With and For

Somewhere in Wisconsin we visited an organic farm for a day of picking, pulling, cutting, washing, preparing vegetables for a feast that Jim (member of the Porch Community and owner of the farm) wanted to host at the gathering that night. It was a grand ‘ole time. A first for us and definitely worth it. Just being out in the sun all day with our feet in the dirt and our hands in the food we were going to eat. It reminded me of other ways of living that I fully depend on and really know nothing about.

Except, now I know that you can eat the leaves off of beet plants.

“What is that little thing?” Theresa said, “not the umbilical cord, right?”

“No I think it’s his finger, or wait, maybe his leg…” Tom stated inquisitively.

“Nope, nope… that is the penis and there’s his little scrotum, I could say that it’s safe to say you’re having a boy!”

These words confirmed what our neighbor upstairs, Hope, guessed it would be. (She’s now 2 for 2 by the way). Everything looks healthy and our due date is still consistent with the end of January. We couldn’t be more excited and feel more blessed. Bring on the names!

Side view of him in the fetal position. Head is on the right side

Today we celebrate two fun things – my birthday and our friend Rita’s wedding. Woke up this morning to breakfast in bed and a treasure hunt! It was a lot more challenging than I thought but it led to a great surprise gift of concert tickets. One of the best parts of the day however was a surprise gift my wife spent lots of time on – a hardback, bound book with advice from men I love and admire closely and from a distant who are also dad’s – including our own.

Here’s an excerpt of some of my favorites:

“… as the salmon instinctually makes waves up stream to find it’s place of conception so shall you find your inner parent which will spring forth like a tiger when called upon.” – Alex Dow

“Oh yes my son and daughter you will be willing to sacrifice for this new slice of your lives together…” - Ron Parks

excerpt of pic from the book. Parents to be with their dads

“If you want to travel with the baby, 4 months is much easier than 11 months!” – Seth Clarkson

“Know you don’t know what you are doing and that knowledge will free you from having to know what you’re doing.” – Eric Iverson

“Always take time to listen to your child” – Al Cecka

“Being a great father is like shaving. No matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow.” – Reed Markham

So those are a few of the quotes. Thanks to those great guys for their wisdom and willingness to share. Speaking of one of those dad’s we looked outside this morning to see Eric (the same Eric quoted above) who lives upstairs mowing the lawn. He wasn’t alone however… he’s an awesome dad. Here’s a fun picture of Isaiah jamming with dad and helping mow the lawn.

Working the corn roast once again, Theresa is scheduling those who roast, shuck, dip in butter and hand out thousands of cobs of sweet corn each day. One of Tom’s best friends since kindergarten, James moved to Minneapolis about a month ago and this seemed like as good of an idea as any to “be Minnesotan.” While Theresa grew up working and going to the Minnesota State Fair, Tom and James are outsiders. From my (Tom’s) take on it… it’s food on a stick (from pizza and yes beer on a stick) to deep fried everything. There are some other more conventional items but mostly it’s a great way to spend lots of money and leave questioning why. It is a lot of great people getting together though to enjoy the outdoors and maybe pet a baby animal or two. Here are some picks from Tom eating a deep fried Snickers bar and Theresa and James enjoying a State Fair tradition – Sweet Martha’s Cookies.

deep fried AND on a stick… double whammy
in anticipation…unsure of the first bite, Theresa showed James what to do…