A lot of pics...not a lot of words...

Obligatory zoo dino-egg picture:

Picnic at the park:

Mmmmmm...pb & j sandwiches...



Say, is that a tiger?

RUN!

Banished to the kitchen to eat popsicles...

Am I the only one who's thinking he just got kicked in the...uh...you know whats? He didn't, but it's funny nonetheless...

Frank, impressed as usual:

Bouncy bouncy kids:



I loved this part of soccer practice...chase the coach!

Enjoying a snack after what turned out to be the last game of the season:

Cuddly cousin time! Oh, and there's Wicket too!

Ella getting her Henry tattoo at "A Day Out with Thomas":

Ben's getting a Thomas tattoo, of course:

The kids with the main train himself...THOMAS!

Give her something to eat and she'll be good...

Watching the passersby:

Showing his tattoo to said passersby:

"Bye-bye!"

Ben would not look at the camera...too busy coloring:

Ben was on his own to meet Sir Topham Hatt...Ella was freaked out by him.

Random play at the train day (I'm sick of typing "A Day Out with Thomas"...whoops, I did it anyways.)

Ella in her big girl bed!

"Sssshhhhhh. There's a butterfly on my face."

Diggin'...

Scoopin'...

"Hi!"

Sleepy kids:

Cute kids:

Repenting...

Sorry folks, we’ve been crazy busy, it feels like. Working, entertaining company, staining decks/fences, riding trains, eating ice cream (JODI!), etc. Excuses, excuses…you’ve heard ‘em all before. We are truly repentant…

Where did we last leave off? Oh yeah…Marble Slab. Good ice cream, that’s for sure. But I was a little disappointed with the cost of my creation. For a couple reasons I won’t delve into here, $6.38, including taxes, was kinda pricey for the amount of ice cream I got. Again, it was yummy, but it’s no Cold Stone. I’ll go back to treating myself at BDI when I’m in the mood for a really good ice cream. And it’s closer. And you can have a nice walk across the bridge while you enjoy your treats. Why yes, you can have more than one. I would.

I bet you didn’t think I could write a whole paragraph on ice cream. Do you KNOW how much I love ice cream? And my son follows in my footsteps…”Ben, what would you like for breakfast today?” “ICE CREAM!” “Sounds good buddy!”

And no, I do not give my children ice cream for breakfast. That’s probably what Grandpa Bill would do, but it doesn’t happen at our house.

Lookie there, now that’s 3 paragraphs on ice cream! I’m on a roll!

At the end of June, we had some wonderful friends come and stay with us – Hi Liz and Logan! They came down for Gord’s friend Ravi’s wedding, and we had such a great time having them here. The wedding was awesome too. We got some great visiting in with Liz and Logan (who’s 3), Garth and Jill, and some other friends that Liz and Gord have in common too. We all took a trip to the zoo on a nice hot day, and were able to work in some Olive Garden salad and breadsticks for Liz! Poor girl doesn’t get there very often! Ben and Ella loved having Logan here to play with, and they all got along so well for not knowing each other at the beginning of their stay. After they left, Ben walked over to me, climbed into my lap, and said that he was going to miss his best friend Logan. Awwwww.

That same weekend as the weddingpalooza, we went to “A Day Out with Thomas” at the Prairie Dog Central. It was great – the weather was awesome – and the kids had fun. They got tattoos, they colored, we rode on “Annie & Clarabel”, saw Sir Topham Hatt, got their picture taken with the big blue guy himself (Thomas), played with some trains, and ate some mini donuts. Whew. It is the same event that we went to 2 years ago in Stillwater, Minnesota. See here.

Now that Gord is done school, he’s at home with the kids all day every day. I am very envious of them…but I’m taking the last two weeks of July off, so we’ll all hang out then. We don’t have a lot of plans for our vacation…we’re instead thinking of doing some renovations…what a way to spoil a vacation, huh?

The kids were at Grandpa Bill & Grandma Joan’s last weekend, and came home on Tuesday. I know they didn’t miss us at all. They both had such a good time that Ella cried her eyes out when they left. If anything lets us know that she had a good time, that’s it!

I should really give an update on each of the kids now…it’s been so long, it seems. Ben is doing really well. He loves to sound out words and hopefully will be reading before long. He likes to write letters – usually they get bigger as he gets farther along in the word, and then when he runs out of room (which usually happens), he will put the letters above, below, at the beginning. Wherever they’ll fit. But the important thing is that he’s writing them. And my perfectionist personality will just have to live with it. ;) Ben also likes to play on the computer – typing in Word, or playing on the Thomas or Nick Jr. websites. While he was “typing” one day, he asked us to help him spell the word “vegetable”, so we helped him sound it all out. That was fun, and he really only had trouble figuring out the “g” (he thought it should be “j”) and the “le”. It is beyond cool to witness him learning this stuff, and to help him along. We’ve already pulled out the “Dick and Jane Treasury” we bought a while ago, and we’ve read some stuff out of that. Ah, the memories…Dick and Jane helped me learn to read…and now we’ve got some Dr. Seuss books to work on too (“Hop on Pop”). Ben loves his bike, especially the horn and bell we’ve recently added to it. He’ll truck up and down the sidewalk, honking and ringing the whole way down and back. I’m sure the neighbors love it! Soccer came and went, and he did alright. I don’t think he really got it until near the end. He would typically complain, after about a minute out on the field, that his legs were tired and he needed to rest and have a drink. It didn’t help that the coaches got them these cool water bottles. All he wanted to do was drink his water, week after week. That and watch his shadow on the field. But he had fun, so that is what matters. And he and Ella have become buddy-buddy with the two kids across the street – the girl is almost 6 and the boy just turned 4. They are fabulous kids and we all have a lot of fun together.

One thing that we’ve come to realize over the last few months is that Ben is no wallflower. He is so un-shy it’s not even funny. He’ll walk right up to someone now and say, “Hi there. I’m Ben. What’s your name?” … “Nice to meet you ___________!” He’ll invite himself into the neighbor’s yard and house, charming his way in every time. What a character. I don’t know where he gets it from. *coughGordcough* *coughcoughChriscoughcough*

And Ella. What can I say about Ella? She’s two.

No, I’ll say more. Ella is getting better at talking. It’s weird though…she has trouble with seemingly simple words, like “Ben” but can whip out “suitcase” no problem. What’s with that? We’ve recently changed the crib into a toddler bed, and she likes that a whole lot. She stays in her bed and room, so far anyways. I hope I didn’t just jinx it all. She does cry a lot though when we say goodnight, after the stories have been read. It’s been not too bad the last two nights, so I hope we’ve turned a corner on that front. It started way before the switch to a bed, so I think it’s just a phase she’s going through. Ella loves to play puppy and kitty, and loves to be outside, playing in bubble solution or getting chalk from head to toe. And she loves to play “Tag”. Ella loves to eat and would eat all day if we let her. I have never seen a kid inhale berries and grapes like her, although Ben and strawberries come a close second. I don’t think they chew them at all. We may try the potty training process with her this summer, but the kid poops so much I may need a potty in each room. It’s probably ‘cause she eats so much!

I will work on getting some photos posted this weekend…it’s supposed to be rainy tomorrow…maybe then?

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!