Ballou girls tea party

The Ballou girls gathered to have a fabulous tea party at Lili and Connie's house on Friday. We had such a good time watching the girls slip and slide, swim in the pool and finally enjoy their "tea" with the cute dishes F.A.P. (Favorite Aunt Pat) brought for them to use. It was a huge success and wish the rest of the girls would have been there too!

Here are a few highlights of the evening!

Cali O'Malley having some tea (that's what Bridget calls her, so cute!)


Andy and Jo's beautiful Nicole and Drew. Such cuties!


Holli's Savannah had her face painted from the Arts Festival.


Skylar (Jo and Andy) and Ashton (Ben and Camille) conspiring over a cup of tea.


Bridget having her own cup of tea.


All the kids gather around their make shift table (Connie's ottoman) to enjoy their snacks.


Speaking of snacks, Lili made a yummy raspberry lemonade, a spinach salad, chicken salad sandwiches, and this lovely cucumber/tomato/onion salad. F.A.P. brought some cupcakes but no frosting, I brought some lemonade and a few treats, Holli made some fresh chocolate chip scones, and Jo brought some fruit.



F.A.P. being cheesy as usual.


The girls chillin' in the pool.


Skylar, Aston and Ali taking full advantage of the slip and slide Lili lubed up with dish soap. Very slippery.


Bridget didn't quite get the hang of the slip and slide but she had fun playing on it.

Look what I found....

Any one who knows me really well knows I love books. I can get lost in the story for hours. It's a blessing and a curse sometimes. I found a new author, Sarah Addison Allen and have fallen in love with her stories! They are amazing. If you're looking for a great book with outstanding characters and story line, pick up her books. You won't be dissapointed.

Father's Day

My dad and I have a great relationship, strange at times, but he and I are in sync most of the time - sometimes good, sometimes bad. If you know a Ballou girl you will know that those Ballou genes inherited from John and June Ballou are strong, bossy, opinionated, loud, and almost always right. I am a Ballou girl through and through and damn proud of it.

I never spend Father's Day with my dad because its the annual API golf tournament in Roosevelt, which means that my uncles over take my parent's house for a weekend of golf, food and of course, bull shit. But I always call my dad on Father's Day because I love him very much and because of the way he is, I don't tell him nearly enough.

Bob can be a bit prickly sometimes, doesn't show his emotions well (except for anger). But he's really a soft hearted, compassionate person that I favor not just in looks, but personality. But where he's quick to bluster, he's also loving and always fair. He's a pretty great guy.

I have a lot of great examples of amazing men in my life. I am lucky to have a great husband, dad, brother, brother in laws, father in laws, uncles, cousins, and two amazing grandfather's who I miss very much.

I love this picture! It's one of my favorites from my wedding. I was very close with my Papa but not as close with my Grandpa Ballou. I am who I am because of these two men and how they raised my parents. I miss them tons.

My uncles are a crazy group of guys when you get them in the same room. But they are fun and I love them a lot.

I love the look on my dad's face in this picture.

I took this picture at the park today because I wanted to make sure Bridget could see a picture of her and James on Father's Day. These two are so cute together. When I go to City Council on Tuesday nights, they go on Daddy/Daughter Dates. Bridget looks forward to them each week.

She was so small in this picture, just a few days old. I love this one because James's hands are so strong holding her and she's just so delicate. It was love at first sight for both of us with Bridget, but especially James.

Marcos and his two little monkeys. They were just babies when I first met them and now they are so big. Where does the time go?

This picture of Brian and his kids is old but I still love it.

Tom has a cute relationship with each of his kids and I really love that about him.

I love this picture of Jim and his three kids. They are all so alike in many ways and yet all three kids are so different. I guess that's what makes a family, right?

Alex and Paige - two peas in a pod for sure. He is a cute dad with her and lets her get away with murder!


Happy Father's Day 2010 everyone!

Seeing the fishies

Lili and I took the girlies to the Sandy Aquarium yesterday and had so much fun! Neither one was really interested in touching the Stingrays but they loved watching the penguins.


Cali and Bridget modeling their new shades and being superstars. I had one of these on my head to try to get their attention for the picture which meant that they both needed one on their heads as well. You know how that works.


Bridget loves the penguins and was so funny when she stood next to this one. She basically told me everything she knew about penguins while she stood here. It was funny.


We tried to get Cali to go in the boat with the Midge but she wasn't having it.


It was such a fun day and we are looking forward to another cousin trip next week to the zoo!

Bridget first gymnastics class

We signed Bridget up for a gymnastics class this summer from a girl in our neighborhood and yesterday was her first class. We bought her a cute black leotard and she looked soooo cute and so grown up! She finally figured out how to do a somersault with a little help from Savanna. I asked her what her favorite part was and she said flipping! So cute!


Doesn't she look so big in this picture with those other kids? She needed a little help with most of the stuff but not the balance beam, she mastered that!


Here is Savanna helping her do a back bend. She was a little nervous at first but then started having fun.

Blackberry Lemon Trifle

Have you had my blackberry lemon trifle? You are missing out if you haven't. I made it a few weeks ago for some friends and it was a huge hit! This is actually several recipes skillfully combined to make a divine taste creation. Here is the recipe:

Blackberry Lemon Trifle

2-3 cups blackberries (raspberries and strawberries work great too)
Lemon curd mousse
Sour cream pound cake

After the pound cake has cooled, slice it into 3/4 to 1 inch slices, then cut the slices down the middle and then into six pieces (they don't have to be neat). Put some of the mousse down in the bottom of your serving dish (I used my trifle bowl but anything will work) and then put down about half of the pound cake, pushing it down with your hand into the cream gently. Put half the berries on top of the pound cake and then top with half the mousse.

Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients. When adding the second layer of pound cake, push it down until the mousse starts to seep through the cake. The more compact the trifle is, the better it seems to be, but don't push it so hard you break up the cake or squish the berries.

Top the trifle with the remaining mousse and garnish with a few berries and some lemon zest (if you have some.)

This dessert is great the first day you make it but its also great if you make it the day before. The leftovers are great but the cake will start to get a little softer the longer it sits mixed with the mousse.

Here are the other recipes you will need for this dish:

Lemon Curd Mousse

6 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
4 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut in chunks
2 cups sweetened whipped cream

To make the lemon curd: Bring a pot of water to a simmer over medium-low heat. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, and zest in a metal or glass heat-resistant bowl and whisk until smooth. Set the bowl over the simmering water, without letting the bottom touch, and continue to whisk. Keep working-out that arm and whisk it vigorously for a good 10 minutes, until the curd has doubled in volume and is very thick and yellow. Don't let it boil. Remove the bowl from heat and whisk in the butter, a couple of chunks at a time, until melted. Refrigerate until the custard is cold and firm.

When ready to serve, fold in 2 cups sweetened whipped cream to make it a mousse.

Paula Dean's Sour Cream Pound Cake

1 stick butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the sour cream and mix until incorporated. Sift the baking soda and flour together. Add to the creamed mixture alternating with eggs, beating in each egg 1 at a time. Add vanilla.

Pour the mixture into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

BBQ sauce and the park

My dad has the hands down best BBQ sauce recipe out there and if you've tasted it you'll agree. It's the perfect blend of smokey, slightly sweet, spicy goodness that you expect from a GREAT BBQ sauce. We all think that he should bottle it and sell it. We got together with James's family on Sunday for our weekly walk in Murray Park before it started flooding like crazy. James and I made yummy BBQ chopped chicken sandwiches and they were divine!


The sauce is super easy especially when you have a good helper like Bridget. I use this sauce on everything BBQ and I think once you taste it, you will too. Plus, if you know Bob (and love him) you know that he's serious about food and anything he tells you is good, probably is.

Here is the recipe:

2 1/4 cup ketchup
2 1/4 cup water
2 beef bullion cubes
1 1/4 tsp. dry mustard
1 TBSP. chili powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 shakes of hot sauce (I promise, this adds to the flavor not the heat)
1 1/2 TBSP. brown sugar or honey
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke
1 TBSP. lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients and boil for 15 minutes.

The spices you will use:

The finished product. Yum!

It's so easy and soooooo good! If you make it, let me know what you think.

Here are the pictures from the park later that day!

James and Bridget hamming it up. They are so cute!


The ice cream man came by us and the kids freaked out they were so excited! Bridget got a Shrek Popsicle thing that smelled like green apple but looked like radioactive slime.

Danae showing off her watermelon Popsicle grin!

All the cousins posing with their ice cream. Such a cute bunch of rascals!

I couldn't help not snapping this picture and as you can see from the reflection in my glasses, I took it myself. Bridget wasn't happy about it but I rarely make an appearance in our pictures because I'm usually the one taking them!

I love these kids!

The whole family (except for Alyse - missed you girl!)

The biggest group of cheesers I know, especially T.J.!

Trouble in a wagon for sure!