Happy Sunday

Leland told me this morning, "You know Steve..."

"Don't call me Steve, Leland."

"OK, whatever, dad... Anyway, you like never post anything on your blog anymore and the people who look at it are like why doesn't Steve post anything anymore. You should totally take a pic of me and post it on the blog so you like don't lose readers."

"OK. How about a photograph of both of us?"

"Whatever ... if it is like really important to you or something I guess you can be in the pic with me. Just don't like make stupid Steve faces like you always do."

"Leland, don't call me Steve. And since when do I make 'stupid faces?'"

"Whatever father, just take the pic already."

Happy Mother's Day!

Linsey's been at this for less than 9 months so far -- but you'd never guess it. She's a spectacular and absolutely natural mother. We love you very much.

While Linsey is great and all, there are some other mothers I'd like to say hello to today as well:

Mary Tait: thank you for your constant love, selflessness and devotion. You're one-of-a-kind and I'm glad your mine...

The Wueppers-in-Law: You did a fine job raising Jeffrey and Linsey (not to mention the rest of the brood) and have now (although hesitantly) taken in a son-in-law and will welcome a new member of the family in July. Thank you for your love and kindness.

Cassandra: when Maisy finally enters school, you should apply for jobs in emergency management. Four kids is a lot of work, especially when living in a foreign country. (Although, having a live-in servant is probably making it a little bit easy.) But anyway: I've always admired the way you raise your children -- for the most part, you do it with a smile while maintaining a vibrant personality. Love you.

There are others, too: Kara and Kim Tait, for instance. We love you as well.

It is hard to imagine how we'd handle these kids if you weren't there to help raise them.

It would probably be something like this...

Random Video from Farwell

Elizabeth Park.

The entrance to Elizabeth Park is just less than a mile from our apartment. On nice evenings -- which are rarity this spring -- we like walk there and look at the scenery, which includes various water fowl, Down Riverians and the occasional teenage couple sneaking away to enjoy some secret kisses.

We've never shown you guys what this park looks like. So we will now:

An American flag near the northern entrance of the park.

Leland enjoying the fresh air. Notice the hood: it is still necessary even though it is early May and the sun was shining.

Linsey and Leland.

Some kayakers.

Leland having trouble with her hat.

Leland in the kitchen

It's been a while.

We'll try to be better.

A Sick Weekend

It's finally arrived. The dreaded ear infection. The Girl made it seven months without getting sick. The streak has ended. Poor little peanut can't breath, can't sleep and has a hard time getting comfy. Hopefully she starts to feel better soon. At least we're getting lots of cuddles out of the deal. :-)

Before she started feeling terribly crappy.

Getting to crappy. Notice the snot coming from her nose.

You know she doesn't feel good when she falls asleep on you. She's not one to cuddle.

Today after some tylenol. She can only sleep upright.

A shot of our fridge as it looks today.

Gettin' Healthy... or trying to to at least.

So Stephen and I are making an attempt to turn up the health factor in our lifestyles. We both recently saw the doctor and before we get our lab work back we decided to just start doing what we already know we should be doing... simply eating healthy and exercising more. Grant it, we already did eat fairly healthy and worked out a bit, Stephen more so than me, but it was still more sporadic than we would like.

We both joined Planet Fitness, which easily fits into anyone's budget because memberships are only $10 a month. We are going to try to take turns going in the mornings, switching off work outs and baby duty. I also signed up for a pilates class at the local recreation center which I am really looking forward to.

I try to plan out our dinners weekly. That way I know exactly what I need to do to get dinner ready for that night, and I can prep things when I have a few spare minutes through out the day and it doesn't seem like such a daunting task at 5 pm. I also go to the grocery store with a very specific list which cuts down and lots of little trips to the grocery store during the week to pick up ingredients. I've been doing this menu thing for a few months now and it really has helped keep me organized and I'm more encouraged to cook because I know exactly what I need to do.

I write everything down on this chalkboard/picture frame I got for Christmas.

Tonight we had a really, really delicious asian chicken salad from Everyday Food. I make a lot of stuff out of that magazine. I would definitely make this again. I grilled the chicken with a little kosher salt, pepper and cumin. I also added thinly sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds and omitted the mint, cause it's not my favorite. One serving is only 199 calories.

Seriously make this!!!

Here is my sous chef happy to assist!

Here is the recipe since I can't find it online: (from Everyday Food)

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce

1 jalapeno, minced

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon sugar

4 cups shredded red cabbage, about half a medium head

1 cup shredded carrots, about 2 large

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions

1 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves

1 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, jalapeno, oil and sugar until combined. Add cabbage, carrots, scallions, cilantro, mint and chicken and toss well to combine. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on top. Serve immediately.

Hopefully we can stick with it! Does anyone have any tips on staying motivated to go to the gym, especially when you have to clean all the snow off of your car at 5 am?