Things to look forward to!!

Wow!! Today is September 1st!!!
Fall is around the corner!

See this HOTTTTT man above?
Know who he is??
That is my 2nd love of my life, Brian is my 1st of course! LOL
This HOTTIE is Chris Daughtry and I am SO LUCKY to be able to go see this rockin' hottie in concert AGAIN, on October 26th... thats right just 2 days after my Bachelorette Party weekend... OUT OF TOWN!!! WOO-HOO! He is my favorite artist, most definitely! My bff and I saw him in concert last August of 2008 and came SOOO close to seeing him in person... maybe I will get to this time around!!!!

My bridal shower is super close... October 3rd! Yikes!!
I am picking up my hand-crafted shower and wedding invites today!!
I ADORE the lady that made them for me; custom made and hand-stamped and so NOT expensive either! I will scan on of each in for you to see then, probably on Thursday!

The other BIG DAY... November 14th... OUR WEDDING!
I am SO excited NOW and getting a bit of butterflies about it ♥
Every girl dreams of this day and I cannot belive that my DREAM is almost about to come true!
The births of our 2 boys were the best days of our lives, so our wedding will have to be the 3rd BEST day of our life!!
(I could so see my hubby to be, rolling his eyes as I say this... he is a DORK! lol)

I am SO blessed to be sharing this journey with all of you!!

Oh and also... like the new fall blog look?? I LOVE it; my doll Katie helped me with my header again... love ya girl!!

Hugs,
Noelle ♥

Fab Fall Porch Decor!

So many gals are chatting about how Fall is on its way!
Yippee!
This is my FAVE time of year...
I've said it a million times over!!

I have been pulling out some of my fall yard signs, flags and scarecrows!!
I am hoping to pick up some mums to plant this weekend; most of my summer flowers have taken a poop since the cool weather and frost have hit!

My front porch is small and very BLAH so I try to jazz it up for each season to make it more welcoming to me, us and others! I was looking for some pics to inspire me today and thought,
"Well, I'll share them with my bloggy buds to inspire them too!!"

How cute is this??? Pea, don't you have something similar to this? A cute idea for you!!
Check out Pea's Corner to see the ADORABLY FESTIVE fall centerpiece she made for under $20!! Click HERE!
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Look at this teeny-tiny house? I am hoping its a garden shed or something, 'cause I'd lose my mind if I was in that little of a home with my 2 monster boys! LOL

Love the idea of putting the pumpkins in the pots! And WHY can I never come across one of those white rockers???? So cute and country!!

Pretty pumpkins and mums!
I picked up 3 little pumpkins at the grocery store today; to put on my living room window sill.

Also found this great article to share with you... ENJOY!

How to Decorate your Porch with Fall Color

Member

By Dusty Mills
eHow Community Member

Article Rating: (7 Ratings)

AN OLD WAGON FILLED TO THE BRIM

Now is the perfect time to clean and decorate your porch for the fall season. Giving the front of your home a beautiful fall scene tells everyone not only that you care about your home's appearance, but gives you the chance to display all the wonderful colors and items that lay claim to the fall season.

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Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Items for outside decorating.

1. Step 1
   
   AN ECLECTIC ARRANGEMENT ON THE PORCH

   If your porch has had the same items on it all summer, remove everything and give the area a good cleaning. Don't forget the windows, doors and the ceiling...all get dusty and seem to grow cobwebs. Once your area is clean, step back and envision how you would like your porch to look. Try and keep in mind the style of the house and match your decor to that style. Do you have small children and want the mass of carved pumpkins and the spiders crawling everywhere? Or are your children grown and you've graduated to a more traditional style with pots of chrysanthemums and a pretty leaf wreath on the door. Whatever your style, decide on the look you want to achieve and keep reminding yourself to follow some guideline's to stay in line with that look.

2. Step 2
   
   A PUMPKIN VASE

   You can't go wrong using pumpkins and gourds, they are long lasting and come in many different colors. No need to carve them either, they look great grouped on your porch. If your tired of the squash, how about plants? There are many flowering plants that like the cooler weather and come in many fall colors. Why not hollow out a pumpkin as a "pot" and plop a gallon size pot of chrysanthemums in it. These pumpkin vases also look good with dried foliage in them such as wheat, cattail, corn leaves or even fresh flowers. Find a pumpkin large enough to fit a old coffee can into and use this to hold water and the flowers. Decorate your lightpost...I bought a pair of garlands that are made up of fall colored leaves. I wrap one around my light post and use the other to wrap a grapevine wreath to hang on the peak of my house. Lay a large basket near your front door and fill it with dried gourds or mini pumpkins. Scatter in some dried leaves with fall colors and it makes a pretty focal point.

3. Step 3
   
   A LARGE OR SMALL DECORATED BROOM LOOKS GREAT

   Decorate a broom! Yes, this looks so cute, you take any corn broom and make an arrangement to cover the top of the corn bristles. Cut a shape out of a piece of cardboard that somewhat matches the shape of your broom. Glue on dried leaves, wheat stalks, raffia bows or whatever you'd like. Poke 2 holes in the top of the cardboard and tie to the handle of the broom just above the bristles. Set the broom on the porch where leaves accumulate, or scatter some around yourself. Likewise you could do this same thing to a yard rake and lean it against a tree in your yard. The rake would be just too darn pretty to actually use raking up all those leaves! Love this BROOM idea!! How fun and easy!!
   

4. Step 4
   

   A NICE ADDITION TO FALL DECOR

   Make a sunflower topiary to sit on a little table on your porch. Using a clay pot, find a small jar or can to fit inside the pot. Use 3 sunflowers with 2 foot stems and tie the stems together as close under the flower heads as you can. Raffia works well for this, leaving 12" for a tail. Put the stems in the can and work in either pieces of styrofoam or even rocks to hold the flowers upright. Add water. Cover the top of the can with moss or even dried leaves. If you'd like, use silk sunflowers and follow the same steps except there's no watering. Remember that topiary's are usually top heavy and will blow over if not in a heavy enough pot. A cute fall topiary!! Love it too!!!

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Hope I gave some inspiration today, or maybe some excitement for you if you live in a area where its not quite fall yet!

Some great ideas can come out of that article, if you are involved in any FALL swaps too!!

Have a great day!!

Hugs,
Noelle xo

Scrapbook Sunday: Fall Fun!

Welcome to Scrapbook Sunday! Boy, here in Indiana it sure has felt a lot like my favorite season... FALL!! I have actually seen a couple trees changing color around town! Fall decor is going up in the stores, the cool crisp air and frost on the car windows in the morning are all tell-tale signs of what is on its way!

Soooo... I pulled out a couple FALL inspired Scrapbook pages!
Awhile back in my oldest son's album, I did a calendar page for each month and NOW I wish I still did them! I would write in special events that took place, etc. Then add some small stickers to liven up the page and a border strip with the month on it as well.
Here is my October calendar page, I believe its from 2004.

What would Fall be with some leave raking and jumping fun?!?
I used my leaf punch from Creative Memories to punch out the cute maple and oak leaves!

I LOVE this layout because Gavin was so happy to help rake and was THRILLED to jump in the leaf piles!

Looking back at these photos makes me sentimental, in that, we should savor each day with out children because they grow up so FAST! He was 4 here and an ever so HAPPY little boy!
Now he is 8 and grumpy with school/homework and his baby brother "bothering" him:( Makes me sad sometimes!! He still is a great kid, but MOODY sometimes!!!!

Mr. Linky is on my last NERVE so I didn't add it to this post!
But, if you did a SS post... just leave me a comment with the link and I'll add you on throughout the day!

PLEASE visit my friend VICKIE today to see here SS post, click HERE!!

Please also visit my friend TINA to see her SS post, click HERE!!

Thanks for visiting me on Scrapbook Sunday!

Noelle ♥

Bedroom Makeover!

Hey gals! I am back from our road trip to Indianapolis; we took the boys to The Wiggles Go Banana's live show! It was GREAT!! I'll be posting pics soon.

Ok, so I was having a debate on where to register for shower/wedding gifts...
I ended up choosing Bed Bath and Beyond and Wal-Mart.

This GORGEOUS bedding above is on my registry wish list!

Our bedroom is in NEED of a makeover. I repainted several years ago and got new bedding which now is SO worn out! But, I LOVE it so much that it is hard to part with!! Our current comforter has no FLUFF left in it, its flat as a pancake but SO soft and cozy! It always feels cold when you cover up with it! Our current room style is kinda Paris inspired... there is wine, black, gold and tan in there. Its very romantic but DARK! I am getting more interested in whites, and have been loving blues/aquas lately.

I figured this bedding with go well with our lighter wood bedroom set. I am just having trouble thinking of what curtains... color and style to put in the room with this bedding. Any suggestions??

Is there something in YOUR home that needs to be replaced but you LOVE it SO much that you can't bear to PART with it??

Be back tomorrow for Scrapbook Sunday!

Noelle ♥

MWW #13: Out of the Mouths of babes!

KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS!!
Can you believe that this little cutie would ever say anything Naughty??

This is my lil Gage who is 2 and he is a RIOT!

Yesterday morning he woke up and walked out to the living room and greeted his 8 year old brother by saying "Hi, gork!" (gork meaning DORK!) LOL I had to laugh!!

Today he burped in the truck and said "Excuse me PIG!"; I couldn't help but to laugh on that one too! He found it to be hysterical too!

I have a bad habit of saying, "Holy Crap!" so he repeats that, then I say to him,"What did you just say?" He looks at me and says, "Holy COW!"
Yeah, he knows!!!! LOL

Happy MWW! Thanks for visiting!!

Noelle ♥

Life...

Hey gals! Bet you thought I ran away?
Back to school time for my son and myself has been kicking my butt!
Trying to get the kids to bed on time, getting up early instead of sleeping in, spending an hour on 2nd grade homework with my son who HATES to do homework... the list goes on and on!

I am behind on reading you girls posts, just wanted to let you know I wasn't ignoring you all:)
I have been getting some cleaning done around here and have started to pull out some Fall decor!! The cool weather we had last week reminded me SO much of Fall and its making me want to put out all my decorations!!

I started my FINAL Math for Elementary Teachers course today; lots of Geometry this semester- blech!! I am taking Intro to Scientific Inquiry on Wednesday nights too. That one should be interesting!!

I STILL have not gotten my Wizard of Oz Gala craft done:( NEED MORE TIME!!
Maybe tomorrow!! No errands to run during the day, except to go to the gym; so maybe I'll get that tackled during nap time.

I have been getting almost 10 hours a week at my part time home daycare job; I work 8-11:30 on Thursdays and 8-2 pm on Fridays! Gage goes with me and Gavin is at school.
The extra money sure is nice!!!

I have been feeling myself wanted to organize more around the home and spend some extra time with my boys and hubby to be lately:) Life has been pretty wonderful lately ♥ BUSY but wonderful!!

I'll be around to catch up with you all soon!!
Thanks for stopping by to hear me blab!!! LOL

Noelle ♥

SCRAPBOOK SUNDAY: Summer Border Idea

Welcome to my weekly Scrapbook Sunday post!
As summer comes to a close and the kiddo's head back to school, maybe us scrappin' mommas will find some time to work on our summer album pages!

I thought I'd show a one of my fave and fun summer border ideas off to you!
As I mentioned before I am BONKERS for Borders!!

I created this Picnic border when I attended a Borders workshop years ago hosted by a Creative Memories consultant! Isn't it cute??

Really easy, just cut a 4 or 5 inch paper strip out twice and connect them on your page with adhesive. Then use shapes like the squares I used, you can add smaller stickers to fit your theme!

Now you can sign up for SS with my Mr. Linky!

Just add your name and the url for your post below!
Thanks for joining!

Noelle ♥

SCRAPBOOK SUNDAY Participants

1. Vickie

2. Noelle

3. Katie

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