We just got home from Bruce n Robyn's..what a great time we had! It's always fun at the Baird house. Even more fun when I get to kick everyone's anuses at Risk! Well, I have to admit that Chris helped me..A LOT. But, regardless, I still won!! :) Our BBQ dinner was delish..our snacks were super yummy too. Robyn made her now famous chicken salad with grapes and apples (not sure what its really called but I think there's curry in it, too, right?) I love LOVE LOVE it. Couldn't get enough. And, Kamila loved the cheetos. She REALLY loved the cheetos. ;) Kids had a blast playing outside and played on the Wii, too. After dinner we headed upstairs for a Rockband fest. Dude, Robyn is SO FREAKIN good! She's the best drum player I've come across and the chic can do the guitar on EXPERT..are you FREAKIN KIDDING ME!?! Scary good. Jordon had fun dancing to the music and singing little songs into the mic during breaks. Then we had to head home so our little Sadie baby wouldn't be alone all night long in the house. A quick stop by Uncle Jason's to drop off a book and then straight home. Once again our lil pup did great in the house..didn't mess even one thing up. Just laid around watching TV and chewing on her bone. She truly is the worlds most perfect dog. I couldn't love her any more even if I tried! Went out to the Wild Ivy gift shop here in Kuna this morning to get my loverly sister in law, Laura, a birthday gift. I'm officially addicted to this gift shop. Oh my gosh I could spend all day there. And, I got her the COOLEST mug, made out of clay. The colors on it are amazing and it doesn't have a normal handle, it's called something like a hand warmer mug and so theres like this hole in the side of the mug where you slide your hand in..hard to explain but it is SO cool. If you want one, send me 20 bucks and I'll buy you one and send it off! I don't like paragraphs tonight, I am boycotting proper blog writing techniques. I'm SO bold and fearless, it's silly. I made yummy cupcakes for tonight, they were triple chocolate with little chocolate chips already in the box mix batter, then I added in instant coffee grounds and bittersweet chocolate chips..topped it off with chocolate fudge frosting and sprinkles. Heavenly moments I tell you. I had to eat another one on the way home, just for good measure :) Sadly, I didn't have any water to wash it down with so I had to open up a stray rootbeer that had been left in the car and chug on that. Gross. Sorta ruined my moment to tell you the truth. Well, I guess I better go. We've done 3 blogs today and I have a feeling we might be wearing out our welcome for March 29th. Chat with you tomorrow!! Love you, love you, love you!!!!

I LOVE MY WIFE. SHE IS GREAT. SHE IS MY BEST FRIEND AND THIS BLOG'S FOR HER!!!!

So apparently I don't blog enough, and when I do its not about the right things. I consider myself a man of few blogs, however when I do blog its usually profound.

Anyway, do you guys know my awesome wife Sarah? She's my wife. And I love her. She's real smart too. And very creative. She put this whole page together and without her time and effort I would not be writing to you now. Thanks hon! You rock.

My kick ass wife (Sarah) had bunko last night. She didn't win but she had fun and that's all that matters. Plus, she's still always a winner in my book. She brought me home some yummy treats too. Cuz she's very thoughtful and always looking out for me.

Last night Sarah (my rad wife) and me watched Celebrity Apprentice after she got home. I whipped us up a couple of cups of tea and we settled in for the finale. Not sure if anyone else follows this show, but this season was great (not as great as my wife though, cuz she's the greatest). It was down to the final two and it was country superstar Trace Adkins vs. the evil nasty Brit Piers Morgan. It was The Donald's ultimate good vs. evil. The whole thing was kind of anticlimactic as Piers clearly dominated the entire game from the beginning despite his rather prickly personality.

After that we went to bed cuz it was late and Sarah was tired. Sarah was snoozing before I even came to bed. In the time it took me to brush my teeth she was passed out. I just kissed her tender squishy forhead and told her to sleep well. Cuz I love her lots. Cuz she's the best. I then proceeded to stay up too late watching Outbreak (great movie, but not as great as my wife!) and finally went to sleep around 2am.

This morn I was rudely awakened by the F-ING birds. I hate those birds. They now reside in our bedroom. Did I mention I hate them? But Sarah loves them and they are her sweeties so they still live. Anyway, I awoke to squawking and flapping and loud chirping. Not the best way to wake up. I laid in bed for a while but it was no use. Sarah's phone kept going off and J kept coming in so I finally got up. Went downstairs and said "Top 'o the morning" to my hon. She said "Top 'o the morning" back.

We whipped up a quick breakfast of eggs, hashbrowns, sausage, toast, apple juice and coffee. We ate and chatted with the kids. Then we set about doing chores and getting ready for the rest of the day. As my wonderful wife said in her last blog, we're going to hang with our buddies tonight. Games and merriment will ensue. Can't wait to bust out some Risk and RockBand.

Sarah went out for a little shopping this morning to get a b-day gift and more eggs. We forgot we needed eggs for the cake we were making for tonight and we used them all for breakfast. Goofy us! Anyway, J played his new X-Men game for a bit, Ash did whatever Ash does until I told her to finish her chores. I played a bit of online poker on MSN Games and mostly owned everyone. Sarah's bro Jon came by to say hi while moving his horse to another stable. We had some lunch. Took our showers. And now here I am, chatting with you fine readers.

Just another typical day at the Mendiola household. Full of grand times and crazy adventures. Anyway, this blog has quickly digressed into rambling so its time to sign off. But before I go I wanted to say:

I TOTALLY LOVE YOU SARAH!

(I hope this blog was to your liking)

Tootles everyone!

GAME TIME!!!!

Well in case you didn't know, today is my game night. I have 2 game nights a week where I can play online with my buddies after the kiddies go to bed. The nights usually consist of some beer, some friendly online banter and blowing up tons of crap in my favorite game, Call of Duty 4.

However, tonight will be different. There will still be booze (hopefully), banter and blowing up....but the game will change. We just got in on the "closed beta" of a new game that is coming out in June. Its another online war game called Battlefield: Bad Company and we've been looking forward to it for a while now.

In case you aren't a game nerd like me, a "beta" is a test period during which players try out new games and offer feedback to help work out the kinks before its actual release. The game is pretty much a finished build and they are just polishing up and tweaking any issues that are still hanging around. Beta's are usually by invite only but every so often a game opens it up to the public. You still have to "apply" to get in but its much easier...as long as you get to it quick enough. The public beta's usually fill up fast, especially for highly anticipated titles.

I've been lucky in that I have gotten in on every big game beta I've wanted to recently and its lots of fun. Its great to try out the new games months before everyone else and play with a relatively small group of people that you know are there because they love to play (read: you don't have to worry about playing in a room full of retarded 9 year old spoiled brats swearing constantly and irritating everyone to no end....ah the joys of online gaming). Its also nice to know that your input will hopefully help the game be the best it can be. And its a good sign usually for the title when the devs take the time to set up these beta's and let the community help finish it up. It means that they are really looking to make this the best game they possibly can. Face it, they will know if a game is crap or not and chances are they won't take the time and effort to set up a beta if its gonna be a stinker.

So tonight while my lovely wife hosts her Southern Living party, I will be preparing for virtual battle with a few of my good buds (you ready Jason?). Wish me luck and Godspeed as I enter the electronic battlefield. And pity any fool that gets in my crosshairs!

We went and saw No Greater Love last night at the Nazarene church, it was awesome! It was about 2 1/2 hours long and we got there 45 minutes early, so you can imagine how our butt bones were hating us at the end, but it was worth it! And, Jaden even made it through! If you live in Idaho, or are here around Easter sometime, make sure to go see it. They've been putting on the production for 29 years. I, of course, was crying in the first 30 seconds or so of the program. Go figure! A little girl is standing on the stage and one of the disciples is with her and points out into the audience and she screams, "JESUS!!!!" and goes running as fast as she can, leaps into his harms and he pulls her up into this amazing hug..the auditorium was completely dark except for the spot light following her running to him. I can't even describe it. I vision I've seen of myself doing that so many times, so to see it in "real" life was amazing! That was the second time I cried..the first time was in the very first scene..you hear a voice in the silence say, "LAZARUS, come forth!" You turn and see Jesus standing in one of the aisles in the audience and then, Lazarus comes forth..everyone cheering and then he runs down to Jesus. SO GREAT!! I could go on and on, but will stop :)

So, the kiddos are getting ready to color eggs with Daddy, I'll take pics. Then they'll make some sugar cookies. I cut up fruit for later today when Barbara (Chris' mom) comes over to hang out..she's bringing Portuguese sweet bread that she makes, can't wait to shove it in my mouth. Hmm..maybe I've already mentioned this. Anyhoo, it's gonna be a very quiet laid back day. We've been running so hard, today is a day to just sit and enjoy the silence and remember the magnitude of what our Savior has done for us.

Love you guys!!

He is Risen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

me

Question...at what point in life do the quiet peaceful restful nothing to do weekends start?

Hello everyone. I guess I need to win back some of you readers since Sarah now feels this is HER blog, LOL.

Anyway, the week is coming to a close but its definately not winding down. This morning we had all manner of stuff going on at Jaden and Ashley's school. Sarah was classroom volunteer this morning, Ashley's 6th grade class put on a production of Aladdin for the school and parents, and Jaden's class had their Easter egg hunt. Busy busy busy.

The play was great even if it was kind of unpolished. The music teacher said they wished they had more time to get it down but the kids did a good job. Ashley was part of the set design team and they did amazing work bringing Aladdin to life!

Jaden had a fun time in his egg hunt. Each of the kids had little baskets made out of plastic milk containers that looked like bunny heads. For some reason J's bunny had fangs and a tail growing out of the side of its head, but it was still cute. The kids scampered around and found all the eggs with their names on them then sat down and sifted through the spoils.

Sarah got a new 'do last night but I'll let her blog about that. Today she's working again and then she's going out to dinner with her buddy Jessica. Hopefully tomorrow will be a nice relaxing family night at home. Jaden is off of school tomorrow and Ash has a half day, then next week is Spring Break! Wish we were doing something fun but we'll have to wait until summer I guess.

Saturday night we're going to an Easter play with Sarah's family and then back here for some kind of dessert. Then on Sunday we can hopefully sleep in a bit! Mom will be over later to hang out and snack. Looking forward to a nice realxing Easter without having to run all over.

Anyway, that's about it. J and I just finished some tasty tuna sandwiches and I'm getting back to work while he gets ready to nap. Got my game night tonight with the dudes and I'm looking forward to blasting some baddies online. No work tomorrow so maybe I'll go a little later than usual.....although I am old and get tired easily. More to come soon and I'm sure Sarah will post some pics from the recent festivities as soon as she gets time.

Hello there my loyal readers. I say "my" because lets face it, I'm really the only one who writes on this danged thing. LOL (ok so I'm not really laughing)

Chris is sitting next to me, looking ULTRA cute I might add. What can I say, it's in the genes. J's singing at the table, Ash is singing melody. Sadie is laying in the hall, smiling. India Arie is singing in the office..Chris is humming along. I'm sitting in my chair, criss cross apple sauce..feet going numb. Ahhh life is good.

Was a good day..got a surprise invitation to lunch from Chris' Mom. We got to go eat Gallo Giro again! Just in case you were wondering..it's just about the best surprise someone could give me. I had two heavenly chicken tacos with rice and beans..and quite a few chips n extremely weak salsa. Had some tortilla soup, too..was interesting. Better with salsa in it. Anyway, lunch was FABULOUS! Conversation was FABULOUS! Feeling like I was gonna puke for 2 hours afterwards wasn't so fabulous, but entirely expected and not out of the ordinary. There are a few things I can't stop myself from gorging on..Mexican food, anything with alfredo sauce, and mashed potatoes. Just can't do it. There are a few more things, but we just won't go there right now.

Work was nice and slow..ahh what a nice thing. It's been so busy this month with it being a coupon month and all. But today I think God had grace on us. Courtney's been so sick and is now having horrible reactions to her medications. And, Corinne (her mom) and Gail and David (Corinne's Dad n Step Mom) are all getting ready to leave Angie and I alone for 2 days while they go to Washington..so it's been pretty stressful for them. Corinne looked so worn down today. Felt bad for her. Anyway, keep them all in your prayers if you could. Especially little Courtney..and Chase, too. He's worried about his twin sissy.

Came home to a great meal..whole roasted chicken, asparagus, corn and biscuits. My man loves me. He really, really loves me. :)

We're getting ready to watch Little People Big World..our favorite family show. So, of course, the effing phone will ring. And, whoever it is won't stop talking. And we will all want to kill them. Actually, we've decided that we aren't answering the phone anymore during LPBW. A thought that should have crossed our minds years ago.

Having a Southern Living party this coming Tuesday. If you can't make it/don't live here, let me know. You can still shop my party online. All sorts of fun stuff for your house.

Well, I guess that's all for today. Oh, except for I'm about 5 chapters into The Middle Place (this months vbc book selection) and it is gut wrenchingly fabulous. You MUST read it if you aren't already!

Love you all, have a great night, k?

me

BBQ'D TONIGHT!!!!

Momma's happy :) I marinated some chicken in orange and pineapple juice, garlic, creole seasoning and possibly something else that doesn't come to memory at the moment. Then cut up some potatoes and yellow squash to grill up, mixed in some seasonings. Chris got his ribs all prettied up and after they'd had their oven sauna time, threw them on the grill. Dinner was DELISH! Yummy in my tummy.

Dessert? hmm I think I may have had enough girl scout cookies today to break the scales. I should hold off on dessert, but probably won't..after all, there are still a few Samoas left. Wouldn't want them to feel left out of the party currently going on in my tummy!

LOVE YOU!

There's a road that since I was a little girl I've dreamt of having..There's a house in my dreams that is at the end of that road..there are animals that keep me company on that land that goes along side the road that leads to my house. Long warm nights on the front porch swing with a glass of iced tea and family & friends to laugh with, the scent of grass and mint thick in the air...creek to fish from..room for the kids and pets to run, run, run..

Today I wonder..will any of those dreams ever come true?

VIRTUAL BOOK CLUB, WANNA JOIN US?

Hey! My friend Katie and I are gonna read a book together..well not get together to talk about it like "real" book clubs..but then I thought, hey, maybe my other myspacer buddys would want to do this, too! Then we can chat online about it..

So, starting I think on Saturday, we are going to read:

The Middle Place
By: Kelly Corrigan

http://www.amazon.com/MIDDLE-PLACE-Kelly-Corrigan/dp/1401303366

After we're done with that, I'm gonna read:

Beautiful Boy
By: David Sheff

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/books/Beautiful_Boy.html

http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Boy-Fathers-Journey-Addiction/dp/0618683356/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205257944&sr=1-1

And then the sequel to that (if the first one doesn't suck), written by his son, Nic, titled:

Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines
By: Nic Sheff

http://www.brightmoments.com/Tweak%3A+Growing+Up+on+Methamphetamines/ASIN/1416913629/mode/books/books.html

http://www.amazon.com/Tweak-Growing-Methamphetamines-Nic-Sheff/dp/1416913629/ref=pd_sim_b_img_1

Anyone interested???

Let me know! Could be fun :)