Ballard Bunch

so here are the rules for "eight things": . mention the person that tagged you . complete the list of eight things . tag eight of your wonderful blogger friends . go tell them you tagged them Eight things I look forward to: 1. friday 2. Jason getting home in the evenings 3. family errands/activities 4. summer 5. football Season starting 6. holiday season 7. bedtime 8. date nights Eight things I did yesterday: 1. went to the "mercado" grocery store to get cookies for Cinco de Mayo celebration at school 2. had lunch with an old friend 3. worked 4. unpacked 5. cooked dinner 6. took a shower 7. watched Tivo'd Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice 8. caught up on my Google Reader Eight things i wish i could do: 1. pray more...and not get distracted while doing it 2. run long distances and enjoy it 3. clean my house better 4. french braid Lucy's hair 5. start my own business 6. be more patient with my kids 7. make a good pie crust- everytime! 8. buy a...

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...

I paid $1.68/gallon today for gas. Thanks to my favorite grocery store , I get an extra 10 cents off from their already low price. I filled up my SUV for $30!!! I hope your area is enjoying lower gas prices, too. Happy Weekend!

I was tagged by Laura, here goes: 1. I teach Spanish to preschoolers. I minored in Spanish at TCU, but had never taken it until I went there. I took German in high school. 2. I used to eat raw oysters as a kid. My granny and I would eat raw oysters on Saltine crackers- now I think they are gross! They smell bad... 3. I love NASCAR- we watch the race every week. It makes my dad crazy, but Jason and I got into it last summer and I love it. My kids even know our favorite racers (go #99!!!) 4. I have been growing my hair out for the past 2 1/2 years...and I am going to chop it all off tomorrow!!!! I had fun with the long hair, but I'm done with it and ready for a "style" again. 5. I love to stay up late. I will stay up after Jason and the kids go to bed, and watch some of "my" shows. It is great unwinding time, and I enjoy it so much having quiet for a little bit. The shows only I watch are- Chuck, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, Numb3rs and Psych. (Man, this ...

Blog #1: A Year of Crockpotting A woman is using her crockpot everyday for 2008. Most of the time she makes dinner , sometimes she makes dessert and sometimes she makes crayons . But, she uses it everyday... And because of her blog, she was invited on The Rachael Ray Show!! This is one good recipe of hers I have tried: Cream Cheese Chicken - It is yummy, creamy and EASY. Three good qualities if you ask me. (I didn't have a package of Italian dressing mix, so I just put in some garlic and herb seasoning. Use whatever you have...) Blog #2: Want Not This is a good blog to keep handy. She alerts you to sales and clearances from all kinds of websites and also gives you codes for extra percentages off or free shipping that she finds somehow. It rocks. Do you have a favorite blog?

7 Random things about me... 1. When I eat chips, I eat the broken, smaller ones first and then the larger ones, and then the whole ones. 2. I LOVE trailers. We record a trailers show every week on HDNet and I HAVE to watch the end of every TV show, where it shows, "Coming up next week on..." 3. If I could have ANYTHING in the world it would be a housekeeper. It is really hard to get motivated to clean house. 4. My feet grew after my two pregnancies- I am now a size 10. UGH! 5. I love sports and listen to sports talk radio whenever I am in the car. 6. I eat ketchup on my hot dogs. I used to be a mustard ONLY girl. 7. I love kids foods. Fruit snacks, goldfish, grilled cheese, chicken nuggets, and McDonald's! I am supposed to tag people to do this on their blog, and put their name as a link. I tag... Caitlin Jojo Jennifer R. Ashley C. Crissy

We have found a new favorite snack in the Ballard household. POPCORN! Walker and Lucy LOVE popcorn, and I love the new mini bag size. It is perfect for them to share. Walker loves to stand on the bar because he can see across the kitchen to the microwave and watch the popcorn pop. "I'm so excited!", he says. BIRDS?? This past weekend, my Dad and Grace helped us clean out our garage. We have a HUGE garage, which can be a blessing and a curse. It's so big, you can put everything in it- and then you DO, and it's full! We have never been able to pull a car into our garage. Anyway, we got it good and cleaned out, and my car will soon have its home inside. Grace said that she saw some birds in the garage later that afternoon, and I thought, "that's weird." Then, today I saw this: In the right corner. It's a nest, IN MY GARAGE! Crazy... What am I going to do about that?? Bird nests are not uncommon to us. We had one on our back porch last year, and we l...

A New Sonic - Not that Sonic is my favorite and my best or anything. I mean, they are fine and good, and have lots of different choices for whatever mood you're in. BUT, we live kind of "out" and there is not alot of stuff that is real close. Well, they are building a Sonic right on 1187, about 4 minutes from our house! So, I was glad we were getting something close, and then I drove by one day, and saw that there will be a HUGE playground at the Sonic. YES!!! I have never seen a playground at a Sonic before, but I am seeing alot of trips there this spring and summer for the Ballards- for a Dr. Pepper blended float, or maybe an Ocean Water?!?! Holiday tomorrow -Tomorrow is President's Day, and I am off school. The kids, however, still have ARK School. I have to admit, my first reaction was- YES!!! So, tomorrow I will get the whole 9-2 to do WHATEVER I WANT!!! Actually, Jojo is going to be with me and we are having a fun sister day [feeling left out, C? :( ] together, ...

Random Favorites: Favorite cheese: Mild Cheddar for everyday cheese, brie for other Favorite church hymn: Victory in Jesus Favorite Friends episode: The One Where No One's Ready Favorite stocking stuffer: gift cards Favorite snack: Fruit snacks Favorite clothing item: Jeans Favorite holiday drink: Peppermint Hot Chocolate from Starbucks Favorite thing about Jason: don't have a favorite, but he makes GREAT scrambled eggs!

So, I've done it! I've got a blog. I have been hounded by several friends to get this started (since I am the only one who still lives in the same city that we went to school in!). So we will see how it goes. I need to figure out how to add pictures now... Wish me luck and keep checking back! Figured out the picture thing!! Still need to know how to add the birthday thing from lilypie.com