Here.  I know this is what everyone's waiting for.


Personally, I think all kids look like mutants and are fairly ugly for about a month--except my own.  So I'm not going to go on and on about how cute Peter is.  I think he's absolutely beautiful and he makes me cry, just like Phoebe did (and still does).  Our own kids are the most beautiful things in the world.  And I know I share that understanding with all you parents out there.  It's a bizarre experience and becoming (and being) parents is the most brilliant experiment designed.

 Yesterday Phoebe and I enjoyed the weather and cleaned up all the leaves in our front yard.  What the heck?!  We only have one tree on the boulevard!  Phoebe had fun and then left me to bag everything so she could go play with her new brother.

So far, she thinks it's great that he's peed on himself and once hit himself in the face while getting a diaper change.  Today in church Phoebe was asked if she had something new at home (Alisa and Peter stayed home).  Her response was "I have a brother Peter and he peed on his face." I guess this is all payback after being the king of potty jokes . . . as a kid of course!    ;)

Safari Legos

Basement wall after cleaning, and cleaning,
and cleaning the crazy rotten wood.

Legoland! Phoebe liked it, but I'm not sure
if she liked it more than I did.  Coolest store
on earth!

 So what have we been up to . . . Well, Phoebe's liking preschool.  She often doesn't want me to leave, but doesn't get upset when I do.  She loves it as far as I can see, but that's not very far yet.

She's super into Legos which I think is about the coolest thing ever.  I found my old space legos from the early 1980s and killed an entier morning building with them.  Most brilliant toy ever created.

People talk about nesting.  Whatever.  I get it.  But I said to Alisa that that term sounds like something suburbanites do when they go to the mall and pick out a bunch of color-coordinated crap for the babies room that they really don't need.  I removed a rotten workbench that was mostly compost, but was once some solid 4x4s.  You can see the beautiful basement wall left behind above.  Nice, eh?

We had 6 cubic yds of composted soil trucked in for garden health and to fill the new 3'x15"x16' box I built from decking.  Pretty fun to put together and fill.  Gonna plan some blueberry bushes this spring.  Should be a fun new endeavor.  As you can see, I put my first year's hops to good use doing a fresh hopped IPA.  Haven't tried it yet.  Ask me in November how it turned out.  I'm already scoping out a couple other areas in the yard to grow a couple other varieties of hop.  So there's my version of nesting for ya!

Our garden was great this year.  We still got some broccoli, kale, spinach (under a cold frame), raspberries, and carrots out there. But our squash/pumpkin patch produced about 70 squash total.  What a great crop.  We did well with peppers this year as well!  I can't recall, but I think I filled about 30-40 pints total and have them frozen.  A lot of nice greens right before our first frost last week.

Finally, we await child #2.  Everything's going well.  Alisa's doing well and we're finally wrapping our heads around having a second child in the house.  I've struggled to comprehend that this child is coming since my life has revolved around Phoebe in a very good way.  I'm still adjusting to being home.  But I think the arrival of our new child will force me to stop puttering on projects, sit back and enjoy the great time we will have together as a family this winter.

We look forward to see you all when we do!

About 5 cubic yards of dirt for the garden, almost taking
out our herb garden.

The blueberry box

Early harvest.  About a dozen more butternuts came in since

Fresh hopped IPA

Day before the frost.  We did well this year!

Broccoli under the fabric, raspberries are tall, and carrots in the straw.

Phoebe's going to be "Get to Work Cinderella"
for Halloween.

Second trip to the dentist.  She does very well there.

We a few weeks into Phoebe's pre-school year and my non-school year.  I'm feeling quite ok about not working at this point.  I think what occasionally creeps into my thoughts is how easy it will be to let go of work and stay plenty busy around here without going back to work.  My days are very easy going and being around all day does not provide me with any sort of mental stimulation.  But for now, that's totally cool with me.

 Today, Phoebe and I sadly pulled up the first of 4 rows of green bush beans.  It's sad to see them go.  It's been a great summer gardening here.  As we sadly start to pull the garden, the benefits roll in.  Last night, I brewed a Chinook IPA.  I'm growing Chinook Hops and the first year's yield is very slim.  So I plan to throw these in fresh once the yeast has done it's work.  This will give a very large aromatic boost typically not found in many beers since fresh hops are quite precious.

Chinook Hops: a few dozen cones--not enough to brew a whole batch, but enough to fresh hop with.

Picking Basil for supper last week

Last weekend I made salsa and canned 20 pints.  I still get quite nervous about canning, but the more I read, the more confident that I am about canning tomato products.  But there's always those warnings out there that make me a bit jumpy.  Beer just tastes bad if it goes south.  Canned foods can kill you.  Ponder that irony for a while.

We've been freezing quarts and quarts of applesauce (we bought a second fridge for the purpose of gardening--very nice to have another in the basement), lots of swiss chard, beans, and we got a great crop of sweet peppers.  In a future blog, I'll get some photos of the squash yield.  Should be impressive.

Phoebe loves pre-school so far.  Lots of new songs get sung around the house.  When I ask if she learned it at school, she just looks away and ignores me.  Now I know what those parents always meant when they said to me "I don't know what's going on here at school--he just comes home and locks himself in his room."  I'm getting the pre-school version of that behavior.

Carrot crop pulled.  We gather about this many sweet
and hot peppers every couple of days.  Things are slowing
a bit with the cooler nights, lower sun,
and shorter (but still hot!) days

Our squash and pumpkin patch.
Can't see em, but there's quite a few hiding in there.

Phoebe's new activity: Triking in the Grass

Today is Phoebe's first day of pre-school.  Just a few hours and I'm already a bit lost by all this.  I went from being on summer vacation with Phoebe to watching all the neighborhood kids walk to school today while I slouched back in my shorts, t-shirt, and unbathed body.  Today would have been my first day back to work.  I'm not too bothered, but I have been having many intense dreams about losing Phoebe in public.  But more than anything, I feel like a total slacker with Phoebe going to pre-school and Alisa going to work while I sit on the internet.  I'll enjoy this time because downtime will evaporate quickly once kid #2 comes around.

Phoebe and I did some travelling up to Minot last week and spent a full wee hanging out and enjoying the time.  Quiet for the most part.  I helped Loren out a few evenings and that weekend.  It was good to hang out and chat with him.   His rebuild is coming along nicely and he and Joe hope to move in around Halloween.  Thanks for the great visit in Minot everyone!

Our garden is out of control.  Lots and lots of squash and red peppers.  That's a good problem to have.  

Cooking down apples for sauce on the outdoor system.  It does more than just beer!

Phoebe was really into using Grandma's calculator.

Phoebe was due for a haircut, so we just went to my mom's beautician.  Nicely done!

Loren working.

Joe and Loren's house.

After the flood, Ramstad was demolished.  This is the remainder of my old Junior High.
The town I grew up in really doesn't exist to me anymore.  The home we grew up in has been demolished as well. 

Phoebe's been enjoying the sweet corn lately.
At Grandma and Papa's, she ate this piece like it was a
bag of M&Ms.

Loren getting roped into drawing pictures--mostly of  Cinderella.
Loren visited us last weekend to attend a Jamey Johnson concert at the MN State Fair

Outdoor burner: for cooking down produce, and of course, for brewing beer!

 Summer's going strong for us here.  Phoebe and I are spending a lot of our time in the backyard playing in her small pool or working in the garden.  Speaking of, our garden is awesome.  While 80% of the US is sadly in a drought, I guess we are in the 20% where the conditions are absolutely perfect for farming (or micro-urban farming in our case).  We have more squash than we'll know what to do with, I pulled a dozen cucumbers out yesterday, I'm ready to strip my 3rd batch of basil for pesto, and our peppers are doing great.  We've had a very warm to hot July, but not unbearable.  And about once a week or more, we get about 1-2" of rain.  Couldn't ask for better!

Alisa's feeling pretty good.  She doesn't complain to me much, which I take as a good sign.  She's pretty much just entering the 3rd trimester and her midwives think things are going well!  She's working many hours with her new position, but seems to be going well.

I've been running a lot again, but not nearly as much as I was training for the marathon.  I'm doing about 3-5 miles 3 days a week.  My physical therapist totally rebuilt me (literally: she changed my lower body alignment completely) and also given me running lessons as part of my therapy.  As a result, I'm running faster, stronger, longer, and (still) barefoot.  I'm registered to run the 10 mile race that is a little brother to the Twin Cities Marathon.

Climbing with Grandma at Lake Nokomis beach.
Glad I kept all my gear--I may be setting top ropes
for Phoebe before I know it!

Ever since we told Phoebe about Alisa's pregnancy,
there has been lots of care for Baby Maria.  Diaper changes,
feedings, naps, etc

Our small farm.  A true goldmine.

We found some old-school climbing bars at
Minnehaha Park.  Surprised these are still around.

Phoebe, Tona, and Siobhan enjoying a very hot day.

 I'm finally putting a wrap on the upstairs remodel.  All the trim work is done, but the doors need some adjustments, paint, and the jewelry needs stripping.  I've spent a lot of nights lately in the hot garage hovering over trays of zip strip.  Good thing I'm not pregnant.

Thresholds, baseboard, door trim . . . none of this stuff was there. Feeling pretty good to have this finally coming to a close.

 We had a great time last week at Wilderness Wind near Ely, MN.  WW is a Mennonite operated retreat center with cabins anyone can rent (as we did).  They also outfit and guide BWCA trips.  We had a relaxing week and I only sent a few emails from my phone.  We had access to canoes, kayaks, and a rowboat.  Phoebe had a lot of interest in the kayaks, but mostly on the grass.   Over the week, she warmed up more and more to the idea of swimming and boating.  I'm looking at swimming lessons as we speak :)

Alisa shared with Phoebe that "there's a baby in her belly."  Since, there have been a lot of questions, but we haven't been overwhelmed yet.  She's quite excited about the idea of being a big sister, but clearly doesn't really get it yet.  Most of her talk is about also having a uterus and that someday she can have a baby too--"like when I'm 4!"

Kawishiwi Falls: normally a trickle but the water's up with all the St Louis County flooding going on.

Hot Chocolate for breakfast

I was determined to build a moat that held water evenly.  Phoebe didn't care all that much.

Lots of reading for us and for Phoebe.