Ballard Bunch

We went to the Rodeo last night. Yes, last night- when ice covered the roads and places were closed. We were driving around in all that. Luckily, my husband was driving and we made it safely. We had special box seats given to us for the rodeo and we weren't going to miss it. The kids were excited, and they had no idea what we were going to see. The box was right on the front. We could not get any closer. We were hit my mud!!! And the kids to high-five the cowboys and people that would ride by. One of the kids wrestled his calf down right in front of us. The kids were freaking out!! My precious cowgirl and cowboy. I just love their excitement. It is so contagious. I was excited to go, but seeing their faces and how much they were enjoying it, really made it fun!! You gotta have cotton candy! They were so tired. We stayed out late, and still left before it was even over!! School's closed today!!! YEAH!! It's so fun to have a "snow" day in the middle of the week. Ye...

Rodeo Day at school Fun at the Fort Worth Stock Show The Stock Show was great. We saw horses, cows, llamas, a turkey, a giant rabbit- all kinds of stuff!! They really loved it- my kiddos LOVE animals, and dressing up in their boots and "real" cowboy jeans (Wranglers). Lucy started gymnastics on Friday and LOVES it!! She was so excited to go, and she did really good. She loves the bar, of course, because she loves to swing. I'm glad she is finally getting to do something herself after having to watch her bubba do soccer camp this summer and soccer last fall. Outside of gymnastics, before class It got really cold today, really cold. We had fried turkey (the other 19 cents/lb turkey I bought Thanksgiving week!), green bean casserole and twice baked potatoes for dinner. (Sound yummy?? The recipes will soon be at the cooking blog, icook ) And a fire- I just love having fires in our fireplace- I'm so glad we finally got it going this fall/winter. Still loving the Twilight S...

Well, it's official. I could stay away no longer. When I first started hearing about all this Twilight stuff, I thought, "Well, if that had come out when I was in high school, I would have been all over it." Lately, I've been feeling "too old" for stuff. So I stayed away. My youngest sister (16) bought all the books, my mom read the books, I still stayed away. Now, I have always been a major bookworm. It used to drive my dad crazy. I mean, sure, he was glad I was reading, but I would get so involved in what I was reading. I would bring whatever book I was reading (usually Baby Sitters Club) with me wherever we were going- and read constantly. My mom totally got it- because she was the same way. That is another reason I stayed away. I get so caught up in books and characters- I literally had to stop reading a series when I was in middle school because I was getting upset at the bad things that were happening to the characters. Now you know my secret. I get ob...

January is certainly a slower month than we are used to. Fall is filled with birthdays, holidays and activities. January has given us a chance to breathe- and get the house organized!! I am happy to report that I have completely gutted and reorganized 2 closets and the laundry room. It feels good!!! In other news, Lucy is officially TIRED of winter clothes.Her clothes changing is well documented, but now as soon as we come home, she changes into summer clothes. This was taken tonight, not this summer. She said, "Mama, I just love to wear tank tops with my skirts." Also, Walker loves batter. I know, who doesn't?? But, you really have to watch him around a bowl of it. He will so stick his finger in there and get a huge glob of it. Pretend is the name of the game at the Ballards. The past two days it has been Tony Romo and the Cowboys Cheerleader (Lucy: "Mama, I don't HAVE a Cowboys Cheerleader costume. It's so sad.") Yes, she is on top of the coffee table...

Jason was off Saturday, and I was really looking forward to a family weekend. He usually works Saturdays, but when he is off and we get 2 days in a row all together, we are so happy!! Friday night he called on his way home from work, and told the kids to get dressed in their cowboy boots, we were going somewhere. The kids got so excited, and ran to their rooms. Lucy got some new cowgirl boots for Christmas (2 pairs, actually), and has been wearing them alot!! They got all dressed up in their cowboy stuff and we waited for Daddy to get home. He took us to Trail Dust Steakhouse in Arlington, and he invited my sisters, too. It was so fun!! I hadn't been there since my 16th birthday party, and the kids had a blast; sliding down the slide, dancing on the dance floor and eating yummy steak. It was such a fun night!!! If you wear a tie, they cut it off and put it on their wall!! He wore an old tie on purpose The weekend just kept getting better!! Yesterday, Jason and I had a great date ni...

Pirate's Booty- Fun to say and yummy to eat Blockbuster Online It's so fun to get movies in the mail! New Robes Imaginext Playsets- Walker got 3 for Christmas Walker and Lucy love playing with them Are you on Facebook? I am- I know, like, 5 years too late My iPod Touch "Frozen yogurt" We freeze our Go-Gurts to make frozen yogurt. Alot less messy than yogurt- my kids can't get enough of them!

Christmas was most excellent. As I've said, the kids were really into everything this year. Not just the Santa stuff, although of course they were excited about getting presents. But, they really enjoy seeing our family and being with people (they are SO outgoing, they are definitely happiest when we are with other people or out somewhere), and we did so many activities and saw all our family so much, they just loved it. These are pictures of some great Christmas moments. In their Christmas jim jammers, on Christmas Eve Walker loved his fireman costume, and was cracking my cousins up by talking on the "walkie-talkie" that is came with. "Uh, Roger, roger" You can see the look on her face- pure joy!! THE BATMAN CAVE!! This is what he asked Santa for- he was thrilled! His room looks like an Imaginext Outlet Store now. He wore this all Christmas Eve, and wore the helmet with his jim jammers Christmas morning. Go Frogs!!! (And they won their bowl game!! Way to go, Fr...