Swap Surprises!

Today a fun package arrived on my door step!
It was from my swap partner, Ember; in the Very Vintage Fourth of July Swap!
It was a BIG and heavy box that I excitedly tore into:)

On the top was a patriotic scarf that my lil one immediately claimed because he is very patriotic and has an obsession with flags! (lol)

Inside was:
some blue twill ribbon for crafting and some neat red, white and blue dish towels...

Wrapped in the towels was a bag of watermelon candies! Yum:)

I loved these rustic wooden hearts to hang!

Some more ribbons in red...

I LOVED this little vintage looking box, that was heavy too!
I opened it up and found another, then another....

And here they all are! Nesting canisters! I am in love;)
Sorry the pic is blurry but they had apples on them, which is what my kitchen is done in!!
I have already filled the 3 biggest ones with cupcakes liners and cookie cutters that I had in my cupboard! These cute canisters will go on top my fridge now!!

Some scrapbooking goodies....

And my very own 1st ever vintage kitchen apron!! Its so cute:)
I will model it soon and post a pic!
Love the blues on it!!

I loved this red, white and blue doily too!

Hmmm... wonder whats in this package wrapped so neat?

Eeeek... polka dots on plates!! Ember, I SOOOO needed some new plates for the kitchen; these will be perfect for snacks and to feed the boys! She even gave me 6 of them!!

There was this cute orange crate; I need to think of something to do with it... any suggestions?
Gage had to check it out too!

This neat old HOPE sign that I hung in my living room!
I like this because I try to "HOPE" that each day will be better than the last!

The sign was wrapped in this little afghan too:)

This was my first real taste of seeking out Vintage Finds at a big antique mall here locally and I did have a fun time too!

Ember got my box as well, so if you'd like to see what I found/made for her...
click HERE.

Hope you all had a great day!

Noelle ♥

Mostly Wordless Wednesday #7:Stud Alert!

This is my soon to be 8 year old son, isn't he SO handsome?
He knows it too!
He is such a bright and funny boy; one of a kind too!
I'm lucky to be his momma ♥

Thanks for visiting me on Mostly Wordless Wednesday!

Noelle ♥

The Vote is IN... Favorite Things SWAP coming soon!!

Hi girls! Many of you voted on the SWAP I should host next, the most votes went to the "My Favorite Things" Swap! I have participated in these and its tons of fun; I also made a wonderful friend who was my swap partner too:)

For this type of swap, you put together a package for your partner of things YOU love... YOUR favorites! Its fun to see what everyone gets/gives. It can be fave lotions, candles, snacks, magazines, craft materials, etc. I think we will set a spending limit of $20-$30.

I am thinking of doing this swap in August- maybe mid-month? I need to get through the next 4 weeks of my summer classes, our road trip to Ohio and my son's 8th birthday before I "bite off more than I can chew!"

Please let me know if you'd like to participate in this swap by leaving me a comment. If you change your mind later that's fine. I just want an idea of who would like to join in. I'll get together a cute button soon to for this!!

Thanks bunches:)

Noelle ♥

Tag! I'm it!

Hi girls,

What a MONDAY! I went to the dr., then the bridal shop to see my veil that came in, the post office, home then back to the bridal shop with my mom so she could get measured then off to class. The prof let us out an hour early so I thought I'd blog! Should be doing homework, right?
A new blog friend, GENA tagged me to answer some questions... here are the rules and my answers!!!

The rules:
1. Respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention, add one more question of your own.

2. Tag other people.

What is your current obsession?
Tryin to lose more weight:)

What are you wearing today?
Black bermuda shorts, a cute gray v-neck top with a pink cami under and my black flip flops with sequins on them!

What’s for dinner? Dunno, we are going to a graduation party; hopefully they have something healthy for me there!

What would you eat for your last meal? Foods I CANNOT have: a BIG MAC, a big fry and a COKE... maybe some ICE CREAM TOO! Can you tell I am hungry? LOL

What relaxes you the most? Time alone in the morning- to check email, get a coffee, exercise or go tanning- "me time".

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
A cozy bed in Paris France where I could sleep uninterrupted!

Which language do you want to learn?
I took 3 years of French in high school and loved it; I'd like to be fluent in it.

What do you love most about where you currently live?
My quiet backyard where I see lots of trees and hear lots of birds!

What style is your current home decorated in? Country "cute"- loves plaids, florals, semi-girly things.

If you were a time traveler what era would you live in? The 70's- I'd love to DISCO!

What is your favorite color? Aqua, right now. I also love brown with it.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
My Torrid jeans that make my butt look nice and small but I need to lose more of this belly so they fit GOOD again!!

What were you doing ten years ago? I was 20 years old, just began dating my hubby to be, partying and working.

Describe your personal style? Comfy and cute:)

If you had $300 now, what would you spend it on?
I'd pay off my wedding gown!!

What are you going to do after this? Going home to do some ironing then going to a grad. party.

What are your favorite films? I like romantic chick flicks... The Notebook is my fave

Your favorite books?
I admit it, I really don't read for enjoyment... I read books to my kids, textbooks for school and magazines for my own quick entertainment. Sad, huh?

Do you collect anything?
I collect gingerbread ANYTHING, tea cups/pots ... ?

What makes you follow a blog?
What the person posts about- their life, their stories, what they like to do, if they are friendly...

What was the most enjoyable thing you did today? I went to the dr. and they told me that I am doing a great job with following my "diet" plan and weight loss. I am also being put on a drug to help me lose more weight and it will help balance my insulin levels.

Ann's Question:What makes you comment on a blog? If I really like what the person has shown or said. I love to make new friends!

Amy's Question:What is your favorite thing to do when you have some free time? Shopping, spending time with friends, watching a movie, treasure hunting at GW.

Anissa's Question:As you know I homeschool -- If you could would you? Already do?Do you agree with homeschooling? I think I might like to; I don't feel I know ENOUGH to do it. I struggle with math and science quite a bit. I don't think there is anything wrong with home-schooling, as long as a child isn't completely sheltered from the real life experiences around them.

Tonya's question:What is a talent you wished you had?
I wish I could sing! I love to sing but sound TERRIBLE!

Gena's question:As you may know, I am all about "Serene Moments", so what is your "Serene Moment"? My "serene" moments were the days my children were born; I'm referring to the first time I saw them and held them in my arms... time just stopped for me and I was absorbed in the beauty of the moment. All the pain I suffered during labor went completely away and I was filled with more JOY than I have ever felt at any other time in my life!

MY question:
If you could visit heaven, who would be the ONE person you would want to see, and why?
My ANSWER: My grandmother... I miss her SO much- I'd want to hear her say if she is proud of me as a mother and I would want to know what she thinks of my youngest son, who she has never met. I would also tell her how losing her has completely changed my life and HOW much I wish I could have her back here with me EACH DAY!


Now, I am tagging:

Lori (my mom) from Pink Faded Roses

Brenda from Country Romance from the Heart

Vickie from Vickie's Scrapbooking and Tidbits

Thanks for reading this LOOOOONG post; I'll be back Wednesday for Wordless Wednesday!!!

Noelle ♥

SCRAPBOOK SUNDAY: Coolin' Off!

Hi there! Sorry I am late posting today, I went to the gym this morning and they made me do 40 minutes of cardio plus my workout; I am IN PAIN! My lil Gage is running a fever and not feeling well; so that blows our plans for going to the festival today:(

It is HOT here in Indiana so I am going to cool us off a bit today by showing some SNOW pics! Believe me, I am NOT wanting any snow, any time soon-
especially NOT till after our November 14th wedding!

For this layout I used some shimmery stickers that I of course had from CM; if you click the pick to enlarge you probably can see what I am talking about better!

I used a variety of shapes to crop my photos; I had a lot of pics to use for this layout so it was important to get rid of any "excess" unimportant things in the photos.

My Gavin loves to sled down our driveway SO much in the winter! I swear he'd stay out there till he got frost bite; he has so much fun!
Look at how rosy his cheeks
are in the bottom right pic:)

I especially loved this journal box because it was on a shimmery gray paper with pretty snowflakes and scrolls on it. I love to journal on my pages to "tell the story"; BUT... I NEED to do it on lines, otherwise I don't like how my writing looks!

Next week Sunday, I will be showing some 4th of July/Patriotic page embellishments that you can make to add to your pages for the upcoming holiday!

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

HOLLY ............ and............ VICKIE

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Elephant Ears!

Hi girls! My sweet Aussie friend Kylie wanted to know "What the heck an elephant ear is?"! Elephant ears are a yummy doughy dessert treat that we in the USA (other countries too?) have at our big summer fairs and festivals! It is deep fried and covered in a cinnamon/sugar mixture!
They are called elephant ears because they resemble the big and floppy size of a REAL elephants ear! Poor Kylie, I hope you didn't think that we crazy Americans deep fry REAL elephants ears for a snack, LOL!! I guess we do some strange things here in our country!! hahaha:)

Kylie and I were partners for our little ones in an Easter Swap this past spring. She taught me that there are NO chocolate bunnies in Australia at Easter time, but they have chocolate Bilby's; which are a desert dwelling marsupial that is an endangered species in Australia! I never knew about Bilby's till she told me! So Kylie and I teach each other lots of new things!! She even sent one to Gage and it was yummy!! Click HERE to read about them:)

I thought I'd share a recipe I found for Elephant Ears with you! They are a summer fave of mine:) Maybe Kylie will decide to fry up some elephant ears for some of her friends too!

Have a great Saturday!
Noelle ♥

ELEPHANT EARS

1/4 c. butter 1 c. all-purpose flour 2 tbsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/3 c. milk 3 tbsp. sugar 1 tsp. ground cinnamon Heat oven to 425 degrees. Grease cookie sheet with shortening. Heat butter until melted; set aside. Stir flour, 2 tbsp. sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl. Stir in milk and 3 tbsp. of the melted butter until dough forms. Sprinkle a surface lightly with flour, turn dough onto surface. Knead 10 times. Roll dough with a rolling pin or pan with hands into a rectangle, 9x5 inches. Brush with remaining butter using a pastry brush; sprinkle with mixture of 3 tbsp. sugar and the cinnamon. Roll dough up tightly, beginning at narrow end. Pinch edge of dough, roll into seal. Cut into 4 equal pieces with a sharp knife. Place cut sides up on cookie sheet; pat each into a 6 inch circle. Sprinkle with more sugar. Bake until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Immediately remove from cookie sheet with a spatula. Let cool on wire rack. Makes 4 elephant ears.

Blah, blah blog!

What a cute table display for the 4th!!

Hi girls! I don't have much to blab about today other than I am SO annoyed with finding a cute patriotic header for my page. I love the new layout and found a cute header, but for some reason its WAY too small when I put it in the header box! Anyone, help?

We hit up the pool again today and had a nice time!

I joined a gym today and worked out; very proud of myself and DISGUSTED with my body fat percentage! It was 12% over where I should be; needless to say- I NEED to exercise more!

Tomorrow I get to "work" with my oldest son at his school's annual festival! We get to run the game for the 2nd grade class for an hour in half; then we'll be splitting a yummy elephant ear!
I plan to take the boys back to the fair on Sunday to do the rides, games, etc. My little one is tall enough now to go on the kiddie rides, I think he'll have a blast!

What are your weekend plans?

Noelle ♥