The Ballard Bunch

As you already know by a previous post, I am witout camera these days (fingers crossed that I get one for my birthday on Saturday! *hint, hint*), but I have been able to use Shanna's and finally have access to download them onto my computer. Apologies in advance for the loooooooooooooooooooooooooong post.

Ball Family Reunion




Braeden's Kindergarten Graduation




Lagoon

...is breaking the sleep bank. I'm tired. Anyone else reading right now?

This one is for Megan and Claudia.

Should I have a bumper sticker printed? *gag*

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

I have a few people to add, but can't get into the section to make changes right now. But, for those of you that may think I'm neglecting you, fear not - you will be added soon! :)

love,
Evonne

I was forwarded one of these “You're an eighties child if ...” lists the other day and it amazed me how many I really did relate to.

Kendra, I miss our Queens of Jr. High club – did you save any of those emails? I can’t find mine anywhere – they were SO funny!

Anyway, here’s the list…welcome to my childhood, people.

You're an eighties child if ...

You had a crush on one of the New Kids on the Block members.
(I was a Jordan lover, all the way.)

You wanted to be on StarSearch.
(And remember when they had an acting category – it was so weird!)

You ever uttered the word "Radical!"
(every day)

You wore jelly shoes and jelly bracelets.
(Blisters and all)

You thought "Ghostbusters" was by far the coolest movie.
(Even better was the music video for the song)

You remember watching shows like "Punky Brewster" , "Webster", "You Can't Do That On Television" , "Wild&Crazy Kids" and "Double Dare"
(I wanted to go on Family Double Dare so bad, but with divorced parents my hopes were shattered. The giant nose you pick to find the flag? Priceless.)

You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off. Or even when he had those freaky eyes in "Thriller" at the end of the video.
(I even remember when “Thriller” debuted on MTV – it was a totally hyped event that we waited and waited for. Steve and I even practiced moves)

You wore a banana clip in your hair or one of those slap on wrist bands at some point during your youth.
(Karen has a picture of us at a Jr. High dance with Justin Schneir, Todd Singleton and Aaron Tapking and I would almost bet I’m wearing one it that. I sported all the latest hair styles/accessories)

You rolled up the bottoms of your splatter painted jeans.
(It’s called pegged and, yes, I did it)

You wore loafers with everything, and you put the laces in those little rolls.
(No loafers, but keds were the bomb.com)

You had slouch socks, and puff painted your own shirt at least once.
(At one point in my life, I wore a few pair of socks to coordinate with my outfit and would roll each one over the other – think “Rainbow Bright”.)

You owned a doll with 'Xavier Roberts' signed on it's butt.

(To this day, if I were ever to get a tattoo, it would be the same signature on my own bum)

You knew what Willis was "talkin' 'bout." (Bonus – what was Arnold’s fish’s name? If you get this right, I’ll put you in a drawing and send you a bottle of puffy paint – your choice of color. Seriously.)

You know the profound meaning of "Wax on, Wax off."
(Ahhhhhhhh, Daniel-San. Serious crush on Ralph Machio)

You can name half of the members of the elite "Brat Pack."
(I can name them all)

You can remember watching Full House and Saved by the Bell for endless hours!
(I’ve even been known to play online trivia for SBTB)

You have seen at least 10 episodes of Fraggle Rock.
(My brother bought the girls a couple of DVD’s earlier this year)

You yearned to be a member of The Babysitters Club, and tried to start a club of your own.
(“Babysitters Club, this is Evonne)

You sat on your back porch, playing with your "My Little Pony" , "Rainbow Brite" , and "Strawberry Shortcake" dolls
(And I love that they’re back for my girls to play with!)

You know that another name for a keyboard is a "Synthesizer."
(And that you can select prerecorded “beats”. Samba, anyone?)

You hold a special place in your heart for "Back to the Future."
(“I'm your density. I mean... your destiny.”)

You thought Molly Ringwald was REALLY cool.
(Even in that hideous pink dress from “Pretty in Pink”. I wanted one)

You know what "sike" and "not!" mean.
(Even worse if you still use them on occasion)

You fell victim to 80's fashion : big hair, crimped, combed over to the side, big hoop earrings, and possibly the worst:you wore spandex pants.
(I’ve got the pictures to prove it)

You wanted to be a Goonie, or Elliot from E.T.
(I didn’t want to be a goonie, but the older brother was so hot. Do you know who that is? Josh Brolin. Just a little trivia for you)

You owned an extensive collection of Cabbage Patch Kids and trolls.
(Did any of you have “Garbage Pail Kid” trading cards?)

You knew "The Artist" when he was humbly called "Prince."
(Purple rain, purple rain.)

You ever wore flourescent -neon if you will clothing.... (Do the words Hyper-Color mean anything to you either?)

You could breakdance, or wished you could.
(Oh, how I tried.)

You know who He-Man and She-Ra are.
(I was seriously bummed when I found out that they were brother and sister – I wanted so badly for them to get married!)

You remember when ATARI was a state of the art video game system.
(Frogger, baby!)

You know all the words to "Ice Ice Baby".
(Alright, stop.)

You remember MC hammer well.
(You’ve got to pray, just to make it today)

You can still sing the rap to "Fresh Prince of Belair".
(I really can – on que)

You own any cassettes.
(Sadly, all my mix tapes have died. Remember taping songs off of the radio? Allyson Whitfiled and I used to call in requests and then stay up late to tape them)

You remember and/or own any of the CareBear Glass collection from PizzaHut.
(I totally forgot about this until I read it. I wish I had those now!)

Poltergeist freaked you out.
(Still does. Empty swimming pools? Ew!)

You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the ONLY female smurf.
(Did you know that Smurfette was originally created by Gargamel to cause trouble amongst the Smurfs? I admit, I looked that up but I was curious.)

You wanted to communicate with some being named Cinergy, or you wanted green hair like that lead singer of the Misfits.
(Don’t get me started on Gem. I was obsessed. Had the dolls, the stage, had it all)

You totally LOVED Barbie's cooler, punkier counterpart, "Jem" and her "Rockers"
(See above. This website is AWESOME http://www.jemunlimited.com/)

You wanted to have an alien like Alf living in your house. (He freaked me out)

You wore biker shorts underneath a short skirt and felt stylish.
(Karen, remember Magic Mountain?)

You layered your multi-colored slouch socks, and added suspenders to make your outfit complete.
(Please refer to #11)

You ever had a Swatch Watch.
(Remember “Parker Louis Can’t Lose”? “Synchronize Swatches”)

You actually spent countless hours trying to perfect the care-bear stare. (Tatum will do it with me now – haha)

You had WonderWoman or Superman underwear. (I wish I still had them. Correction, my husband would probably be happy if I still had them. They were so cute!)

You believed that "By the power of Greyskull, you HAD the power"
(I didn’t?)

You thought that Transformers were more than meets the eye.
(They were! Hello, it looks like a semi – but wait! – it’s Optimus Prime)

You ever owned or wanted any of the NKOTB action figures or dolls.
(Don’t get me started on this either. Sheets, posters, etc. And speaking of dolls, I had a Michael Jackson, too)

You remember when Deborah Gibson was "Debbie" Gibson.
(It still bothers me that she’s so against being called that now. Embrace the 80’s love, Debbie!)

Well, there you have it. I’m officially old. The 80’s were 20 years ago. J

Oh, how I love me some "Golden Girls".

Nothing like a senior citizen workout remix to serve as tribute.

I saw this on a friend's blog and it made me laugh. Here's to hoping you feel the same.

It's broken. What's a girl to do?

And, we have lots of photo-op-worthy events coming up soon: Lagoon on Friday, Hayden's Birthday, etc.

Bummed.

I've seen this done and it was pretty fun - I hope you will play along.

Here are the directions:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses!

Good News! Layne's biopsy came back negative for Histiocytosis! We still don't know exactly what we're dealing with but the doctor is thinking it's one of two things: either a case of inverse psoriasis or some kind of contact dermatitis (or an allergic reaction to something he's exposed to). We're waiting on more biopsy results to narrow things down a bit, but I won't know until Thursday. After that I have an appointment with a Pediatric Dermo on Friday (25th) up at Primaries. However we look at it, good news and most likely treatable in one way or another.

Thanks again for all of your love, support and prayers. It all paid off! :) I'll be sure to keep you all updated as results come in.

Where to even start a post like this? Ugh.

Okay, so as a few of you know (and others have inquired), all is not totally well in the Ballard home. Our littlest man, our monkey, our giggly tub of chubby is sick. Not sure how sick just yet, but tests should reveal more info as of Tuesday.

For the past three months or so Layne has had a severe rash on his neck, underarms and groin area, his belly button isn’t totally healed and often oozes and he get the occasional crusty/red spot behind his ears. I’ve been to the doctor more in those three months with him than with both my girls combined, their whole lives. Honestly, we average at least one trip a week.

Anyway, I’ve been told so many things in that time span - “It’s probably heat rash”, “Might be from his acid reflux”, “We’re not sure what it is”, “Could he have allergies?”, “Lets try this cream”, “How about this oral medication?” – all without providing a solution to the ailment. We finally got an appointment SIX WEEKS OUT to meet with a pediatric dermatologist. Our poor little guy just got worse and worse. So last week, after a few days on an oral anti-biotic, I pushed the issue more with his doctor. “Oh, this looks bad," he says (like I haven’t been there every week of my life, practically) – “we need to get him into a dermo right away.”

And then, the bomb is dropped.

While at the pediatrician's office at 8:45 am, after getting home from work at 3:00 am and with my three small children in tow, he pulls out his medical journal of fun and says to me – “Here’s what I think it is and if it is, it’s bad. Really bad.” Every mom’s nightmare. I was calm, collected and cool until I got the kids in the car, sat in my seat and lost it. No explanation of what we might be dealing with. No support of my husband with me. Just a mom with three babies and the biggest blow of her life. Crappy choice of news breaking, if you ask me.

So what we may (or may not) be dealing with is called Histiocytosis X. And I did what any mother would do, I went home and got on the internet immediately. Not sure if it was my best idea, but like I could resist? Could be fatal, mediocre percentages of survival rates with treatment (I don’t care how good or bad they are, any time you throw in a percentage, the worst is on your mind), different stages & different outcomes. And rare. Like 1 out of 200,000 rare.

We had an appointment with a dermatologist on Thursday afternoon and he’s at a loss as well. He says he’s never seen a case of Histiocytosis, so no immediate diagnosis. Could be that, could be psoriasis, could be a wicked form of something else, could just go away, could be a staff infection, could be anything. Lots of pictures taken, cultures submitted and biopsies done and now we wait. Tuesday is the day - I’m both dreading it and wanting for it. But I’ll tell you what, the not knowing is the killer part.

The good news is, he's thriving (the butter ball is almost 15 pounds), he's otherwise healthy and doesn't show signs of disturbances anywhere else in his body (via first exam, of course).

Anyway, that’s what’s going on with us right now. We’re trying to stay positive and I really am making an effort to remember that it’s not a diagnosis just yet. I really do know that no matter what (even if it’s worst case), we can get though this as a family. Nothing in the world can make you appreciate the people in your life (family and friends) more than something like this. We've already been given so much support in this week - I don't even know where to start the "thank you's". Please just know that we are so unbelievably grateful and will continue to be.

And I’m sorry if some of you should have found this out sooner and not on a blog, but I’ve been too emotional to call people and discuss. Tears at the drop of a hat kind of a week. So please, be forgiving. I promise, when I know more and have a better self-state, I’ll be communicating better.

But for now, we wait, we pray and we hope. Fingers crossed for our little bug.

Here are some projects I'm currently looking to take off the back burner and work on before summer's end.

Quiet Book for Church
I've found some okay ideas around, but I want something cute, saucy and not boring for my kids. When I find the perfect idea, I'll be sure to share.

Crayon Books
Similar to the crayon apron (see pic below), but more of a portfolio kind of thing w/ crayon slots on one side and a slot for either coloring books or notebooks on the other. And I'd like it to snap shut and maybe have handles for carrying. Sounds complicated, but I don't think it can be that hard.


Pin Cushions
Another etsy find, but I thought these might make for cute neighbor gifts at Christmas.


Portable "Highchair"
I don't know how else to describe it, but something along the lines of this:


No Soliciting Sign
I get a lot of randoms at my door selling something or another. Karen and I need to just sit down and make these already.

Workout Schedule, Weekly Menu/Shopping List, Cleaning Schedule
Time to reorganize my life - I've been a slacker lately.

Potty Training Chart
Yep, it's almost that time again, Hayden-style.

Anyone up for the challenge on any of these? I love group crafting.

In this day and age, with the Internet such a huge part of our everyday lives, why is it so hard to find a way to contact people from your past? I've recently been on the hunt for a few oldies but goodies with no luck. Anyone have any good suggestions? Search engines? Websites? I'm totally in need of a new direction...

I've found myself addicted this season, though sometimes I wondered why. And, last night I found myself in contradiction with myself.

All along I've thought it would be Jason. The show pitted it that way, the chemistry was there, the recipe was for a perfect match. So, I felt like there was no way I would be duped. And if I was, I was going to be done watching.

My DVR didn't record the actual "Final Rose Ceremony" episode, but it did record the "After The Final Rose" episode, thus starting the contradiction mentioned above.



She didn't choose Jason. Jesse was the last man standing and my initial thought was, "No Way! That's it, I'm done watching the show." And not for reasons you might think - I'm not a poor sport, I just felt led on and disappointed that things didn't work out my way. And I continued to feel this way as I watched Jason recount the last episode, tears welling in his eyes, apparent disbelief - still - at what had happened.

**For the record, watching the ladies in the audience react to his words, I'll be thoroughly surprised if ABC doesn't at least make some valiant effort at getting him to be the next Bachelor - ratings would go through the roof.**

Anyway, DeAnna was really "breaking my heart" with her decision (said of course in totally mockery - I think she said that phrase at least 10 times and episode - her poor heart, broken constantly).

And as I wallowed in disappointment and empathy for Jason, I watched her with Jesse. Now, they might have seemed an odd match to most, and too me they still do. But, they were surprisingly sweet with one anther and I couldn't help but feel happy for them. I know, sounds like I actually know these people, but I like me some reality TV, okay? Just goes to show you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover.



But, I still liked Jason best. Maybe I'll be watching him next go around? You know I can't give it up that easily!

Big Brother, where art thou?

We had a great 4th of July! We spent most of the day swimming w/ family at my in-law's house and then spent the late afternoon and evening at Grandma & Grandpa Fullmer's house eating and hanging out.

Hunter & Tatum enjoying a little trampoline time


Hayden, enjoying having the trampoline to herself







Jaxon and Hayden playing chase on the trampoline and puppies in the grass



Our Little Layner Lou...


...a bit surprised by the flash



Just a few highlights (and lowlights):

Highlight - A picture of all of the little kids dressed up in their 4th gear.

Lowlight - My girls a little upset at the idea of being in a picture with everyone.



Highlight - My oh-so-festive, sugar-free, delicious dessert.


Lowlight - Becasue it was sugar-free pudding and not real, fatty and yummy cheesecake, it didn't hold it's shape well.


Highlight - Fireworks, family, fun.



Lowlight - Kids who tried to stay awake for the festivities, but just couldn't quite cut it.


Here's to hoping you all had a wonderful holiday and a nice long weekend!

A little recipe share: Low-Carb Lasagna in a Bowl. It's soooooooooo yummy!



Ingredients:
Ground Meat (cooked & drained - 1 lb makes about 4 servings)
1/3 cup ricotta cheese (per serving)
1/2 cup sugar-free spaghetti sauce (per serving)
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (per serving)
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese (per serving)
1 cup cooked spaghetti squash (per serving)

Directions
Cook the spaghetti squash. I used a tiny bit of olive oil and some Mrs. Dash in a skillet. Really yummy and really quick.
Cook the meat with salt and pepper to taste. Drain and rinse.
Heat the ricotta (microwave works best)
Layer in a bowl (or plate, like me): squash, ricotta cheese, ground meat, mozzarella, sauce, parmesan.

Nutritional Information: 19 g effective carbohydrate, 3 grams fiber, 38 grams protien, 425 calories.

Enjoy!

Wow - my 300th post!

I took the easy route today with the girls and had a sprinkler party - complete w/ sprinkle topped cupcakes (I'm good, I know).




One of the girls brought over her Rocket Launch sprinkler hook-up. It's awesome! I may have to go and buy one for us to play with this summer. Beau was in love at first sight. :)



And my sweet little gals had fun, too. Hot, hot day!

Found some awesome helmet/knee guard/elbow guard combo sets at K-Mart afor $5 the other day. Price was so good, I bought a few for gifts.

Here is Hayden modeling Tatum's set. Glad she likes it - she'll be getting her own for her birthday in August. :)

I made this blanket today for my friend Lauren's shower tonight.




Turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself.

Check out my cute friend Yvonne's blog.

I love that Brown Evonne and Blonde Yvonne are on the same page with blog design. Babies the same age, same great taste - BFF, baby! :)

Me - "Who is that in the picture, Hayden?"



Hayden - "You!"

I think I may point that out in pictures too much ("There's You!") - she's starting to think that's her name!

And tired as can be. Only 2 more hours to go...

Anyone have any good online time killers to share? That is, besides my vices listed under "Favories", of course.

It's officially summer in our family - we've hit the pool! The girls had a blast and Layne slept 95% of the time. And even though he didn't swim, he had to wear his swim trunks!

I'm so excited for the almost daily visits to Grandma and Grandpa's pool. Many more pics to follow this summer, but here are the first batch.





Babies Playing...


...and Wet Diaper Booty

voi·là (vwä-lä'); interj.
Used to call attention to or express satisfaction with a thing shown or accomplished: Mix the ingredients, chill, and—voilà!—a light, tasty dessert.

Not "wah-la".

Okay, I've given up. It was taking way too much time and effort to try and make my own blog design right now, so I opted for the easier way out. I love my design, I've changed my font colors, links have been re-added - I'm good.

Only a couple of issues:
Why can't I get my header to upload the custom designed jpg image I have on my computer? It says it's uploaded, but it won't show up on my blog at all.
Why can't you change fonts on your blog? I think that's just dumb.

'Nuff Said. Feeling almost accomplished. Can't wait to cross this of my list.

Still working on the blog update and running into some HTML issues. Anyone good w/ this stuff?

What I want to do is to add my own jpg as the header (I know how to do it, but it's not showing for some reason) and to resize the side columns. Oh, and I want some of my right hand column items to show on the left - to split things up. My template is for a 3 column design, but I can't seem to get things to move over.

Help!