stacie

Do You Like School Portraits?

I was reading about school pictures the other day at Design Mom. She had posted an alternative option where the kids are standing against a brightly colored seamless wearing their favorite dress up or bring in their favorite whatever to hold while being photographed. Not sure how that would go over for kids older than 4th or 5th grade, but the little ones I’m sure love it. It was interesting to read the comments to that post and discover how many people like the trad school photos. Really??!! I mean I don’t even waste my $$. I got the wallet sized prints thinking India would pass them to her friends, but we never did that. She looked so pale, her hair was a mess… I’ll just have to show you. I’m all for messy hair, by the way. There’s something silly about making a kid sit and pose and expecting a good photograph after one frame is shot. The situation demands perfection. The bright, even lighting. The simple, static pose. If your kid has moved after leaving the house and before getting her picture taken, it’s sure to be a bust. Hair needs brushing, clothes need mending. They need a full set with hair and makeup, wardrobe, a stylist, and a wrangler to get a decent photograph. But we never expect perfection from school portraits. Some moms on this blog commented that they felt it was an honest slice of life with the imperfections. But do you really ever see your child under that light, frozen like a deer in headlights? I don’t. My girl never looks like this to me:

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In any case, I’m glad I got a chance to photograph my nieces and nephews this year. After this weekend, I will have them all. My sister and her boy are coming for a visit. I hope these can be used as alternatives to the school portrait.
It’s been a great summer. We visited family in Virginia and the Smiths were traveling through Denver on their way to Utah and then to California. I can’t believe we will see all of our nieces and nephews before Labor Day!

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We had a couple of days of fun with this Smith family. They all doted on Zed and we enjoyed getting to know our newest nephew, their littlest. He was sooo cute and such a happy kid. I had a great time catching up with my sis-in-law. We shopped at the local Asian market and spent way too much. But I was able to learn a new way to cook cabbage. (Japanese pizza) which I have used several times… even with swiss chard. Yum, I want some now.
Then we left the kids and went on a double date. I love having an excuse to eat somewhere nice in town. This time we went to Steuben’s. I swear that place has lighting from a Mormon chapel hanging over their bar. Good food, great company. We’re glad you all could make it our way.

Before the Storm

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I got so excited Monday evening when the clouds rolled in and the sky became a beautiful backdrop for my shoot. This family was so fun to photograph. I’d turn from photographing one of the kids to find mom and sis making faces and doing silly things to make bro laugh. Rather than cringe about having their pictures taken, they all embraced it. I love that!

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And then it rained cats and dogs.

Our B’more Friends

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This is India’s friend from pre-kindergarten. The two of them would play every week and us moms got to become really good friends. It was so nice to see this family again and catch up on all the latest adventures.

Later that same day we got to visit with our friends the Reads. We ate a great meal, made butter… you know, the normal things you do with food junkies. These are our CSA farm friends, and we miss them dearly.
Here are a couple of shots with them. Their little girl had a joint 1st b-day party with Ezra. Looks like I didn’t blog about that event. Huh.

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CSA- Community Supported Agriculture

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I first became aware of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) while we lived in Boston. My friend Anna and I joined a CSA. We were lucky to have a neighborhood group so we could take turns driving out to the farm, about a 45 minute drive, to pick up the food.

The farm was a 3 acre clearing in the forest directly east of Walden Pond (yes Henry David Thoreau’s Walden Pond). We would first head to the storehouse to collect whatever the farmers had harvested that morning. Everything was displayed in baskets and on tables in this cool shed dug into the side of a small rise. It had three walls in the soil and was always at least 10 degrees cooler than the forest surrounding it.

Next we would harvest the rest of the share. Mind you, we would harvest 8 shares. We would pick raspberries, beans, tomatoes, flowers and bunches of herbs. It all depended on when things were ready. It took about 2-3 hours to pick all 8 shares.

Our girls would help a bit, then run off and play among the herbs and munch on peas or carrots. This is where India learned to eat snap peas. I was amazed! She loved them (why wouldn’t she?) and I soon became a huge fan of working the farm.

One of my favorite memories was picking up our shares on a rainy day in August or September. Zach came to help, since Anna had already moved to NC and I was about 5 months pregnant with Ezra. We had to pick tomatoes, and raspberries. The rain came down in torrents as Zach filled a bag with golden cherry tomatoes. He probably had to pick 8 pounds.

India and I stayed in the car and when the rain began to ease, we jumped out to harvest some raspberries. The sun began to shine from behind the clouds. We were just commenting on our luck when we arrived to the huge raspberry patch. The bushes were well over my head on either side and a loud humming could be heard. The bees had come out to pollinate while the sun shone. India was a bit frightened but I tried to play up the fact that the bees were busy with their thing and wouldn’t be bothering us. She was a brave 3 year old and decided picking (and eating) a few raspberries was worth the risk. It was an ideal setting. The damp air, the warm sun, the humming bees, and the tasty raspberries. I haven’t seen a raspberry patch its equal since.

While in Baltimore, our good friends the Reads worked the CSA. They just happened to move into our ward about 8 months after we did. They actually lived on the farm in a little rundown cottage that would often be plagued with ladybugs. I remember keeping India home from preschool so we could spend a nice day at the farm. On the porch helping Nick split the garlic, getting it ready to plant. We would often compare notes about different CSA’s. My one experience lending a bit to the conversation.

Now here in Denver we have finally joined a CSA. Apparently purchasing a share it is akin to getting your first born into a good Boston school… or camping out to buy concert tickets. Thankfully I remembered to get on the waiting list sometime in February and we actually got in!

It has been nearly impossible to work the 3 hours required for our share each month. India has been really helpful, but the rain, the baby and a groggy preschooler has made us seriously behind. Thursday at I finally remembered to ask how I could fulfill my hours without working the field. I am now making a photographic record of each item of produce for the farm. This is some of what we picked up this week: