a new adventure.

hey everyone. hope you're having a happy happy friday.

it's a tired friday here and a pretty happy one.

my house is clean. whew. i was finishing up the playroom as stephanie and her sweet pea drove in the drive way. it feels so nice to have an 'in order' house again. now to keep it this way! :0)

so about this new adventure thing huh?

well about a month ago i went to one of the 'home party' things. ;0) i actually LOVE going to them. and was really excited because this is one i had never heard of before. it was with wildtree. let me tell you. i fell in love at first bite. it was all so yummy. and get this. GOOD for you! it doesn't have any msgs, preservatives...etc etc. all the products actually have ingredients that you can READ on the labels. and when i found out that those 'gel packets' (that come inside your purses and shoes when you buy them) are and INGREDIENT in taco seasoning. i was sold. yes. that's right. those packets that say 'DO NOT EAT' on them...are IN your taco seasoning. now sure it isn't at the same level but still it's one of the ingredients.
here is my 'proof'::

Nationally Known Brand
Maltodextrin, salt, chili pepper, onion powder, monosodium
glutamate, corn starch, garlic powder, spice. Contains less
than 2% of the following: partially hydrogenated soybean oil,
silicon dioxide, natural flavor, ethoxyquin

Wildtree
Masa Corn Flour, Chili Powder, Cumin,
Sea Salt, Onion Powder, Oregano,
Garlic Powder, Black Pepper

i can pronounce those words in red. but i don't really know what they are. and i know it contains less than 2% of the silicon dioxide..but still it's IN there.

so my point in all of this. i decided to become a representative with wildtree!! i figured it's a fun and easy way to make some extra money (read:rummage sale money). and it's also a fun way to introduce healthier food choices for all of us. the jar of taco seasoning that wildtree sells equals the SAME price per serving as the 'national known' brand. so in my thinking...why not buy the stuff that you know is healthier for you?

wildtree also sells grapeseed oil, which is actually a healthier oil to cook with. even healthier than olive oil. i was actually surprised by that. they have super yummy flavors too! my favorite is the european garlic. or the tuscan.

they also have loads of other things. i am in the process of getting my website 'okay'ed. but once i do my site will be at:: http://www.apopp.mywildtree.com/ it isn't ready quite yet, so check back tomorrow and hopefully it will be. ((i'll try to let you know when it's for sure ready by updating this paragraph...as i finished my post it is not ready...but i'll let you all know!)) my site is active!! go check it out! :0)

you can place orders on my site and have them shipped to your house! so you don't even have to be in my neck of the woods to order!! i love the products. my favorite thing so far is the red bell pepper and garlic. you add it to cream cheese and wheat thins and you're in love!! and I am a super picky eater!!!

now. i have to have $500 in sales by june 16th. i am doing a party at my house on june 10th. for those of you in my neck of the woods that would be interested in attending please email me. i'll send you my address and directions and all those details.

i'd also love to do a party for any of you!! you could have me come over to your house and we can all eat yummy food together...but if you live too far away from me...you can pass some books around to your friends and family and get some orders. i can also send you some samples to feed your friends and family with!!

IF any of you my blogging buddies decide to help me out, have i got a prize for you. :0) i'll give you any of our grapeseed oils of your choice. here are the super choices: Basil Pesto, Butter, Lemon, Roasted Garlic, Hickory Smoke, Jalapeno, Chili, Natural, and two of the 'European Blends'-Tuscan or Garlic. ((you get to pick one of these before your party and i'll be sure to get it for you before it!))

if any of you decide to order, i'd LOVE it!! and for all of you who order before the end of JUNE i'll throw your name in for a free cookbook from wildtree. sound fun? thought so.

i'm really excited to be starting this 'new adventure' and have the support of my loving hubby and the leading from god. which is where it all started. god led me to pursue something. and here it is. it's a way for me to get out of the house a few nights a week/month and make some supplemental income. and still get to stay home with my babies. if you're interested in THAT aspect of the business let me know. :0) i have no desire to sound pushy. seem pushy. nothing pushy here. i just wanted to share with you guys my new fun 'job'. :0) k? k. :0)

now on to other stuff. not much going on here this weekend. i'm super stoked shaun has off. i'm hoping to get to spend some much needed time with him. he's worked ridiculously crazy hours this week. he was not home once before six. and in fact last night it was eight! and he had to be in by five this morning! i just feel bad that he has to work so long. but it isn't his fault when things break. they all just seem to break at the end of the day! so he has to fix them. for those of you who don't know what shaun 'does' i'll tell you. :0) he's one of two maintenence men at two 'mega farms'. shaun wouldn't be happy if he heard/read me call them that. but that's what people know them as here. the farms have like three thousand cows or something insanely crazy like that. and shaun fixes the parlor, the gates, the whatever that needs fixing. so in general he has no 'set' hours. which means he can get done at five thirty...or eight. or anywhere in between. he tries to be done by five thirty. and is usually done by six. :0) at any rate. i'm so thankful that he works so hard to provide for our family!!

they started cutting our hay as i am typing this. amelya's outside enjoying it. and i'm off to enjoy it with her. :0) so this is short, but so is time. and i'm going to take that time and spend it with my daughter...instead of commenting on blogs. so sorry. but she takes place over you. :0) i know you'll understand!

random mess.

soooooo a whole ton of you entered my giveaways awhile back for fuzzi bunz and a planet wise wetbag. only two of you, well three of you won. wait. i'll quick explain. i LOVE fuzzi bunz. but i also love their customer service. you see the first girl who won the fuzzi bunz diapers did not get back to me in time...because she was you know, having a BABY! so i felt bad, and felt that having a baby is a grand excuse to miss the deadline. so i emailed fuzzi bunz and explained to them what had gone down. so they are sending her diapers too! isn't that SO nice!! i thought so.

so at any rate. megan is having a giveaway of her own. for three fuzzi bunz and a small sized planet wise wetbag. so go on over there and enter. or don't. because then I have a better chance of winning. i just want extra entries so i'm blogging about it too!

i'm in a not so good mood today. i'd just stay away if i were you. nothing really. just a not good mood. not that i enjoy it by any stretch of the imagination, but what can i do but just tell you it's a bad mood. my kids are too. caitlyn screamed during story time, not the ENTIRE story time, but some of it. and screamed through the first half of mcd's today. lovely. briegh screamed and got soaking wet in the rain because i wouldn't carry her. i will not carry someone who screams at me. amelya. she's in a good mood. thankfully. dustin. well he's overtired and starting to finally give into sleep.

plus shaun and i kind of argued last night. and didn't really resolve it. he fell alseep as soon as the kids were in bed, so that leaves no time to talk. i don't even know what the 'deal' is, but i hope it gets cleared up soon.

the only thing i know is that god remains in control. and that the enemy is trying to get a foothold in my life and in my relationships. well mr. enemy it ain't happening. try as hard as you want. but shaun and i will talk. and get all straightened out. and my not so good mood will end. because i've been praying and seeking out the lord through all of it. so take that. mr. enemy. because god wins. i win. you lose. so there.

wow. that felt better. see i think you just have to remember where all the lies come from. it's the enemy. he's going to try and fill your head up with loads of lies. just remember they are that. LIES. every single thing he tells you is a lie. and god doesn't lie. god doesn't want to stumble you. god wants you to trust in him and rely on him and remember that he is faithful. always. and forever. nothing and noone else in this life can guarentee you that. forever faithfulness. i mean sure shaun is 'faithful' to me. but he also can and does fail me. i have to keep GOD first and shaun second. because god is truly and has to be my first love. everyone and everything else comes next. god first. no exceptions. none. zippo. zero. none.

ahhh. i feel so much better. now if only talking about cleaning my house got my cleaning done. it's pretty much a disaster. i was sick the few days before mother's day. so not much got done. then the miscarriage happened and i didn't do anything last week either. i know those are all excuses. but that's why the stuff didn't get done. today i feel all crummy and don't feel like doing it. but i need to. right after i blog. :0) because basically it's one more thing to do before cleaning. works for me. before i blogged i 'crafted' with amelya. that's what she called it. that was fun too. way more fun than cleaning. so i'm off. to clean. or something like that.

because friday is a big day. a blogging buddy and her daughter, the same one i visited last week, are coming over. and then we're dog sitting for a week. for my sister in law's dog. because she's in hawaii. for two weeks she'll be there. well one more week after friday. but still. i'd take a day in hawaii. may two. :0)

so that means a clean house. plus i always feel better when it's all cleaned up. so i'm off. toodles.

a picture post!!

hey all. i have a quick minute and wanted to post some super cute pictures of the kiddos.

i forgot to mention on friday...dustin was SEVEN months old!! can you believe it. S.E.V.E.N months.

wow. time is truly a vapor. it seems to me you all enjoyed the flashback on friday! it was so fun to share those pictures. and for me to look through them. i love to look back through old pictures. and more so, reflect on the work god has done in our lives since the pictures were taken!

god truly blessed us with a great weekend. even though shaun did have to work! he worked eight hours on saturday, which is actually long for him on a saturday. but we didn't have plans so it worked out fine. but as you can see...a longer than normal hours of work did him in...and what a perfect excuse for a nap but a fussing baby...

don't mind his furry face, he shaved FINALLY saturday night. :0) he usually doesn't shave during the week. the cows don't care. and i don't either. because today i am not referring to myself and cows all together. ;0)

the other day the girls and i made bird feeders while dustin was napping. amelya was very proud of hers...

now if we can get the birds to eat off them...it'll all be good!!

i actually got caitlyn to be cooperative for me this past week. she sat. still. for pictures. that in itself is quite a feat...
isn't she sweet!?! (btw most of these are edited using photoshop elements w/ the add on 'make it better'. i loved the one of dustin! and caitlyn's is so vibrant! love it...)

breigh will one day be upset with me for posting the following pictures, but i could not resist:

you can only guess what's coming next!

totally hilarious. well at least to me.

a super sweet mommy friend of mine had a special present for me on my deck the other day. i was so blessed by it. she bought us a white lilac bush to plant in memory of our baby! and because i don't have anything from our first baby, i'm using it as a memory of our angel babies. we planted it on saturday. now i just have to keep it alive!! i have the furthest thing from a green thumb. i don't have a spec of green in me! but i'll do my best to water it and keep it alive. i just can't wait for it to bloom. i LOVE the lilac smell. we do have a purple lilac bush in bloom already. so i'm enjoying those for right now.
our hay field is coming up so nicely. they should be cutting it this week. we about lost amelya in it the other day! and that's our dog with her!

and of course planting something is not any fun if you can't get dirty and find bugs!

well there's the lilac bush. i'm so excited to see it bloom. it would be so fun to see the first blooms around mother's day next year. because regardless of where my babies are...i'm still their mommy!

whew. that was longer than i thought! and i still have loads more of pictures. but i'm off now. to enjoy today with my babies. and my hubby who gets to get done with work early! whoo hoo. it'd be nice if he could have the day off like most everyone else...but i'm happy with early. :0)

have a super memorial day. thanks to all of you who make this day what it is. and thanks to jesus who saves our souls for eternity.

gro baby diapers.

well the newest craze of cloth diapering is the 'gro baby' diapers. here's a link to check out their site.

it really is an 'inventive idea'. it's not a prefold and wrap, but it's not a technical 'all in one', and not really a pocket diaper either. it's a super cool idea for a diaper, that i wish I would have come up with. oh well....here's a picture of the diaper....

isn't that cool. you can REUSE the cover all day, as long as it's not all pooed on. and just snap in a new liner!! how neat is that!?! i LOVE the idea. i also LOVE that gro baby is going to send me a free 'pre-production' diaper...just for telling you all about them!!? now THAT is cool.

i have some other cloth diapers i need to sell...and then i'm saving up money to buy some of these. they are a 'one size' diaper. so even better. i don't need to get three different sizes for each of the kiddos still in diapers.

sooooooooo with that..if any of YOU are looking for some cloth diapers...i have some to sell. :0) i have eight size 1 kissaluvs contour diapers, one older 'medium' sized kissaluvs contour and if you want to buy those i have a small sized white bummis cover i could sell you with them. i also have two happy heinys girly prints in medium and one girly print happy heiny in large. if i get ambitious today i'm posting them on craiglist. if i don't. i will eventually. but if any of you are truly interested i can send you pictures and pricing. :0) and since you're my blogging buddies i'll for sure cut you a deal!!

so with this post 'finished' all about gro-baby...i'm off to start a super cute picture post of my kiddos.

flashing back friday.

i'm playing along in flashback friday as a tribute to me and my hubby. it is our ten year anniversary together 'as a couple'. and our five and a half year wedding anniversary if you want to be real technical! i hope you enjoy a trip through memory lane!

my favorite picture from our first date of prom. 99 (his mom did a much nicer job than i do picking the weeds...as this is in front of our house now)

our first official 'as a couple' picture. 99 (and my favorite pic of us)

junior prom. 00
me on homecoming court, 01 he still has that sweatshirt, except i wear it now...01 senior prom. 01--yes i wore the same dress twice. that thing was expensive!

i graduated! 01 awwww. 01 my uncles wedding 02 (dang i was skinny!)
engagement picture. isn't he the cutest in glasses!?!
another engagement pic from our wedding. from the grand march. 03
christmas 03 (our first christmas married-and a few days after finding out about our first little angel baby) our one year anniversary trip to door county 04
christmas 04-and me all big as a house with amelya in my belly. i had two months to go yet!
family of three 05

professional family pic and breigh's in my belly!! 05

family of four 06
family of five 07

zoo 08

fourth of july 08 (i love having a daughter who can take pictures!!)

too cute. 08 (my belly button is sticking out!!)

our first professional picture since our engagement pics. 08
i just loved this one. 08 our trip to minnesota october 08
first pic as a family of six 08
my sister's wedding 08

christmas as a family of six 08

most recent. last weekend.

ohhh wasn't that fun!? i had fun. and i could've scanned way lots more pictures. so be thankful i didn't. i've noticed two things. 1. i was a lot skinner than i used to feel. i wish i would've thought that at the time. oh well. 2. shaun has a lot of the same clothes and still wears them, we need to go shopping. :0)

shaun had a super cute handmade card for me when i woke up this morning. i love handmade cards! i also love that he remembered today without being reminded. :0) either way i love that man. he is the bestest guy ever. and i know you all have the bestest guys ever too. isn't that great to think we have the bestest guy? i am so extremely blessed to be called not only his wife but his best friend. and he is mine. allllll mine. and more importantly he is an awesome man of god. he leads our family with godly wisdom and i am so grateful for that.

i am shaun's one and only ever in his life girlfriend. isn't that cool? i think it is. he's the blessed one to get it 'right' on the first time!! he's the first boy i ever 'went out with' before we started 'dating'. we went on three dates before he officially 'asked me out'. i loved that. he held my hand first, and so cute. first he grabbed my pinky with his...and gradually was holding me hand. he says i kissed him first. i say he was staring at me and we both did it at the same time. lol. who really cares. of course he asked me to marry him. nothing romantic though. but that's okay. because that's us. we're not super romantic and it's all good. i don't need 'things' to show me that shaun loves me. i'm the secret glances across the room type of girl. :0) i love it when i catch shaun staring at me, but that means i was staring at him first! :0)

shaun is the best person to ever happen to me. jesus is the best thing to have ever happened to me. put them together and it's pretty much perfection. :0) to me.

this week has been the hardest week of my life. (read posts below to find out the reasons why if you do not know) and the hardest week for the both of us as a couple. we've had loads of ups and downs. and we've clung to each other and to jesus together. without doing that this road of up and downs would be impossible.

i love getting notes from shaun because he pours his heart into them. and he says things to me that he may not say aloud to me. i love that HE is glad that i said yes twice in my life. and that he's happy we are together. and that we have a lot more wrinkles to get to. that was one thing we've always said to each other, we get to wrinkle together. i for one, cannot think of a better person to wrinkle with besides my best friend, my husband, my lover, my soul mate. happy ten years shaun. i can't wait to spend forever with you...

last night i was also so blessed to get out of the house for a bit. i went to a wildtree party at a blogging buddy's house! it was our first time meeting in real life! check out her blog for the picture proof! it was really nice for me to get out by myself and just reflect on this week. and how awesome of a drive to and from it was. god totally hand picked each song on the radio for my heart. my favorite one, which is also my ringtone on my phone, was the song my nicole c mullen when you call on jesus, all things are possible...that is my life this week. when I call on HIM ALL things are possible.

it IS possible to go through a miscarriage and survive WITH jesus. it IS possible to be so stinkin sad and survive WITH jesus. it IS possible to have the hope that things are going to be okay WITH jesus. it IS possible WITH jesus. ALL things. and i'm so thankful for that. so stinkin thankful.

blogger has been a real booger to me lately, and shutting down when i try to load up blogs. so i am sorry if i haven't commented on your blog in a bit. i try to load and it shuts down. and i get irritated so i quit. so hopefully it fixes soon and today i'll get a chance to get a bit caught up on all your all's blogs. hopefully. but it is really nice outside, so amelya and i may have to hang out outside during nap time...and since i do not have a lap top i may not get to blogs. so we'll see. i promise to get back into the swing of things soon.

and i tried to post a vlog yesterday. more irritation. so lord willing i'll try for next week. :0) it wasn't too exciting anyways.

okay so that's that. i think i've covered it all. i love you guys. and thanks for the addresses. i will write those out today while sitting outside! :0)

how it's going...

i just wanted to give you all a quick update on life lately. if you're not sure why i would need to do that please read the post below this one first. then come on back up here. i'll wait.....

...okay.

so things are getting a lot easier today. a lot. the past two days have been difficult at times. but i've persevered. and god has helped me the most. he's given me the peace i've so needed through this time. and for that i am so thankful.

i must also say how overwhelmingly blessed i've been by all of your comments on my blog, on facebook and twitter and to my email. words CAN NOT describe the blessed feeling i felt. thank you does not seem words enough to tell you all. but yet are the only words i can express. so thank you. from the deepest bottom of my heart and shaun's. every night since monday, so yesterday i guess, i've told him story upon story about a sweet comment or email i've gotten. he too feels so extremely blessed by it. and today i have more to tell him. so thank you thank you thank you. thank you.

getting through this has been so much easier with the love and support of my god. my family. and my friends. and i consider all of you just that. my friends. i do not 'know' most of you in real life. i've never talked to most of you on the phone or even by chat or email. but yet you care. you care enough to pray for me. to leave kind words and sweet comments. for that i am so thankful. i wish i could call you all up and tell you personally how much it means to me. but i guess it's a little strange huh? and really i like leaving messages the best, so i would make sure you weren't home so i could leave you a message instead. yep. i'm that goofy. so i was thinking. scarier yet. that i really want to do SOMETHING to show my appreciation. so i'm asking you this. IF you feel fine enough with me knowing your address i would L.O.V.E to hand write a thank you note to you. because i feel reading this is not enough. i want to be able to express just how much i'm thankful personally to each one of you. in writing. my writing. so if you're 'cool' with that i'd love your address. i promise to not share it with anyone else and it will not be put on any mailing list. :0) so if you're 'cool' with all that please email me. because i know it wouldn't be all 'cool' to leave it in these comments. :0) and besides it's way cooler to get a note in the mail than a bill or something less cool.

shaun's grandma totally blessed us with supper last night. homemade chicken noodle soup. yummy. and perfect. because i didn't feel like doing anything yesterday. i washed diapers, only because i had like ten left, and that's it. we played outside ALL afternoon. like from two til six. and it was so fun. it was so fun to hang out with the kiddos and treasure that time with them. today we got back 'in the swing' of things. we went to story time and mcd's. it was nice to get out of the house. and just talk to someone. just one other mommy friend could make it today. and we had a great time talking at mcd's and it felt nice to talk in person about the stuff going on. i'm so proud of myself for not bawling at all today either. :0) i know it's okay. and if i feel the need to, i do. but it's nice to be able to 'remember' and not cry. you know?

it actually all feels like a dream. like it all never happened. i actually have caught myself thinking 'when this baby comes...' and i have to remember this baby isn't coming here. and i remember this baby is already enjoying eternity with our savior. how fun is THAT!?! this baby is probably being loved on by it's great grandma, and it's uncle kyle and 'daddy's daddy' (that's what we always call shaun's dad to the kiddos) and of course it's older sibling. i will share this with you all too...when i was pregnant the very first time i had every inkling that it was a boy. and totally feel that way. i'll be honest with 'this baby' i was 'hoping' for a boy, but really thought girl the entire time. i truly feel that god gave me those feelings 'right away' because he knew i would not find out on earth. so i truly feel that i have a baby boy and a baby girl waiting for me. maybe that all seems silly, but i believe it, and can't wait to find out.

it truly feels so nice to be at 'peace' about all of this. to be 'okay' about all of it. i know that the memories of the six precious weeks i was given with this baby will never leave me, but it's nice to be able to move on as well and not dwell on all of it. this was not an easy place to get to. yesterday i wanted to stay in bed and not get out ever. i wanted to just drive and not turn back. i wanted to walk and keep walking. BUT god. he saw me through those dark dark places and turned me to his face and his loving arms and said come here child. so i went. to him. and those dark dark places got not so dark. they grew lighter. and i could see clearly. i knew it was all going to be okay. god held me close. and continues to. he never lets go of me. it's ME who slowly pulls away and tries to do things on my own. and then i realize i can't. i just can't do those things on my own. none of us can. try as we may we'll fail. every time. it just us to realize that and turn to god.

i could have gone through none of this without him. without having the perfect peace of his will. sure i went through a 'downer' time, but i had him to turn to. i don't know what i would do with out having him to turn to. you know i probably do, i would be a big dark mess. with christ i can be a mess, but he helps me organize it all...now if he only did housework ;0). he helps me organize my feelings. and see him for who he really is. GOD. he's GOD. who am i to question his motives and works? he's in full control of my life. his plans are not my plans. his ways are not my ways. and all his plans work out for good. all of them. not just some. but all. if you really want to know more about how i can say all these things and mean them with every fiber of my soul, i'd love to tell you how i can. email me. i will say this. i am not 'religious'. i don't have a 'religion'. i have jesus. a personal relationship with him. and you can have that too. how cool is that!?! that we can spend eternity together, with jesus and each other!!? heaven is going to be such a blast.

i really meant for this to be a quick update! it's turned into a long update. oh well. breigh and dustin just woke up from naps. and amelya is busy doing 'school'. i'm amazed at her sponge like qualities. she just soaks it all up. the other day she saw a 'fuzzy dandelion' and asked me if this winter it would re-seed itself!?! then i said, who told you that? she said i did. i do not remember telling her that about dandelions. i know i told her that about our asparagus patch but never dandelions. crazy i tell ya.

shaun is working late tonight. he had to be in by five this morning and has to work late. no fair. but he gets to drive our tractor all day, so i know that he is secretly having a great day at work. :0) he has to work this weekend. and is going to try to not have to work a full day on monday. that's the thing about farms. cows don't know to take off for a holiday, but as a nursing mother i do not think i would handle it so well if someone said...woah wait, it's a holiday no milking today. i'd probably hurt them. so i get it. :0) and i can't believe i just said all that. see i am feeling better! :0)

thanks again guys. for everything. i love you guys! :0) and i'm really serious about that whole sending you a card thing!!