Happy V♥lentine's Day, Girls!!

Happy Valentine's Day sweet girls! I "made" these delicious pink cupcakes for you all to enjoy ♥ (LOL)

Here is a box of chocolates for all to enjoy! You each get your own, cause who wants to share, right??

And I slaved for hours making each one of you these adorable cards with little bookmarks attached! (LOL- I wish!!)

And you all get these gorgeous Valentine roses too! Ahhhh, is it bad that us women know what we'd like for Valentine's Day yet the men don't?? I got a "naughty" card this year from Brian- typical man, lol!! He still has to "run out" today to get me something though, at least thats what he says! Doesn't it crack you up that men still do this year after year after year, when Valentine' s Day is ALWAYS February 14th??? MEN!! They are so goofy:)

Hope you all have a very LOVE-FILLED day today! Gavin has strep throat and Brian has to work tonite, so I will be at home with the boys- maybe some romance will happen later!!! he he he :)

Valentine Hugs,
Noelle ♥

In the Mood for L♥ve!!

Hi girls! I am so excited to post this pic! I got my wedding jewlery in the mail yesterday that I ordered and its PERFECT!! I ♥ it! I wasn't sure if it would look the same as it did online, but its everything I wanted it to be. Its gold with diamonds; it has little golden leaves and flowers on it- which goes perfect with the Fall theme of our wedding! I also played around with my hair a bit and pulled it back to see what it would look like with the earrings. I have been growing my hair out so I'd have it long enough for a pretty up-do for the wedding. This will be only the 2nd time in my life that I will have my hair done-up all fancy:)

I also have gone tanning a couple times to get some color back into this pastey white skin of mine; lol! So I can honestly say I feel as happy as I look in this pic!!

Here is my engagement ring; I can never get a good sparkley picture of it with my camera! Tomorrow is not only Valentine's Day, but its 9 months till our wedding day ♥ We met back with our priest last night to go over the couples evaluation that we did on Sunday. I am pleased to report that it went REALLY WELL! We agreed on almost all of the same things and disagreed on things such as money, of course! Who doesn't? We are going back next Friday to meet with our priest again to discuss our budget and other financial things.

Father also talked to us about the importance of keeping your spouse your #1, and children your #2. It made sense because if you don't have a good, solid relationship and means of communication with your spouse, it may be difficult to do the same with your children. Brian and I were really "touched" by many things Father had to say, especially about taking time each day for one-on-one "grown-up" talk and time. I feel so at ease with so many things now! We also will have no trouble getting married at our church either; YAY!! I was really stressed out about that and Father said not to worry about it:)

Have a wonderful day!

♥ Noelle ♥

Help!

Hi girls! Can anyone tell me how to make a banner for my blog? Everyone has one and my blog is feeling a bit left out!! lol:) I don't know if there's a site you can use? Please, please help!!!

♥ Noelle

Time to Catch Up!

Hi girls! I've missed ya:) Where has the past few days gone? Geez, I haven't posted since Sunday!!! Yikes! I guess I've been pretty busy! The pic above is of my latest GW find... an Easter or Spring Tree! Its about 3 feet tall and super cute ♥ $3.00 only! I have a smaller one that I put out at Easter time but I really was thrilled with the size of this one. I actually had both boys with me that day at GW; I told them we were going to "look for treasure"! Gavin was soooo excited too; he actually found 3 Hot Wheels cars for him and Gage to share for $1.50! So, as long as I tell them that we are "treasure hunting" and NOT "shopping"; I think they seem to cooperate better- LOL!!

Here's a close up of the tree, it has little flower buds on it.

I found these cute pastel egg frames that can be hung!! One for each of my cuties:)

Just a pack of the little eggs for $0.25!

And wa-la, find of the day...
A WHOLE BOX of Party-Lite votive candles, all different scents, BRAND NEW for...

ONLY $3.00!! This has to cost over $20.00 when you buy them from Party-Lite! The bad thing is that I don't know what the names of the scents are:( Some smell really good and others are funky!!

Today, I went with Gavin on his field trip to Health-Works Museum; what a FUN place! Its a hands-on health/science museum sponsored by a local hospital here. The main demonstration today was about eating healthy, brushing/flossing your teeth and exercising. Oh, and hand washing too. Gavin's "job" was to "pack a healthy lunch". So they got a brown lunch bag and went to the wall of food and had to pick healthy items to pack for lunch. He did really well- lettuce, yogurt, bean burrito, peas... and CHOCOLATE CAKE!! LOL I was a bit embarrassed! He said, "You gotta have dessert!" OOPS!!

This was him cheering for the chocolate cake!!! :)

What a handsome guy! They also had spring pics today at school; I thought this orange looked great on him!

Here's a GIANT Operation Game!!

Gavin climbing the "skin wall". Ewww! But he loved it!

The whole clan!

Gage's new word is "I-Cream"!! I bought some "superman" flavored ice cream from the store the other day- oh, its so yummy! He has been a really crappy eater lately but ate dinner really well the other night so I treated him! See, I am the DESSERT MOM!!!!!

I think he is going to be a LEFTY like daddy!! Gavin and I are both right-handed; go figure! I have taught one left handed little boy in the past in preschool and I had the hardest time teaching him how to cut with scissors and to write!! Looks like dad's gonna be teaching Gage, if he does stay a lefty!!

Well, my girl HOLLY and I won the Blog Follower Challenge from Mammalicious Finds!!! So we both win a CUPCAKE TEA TOWEL and CUPCAKE SOAP!! This is the 2nd give-away that Holly and I have won together in the past couple weeks:) I'd say that girl is my LUCKY CHARM!!! ♥ ya Holly!!

My sweet friend KATIE, also gave me the Lemonade Award!!

This award is given to sites that show gratitude and a wonderful attitude.

She said that I am always POSITIVE!! I have many not-so positive moments in my life; but my BLOG is my HAPPY PLACE!! I try hard not to be negative on here too often:) Katie: If you don't mind, I'm gonna wait a day or so to give out my awards, ok??

RULES:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude.
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received the award.

Last off, I wanted to share with you how our first marriage session went on this past Sunday... Brian and I had to fill out an "evaluation" based on things that we agree or disagree on as a couple- each based on our own opinion of each other!! Yikes!! We talked afterward and decided that we both probably AGREED that we DISAGREE on the whole topic of $money$- lol! I think that is common for most couples right?? So, tomorrow evening we are going back to talk to our priest to compare our answers! I am curious to see what we did differ on.

I recently was told that the teaching job I applied for at the Catholic school, may not be something for me... The friend of mine that teaches there, told me that the only "hiccup" for me would be the fact that we aren't married yet, live together and have children! This really frustrates me because I feel that in no way does that affect how I would be as a teacher. I realize that a school has a certain reputation to follow and obviously many people don't agree on the way my life is at this time. I just don't feel that it is fair to judge me and not let my true abilities shine because of my personal life!!! So needless to say, its been over a week since I met with the principal and have not heard back from him about a 2nd interview. I did call him yesterday and left a voice mail, but have had not return call from him! Should I "sweat this" or just let it go? Maybe its just NOT meant to be!!

Thanks for listening girls!!!
♥ Noelle ♥

My Saturday...

Hey gals! Hope you are having a lovely weekend:) A month or so ago I had volunteered to set up a table to represent my Creative Memories business for a local benefit to raise funds and awareness for children with ADHD, Epilepsy and Autism.
Here is a photo of my table...

The turnout wasn't very good. I think the 2 ladies that had "sponsored" it didn't advertise well enough, but it was nice to get out of the house and meet new people. I asked my mom to go along with me to help greet people that would come to my table. I only had 3 people enter my drawing for a Photo Sort Box and a pack of Earthy Photo Mats and Journaling Boxes. BUT... all 3 expressed interest in coming to my monthly CROPS. Sooooo... no big sales or anything for now but potential customers could lead to that in the future!!

Some of our tools and my 2 Everyday Displays set up with a "Love" theme.

Each "seller" was asked to donate something for a raffle, with proceeds going to benefit. I purchased 6 tickets for $10 and won 5 times!! LOL The last time they called my I told them just to pick another name cause I felt bad!!! So I only ended up winning 4 times- and let my mom pick something on the 4th pick. She chose a necklace and earrings from Premier Designs Jewlery.

I won this picture for my living room; I LOVE the saying on it!! I also won $30.00 worth of products from Tastefully Simple, a food taste-testing home party company!

I also won these 2 books from Usborne Books. I gave the snowman one to Gage and the Princess Set will be a gift to our friends daughter for her birthday this month.

Today we are meeting with our priest for our first round of "Marriage Preparatory" classes. Not sure how that will go? I have had a bad feeling for awhile that we may end up finding out that the priest won't marry us because we live together and had 2 children. So, if that happens I don't know where we will be married at, or by who. This really frustrates me! I know that we haven't lived our lives the way God intends individuals too. You know, get married then live together then have children. We are good people who raise our children with so much love and are sending our son to a Catholic school where he can learn those values. I know this can be a very controversial topic and I hope not to cause a stir with it, but I just want us to be able to "do things the right way" now.

So anyway, I needed to vent a bit. Life isn't all peachy all the time and we endure things that are difficult and frustrate us. I turn to you friends for some advice and a peace of mind. I hope thats ok?

Hugs, Noelle ♥

The PRINCESS has been CROWNED!

The "Princess of Pink" was crowned today!! My mom, Lori of Pink Faded Roses, participated in the "Queen of Pink" contest on another blog a couple weeks ago. Although we all know how much she LOVES pink, she just came in 2nd place in the contest. So, she decided to just name herself the "Princess of Pink" cause she decided that it sounded "younger" and she liked that title better!! LOL

So, myself and a few other sneaky blog gals got together and decided to "crown her" for her award! Amy from Bunny Rose Cottage and Holly from Girls at Heart, found mom's pretty pink crown on an Etsy shop and decided it was perfect for her. We also had help from Pea at Pea's Corner and Stephanie from Angelic Accents too. We all chipped in to get my mom her crown! Holly had it sent to me and I wrapped it up and added a couple other goodies.

Today, I told her to be home so we could go and surprise her. I had Gavin put on his king crown from Halloween this past year so her could "summons her"! He decided to get down on one knee and said, "Hear ye! Hear yea! I present to you the Princess of Pink Award!" It was too cute!! Holly also created a little award with her title of Princess of Pink on it. My mom had "named" myself, Amy, Holly, Pea and Stephanie to be members of her royal court, so that is how this all got started!! lol

Here is Gavin on his knee presenting mom with her award!!

Mom's reading it...

Here she is wearing her pink crown and holding a pink rose; posing with one of her little princes:)

I found this cute little pink topiary tree that had roses on it for her.

Also found this yummy smelling candle with the adorable heart "cookie" on it that said LOVE. Mom actually took the cookie off to save, because it was too cute to melt!! She's so funny:)

Also a little box of chocolates!! She was so surprised and tickled by this all:) Thanks so much girls for helping out, it means so much to mom to have such wonderful and caring pals like you ♥

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

GW Easter pretties and a NEW Home Party concept...

Good Morning girls! I had a bit of time to pass yesterday so I ran into the Goodwill over by my mom's house. She told me the day before that they had a whole aisle of Easter stuff so I wanted to check it out. They actually had 3 aisles of Easter decor!!!

So I found all these goodies yesterday:) I also had a 15% off coupon I got when I donated some old toys and clothes a couple weeks ago, so I ended up spending only $4.54!! Woo-Hoo!! You can't beat that!

I found this really neat Easter basket; I just loved the colors on it- kinda retro colored eggs. I also found a "Happy Spring" and a bunny "shelf sitters". See the cute ceramic egg? It opens up and you can put goodies inside. I also got a 6 pack of paper eggs that I'll end up putting them on my windows.

This little yellow bunny is cute but needs some eyes added to it. Also got the sweet Easter pail and a 2 pack of decorated eggs! I could NOT believe how many Easter Baskets that had; I couldn't decide!!!

My dear friend Holly collects these plates and asked us fellow bloggers to be on the look out for them. This pattern was one that her mom had when they were growing up, so they have sentimental value for sweet Holly! Enjoy Holly ♥

Last night I was invited to a "House Party" that my friend Angie was hosting. It featured products from Ziploc. There is a new website called House Party.com
that you can go to and sign up to host "parties" for companies who want to market their products. I applied for a Fisher Price toys party a couple months ago and was chosen! They sent 4 big toys for Gage to keep plus coupons for moms and little toys for the children that came with their moms. The concept behind the "house parties" are that you share a companies products with family and friends. There is no charge to do them and nothing for anyone to have to buy either. Which is nice!! The site just has you check an agreement that you will use your "party's blog site" to invite guests, post pics or videos about the party you've hosted! Its so easy and all the products are sent to you free and yours to keep!!!

So at Angie's last night, we got a bunch of free products; such as this Ziploc X Large bag which would be great for storing old, out of season clothes for example.

Here are 2 containers that we received, a few Ziploc baggies, a notepad, Sharpie marker and a coupon packet. I also got 2 medium sized bags that had pretty polka dots on them and now I see that the pic didn't come up that I posted- ugh!!
It was a nice time last night to get out, get some free stuff and organizational tips and Angie also served some yummy snacks too!

Here are a couple new pics of my little Gage:) I cannot believe that he will be 2 in April!!! It makes me so sad:)

Here is Gage with all his cars at the kitchen table!! I called it his "used car lot"; which Gavin thought was pretty funny!!! This is what our table looks like everyday; lol! And EVERYDAY I have to clear off all the cars so we have room to eat dinner!!

Holly, awhile back you posted pics of your kitties... Well here is Maxie (the black and white one) getting ready to kick Maddie's butt (the tabby)!! They do this at least 3 times a day and EVERY TIME, Maddie lays there like a dummy while Maxie attacks and bites her!!

And here goes Wrestle-Mania time! The boys laugh because I'll start singing that old "Cat Scratch Fever" song when these 2 fight!! LOL

Hope you all have a nice day! T.G.I.F.~ RIGHT???
Today we are off to look at how we can redo our tub/shower "surround"; man, does it need it!!!

♥ Noelle ♥