SHETLAND BASEBALL

Briggor has started his very first season of Shetland baseball.  He is so excited.  He practices twice a week until the season starts.  The season starts the week of March 14th.  From there he will have a game during the week and then one on Saturday.

I love this age!  I love watching all the kids run for the ball, leave their position and chase the runner down!

DONUTS WITH DAD

This morning, Mark went with the three kids to school for Donuts with Dad!!  It looks like they were enjoying themselves!! Way to go DAD!!! :)

6 months ALREADY?

Yesterday marked the 6 month anniversary of my dad's death.  It's hard to believe that time travels so fast.  It was a bittersweet day.  A day to remember my dad.  Even though the tears are less, the pain is still so deep in my heart.  My heart hurts so very much since my dad passed away.  I find myself wondering if it was a dream. My mom shared with me that she feels the same way.  I find myself hoping that when I dial my parents phone number that my dad will answer and say, "Hi Mar!!"  What I would give for one more of those.  I wish that I could just crawl into my dad's arms and feel his love one more time.  No words needed to be spoken.  My dad's hugs said it all.  I wish I could ask him one more question about life.  It feels like a lifetime since the last time we saw each other. One of my last moments with my dad was me holding him in a giant bear hug so he wouldn't fall out of his wheelchair! He kept fighting me to let go of him but there was no way I was going to do that.   It seems that memory is embedded in my mind forever.  It was hard to believe that my dad was slipping away from us right then and two days later he was gone.

Sometimes I wish God would have just left you where you belong.  Here on earth as my dad. You are truly never prepared for the loss of one of your parents.  But my faith has kept me grounded and it has helped me to understand as much as possible the way God works in our lives.  I ask God on a regular basis to just give my dad a hug for me and let him know I miss him very much.  We have to realize that our human brains can only handle so much and the part that we don't understand - we will understand, someday, when we to, pass into eternity.  We just have to trust God!  We, as humans, only know that there is a beginning and end.  Our minds cannot wrap around the idea of eternity and that God has always been!

 I miss you so much daddy! 

Yesterday, Briggor and I traveled down south to spend the day with my mom.  I knew my dad was on my mom's mind so I tried to make it easier by spending some time with her.  We went and visited my dad.

Less tears, more memories, tender moments.  

Briggor pretty much summoned it up.  I wish we all could have the love of a 5 yr old.  Unconditional.  I said to him we were going to visit papa.  He looked at me and said, "is he alive?"  LOL  I said, "NO!, we are going to visit him at the cemetery!".  Briggor said "OK!"  When we arrived at the cemetery, Briggor knew exactly where we were.  My dad is interned in a beautiful rose garden with a water fountain right in the middle.  Guess where Briggor headed first?  As my mom and I walked over to the wall where my dad is, Briggor trailed behind in his child-like boy fashion....walking on the rocks, touching everything, singing to himself.

 My mom and I paused to reflect on my dad. 

 Briggor turns the corner, walks right up to my dad's nameplate, touched it and said, "Hey, Papa!" and kept right on going, back to play in the water and rocks. He knew exactly where it was! It was simple, to the point and touching to say the least.  I just smile and said, "that's my son!"   Just a simple gesture that meant so much!

After our visit, we went to lunch and spent a few hours shopping.  Shopping cures the blues!! :)  Most women will agree with that!!  It was a nice day spent with my mom!

Cherish your moments with your parents because before you know it - they will be gone from sight!

President's Day!

Monday the kids were off school for President's Day.  I had so much to do but I wanted to play.  Here are the pictures from our day out!

Briggor feeding the ducks at Hart Park.

 We have a pass for the CALM zoo.  

 The train ride at the zoo.

 Jade, Megan and Briggor

 Megan and I on the train.

Valentine's Day 2011

Valentine's Day fell on a Monday this year.  I volunteered to help in Briggor's Kindergarten Class for the party.  The kids in the class decorated sugar cookies and passed out Valentine's to their friends.

Briggor was my special valentine this year!

This is what his valentine said that was hung around his neck:  :)

Mark worked late on Valentine's Day.  I picked up heart-shaped pizza from the local pizza parlor and the kids are shirley temples for drinks!   Mark came home with roses for all his girls (Tasha, Megan, Jade and I) and Valentine's day cards for all the kids!

Megan and I

Megan and me at the Justin Bieber "NEVER SAY NEVER" movie!!

CROCK POT RECIPE - SHREDDED CHICKEN FOR TACOS/BURRITOS

I am in love with my crock pot.  I don't know why I keep avoiding it.  When I do bring it out to use it - it makes me happy.  Today, I volunteer in Briggor's classroom so I will  be gone for the afternoon.  I want to make Shredded Chicken Tacos for dinner tonight.  So, while I am at the school, my crock pot will be working!  

I am surprised that more people don't use or own a crock pot.  So many healthy, home-cooked meals can be done in the crock pot.  I'm actually thinking of buying another one so that I can pre-cook and freeze a lot of different items.

So for today, I am posting a very simple recipe for shredded chicken.  You can use the shredded chicken for tacos or burritos.  Just open a can of refried beans (or make your own in another crock pot), add some chips and salsa, some guac and you have a meal!!

SHREDDED CHICKEN FOR TACOS/BURRITOS:

CHICKEN (BONELESS,SKINLESS BREASTS)
1 ONION, SLICED
TACO SEASONING
PEPPER
MINCED GARLIC

1.  LAYER ONION IN BOTTOM OF CROCK POT.  ADD CHICKEN AND SPRINKLE WITH TACO SEASONING, PEPPER AND MINCED GARLIC.

2.  COOK ON LOW 4 HOURS OR UNTIL DONE BUT NOT DRY.  (TIME WILL VARY ACCORDING TO AMOUNT OF CHICKEN AND SIZE OF PIECES)

3.  SHRED

4.  ENJOY IN A TACO (PREPARED SHELL OR HEATED IN OIL) AND/OR BURRITOS (USE FLOUR TORTILLAS)

Feeling Lazy Today!

Today is President's Day and all the kids are home from school.  Days like these I just want to be like them....sleep in, be lazy, forget all the chores, have fun!   I always have stuff to do around the house.  I have a TO DO list a mile long and then some.  But, today I feel like playing hooky.

Since I started the year out sick, I feel today is the day to begin my walking AGAIN.  How many times have I done that?  LOL   This last bout of sickness kicked my butt!  It kept me down for some time.  So, first on my list today is walking for 30 minutes.

Later, I am going to take anyone who wants to - to our little zoo CALM.      http://www.calmzoo.org/    It's really a nice place to walk around and see some animals.  I just want to get out of the house today!

Much later, Megan has an appointment at the modeling agency to get her set up on acting classes.  Yes, this is a new project for Megan.  The acting classes start on March 1st.

So, I am off to enjoy President's Day with no chores, no worries, just FUN!!!

Meal Planning

Meal planning can become quite a difficult task in our family.  I have so many taste buds to consider it is difficult to meet the wants and desires of all the people in my family.  A lot of times, I find myself going back to standards of hot dogs, hamburgers and spaghetti.  I hear throughout the walls of my house "Not again?", "EEWWwww, why do we have to have that?",  "Why are we having THAT?" .   As a mom, it gets frustrating!  I want to encourage my kids to eat healthy foods.  I want them to experience new foods.  We also have some standing traditions in our family like "Taco Tuesday!!"  

I try my best to come up with different and enjoyable meals.  I love new recipes and love cooking and seeing their faces when something turns out amazing.  In the past, I used to take the negative responses personally but over time have come to except them as well as the positive.   If the majority loves the food that was prepared for  them then the meal was successful!! :)

So, with that said, remember, every week is a challenge for me!  Come up with something satisfying for everyone.  Incorporate that into my business family schedule!  I'm off to meal plan for the coming days.......

Andrew Update

Last Thursday, February 10th, our son, Andrew graduated from Army Boot Camp in Fort Jackson, South Carolina. We are so proud of him.  He received his orders and was flown to Fort Huachuca In Arizona.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Huachuca

http://www.army.mil/info/organization/huachuca/


Here Andrew will be attending school for 4 months. Mark and I spoke to him last night and he is frustrated and tired. It seems while in South Carolina the weather did not cooperate with the training and delayed their boot camp a couple of weeks. Since that happened, Andrew schooling started on February 7th and he missed the start of school. So, with that said, Andrew and 27 other guys from SC will have to wait it out in Arizona until the next school session that begins on March 28th. Welcome to the Army - we told him! We also reminded him that he is still getting paid!! LOL

REPORT CARDS

Report cards have come and gone in our family once again.  Congratuations to Ryan and Bud for getting Honor Roll this last quarter.  Jade has all her grades above a "C" which is a great personal accomplishment for her.  With no help from mom, she made the grade!!

Megan is struggling with Math.  All her grades are above a "C" except for Math.  She is working hard to bring that grade up.  Tasha is struggling with her mainstream classes.  The other classes she is passing with flying colors.

Briggor received his first report card and is doing excellent!

Mendenhall children - YOU ROCK!!

January 15 - January 17

On the weekend of January 15th, my sister, Tink, my niece, Kim, my mom and I all flew to Las Vegas for my mom's 76th birthday.  We stayed at the Venezian hotel.  It was beautiful.

 Our Room!

 Our bathroom! with a TV!

 The gondola ride inside the hotel.  It is pretty impressive!

 This is where we had dinner on Saturday night!

 This is the ceiling in the Venezian just above where we ate dinner!  It dimmed like it was sunset.

 What can I say........

 Again, the view ...

 Vegas at night!

 My mom and sis inside the Bellagio Gardens

 This lady is made out of different kinds of chocolate! YUMMO!

 My mom doing her thing at the penny slots!! :)

 So, Saturday night, my mom wanted to go to this bar: Minus 5 degrees.  It is inside the Monte Carlo.  They dress you up in parkas, gloves and hats.  The temp inside is 23 degrees F.  The drinks are served in ice cubes that are the size of drink glasses.  All four of us had a Slotski shots.  It is 4 shots that are placed on a ski and then all  four of us drink it at the same time! LOL   At first, my mom had no idea what to do.  The three of us drank our shot and my mom wore hers!!! LOL   The bartender fell in love with my mom and gave us another round of shots!  This time, my mom got it!  LOL  I wish I could scan the pictures from the bar.  The photographer was snapping so many pictures.  It was great!

After we drank and had our shots, they kindly told us that the alcohol will affect you much worse when you leave the bar.  Boy, did it ever!  We were all very happy and laughing when we came out of there.

On Sunday, more slot machines and eating.  Kim and I decided to have a no alcohol day because we were recouping from the night before. :)  We saw the "O" show at the Bellagio that night.  It was amazing! On Monday, we boarded our plane for Burbank.  We had a great girls weekend out!

Happy Birthday MOM!

Ultrasound

Our daughter, Johnette, is having a baby and is due in June!  Here is the ultrasound picture of her baby boy!

2011

Ok........it's February now and this is my first post of the new year.  Let me explain...... It's totally my fault.  First of all, I have been sick since December with bronchitis and was on two doses of antibiotics.  The cough was so bad that I felt that I fractured a rib between Christmas and New Years.  They took xrays to see if I broke something and to also check for pneumonia.  Both were negative.  By mid January, I was back at the doctor complaining about my right side of my body still hurting.  It hurt so bad that I couldn't get up out of bed in the morning and it hurt to breathe.  The doctor diagnosed me with inflamed cartilage between my ribs.  Let me tell you..............that hurts soooo bad!  Just doing every day normal things were awful.  So, that is one reason that I didn't blog.  Just wasn't up to it!

Second, I was considering NOT blogging.  Closing it down and not doing it anymore.  I really was serious.  It felt like it was just ANOTHER thing to do on my to do list.  But after really thinking about it, I realized that these are my scrapbooking/thoughts of my daily life.  At the end of the year, it is nice to look back and see what happened - good and bad.

So, we that said.........I am going to catch you all up to date on the happenings around here the last month and a half and will do better to keep it up to date.  As I look into the future, the Mendenhall's are going to be VERY busy!!

Happy  New Year everyone!!  God Bless!