The Pioneer Woman...

Last night I had the opportunity to go to a book signing with Ree Drummond, also known as The Pioneer Woman.

I think I have mentioned before how much I enjoy her blog and cooking show. I have been following her blog for a number of years, then was excited when Food Network created a show for her to share even more of her recipes, her family and her life on a ranch. I know it may sound weird, but it makes me happy just to watch her show. It's kind of like comfort food, which she makes a lot of, it makes you feel good. I don't cook the PW way every week, but I sure enjoy watching.

Her new book "A Year of Holidays" came out yesterday, and Paramus, New Jersey was the first stop on her book signing tour. With my book purchased and ticket in hand I went to have her sign my book along with my girlfriend Michele and her mom Ruth Ann who are also Ree Drummond fans.

We had such a great time waiting for her to arrive and talking with the other ladies around us about her recipes. It definitely put me in the mood to make some of her food, plus the fact that I hadn't eaten dinner yet. 

Once she arrived, she gave a 30 minute talk on how she got started blogging and how her cookbooks came about. She has a very funny sense of humor, even sang a short song at the end about her dog Charlie. What you get on her blog and TV show is exactly what we saw in person.

She inspired me during her talk regarding photography and to keep working on it. She started off years ago with a point and shoot camera and then got a Nikon DSLR. No one taught her how to take pictures, she just kept taking picture after picture and learned on her own. She has taken all the pictures in her cookbooks, which I think are so beautiful. She said her pictures have gotten better over the years and is proud of them. She of course also has a beautiful setting to take all of her pictures not only of her food, but of the ranch they live on. I am determined to keep working on my picture taking abilities.

After the talk she started signing books. We had to wait about 25 minutes, but we didn't mind. Her table to sign was no more than 6 feet from where we were sitting, so we got to watch her interact with everyone. She was very kind and took the time to talk with everyone she met and answer any questions they had.

Our turn. Unfortunately our pictures with her didn't turn out that great. We were using our phones. Why didn't I bring my camera? She did comment that she liked my boots. Well, thank you! I took that as a huge compliment from a a lady who has mentioned she owns quite a few pairs of boots living on a ranch.

Along with the new holiday book I had her sign her first cookbook, which I already had, "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From An Accidental Country Girl".

I love that I had the opportunity to go and see her in person, so much fun.

A Little Surgery...

Brayden has had a small mole under his left eye for about 4 years now. He had a little red dot appear one day and it grew a little bit over the last couple of years. We have had it checked at the dermatologist several times and each time the doctor felt that it wasn't something to be concerned about and that it might possibly even go away on its own. However, last summer it bled several times, so we were a little concerned. After seeing our dermatologist this summer we all felt that it was the best decision to have it removed. Because of the location of it our doctor felt that we should see a plastic surgeon to have it removed.

After appointments with the plastic surgeon and setting up the surgery we finally arrived at October 4th for Brayden's little surgery.

We had talked with Brayden about the doctor removing it that day and that he would be asleep for the whole thing so he wouldn't even feel it and he was fine with it. We had to arrive at the hospital at 6:00 a.m. for his 7:30 a.m. surgery. He did great all morning and didn't show any signs of being nervous until he asked me a couple of times "Can we come back tomorrow to do this?" I could see a little nervousness in his eyes, but the nurse gave him some medicine to help him relax and he had his iPad to keep his mind occupied.

At 7:30 a.m. they wheeled him back to the O.R. and to sleep he went. By 8:00 a.m. they came and got us out of the waiting room. We waited in the recovery room with him for the next hour until he woke up on his own. They then moved us to a second recovery room where he could sit up, get oriented and have ICE CREAM!

He had two cups of ice cream.

We finally left the hospital and headed home at 10:00 a.m. He was still a bit wobbly on his feet, but Daddy was there to help carry him.

Brayden was out of school for the day and we got settled in at home. Grandma had gotten him a Spider-Man Operation game, which was perfect for this day at home. Aunt Susie, Sammy and Stephen also brought over a goody bag, which included a Spider-Man activity book.

We visited the plastic surgeon a week after the surgery to see how things were looking and to remove the bandage. We got a great report. There were no stitches on top, all under the skin, which is amazing. The biopsy report came back that everything was fine and it was just a typical mole.

We are now 3 weeks out from the surgery and the scar continues to look better and better each day. Tomorrow we start using a scar cream to help break up the scar tissue. We will visit the surgeon again in November to see how things are progressing.

We are glad that this is behind us all and now we can focus on it healing.

Brayden Turns 6...

Happy Birthday to our Brayden Bear!

At 12:05 p.m., 6 years ago on October 9, 2007, our baby boy was born. What a miracle!

 

20 Questions for Brayden @ 6

1. What is your favorite color? Blue

2. What is your favorite toy? Lego

3. What is your favorite fruit? Banana

4. What is your favorite TV show? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

5. What is your favorite movie? The Amazing Spider-Man

6. What is your favorite thing to wear? Spider-Man shirt

7. What is your favorite animal? Giraffe

8. What is your favorite song? Spider-Man Theme Song (old one)

9. What is your favorite book? Spider-Man versus Electro 

(I am seeing a theme here.)

10. Who is your best friends? Johnny, Levi, Sammy and Sophie 

11. What is your favorite snack? Fruit Snack

12. What is your favorite drink? Capri Sun Juice

13. What is your favorite breakfast? Cereal

14. What is your favorite lunch? Cheese sandwich

15. What is your favorite dinner? Mini Hot dogs and Pizza

16. What is your favorite game? Nintendo DS Mario Kart

17. What is your favorite thing to play outside? Frisbee

18. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

19. What do you sleep with at night? Spider-Man, Fastball and Snoopy

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Construction Worker

On Brayden's actual birthday he had school and took pudding cups to celebrate with his classmates. For dinner he chose to go to McDonald's. He got to open a gift from Daddy & Mommy (Nintendo DS game) and from PaPa, MeMe, Uncle Mitch, Aunt Michelle, Grace and Claire.

Spider-Man Lego and iTunes gift from Prather family.

We celebrated Brayden's birthday with 4 of his friends and their families for a Lego birthday party...

Buddies - Sammy, Brayden, Levi, Jacob and Nathan

I made the Lego cake with marshmallow fondant Lego bricks.

Lots of activity going on.

 Once all the guests arrived we went outside for a relay race and to play.

I even got a couple of Dad's in on the relay.

Samantha and Evie

We ate pizza, a favorite of Brayden's, for lunch and then he was ready to open gifts.

Spider-Man tent and sleeping bag from Uncle Todd, Sam and Evie

One of Brayden's best buddies, Uncle Todd.

Adventure Bible from Daddy & Mommy

Mine Craft Lego set from FaFa & Grandma

Mickey Pook-A-Loz from Uncle John, Aunt Susie, Sammy & Stephen

Sarah, got him Angry Bird telepods.

After gifts it was "Pinata Time". Brayden had told me a couple of weeks before his birthday that he wanted a pinata at his party. I couldn't find a Lego pinata, so a pin from Pinterest helped me to make one from scratch. Pinterest helped with a lot of the ideas for the party. Thank you Pinterest friends.

Of course we finished with singing Happy Birthday to our boy.

Last but not least in our family, letting the balloons go from the party.

Another birthday celebrated for our Brayden Bear.