Ballard Bunch

Walker's birthday celebration started a week before his birthday- he is such a Ballard boy, he knows how to drag out a birthday!!! We had birthday dinner with the Ballards, honoring Walker and Aunt D, both August birthdays. Aunt D is carrying my neice...and nephew!!! Twins :) My kiddos are so excited to have "first cousins". The Birthday Buddies Dinosaur fact cards. Walker always wants us to "play" cards with him- he really loves how each card includes a picture of a human, and that dinosaur next to the human to show the size. GI Joe :) Yummy Nana cake- nobody bakes cakes from scratch like Nana, seriously. Paula Deen's got nothing on her. During his birthday week, Caitlin, Walker and I took a little trip to Dallas for some cupcakes. Don't laugh- YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. Sprinkles Cupcakes are the best cupcakes I have ever had, and that trip will not be the only time I drive to Dallas just for Sprinkles. We got a little assortment, so we could take some h...

At the end of July we celebrated Sydney Jo's (affectionately called Jojo) birthday. But, we had another exciting event going on that day- losing our first teeth!!! First, we met Jojo at Mama's Pizza for her birthday dinner. YUM!! She got some great stuff for college- all purple, of course! Lucy and Caitlin playing with their drinks. Lucy never wants to be very far away from Aunt Caitlin :) We came back to the house for dessert. Caitlin made red velvet cake, per Jojo's request. YUM, again!!! We played Catch Phrase, Rock Band and Disney Trivia- fun game night!!! Love this pic :) Walker had a loose tooth (both bottom middle teeth) around July 11. We kept wiggling them every day, and just happened to have a dentist appointment about a week after that. He did GREAT at the dentist appointment, we really like this new dentist. Those two teeth were loose, but you could also see the permanent coming in behind it. The dentist said that was normal, and the new teeth would come fo...

May and June are filled with celebrations, and it is so fun!! May is Mother's Day and several family birthdays, including my stepmom and I. June is Father's Day as well as Jason and my dad's birthday. We always do a girls' birthday dinner in May, and a boy's birthday dinner in June. First up is girls' birthday dinner, Buca di Beppo. A family style Italian restaurant that is just AMAZING. Check out our dessert sampler :) Daddy's birthday weekend We toured the Cowboys new stadium- that is an impressive place We had dinner at home, then went out for dessert! BJ's pazookies- YUM They are cookies baked in a small skillet, and they come out all soft and chewy. Then, they top it with ice cream and hot fudge or caramel- Oh YEAH!!! You can see our empty plate of 3 mini pazookies. Among others, we had a peanut butter cookie with chocolate ice cream on top that was TO DIE FOR. So cute, but SO crazy Father's Day Toy Story 3!!! Father's Day meal: Twisted Root...

May has always been a busy month for my family with lots of birthdays. Then, you add Mother's Day and if someone happens to be graduating that year, well then it just gets crazy!! This year, my littlest sister is graduating from high school and I am turning 30, so we have 2 milestones besides the regular business. I love this month because we get to see so much family, but also for a very selfish reason- we go out to eat SO much to celebrate everybody that I don't have to cook very much at all in May!!!! Here's who we celebrate, in order (of course!): Grandfather Mother's Day :) GG Grandmother Granny ME! Poppa (Lucy picked this pic- she loves it!) Sydney Jo is GRADUATING high school!! I can't believe it. She is so excited to be a Horned Frog in the fall.

Part 2: Summer!! Our theme for the summer was swimming, movies, and baseball. We went to a weekly movie in Southlake and swam every chance we got. Of course, summer means our annual Kerbel visit to College Station. We also had our first "just us" family vacation to Great Wolf Lodge JUNE Swimming lessons. My kids have never had a fear of the water, but I still didn't know what to expect for swimming lessons. I was blown away!! They both took to it right away and had a blast- it was really cool to see your kids get such confidence and master something like that. This is Lucy's first time jumping off the diving board without any floaties. This was part of their "test" at the end of the lesson. They swam across the deep end of the pool by themselves. She said Walker and Lucy had completed Level 2 after the two week course. They LOVED the diving board- and I love my camera getting cool shots like that :) JULY 4th of July!! Poppa has a serious affection for firewo...