Sauce

Olive Oil

Mc Cormicks Grill Mates -Garlic & Onion

Salt

1-Marinate. Place 2 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce and steaks in a bowl or vacuum seal bag. The Worcestershire sauce should go into the meat immediately.

2-Season. Brush steaks with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and Garlic & Onion Seasoning over the top. Put as much as you would like.

3-Grill or Broil.-Grill over medium, about 7 minutes. (The same way you would cook a beef steak) Flip, brush oil, and season the other side. Cook until it is done in the middle, the way you like it. 5-10 minutes (10 for well done).

Serve: Sides are potatoes cut into wedges and baked, and watermelon.

Out of Context

Our Assignment for the week was to photograph Out of Context. Here is what I came up with...

FOLLOWING THROUGH

Busy kids cause you to be busy parents. When you aren't doing anything, your still busy. This is how I think my life is right now. I don't really have any goals to achieve except my weekly photography assignments. Since I have a week to complete the assignment, every little time I have, I am trying to complete these assignments.

I'm also doing daycare for 2 other kids (a 5 month old and a 2 year old), 2 days a week. This is my biggest challenge. The ages are pretty demanding of my attention. It is also hard because the baby...is a baby. They want their mom/dad, so when it's my turn, the baby communicates through cry.
Ah, I am not adjusting very well. But, what do you do? I committed to something, I have to follow through. Just like what I am trying to teach Trey, I have to be an example and follow through. We will survive. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be a challenge I will over come.

Moose Hunt 2009

Andys Moose. 39 inch, 4 brow tines

Timmy's Grizzly. Average Size Sow.

Andys 2 wolves.

Shawns Moose. 44 inch, 2 brow tines.

The Moose Returned

Andy, Timmy, Larry, and Shawn have returned from Moose hunting. They brought back 2 moose, 2 wolves, and 1 grizzly. Is that what they asked for? Alaska is full of choices.

Parenting

I think Trey is having a hard time right now. He just doesn't talk about his friends much. He doesn't want to go to football practice. On the plus side, he really likes to read now and wants to do this Lego club. I wonder if he is having a hard time finding his place. With Andy gone alot, I feel like I am the one that does all the bonding. I'm not so sure he wants a female right now.

Morgan on the other hand, is having a hard time too. She loves school, but thinks I know nothing. She all of a sudden worships the ground her teacher walks on and anything her teacher says, overrides me. I met some of the girls in her class today at the park and they seem snotty! I thought Kindergartners were supposed to be sweet, but these girls were cliquish and don't like Morgan. I don't think she wants me either. Or maybe, it's just that I don't understand...

Mattie loves me at least. She is excited when Morgan and Trey go to school. It's just one on one. Maybe, possibly, that is what the others need. To be one on one. I know, I want that time with friends and my husband, why wouldn't kids.
My main thing is I don't like to see my kids struggling. It hurts me. I want them to learn important lessons like how to get along with others, following through with things, and ultimately learn to succeed. What is my role?

Photography 101

We have our first homework assignment in class. It is all about composition. Composititon is what you decide to leave in your picture and leave out. So, I set out to do just that. On Monday, it was a gorgeous day. The fall leaves are seen throughout the town and there is this wonderful sunlight. Here in Juneau, you really appreciate this. So, the kids all know, when it's sunny out, we have to go do something! (Trey informs me of this all the time.)

So, the kids really wanted to go to the park, but I wanted to take them somewhere I could take pictures with good fall backdrops. Who do you think won this battle? ..well, I'm a little meaner than most moms, lets put it that way.

But, low and behold, I found the perfect spot. A valley, of trees intertwined with moss and lillypads.

There were even frogs and water skippers in the pools of water.

This picture is actually an example of "merging" photos (2 objects in one photo). This is something you want to avoid because you don't really know what to focus on. Looking at a picture should be easy, this picture has a little more to it with the shadow of the tree.
Believe me when I say this, the kids did have a good time. It used their exploratory abilities. Besides that, the trees were small enough to climb. And it sure was pretty...

I loved how the reflection was coming off of the ponds.The water was like a mirror, And it almost had a feel that you weren't in Juneau, you were somewhere like an African safari.

One of the things I had a hard time figuring out was called "framing" the picture. So, I thought this was a little cheesy but hey, it is kinda cute anyways. I pulled out some picture frames I had in the trunk of the car and used them in my photos.


Here the kids are throwing rocks in the water, trying to kill the water skippers.

Morgan taking a break. And then she thought this stick was pretty cool.

This last picture I was trying to follow the rule of 3rds, where you divide the picture up into 3 segments. I know it has a lot of sky, but I wanted to portray how big the sky was and how the trees are trying to reach up to them. I don't know if you see it, but I thought it was pretty cool.

And this picture probably breaks rules. Sometimes, that's ok. The kids are looking at the frogs and I thought, in this picture the shadows are perfect.