Sunday, April 12, 2009

Check out MY NEW Blog!!

Hope you all had a great Easter! We got waaaaay too much candy in this house now!! I got my new blog up and running earlier today: I did end up calling it "Phat Bottomed Girl" LOL:) I did a brief post and thats been about it; its no where near where I would like it to be. Check it out, leave a comment or even become a follower to help me on my weight loss journey!!

Thanks for all your support girls:)

Noelle ♥

History of Easter; Easter Symbols!!

Easter Symbols

Easter Bunny

Easter BunnyThe Bible makes no mention of a long-eared, short-tailed creature who delivers decorated eggs to well-behaved children on Easter Sunday; nevertheless, the Easter bunny has become a prominent symbol of Christianity's most important holiday. The exact origins of this mythical mammal are unclear, but rabbits, known to be prolific procreators, are an ancient symbol of fertility and new life. According to some sources, the Easter bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and transported their tradition of an egg-laying hare called "Osterhase" or "Oschter Haws." Their children made nests in which this creature could lay its colored eggs. Eventually, the custom spread across the U.S. and the fabled rabbit's Easter morning deliveries expanded to include chocolate and other types of candy and gifts, while decorated baskets replaced nests. Additionally, children often left out carrots for the bunny in case he got hungry from all his hopping.

Easter Eggs

Easter EggsEaster is a religious holiday, but some of its customs, such as Easter eggs, are likely linked to pagan traditions. The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating spring. From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus' emergence from the tomb and resurrection. Decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition that dates back to at least the 13th century, according to some sources. One explanation for this custom is that eggs were formerly a forbidden food during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting, then eat them on Easter as a celebration.

Easter egg hunts and egg rolling are two popular egg-related traditions. In the U.S., the White House Easter Egg Roll, a race in which children push decorated, hard-boiled eggs across the White House lawn, is an annual event held the Monday after Easter. The first official White House egg roll occurred in 1878, when Rutherford B. Hayes was president. The event has no religious significance, although some people have considered egg rolling symbolic of the stone blocking Jesus' tomb being rolled away, leading to his resurrection.

Faberge Eggs

Faberge Eggs

Watch video about the most famous Easter eggs in history: Faberge Eggs.

easter video

History of Easter

Watch video about the history of Easter.

Easter Candy

jelly beansEaster is the second best-selling candy holiday in America, after Halloween. Among the most popular sweet treats associated with this day are chocolate eggs, which date back to early 19th century Europe. Eggs have long been associated with Easter as a symbol of new life and Jesus' resurrection. Another egg-shaped candy, the jelly bean, became associated with Easter in the 1930s (although the jelly bean's origins reportedly date all the way back to a Biblical-era concoction called a Turkish Delight). According to the National Confectioners Association, over 16 billion jelly beans are made in the U.S. each year for Easter, enough to fill a giant egg measuring 89 feet high and 60 feet wide. For the past decade, the top-selling non-chocolate Easter candy has been the marshmallow Peep, a sugary, pastel-colored confection. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based candy manufacturer Just Born (founded by Russian immigrant Sam Born in 1923) began selling Peeps in the 1950s. The original Peeps were handmade, marshmallow-flavored yellow chicks, but other shapes and flavors were later introduced, including chocolate mousse bunnies.

Easter Parade

In New York City, the Easter Parade tradition dates back to the mid-1800s, when the upper crust of society would attend Easter services at various Fifth Avenue churches then stroll outside afterward, showing off their new spring outfits and hats. Average citizens started showing up along Fifth Avenue to check out the action. The tradition reached its peak by the mid-20th century, and in 1948, the popular film Easter Parade was released, starring Fred Astaire and Judy Garland and featuring the music of Irving Berlin. The title song includes the lyrics: "In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it/You'll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade."

The Easter Parade tradition lives on in Manhattan, with Fifth Avenue from 49th Street to 57th Street being shut down during the day to traffic. Participants often sport elaborately decorated bonnets and hats. The event has no religious significance, but sources note that Easter processions have been a part of Christianity since its earliest days. Today, other cities across America also have their own parades.


I know I get caught up in all the fun things of easter; baskets, decorating eggs, etc. I just wanted to post this as a reminder to myself of the real reason behind Easter; our Lord died on the cross to save us!

I found this info in the history channel's website and thought it was interesting to share!

Have and wonderful Easter friends ♥

~Noelle~

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Happy Easter to my PEEPS ♥

I couldn't resist sharing all these with you; they are HILARIOUS!!
Love you girls (you are my "peeps" LOL) and hope you all have a wonderful Easter Day!!
Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Happy Easter to my Peeps
Grab a new Myspace 2.0 Layout




Happy Easter
MySpace Graphics




Happy Easter!
Grab a Graphic from pYzam.com




Easter Tips
Free Myspace Layouts


Scrapbook Sunday!!


Welcome to Scrapbook Sunday... on Saturday!! Well, its 11:26 pm for me so its almost Sunday!!


What do you think I am gonna show??
EASTER, of course!!

These pages are from last Easter 2008 and are from my oldest son's album. You can see him smiling because the easter bunny brought him some "gear" for his d.s. game. That easter bunny (daddy) went a little bonkers last year when it came to filling the baskets!! LOL


Here are the eggs we decorated last year and a bald sweet baby brother Gage:)


The paper I used on these layouts were from Creative Memories, which is a company that I am a ind. consultant with. They came from the Primary Power Palette Easter Additions. In that set you get 4 double-sided sheets of paper, with 2 different patterns; a sticker sheet; a sheet of word stickers and several double sided photo mats. You get all of this for $9.00! It works out perfect for me because I have exactly enough to complete a double page layout in both boys albums! If you like to see more of our products, click on the word in bold print!

Check out these other gals who are contributing to Scrapbook Sunday as well:

Holly at Girls at Heart

Vickie at Vickie's Scrapbooking and Tidbits

Any others that would like to join??
Leave me a comment and I'll add your name!!

Happy Easter friends!
Noelle ♥

Update: Scrapbook Sunday!


Some of you may be wondering if Scrapbook Sunday will still be held tomorrow, being that its Easter? If you'd like to participate this week, leave a comment on this post. I'll do my SS post later on tonite and I'll add you if you'd like to do the same. I probably won't be on here to blog tomorrow with all of our Easter festivities:)

Noelle ♥

Friday, April 10, 2009

I ♥ Shoes!


A girl can dream about shoes right? Who has ever seen Sex in the City? Oh, I was always jealous of Carrie and all the shoes she had! She certainly wore some crazy ones huh? Before I was a mommy, I bought lots of shoes- lots of TALL shoes! I also was WAAAAY thinner and could balance on those TALL shoes! What is your shoe style?? What is your shoe size? I used to wear an 8 1/2 or 9; then my feet grew half an inch with both boys; so now I have to buy a 10! Do you know how hard it is to find cute shoes in a size 10? They must make like one pair of each style when it comes to the cute shoes, and then another "bigfoot" gets there before I do and snatches the cute shoes up!!

I really want this pair of fun yellow peep-toe pumps shown above!! I found them on Old Navy's website and they are only like $19.99!! That's a steal:)


Aren't these flip flops cute?? I love to wear flip-flops in the summer; I can buy four pairs for about $10.00 or so at Old Navy!! Now, why should I get in trouble for that? That is as frugal as frugal gets when it comes to shoe shopping!!! MEN! They just don't get it!!

These little cute bow flip flops were on Payless's website; that is another cheap CUTE shoe store!

Wild woman, zebra print!! I want these too ♥


Fun peep toe wedge in a pretty spring color!! I read in an article that for every 1 inch that your heel is, it makes you look 5 pounds thinner!! Think I could pull off a 10 inch heel??? LOL


Pretty purple with some glitter!!


Polka dots with a stiletto?? Uh, to die for!!!


Totally kidding about these!! These belong on a STRIPPER!!

Thanks for window shopping with me! Its been fun; maybe next time my "BOSS" will let me buy a pair! Or, I'll go back to work and buy 10 new pairs of shoes and say, "We'll I worked SO HARD, I thought I'd "treat" myself!!!!" Uggggghhhhhhh, men!! (Or just my "man"!)

Love to my girly girls!!
Noelle ♥

Family Friday


Hi! Today I am having Family Friday over here on my blog; I have a lot on my mind that I could vent about but I will stay positive for the sake of Good Friday! Here is my family and I from Christmas of 2007! Isn't Gage a little pee-wee? Gosh, he will turn 2 next Thursday the 16th and Gavin will be 8 already on July 16!

Here is Brian and I; we look so happy here! We are NOT happy together the past few days!! I hope that changes soon. He has been working a TON lately which leaves me very lonely and angry:( Oops, I said I wouldn't vent! SORRY!!


Here are my lil love muffins! Pee-Wee Gage and Big Bro Gavin ♥ This two are the lights of my life:) I am SO blessed to have these boys in my life! Whenever I am having a crappy day, they manage to do or say something silly to make me feel all better ♥ I think our children are sometimes the best "medicine" for us:) Agree?

Well, I think I am going to take advantage of nap time to work on some things for Gage's Blue's Clue's Birthday Party next Saturday. I had a cute idea for a birthday banner that I want to get started on! I'll be back tomorrow to share my recent scrapbooking finds with you:)

TGIF Girls!!

Love ya,
Noelle ♥