2 days worth of posts TODAY!

Hi girls! I'm back and I owe lots of posts!! Here is my layout for Scrapbook Sunday; the theme for this week was anything MOMS! This layout is about my grandma; I did this one not long after she passed. My oldest son Gavin was extremely close to her and took her death very hard- he was only 4 years old at the time. I added this layout to his book so he could always look back and see all the wonderful memories of her that we had in pictures. The ONE thing I regret most is not taking more pics of him with her when he was little. I didn't start scrapbooking till he was 2 1/2 so many of the photos that I would have taken "now" weren't taken back then!! Which I could SO kick myself for it now:(

My grandma, Etta, that we called "Nanny" was such an amazing woman! She was so patient and kind with her grandchildren and a wonderful giving mother to her own children; she is missed SO much!!

Here she is on her 81st Surprise birthday party in June 2005! We were told at that point that she had about 9 more months with us:( She only made it to August 15 of that summer. The cancer hit her so hard and fast; it was awful to see such a loving and delicate person suffer so much. But knowing that she would be in a better place when she passed away was the only way I could bring myself to cope with it; I loved her too much to let her go but I knew that she didn't need to be here suffering. I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU, NANNY ♥

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Here is my mom, Lori of Pink Faded Roses, with my 2 boys on this Mother's Day! They were enjoying some of Nana's cookies! My mom and I had a rocky relationship for awhile years ago; but after my grandma passed away... we knew we had to be there to lean on one another. Now we are the best of friends ♥

Here I am with my babies:) Aren't they silly??

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Here is what the boys and I made for my mom and my future mother in law for Mother's Day. Each boy painted a pot for one of the grandma's and then I used ovals and circles form scrapbook paper and added their pics in the middle to make them into little flowers! The little flower in the front said, "Happy Mother's Day from your lil' sprouts!"

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Funny cause my mom made me something very similar! She put the boys faces on little faux cupcakes she made using pom-poms and cupcake liners!! She put on the jar "Mom's Lil Cupcakes"! LOL

Great minds think alike!

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Brian and the boys spoiled me too! I got a new Yankee Candle in one of my favorite scents- Mandarin Cranberry:) I've been complaining about how these 3 guys make our house "stink"; if ya know what I mean!! LOL So now I can just light my candle to ward of the "guy gas"!!
Can anyone else relate??

I also got a $30 Bath and Body Works gift card to get me some new shower gels and lotions ♥

And.... I got my teacup flower pot!! Isn't it cute? Brian actually called me on his cell from Walmart on Saturday because he had NO idea what I was talking about, even though I showed him the pic in the sale ad last week:) Oh, the lengths he will go to, to make me happy sometimes!

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We spent the rest of yesterday just lounging around like Gage is doing here!!

What a HAM!!

Last night, we went to dinner at Olive Garden-YUM! I went to bed at 9:45 last night because I was so exhausted!! I started the 30 Day Shred video yesterday and it about killed me; I was so sore and tired last night! Now I am off to clean, Gavin is at school and Gage is with grandma till 12:30... time to SPRING clean!! Yippee (not really, sigh!)

Have a great one!
Oh, how was your Mother's Day?? Hope it was as wonderful as you ♥

~Noelle~

MOTHER'S DAY and Scrapbook Sunday UPDATE

Wishing you all a very Happy Mother's day! I am taking the "day off" tomorrow so we will reschedule Scrapbook Sunday for MONDAY... and theme it with Moms on Monday!! That way you can show off some Mother's Day pics, or scrapbook pages of your mom, grandma, etc.
Anything MOMMY related!

Have a great day tomorrow and enjoy some of these fun graphics...

An Early Mother's Day surprise!!

Not that I would ask (beg) my son for my Mother's Day gift he made me at school, a day early... ok, I did!! LOL He was like "I said you could have it a day early!" So he gave me his precious hand-made gift that he worked on at school and I got all teary eyed and momma-mushy!

His gift that I will show below made me think of this poem written from a child's perspective about his/her mommy. I'd like to share this precious poem with you... grab a kleenex cause its a TEAR JERKER!!

When You Thought I Wasn't Looking

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you hang my first picture on the refrigerator,
and I wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you feed a stray cat, and I thought
it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw you make my favorite cake for me,
and I knew that little things are special things.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I heard you say a prayer,
and I believed there was a God that I
could always talk to.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I felt you kiss me good night,
and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw tears come from your eyes and I learned
that sometimes things hurt,
but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I saw that you cared and I wanted to be
everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking,
I looked....and now I want to say thanks
for all the things I saw,
when you thought I wasn't looking.

OMG!! Isn't that the most precious poem ever?? Here is my gift from Gavin!

A photo of him in a frame holding the card he made me, awww!!

Here is a close-up of the card... he said "Look I colored the letters in your favorite colors, pink and brown, mom!" Awww... sniff, sniff... he remembered his mommy's fave colors!!

He also made this book called "My Mom Wears Many Hats"; this book is what made me think of the poem I shared above. He wrote about some of the little things I do, that I NEVER thought would be all that important to him, but come to find out, THEY ARE!!!

"My mom is a chaffeur, she drives me to... SCHOOL" LOL

"My mom wears many hats in our family. My mom is a teacher. She taught me how to... Speak!" Wow, good one son!!

"My mom is a cook. I love it when she makes jello!"
(This totally cracked me up; he loves grape jello and drew jello jigglers!! All the YUMMY things I make and who would of thought that my jello is the BOMB! LOL)

"My mom is a nurse. She always makes me feel better when she... gives me medicine"

"My mom is an engineer. She can always fix... a rip!"
(He drew the rip that was on his Pokemon book that I taped!!)

"My mom is a magician. She can always find lost things. Once she found my... game chip."
(HE ALWAYS loses his DS game pieces!!!)

"My mom is the best mother in the world because... she loves me."

OMG, this little book just made my day! I love my sweet boys even when they are the biggest turds in the world! All the sleepless nights I endure, tantrums, the messes created by them... are all worth it; because I have them!!

I'll be back tomorrow to post Scrapbook Sunday; actually I may just do it tonite cause tomorrow will be busy. Have some tissues on hand for that post too!!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

My Favorites Friday!

TGIF!! Today has been a WONDERFUL day (so far, the day is till young!)! I was able to get away this morning to enjoy a half hour massage and a pedicure (which was an Easter gift from my 3 guys ♥); the massage was wonderful; my back and shoulders needed it! After that I picked my lil one up and we headed off to Target so I could spend my $10 gift card from my sweet swap partner Stacy!

FAVORITE THING #1: TARGET'S DOLLAR SECTION!

I hit the Dollar Section first to get some Scrapbooking goodies! I got 2 packs of paper; one summer themed and one is circle paper- too cool! I also got some summer/vacation stickers and some girly spring ones.

Aren't these cute?

I also got some cool adhesive epoxy buttons for card making/scrappin' and some new toe nail polish! (I don't paint my finger nails cause I still bite them when nervous/stressed!! Bad BAD habit!)

FAVORITE THING #2: These 100 calorie packs of nuts! So yummy to put on a salad or in a bowl of cereal and they are GOOD for you!!

FAVORITE THING #3: A MOTHER'S DAY CARD AND SURPRISE IN THE MAIL!
My new sweet friend Laurie and I swapped hand-made Mother's Day cards; did hers some out super cute?? She also sent me some CUTE pink beaded earrings and a fun flower pin that she made! Thank you Laurie, what a nice surprise!!

Close-up of the card ♥

FAVORITE THING #4: EBAY!! I have been selling some items on there and also got these 2 Bath and Body products for a steal!
Cherry Blossom is one of my fave scents!

FAVORITE THING #5: A NEW FRAME THAT I AM ADDING TO MY ETSY SHOP! It screams baby girl and I thought it came out really cute, what do you think??

FAVORITE THING #6: But the BEST part of this week, seeing my TODDLER TORNADO in a good mood and being loveable this week! Whew... since he turned 2 a couple weeks ago, I am starting to wonder what happened to my SWEET boy?? Tantrums, "NOOOOOO", not eating, waking up at night again... A-YI-YI! But he was in a good modd yesterday so I had to snap up this sweet pic of him with a morning ba-ba!

I know, I know... he shouldn't be drinking out of that thing, but when he is a TRAIN WRECK, sucking on that ba-ba is HIS COMFORT!! And, WHO can resist that lil face?? He also let me take him for a haircut too; only the 3rd one in his life!! LOL So doesn't he look so cute???

Alright, thats it for me! I am SO behind on laundry this week; must go into housewife mode now!! Talk to ya'll later!!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Fairy Tale Wedding ♥

So awhile back, my mom and I went to a bridal show where I won a 30 minute horse-drawn carriage ride for Brian and I!! I haven't called the people who do this to set up a time to use it yet because we both have been so busy. The husband and wife that do these carriage rides contacted me with a SPECIAL OFFER for our WEDDING DAY!

I almost fell off my seat when I read what they offered!! Brian and I have been going back and forth about me not wanting to spend a ton of money on a limo SUV to fit our whole bridal party (us, 10 adults and 2 children!!); Brian said that people expect that when they are in a wedding. I said its NOT necessary and we are required to have a limo to transport us. Its just not practical for our "scenario"; we have 2 kids together who are going to be a HUGE part of our wedding day; so I didn't think that we needed to ride around town in a limo, supporting the stupid tradition of everyone getting drunk in the limo!! We are 30 years old, not 22!! LOL

So I have 2 options to choose from for our wedding day; which I want to remain a surprise!! I just need to sit down and figure out how we can work this into our day; with the ceremony, pics after, then we are doing the receiving line at the reception hall before the reception starts!! WHEW!! Leave it to me to plan ANOTHER busy day, hahaha!!

Isn't the carriage lovely? They also give you a velvet blanket to cover up with if its cold:) We could be all snuggly; that is if Brian decides to be romantic for once in his life on that day!!!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

I did it...

After some words of encouragement from my hubby to be the other night, after I showed him the MOM frame I made for my Mother's Day give-away... he suggests I make more of those and sell them! So I thought, what the heck... I'll give ETSY a try! I listed one items so far. Its a mini tag album that comes in a decorated metal craft band-aid tin!! I think its cute; don't know if anyone else will!! LOL If I can make some extra money, why not!!

I'll be adding some more items this week! I found a bunch of cool old frames at GW that I am going to repaint and jazz up; then list them for sale!!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

P.S. Any other suggestions on what I could sell?? Scrapbooking stuff???

Freebies, Finds and More!

Hello! As I mentioned before I was able to get a bunch of goodies at a friend's rummage sale for only $5.00! There was a set of 2 Debbie Mum Easter bunny plates from 1998! I am SO curious to see what these might sell for on ebay, but I want to hang onto them cause they are so darn cute!

I got this big bunny bowl that could be used as a table centerpiece too. Love it!

Here is a large ceramic Valentines themed bowl; it has pretty hearts all over it and the words- Honey and Love on it ♥

Aren't these hearts cute?

I also nabbed this sweet gingerbread/mitten hanging!

3 Christmas honeycomb decorations!

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The next couple of items were FREE! My future (step) father-in-law let me have these from his mom's house, which they are putting up for sale. She is in an assisted living home with bad Alzthiemers (spelling?); it is really sad:(

There was a set of these 3 china plates; so pretty!

I found this little vase, it has a chip on it but its so pretty! It is very iredescent, but you can't tell in this pic.

This heart dish is hand painted and from Germany in the 1950's!!

This old and lovely frame was there too; I added one of Brian and I's engagement pics to it. Click on it to view the details of the frame!!

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The next couple items were Goodwill finds! They had a Cinco De Mayo 50% off sale at the one close to my home yesterday; I grabbed this tea cup and saucer for only 50 cents!!
Cha-Ching!!

This tin pail was cute too! It also came with the greenery inside but I'd like to add some flowers to it instead!

Look at this pretty bowl; it is china too and I LOVE the scalloped details along the edges!!

I have a few more items to show; but I will post those tomorrow! Soooo... what do you think?
Did I get some good finds?

Noelle ♥