Sunday, July 10, 2011

Its the Little Things in Life...

Its been awhile since I have been able to churn out a "blog-worthy" post.. or at least one that seems that way to me. Today I wanna talk about how important it is to be thankful for the little things we have in life.... those little moments that we can get away, either by ourselves or as a family. 

The past year we have struggled with SO many things...
financially and emotionally.
The sudden death on of my darling brother sent me in a downward spiral; I became so darkly depressed- even though I have a good job, an amazing hubby and 2 precious boys, I couldn't find happiness or peace in anything. I was angry at the person who killed my brother in the accident, furious with the girl my brother was dating who said such awful things about him, and took from him within 2 days of his death.
Im angry that my dad passed away less than 18 months prior to my brothers death. 
How could we lose them both so soon?
My mom has changed, she's deeply saddened and heartbroken over my brothers death... I miss HER, she will never truly be the "same" person she was before Mikie was killed. 

My point with this post is to try to look for the good in each day, no matter how SHITTY each day is.
We may only have a handful of people that surround us with love and support- thats how I feel.
I have my mom, my brother Andrew, my 2 sons and my husband- I have 2 amazing co-workers that find a way to "get me" even though they don't know how I feel inside. As for everyone else, they seemed to have dropped off the planet. "Best Friends" and other "Family" members have gotten real good at forgetting or avoiding; I will NEVER forget that!! It hurts me that Im avoided because of the pain I feel- what is wrong with people these days? 

So I will look for the Little Things in my life and in the people I know who truly care... some of my blog friends have been so kind in their words on Facebook. I appreciate you all so much and love you ♥

So today I am looking at the memories in these little photos to make me smile, to make me want to "chug along" in life...

*A beautiful sunset over Silver Beach in MI- on hubby and I's little trip away*

*This amazing man, who is always there for me- he'd give me the world if he could, but all I need is his hand to walk me thru each day ♥

*A sweet sleepy smile from my youngest son ♥

*A sneaky smooch from my soon to be 10 year old son who doesn't think its cool to kiss his momma anymore ♥

*Being able to make my mom smile and have some fun, even in the saddest of times; warms my heart! ♥

*My children getting along and finding pleasure in lifes little things too ♥

...................................
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Love,
Noelle ♥

Hello out there!

Where is everyone?
My blog misses u!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Fantastic 4!

Hi everyone!

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July... we did!
Pics to follow.

Here are a few shots from Gage's 4 year photo shoot... 
he was such a HAM for the camera:)

Such a sweet and darling smile ♥

He loved dressing up in the fireman outfit!

It was raining a bit that day too so he got to play outside too!

 Mommys Patriotic Prince!

He loves to *wink*!

Looooove the animal print background!!

♥ him

I love the pops of color here with the black and white!

Lol...he was so funny that day!!

*Have a great day!*

Noelle ♥

Friday, July 1, 2011

4th of July Dessert Idea...

Doesn't this look so yummy?


Its a Patriotic Poke cake...
Click HERE to get the recipe!

Summer Swap

Happy Summer friends!
Hope you all are having more sunny and swimming filled days than we are here in No. Indiana; it rains and rains and rains on the weekend:(

I participated in a Summer Swap hosted by Lori at Morning Glories and Moonflowers; my sweet partner was Amy- we had to send each other a fun filled summer swap package.
Here's what Amy sent me...


2 cute pairs of flip flops, a new book, popsicle makers and a yummy recipe, salt water taffy, bamboo placemats, 2 wine glasses etched with the letter K and a cutting board (perfect for entertaining), some chapstick and watermelon earrings that she made:)


I ♥ these black and white flip flops!!

It was fun to get a thoughtful surprise in the mail:)
I'll show pics of what I sent soon.
.................................................
Noelle ♥


Sunday, June 5, 2011

*Memorial day with family*

In times of sadness, cheer make come back by spending time with loved ones...
I wanted to make Memorial Day special so we had my mom and brother Andrew over for a cook out and fireworks, in honor of my brother Mikie who was killed March 26 in CA.
Mikie loved fireworks and being that he lived in AZ for the past couple years, he was unable to enjoy them out there (prohibited due to the heat).
So we ate, celebrated and had a great time reminiscing about memories of him...

Here's what we had to eat...
Grilled burgers and hot dogs, chips n dips, italian pasta salad, veggie pizza, red white and blue strawberries, cherry cheesecake...yum!
My oldest and youngest having fun with sparklers.

Andrew stuffing his face, lol!

Gavin and I being silly:)

Sweet cheeks and I before fireworks started:)

Hubz and I... kiss kiss ♥
Isn't he cute?!

Momma and I... glad we were able to make her smile ♥

More fireworks...
Kinda cheesy we had to light them off while it was still light out but it was a school night :)

The kids loved running thru the smoke from the colored smoke balls, lol!

......................................................
Thanks for visiting!

Noelle ♥


Friday, June 3, 2011

I Confess...



Photobucket

I'm trying something new today...
I'm confessing my "sins" with Mamarazzi and her Friday Confessional...

I Confess...
I had a WEAK moment the other day... kids at work were driving me nuuuts so at lunch I ate...
A Burger, Fries then stopped at DQ for a oh-so-yummy German Chocolate Brownie Blizzard!
I know CALL me FAT A$$ right now, just say it!!
Hey don't tell me you haven't splurged before! :)


I Confess...
I fibbed to my hubby this week...
He questioned a new Zumba outfit I had on... "So when did ya get that?"
My response..."Oh Maria gave it to me, it didn't fit her anymore"
Wanna know who Maria is?
(Walmart...spent $20 for the top and yoga capris TOTAL.... didn't feel like getting reamed for spending $ when I just NEEDED a new workout outfit... ;)

I Confess...
I was offered a NEW job...
and I TOOK IT!
Im switching from Early Head Start (babies and teen moms) to Head Start (preschool)
and... getting a $2 an hour PAY RAISE and the best part... SUMMERS OFF to bask in the sun and chill with my babies:) S-C-O-R-E
(Guess my honesty and hard work paid off!!!)

**This was a fun post today.. thanks Mamarazzi! **

Head on over to Dandelion Wishes to read more Confessions!

Noelle ♥