Just an update

ISo we r currently waiting on our house to b ready. Our official move in date is Monday, however, we r at thay point where we say how in the world ate they going to finish everything they promised. Which would include flooring downstairs, light fixtures upstairs and black top on the driveway. This is very nerve racking. I just have to look ahead and say thank u Lord for all u have done for us. I mean seriously who am I to question the God of the universe. Everything works for our good and His glory. o by the way if anyone is reading this, I am typing this out on my phone. so it may come across more as a text than a post. Anyway, everyone have a very blessed day!

Learning Process

So I've jumped on the coupon wagon. I'm so excited, I just have to get the hang of this thing. I got my coupons and ads (CVS & Walgreenes) Sunday, I sat down and made my list. I went Monday, bought $158.64 and only spent $28.32....that was great! I love it. I have spent so much time on this computer looking for deals, new coupons, and how to combine coupouns to get the best bang for my buck! Lets just say couponing is not easy, it's definately work! But I love it!

Just a funny! After I read Mindy's post about the computer paper being a penny. I went today to Staples, grabbed my paper and went to check out. Well I got to he front and it was not a penny!!!!! After I stood there looking like an idiot and arguing with a teenager I came home read the post and realized it was Office Max....whoops! I bet those people thought I should be committed!

Children are a blessing!

The other day I had some errands to run. My mom so graciously volunteered to keep my kiddos. As I was running my errands I decided to stop at Wendy's and eat lunch. Standing in line I noticed this precious little girl (probably about 7), she was with her dad and grandpa. I don't know what it was about her that caught my eye but she was absolutely adorable. As the dad and grandpa were ordering the food the little girl asked if she could go get napkins and things, with the nod of her dads head she went on about her business. As I sat down I saw that she had prepared at seat at a table for each person; a napkin, straw, fork and all of the necessities. I thought how sweet is that. Her dad and grandpa came to sit down, she was beaming bc she was so proud of what she had done. But to her disappointment (as well as mine) it went unnoticed. The dad immediately started talking down to her. First comment : "You could have atleast found a table that didn't have crumbs on the chairs." That was like a knife in my heart. The little girl still had a smile on her face and looked as if she were determined to get their approval;ut straws in their cups, placedtheir food in front of them and suggested they say the blessing. I was so shocked that neither man even acknowledged her. The little girl began to say the blessing and they didn't even so much as bow their heads but went on eating their food. It was one thing after another, there was no conversation at the table; even though the little girl tried and tried again to talk. I just wanted to go get her and take her with me or atleast tell the dad and grandpa what a jewel they had. I don't know what these men were dealing with on this particular day but I know it just broke my heart.

With all of this being said I encourage each one of us that no matter where we are or what's going on in that particular day, we remember that God gave us our children as a gift. We should cherich them!

God Bless America!

Let me be the first to say (on my blog) that I am so thankful for those men and ladies who served to give our country the freedom we enjoy today. I can't help but think of the ultimate sacrifice that provided us with eternal freedom. You know our freedom here on Earth can be taken away from us. Slowly but surely it's taking place. Thank God our eternal freedom can never be taken away. Jesus Christ died so we can except him as our personal Saviour and live freely and eternally with Him!

Praying that you all have a safe and wonderful July 4th!!!!

Attack

As I sit here laughing at myself, I just had to share. So after leaving the gym tonight I had to make a quick stop at the church. I was only running in to grab something I had forgotten earlier today so I just left my van running and the door open while I ran inside. I went in (seriously like 2 mins), came back out and started to get in my van. As I'm buckling my belt I hear this horrid sound....BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! Immediately I'm terrified. I look around and find the culprit, it's a huge horse-fly. Let me go on record and say that I am scared to death of horse-flies, they def creep me out. So as I'm trying to think of my plan of attack.....the blame thing flies straight at me, I immediately jump out of my van. I start rolling the windows down bc the thing isn't out of my van yet. The thing gets wedged in between my windshield and dash board, grrrrrr. What am I going to do now? I grab a piece of newspaper and start swatting....the thing keeps buzzing around and coming at me but won't come out of my van. So I go outside of my van, crawl on the hood and start beating he window...praying the thing will fly away. FINALLY, the thing flies out after about 10 mins of me raging around my van like a mad woman. All I can say is the people that drove by got a free comedy show and I got an extra workout in....all thanks to a horsefly!

Ok update: We counted the change we raised in our penny drive (for VBS). We raised $359.00, Yah, I'm sooooo excited! We decided to pass the $$$$ on to a senior in our church that could use a little extra! I'm so glad we did this penny drive, the kids had a blast seeing who could get the most change and now they get to be a blessing to someone in need! :) I'm looking forward to doing this each year!

Now, I must go to bed. Tomorrow is the last day of super-doubles at Harris Teeter. My coupons are cut and ready to go. We shall see what kind of deals I get!!!!!

A New Week

Well it is Monday. Last week we had VBS, which was wonderful. We had so much fun and it was a blessing to see all of those kids come out. Now, we are starting a new week and a new schedule. So we are starting it of by going to the church to clean out a room in the fellowship building and count the change from the penny drive at VBS. Following that we will be going to Granny's to mow and eat an o so yummy supper (which I'm sure will not be good for the diet). Sooooo, off we go!

Immmmm aaa back (in the words of Luigi)

It feels so good to be "normal" (I know that's a matter of opinion). I finally feel good! :) Today so far I have cleaned out my kitchen cabinets and made 5 loaves of zuchini bread (thanks Mindy for the recipe).

We have some news to share. We are finally moving. We have been looking and praying and praying and praying for God to lead us in the path in which He would have us go concerning buying a house. We have struggled with buying because we are in the ministry and you never know where God will take us. So we prayed whatever Gods will is what we want and basically God would have to drop a house in our laps. And being the wonderful, almighty God He is, He did just that. The house is all we could ask for and in our budget :).

It's Amazing.......

It's amazing how four tiny puncture holes can make you feel horrible. I feel like I've done a million crunches, I just wish I would see the results of a million crunches.....lol. O well, its ok..it will be worth it. I will survive, I'm a mom...right???

Everybody have a good day and keep blogging so I'll have something to do! :D

The Big Day

Well I haven't said anything but I have been having some medical issues lately. I ended up going to the ER about 3 weeks ago with (what I later found out) a gallbladder attack. I have been having tests since then to see what the dr/surgeon wants to do. I went back today for the results of my latest test and found out that I will be having surgery to remove my gallbladder. So......I'm thinking he will probably schedule this surgery for next week or so! NO, WRONG, NOT IN THE PLANS! I'm having surgery tomorrow morning at 8:30 am (that's only 8 1/2 hours) away! Yeah, I'm excited to get it done and over with but finding out you are having surgery the next day doesn't exactly give you time to prepare. Needless to say we have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get things ready for VBS (which starts Monday), grocery shopping and house work done. Everything did not get done but I'm really trying to accept the fact that the world will still go on and will not fall of it's axis if I'm out of comission for a few days! :)

Anyway, say a prayer for me AND a very good friend of mine is having surgery on Monday...so please remember her and her family as well!!!!!

May God Always Bless All Of Y'all!!!!!!

Day of Rest

As if we haven't had enough days of rest lately we decided to have another today. But of course not before a very busy weekend. When we came home from the beach on Friday we had a graduation bbq to go to followed by the graduation on Saturday.

This is Joshua Luke Sherrill: One of the wonderful members of our "pea patch." We love him as if he were our own! We are so proud of him!!!

Then there was today. We had our homecoming at church today. It was amazing. We had the Saunders family singing during the Sunday school hour and then Preach Mark Saunders brought the message in the 11 o'clock hour. Then, of course, (being the Baptist we are) we had a massive lunch. We didn't leave the church until after 3pm. When we are with the Saunders we tend to chat a little. Afterwards we came home and slept for THREE hours (we don't have service on homecoming night). Needless to say I'm well rested and wide awake. This could be a long night, maybe I'll scrub the base boards.....we'll see!

An error has occured, please try again!

We finally have some down time and I decided to update the blog. I decided to explore and see if I could "design" on my own (so poor Mindy wouldn't have to keep up with mine and hers). I conquered the background, the widdly tinks and the shabby blinkie thingy. Needless to say the header is another story in itself. I tried, tried and tried again. I kept getting an error message (hence the title). So I figured I would wait a little and try later. So I'll get some pics up from our vacatio (Yes, they are from our camera phone).

Here we gooooo.........

This is the crew we took! Our three plus two more!!!!

What's a beach vacation without a trip to play putt~putt?

And of course Sharky's......YUMMY!

Yes, I do realize this is a horrible picture but honestly it is the only one that we have of us together....lol!

This is a Ballard tradition. When we go over "the bridge" we roll the windows down, put our hands in the air and scream. I'm sure everyone knows when we arrive.

My beautiful family!

Now that's a wonderful view of Gods creation! Isn't He amazing?

That's all folks.........

Now I'll try the header again!

Seriously

Well we made it safely! However, we got here and as we were unpacking I realized I forgot my camera. SERIOUSLY, MY CAMERA! Wow, I'm going to have to get really creative. Michael suggested I use the camera on my phone....we will see how that goes.

Ok just to catch up a little. I don't even know where to start. Three weeks ago I ended up in the ER having a gallbladder attack.. The wonderful nurses and dr's at the ER drugged me and sent me home. The following week I went to a surgeon....he sent me for some test scheduled for the next week. Well, two days before we left for vacation the nurse calls and tells me that I need to come in and "discuss my options." More or less I'm getting cut, I didn't know I had an option. Fortuantely, I convinced them that I could wait until we get back from vacation. So while I'm here I will be sipping water and nibbling lettuce (insert sad face)! I so want to eat at Sharky's. When I get back I will go see the surgeon who I'm sure will schedule my procedure for the next week. I do realize that may sound rambled but if you're reading this I'm assuming you know me and understand how I am...hahahahah!

Alright off to bed!

Hurry!

So obviously my last post shouldn't have been titles "So Far Behind." I'm even farther behind now. So much to catch up on. However, it probably won't be today. We are headed to church then we are beach bound.....Yah! Hopefully this week  I will get to spend some time catching up on my blog and sharing some fun with you all from our vacay!

So far behind!

I have no idea where to start, it has been 11 days since I have posted anything. Wow, I didn't even realize it has been that long. We have just been so busy ( I will fill you in). So as I sit here tonight I've been reading and enjoying the post by my blogging buddies. I have laughed, breathed, cried and thanked God.....that 1~ I'm not the only one who has children who will push you to your absolute limit, 2~ for a healthy family, and 3 for someone reminding me that I am too blessed to be stressed! It seems I have been so stressed lately to stop and thank God for the things that are "right." However, in the last two days God has really shown Himself in my life. It seems everything at church that was taught or preached at church yesterday was just for me. Today, as I was reading my "hobby" book (Sunrise by Karen Kingsbury) the very scripture that I helped me yesterday was brought out in this story-line and then tonight we attended Lincoln County Camp meeting and there again MORE scripture that I needed! Who says God isn't direct? That's silly! Sometimes God has to be "in our face" for us just to get it!!!! That's what it took for me this time. So today I am saying THANK YOU LORD (and I'm too blessed to be stressed)!
Besides all of that we spent most of our week (last week) at the hospital and at Hospice house. After spending 2 weeks in the hospital Papaw Bobby went home to be with Jesus. We have loved, laughed and cried this week. We have told stories of the past and looked to the future! One thing we have not done is LOST. We did not lose Papaw he just took a trip without us (said by his lovely daughter Kathy). One day we will be reunited with him as well as the other loved ones who have gone on before. I am so thankful God has allowed me to know and love Bobby and his family. Bobby and Grace Rippy are definately two of Gods very best. You just don't find better. With that being said......I'm now going to bed!

What a wonderful day!

Such a good day! We got so much accomplished. We breezed through school (not normal at the Ballard house). While things were going so good I decided to push my luck and take all four kids to run some errands. That usually ends in disaster. But today, it went pretty good. Of course they were kids but I was proud. When we finally returned home we had a quick supper of eggs (fresh...yummo!), turkey bacon, grits, and homemade biscuits (I know just call me Betty)! We then headed to the ball field. Lydias' game began at six! Her team was 5 and 1. That would be five wins to us!!!!! Well tonight Lydia got an awesome hit~ ending her up at 3rd! I was sooooo proud! The great part was that EVERYONE on her team got a hit tonight! Just all in all a great now. Now I'm home, the kids (and husband) are in bed and I'm headed (with book) to the bath! Have a great night!!!!!!

Whirlwind Weekend

I knew the weekend was going to be packed, I guess I didn't realize how much. We did everything on our "to do" list and more. We added a trip to the urgent care to our list. Turns out Lydia has an ear infection as well as strep throat. Here it is 4pm on Monday, I haven't blogged since Friday....I don't have any housework done yet (I usually clean on Mondays), Lydia has to be at ball practice @ 5:15 and did I mention a Mother Daughter banquet to plan for this weekend.  I'm sooooooo tired already, think I'm feeling a little over whelmed.

I know that sounds like a lot of complaining...and maybe I shouldn't be whinning. Well, I know I def shouldn't be whinning. I thank God for giving my the ability to do these things. I should be saying thank you Lord instead of O meeeeeeee!

Guess I better get up from here and get moving toward getting done!

Yahhhhhhh!

Im so excited and I think I like it............o hold on! Yes, Im elated. I think I could do fifteen cartwheels and run a marathon....ok so Im really over exaggerating. We are completely finished testing, if you are a homeschool mom you understand my gleeeee! Thank you Lord for letting us survive another testing week.

Now we are on to a fun filled weekend. Starting tonight at the Hickory Crawdads baseball game. Starting at 9 am tomorrow we have Zane's t-ball game, then Lydia's baseball game all followed up by a game of softball with the "Pea Patch." Can you tell we like playing ball.....hahahahhah!

Off we gooooooo!

Thanks ~a~ million!

Finally, my blog looks normal, thanks to Mrs. Mindy Reynolds. I couldn't figure it out so she did it all for me, hahahah~ hopefully I will get it soon.

Wow, what a day. Another day of testing, reading comp! Ick....not my favorite and apparently not my childrens either. We are almost finished though....just two more sections. I will gladly take a regular week of school over testing week any day. Even though the material is easier than our regular work, we are in a much better routine when we are doing the norm. At our house, anything can throw things off kilter. We are definately creatures of habit. It's just easier that way.

Looks like tomorrow we will test again and hopefully get some yard work done at Granny's!

O, by the way, I had a new sandwich today and I think it's officially my favorite. Are you ready???? It's peanut butter & jelly with banana and bacon on toasted bread! I've been craving it for over a week and I finally just gave in and made it.....it's ooooooooo so goooodddd!

Testing!!!!!

Can you say Ahhhhhhhhh? We are taking the EOG's this week. It drives me nuts when I know my kids know the material and they are over analyzing it. Why is that?

Easter Weeked!!!!

We survived. Easter weekend is always busy for us. Usually starting off with the Easter Egg hunt at church on Sat...followed by sunrise service, regulare service and a softball game!!! This year we added a few extra stops along the way.....whew, but hey we did it.

Ok, so I'm new to this whole blogging idea. I have several friends that are bloggers and to be honest it has grabbed my attention. I'm looking forward to getting started!