OMG.

Just so y'all know, I'm about to gain 500 pounds.

http://www.marbleslab.com/index.html

Welcome to germ-central!

We are still alive, in case you're wondering.

Ben got sick at the beginning of May, and we finally got that diagnosed as pneumonia (3 doctor's visits and two weird rashes later); once he started his antibiotics, he quickly got better. Then I got it - stayed home all last week, so now I'm on a round of strong antibiotics. Ella has been coughing, but not running the fever that Ben and I were, so we think she's just got a touch of a chest cold. We're watching her very closely though... Hey, wanna come to our house? ;)

Grandma & Grandpa Potter came to visit two weekends ago and brought an 8' trampoline with them! Thanks a lot, guys! The kids love it and make me sing the same song for them constantly when they're playing on it ('Singing all together, running round and round, bouncy bouncy on the tramp, all fall down!' And the best part? They don't fall down, and then I have to pretend to get annoyed and say it again and again, and they giggle and then finally fall down. It's a clever game, ya know.)

What else should I report on? I don't know. I'm not feeling bloggy today...maybe 'cause I'm at work? I am feeling sassy though...I am wearing my hot red heels today...yowza!

A new feature: Cooking with Carrie

(As a precursor, I'm pretty sure this is too corny for our blog, but I'm trying it out anyways.)

In case I've never brought it up before, I struggle sometimes with what to feed this bunch I live with. Between Gord's pickiness and Ben's pickiness and Ella...well, she's a pretty good eater...I want to try new things but I also really have to factor the family into it. And I'm also trying to plan our meals weekly, do the shopping once, take advantage of sales (esp. on meat), reduce the pre-packaged/fatty/sodium-ridden foods and focus on healthy whole foods. I don't often hit all of those, but I'm trying darnit!

So I thought I'd start this kooky idea tonight...I made Fettuccine with Sweet Pepper-Cayenne Sauce (from www.allrecipes.com - I LOVE that site!) and I'm going to show you HOW I did it.

Here's the recipe per allrecipes:

• 12 ounces dry fettuccine pasta
• 2 red bell peppers, julienned
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
Meanwhile, spray cooking oil in a large skillet and saute red bell peppers, garlic and cayenne pepper over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes.
Stir in sour cream and broth; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.
Toss hot pasta with sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste; serve.

Now before you go navigating away from our blog, I don't even really know what "julienned" means, so I just chopped them up. OK? Are you going to stay? Good - give it a chance!

I started a pot for the fettucine - no wait, I used linguini - and I started cutting the peppers. Ella was helping.

And pigging out on the peppers. I did say she eats just about anything, right?

So I threw the peppers, some onion (not called for in the recipe, but what dish doesn't benefit from some onion? There isn't one.) and garlic into a nice warm pan with some olive oil in it.


Then I sprinkled on some cayenne. How much? Definitely less than the recipe calls for - I maybe added...1/8 tsp...I don't always measure my ingredients, you see. Won't that make for exciting future cooking posts? Baking is exact, cooking is...less exact. I reduced the cayenne because I didn't want it too spicy - Ben would not touch the stuff if there was even a whiff of spice.

Stir. Saute. Pan sear. Whatever.

By then, my pasta water was getting hot...look, you can see the little bubbles!


Stir the peppers and onions. Saute. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Here's my pasta:


Remember what I said about reducing pre-packaged foods? Pasta doesn't count. I buy whole wheat, so there.

Once you've thrown it in the boiling water, be a good human and recycle...we do a LOT of that around here:


What's that? There is still LOTS of room in there. O ye of little faith.

Here's Ella, self-medicating 'cause Mommy has a sharp knife out and may cut her finger off. (Oh chill people, she's sucking on the squishy dropper end of the tylenol bottle!)


While the pasta is cooking, I added 3/4 cup of chicken broth to the peppers and onions. Well, would you look at that? I measured something! But I was too lazy to pull out the 3/4 cup measuring cup, so I used the 1 cupper. So it's NOT exact. Heh.

(Oh look, the onion is still out.)

Yum...now let it simmer...

What onion?

Oh, I also decided, per Ben's request, to add some broccoli. So I chopped some up and threw it in the pot with the pasta - saving a dirty dish for Gord to do, woot!


It may have been questionable in terms of freshness, but as I'm trying to reduce waste, I used it anyways. And it was being cooked, so I'm sure it was fine. Really.


Look at this messy workspace! Ack!


Seriously, what onion?

That's better. The next two ingredients waiting on deck...measure out 3/4 cup of each. Yes, I said measure. Just do it.

Now stir them into the peppes/onions/broth.

You'll notice I did not follow the instructions as per the original recipe. I'M MAKING IT UP, PEOPLE! No, one of the best things I do, besides going to www.allrecipes.com in the first place, is to read the reviews. And you get great tips in those reviews. Several of them for this recipe said to add the sour cream at the end with the parmesan cheese. 'Cause the sour cream doesn't cook so well. Or something like that.

Notice the mess again. Gord's right...I'm a messy cook.


Tsk, tsk, tsk.


Probably time to drain that pasta/broccoli!


Now throw it all into one pot. Give it some big stirs.


And serve:


Looks good, no?

So, I'm sure you're all dying to know...did the family eat it?

Ella liked it and plowed through her bowl, then asked for more. But I gave her two bowls of applesauce instead.

I definitely liked it, although it could use some more cayenne.

Gord was out at bridge (hence I cook a meat-less meal with veggies in it).

Ben fell asleep on the couch before the pasta water was even boiling (he's a sick boy right now...).

2 out of 4 Sheppards agree! Success!

There was definitely enough for our family for a meal; Ella and I ate, and there was enough left over for my lunch and the kids' lunches for tomorrow.

I hope you've enjoyed the first (and last?) instalment of Cooking with Carrie. Now I'm off to make some chocolate chip cookies...'cause I wanna...

The next Beckham?!?

Ben's first soccer game was Friday night. It was bloody cold out, but the kids were raring to go! We showed up early to meet the coaches, get a team shirt, pick a team name, etc. Our team is called the Purple People Eaters! Guess what color the shirt are? ;)

Ben had such a good time - we didn't take many pictures 'cause we took a bunch of video - it was very action-packed, you see. But here are a couple good ones that aren't too far away:


(Ben is #4, and I'm not sure you can actually see him - he's the kid second from the left, the closest one - they were going for a run to keep warm!)


It was a lot of fun, and I'm sure it will be even better when it's above zero! Besides soccer again on Friday, they are playing a bunch of mini-games on Saturday at the community carnival, so I guess this is our first taste of how busy life is with a kid in sports!

They came, they ate, they gave her presents.

We had Ella's birthday party on Saturday - we kept it pretty small - grandparents, a great-grandma, and uncle/aunt/cousin. It was really nice! They all gave Ella such nice things for her 2nd birthday - clothes, toys, books... We all ate and had cake and played a little Rock Band. Good times!

The cake was a garden:


Lots of yummy candies!

Cousin time on the couch:


Uh...the book is upside down...


Sari is just soooooo cute!


Futile candle-blowing attempt # 102:


Time to call in the big guns:


Rabid present opening:



(Not really, it just sounds better than "long, drawn-out, get-distracted-by-shoes present opening.)

Sporting the beautiful pink feather boa from Uncle Chris, Auntie Sheri and Sari:


Who wouldn't love this face?


Sunday, we went to Assiniboine Park to enjoy the sun (but it was kinda cool/windy). We took the soccer ball to give Ben some practice for this coming Friday - his first night of soccer!






Eating strawberries...I loved Ella's fashion statement in this one...monster shirt, cap on backwards...very haute couture in the toddler circle these days...

Happy Birthday Ella!

Ella, you’re 2!

Wow. The time is flying by. It’s been this way since the start of your life – it just feels like it’s moving so much quicker than it did with your big brother. I’m sure that it has to do with the fact that now we’re busy with two crazy kids instead of just one, but still, it’s a little hard to take.

How would I describe your relationship with Ben right now? Love/hate, for sure. With more hate than love. Keep in mind, I don’t really mean “hate”; but you two do drive each other crazy. Ben roars at you, you get upset. Two minutes later, you roar at him and he gets upset. Seriously, you two thrive on making the other mad. I honestly don’t know why your dad and I don’t send you two to live in the wilds of our backyard, so that peace is restored in the house, but you’re both still around, so we must make it through somehow. And then comes bedtime, and you and your brother love to give each other hugs and kisses on the cheek as you say goodnight. All the love/hate stuff aside, you completely idolize your brother and want to do everything he does – from marching around the house to Hap Palmer’s music, to tearing off your bathrobe to be NakedGirl to Ben’s NakedBoy.

These days, your nicknames range from Ella-bee, Beeper and Miss Bee, to Stink-o. I love it when Ben refers to you as “Miss Bee”, or “Ella Beeper”. So cute to hear him say, “Good Morning Miss Bee”, or “What’s wrong Beeper?” Don’t ask me why you’re Ella-Bee…you just are. Have been for a long time, really. You're our Bee and that's that.

In the talking department, you've been a little slower than what we anticipated. Not that it's a bad thing! You are certainly picking up on a lot of words now, which is great. But Daddy just told me that he thinks you're cuter because of your lack of words. I have to agree, but only sometimes. Hearing you say "Hi Daddy" or "Ay Mommy" or "Hi Guys" is just sweet music to our ears! Probably the cutest thing you say is "Warwee" - you love Charlie!

And now here is a list of your current favorite things:
Food: You eat pretty much anything we give you, but a couple things we NEVER have to worry about are cheese, rice, cheese, berries (of any variety), cheese, any other fruit, really. Oh, have I mentioned CHEESE?
TV show: Blues Clues, Curious George or maybe Elmo
Toy: A doll in a stroller or the shopping cart
Book: Blankie (Leslie Patricelli) or Little Pea (Amy Krause Rosenthal)
Song: Wiggy Wiggles Freeze Dance (Hap Palmer)
Activity: Wearing shoes, any shoes (not just yours), sometimes yours and then someone else’s, if they’re big enough to fit over yours. And you also like to color/draw and you usually want us to draw a stick person and you’ll draw the face.
Person: Mommy

You don't like milk nearly as much as Ben does. You're a better eater than he is though! You love to listen to music and dance. We do not mention bathtime until we're about to pour the water - you would bath 10 times a day, I think!

And finally, the last year in pictures:


















You melt our hearts and make us laugh with your funny faces, crazy hair and your love of life. Life wouldn't be as beautiful without you. We love you to the moon and back.

Mommy, Daddy and Ben