I'm Baaaaack!

Hey girlfriends!

I am back from our Chicago trip and BRRRRR... it was COLD there! We attempted to go to the Shedd Aquarium on Sunday but the line was half a mile long outside of the building in the freezing cold wind!! So we skipped it and went over to the Field Museum- which was AWESOME! You will literally need to spend an ENTIRE day there to see it all:) We got back to the hotel and ordered pizza then went to the pool- a heated one, thank goodness!

Today, (Monday) we ate at Rainforest Cafe for lunch then we only had to wait in the quarter mile long line in the cold to get into the Shedd Aquarium and it was so COOL too:) The boys loved seeing all of the fish! I got some great pics that I will be posting over the next couple days! It was so nice to get away:) Wish we could do it more often!!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Scrapbook Sunday: A Day Early:)

Hi there! I am a day early for this but wanting to get my post in before we took off on our little road trip! Oooh, speaking of scrapbooking... I did some shopping at a local scrapbook store tonight and oooooh-weeeee; I got some cute stuff! Man, it really adds up$$! I told my best friend that I didn't want any kitchen tools or towels for my bridal shower but a nice big gift card to the scrapbooking store would be WONDERFUL:) She looked at me crazy then laughed... does that mean she won't do it???? LOL Anyway, along with Easter; I found a layout I did in my Gavins album from April 2005 when he was... 3? Geeez, times a-flyin' with him!!

He was hugely into Thomas the Train and the Easter bunny (a.k.a. Daddy this year) went BONKERS on buying Thomas things for him!! Gavin was so thrilled though, can't you tell??

Ok, now this layout is with pics from the Egg Hunt at my future in-laws house. See how Gavin has his Meijer bag to hold his eggs?? LOL (Refer to the previous post for my rant on this!! ) Look at the crazy dog, Meka rolling around in the grass behind him!! She was such a good dog; they had to put her down a couple years ago:( The chick in the pic on the right is my future sis-in-law, Amie who is also a good friend and bridesmaid in our wedding!

Well, thats it for this week's Scrapbook Sunday with me.... BUT check out my other gals and their Scrapbook Sunday posts!!

Holly at Girls at Heart

Katie at Katie's Nesting Spot

Vickie at Vickie's Scrapbooking and Tidbits

ANYONE ELSE want to join?? Please leave me a comment if you do:)

Have a great day!
♥ Noelle ♥

What are your Easter Traditions?

What are your Easter Traditions that you have with your family now, or in the past?

Usually on the day before Easter we color and decorate eggs with the boys; I love to do this! Last year, Brian wanted to hide those real eggs in the house for the boys to find, lol! I was so worried that we wouldn't find them all and then a rotten smell would appear a couple days later- but thank goodness, they found them all!! This year we are going to do a little egg hunt outside on our yard with the boys; I got the eggs bought and candy to go inside!! We also usually take them to see the Easter bunny too. I want to do this today with them, if we are able to get out of the house in time:) The "BUNNY" puts their baskets outside of their rooms so the boys see them when they wake up in the morning.

We also go to my future mother-in-laws home for lunch and another egg hunt! Her "bunny" hides eggs that have $$ inside of them (well, coins) but that is SO exciting for the kids! Although, she gives the kids plastic grocery bags to put their eggs in, instead of Easter baskets:( Thats the picky mom in me talking right now, lol!! Maybe I'll visit the GW and pick up some cheap Easter baskets for the kids to have this year- would that drive her crazy?? LOL I know she means well:)

I think that I will sneak my SCRAPBOOK SUNDAY post in tonite, since we are leaving tomorrow morning.

Have a wonderful day girls ♥

~Noelle~

A New BLOG?

Hey girls! I am thinking of starting up a 2nd blog; something to help me through this weight loss challenge I am facing. I was thinking of using it as my daily food journal; if I write down everything that I eat- including the "no-no" foods- it may be helpful for me to "see" what I have been doing:( I also thought about adding healthy recipe ideas, fitness tips that I come across, etc. Would anyone be interested in following this type a blog to help me out?

Haha, I thought of a FUNNY name for it too... PHAT BOTTOMED GIRL! LOL:) I love that old Queen song "Fat Bottomed Girls" and well, I have a FAT bottom!! I don't want to be offensive and use the word FAT always so if I go with the slang tern PHAT, which stands for "Pretty Hot and Tempting" (giggles) or we could say... Pretty Hungry and Tempted- since I always feel hungry and am tempted to eat the no-no foods!!

Any thoughts? Other than, "this Noelle girl is off her rocker!" !!! I just think this type of blog would be a good outlet for me and maybe others in my "same boat" who could use a chance to vent about their weight loss/dieting struggles.

TTYL:) Time for bed!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Easter Surprise from Holly ♥

Hi girls! As promised, here is ALL the WONDERFUL goodies that my dear friend Holly from Girls at Heart, sent me for our one-on-one Easter Basket Swap! She is being good and waiting till Easter to open her package from me; I didn't have enough will-power to wait that long to open mine!! So here is the MEGA BOX that came in the mail; specially delivered by my mail lady who said, "Girl, you better tell me what you got in that big box!" Our mail lady is a RIOT! We love her ♥ So what was inside this big box that came all the way
from Virginia to me in Indiana???

A gorgeously wrapped Easter Basket... filled with lots and lots of pretties and goodies!

Here is my #1 favorite item!! Holly knows that I am obsessed with gingerbread's, sooooo... she made me a spring gingerbread bunting to hang in my home! It is SO CUTE! I am still trying to take better pics of it but we've had some gloomy days and I can't seem to get enough light in the room to take a good close-up pic! Isn't it darling?? Holly is so talented!

She hand-painted a letter N in pink and brown for me- which is my favorite color combo!

Everything was wrapped so cute! What's in here?

An adorable spring coffee mug and a super cute egg candle!
See Gage's lil finger pointing at it?

An adorable bunny face to hang in the house...

2 very lovely linen embroidered towels that I actually am using as "doilies"!

A new Paris inspired make-up bag (thanks Holly, I did need a new bag)
and some gingerbread lotion ♥

Here's my basket full of Easter loot!

Holly also took the time to hand paint these pink polka dots on the easter basket for me ♥

She also made this little cute birdhouse and painted it pink and brown!

A cute ceramic gingerbread ornament and a surprise goodie!

A pretty address book, a garden pick and a rose candle. (I also found another candle like this but in lavender hiding in the bottom of the box, after I took these pics!!)

Some cute easter ribbon and a marshmallow lollie!!

More candy, some cute sparkley egg ornaments and some pom-poms for crafting!

A close-up of the easter basket goodies... a white chocolate bunny, a plush bunny, and that cute pink and brown box had the YUMMIEST S'Mores inside- which now are all gone!!!

I LOVE this glittery eggs picks too; I put them in my springy centerpiece in the living room!

This swap was so fun too; they all are! Brian gets annoyed when I do these but he doesn't understand how fun they are and how meaningful these packages are to us girls!!
Face it, guys just don't get it!!

Well, today is house cleaning day and grocery shopping!! Tomorrow is my best friends 31st birthday and we are going to dinner for it. Sunday, Brian and I and our boys are heading to Chicago for 2 days to visit the aquarium and the big zoo! It will be SUCH a nice Get-A-Way! I think we all need it in this house:) Happy Friday all!!

Hugs,
♥ Noelle ♥

For You ♥

Hot Glitters



I'll be back later to post more...

Noelle ♥

Various Chit-Chat:)-

Hey gals! Today was a crazy busy day but I just wanted to pop in and say HEY!! Got some goodies to share with you:)

One of the swaps I entered this Spring was hosted by Confessions of a Semi-Slacker Mom; who is a RIOT!! She hosted the Semi-Slacker's Spring Swap. I got paired up with a new gal that I never met before, Denise who has her own monogram business and she is AWESOME! Click HERE to visit her blog: Lauren Nicole Gifts. I got my swap package from her on Monday and WOW; she did GOOD!

I am only showing one of the items she made me tonite because the pics I took of the over items didn't come out good SO... I am going to retake the pics tomorrow with some sunlight so you can see them better!

Denise monogrammed and made this GORGEOUS Pink and Brown TOILE (♥) hangbag for me! OMG!!!! She also added my soon to be married initial of K to it:) What a doll!! Oh, and check the polka dots too! I was very surprised and thrilled when I opened the package! No Vera Bradley hand bag for me this Spring; I am TOTALLY sporting this one of a kind pretty!! "She's" waaaaaay cooler to me than VERA right now:)

Denise also made me 2 necklaces and a monogrammed compact mirror; that I promise I will show tomorrow!

And HOLLY... MY Dolly from Girls at Heart and I did a one-on-one Easter Basket Swap with one another; that one came in the mail yesterday and it was a MOTHER-LOAD of a BOX! Holly, I will post yours tomorrow honey!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This little BUNNY tag was made by me last weekend at my crop! Isn't she cute? I made the tag with my Tag Maker and used various Creative Memories punches for the nose, flowers and bow tie. The ears were made with small ovals from our Custom Cutting System:)

This fun lil leprechaun came out cute too! The "shamrock" is made up of hearts punches. I know I'm missing one but it looked better with only 3 "leafs".

This lil' chickie was made using the circle punch and I made the "cracks" on the egg with our mini-star punch! These 3 will look cute in the boys albums
for Easter:)

Now... who watches American Idol??

Were you TOTALLY thrilled to see Megan go home tonite?? I WAS!! I can't stand that little thing she does with her hands when she dances; I also didn't think she was all that great. My OPINION though! And what she said to Simon!! Uh-uh!!

Now here is my GUY, Adam!! I am so attracted to rock star guys! HEHEHE I have always had the BAD BOY tendencies when it comes to liking guys! My Brian used to be a BAD BOY now he's just too EMOTIONAL; lol!

I do like Danny a lot and Kris too. Wonder who will win??
What do you think??

Gotta go girls! I've got some reports to fill out for tomorrow for work- blah!!

Thanks for visiting:)

♥ Noelle ♥