The Wheeler Family

Three Easters ago, we announced to my extended family that we had a new addition on the way.  Now, that new addition has lost his new baby smell and is a wild, rambunctious toddler.  And it seems this holiday just gets more and more magical with each passing year.

Without a doubt, this Easter has been my favorite so far of all holidays that we’ve shared with Zachary.  Why?  Because, he’s old enough now that he is starting to really “get” it.

 

We kicked off the holiday weekend with a fun family evening on Friday, dying our Easter eggs.  Zachary had a great time.  At least for a little while.  Then, he was way more interested in eating some of the special Easter cookies I’d made for our fun night.

Yesterday, we ventured into town for an afternoon of Easter fun.  We started at a community Easter Egg Hunt being held at one of my favorite parks.  I was really excited to take Zachary to the egg hunt.  It turns out, though, that I forgot to consider the idea of the crazy parents who are, apparently, a requirement at such events.  So, we scrapped the egg hunt idea and instead spent some time enjoying the (finally!) beautiful weather, wandering around the park and taking Zachary’s Easter portraits.

After having a bite to eat, we decided to go see if we could find the Easter Bunny himself so Zachary could say hello.  I was really excited to see how Zachary reacted to him.  He was so excited and was mad at the line because he didn’t want to have to wait to sit on the Bunny’s lap.  The second it was his turn, he ran up to the Bunny and gave him a big hug.

Last night before bed, we had Zachary help us with setting out a snack and drink for the Bunny.  He proudly selected the perfect carrot, requested ice for the cup of water, and then carried both to the spot he had selected as the perfect place…a TV tray in the living room.  He then happily put his Easter basket next to the snacks so that it would be easily found.

When he woke up this morning, he greeted me with “Bunny!” when I went into his room.  He was a little perturbed by the “mess” the bunny left in the hall with his trail of cotton, but he quickly forgot about that when he set his eyes on the goodies that the Bunny had delivered especially for him.  And he had a great time collecting all of the eggs that had been left behind for his very own egg hunt.

After a yummy breakfast, the three of us spent the  morning playing together.  We all had a great time breaking in the new bowling set that Zachary got as part of his Easter gift.  Our hallway makes the perfect bowling lane!  This afternoon, we spent some time outside, trying out the new bat & ball and drawing with the sidewalk chalk.  That was enough to work up our appetites, so we headed inside for our non-traditional twist on Easter dinner: hot ham & cheese sandwiches, potato salad, and deviled eggs.  Followed up by a delicious dessert.

It was a really wonderful holiday weekend, spent enjoying our little family of three.  There was a lot of playing and acting silly together.  And a good amount of time for relaxing and thinking back over the past three years, as we watched our biggest blessing in life enjoy his Easter weekend.

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Here’s a video of Zachary discovering his loot from the bunny and finally getting some egg-hunting fun.

And here’s a little glimpse of some of the silliness that had James and I laughing for hours while Zachary napped this afternoon.

We’ve also uploaded a bunch of pictures, including Zachary’s portraits, to the Easter photo gallery.

Finally getting around to cleaning off the hours of video that have just been sitting on the video camera and actually doing something with them.

This is from January when we finally got some snow and decided to take Zachary out for a little bit of fun time. 

Enjoy!

Christmas Videos are coming, but they are taking a little bit longer to edit than this one did.

We know, we know.  This blog has sat silent for far too long.  That little boy of ours keeps us busy, busy, busy!  We often chat about all the things we should be putting on the blog, but then we get wrapped up in every day life, and it just gets forgotten.  But we promise…we really are going to try to get better. 

 

Zachary is proving himself to be “all boy,” with a love for most of stereotypical boy kinds of things.  Most especially, my boy LOVES trucks.  A chorus of “Truck!  Truck!  TRUCK!” often floats our way from the backseat as we drive down the road.  And, should the boy see a blue truck?  The excited cries are enough to make anyone chuckle. 

 

So, when we started seeing the advertisements for the annual Monster Jam show in town, it seemed like a no-brainer that Zachary would be in little boy heaven with this family adventure.  During the past week, Zachary and I ventured out on a scavenger hunt of sorts, collecting some discount vouchers and passes to the Party in the Pits from various sponsors around town.  We spent the week chatting with Zachary about the fun weekend we had ahead of us, and telling him all about the “really BIG trucks” we were going to see.  He even got a special new shirt for the occasion…donning, of course, monster trucks. 

On Thursday, Zachary and I went on a little outing to visit the two trucks that were on display in town, thinking that it might be a little less overwhelming for Zachary when the big day finally arrived if he’d at least seen some of the trucks.  I think it ended up being a good thing that we did that.  When he first set eyes on El Toro Loco, he was really excited but wouldn’t actually go anywhere near the truck.  By the time we left there to head over to check out Sonuva Digger, he was excitedly running all around the truck.  And when he laid eyes on Sonuva Digger, well, the boy about lost his mind.  A really BIG truck that was also BLUE?!  I’m rather certain these are the things my little boy’s dreams are made of!  He happily checked out every nook and cranny of that truck and was especially amazed when the driver opened the door to let him get a peek inside.  With our Thursday afternoon behind us, I was even more excited to see what his reaction would be when this afternoon finally rolled around and we were able to walk among all of the trucks.

The expression on his face when we walked into the Livestock Event Center and he was able to gaze down on the arena floor at all of the trucks (plus TRACTORS!  And dirt!  Oh, my!) was priceless.  And the expressions just got better and better as the day progressed.  He happily wandered around the arena with us, going from truck to truck, taking pictures and getting his little souvenir checkered flag signed. 

When the show finally started, Zachary happily settled into his seat and cheered and clapped excitedly as the trucks first appeared.  And when they dared to leave the arena after their introductions, his response was to shout “No…no…NO… TRUCKS!”  Just when we thought the day couldn’t get any more magical than it had already proven to be, I sat and watched my little man’s expression as he watched the first of many jumps.  Watching him experience the wonder of these enormous trucks as they raced and jumped and spun in circles, James and I happily smiled at one another.  It was, truly, a perfect family day. 

He reports that his favorite truck is “BLUE!”  Despite the fact that four of the six trucks had blue on them, we have decided that his pet name for Sonuva Digger.

 

You can check out tons more pictures from our day in the March 2012 photo gallery.

I’m having a tough time wrapping my brain around the fact that it’s May already.  This year is definitely flying by very quickly!  Still, though, I’m excited that it is, in fact, May. 

The other day, while in the shower, I got to thinking about what a significant month May has come to be in our lives.  There are a lot of big things that go on in these 31 days.  Mostly, they are all connected to my and James’ story.  Humor me while I take you on a little Wheeler history lesson, will you?

May 15, 2004: James and I finally meet in person when I fly to Reno to spend a week visiting him.

May 6, 2005: James proposes!

May 27, 2006: James and I get married!

This month, we’ll be doing a few things to kind of celebrate and commemorate where we are in our life together. 

On May 15, we’re heading down to the Truckee River Walk to have family portraits done.  The River Walk has a lot of special meaning to James and I, as it is a place we went on one our first dates when I was visiting him, and it is the place that he selected to propose to me.  The date is actually a coincidence, as it was selected by our friends with whom we’re trading photography skills (I’m taking their family pictures, and she is taking ours).  I admit, though, that I was an extra bit of excited about it when I connected the significance of that day.  I love the idea that we will have photos to symbolize how far we’ve come in the past seven years. 

On May 27, we will be celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary!  I honestly cannot believe that it’s been five years already.  James has taken a couple days off of work, and we have made plans for some fun outings.  On our anniversary, we will be spending the day together as a family.  We have a special outing planned for the three of us.  I’m not divulging what we’re doing just yet, but I promise there will be plenty of pictures and sharing of stories when it’s all done.  If we are able to get a sitter, we may have a date night on Saturday.  Either way, I think that we’ll stretch the celebration kind of throughout Memorial Day weekend.

In addition to these fun days to be reflected upon and celebrated, we have other fun things going on this month.  Of course, this coming Sunday is Mothers Day.  I don’t know what, if anything, we’ll end up really doing.  But I do know that I’m looking forward to spending the day together, celebrating the amazing gift that I was given when I began to play the role of Momma.  We also have a couple outings to the baseball park planned, something that we are both looking forward to. 

Yes, it’s definitely going to be a good month with many things to look forward to.

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Also, just a heads up that I finally got pictures from Easter posted.  Check them out.

The past few days have been filled with a variety of fun Easter activities, including a meeting with the bunny himself, the coloring of a few eggs, and (of course!) a portrait session. 

Today is a semi-ordinary day at the Wheeler house, as James had to work. 

In just a few minutes, Zachary and I will be swinging by the Monson family celebration for a little bit via Skype.  I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to see everyone and for Zachary to “meet” some more of his family…these people who mean the world to his Momma.

The Easter Bunny called this morning to say that he’d be swinging by with a little something for Zachary this evening.  He thought it might be nice if James was able to be home for his visit, and James and I both appreciate that thought very much. 

There won’t be any Easter feast for us this year.  No ham.  No mashed potatoes with gravy.  No deviled eggs.  Well, to be fair, there were going to be deviled eggs, but for some reason that I don’t’ understand, our eggs are crumbling upon trying to peel them.  That leads to deviled eggs being basically impossible.  Tonight’s dinner will be a basic, quick and easy meal.  Sloppy joes.  Though, I am festiv-izing things a bit by making my first ever homemade potato salad and having a special treat for dessert. 

Whether you’re having a quiet, somewhat ordinary day like us, or you’re immersed in time being spent with family and contemplating undoing that top button of your jeans after one too many deviled eggs (go ahead, I won’t tell anyone), we hope that you are having a wonderful Easter!

James and I have recently been looking into geocaching and have decided that it sounds like a fun way for us to get out and explore our area.  Today, we made our first attempt at geocaching and set out to find a simple one hidden in one of the parks in our subdivision.  We found it pretty easily and feel even more excited about pursuing this new hobby now that we have one under our belts.

 
                               YAY…WE FOUND IT!                                                                    SIGNING THE LOG

                                            THE SIGNED LOG, ALONG WITH OUR POEM CONTRIBUTION:
                                                            ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE
                                                     THE WHEELER FAMILY SAYS HELLO TO YOU!

 

Of course, it would have been just cruel to take Zachary to a park and not let him play for a little while. 
 

 

Over the past few days, the Wheeler family has been on a mission.  Silver and Blue Outfitters has been hosting autograph events with some of the seniors from the 2010 football season, and we’ve set out to add to our collection of sports memorabilia. 

On Wednesday, we headed down for autographs from Colin Kaepernick (QB) and Virgil Green (tight-end).  We found out shortly after getting in line that Colin hadn’t been able to make it, as he was stranded back East due to bad weather.  They had rescheduled for him to be there on Saturday and had added in Vai Taua (running back) to Wednesday’s event.  We were able to get tickets for a reserved spot in line for Saturday’s event, which we thought was really great of Silver and Blue to be doing.  After a couple hours waiting in line, we got our chance to meet Vai and Virgil and to get our items signed.

On Thursday afternoon, we returned to Silver and Blue to meet and get autographs from John Bender (offensive lineman) and Dontay Moch (defensive end). 

Then, yesterday, it was back to Silver and Blue for our opportunity to see Vai again, as well as seeing Colin and get his autograph. 

We spent a lot of time waiting in line over the three days, but I must say it was worth every minute.  Not only were we able to get autographs from players that we really like, we got another glimpse at what great people are playing Wolf Pack sports.  Each of the players were very friendly and seemed genuinely happy to be there meeting their fans and giving autographs and photos.  We are proud to be "raising a wolf" and teaching our Zachary early on about the fun to be had while watching our team. And it’s great to feel like the players we are supporting are actually people worthy of having our little man look up to as he grows up.

PICTURES!!!

Day 1:

   

Day 2:

 

Day 3:
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take any pictures with the players this day, as the line was INSANE.

 

The items we had signed:

         

Last night, I shared on my Facebook page that today was going to be a big day for me.  Today, I divulged, I was going to try something that I’d never yet had the courage to do.  Today, I was going to put on my big girl panties and finally make an attempt at making my mom’s fried chicken and gravy. 

This is the thing about Mom’s fried chicken.  For as long as I can remember, it has been my absolute favorite of all the things my mom makes.  Growing up, it was always the meal that I requested for my special birthday dinner.  Always. 

Trying to describe it always seems pointless, as I just can’t find a way to do it justice.  For one thing, it’s not your standard fried chicken.  It is pan-fried, and it doesn’t really develop the crispy skin that one probably envisions when thinking of fried chicken.  And it’s not just about the chicken itself.  In fact, I’d say that the chicken itself is about 30% of the appeal of this dish.  The star, you see, is what comes after the chicken comes out of the pan.  The star is the bi-product made with the drippings from the chicken.  That’s right, folks, the star is the most amazingly delicious gravy ever. 

For years, I’ve been a victim of my fear of Fried Chicken Failure.  Where as with many dishes, I’m open to adapting and possibly coming up with my own version if things don’t turn out quite right, that is simply not an option for Mom’s fried chicken.  In order for it to be right, it needs to be a perfect replication of what I grew up eating.  If it isn’t, it suddenly loses all appeal to me.  So, I’ve been putting this off for years, worried that I would destroy the dish and wind up terribly disappointed. 

Six and a half years of living in a different state where I no longer have easy access to Mom’s cooking when I’m craving it left me with no choice.  Finally, the time had come for me to put my fears aside and give this a try.  And so I called Mom last night, verifying that I had all of the right ingredients, and making sure that she would be available to me today should I find myself needing her help.  With her reassurances obtained, I proudly proclaimed to James: Tomorrow, I’m finally going to do it!  I’m GOING to make my mom’s fried chicken.  And it’s GOING to be good. 

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And so I take you now into my kitchen for a first-hand look at how it all went down…

After a brief chat with Mom, I stepped into the kitchen, feeling rather confident.  First, I gathered all of the ingredients: bone-in, skin-on split chicken breasts; flour; vegetable oil; butter (unsalted); season salt; salt; pepper; and chicken bullion granules.  I also collected the electric skillet, a dish for mixing the chicken coating, and a knife and fork. 

In the dish, I combined flour with a little bit each of season salt, salt, pepper, and chicken bullion.  Meanwhile, the electric skillet, set to 300, was at work warming the oil (Mom guessed about 1/4 cup…I think I used closer to 1/8 cup) and melting the butter (half stick).  I coated both sides of each piece of chicken. 

And into the skillet they went, skin side down.  Almost immediately, my kitchen was filled with the unmistakable aroma of Mom’s friend chicken.  This was a definite ego-booster, and I felt myself start to relax a bit. 

Until it occurred to me, I had absolutely NO IDEA how long to cook the chicken on each side in between flipping it.  No problem, I told myself.  That’s exactly why I’d made sure that Mom was going to be reachable.  And so, I picked up the phone and called to ask her my little question.  Hmmm…busy.  I tried again…and then again.  Busy.  I took a break from calling to lift Zachary up so he could get a glimpse at what was going on in the pan.  Then I tried again.  BUSY!!! 

   

I panicked a little bit over the idea that I was going to have to figure this out on my own.  I watched the chicken carefully, trying to find the balance between turning it at the right time and yet not bothering at it too much.  After about 20 minutes, I decided that the coloring looked pretty fantastic, so I flipped those babies over.

I cooked the chicken on the other side for another 20 minutes, then flipped them again and turned the heat on the skillet down to 200.  The chicken cooked for about another hour and a half, with me turning it a couple times along the way.  Then, I took the breasts out of the skillet, put them onto a baking sheet, and put them into a low heat (200) oven to stay warm.  They looked beautiful.  They looked just like Mom’s.  And I was so proud of myself!

Finally, it was time to start the really nerve-wracking part…the gravy.  I really don’t know why I was so worried about the gravy, as I mastered milk gravy (via biscuits and sausage gravy) several years ago.  Nonetheless, I was nervous that the gorgeous chicken keeping warm in the oven was going to be for nothing.

 

       THE DRIPPINGS LOOKED PROMISING                  MORE FLOUR                      UMMM….THAT’S A LOT OF RUE!
 

As you can see, I did such an awesome job getting a good amount of drippings that I wound up with the beginnings of a crazy amount of gravy.  I was a little concerned about trying to get the thickness just right.  But I just moved on, adding more and more (and more) milk as needed.

 

                 STIR, STIR, STIR                                 A LITTLE MORE BULLION               MAYBE THIS PAN ISN’T BIG ENOUGH   

After cleaning up the mess, I transferred the gravy into a saucepan on the stove.  Then, it was back to trying to get it just right.

                          THAT’S AWFULLY THICK                                BUT HOW DOES IT TASTE                          YUMMY!
   

I was so relieved when I tasted the gravy.  The flavor was perfect!  It still needed some thinning, but that was easy enough to fix. 

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Meanwhile, in a living room not so far away…

I admit, I got a little wrapped up in perfecting my gravy and didn’t notice immediately when Zachary wandered out of the kitchen.  I suddenly realized that there was far too little noise being made by my little chatterbox.  I put my whisk down and headed out to the living room to see what was going on.  Apparently, Momma being busy with dinner is the perfect opportunity for Zachary to play with the forbidden remotes.

  

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Zachary and I headed back into the kitchen (this time, with the gate closed).  I was working on the last pieces of our meal with James walked in the door from work.  Finally…time to eat!

                                 FEELING VICTORIOUS                                                            FIRST BITE…SO GOOD!
 

                         ZACHARY GIVES IT A TRY                                                     HE SEEMS TO BE A FAN, TOO

So there you have it…I did it!  I dare say that my chicken and gravy was as good as Mom’s has always been…maybe even just a smidge better.

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And now, I leave you with a very important lesson:

   THIS IS THE RIGHT WAY TO EAT MOM’S FRIED CHICKEN                                       THIS IS NOT!

Mom’s fried chicken is served with mashed potatoes and corn.  And the corn is to be layered on top of the mashed potatoes, under the gravy.  Despite what James will try to tell you, 1) it does make a difference and B) it’s not at all weird.  Unlike last night’s dinner, there are no acceptable alternatives to these sides.  To eat it any other way would no longer be eating Mom’s fried chicken.  In which case, you just wasted a few hours of your day.

My mom is an amazing cook.  Amongst her many specialties, she makes fantastic meatballs.  For years, they were the very best meatballs I’d ever had.  Now, they rank a very close second.  Right behind my own.  

I’m not bashful in tooting my own horn about the deliciousness of my meatballs.  I grew up making them along side the best possible teacher.  I get frequent compliments on them.  In fact, James, who once told me that he hated meatballs, has proclaimed mine to be “money.”  I’ve had several people ask me in the past for a recipe for my meatballs.  To date, I’ve not been able to give them one.  Not because I’m one of those pretentious jerks who doesn’t want to share the recipe, but because I don’t have one.  You see, I’ve been helping my mom make her meatballs for as long as I can remember.  I just go with what mom’s always done (well, except that I’ve made a few small changes over the years to make them a little more “mine”).  And now, I’m continuing the tradition in passing the recipe on to my own child from an early age.

I made the meatballs for dinner tonight and decided to do a little photo essay (complete with Zachary cuteness) of how they come to be their oh-so-yumminess.

Begin by gathering all of your ingredients: ground beef (85-15 works best – we use 2lbs for dinner plus leftovers for a couple lunches), 1 small onion diced, mustard (roughly a couple tbsp), ketchup (a couple tbsp of this as well), eggs (one per lb of meat), bread crumbs (about 1/2 cup), salt, pepper, season salt, garlic salt, milk (approximately 1/4 cup for meat mixture and half soup can for gravy), 2 cans cream of celery soup, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, and Kitchen Bouquet (about 1 tbsp). 

 

Mix onion, eggs, mustard, ketchup, and bread crumbs in a medium bowl.

  

Mix in ground beef, add milk, and mix again.  Note: this step is best done by hand.

   

Form meat mixture into balls, using about 1/10lb for each.  Put meatballs into electric skillet and turn the skillet onto low.  Cover the electric skillet and brown meatballs on low for about 30 minutes, turning them occasionally.  Note: I’ve found that a large cooking spoon works best for turning without the meatballs falling apart. 

While the meatballs brown, mix the soups, half can of milk, and Kitchen Bouquet for the gravy.

     

Pour the gravy mixture over the meatballs.  Continue to cook on low for a couple of hours.  Turn meatballs occasionally, being sure to be gentle with them so that they don’t fall apart.  As they cook, they will firm up and become less “fragile.” 

This meal is best completed with mashed potatoes and green beans.  I sometimes serve boiled potatoes as an alternate to mashed, as James isn’t a huge fan of mashed potatoes.  I suppose you could serve the meatballs with other sides.  But then you wouldn’t be doing it Mom’s way, and that would just be wrong.

 

On Saturday, the Wheeler family took a little excursion over to visit our friends, Louie and Becka, and their sweet little boy, Alex.  This was our first opportunity to meet Alex, and it was so wonderful to finally get that chance.  He is a sweet, cuddly little boy, and I confess that he brought on a slight bout of baby fever for me. 

        

        

Alex will hopefully be able to get rid of his monitor and oxygen very soon.  I know this will make life for him, Mommy and Daddy, and his big sister easier.  And, I selfishly look forward to having more opportunity to hold him. 

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Zachary was far more interested in the dog, Moose, than he was in hanging out with Alex.