WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!

Yes, it is true. As of today November 24,2009 we are DEBT FREE!!!! It is really hard to believe. We have worked really hard to get here and it feels great to have accomplished it. We are COMPLETELY DEBT FREE. We do not owe a single penny to anyone anymore. Wow , it feels good to say that. I thought I would take this post to tell our story of how we accomplished it and what we hope to accomplish in the future.

I guess our story starts about 5 years ago when we moved to Missouri to start our business. we knew that we needed to do it with as little debt as possible so we cashed out our 401K and bought our home and had it moved to Texas. (It was meant to be but that is a whole other story for a whole other time). But we never paid attention to what we were spending, plus starting a business is really hard and we basically lived off of credit cards for a while and the truck broke so we bought a truck with a hefty payment. It put us about 30,000 in debt.

About 2 years ago my mom kept telling me about Dave Ramsey. It took us a while to listen but once we did we were hooked. I heard what he was saying I believed every word. We knew that that was our destiny. We could be totally out of debt start building wealth, but we were still just not gazelle intense with it. We had paid off about 10,000 in 18 months. Then on April 8, 2008 everything changed. Our business was completely destroyed by fire. There was nothing left. Absolutely nothing. We had no business, no money and still about 20,000 of debt left. We decided that we did not want to give up on the business so, we rebuilt. It took about 3 weeks, alot of hard work from many different people and a 20,000 loan from family. When that happened we knew that we had to get Gazelle intense and never be in that situation again. So we worked and worked and worked. In the last 18 months we have paid off the remaining 40,000.

Now we get to work for ourselves for a change. It really does change your attitude in life. It feels like a weight has been lifted off. There is another way to do things. You do not have to have debt. Now we can focus on building our business and our wealth. We will never be in debt again and hopefully we are changing our family tree by passing this knowledge to our kids. They have known all along how much money we had to pay off and have been really rooting for us.

So, I just want everyone to know that it can be done and it is worth all the sweat and hard work. It will be worth every stressful day when you can say I DO NOT OWE ANYONE ANYTHING.


WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Totally Rejuvinated!!!!

Okay, so I think I spelled rejuvinated right but I am not sure. Anyways, I am feeling GREAT!!!!! This last couple of months have flown by. Work has been really busy, which we are extremely grateful for, but on the otherhand it leaves me stressed and not sure where all the time went. But, last weekend we spend three glorious days with my family. I really needed some down time to relax and have fun. We were able to deliver a van that we built for Adam and Danelle. We felt really good about being able to do this for them and I think they are a Minivan family now.

We also got to celebrate Shelby's Birthday while we were down there. Her B-day isn't until the 23rd but she loves a party and we won't be back until Christmas so we celebrated and she cleaned house. She loves her new P.J.'s. She washes them everyday so she can wear them. She spends hours applying makeup. And we cannot forget the hours she spends listening to her new Taylor Swift CD on her IPOD. I know I can hardly believe that she has one but I have to say that she is doing very well taking care of it and I am thinking about getting one. I could really get used to listening to music while I am painting a car. Plus, We have the outside perimeter and one corner done on the 1000 piece puzzle. Jason says it is impossible but Shelby and I are doing pretty good. (It has taken over the table so dinner is on the couch, but it is really fun so we don't mind.)

So, That is what's new in our world. We are back home and back to work, but it is amazing what a little time off with family can do for the soul and attitude.

Love to All
Erika

Humpty Dumpty....Sick Child.... and Projects

Well, I will start with the most anticipated part. Bennett portrayed Humpty Dumpty in the school play last Thursday. He was PERFECT (if I do say so my self) He remembered all of his lines and everyone loved his costume. And in perfect Bennett fashion there were a couple funny parts. As you can tell from the photos he loved rubbing his belly. Also, he get a little tired holding all that weight and by the end he could barely stay awake. It was priceless. All the kids did so great. A Real Treat.

Next, is Shelby. My poor little baby has been sick for over a week now. She came home from school last Monday with a fever. She seemed to be doing better by Wednesday and then Thursday she had a fever again, so I took her to the Doctor. She has Strep. So we got her some antibiotics and she seemed to be doing great until Sunday. By midmorning her stomach was killing her. A reaction to the antibiotics I think because she is feeling great today. We are going to start the antibiotics again so the Strep can go away but we will take it slow and with alot of food. It is really hard to see her so sick. She is hardly ever sick and she doesn't want to bother you (kinda like me) You would not know she was as sick as she was.

And Lastly, we are starting some much needed home improvements. I am selling my Lincoln and Jason sold his Mustang to make this happen. ( The Lincoln is still not sold so if you know anybody let me know. It is a beautiful car.) And to begin our improvements we purchased brand new kitchen cabinets. ALL OF THEM!!!! It is so exciting. So hopefully we will slow down here work wise in the next couple of weeks so we can get started. Can Not Wait!!!!

So, that is the update for now. Hope everyone has a great week!!!

We're Floating Away!!!!

So starting Last Thursday morning we got over 8 inches of rain in about 16 hours. These are pics of the front. The first two are at the Shop Driveway and the last two are at the other drive way. You can tell in some of the pics that the water was even higher than it was when I took those pics on Friday morning. The road was completely flooded and the water made it far up on the shop driveway side. Most of the water has receded now but there is still water rushing on the other side of the road. It is something. On a side not we also flooded in the shop. The fram stall and even a little in the paint booth. There was about 2 inches of standing water in the frame stall. When we built both of those additions we built in righ on the ground level and that area just happens to be the natural slope where all the water runs in the front yard. So we are going to have to build a trench to divert the water around the building for the next time we have a torential rain.

It has also become cold here already. Overnight lows in the 30's and daily high's around 60. Needless to say we have the heat on and we had Chili for dinner tonight.

Hope everyone has a great week!!!!

LONG TIME..... NO POST

I know, I know, I am terrible. I have been so busy latley it seems like I have not time to blog. Things around here have been great. Earlier last month was Bennett's 8th birthday and the whole family was here for his baptism. It was an amazing weekend filled with fun times. It was also very special for Bennett. It really meant so much that his family was here to share in his special day. He felt very important and loved.

Business has been great. Things have been really busy around here. We have lot quite a bit of cars and we have a lot of customer work. We fell so blessed to have work. At times it feels overwhelming but in a good way. Hopefully this work can keep coming through the winter.

Shelby and Bennett also started school. Bennett is in 2nd grade and Shelby is in 5th. She goes to the Middle School now. It is very weird. They are growing up so fast. Something happened at school today that I thought was funny. (Shelby did not think so) She has an issue with talking during class, I know what you are thinking it can not be true, yes it is true. HaHa! So today when she got home from school she starting writing on a piece of paper and when I came back in to check on her she was still writing so I asked her what she was doing. She said that the whole class got in trouble today for talking and they had to write the following paragraph 15 times:

I have to write these sentences because I think that I am more important than anyone else in my class and that the rules of coming into class quietly, sitting at my desk, and preparing to work do not apply to me. I do not need to use the character trait of self-control because I choose not to and chould not have to do anything I do not want to do. I do,however, understand that the previous statements are untrue and meant to be a deterrent for future unsatisfactory behavior similar to that which I displayed after coming into class room from recess. I apoligize for my behavior and will begin displaying much more self-control.

She was not happy about writing the sentences but I have to say that I do not feel sorry for her. Maybe that makes me a mean mom but I do believe that great good can come out of consequences for her actions. She needs to learn self-control. Also with the way she has been talking about the homework I do believe that her attitude about talking in class has changed. I do not believe that she will talk when she is not supposed to again.

I promise to try to keep a better blog from now on. Have a great week!

My Baby Boy is 8!!!!

So, today is Bennett's birthday. He is 8. He had a great morning hanging out with his dad and then we took him to Toys'r'Us to pick out his own B-day gift. He was overwhelmed but after about 45 minutes of loving everything he settled on a Nerf Dart Tag Set. He has already had a blast playing with it. Then we took the kids to their open houses for school. Hard to believe that summer is over and school starts on Thursday. It went by really fast.

But, back to the reason for the post. It is hard for me to fathom that 8 years ago today Bennett was born. Anyone who knows how my pregnancy went with him knows that the fact he is 8 today is a miracle and I am eternally grateful. The older my kids get the older I feel. But I am so thankful to have 2 healthy happy kids who are so great. Bennett has really grown up this past year. He is turning into a little man.

I love you my son!!!

"Pimp My Ride" Kid's Style

So, the kids have been on a building rampage lately. They have built a couple club houses, and just last week they built a car. They have been waiting for the Paint Booth to be done (yes it is done and I will post pics very soon), so they could use the left over wood. Shelby Bennett and their Uncle Garrett ( he is 11 but he is their uncle), built this awesome car. It has seating for 2 and a trunk in the back for all their stuff. They also put a couple of license plates on it so it would be "legal" HAHAHA! Then after they had it built they decided that it neede some color, so they took it up into the other garage and used all the left over house paint that Grandma and Grandpa had to give it their style. The first thing they did was paint the purple on the wheels. They let that dry and then used Wal-Mart sacks as wheel covers so none of the other paint got on the wheels. (It makes their car painting Mother very proud). Now, probably the funniest part of the whole thing is that when they were almost done Jason and I went to look at it and Bennett informed us that they were doing "Pimp my Ride Kid's Style" His exact words. You can not make this up. Hilarious!!!


They also decided that it neede to be a custom job so they drew out some flames on a piece of paper and copied them off in the copier. Then they cut out the flames as to make a stencil and used it to paint flames all over the car. They are so smart!!!

I do not know how long this car will hold up but they are having a blast with it. Every couple days it needs a little TLC when we add a few nails and maybe a board to help keep it together but for a couple of kids I thought it was amazing.

P.S. Shelby and Garrett are eyeing an old Lawn Mower engin that we have. They think it should have a motor. (It wouldn't make it 5 feet with a motor, so they will just have to pretend that it has one)

P.S.S. Coming Soon: Paint Booth!!! YEAH!!!!

Mini-Vacation

So, we have been really needing some quality family time here lately and after Jason's trip we thought it would be a great time to hit the road for a little while. And I do mean a little while, but it was really great! We left on Thursday for Branson. I know that it does not sound like much especially since Branson is only about 80 miles from our house, but it is just far away to have a little peace and quiet. (Only 2 work related phone calls, which is not bad for two days). The first day was filled with the kid's favorites. Transformers 2 at the movie theater, which we all loved, and dinner at Texas Roadhouse followed by... Swimming at the Hotel. I think that we could just go to a Hotel and go swimming for a week and they would think it was the best vacation ever.

Well, the next day we went into Branson. We did a little shopping and then we went to see NOAH THE MUSICAL at the Sight and Sound theater. It was really awesome. The kids loved it. I would recommend it to anyone. It was really spectacular. They had REAL and animatronic animals. Then the set of the Ark actually wrapped around the theater so you saw animals on all sides. It was something to see. Shelby and Bennett especially loved the parts where they were gathering the animals in the ark and all the live animals would come down the aisles and into the ark. Pretty Amazing!!!

So after that we decided to go home. We spent the 4th relaxing at home watching the kids light fireworks. We didn't even make it to the display because we were having so much fun shooting our own fireworks. Bennett and Shelby are both old enough this year to light the fireworks themselves ( with our supervision of course) so it was a real great family weekend.

Now it is back to work. It was fun while it lasted!

The "KING" of the Katy Trail

Jason spent the last 3 days biking his way down the Katy Trail with the High Adventure Boys from Church. There were 3 boys and one other leader besides Jason annd then they had another adult follow them in a truck for emergencies and do the food shopping. They had a great time. No major accidents, and no major break downs. They rode about 160 miles in 3 days. Not Bad! While they were biking they met a young couple that had riden there bike from New York State. They had there tents and stuff on their bikes and they just rode to see the world. They must have alot of amazing stories to tell.











The scenery was pretty cool. Jason said that the trail runs along the Missouri River and is full of cool stuff to look at. The towns were EXTREMELY small, but cool. they were hoping to have a big dinner in the towns that they stopped at but they were too small for any resturants. Finally on the last night the town they stayed in had a Pizza Hut.









This is a picture of (from left to right) Victor Moser, Justin McBryde, Jaycob Wilkins and Christain Hanconk. Jason was behind the camera. This was on a bridge that crossed the river.







So, the last day of riding Justin Mc Bryde thought it would be funny to run his front bike tire into Jason's rear tire. It ended in a crash with the road rash to prove it. Jason has a spot just like Justin's on his arm as well as his shoulder and knee. Good thing he was wearing his helmet beacuse it broke in two places from the impact. Safety First!!!!

I am so proud of those boys. They did great and now they have an adventure they will never forget. Jason has a sore neck but that's all. He said that he would love to do it again.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

WELL, 12 YEARS AGO ON JUNE 21 JASON AND I WERE MARRIED AND SEALED FOR TIME AND ALL ETERNITY IN THE DALLAS TEXAS TEMPLE. IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT IT HAS BEEN 12 YEARS ALREADY. I CAN STILL REMEMBER THINKING THAT THE DAY WOULD NEVER ARRIVE AND HERE WE ARE 12 YEARS LATER. STILL IN LOVE. STILL HANGING ON TO EACH OTHER. I AM SO BLESSED TO HAVE HIM IN MY LIFE. HE HAS ALWAYS PUT ME AND THE KIDS FIRST, AND NEVER WAVERS. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO WHAT THE NEXT 12 YEARS HAVE IN STORE FOR US.

ERIKA

Busy, Busy, Busy......

Well, it has been crazy around here lately. Alot of projects going on all at once and still going. First, we have added on to the shop for the Paint Booth. The concrete is laid and the metal on the outside of the building has been taken down and replaced with a door and OSB. The framing should start tomorrow. A friend of ours that framed our building after the fire has offered to help us frame this addition and we are going to work on his mom's car, so the trade should work out great.

Next, we bought a auto lift when we were in Texas. We have installed the pillars in the shop and it fits perfectly. (When I say perfect I mean you could not fit a piece of paper between the lift and ceiling.) We still have some electrical to do on it, but it is in.

Then, we have been doing some remodeling on the house. We are going to have a lot of family here in August for Bennett's baptism and we would like to have some more house work finished. We will see how it goes. Anyways, we started with the dining room. We mudded the walls and left that plaster look and painted over it. I think that it turned out really well. We also came across some awesome bookcases and a new computer desk on Craigslist (LOVE CRAIGSLIST!!!) that go perfectly in there.

And, if that was not enough the kids are out of school. They are now 2nd and 5th graders. (Man I feel old.) Here in Missouri 5th graders are in the Middle School so I am really freaking out about that. But I will try not to think about it yet. They love being home and spend most of their time playing with their cousins and swimming, can't forget swimming. I think that they would never get out if I would let them.

So, we are very busy, but loving it. Jason basically took last week off to work on the addition. We didn't have much work so we figured it was a perfect time, but this week the work has really been coming so that means long hours for us so we can complete all of these projects. I will post some pics next time, but my camera bit the dust last week, so I have to get a new one.

On a side note, I wrote a post a month or so ago about our friend Harlan Reynolds. His wife was diagnosed with Liver Cancer and not given long to live. She passed away on Friday. We are going to her funeral tomorrow. What a blessing every single day is.

Love to all
Erika

Animals

DUCKS
HENS
DADDY GOOSE NOT HAPPY ABOUT THE NEXT PIC I TOOK

MAMA GOOSE LAYING ON HER 9 EGGS. WE WILL SEE HOW MANY GEESE WE END UP WITH.

TURKEY

THE FARM IS GROWING AND GROWING. BEN AND FAY GOT 4 MORE DUCKS AND A GOAT THIS WEEKEND. I WILL POST A GOAT PIC LATER, SHE IS CUTE. HOPEFULLY THE HENS WE BE LAYING IN THE NEXT 4-6 WEEKS.

PIG UPDATE: I DO NOT HAVE A NEW PICS OF THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE STILL IN THE BARN. IF THE RAIN HOLDS OFF WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO MOVE THEM BACK TO THEIR HOME WITHIN A WEEK, BUT WE ARE NOT HOLDING OUR BREATH. THEY ARE GETTING HUGE HOWEVER AND PROBABLY CAN NOT WAIT TO ROLL AROUND IN SOME REAL MUD.

GARDEN!!!!

THE WHOLE GARDENONIONS AND PEPPERS

POTATOES

TOMATOES

Well there it is. We are really excited about it. Ben and Fay have planted something in this spot for the last five years or so. Usually Corn, but not even the corn has done this well. So far there is no disease and no animals getting in it. So we will see how it goes.

Thankful!!!!

Well, I just feel really strongly that I should put some of my feelings into writing.

Yesterday, a good friend of ours came by the house with some really bad news. Before I tell the bad news I want to tell you a little bit about this friend. His name is Harlan Reynolds. He lives just down the road and has been a wonderful friend. After the fire, he was one of the first people to come by and see how we were doing and asking what he could do for us. He organized a group of people to come over on Friday and Saturday to help with the clean-up and building. He is always willing to help Jason with mechanical car issues ( at which he is a genuis). We have tried to help him out whenever we can but at this point I think all we can do is send him our love and prayers and be there when he needs to talk. So, on to the bad news. His wife of 40 years was diagnosed with Liver Cancer on Friday. It is extremely far along and so far all the doctors say it is not treatable. He is crushed, he does not know how he can make it through it or why this is happening. Now, Harlan and his family are very religious but when Jason was talking to him yesterday we were both grateful for some beliefs that we have as a part of our church that differ from him.

One, the power of the Priesthood and Priesthood Blessings. I have a very strong testimony of the Priesthood and the power of Priesthood blessings. They can bring you peace even in the hardest of circumstances. I have received many and I can not imagine my life without that gift. Prayer is powerful but with the priesthood it is even more.

Second, eternal familes. I know that my family will be together FOREVER. Not jsut that there is a heaven after this life but that we will be together and what comfort that gives me.

I just want to express my thanks to my heavenly father for these beliefs and thank my parents for teaching them to me. I love my family so much and especially my husband and kids. I am extremely blessed with a loving husband who puts me and our family first. Who is always there when I need him and who honors his priesthood. I am thankful for our health and all the blessing that the Lord has give to us. May we be good stewards of those blessings.

Love ya All

BOOKWORM!!

So, in the part year or so I have really begun to have a real interest in reading. I have always enjoyed reading but when you have small children at home it is really hard to carve out time for a bath let alone a book. Now that the kids are growing up and take alot less of my time I have really discovered that joy again. In the last year I have only read a couple of books, but they were all GREAT, so I thought I would share.


First, was Dave Ramsey's book "The Total Money Makeover". If you don't have it you NEED to get it. It is a really good book that is easy to read. You can read a couple chapters, put it down for a couple weeks and then pick it up again with no problems. The concepts he teaches and the way he lays them out in the book make so much sense. Even if you have listened to his radio show the book is a must read.


Second, is "The Christmas Sweater" by Glenn Beck. It is a fiction book based loosely on actual events. It is a relatively short book, but I must warn you that when you start it you will not want to put it down. It makes you laugh and cry(I mean like a baby). It has an awesome message that really spoke to me.


The last book I read was "The Survivor's Club" by Ben Sherwood. It is a really good book about the Secrets and Science of Survivor's. The book tells a bunch of stories about all different kinds of Survivor's. It is extremely fascinating. It is a rather long book but the book really goes chapter by chapter and you could take your time reading it, but I will say that the stories he tells about people who have survived extraordinary circumstances are very fascinating and it is hard to not keep reading about more people.


Well, those are the books I have read lately and I am getting ready to start a new book tonight. It is called " The Lone Survivor" by Marcus Luttrell. He was a Navy Seal who's team was ambushed in Afghanistan while on a mission and he was the only one that survived. It should be really good.


On a very side note, something very funny happened with the pigs the other day. We had to move the pigs to the barn beacuse even the extended fence they made was flooding. Well, there was an old 50 Gallon Barrel they they used for feed when we had horses and cows. They had cut a small hole in the top so they could scoop out the feed. Well, there was some feed left in the barrel and the pigs wanted it, so one of the girls managed to squeeze herself in the Barrel but could not squeeze herself out so Jason had to take his Saw down there and cut the top of the barrel off so she could get out. Needless to say she was not a happy camper. FUNNY!!! Always something going on around here.

Is it May 21 yet?

So, I am really looking forward to May 21. We are heading down to Texas to spend some great quality time with my family. I am so excited and so ready for a semi-vacation.

Things have been picking up at Ballard Paint and Body. We are still having a hard time selling vehicles but the call volume for them are picking up so hopefully something will sell soon, but our customer work has been GREAT!!!! so we will take what we can get and try to conform. On thing that is hurting us with the car sells is that in the last week we have learned the most of the banks around here have decided to only loan 85% of TRADE-IN Value on the car. It makes it really hard to sell a car when the people can not get the whole car financed, but we will jsut have to figure out a way to make it work.

Also, Shelby and Bennett's last day of school is May 29 and I can tell that it is almost summer time because our Bennett has been getting in trouble at school. This happened about this time last year, but we are keeping on him to do well with his behavior at school and so far he is responding and doing well at school.

And, on a side note, I will post a new pig picture soon because last weekend Jason had to expand the pig pen beacuse with all the rain we recently got (and are still getting) they were about to drown. They are too good at rooting in the ground are packing it so tight that he holds water very well.

I hope that everyone is well and ya'll have a great weekend.

SLOP TIME!!!!!

So, every evening we take the Slop ( all of our left over food and drinks) down to the pigs for dinner. They get feed in the morning which they tolerate, but as you can see in the video they LOVE slop. They are pacing at the fence when they hear Jason coming. I thought that my Nieces would get a kick out of it. So this is for ya'll. Also, I thought I would post pictures every once in a while of the turkeys, chickens and now ducks. They grow fast. As you can tell by the pics.

Clearance Sale!!!

SO, things are a little tight at Ballard Paint and Body, so we had a clearance sale (or maybe I should say that the clearance sale came to us.)

It started about 4 weeks ago. Things have been very slow around here. So we asked Alex to find another job and within a week he had a job landed and left us. We just did not have the work to support all of us. (And there were so other issues there but I will not get into them right now.)So far things have worked out well with that. We still have Robert working for us but he only works when we need him so if we don't have the money he just doesn't work.

Then last week a friend of Jason's brother called and asked if we were interested in selling our paint booth. Now, if you do not know the story of the paint booth,we reallygot ripped off.It was way smaller then the guy who sold it to us told us it was, so it worked okay but we really need something bigger, so we took the oppurtunity to sell it. We even made them take it down, which was very humorous. They did not do what we told them to do and they took all the front panels off first. It fell into itself and they alnost lost he whole thing. They did lose all the galss that was left in it. But they got it. We got enough money to build a booth in the garage and it will be about twice the size. We are excited about it.

THEN, yesterday Bill Nichols (he has the shop down the street that we contemplated buying after the fire, he also helped us with building the new shop) called and said that he was looking at buying a frame rack. Well Jason said that we would sell him our burned rack and he could rebuild it. Well he came right over and paid us for it and we delivered it to his shop last night. We just do not need 2 frame racks and with the money we made we can buy a 2 post lift which will be alot more useful.

So, lots of changes around Ballard Paint and Body but we are very excited about it. I also would be remiss if I did not say a little about the fire ONE YEAR LATER. Time has flown and I have to say that this time last year I was still not sure that all this was going to work out. But it has. We have a much better shop that really lends itself to making more money, even though we are not right now. We really fell blessed. And I just want to take this oppurtunity to thank EVERYONE for everything they did for our family and our business. You will never know how much it meant for all of you to drop whatever you were doing and sacrifice your time and help us rebuild. We love what we do and could not imagine doing anything else, and I guess we are just lucky that we have a family that loves each other conditionally and can always be counted on. THANKS!!!!! I really love you guys

Hope everything is well!

OUR NEWEST EDITIONS!

PIGS

TURKEYS

AND SOON CHICKENS

There is a picture of the pigs and the beautiful pen we built for them. And a picture of the chicken house and yard we made and a picture of the inside of the house where the turkeys were hiding.

On the road to becoming self sufficient we have got some wildlife back out here. 3 pigs, 5 turkeys and some chickens that hopefully will lay eggs. We have also started a garden with potatoes and onions right now, but more will follow.

Just a side note that Bondo HATES the pigs right now. I think it is because they are pinned up and he can torment them without the threat of them retaliating. It is pretty humorous to watch. And I have to say that as I watch these animals I really wish that all my nieces and nephew could be here so I could watch their reaction to them.

Anyways, that is all for now.

ITALIAN NACHOS

Well, I have a new favorite EASY dinner that I thought I would share. Now to be fair I am usually the last to figure things out especially in the litchen but it is new to me. Jason and I love Italian Nachos at Johnny Carino's so I set out to the internet to find a recipe and I found one. Now I have tweeked it a little bit to fit our family but here it is.

1 bag tortilla chips ( I use Santina's because of how thin they are)
1 roll sausage
1 can of Alfredo Sauce (spaghetti sauce size)
Roma Tomatoes
Green Onions
Jalepenos
Olives
Parmesan Cheese
Mozarella Cheese

So you spread out the chips on a cookie sheet. Brown the sausage and heat up the alfredo sauce seperately. Add the Alfredo and then the sausage. Then the vegetables and then Parmesan and finish it with Mozarella Cheeses. Then cook it at 375 for betwwen 5-8 minutes until the cheese has some golden brown spots. Serve.

It is SOOOOO GOOOOD! And I think that you could really add or delete anything you wanted. You could use Chicken or beef instead of sausage or the recipe online suggested that to make it authentic that Johnny Corino's uses browned won tons for the chips. I haven't tried it that way. So There it is

Bennett on TWO WHEELS!!!

Okay, so I want to start this post with some background info on our Bennett. From the day he was born he will not be pushed into doing something that he is not ready for and he refuses to let you know what he knows no matter what. When he was in the hospital the Neonatalogist had to remove the ventilator and later the CPAP off of him cold turkey because he would not wean off them. His lungs were developed but until he was forced to do it on his own, he was content the way it was.
So Jason has been working with him off and on for a while to help him learn how to ride his bike without training wheels to no avail. Now I must disclose that we do not have any patch of ground that is not plauged with rocks so it is not excatly a smooth ride. It would always end with Bennett in tears(which he does often, he is a very emotional child) and Jason frazzled. so needless to say there have not been very many riding lessons lately. BUT, yesterday Bennett decided that he was ready to ride it and after about 5 minutes of help from Jason he is riding it like he has been riding a bike for years.
He has already asked for a new bike to commemorate his triumph, but his bike has hardly been riden since we bought it for him last year so he will have to wear this one out first.

The Hit on Rudy the Rooster

So, we have a Rooster on the property that has taken a dislike to Bennett. On at least a couple recent occasions the Rooster has chased Bennett off which has made him dislike him just as much. Well, last week as Bennett was playing down by the barn with the other kids when Rudy went on the attack. He actually punctured skin when he jumped on Bennet. so a couple of days ago Bennett came to Jason with a proposition and it went something like this:
Bennett: Dad, I need to talk to you about Rudy.
Jason: Well, What do you want to talk about?
Benentt: I was hoping that you could TAKE CARE OF RUDY! (he said really softly)
Jason: What do you mean TAKE CARE OF RUDY!
Bennett: You know, with your gun.

We could not stop laughing!!!! He wanted to put a hit out on Rudy. Needless to say Rudy is still alive and well but Bennett says when he is old enough to have a gun Rudy will be the first to go. We had to explain to him that he will not be able to have a gun until he is MUCH OLDER and MUCH WISER because you can not kill an animal just because.

TOO FUNNY!! Had to share!

The Ballard's Caffeine FREE!

Well, for all ya'll that know us well Diet Coke and Diet Mt. Dew are pretty much water in our household. BUT, we have decided to go Caffeine Free. As of Last Monday I have not had any Caffeine and Jason has only had 1 Mt. Dew a day. I know it does not sound like much but for anyone that has had a caffeine headache you know what we went through. We fell really good about it.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Well I thought that if Loretta can do movie reviews I should do a review on the only movie I will see this year. Not beacuse I don't want to see any movies it is just the way it works out for us. ( although i know that my reviews are not near as good or pretty as Loretta's)

Paul Blart:Mall Cop is a PG rated Adam Sandler produced movie, so if you like adam sandler humor you can appreciate this movie. The best part about it is it is reated PG so none of the bad stuff. It is not Great but it is a really good funny family film to enjoy together. Bennet loved it. Shelby thought it was okay. Jason and I were both laughing through most of it.

Things have been crazy busy at Ballard Paint and Body. Lots of work so far, so we consider ourselves blessed. We did however find some time to do some remodeling. Jason built me a pantry and totally redid the laundry room. Drywall and crown molding. The whole works. It looks beautiful. I can't wait until we have the time and money to do the rest of the house. I will take some pics and post them when we get all of the trim painting done.