basket bounty

hooray for magical, mythical bunnies who bring

good little girls new toys and chocolate for breakfast!

good morning sunshine

now here's a tradition i can get behind:

bryan makes delicious orange julius' for his girls on easter bunny morning.

(the easter bunny drops by the wheeler homestead on saturday).

ken buds, this pose is for you.

for the record

around these parts, i'm sort of known as the grinch who pooh-poohs holiday traditions. yes, i even tried to kill santa for christmas '09, but bryan stepped in at the last minute and saved the old man's life. now, there are those family traditions that i hold strong and fast to, but there are a few perfunctory social customs that i could definitely do without.

and dying eggs is headed straight for my killer kibosh.

i hate eating hard-boiled eggs. i hate decorating them. i hate hiding them. and i even hate looking for them. let's just add, for kicks and giggles, that i also hate smelling them. i know this is supposed to be about the "children," but believe me when i say, if i hate something, the wee ones don't end up having too much fun with it either.

so i'm thinking next year, the wheelers are going to go easter rogue and eliminate all things hard-boiled.

what will we have in store instead?

i guess you'll just have to wait and see.

eating eggs

hmm...

let's try decorating a few instead:

joke's on me

so i thought i'd jazz up april fool's day this year with a little foray into the fake-out food world (because we all know that truly effective pranks can only be planned and executed every five years or so. sort of like that whole leap year thing--the greatest prank of them all).

anyway, i brought a couple ideas to bryan and finally settled on fried ice cream in white-chocolate pistachio sauce that looks like crab cakes in tartar sauce. bryan, skeptical as he is of my frying abilities (and for good reason), double-triple-checked to make sure that was what i wanted to try. i assured him. and his final say was, "well, if it works, it'll be great, but if it fails, it'll fail spectacularly."

and fail spectacularly it did. but really, spectacularly is the only way i like to fail.

now, this particular piece may look somewhat edible (we finally got it right on our last try), but the previous 10 or 12 we fried did not fare so well, and in my frenzied state i forgot to get a photo of those poor lost souls.

to top things off, we had had the elders over, so we forced them to down a couple of these babies before sending them on their merry way. after they had left, i was lamenting my epic failure, and my mom, in an effort to cheer me up said, "well, at least they enjoyed the spectacle."

and that's probably what they'll put on my tombstone.

earth to emily: "at least we enjoyed the spectacle."

a hunting we will go

competition is the lifeblood of the wheeler family. and the annual easter egg hunt, though it seems all safe and "pastel," is no exception. summer awoke this morning, saw her basket on the table, and knew it was time to get her game face on. she practiced spotting small objects all morning so that her eyes would be sharp and no egg would go unnoticed at this year's MOD easter egg showdown. witness our little huntresses in action:

scanning the horizon for chocolately goodness.

don't let those dimples fool you. this girl means business.

(notice how mom really gets into this. those eggs that slip past summer's keen vision are immediately and vigorously pointed out by mom's eagle eyes, as she shoves other helpless children aside, preserving the bounty for her own little cub.)

after ruthlessly gathering our spoils, the wheeler girls pause for a brief photo op.

i believe i can fly

or not so much.

button up your overcoat

when the wind is free.

st. paddy pouty

i'm not exactly sure why i have such a hard time getting in to the "festivity" of st. patrick's day.

i don't color food green, dress my kids in a rainbow of emerald, set up elaborate treasure hunts, or create leprechaun mischief. and if you try to pinch me, i'll drop kick you in to next week. violence breeds violence.

anyhoo, it's probably because my gag reflex firmly believes that any food that is not naturally green should NEVER be dyed green.

and with thing one and thing two around, i don't need to go out and create imaginary mischief and blame it on tiny fantastical creatures. i gots the real stuff around to deal with.

all that aside, bryan insists on the corned beef and cabbage (and since he insists on so little, i oblige him in this small way). though, ironically, and for the uninitiated, this most famous st. paddy day meal is decidedly un-Irish.

and as long as i'm airing my march grievances, be it known that i hate daylight savings time. i think next year, the wheelers will not be participating.

making music

afton hearts the kazoo.

here, have a listen.

gooey

i am a *sucker* for cinnamon swirl bread.

anytime. anywhere.

so yesterday when i stopped in to whole foods for some grass fed beef
(yes, we saw food, inc., and yes, it changed the way we eat),

i walked out with this beauty:

and the beef, too, but it doesn't photograph quite as well.

calisthenics

afton's morning stretches.

family circus

the bearded lady.

baby zoltar.

chores

the early arrival of spring this year,

meant the wheelers were busy today working on chores.

first, out to the garden.

where daddy labored diligently pulling weeds.

while his girls found time to bike ride,

and sunbathe.

then, spring means sunshine, and too much sunshine means
summer's chatting with her dolls when she should be sleeping.

so we're up to our old tricks foiling summer's window.

yes, the wheelers are a lot of things. classy is not one of them.

and finally, we packed up the baby swing and jumperoo.

the bad news is that this means afton is almost ready to crawl.

yikes.

ready or not, spring is here.

low key

march is a pretty chill month here in wheelerwonderland.

and believe me, with three feisty females around the house,

we soak up just about as much "chill" as we can get.

the snow bunny returns

and luckily for us, she was in a much better mood this time.

we sledded:

and snuggled:

and slept:

just kidding!

what's odd about our baby afton in the snow is that she becomes totally unimpressed. no smiles, no laughs, not a single peep. her generally genial demeanor is completely stoic. not sure what that's about, but, hey, as long as nobody's screaming, we're cool with it.

secret shower stalker

go ahead.

steal your kids' bathtub crayons and leave each other

inappropriate affectionate morning messages.

i dare you.

brainspark found here.

ten things i love

sisters.

pretty red dresses (and laughing babies).

a good concert.

fun wheeler family factoid:

the inscription on bryan's ipod is "bryan wheeler rocks my world."

new shoes.

fun wheeler family factoid:

for our first valentine's as a couple, bryan gave me a pair of shoes.

as homage to that cadeaux, i now have fashionable feet to look

forward to every february fourteenth.

candy. necklaces. and candy necklaces.

a package from mere mere and opa d.

fat free cookies.

fresh flowers.

cute babysitters who craft with my kids.

the bilibo.

in other valentine's weekend news, we decided that two things from our recent dates absolutely deserve the wheeler bump:

first, from our big night out, the stone house. to all our peeps on the eastside, eat here. you will love it. i promise.

second, from our big night in, lars and the real girl. you wanna know about love? real love? watch this movie. you will thank me. i promise.

love somebody

happy heart day.

dare to compare

a lot of people tell me that afton looks like baby summer.

my reply is generally, "yes, that's what everyone says."

but aside from, of course, those big beautiful eyes, i just don't see it.

my life would suck without you

valentine's inspiration this year came from

mine and summer's love anthem.

go here to have a listen.

(note: i think the exact face bryan told me to make was "angry pout.")

and in a very un-wheeler-like moment, we thoroughly failed

to document the candy-making process, but for those of you interested

in whipping up some of your own old fashioned suckers, go here.

two wheeler winter

summer went out with her dad to "ride" her "bike" this morning.

in the sunshine.

without a jacket.

but let's face it duvallians, we deserve some brightness in our sunless saga of winter disasters. enough with the ice storms and floods and power outages and blizzards already.

yes, it's hard to hate on el niño when you're soakin' up some (much needed) rays.

heart felt