I am in withdrawal......

Yes it is true. We have been pretty sad over here at the Aarseth house lately so I did what any woman in her right mind would do in a depressing state with swirling hormones.

I turned to sweets.


And not just any sweets.......these bad boys:






I won't tell you how many bags I have eaten in the last two weeks.....and I won't tell you that I have actually finished an entire bag in a sitting of Grey's Anatomy either. I don't watch that trash...and I don't put that terrible high fructose corn syrup into my body. Not me....never. And I definitely haven't stooped so low as to steal them out of my own children's Easter eggs either.

But now that Easter is over I am afraid that they won't be selling my crack, er, I mean precious jelly beans anymore. I haven't actually been over to Target yet to see if they are actually gone but instead I am just telling myself that they are....they only sell them during Easter.....so that maybe I can stop this craziness. Although when I searched online just now for this picture I saw that you can have them shipped to you house all year long....and in a 10 lb case if you want! Oh, I may need to check myself into a facility.

Beth....I blame this all on you.

Compassion Sunday

This Sunday, my friend Darci and I presented Compassion International to our church. If you read this blog much, you probably know how much I love Compassion so when Darci approached me about doing a Compassion Sunday, I loved the idea. Here is what Compassion's website says about it:

The purpose of this special, one-day event is to draw the attention of the Church to the needs of the world’s poorest children.

It's a powerful opportunity for God to use you to share with the members of your church family His deep love for children – and show how each of us can intervene in the life of at least one child in poverty through sponsorship.

When is Compassion Sunday?

The official date is April 18, 2010, but you can choose any date that works best
for your church.

What are we asking you to do?

You can join this national effort by doing the following:

Share a 5 to 10-minute presentation in your worship service. We provide you with suggested scripts, a powerful new video, and other helpful ideas in our Presentation Guide and online Presentation Builder.

Set up a sponsorship sign-up table in your church. We will send you several child packets you can display of children who need sponsors urgently.

How will Compassion Sunday help you and your church?

Participating in Compassion Sunday will help you and your church to:

• respond to the Bible's call to help the needy,
• focus on the millions of children trapped in poverty,
• inspire new child sponsors,
• engage practically and creatively with issues of poverty,

As you can see we had a blast today! It is so easy, Compassion does all the work for you. They mail you the materials and you set up a table and watch as children's lives are changed. They even give you a choice of 30-second, 2 min, and 4 min videos that can easily be shown during worship service or Sunday school classes. Will you join us and present Compassion Sunday to your church?

Give All For Love!

So I was reading over at Happy Girl Hair, which is my favorite hair site and probably the only reason Olivia isn't ashamed to go out in public, and they were sharing about a brand new hair product that you adoptive families out there may love! It is called Give All For Love.


Give All For Love specializes in all-natural beauty products. We use the highest quality organic ingredients straight from nature to create body products for all skin types and hair products for naturally curly hair. We can also create a custom product specifically tailored to your needs. Our products are suitable for children and adults.

We will be adding new products in the following weeks, so please check back often!

To share the love, 50% of the proceeds (50! that is awesome!) from every purchase go directly to support one of three Ethiopian charities. You can personally choose which charity (Ethiopian Orphan Relief, Ethiopia Reads, or Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital) you would like your purchase to support.



I haven't ordered mine yet because I just got some new Carol's Daughter products to try out two days ago and now I am kicking myself because I don't love it and the proceeds definitely don't go to a country I love. But as soon as we run out I will order some and let you know what I think! In the mean time why don't you head over to www.giveallforlove.com and leave a comment about what you think and what your favorite hair products are!

MckMama's iPad giveaway!

Ok so you all know that I LOVE Compassion International, right? If you go to my church you will see me sportin' my new compassion t-shirt and standing behind a table full of gorgeous children that need to be sponsored THIS SUNDAY! If you don't go to my church, well you should because it is great.....or you could just help support Compassion by clicking here on this link to read all about Mckmama's IPAD giveaway! Yeah that is what I said, I-PAD giveaway! Every $5 you donate to Compassion gets you a chance to be the proud owner! Hurry the giveaway ends at mindnight!





whoa. I took these fabulous pictures off of mckmama's blog about the giveaway.....I wonder how she gets them this big:)

A day without shoes!

Did you know that in Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil? Podoconiosis is 100% preventable with basic foot hygiene and wearing shoes. Through everyday encounters with domestic poverty, we are reminded to appreciate having food and shelter, but most of us all but forget about our feet. Food, shelter, AND shoes facilitate life’s fundamentals. Imagine a life without shoes; constantly aware of the ground in front of you, suffering regular cuts and scrapes, tending to infection after each walk, and enduring not only terrain, but heat and cold.

The problem is large, but the solution is simple. Wearing shoes and practicing basic hygiene can prevent both infection and disease due to unsafe roads and contaminated soil. By imagining a life barefoot, we can all contribute to the awareness of these conditions. (from toms.com)

Today we joined TOMS Shoes and many communities, campuses, organizations, and individuals who are banding together to walk barefoot for One Day Without Shoes.

Did you know that you can buy these cute shoes from TOMS and they donate a pair to a child in need? I LOVE mine and they feel like a bit of heaven on my feet!

I want these.....hint hint?

Want to spread the word? Just take off your shoes! Or go to http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com

Easter Part 2

Jackson had his Easter Party at school and Olivia and I were able to attend, or I mean plan and run since I am the room mom! Ha. Jackson's class made cute little bags to use to hunt there eggs and Mommy forgot something for Livi to use so I had to improvise with a empty gift bag I happened to have laying around in the car. I will remember that the next time Paul tells me my car is a disaster.









Then on Saturday our friends got together for a easter dinner and egg hunt. We had a great time even if neither of my children would smile at the camera.

a letter to my baby

My precious Baby Soup,

I am so sorry that you will never be able to lead the life we all expected you to live. I don't have any of the answers to all the questions swirling around in my head. But I do know that even though you were so small we had a great connection and a great love. Most of the time our love connection was through morning sickness and cravings for fried food and ice cream, but also through all the time I spent wondering. I wondered what your sweet little face would look like, whether I would buy your first outfits on the boy or girl side of gymboree, and how captivated your brother and sister would be by you. But even though all of these wonderings will stay just that, thoughts in my head, you changed our lives. You taught us to love each other a little more each day, hug a little tighter, and to cherish each moment we have with each other. Though you may not fulfill the life that you deserved, know that you were always loved, always wanted, and will always be missed.

Love,
your mommy