Hey, Thanks!

If you are not the owner of a blog, you may not know that blog writers can check their "stats" and see how many people are reading their blog. Although it doesn't tell me who is reading, it tells me how many are reading on a daily, monthly and all-time basis. It's a fun little feature that I have access to on here!

Anyway, I hadn't really bothered checking those stats until a couple of months ago. The numbers surprised me- in a good way! It looks as though there are a lot of you out there that take a peek on a daily basis, or maybe it's just the same ten people checking back a ton of times each day. 

Either way, thanks for reading this blog that is just basically about Wren and once in a while our everyday life sprinkled in. I have so much fun writing and sharing pictures and recipes and funny stories when I can, and I know that there is a good handful of people reading about us that already know us personally and love watching Wren grow up picture by picture.

Thanks!

P.S. On Father's Day, I managed to find another good card for my dad. It was a cartoon of a dad having a talk with his teenager and saying to them, 

"Your mother and I have heard that you started blogging. We don't know what that is, but we would like you to stop."

Have a fun Canada Day tomorrow! 

Summer popsicles

For some reason I thought it would be too much effort to make my own popsicles. When I saw this little popsicle mould at Superstore for $2, I figured I could try it out. 

Our favourite kind so far are strawberry or raspberry yogurt popsicles! 

And today I'll share the super easy recipe for them.

You can use any fruit you want to I am sure, but these ones are super tasty.

Fresh or frozen raspberries (strawberries, or any other fruit)

Fruit juice (orange juice is good, but whatever you have should work)

Honey or a couple of spoonfuls of sugar

Yogurt (we like vanilla in our house)

Puree about 2 cups of fruit- I fill up our Magic Bullet 3/4 of the way with the fruit. Add 1/4 cup of juice to it, and a bit of sugar or honey if you want to sweeten it a bit. Add a tbsp of the yogurt into the fruit mix and whiz it up!

Pour the fruit mix in about 1/3 full in your moulds, save the rest in the fridge. Let freeze for about 30-45 min, so that it's not completely frozen and you can still put the handle of the popsicle in. Pull it out of the freezer and drop in 2 tbsp of yogurt or so for the next layer.

After the middle layer of yogurt is in, pour in the rest of the fruit mix on top, and pop in the handles. Freeze for at least 2 hours.

Run under hot water to get the popsicles back out when they are ready to eat!

In Wrennie's words: 

"Mmm -num -num -num!!"

Block Party

Let's build a tower...

Let's have some tea...

Don't forget to stir the tea, Dad!!

Mmm cookies

Rainy days call for a little treat. Our version of a rainy day treat is chocolate chip cookies. These ones were extra awesome because we used chocolate chunks instead of chips. Mmmm!

Our recipe is from The Best of Chef at Home. I always double it up because it doesn't make a lot...for this house...but here is the original.

1.5 c flour

1 egg

1tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp corn syrup *this makes them magical-don't skip this one*

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c butter

1 c chocolate chips/chunks

Preheat your oven to 350F. If your oven is like ours, make sure you also turn on the dial to "bake" because otherwise it won't heat up...don't you just hate when that happens??

Cream together your butter and sugar. Add vanilla and beat in the egg.

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt.

Combine everything and add your chocolate chips.

Scoop a heaping tablespoon of dough into your mouth. Repeat as necessary.

After repeating previous steps multiple times, spoon what is left of your dough onto a cookie sheet and bake for about 10 min.

I have only one secret tip for the best cookies ever. I like to call it "barely baking" the cookies. When they get close to finishing, keep an eye on them and as soon as they no longer look moist on top, pull 'em out!!  It will seem like they maybe could use another minute or two, but barely baked tastes best. Trust me. 

And if that last tip is not even close to an original thought, don't judge me,  just eat the cookie.

French Toast!

Jamie Oliver (who else?) has one great recipe for french toast. I will give you my version of the instructions. 

To make one serving you will need:

2 eggs beaten with 2 tsps of sugar

thick sliced bread (we like whole wheat!)

butter spread on all sides of bread plus more for the frying pan

fruit such as blueberries, strawberries and a banana.

some icing sugar

yogurt (we like the thick Greek yogurt with some honey)

1. Put your frying pan on medium. (That means 4 at our house)
2. Like I said, beat the eggs with sugar, pour into a container that you can dip your bread in.

3. Lightly butter the bread slices on both sides.

4. Mush up your banana in a bowl and chop up your fruit small, throw them all together and mix a little. This will be your filling for your toast. Maybe save a little fruit for the top?

(This was Wrennie's, a half of a toast sandwich!)

5. Throw a bit of butter on the pan. If it's ready, the butter will be sizzling. Dip your bread, throw it on, and if you have room on your pan, throw the other slice on too!
Leave it for a minute or two and then flip.
6. Drop on some of your fruit filling and when the other slice is ready, place it on top to form your toast sandwich thing you have going on.
7. Drop on some yogurt on top of it all and maybe some extra fruit and icing sugar.

Yum!

(Before I made this, I was up at 5am. Read the post before this one!)

Awake at the butt crack of dawn

Surprisingly, it was me, and not Wren, that was awake at the ungodly hour of 3am this morning. I just woke up because my body is used to having to wake up in the middle of the night to tuck a chilly little person back into her warm, cozy blankets who has rolled out of them long before. But it wasn't Wrennie that woke me up. Just myself. I still tucked her in. She did a little snuffle, a sigh, and said "bay-bee, bay-bee"...awww, maybe having a dream about her little baby? Too sweet.

 I tossed and turned for 1 hour, then two hours, and then it was 5am. And at 5am in June, it's light out already. So that didn't help. I can't tell if Kenton is actually asleep or not sometimes. So I got up and he didn't seem to notice, and if he did, he let me go and probably thought, "Sweet, for once I get to sleep in!". (Note: "sleeping in" at our house is 7am.

Usually at 3am, it's my thoughts that keep me up if I have been woken up for one reason or another. I think I pretty much covered every topic that had been floating around in my brain for the past month. Anything from work, to Wrennie and Kenton, to friends, to family, and what I want to save my money for next...uh, as in a new pair of Tom's wedges.

5am is a very pretty time of day in the summer, and if I wasn't so big on sleep, I would probably try to be up with my family when they are up on the dot, at 6am.
So while I wait for Wrennie to wake at (I am making a guess) about 5:52am, I will share a couple of the thoughts that kept me up this morning.

1. In the blogging world, (and the world in general), it's not good for your blog to use it as a space to diss others. But in this case, I will "diss" in a way that more or less means, "dissapointing". Edmonton Public Schools are going to be passing an anti-bullying policy against LGBTQ youth...a.k.a. "queer" youth (note: this is not the disappointing part). It was in the paper that schools with Christian programs are not happy about this and churches are putting up posters to "warn" people about the new zero tolerance policy about bullying against queer youth in Edmonton Public Schools. Apparently it goes against the Christian beliefs that they are teaching in their programs. The reps from the programs are getting nit-picky about words used in the policy like "affirming" the youth, saying that will go against what they believe in.
This should be a Weekend Update topic with Seth Meyers on Saturday Night Live. It would fit in really well with a segment he used to do with Amy Poehler called "REALLY?!" where they basically would find a piece of recent news and point out how obviously ridiculous it is.
Instead of freaking out about the policy, maybe they should look into what it's really about- zero tolerance for bullying. It can be argued that now they will have to come out with bullying policies for fat kids, black kids,  straight kids, and any other kind of possible target group. What people don't realize is that the queer population as a whole suffer far harsher acts of "bullying" and violence than any other group out there. Whatever bullying policy that was in place before wasn't cutting it.
What those people against the new policy should just come out and say is that it's okay to bully people no matter what their lifestyle, beliefs or race is, because it's different than mine.

P.S. If you still don't agree, here is a comparison. Did you know there is something out there called "Kick a Ginger" Day where red headed children get specifically targeted in schools by their peers just because of their hair colour?  It started on Facebook. You can read the article of it occurring in B.C. here. Sort of hits close to home...uh, no pun intended.
We aren't just talking about high school kids with this bullying issue. We are talking as young as elementary. They might be learning it from media, but before they even understand what Elmo is actually saying on Sesame Street, they are learning behaviour from us and how we speak to and treat others. So if those Christian parents who don't like the new policy are planning on praying against something, hopefully they are praying against kids intentionally harming other kids instead.

2. Well, on that heavy note, I pretty much forget what else I thought about all those hours ago now. I am also so tired now that I think I will join Wrennie and take a nap. Maybe a little later I will post some photos of french toast for breakfast! (Yeah, that energy is long gone now, and it's only 9am!)

The next step: Braided Pigtails.

It was a happy Father's Day!

I wasn't thinking, and should have posted my Father's Day post after our day was over. Oh well! Here are some pictures from the day:

Kenton's parents had my family over for lunch at their house. As Nana said grace, Wrennie looked around at everyone's closed eyes. After Nana was done praying, Wrennie mimicked what Nana had done by saying a few of her own words. It was hilarious.

*She must have done this at least 5 times, every time getting a big laugh out of everyone!

Then the boys played Dice. 

Kisses for Uncle Jordan.

Wrennie gives the game a try.

She likes rolling dice, and comes back to the table after the game is done to roll some more! What a fun day :)

This is our actual 2011 Father's Day picture, the one she would barely hold still for...

And she helps with dishes before bedtime. 

What? Why is everyone laughing?

Happy Father's Day!

Here is a good little series for Father's Day. A daughter helping her dad. I remember helping "wash" the van in my pink rubber boots as a little kid, and yesterday, Wren helped Kenton build the shelf.

This kid needs her own tool kit...and I mean literally. She was right in there like a dirty shirt (also literally) helping Kenton. She lifted each square shelf and carried it over one by one until she made a whole new pile beside him.

"Okay, I've got this one Dad!"

Seems fairly sturdy!

Then we took a break for supper. Yum, corn on the cob! (Disclaimer, Wren did not actually eat all of that herself...she is munching on her parent's leftovers. Kind of gross. Get over it).

And I wanted to include this picture from one of Jill's recent blog posts about Isla. A few weeks ago, Cam and Jill watched Wren for me while I went to work. Wren was thrilled to have a friend to play with,  warmed right up to Cam and even (note: Wren gives little affection to dudes she hardly knows) watched episodes of Sesame Street with him on the couch! Cute. They took the girls to the park, and caught a special moment of them in the chariot. Can't you see the happiness in Wren's eyes?

So Happy Father's Day to the dad's out there, and our dads that we will be seeing today.

This is  our second one as our own little family. It started here....

...and then here (Father's Day 2010)....

....and now here, 2011!

Have a great day everyone :)

One fun kid

The sweetest thing I have witnessed lately...

Our friends Mike and Cara recently welcomed little Myer Lowell Regehr into the world (a whopping 10lbs 3 oz!!) last week, so we went for a visit. Sorry, no pictures! Myer was incredibly cute, and sleepy. But Wrennie really really wanted to touch him...and she was okay for about a second gently touching his head, but then she wanted to "hold" him and give his head some less than gentle pats and eye pokes.

Anyway, I thought it would be a nice time for me to bring back the baby doll from downstairs. Why was the doll down in the basement? Because she used to cry and whine until you held the baby, and you couldn't set it down. Annoying! 

But this is her baby now and she wants to hold her...we bundled her, and when we can find the toy bottle, Wrennie feeds her.

Her curiosity with babies has awakened and I can hear you all saying to your computer screens, "Give that child a sibling!!!"

She looks gentle with baby now...but wait until a Glee cd is thrown on, and then baby is up dancing to the techno beat with Wren!

Wrennie even put her toys on the floor and they all had a "sleep". Wrennie is "sleeping" and making snoring noises here! She's a pretty happy sleeper apparently.

Wrennie also wanted to bring baby in for bedtime stories last night. I was getting sick of reading the same stories...so last night was deemed, "Read the Story in a British Accent" night. It was hilarious. My voice went from a british accent, to an australian accent, and then something more manly resembling Hugh Jackman. All the while I was laughing to myself imagining Andrea reading to her in an east indian accent. She does a great one! And by great I mean it's so hilarious you better wear your Depends...or Huggies.

P.S. Is it a coincidence that the baby doll has strawberry blonde hair too? Mom, Dad? Whoever bought this doll?

Plus, Wrennie on being asked about people in her life:

"Wrennie, can you say Grandpa?"

"Buh-pa!"

"Can you say Grandma?"

"Buh-pa!"

"Can you say Papa?"

"Buh-pa!
"Say Nana?"

"Na-na!"

"Wrennie, can you say, Aunty?"

"A! (sounds like 'ah')"

"Can you say, Uncle?"

"Cull!"

"Can you say, Isla?"

"I! (sounds like 'eye')"

And those are Wrennie's main hommies these days. She knows all their names :)

J.O.'s Killer Jerk Chicken

Dinner: Jamie Oliver's Killer Jerk Chicken

In about half an hour, you are supposed to make chicken, corn, rice, and a salad. This one did not have a dessert included, although even if it did, I still would not have made it on a first try. 

Tonight is my first attempt at a recipe from Meals in Minutes. 

Annnnd...because it was so crazy and hectic, I did not have time to take a photo during the cooking process. 

Here is the result:

Jerk Chicken-minus the rum it called for, mostly because I did not have any on hand, and Superstore did not have anything besides a rum with coconut or kaluha. Jamie is definitely into putting wine, beer, rum, etc into his recipes, and it always tastes great. But alcohol in the UK is cheaper than it is here, so I don't always have a big bottle of something waiting to be cooked with in my cupboard.

I accidentally bought chicken w/o skin. Ugh! I also bought chicken breasts with the bone in. UGH! 

It was like a bomb went off in the kitchen. The multi-tasking was a big challenge for sure. I when I opened my can of black beans to put into the rice, (noname brand...not to point out it's cheapness or anything), it was a bad can. Yuck.  So I had to throw in good 'ol kidney beans instead. I also didn't have the million scallions he called for, I could only find friggen shallots. So be it.

And he isn't kidding, you really do need to pull everything out that you will need, before you start. It's crazy fast. And then all of a sudden he says (without telling you before), "pull out your blender and whiz up the sauce till smooth" and you're like, "WHAT?" and you go digging for your Magic Bullet in that godforsaken cupboard where your kid's massive crayon box is blocking it while balancing on the stool that she wants to climb on as well. Fun times.

It was like I had a voice in my head yelling, "Let's move, move, MOVE!!" the whole time. I guess that's why the book isn't called, How to Make a Relaxing and Stress Free Meal with Jamie. When does that one come out in stores?

Time? 1 hour. At least. 

Tastiness?  I overcooked the chicken (this is so not like me), because he doesn't give actual cooking times for anything...you are just supposed to follow step by step and when one item is simmering, you jump to the next thing and get started on it, and then jump back to that other one you started. But if you are slow on a step, something else is kept waiting. Therefore, slightly dried out chicken. But very tasty. The rice was just whatever. Corn? Fine. You may notice that a chopped salad did not make it to the table. It never even got out of the fridge actually. I would have been there at least another 15-20 on that one. And there was also a yogurt to go with the chicken I believe. Also never made it. 

My 18 month old demanded food after waiting extra long, and she didn't care about that dumb yogurt!

Did it make the rest of my family happy?

Yep!

All in all, I am already somewhat used to multi-tasking in the kitchen. I suppose when you attempt at least 3 new recipes all at once, you aren't going to come out with flying colours. 

Was it worth the effort? Sort of,  but maybe it's only necessary only once or twice a week...as in the days I am home and not at work. Would this kill Kenton to attempt a meal like this? Probably. He has a harder time with multi-tasking cooking. There could be a few F-bombs if he attempted it alone. But anyone gets better with practice, right??

Why doesn't Jamie come out with a slow cooker cookbook? Doesn't he know that throwing stuff together and then letting it cook all day is so much easier? 

Ah well. I am willing to try more recipes, so I will let you in on those as well!

Killer (double meaning, hmm?) Jerk Chicken gets a 3.0 out of 5. 

Frozen Strawberry Pop

Yum!