Just Me!!

She may not be the first to show up on the Network channel, but she was one of the first to show up on my side bar. PIONEER Woman , aka Ree Drummond, has had my attention for nearly six years. I first fell in love with her website, then my emotions were captured by her home, her photography, her simple way of life, her dog Charlie, and definitely her passion for cooking. She is so country. I was country when I fell in love with her, well I felt like it since I was situated in a town that barely existed on a map, for nearly 7 years. I could relate to her distance from a functioning town, her feeling of loneliness (which is not necessarily negative) out on the ranch, and her absolute love of gardening/cooking/ and needing to connect with those around her via way of her computer. I have created many of her recipes such as the Sleeping in Omelet te, Restaurant Potatoes , and Cowboy Breakfast Burritos . Everything I have created, with her step by step instructions, has been magical and de...

Valerie turned 16 over the weekend. We let her have a friend stay overnight, spent the day Sunday constructing her cake, celebrated with family at Red Robin, and then let her stay home on Monday to spend the day with just Mark and I. We are so proud of the person she has become, and who she plans to be. In recent days she has had to make some tough choices about school, careers, classes, and friends. Instead of working it through with us she came to some very sound decisions and presented us with the final thought after she had contemplated it for nearly a week. I am part proud, part sad. Proud that she has the mindset to work through all these details alone and with such intelligence, and sad because she is growing up and needing her "mommy" less and less. I love her and am excited for her future. She is the best and brightest little star. Can't wait till she lights up the whole world! I know this year is going to be life changing for her. I see a Driver's License i...

It took me forever to upload this to Blogger. Long story short, I will never use Mark's IPad to do these again. I love doing these video's every year because it shows where the kids are at in their development, how they view themselves, and captures life according to their age. Enjoy watching little Miss Princess W-O-O the camera while answering some tough questions about her life. Introducing her first ever birthday questionnaire.

I forgot to post Ethan's birthday questions! Love his answers....

And I love them A-L-L!

It's over. So. Fast. We had a packed month with Mark working Monday/Wednesday/Saturday. His next quarter will be more flexible with just online and one Saturday course, plus his other online teaching courses. February was packed with Birthday celebrations, hanging out with family, mid winter break, and sleepovers. I'm glad it's over because that means we are getting closer to Spring, planting, and warm weather. Although today looks great!!! Ethan turned 14! They grow up too fast. He told me the other day he was possibly changing his mind on his career choice. He said that maybe he would like to teach. I can see him doing that, he would be good at it too. For his birthday he got tickets to the Sounders game yesterday, tickets to play football golf, $$ for Tiffany Skating rink, and three shirts (two were Sounders shits). He loved the surprise party we had for him at Grandma Wegley's.