The Ballard Bunch

There is one song that I totally remember singing as a kid. "Swimming, swimming in a swimming pool. When days are hot, when days are cool - in a swimming pool!" Ask me sometime in person and I'll sing the entire song for you - it's pretty fun for a kid.

So....

It's officially summertime at our house! My mom bought a pool for the backyard at Smith's today and Tatum couldn't resist enjoying it early...even with freezing water.

And what kid doesn't like drinking from the hose?!?!?

p.s. Had to include her diva pose on the trampoline after her swim. She is too funny sometimes. :)

Here Tatum, Jadi & Samson playing in the awesome tent Jami's neighbor made for her kids. Mom, another sewing project!!! :)

Tatum at her dirtiest! It was a beast to clean her up, but she was having so much fun!

Sweet little Hayden hanging out with me in the tent.

Beau roasting - for everyone! :)

Jami enjoying dessert.

Tatum post-s'mores munching.

Tatum & Hayden lounging while Beau and I packed the truck to leave this morning.

I hate to brag, but I have some really cute girls!

And, finally, after a long trip down the mountain (Tatum got REALLY carsick) and a 2 hour drive home, the girls crashed quickly on the living room floor while I started laundry.

They played hard!

I hope that all of you moms out there are having a great day! Mine was a fun, slightly busy day spent with family. Beau and the girls were especially helpful and well-behaved (respectively) and made the day extra special for me. I even got a very appropriate gift as of late - a gift card to Joanne Fabrics so I can really be crafy...perfect!

Tatum made this cute gift in Nursery at church today (well, I was there with her of course, but it meant the same). She was very proud, but I think she wanted it to be hers. I'm sure I can share the goodies, Tate!


And here's the last fat picture of me that will be taken. Tomorrow Beau and I start our Weight Watchers phase and I'm determined to rid myself of the many extra pounds gained in the last few years. Maybe posting this will keep me extra motivated!!!! I'll be 30 in August and don' t want to start that chapter of my life carrying more than I need to. Fingers crossed...here we go!

We've had a pretty uneventful week at our house, but the girls have managed to provide some entertainment along the way.


Last week we tried (more like I tried) to potty train, with no success. I officially have the most stubborn child alive. She begs to wear panties and use the potty and when we give it a real try, she has no interest. "No potty, mamma, diapers!" After a week of the fight, I've decided to give us both a breather for a week or so and try again. Hayden, however, loves the potty...

She's also taken to crawling and is all over the house now. I call it crawling, but it's more of an army crawl. She's FAST! So fast, in fact, that before I knew it, she had crawled behind the couch...

All the while, Tatum's shoe obsession escalates. She's amazingly good in heels. I must admit, I'm a little impressed and it's very cute to see her walking around the house in huge shoes (mine, Beau's...doesn't matter). I am not, however, a fan of the cleanup.

One final thing, I'd like to tell all of you that I am a huge fan of kids television shows today. I'm not talking Ninja Turtles and Sponge Bob, but Dora, Blues Clues, Hi-5 (ugh), Barney, etc. Two days ago, as I was lying in bed early in the morning while Tatum watched a show (I need all the extra rest I can get when the kid wakes up at 6:30 am), she proceeds to CLEARLY count to 10. Mind you, this isn't something we've really worked on because - frankly - I didn't know that it was something that she could retain at the age of 2. But lo and behold, she learned it on her own. I was a proud mamma.

Gracias, Dora!

We had a fun visit with our favorite Canadian family (and extended) on Thursday last week. Tanya, Mateo, Goldie, Angie, Dylan (no Mari - she stayed behind with her Aunt Lisa), Amanda, Jordan, Little Lil and Yvonne all came over for lunch.

We had a fun time catching up and watching our kids play in the backyard. Angie's got all of the pics on her camera (hint, hint - I'd love copies of the kid ones!), but I was able to catch a shot of Jordan working his magic and getting Hayden to sleep in a room full of talking and playing.

It was so great to see everyone - I wish we all lived close to one another so we (and our babes) could play all the time!

Just a quick shout-out to my husband of three years today! He was such a good sport playing along with my surprise date on Friday night. Happy Anniversary - I love you!!!

About a month ago I planned to have Brie come and stay overnight with the kids and I booked a room at the Anniversary Inn. I told Beau that she was going to come over and watch the kids for us while we went to dinner to celebrate our anniversary early (with it being on Easter Sunday, it was the best time to do it on Friday - crazy weekend!). Shanna has an anniversary around the same time, so once she caught wind of my idea, she wanted in. Booked her own room and Brie was set to watch all five kids.

So we went separately to dinner and met back at our house for a "surprise". We made the boys wear blindfolds and we drove them to the hotel, only allowing them to open their eyes once inside the lobby. We had to check out each other's rooms, of course!

Here they are, in all their blindfold glory (please note that Beau has on Tatum's "Hi-5" blindfold that came with her jammies for her birthday):

And here are pics of our rooms. We had the "Phantom of the Opera" suite (Beau is slightly obsessed with the soundtrack as of late, so I thought I'd reserve one in honor of him). Our jetted tub was set in the catacombs and so relaxing!!! Shanna and Travis had the "Jackson Hole" suite. Covered wagon and all. Breakfast brought to your room, sparkling cider and cheesecake waiting for you upon check in - it was great!

It was such a fun outing - I recommend to all! Plus, who could turn down a night without having to put kids to bed and the ability to sleep in?!?!?! We loved it!

Shantell and I discovered the most amazing ant infestation I've ever seen today. And it happened to be in our backyard.

We took the girls outside to swing and I went to check out this weird pile of "dirt" on the curbing behind the swingset. Take a look...

Tatum was being so cute today playing kitchen and house. I got some good footage of her serving me a meal from her kitchen this afternoon. Here you go...