Oh so BAD...but SOOOO good!

Cherry Cola Brownies
From: www.bettycrocker.com

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Love cherry cola? Try it in rich, fudgy brownies. Prep Time: 20 min Total Time: 1 hour 50 min Makes: 24 brownies

Brownie
1	box (1 lb 6.5 oz) Betty Crocker® Original Supreme brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)
1/4	cup cherry cola carbonated beverage
1/3	cup vegetable oil
2	eggs
Frosting
1/2	cup butter or margarine, softened
3	tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
4	cups powdered sugar
1/3	cup cherry cola carbonated beverage
24	maraschino cherries, if desired

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	About Concordance™

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray or shortening. Make and bake brownies as directed on box for 13x9-inch pan, using water, oil and eggs. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
2.	In large bowl, beat frosting ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Spread evenly over brownies. For brownies, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Garnish each with cherry.

Time-Saver

Skip the homemade frosting, and use your favorite Betty Crocker® chocolate frosting for a fast and fudgy finish.

Nutrition Information:

1 brownie: Calories 260 (Calories from Fat 80); Total Fat 9g (Saturated Fat 3 1/2g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 30mg; Sodium 125mg; Total Carbohydrate 43g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 36g); Protein 1g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 2%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 0%; Iron 6% Exchanges: 1/2 Starch; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 3
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.


I am SO making these for 4th of July and I WILL eat one, even though I shouldn't!!!

~Noelle ♥

Scrapbook Sunday: PIZZA!

Welcome to Scrapbook Sunday!

Today I am showing some Pizza themed pages from my Gavin's 2/3 year old album!

Gavin's grandpa owns a pizza place here in town! Gavin started calling his g-pa, "Papa Pizza" when he was little. The pic on the bottom left is of Gavin and his Papa; the apron grandpa is wearing was a gift to him from us one year.
We had the apron embroidered to say "Papa Pizza" on it.

The fun pizza stickers are retired from Creative Memories product line!

This page is covered in a piece of scrapbook paper that I found that is red/white checkered with a giant pepperoni pizza on it! I love this page!! LOL

Gavin was featured in our local newspaper in an ad/coupon that was printed to advertise the pizza place. Yep, that's little 2 year old Gavin holding his "baby pizza"!

Check out these gals to see their Scrapbook Sunday posts...

HOLLY and VICKIE and KATIE!!

Won't ya please join us and share some of your fun scrapbook pages too??

Have a great day!
Noelle ♥

Past Due PICS!!

Hi there! Like my new car?? Lol, it not mine! I mentioned a few posts back the my BFF was chosen to host an American Idol House Party from this site, click HERE!! Her party was on the night of the AI episode where Kris and Adam were the Top 2.

A sales rep from Ford, brought a 2010 Ford Fusion over for us to test drive! Can we say TOUCHY BRAKES!! Oh Lord, I forgot how NEW cars drive!! LOL :)

Here is the nice, clean engine!!

Pic of the cars interior! This car was cool!

Here is the car with our friend Theresa standing by it and my BFF's butt!!

Theresa, ME, my mom, the salesman Alan and my BFF, Valerie!

What do ya know? Kris was chosen as the next American Idol the following night on the finale!

Adam still ROCKS!! He will make one heck of an album someday!

Here I am with my bro Andrew!

Adam and Kris on the TV!

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What are your weekend plans?

Tomorrow Brian and I are going to a wedding for a friend of mine. It has been months since we had a DATE NIGHT, I can't wait!

Sunday will be a lazy day for me. I did too much running around this week, had a Pampered Chef party here at the house, had a play date with a few friends yesterday, met another friend for lunch today and my summer classes started back up this week- WHEW!!

My oldest son's last day of school is next Thursday; which I am SO ready for! I will be enjoying sleeping in till.... a whopping 8 am or so, instead of 6:30 am!!

Oh!! And my Gavin was picked as Student of the Month today at his school! I told him how proud of him I was and I started to cry! My baby will be 8 in July!!!! Its unreal how grown up he is getting:(

Have a great weekend! I'll be back for Scrapbook Sunday:)

Time to go and conquer the laundry that needs to be folded!!!!

Noelle ♥

Wedding Stuff!

Well, its just a little under 6 months till our wedding on November 14th! Time has flowen by so fast:) When we made our engagement official in March of 2008; it seemed like FOREVER till the big day!

Here are lists of what I have gotten accomplished so far and what I still need to do...

The "DONE" List...

Booked the hall, church, dj and photographer.
Found my dress and ordered it.
Found my headpiece, jewelery and veil and have them all.
Picked out the guys/boys tuxes.
Sent out the Save the Dates.
Having our Wedding Invitations designed RIGHT NOW!
Decided on wedding favors.
Decided on the design of the wedding cake and flavors.
Picked out the girls dresses and ordered them.
Picked/designed my bouquet and the grooms "bout" (can't spell the real word-lol!)
Picked out and ordered the Bridal party's gifts!! (CUTE!!!!)
Found a hairdresser to do my hair on the big day!
"Planned" the decor for the wedding reception
Set a date/place for the Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party- both in October!!

The "TO DO" List...

Choose and order my shoes for the wedding.
Pick out the readings and songs for church. (DOING Tomorrow!)
Purchase our cake topper.
Order the reception and bridal shower favors.
Create our Wedding Ceremony Programs.
FORCE Brian to choose groomsmen gifts!!
Book a place for our Rehearsal dinner (I think I know where it will be.)
Book hotel or B&B for night before wedding for me and our Wedding Night for us!!
Plan and book our Honeymoon; I am pretty sure we are going to Las Vegas for a couple/few days, without the BOYS!!
Decide on gifts for our parents.
Pay the photographer and DJ.
Pay off the rest of my dress balance.
Pay the florist for our flowers.
Find LOTS of cream and wine colored silk roses! (for the girls bouquets)
Purchase our Wedding Bands- we have decided on which ones already:)
Wait anxiously for the day to arrive!!!
and I think that may be it!!!

~Gotta run the Toddler Tornado is up from his nap!!!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Mostly Wordless Wednesday #2!

Mostly Worldless Wednesday!!

Here I am in 1997; 18 years old at my senior prom! SKINNY as he**!!! Not a care in the world but... "Where's the party at this weekend?", "Does he like me?", "Where did you get those shoes?"... etc.

Here is me now in 2009; 30 years old and a WHOLE LOT PLUMPER!!
The plumpness came from motherhood... ok, well I can't blame it all on the kids!! LOL Darn chips, hot wings, ice cream, pop, cookies, iced coffees... and so on!
Can't even wear the short shorts anymore cause of spider/vericose veins and flab!

BUT....

These 2 angels of my are the reason I eat, sleep and breathe! I love them more than life itself!! They have made me a better person, the type of person I never thought I could be.

I wouldn't trade them for a pair of short shorts or skinny jeans anyday! (OR would I?? lol just kidding!!)

When you grow up, your priorities change. Things that you once thought were important- such as being thin and "sexy" are not longer THAT important! My boys love me for me; and my "squishy" tummy that they like to lay on:) Some day they will be grown up and gone out of our home, then I will have all the time in the world to MAYBE get thin again!

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Hope I didn't get too WORDY this Wednesday?? LOL

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

happy thoughts

Hi girls! I feel like I haven't posted anything that I have made in a loooong time!! With the lovely green and white goodies that I got from my swap partner Heidi; I made some cards and gift card holders a week ago. Shown above are the 2 gift card holders, hand made by me! I used some pretty white flower brads that she sent me; first time using them and now I looooove brads! I also used some of the pretty floral paper and green rhinestones she sent me too:)

Heidi also sent me a stamp that says "Good things come in small packages" and a green stamp pad; I used the stamp on the card too. She also sent the pretty ribbon and flowers too ♥
What do ya think? Should I put them in my Etsy shop??

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OUTDOOR DECORATING DILEMNA... HELLLLLPPPP!!!

This is the back of my house, by our patio that is so boring looking! I want to jazz it up but want to spend no more than $50-$100.00 in doing so. My thought was to find an old window at a yard sale or something then decoupage some pretty outdoors-y looking papers on the back of the window- maybe clouds? To make it look like a "kinda-sorta real" window. Then I wanted to add a flower box under it and plant some impatients in it. What do YOU think??

My mom suggested finding a big old MIRROR to hang then planting a flower box below it. I think that would be COOL too!

What are your thoughts?

I also want to spray paint our resin table and chairs too; and add some flower pots to the back patio. I was also thinking of an outdoor rug too. I want a cozy outdoor feel to it.

Here is our foundation in the backyard; the bucket fills up with water and dumps. It sounds very soothing too:)

Some of my boxwood shrubs that need top be trimmed and tamed:)

For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of this flowering shrub!! Anyone know? I am pretty sure that it blooms little white flowers in late summer.

This is the bird bath that my grandma had boughten for me a few years ago. Its surrounded by leaves that NEED to be swept up so I can plant more!!

More of the unruly boxwoods that I am afraid to trim!! LOL I might ask my mom to do it.
Don't I need some flower boxes under the back windows too?? That is my mission for this summer!!

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FLOWER GARDEN DILEMNA #2...

This is my creepy neighbor guys backyard; isn't the garden lovely?
His soon to be ex-wife planted all this; and she left him a year ago.
He was telling my mom and I that he wanted to rip out all of these flowers cause he didn't want to deal with them anymore.
I said "I'll take them!!!" And his reply was "Go ahead dear, dig out whatever you want!!" OMG!!! Was he kidding?

There are irises back there, tiger lilies, and tons more!!

I think I am going to ask him again if he is SERIOUS then I will be in TRANSPLANTING HEAVEN!!! LOL ♥

Thanks for visiting me today:) I noticed on my "feed" that I have some NEW visitors that haven't left any comments!! Just leave me a "HI!!"; I promise I don't bite!!

I'd rather know that you are a nice, normal person rather than a CREEPY STALKER!!!! Ewwwwwwwwwww!!!!!

~Noelle~

Blue Monday 5/25

Welcome to my Blue Monday; hosted by Smiling Sally!

Here are some of my blue and yellow pansies that are blooming and filling up my flower pots like crazy, on the front porch!

This is the tea cup planter that my boys got me for Mother's Day:) I wanted one of these sooo bad and was thrilled when I got it ♥

As promised from last week... the watering can planter with some flowers inside.

I found some blue plaid bermuda shorts at Walmart yesterday for only $12!! I have an ugly vein on my inner thigh so the only shorts I will wear now are these; they are knee length
and I love them!!

And lastly, my latest "winning" off of Ebay... A fun scrappin'/cardmaking kit with ribbons, buttons, brads, flowers... etc. I love all the pretty colors, especially the blues:)

Hope you all have a great Memorial Day today! I think we are off to do some shopping for summer clothes today, maybe? (if a certain someone is NICE today!! MEN-ugh!!)

Noelle ♥

Scrapbook Sunday: Memorial Day!

Hello! Welcome to Scrapbook Sunday!

Today I am showing some "Memorial Day" pages out of my oldest son's scrapbooks!

Our side of town has a Memorial Day parade each year. These photos were taken when he was 2 years old. We went to the parade then to his grandma and grandpa's cottage to have a
cook out/ boat ride. These were very SIMPLE pages; looks like I just added some photo mats in red and blue behind the pictures and some stickers; nothing too fancy!

This was Gavin's 1st Memorial Day parade when he was almost a year old. I used some red, white and blue star paper behind the photo's and added some cute star die-cuts at the top of the page. Also added a border strip on the left side of the page; which I am NUTTY for borders!!

Please check out these gals to see what they posted for today...

Holly

Katie

Vickie

If you haven't hopped on board yet to join us on Scrapbook Sunday's; just grab my button and leave a comment that you'd like to join us!!

Have a great day!
Noelle ♥

Hello girls!

Hi there! I am taking a minute from my yard sale to stop in and say Hi:) Its so warm and wonderful outside; I have enjoyed spending 7 hours a day outside, sitting in the sun, listening to the birds and watching my babies run through the sprinkler... oh yeah and making some $$! My yard sale business has been slow this year but so far I've made almost $150!! Yahoo! Sold a LOT of old clothes; now we can get some new summer clothes!!

I'll be back tomorrow for Scrapbook Sunday!!

Enjoy your weekend too!

Noelle ♥

never enough time...

Hi girls! Just wanted to drop in this morning. I am having my annual yard sale tomorrow and Saturday. Then we are off to my in-laws cottage on Sunday to celebrate Memorial Day with a cookout. Monday, Brian and I are taking the boys shopping for more summer clothes; these kids are outgrowing everything! So lets hope I make some good money at my sale the next 2 days; cause momma would like some new bermuda shorts too!!

I might not be back to post till "Scrapbook Sunday" before we take off for the lake. But I want to wish you all a wonderful weekend:) I hope you all are having nice weather; its gotten hot here in Indiana-- 83 degrees today, thank goodness there is a lovely BREEZE!!

Chat with ya soon ♥
~Noelle~

My 1st Mostly Wordless Wednesday!

These things like "Mostly Wordless Wednesday" always seemed fun, so I joined in!

Here is my youngest at almost one and a half years old!
Dreaming of a field goal... touchdown...?
He is a big boy now- 2 years old, 3 feet tall and 38 lbs!!
He WILL be our LINEBACKER!!

I love to get pics of the kids when they are sleeping;
you never know what they will be doing:)

~Noelle~

P-A-R-T-Y time!

Hi girls! Whew, its been a busy day! I am looking forward to tonite... my best friend Valerie was chosen to host an American Idol party from Houseparty.com. Tonite is the finale on American Idol which I have mentioned that I am addicted to. I ♥ Adam Lambert, the rocker guy above!! But... I have recently really began to like Kris Allen, the cute lil swooner (shown below). They both are very talented and unique in their musical abilites!!

At the party tonite, a sales rep from a Ford dealership in the area here is bringing by a 2010 Ford Fusion over to her house for us to test drive!! The Ford Fusion is the car shown in all the American Idol videos this season!!

She also received some party favors to share with us. We have to "vote" for who we want to win! We'll also watch the finale, snack and chit-chat too!

Should be a fun night! I'll post some pics tomorrow.

If you'd like a HEALTH update on me, please read my recent post on my other blog, PHAT BOTTOMED GIRL. I have an "UPDATE" from the doctor!!

If you watch Idol, who has your vote... Adam or Kris??

Be back tomorrow...

Noelle ♥

My 1st BLUE Monday!

Today is my FIRST Blue Monday post! Please head over to Smiling Sally to find links to even more gals and their Blue Monday posts:) On Blue Monday posts, you can show photos of pretty, funny or even UGLY! blue things in your home!

Since I am the only girl in a home with 3 other "boys" (well, one man too!), I know I have LOTS of blue around here!!

My 2 year old Gage wears his blue very cute on this day, enjoying a morning ba-ba; which I am trying to break him of!

To respect the manliness in our home, I decorated our bathroom with a Nautical look; so here are some blue lighthouse wall hanging from in there.

Here is my oldest son Gavin's blue (and yellow) room with his new BLUE outer space bedding that was a birthday gift last year!

Here is my BLUE watering can planter on my front porch; it now has flowers inside of it this year:)

When my little Gage turned 2 last month, we had a Blue's Clues birthday party for him! Talk about some BLUE!!

These sweet blue decoupage angel ornaments were a Goodwill find for my Christmas tree this past holiday season:) Can you believe in just less than 7 months, it will be Christmas again? Where has 2009 gone??

Thanks for joining me today:) This was fun; I have been wanting to join Blue Monday's for a couple weeks now and am glad that I jumped on board!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥