Meal Planning Monday

I'm linking up for Meal Planning Monday.  Here's what's going on at our house this week... it's kinda crazy with a lot of random events that we don't usually have going on.
Monday: "chicken stuff" basically poppy seed chicken without the poppy seeds :) and english peas
Tuesday: cubed steak with mac and cheese and green beans
Wednesday: BBQ chicken (the kind where you mix coke and ketchup and then just cook the chicken pieces in it.... um... yum!)
Thursday: who knows... Jason's on call and I have bunko, so the girls will be with a sitter... but I'll have to feed them first... so maybe sandwiches or pizza??
Friday: hoagies (the kids call these fancy sandwiches... silly girls)
Saturday: cheesy italian chicken found here. with garlic bread and broccoli

Servant's day

This week has been crazy.  So many obligations, so many things on the calendar.  So much stress.  But I made it and I actually enjoyed most of it.  :)
You know, I have people ask all the time, how I do it all... or why.  I think I know why.  I like to serve.  The Lord calls us to be servants.  And I don't think that only means the "big" stuff.  I don't think that only includes the obvious things we should be doing as servants.  I think that means that we literally show our love to others by helping.  By putting ourselves last and others first.  Isn't that what we're supposed to do?  I hope that my life exemplifies servanthood.
As a wife and mother, my husband and children need to come right behind my service and dedication to our Creator.  And a way that I serve Jason and my girls is to work for them.  I do a lot of that without them even noticing.  They don't think about how those clothes got in and out of the washing machine... or how all that food got into the pantry.  They don't think about who dusted that table or why the power is still on (other than that one time I didn't pay the power bill for 3 months because they switched me to paperless bills and then didn't send me an e-bill either.... that's another story for a different day).   And I like it that way... most of the time.  Every now and then I'll decide that I've hadituptohere with being a servant and I'll act like a total fool and then I'll feel like a total fool... which usually includes a lot of crying and being overall ridiculous.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch,.... that's one of the reasons why I sign up to do so much.  You need help making copies, I'll do it.  You need someone to go on a field trip, I'm your girl. You need someone to drop everything they're doing, make a picture of all 20 children in the kindergarten class, print them in an hour, cut them into circles, paste them on a paper christmas tree and hang it in the lunchroom with a hot glue gun that will only plug up 45 feet from my assigned christmas tree.... m'kay.  Seriously, having a child in elementary school is a full time job.  You need someone to come and sit all day and hand out cookie dough.  Let me get a sitter.  Field day, of course.  Oh no, not just my child's class... all of them.  Absolutely.  Kindergarten end of the year party.... by all means.  That's seriously just this week... well all but that Christmas tree fiasco... but I'm still bothered by that one. :)
But you know what... that makes me feel good.  I like to be the mom that's always there.  Adelaide may not appreciate it now, although I think she does to an extent, but she will one day.  My mom was always there.  I rode in the middle of her backseat surrounded by friends (usually double-buckled) on every field trip I ever went on.  She brought popsicles, bought teacher gifts and made every dress I wore for my yearly pictures for 18 years.  Well... almost.... until I held a revolt against the giant collars and smocked pencils... around the 8th grade.  I kid... but it was too late.  :)
Service is the way I show my love and dedication to my husband, my children, and those around me.  I'm usually exhausted and overwhelmed, but I feel genuinely helpful and productive..... and never lazy.  And that's a good feeling.  I think it's still considered service when you are doing those kinds of jobs.  Don't you?
I have written on my planner my life motto for this year...
"Do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you.  For He made you."  I hope that through my service at school and elsewhere I can show someone the love of Christ by being there.  Just being there.   So, if you ever ask me "How do you do it all?"  I don't normally have a good answer, but I think the Lord just gives you the strength to go on when you have the heart of a servant.

"Give me the heart of a servant, tender and faithful and true.  Fill me with love and use me, oh Lord, so that the world may see You."

Introducing.... my better half

See how Adelaide is looking at him??  I lurve it!

A lot of my readers are close friends of our's and family, but recently, I've had some people pop over that I don't know and I want to introduce everyone to my better half.
I wrote about my love story on Friday, so a lot of you already know a little bit about Jason, but I just want to take a minute to tell you how truly awesome I think he is.  And no, I'm not in trouble, nor am I about to ask him for anything monumental.... I just really love him and I want the world to know.
Jason is thoughtful, caring, compassionate, romantic, patient (holy moly, is he patient), selfless, hilarious, quiet, fit, dedicated, hard working, tender, a wonderful listener (maybe the best listener I've ever known).... I could go on forever, but it's naptime and my hair is wet... so I'll stop there.  You get the idea.  Seriously, he's amazing.  I am so very thankful for the strong father and devoted husband that he is. He doesn't do anything for himself.  Nothing... except run.... if you enjoy that kind of thing.  He doesn't play golf or hunt... he doesn't hang out after work with the guys.  He goes to work and then spends his "free time" at home with us.  And he likes it that way.  I think. :)
When he comes in, he picks right up as Daddy.  He doesn't expect to sit in the recliner for an hour (we don't have a recliner, but he wouldn't sit it in if we did).  He comes in and helps with the kids. Or pushes Julianne in the swing.  Or he'll load up their bikes and take them to the park.  He loves his kids.  And they love him right back.  And you know what?  He loves me too.  I can tell.  And that in itself is pretty awesome.

And he makes some mean homemade ice cream!

And he builds the best Repunzel town you've ever laid eyes on!

He works so hard for us.  My mom always told me not to marry a doctor because they're never home.  And that can be true sometimes.  He works a lot... but he leaves it at work.  When he comes home, he's totally devoted to us.  For those of you that don't know, Jason practices Pain Medicine and Anesthesia at UAB hospital.  He's recently taken another board exam (that's 3) for Palliative and Hospice Medicine.  He's a nerd. (just kidding, kinda)  He's so loving and tender, though, that I know he's making a difference for his patients.   He just posted a blog about the death of a good friend of ours and the impact it had on him, not only personally but also in his career.  I hope you'll check it out here.

Scentsational Saturday

My saturday was so scent-sational, I forgot to post my scentsational Saturday post!  Oops!  It's going to be a Scentsational Sunday anyway, so I'll post a day late.  Today I have a helpful Scentsy tip.
For all of you that have a plug-in,  I know you've gone through the predicament of "how do I change this wax without spilling it all over the place?"  Well, here are a couple of ways to do just that!
If the wax is melted, turn the plug-in off and grab a paper towel.  Gently hold the wadded up paper towel in the wax to absorb some.  While holding the paper towel in the wax, pull the plug in out of the wall.  Pour the remainder of the wax in the trash can (or back in the container if it still has scent) and wipe the dish clean.
If you're patient enough to let the wax harden, pop the plug-in out of the wall and pop the wax out with a butter knife.
I hope this helps someone and saves you from cleaning wax off your walls or floor!
Stay tuned next saturday to learn how to get that wax out of your carpet should you need it!

Our love story- "Flashback Friday"

HI!  I'm Tiffany and I just started "really" blogging.  I started this blog a couple of years ago, but I wasn't really very dedicated to writing then.  Since March or so of this year, I've found it a lot of fun to write about what's going on in our lives and sort of keep a record of things for my kiddos.
I was born in Memphis, TN and moved to Central Alabama about 9.5 years ago when Jason and I got married.  He had already moved here for work and after a long distance relationship, we were so thankful to be in the same place again.  We have 3 little girls that are such a blessing, and a lot of work.  My girls and our activities are my main topic on this blog... along with a tip or so throughout.  I'm linking up with Kelly's Korner blog today on trying to find other bloggers in my area.
I was already planning a "Flashback Friday" today to talk about our love story.  If you are easily nauseated, turn away now. :)
Jason and  I met before 2000... I'm not exactly when.  Our families attended the same church, so we knew of each other, but we didn't socialize.  For various reasons. :)
Jason and my brother were actually friends before we were.  They had a mutual friend and ran around together getting into all kinds of trouble (relative trouble for a couple of goody two-shoes).  Jason was in Tim's wedding in June of 2000 and we never dreamed then that we would one day be in another wedding together (our own)... that's 3 weddings we've been in together now!
I guess the way we got together was pretty random.  Jason was in a jet ski accident and broke his pelvis pretty badly.  While he was recovering, my dad loaned him a book (I think it was my grandfather's book).  Jason dropped in one day to return the book and I had just gotten out of the shower.  My hair was in a towel and there wasn't a lick of makeup on my face.  My dad was home (thankfully) but while Jason was there (this older guy that I didn't know well at all), he said he had to leave for the post office.  *Thanks a lot dad*  Jason asked me to go out to lunch with him.  I was thinking, okay, that's fine.... this is a friend of my brother's, he's quite a bit older than me... he's taking me to lunch to be nice.... poor teenaged girl home by herself and hungry.  ha!!
When we got into his car, the music fired up and it was Jimmy Buffet.  I love Jimmy Buffet!! I couldn't believe he was playing something I liked... I thought he'd be listening to the River or something old.  (Memphis peeps will get that!)
We went to a Chinese restaurant (I had never eaten chinese food before).  We just talked and ate and then he took me home.  I don't remember at all what we talked about.  I can't imagine it could have been anything but awkward.  When he took me home, my Papa and Granny were sitting outside (they lived across the street from us).  Granny called me over and told me I was going to marry that boy.  I thought she was nuts.  Seriously.  I was seeing someone else and he was quite a bit older than me and in a totally different stage of life.  Granny somehow had a very keen sense for stuff like that... and she was very often right.
Fast forward several months to November 2000.  Jason's roommate (also named Jason) visited church with Jason... that's confusing.... and my roommate, Casey, thought he was cute (he was).  So... Jason and I were going to try to set them up.  As I said before, I was seeing someone, so I didn't think anything about this setup.  The guy I was seeing also went to church with us and was aware and invited to the things we were doing.  He just didn't come.  And over time, Jason and  I would sit together while the other Jason and Casey would sit together.... because we were trying to get them set up.  Anyway, they ended up not hitting it off... but Jason and I did.  I broke it off with the other guy and started seeing Jason.  He was such a romantic.  He was very thoughtful and loving.  But, like I said, he was in a totally different stage of life.  He was an intern and had just graduated medical school the year I graduated high school.  Would this really work??

It did.  For awhile.  In the summer of 2001, Jason was getting ready to move to Birmingham, AL for residency at UAB.  I was struggling with this, but I didn't have a choice in the matter.  Until he broke up with me.  I was devastated.  It only lasted a couple of months and we were back together again.  Sort of... we were in a relationship again, but still miles apart.  We traveled to see each other every couple of weekends and around his call schedule.  In May 2002, we took a trip to Washington and Oregon where he proposed (I'll write a post on the proposal soon).  And we were married in January 2003. 

I can't imagine life without him and I look back now and I don't fully understand how all of this came to be.  But I'm thankful.  So very thankful.   Stay tuned... I'm going to try to scan some pictures from our wedding.

A star is born.....

                                 Adelaide takes a moment to smile for the photographer (Daddy).

                                                  Beginning with her speaking part.

                            Adelaide's first solo!!!!  Doesn't she look right at home on that stage?

Thanks, Laura for the video!  Adelaide's solo is the one that goes "Monday through Friday, what a drag, 9-5 it's nag nag nag.  Two weeks vacation, not a day more, how 'bout a raise or I'm out the door."

Adelaide had her kindergarten program tonight and she did awesome!!!  She was so excited about it!!  We have worked a lot on her lines and her solo and all of her hard work really showed.  I'm such a proud mama!  The program was called "The Color Factory" and in summary it's about three colors that feel like they do the same thing all day long.  Until they are mixed with each other and make new colors (secondary) and work together as a team.... then all things are well again.  It was a super-cute production and I give total props to Mrs. Green... she has the patience of Job and I honestly don't know how she does it, but she keeps all the kids focused and on task!
Adelaide has always liked to be the center of attention since she was born and that really helped her in her performance tonight!  She just got up on that stage and you would never know there were hundreds of people in the audience looking at her.  She didn't seem nervous at all.  We were sitting right in front and she got up to the microphone to do her solo and she looked right into my eyes, smiled great big and mouthed "my solo!"  I love her.  I can see many productions and recitals in our future.
I would like to thank my mom for driving the longest distance to see the show, Laura and Adam Lyles for taking time out of their busy lives to come see her sing, Helen Rhinehart, Patti and Maggie Elliott for coming and showing their support.  We are truly blessed with such a great church family and I don't know how people make it without that support!

Introducing.... VELATA!!!

Check it out!  Scentsy family has introduced a new line company that is launching today!!!  This is a never done before venture for Scentsy and I'm so excited to be a part of it!  Scentsy announced at the annual convention last year in Fort Worth, Texas that they were launching not only the Layers by Scentsy  extension with products such as lotion, body butter, shower gel, shower cream, solid perfume and body spray.  They also announced that there would be another brand altogether that would fall under the Scentsy "umbrella."  A direct sales company has never done this before.  But Scentsy will operate multiple brands under the name "Scentsy Family."  The awesome thing is, every brand they start, I have a choice to sign up to sell it... or not!  I love that they are giving all of their consultants the first opportunity to sell their new products, but also giving us the option of selling it or not.
When they announced Velata at convention last year, I admit, I was skeptical.  I wasn't sure how that would fit into my typical sales presentation (although I don't really do a sales presentation).  But after I was learning about the product and hearing how delicious and exquisite the chocolate is, I couldn't resist.  I love chocolate. And one of my favorite things in the world is fondue.  Seriously, we go to the Melting Pot for every major holiday.  I am so excited to share this new experience with you!  The idea is the same as Scentsy as far as the mechanics go.  The warmer is similar in that it only warms with light bulb.  So, you can have family fondue night without worrying about your kids getting burned on a flame.
The dish at the top of the warmer is made of silicone with a metal plate inside.  The chocolate comes in a pouch that you pop into the microwave until melted, then pour into the silicone dish.  The dish keeps it at just the right temperature for dipping (and even has a temperature control on the cord to help increase or decrease depending on the volume of chocolate left).
You can dip all kinds of amazing things... some of the ones I'm excited about are:
strawberries, bananas, pound cake, marshmallows, graham crackers, potato chips (soooo good!), peanut butter crackers (you know, the little mini ones)... you name it, you dip it!  I heard someone say they loved chocolate covered bacon!  To each his own!  ;)
I think this would be such a fun tradition for a family.  Family game night with fondue for dessert!  I have a warmer and some chocolate on hand.  I'd love to share it with you and your friends.   If you want to simply come over for a taste test, let me know and I'll be happy to get it ready for you.  There will be a launch party coming up (I'm thinking the end of May) for everyone to drop in for a taste!
Velata also has a hostess rewards plan just like Scentsy.  If you would like to host a Velata party to get your chocolate for FREE, I can't think of a more fun party than taste testing chocolate!  We could even combine the two (Scentsy and Velata) and have a "Dip your feet and dip your treat" party!  I'll provide the pedicure tubs with Layers shower cream to soak your feet and you can taste the Velata after you're all relaxed!
Please visit my website and see what you think!!!
http://tiffanymckeown.velata.us