In the Trenches: Snail Wars

We have a problem with these. Oh man, do we. This past week Mitch-darling recruited the kids & went on the hunt. They came away with 4 grocery bags full. I think Mike hoped that they had hunted them to extinction, but found that they had merely culled the snail population, picking off the weakest and slowest...leaving us with a more resilient, superior breed.

If you've got solutions, I'm listening.


When I was 6 or something I remember my mom buying a six-pack of cheap beer, & laying out open cans in the strawberry patch at our house in Castle Rock. The snails were supposed to crawl into the cans (because, as everyone knows, snails love beer) and then drown in a drunken stupor. My mom gave up on that tactic. Besides the fact that it didn't kill off that many snails, it had the obvious risk involved with lots of open beer cans laying around the yard where about 30 kids came and went every day. I myself had a close call there. Finding an open beer can in the fridge (assuming it was a soda), I had just lifted it to my mouth when my older sister literally knocked it out of my hands. That was a close one. Thanks, Holly. ha ha ha.

Here's your brain teaser for the week. How many snails (or the odd slug) can you find in this picture of my front flower bed?

So Far, In the Garden

The state of the garden - last week. The sun flowers are about 5 feet higher now, and the corn too.

You can see the composter in the background - which I really like so far. I'll have my complete review of this new model sometime this fall.   :)

Early in the season. The first fruits of the year - peas, lettuces & radishes.

We've eaten a LOT of salad, trying to keep up. Greens & basil from the garden, the anjou pear & figs from the co-op basket.

 Noble digging the beets.

He also pulled some carrots a little early. mmm. mmm.

Something else we've had a lot of...green smoothies. Banana, mango, spinach. So good. (I think there's a "Simple Food" post about these to come.)

Sully and Jess hanging out in the sunflower house...one of the highlights of the garden this year. It's magic.

The summer squash and tomatoes are all coming on quick.  I can't wait.

The garden is such good medicine.

Life GOes ON

Two weeks have flown past since Abner came & our lives changed dramatically. In some ways it's been easier than I anticipated, but in other ways, I find myself asking, "Was it this hard with the other kids? I don't remember it being like this." Maybe it's because I'm older. (It's easy to blame everything on that.) Slowly, slowly my body and mind are returning to some kind of normal equilibrium. 

I feel overwhelmed with all the happy things. Seriously, I find myself crying so often just because I'm happy. Can't help it. It's possible that it's hormonal...but that's ok too.

Anyway, here's a little peek at all the beautiful things happening around here lately.

Great-grandma Tiede - my sweet 85 year old grandma who has been doing all our ironing and playing light sabers for hours with Sully. I love you grandma!

Mike introducing Abner to his grandma. Abner was her dad's name. She was pretty excited. 

Beautiful Jessie. It doesn't seem like it was very long ago that we were cuddling her like this.

Noble in the garden - harvesting beets. The garden is so good for the soul. It makes me happy. (And Noble too.) I love growing things.

Mike's dad with our 4 awesome boys. This makes me smile.

The boys building their "tanks" in the driveway. They are so cool.

Lots of swimming. Having the time of their lives. Some of you may recognize this landmark.

t. & grace.

Sunset in July. Could it get ANY better than this? happy.

A Winning Baby Gift

Earlier, when we were thinking about the name Abner for the baby, one of the best reactions came from my sister-in-law, Helen. She told us she loved the name, and then mentioned that his nick-name could be AB-ABBER. A nod to this classic Homestar Runner bit. Which only added to the appeal.
Anyway, when Abner met Casey and Helen for the first time on Sunday, they gave him  this very thoughtful gift. One of Abner's favorites.

Thanks Casey & Helen. That was a good one. :)

The Day We've All Been Waiting For

Introducing... Abner William Melton. He's here. He's awesome.

Our little baby arrived Wednesday, July 6 at about 8:30 PM. Once things really got rolling it went MUCH faster than we expected. Our midwife didn't have time to get there, and her back-up barely made it. Still, they were cool about making sure Mike got to "catch" the baby. Thanks going out to Paula and all the easy-going nurses at Riverton IHC (who put up with a good bit of teasing from Mike - and occasionally dished it back). Abner weighed in at 6 lbs. 14 oz., tying Tillman for light-weight of the family at birth. Since he's not very big, we decided that those 5 days past the due date were needed to finish off his coiffure. Which is pretty impressive.

Dr. Mike, Medicine Man - suiting up.

Just born.

His brothers and sisters are all SO excited. They have been troopers while I was in the hospital and have welcomed Abner completely. People always talk about jealousy between siblings when one is born. Honestly, I can say none of our kids has ever been that way. Sully is probably the most demonstrative. He is STOKED.

Here he is visiting baby brother Abner for the first time. Huge smile.

Some Visitor Highlights

Bookend siblings - Jessie and Abner

Noble found a few other things to work on...

Tillman & Abner - the jury is still out on Abner's eye color, but I think these two might look the most alike.

Mike was giving my Mom a hard time (she loves it when he teases her.)

Mike's mom and dad.

My little brother Sean drove down from Logan. Thanks Sean, we love you.

Lots of company: the Bachands, Grace, my grandma & Dad.

Great-Grandma Tiede - in town from NM.

Sully handing out kisses. Time to bring Abner home.

Thanks for making us "Mom & Dad" one more time Abner. We love you!

We're adjusting to life with this new person - and having a great time. 

WE FEEL SO BLESSED. 

We'll keep you posted.

Sully makes it three

No. I haven't had the baby yet. I thought while the clock's still ticking on that - I ought to give Sully his due and make mention of his third birthday.
Sully, Sully, Sully ....oh how we love you!

His actual birthday was Wednesday. That day, first thing in the morning he made his way into our bed to snuggle (a regular - and cherished occurrence). As he cozied in I said softly, "Happy Birthday, Sully." He turned and whispered into my face, kind of drowsily, "Thanks, Mom." It was so sweet, I thought I might die right there.

Since Mike was teaching Weds. evening we had our little party last night instead. We took him to see Cars 2 - and came home for some not-too-shabby fish tacos (I'll post that recipe some time).  Both sets of "Brancas" (his word for grandparent) made it over to hang with us for gifts and cupcakes.

Trying out his new Automoblox

Sully had a good couple of days I think. I'm glad I was available to make it happen for him. He is so beloved. All the other kids wanted to contribute something for the occasion: from a homemade snail-shell necklace to this tribute - composed by Noble.

:)

My mom and dad took Noble, Grace and T. camping tonight - just up the canyon, leaving the house kind of quiet (and clean). With that kind of footloose freedom, we thought we'd take Jess and Sully out to Daybreak beach so Sully can try out his new dump truck and so Mike can measure out a run along the lake trail with his new Garmin. Should be a relaxing evening.

Any Day Now

Tillman (7 years old) took some pictures of me today. Awesome, right?  I'm not the most photogenic person in the world - pictures aren't my favorite thing. But it's good to document some things.

Angie 36 years old... and also 40 weeks pregnant. (The posing was meant to be funny.)

Noble shot some spinning top thing across the room and caught my attention. 

I've had a bit of a mental shift over the past week. Kind of a pulling inward I think. Mental preparation. Self-preservation? This whole pregnancy has gone by so fast. Almost invisible. It's hardly registered in my mind that it is really going to result in the birth of a baby. And it hasn't just been me. My mom kept inviting us to camp at 9 Mile Canyon with them last week, and again this coming weekend up Big Cottonwood. I had to remind her several times that I had something else on the calendar. A baby. :)

So...finally, something has changed. I'm not sure if other mothers have experienced the same altered state of consciousness. Suddenly, I feel like life is going on as normal around me but I'm sort of separate from it all. Insulated somewhere inside. Getting into the zone. Whatever that zone is. I think it's a useful coping strategy as labor looms ahead, not to mention the physical demands of caring for a newborn. And getting to know A WHOLE NEW PERSON.

Anyway, the time is near (my midwife assures me). I'll see you on the flip side.

A Book Review: Born to Run

So... I finished reading the book I snatched from Mike.  I have to tell you, it is one of the best reads EVER. A true pleasure to read, just like running should be. The story was absolutely incredible. McDougall is a fantastic writer - his style is so conversational. I felt like I was sitting there casually with him while he wove this amazing story, interlaced with running science, philosophy, anthropology, etc., etc. True, it was also well stocked with swears and tough-talking crassness here and there ...but oh, what a story. He was probably a little overstated from time to time; characaturing real people/cultures to fill dramatic roles (villain, hero...). Just like a good story teller would.  :)
 I felt like the take-away matched up with my own running philosophy so well. I was totally uplifted and inspired. I LOVED it!  This one is staying on my shelf.

Mike and I joked last night about giving a second middle name to our baby boy -- Caballo Blanco -- an honorable reference to the main character in the book. Don't worry Mom, we aren't serious. (Still. Caballo is rad.)

Fathers Day Weekend

We had a busy weekend with la familia. It was awesome. Mike's brother, Tim was in town for an optometry conference, and we got to spend some quality time with him. A gorgeous Saturday morning 'constitutional' hike in Neff's Canyon & a really good salmon dinner for Fathers Day with Mike's family that night. Not a bad day.

The hiking was ideal. It was a perfect morning. The seasonal stream was running fast with snow melt.

 Our be-caped super twins...hiking maniacs.

 

Rope swinging in the morning sun.

 We could have stayed a lot longer.
Sunday we had our own quiet Father's Day dinner at home: dill potatoes, a variety of salad greens from our garden, some yummy marinated/grilled chicken, a kielbasa for good measure & watermelon. I also managed to whip up some homemade vanilla bean/peach & mango ice cream with a vanilla bean I've been hoarding from our co-op basket for weeks. Oh my. It was good.

Churning away on the back deck. It went so fast I didn't get a picture of the finished ice cream. Come over some time and I'll make some more for you.

Later, the Sullivan clan came over to our house for a Father's Day dessert get-together. We also celebrated our man Zeke's 1st birthday (how cool is it that it fell on Father's Day?) In the kitchen singing to little Zeke.

As a bonus we also Skyped with Mike's brother, Jimmy and his family, who just got back from a short stint in Costa Rica. It was a good weekend.