Halloween Carnival

PV always does a fantastic job on the Halloween Carnival and this year was no exception! One of my favorite parts of the whole thing is that the booths are developed and worked by the 5th and 6th graders. These kids work so hard and do a fantastic job. Every year it is such a treat and my kids have a fantastic time. This year they each invited a friend to come which was a lot of fun. It is great to see Claire engaging in friendship. Her friend Cortney is a DOLL! She is a real Godsend in Claire's life so we were thrilled that it worked out for her to join us. Carter is Brocks buddy from Second Pres and we love hanging out with him and his brother Cabey (Caleb). Carter's mom Tina has become a friend to me as well. It is nice that we each got a friend out of the deal. Here are some great pictures from the Carnival and once we were ready.

Claire is Daphne from Scooby Doo

Brock is Wheezy the Penguin from Toy Story 2

If only they had fun together!

Tough Guys!

Nothing would be complete without Cousins. Even the babies got to come to the carnival!

Recipe of the week

This is one of my favorite easy meals that almost all of my family will eat. (Brock doesn't eat much of anything!)

Spaghetti & Meatballs

Meatballs
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 egg
1 tbsp garlic

Mix together well and roll into balls. Put into a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes at 350. When they are finished then put them into the spaghetti sauce and allow them time to absorb the flavor of the sauce. This is usually better the next day.

Spaghetti Sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced Italian style tomatoes
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 tbsp garlic
two dashes of worchestershire sauce
1 tsp basil, oregano (put them into your hand and rub your hands together into the sauce. This will help release the true flavor in all dried seasonings.)

seasoning to taste
salt
seasoned salt
pepper

Allow to heat slowly on the stove until it is warm. Serve with your favorite pasta!

Arkansas State Fair

It is a Wood family tradition that has gone on as long as I have been alive to go to the fair. There were a few years in the 80's when the fair was too dangerous to go, but other than that we have gone every year. They have done a great job of getting control over it and making it a safe, fun place for families to go. This is a highlight of our year and seems to only get more fun with each passing year. This year was no exception because my kids were even able to ride some of the "big kid" rides. Their favorite (although they both say everything was their favorite) was the bumper cars. They thought that they were really cool stuff in there with everyone. I had fun myself and even broke down and rode the "Extreme" with Kayely. It was pretty cool and the best news is that I didn't puke. We were there from 4-10 and my kids were still mad that they had to leave. Fortunately, Claire had Friday off so we were able to stay until I was pretty sure they were about to fall over from exhaustion, no matter what the words were coming out of their mouths. Anyway, another year down, and in a way it makes me sad because I know that next year they will be able to ride even more of the "big kid" rides. Oh yeah, this was also the first year in 7 years that we didn't take a stroller with us. Tim and I both were a little sad about that. Them growing up is a little tough to take sometimes. Enjoy every minute of your kids! Enjoy the pics!

Claire loves the Merry-Go-Round!

Brock and his twin four years apart

We saw Jana and Kacey Rousell out there and they joined us for a few rides.

Brock and Tim were going to go on the Haunted House!

The kids always love having Heidi & Pops around!

Recipe of the Week

I was listening to the radio the other day (it was actually a station that I like) and heard something that gave me an idea. They were having people call in with recipes on Wednesdays. I love to cook and try new recipes, so this intrigued me. It has been said that I can hold my own in the kitchen, so I thought why not post a recipe each week (if I remember). It will amuse me to put some of my favorites out there, and it might help whoever is reading my blog to have a supper idea. So I will start with what I made last night, a good stand by of Chicken Noodle Soup. I will mention that there are a lot of times that I just start throwing things together and sometimes they turn out, but there are other times the dog won't eat them. Don't worry I will only post the good ones. Hope that you enjoy. If you like the idea then post join me in a weekly post on your blog and let me know. If you ever have a request for something let me know and I will try and mix it up with entrees, desserts, appitizers, etc.



Chicken Noodle Soup

1 package of boneless chicken breast (boiled and shredded) - don't get rid of the water!

1 package of your favorite noodles cooked

1 bundle of green onions finely chopped (or a white onion but green onions cook better)

3 carrots cooked in the water from the chicken for about 6 minutes

3 stalks of celery cooked with the carrots

1 or 2 cans of Chicken Broth (depending on how much soup you want to make)

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/2 cup heavy cream (I didn't say this was low fat)



Here is where it all gets tricky because you have to do these to taste but I will give you a starting place...

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp basil

1 tsp oregano



Add all the ingredients (including the water that you cooked the chicken, celery and carrots in into a crock pot (or a large pot depending on how long you have before serving the soup) and cook until it reaches the temp you want. Remember if you get it too spicy you can always add milk or the cream to tone it down. Happy soup eating!

Tim in a nutshell!

I've been tagged...
1. Who is my man? Timothy Michael Ballard

2. How long have you been together? We celebrated our 12 year anniversary this past August 26th!

3. How long did you date? 2 years (plus a month or two)
4. How old is your man? 35
5. Who eats more? Tim

6. Who said I love you first? Me

7. Who is taller? I think Tim has me by an inch (or foot)

8. Who sings better? Tim doesn't sing, EVER

9. Who is smarter? I wouldn't be very smart if I put me now would I?
10. Who has the worse temper? Mine shows up more often, but I really don't recommend ever getting Tim to a point where you see his. Not pretty!

11. Who does the laundry? We really do split it up (lately Tim has done much more than me, Thanks Honey!

12. Who takes out the garbage? both

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Tim
14. Who pays the bills? Tim is awesome at this!

15. Who is better on the computer? going with a tie

16. Who mows the lawn? definitely Tim does while wearing cleats so he doesn't fall off our hill.

17. Who cooks dinner? me

18. Who drives? both, but Tim drives more

19. Who pays for dinner? whoever has the cash

20. Who is the most stubborn? Seriously? There really isn't a question on this one. ME
21. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? I am never wrong. We both are pretty good about this.

22. Whose parents do you see the most? mine.
23. Who kissed who first? Our first kiss was at our wedding. HAHAHA

24. Who asked who out first? I asked Tim to a party at my parents house.
25. Who proposed? Tim on top of Sugarloaf

26. Who is more sensitive? Tim

27. Who has more siblings? we both have a brother and a sister

28. Who has more friends? I do more with my friends but he has more "close" friends.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? I think that I do but when it comes down to it Tim quietly leads us where we want to be. He makes life amazing! I tell him all the time if he ever dies I will never remarry because there is no way there will ever be anyone this easy to be married to ever again!

Super Saturday!

Wow did we have a great day on Saturday! It was jammed packed the whole day. I love days where we have some real QT as a family. I know that these days are going to be gone before we know it and they won't want to have anything to do with us. Now they still think that we are grat so I am going to take advantage of it for as long as I can. To start off, we stopped at American Pie pizza on Maumelle Blvd. I highly recommend it if your ever looking for specialty pizzas. We had the Wild Hog pizza or something like that, whatever, it was great. Then we went down the road to Millinium Bowl where we took the kids to their first shot at bowling. Ryan and Reid Bowman met up with us and we had a great time. The boys were ready for the game to be over by the 8th frame but still seemed to have a good time. I have to say it wore Brock out! Here are some snapshots of the fun.Saturday was also the first LR Razorback game. We try and take the kids out for the pregame activities, and then we send them home before the game. Brock was supposed to go to the game with me, but he was just too tired. I was disappointed, but there will be other games. Claire had so much fun seeing the Cheerleaders and calling the Hogs. She was adorable to watch! The Hogs were nothing to watch, but hopefully they were saving their strength for the rest of the season. Yeah thats it, they just didn't want to wear themselves out before all the tough opponents! All I know is that they better bring their A game to Knoxville! Joellyn and I are due to witness a victory in Knoxville!

Brock was really not wanting the weird blow up Hog to get any closer!

I LOVE NASCAR!

Okay for those of you who don't know (I am not sure how you missed it), I love NASCAR. It is so cool to me, and I just love going to races. I am one of those people who watch it, read about it, have a favorite driver, Tony Stewart, and have drivers that I despise, Kurt Busch and his brother Kyle. Anyway... This past weekend, courtesy of The Home Depot, Tim and I went to Kansas City for the race. Other than Tim getting the stomach virus on Saturday, a 4 hour rain delay on Sunday and a few minor setbacks, we had a great time. We had passes into the Hospitality Village, and I got to see Tony Stewart up close and in person. I also got to go down onto pit row and walk through the pit area. It was really awesome! Unfortunately, Tony got wrecked in the last 10 laps by Kurt Busch so he didn't win. As always, the people watching was amazing! I am not sure but that may be my favorite part. I couldn't not take pictures to share with you guys! I didn't even get to take a picture of the drunk guy falling in the mud as we were leaving. Tim wouldn't slow down long enough to let me get my camera so you can thank him. I am pretty sure that they explain themselves but feel free to shoot some questions my way. I am not sure what track I want to go to next but before I die I want to see a Daytona 500 in person. Hey a girl can dream!