Toledo Zoo #2

Good Morning! Today is the last of our Toledo Zoo pics! I loved this zoo because it was SO child-friendly! There was an area near the front called Nature's Neighborhood that we visited first; it has lots of hands-on activities for the kids to enjoy!

Here is my handsome Gavin! The day we went to the ZOO was also his 8th birthday!

My boys and Stacy's oldest just after coming down a slide.

Gage wading in the water play area! Funny story here... I don't have pics of Gavin playing in the water area because I had to go change Gage who had leaked through his diaper and had pee running down his leg, nice huh? Get to the bathroom, go through my bag to find NO DIAPERS! I had packed them for the trip but didn't add anymore to my diaper bag! I look around the bathroom in panic looking for a mom with a chubby baby/toddler who might wear the BIGGEST size of diapers! I found a nice mom who I offered to pay her for a diaper (LOL) and she gave me two of them! I couldn't stop thanking her; she was my lifesaver that day!

There was an indoor play area too; it looked like the outdoors with faux trees and animals!

This wall had real ants inside that you could see a close up of, on the screen!

There was a honeycomb climbing wall with bee costumes you could put on, but Gage wouldn't wear one for me:(

Lil' Gage deep in thought with his tongue sticking out!

Outside this play area, they had a bunch of these animals masks hanging for the kids to try on!
Gavin the giraffe!

Woof! Now he's a dog!

Can you see the lazy tiger in this pic?
I don't blame him, it was HOT!!

More penguins swimming!

Hope you all have a great day!
We are off to the pool today, then some grocery shopping!
Tonite I have to study for my math final which is tomorrow!
Soooo... that means I will be FREE the rest of my summer and hope to get some crafty things done around here and some more flowers planted!!

hugs ♥
Noelle

Zoo Trip PICS/Part 1 & 300th! POST!!

Hi everyone! Today is my 300th POST! Yippe! I have a give-away in the works in honor of this, I will be announcing it later this week! Here is PART 1 of my pics from our Road Trip to the Toledo Zoo:) I got lots of cool pics that I want to share so I thought I'd split it up into 2 diff. posts! These were some spooky lookin' sea lions we saw swimming around! Check out the eyes on the ones below, yikes! I am fascinated by animals swimming for some reason!!

The boys were watching too!

Here is my favorite animal, the Polar Bear!
Just before we got up to the glass, we noticed a big crowd... because this polar bear was throwing a ball up out of the water! It was SO COOL! But of course, by the time I got my camera ready, he didn't do it again:(

We saw some scrawny looking wolves, which I have never seen a wolf in a zoo before!
Man, he looked hungry!
(Bad pic because of the darn fence!)

Here are my guys and Stacy's little boy goofing around after lunch time!

This fuzzy black bear was so funny!
He kept making kissy face at us, or maybe Stacy cause she's such a cute red head! LOL

These HIPPOS were the COOLEST! They were HUGE!! There was a sign that said they stand like 6 feet tall; this one and another would swimming up to each other in the water, and either fighting or tryin to kiss each other but they kept opening their mouths and putting them together! It was so neat! Their water tank was very cloudy so it was hard to get good pics with my camera! And of course, there were those RUDE people who stand in front of the glass for like 20 minutes straight and won't let you in to see anything- ugh!!

This guy worked for the Zoo and was walking around with a group that were carrying things like this baby elephants foot and a rhino horn(?)!
We got to touch it and see it up close; very cool and educational!

This bird is one I have never seen before and I knew I wouldn't remember the name so I took a pic of the sign!

Freaky lookin' bird, huh?

This was a giant pic of an elephant, I had Gage pose by!
He wasn't too thrilled!

Here is my blog friend Stacy and her 2 little boys that are 1 and 7; mine are 2 and 8!
They are so darn cute and sweet!

The massive Rhino!
Pretty proud of this good shot!

Camels... the ones at our hometown zoo will spit at you! They are gross!

Look I grew wings while we were gone! Haha!
These were so cute to stand and take pics by:)

Here is my "Gavin-Fly"!

My blog friend Stacy and I:)

Stacy's lil one and Gage worn out after I think 5 hours at the zoo!
They were having a snack break!

Here is Gavin and Stacy's oldest son playing with these silly cans that shot animals out!
We were trying to get an "action" shot!!

Thanks Stacy for a fun time!
Next time, lets plan on dinner with a blue margarita after! (LOL)

Hi girls!! I'm baaaack!

Hey girlfriends! Boy, I've missed chatting with ya! I was gone 3 days and it felt like a week! Its going to be a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time before we take another ROAD TRIP! I think had we stayed one night and did some sight seeing on Friday, then headed home... it would have gone much smoother. For the most part, it was nice to get away; the Toledo ZOO was AWESOME and I LOVED meeting my blogging friend Stacy and her 2 adorable boys!! That was the hi-lite of the trip!! Stacy and I "met" because we were assigned as swap partners a couple months ago; we hit it off right away! We had 2 boys both close in age and had so many things in common! It was SO FUN to hang out with them for a day!

I've got lots of pics to post and stories to tell over the next few days!
Tomorrow is Gavin's 8th Birthday party so I need to get some things ready for that and finished unpacking! But I wanted to Say HI! And show you the silly pic of me posing by a GIANT (pretend) Polar Bear! The darn thing looked and felt real! The best part... I felt SO TINY next to him! I wish I had him in my home for the days that I feel fat and bloated! LOL I'd sit by Mr. Polar Bear all day to "feel" small!!

I won't be posting for Scrapbook Sunday tomorrow, UNLESS I find some time in the evening! I'll be by soon to catch up on all of your posts!!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Happy 8th Birthday to my SON!♥!

Its hard to believe that 8 years ago today, I was in labor with my first son!
Gavin Connor was born at 4:13 pm, weighing 9 lbs. 0 oz and was 19 3/4 in. long!
I had about a 12 hour labor with him and was almost 2 weeks past due! YIKES!
That lil bun sure loved his momma's oven and did not want to come out!!
The pic above was of Gavin at 1 1/2 months!


This chubby cheeked big eyed baby boy was almost 3 months in this pic below!
It IS SO amazing how much they change!!

Here is my baby boy at almost a year and a half; enjoying some cake maybe?
He was a good boy and wore his bib; unlike his lil brother!! LOL

Here is Mr. Smiles at age 2! This was his signature smile: a big cheese with his front teeth sticking out and his eyed almost squinted closed! He did this smile for another 2 years in photos!

Here is Gavin at Christmas time when he was 2 1/2!
So cute; I just love that giant gingerbread cookie prop!

Gavin is 3 in this pic and is lounging in the hotel waiting area on one of our trips!
This lion, who he calls LION has been his PAL since he was 1 year old!
Gavin still sleeps with it today:)

Here is my Lil' Slugger during his first summer of t-ball at age 4!
He spent more time playing in the dirt than trying to learn the game!!

Here is Gavin at 6 years old with Papa and Gage!
He is such a loving boy (when he wants to be!)

Here is big bro at 6 1/2! He really loved to play with his baby brother!
Now that Gage is bigger, Gavin views him as a nuisance!
Poor Gage! All he wants to do is BE JUST LIKE his big brother!

Here is my handsome boy last summer when he got his 7 year pics taken!
I kept telling him to do his "stud muffin" pose and this is what he did!

I am very proud of this lil guy!
He is so smart and funny!
He gets my dorky jokes now and cracks me up too!
He is a great friend to others and is a kind soul!
I am VERY PROUD to be his momma!

Happy Birthday Son; I LOVE YOU!!!

~Noelle~
a.k.a. MOMMY ♥

READY 2 GO!

Hi girls! What a week it has been!!
Tomorrow we leave for our road trip to Ohio, to meet my blog friend Stacy and her 2 boys!
We are so excited!! Going to the Toledo Zoo tomorrow:)
My BFF is going along with me for moral support, lol!
WE are staying 2 nights and returning home on Saturday!

Sunday is Gavin's Pokemon themed 8th birthday party at our local water park/pool that we love! BUSY!
It will be a lot of fun though- 3 of his friends from school are coming and they are all GIRLS!
We invited 2 other boys and they aren't coming; so does that make my Gavin a ladies man?

UPDATES ON ME...

(1) Since the 4th I feel that I am doing a terrible job on my eating habits!
Sneaking sweets which I am NOT supposed to HAVE, on a daily basis!
I have NOT lost anymore weight because of this! I am so MAD at myself!
I started taking Metformin which is supposed to help control my insulin, and if I eat right while taking it, it will help me to lose more weight too! I DO get a tummy ache from taking it which makes me miserable:(

(2) Guess what? I GOT A JOB! A friend of mine referred me to a gal she knows who has a home
daycare and was looking for some part time help and well, she loved me and hired me!
The gal that is my BOSS now is my age with an almost 2 year old boy; she is SO much like me too so we have totally hit it off! I will work 2, maybe 3 days a week for 3-4 hours a day, and can take the boys with me if I need to.

(3) Remember how I hate Math? Well, this semester didn't start out well! I got an F on the first exam because I was so drained and didn't study well. Wellllll... I got an A on my last quiz, 2 A's on my homework assignments and a B on this weeks exam- yahooooo!
Our final is this coming Wednesday, so please say a little prayer that I DO well!!

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Sign ups for my SWEETS of SUMMER swap are now CLOSED! I only had 3 other gals sign up:( BUT... we will have a great time finding and creating fun/sweet things for one another!

I am almost to my 300th post! You know what that means? GIVE-AWAY time soon!
I am still looking for some "beachy" goodness to give away and have something I want to make for it too; so I probably won't announce the give-away till the week of July 27th!! Stay tuned!

I have set up a Happy 8th Birthday to my SON post for tomorrow!
I won't be back to visit you all till probably Sunday night!
I think I will skip Scrapbook Sunday this week too; but feature some of my tools that I use when I scrap, next Sunday July 26th instead!

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Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week and weekend!!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Swap Sign-Ups Still OPEN!!

You can still sign up for my Sweets of Summer Swap! I am taking names till midnight tomorrow! I have just a handful of sweet gals that signed up and we'd sure love a few more to join us! Please?!?!

Details are below:


Hi my SWEETS! Its summer and I LOVE ice cream!
I want to host a quick, mini swap themed: SWEETS OF SUMMER!
Think ice cream cones, popsicles, sundaes... all those FUN SWEET things that we love to enjoy in the summer! BUT... we aren't sending SWEET COLD TREATS cause of course they'd melt!

Your items can be anything decorative that is a sweet treat, something to make sweet treats at home, SWEET treat designed cards or scrapbook items, something handmade, etc. ANYTHING you can find that would pertain to the sweet treats of summer... use your imagination!

I SAY its a "MINI" swap in that: lets find 5 items for your partner, spend $15-$20! GET CREATIVE and stretch those dollars! FIND fun and useful summer sweets for your partner!

Email me your info:

Name:
Address:
Your email:
Your blog link:
FAVE summer sweets:
Fave colors:
Would you like an international partner?

(My email is: way2tiredmom78@hotmail.com)

SNAG MY CUTE BUTTON and share it on your BLOG so we can get more SWEET girls to join in!!

Also, leave me a comment on this post if you'd like to join in, THEN email me with your info. Please put SWEETS of SUMMER SWAP in the subject line!!

I will take sign ups till next Wednesday, July 15th!! Assign partners on the 16th; then you have till July 29th to mail your swap out!!