steak anyone?

After coming off a long work weekend, I planned for us to have our first official BBQ for the year. On Friday I made potato salad and cole slaw with the expectation that the juices would all mix and mingle enhancing the flavor. I cheated and bought canned baked beans (cheap from Aldi's but very tasty) and strawberries (on sale at Wal-mart) which were oh so tasty and just the perfect ripeness and then Phil bought the steak (from Fareway). As we sat down to eat I couldn't resist not taking a picture of this delicious meal. After sitting down, I realized the only thing missing was some kind of roll/bread. Afterwards. we had an errand to run so on our way home we stopped at the usual Mc D's for an ice cream cone. What a way to complete a meal... yum, yum.

Anyways, for any of you who don't know, Phil has almost mastered the art of grilling steak (he is still working on how to keep his medium well while mine continues to cook to well done). He says that his steak competes with Texas Roast House (and I agree). As we were sitting enjoying our meal tonight we discussed the different BBQ foods we like and so far steak and chicken (on the bone) is our favorite. So as you sit and drool over the thought of a perfectly grilled steak, I make an offer. The first person to comment on this post gets a free invite to our house for grilled steak (or chicken if you prefer), our treat. And per my request, Phil has offered to show you how he grills/cooks the meat if you so desire to learn some tips on grilling.

So, what do you like to grill? Any good recipes? What's the oddest/best/worst thing that you ever grilled? : )

7 months

Yesterday Harlie turned 7 months old. I can't believe how fast she's growing and changing. Phil and I were just saying the other day that she's entering that in between stage of baby and toddler.. a little bit of both as she's becoming more mobile.

The latest news is that she has a tooth starting to pop through her gums. It's her top tooth coming through and possibly a bottom one as well. She's still trying to army crawl in very short distances. And she has just discovered that she can kind of pull up on things and loves to stand while we hold her hands for balance.

I'm still trying to give her the basics of baby food and she now either refuses to open her mouth or she completely splatter spits it's entire contents right back at me. I have ventured out and tried a few fruits and veggies but she has no interest in eating food.

Wendell continues to love and play with her. She's starting to be able to get to his toys so he get a little possessive with his toys. Although he has no problem with taking toys from her so we're just starting to work on the concept of sharing toys. (any tips out there from some of you with a little experience in the sharing department??)

Harlie still sleeps good at night for the most part. Some nights we have Wendell and Harlie waking the other up with crying so that's not fun but they're pretty good about going back to sleep. (Of course I'm at work half the time so it doesn't affect me quite as much).

I've had Harlie outside a few times this spring and so far she loves it. She rarely makes a peep when she's out and sometimes falls asleep when we're in the stroller.

This was supposed to be another picture of Harlie but we couldn't go without a little orneriness from Wendell as apparently he thought I needed a picture of him as he jumps in front of the camera.

Gotta love 'em....

help

Do any of you know anyone (preferably a woman in the Cedar Valley) who competes/has competed in triathlons?

I'm looking for some guidance as the date gets closer and closer and would like to actually talk to/email someone instead of looking up info. on the web?

I prefer someone in the Cedar Valley as maybe, they' be willing to actually show me a few things (like how to transition from swim to bike). It'd be neat to have a training partner, someone to bounce ideas off of... who is going through the same thing as me.

So if you do and you don't think they'd mind me contacting them.. feel free to email me. If you don't but have other ideas .. please let me know.

I've looked up some race results from last year, just to get an idea of how long it takes people to do these and there are some women listed on the roster. I'm tempted to look them up in the phone book, but don't want to be too weird so I thought I'd check with you guys first. I'm sure I know someone who knows someone who knows someone who has done one of these, right?

Thanks!

(I'm getting pretty excited... I am confident on the swim and run portion as I'm doing that now; today I swam for 20 minutes and then ran 20 minutes and had plenty of energy to keep going - just not the time. I may be slow but I'm pretty sure I can do this! Now when the weather picks up then I can start biking, yeah!)

ups and downs of life

Life has so many ups and downs. This morning was not so good, at times my work is really very frustrating for me. I've already seriously looked into transferring and did not find anything I liked. Now, I'm down to nothing and not sure what to do. Either things need to turn around real fast or we're going to have to change things around here. Phil and I have been talking about this for awhile but not sure what the solution is. What's sad is that it's very small things that drive me nuts.. but they all add up to where I feel I can't take it anymore. And it's really only one person that I have a hard time with, not the job itself. Trust me, I've been praying to God, and sometimes I feel like the disciples.. I'm just not getting it. I'm missing something.. I know God didn't promise life to be easy but man, this is tough. And of course, it brings out the worst in me and usually it occurs in the morning; therefore, setting up for a tough rest of the day. Not many of us get off work at 8:30am and say, I need a beer.. well that was me today (don't worry, I didn't actually do it). But I gotta go back tonight.. then I'm off this weekend.

On a good note, I've had the bike trailer/stroller out a few times in the past week and I love it. There have been a few minor hiccups but I love the freedom it gives me. Riding my bike, being outside, taking the kids for a walk, etc. I love it.. and it brings me joy to know that if the weather is nice I can put the kids in and go.. leave the dishes, messy toys, to do list, etc. behind and just go out. It makes for a win win situation for me and the kiddo's.. I'm happy ... they're happy. Yes, I still come home to a mess but at least I feel better and a little more motivated to do it.

On a side note, this week has been interesting for me. I watched two other kids for three days, helping out an old co-worker. Both kids are close to Wendell and Harlie's age so it's been kind of fun. Wendell got an arguemate, I mean playmate and Harlie has been eyeing the 10 month old boy that's here, mostly just smiling when she sees him. Today is my last day and amazingly naps and meal times went fairly smoothly (I can say that now that I'm almost done watching them). I thought it would be stressful but it has gone really well.. not that I'm signing up to do this regularly but I'm just thankful that part of my week has gone smoothly.

With the extra spending money, I'm planning to go get some icecream tonight. Dairy Queen, here I come! Yep, no beer for me.. I'm an icecream kind of girl.

yeah, yeah, boo, boo

I'm so excited to announce that I have bought a new bike (yeah!) and a double bike trailer/stroller (double yeah!). The stroller/trailer was an awesome find by Phil. He was looking at the swapsheet and found this for $75. The previous owners said they only used it a few times and it still looks brand new. They had never used the stroller part so I had to take it out of the packaging. And to the right is my new bike... which I totally bought on impulse and with love at first sight. It's a hybrid meaning it has comfort but also has some pizazz for going fast. I love that it stands up so high so I don't have to lean over to ride, has a comfy seat, and the handle bars are extra thick making it easier to grip. The gear shifts are a little different where they go up by number and with pushing a little lever.




And here is the boo. Our alley way (the primary way to get to our house) is super muddy and just saturated with water. We can hardly get in and out without peeling out in the mud.


And here is our lovely driveway. It used to be nice and clean; perfect for riding tricycles, drawing with chalk, or cleaning out my car. Now I don't even want to step on it. Just today, I declare I'm not parking in the garage anymore because it's just dragging mud in there and that will be a major pain to clean out.

One last boo goes to the forecast for this week. Now that I have my stroller I want to just take the kids out for some fresh air. But with rain in the forecast then I don't think we'll be going outside to play much. We'll see, I might just have to pack up and go to the mall or something to walk.

baptism

Harlianne was baptized today. My parents met us at church and brought this cute little baptismal dress for her. Phil's parents spent the weekend so it was nice to have their company. Harlie and Wendell did pretty good for the short ceremony (we had Wendell stand up with us). I told Phil later, that I was a little sad that I was more concerned with holding/not dropping Harlie (her dress was extra slicky), keeping clothes on straight/pulled down/pulled up, and not tripping myself that I missed most of what Pastor Tim said. So although it was a very meaningful moment... I didn't get to enjoy it that much. I guess that's what video tapes are for... which we did not use. But here is a picture of us all looking our finest (well maybe not Wendell's tongue sticking out). Afterwards, we went out to eat at Texas Road House, one of my favorite restaurants (I had some peanuts, rolls w/ butter, steak, salad, and sweet baked potato and it was YUMMY!) So here is a thanks to God for the baptism, time with family and the delicious lunch afterwards!

1/2 a year or 6 months old

Harlianne had her 6 month appointment today. She weighed in at 19 lbs 9 ounces; is 27 inches long and her head was 17 1/2 inches around. She was in the 90-95% for everything.

So, for fun I thought I'd take her 6 month picture in her little hungry caterpillar outfit that says.. 'but he was still hungry'; because that's our little girl. She loves to eat/drink her milk; but when it comes to baby food, she's not so excited. We gave up on rice and bought baby oatmeal and banana's the other day and at first I thought she liked it then about 3 'bites' later, she was back to her usual gagging routine. So we'll keep trying to feed her a few times a week and see what happens. Obviously, she's not going to starve anytime soon so no major rush on the food. I might try some plain fruit or veggies and see what she thinks of that.

Harlie is rolling over very well (to her left) but not so much on her right. She sits up pretty well but eventually topples over. Lately, she's been loving it when we talk to her; she smiles and gets excited when we give her that little extra attention. She can kind of scootch around like an army crawl but we're talking millimeters.. no major strides yet. She does turn around and roll all over so eventually she gets across the room to where she wants to be. She can also pick up items pretty well and they go right into her mouth. Today at the appointment she stuck the end of a rattle (about 2 inches wide) in her mouth. It seems she has a big/wide mouth and can fit amazingly big toys in there. It's a little worrisome as the rattle could get stuck.. and could be scary. I don't think most kids this size can fit those things in their mouth. Oh well.. she's fine and I'm sure we'd have gotten it out. So, here's our little caterpillar..



Here's a little game for you.. instead of where's waldo?, where's wendell? : )

This is one reason I'm super excited to have a membership at RP. I don't have to do this anymore. I do NOT miss running in the freezing cold temps, on ice/snow/slush, and with many many layers. It's so worth the 5 minute drive to not endure this.