Fave Winter Things (giveaway) coming soon!

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Announcing... My Favorite Winter Things giveaway!!



Coming next week... after the Holidays!


Stay tuned for more details!!


~Noelle ♥

Our recent festivities ♥

We have been busy around our house with lots of holiday festivities!

My oldest son had a Christmas program at school last week; here

he is looking so dapper in the plaid vest:)

The kids sang so cute:)

We found our Gingerbread kit this year at Target and it was "supposed to be a train" but mommy didn't follow directions very well, lol!!

The boys didn't seem to mind that I didn't put it together properly; they

were just happy to help!

Look at lil Gage's busy hands grabbing for the candy;

he did a great job on the peppermints, didn't he?

Big brother with the finished product:)

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Then came my ornament swap package all the way from Pea in CANADA!!

It was in such a pretty box...

And as always, an eager little hand wanting to help open mommy's present!

Love this hot pink sequined ball!

Pretty pink icicle ornament!

I told Pea that I loved pinks/aquas this year on my tree...

with my mix of many other ornaments as well.

Glittery white tree...

Lots of mini gingerbread ornaments...

This one was really cool and sparkly...

Love this lil pink purse one!!

Aren't these the cutest?

They are the clip on ornaments, which I have never had before!!

Really pretty blue flower ornament!

Thanks so much PEA, I loved it all!!

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I got a birthday/Christmas gift from my sweet friend Becky; who is also the gal who owns the home daycare that I work for. She gave me a $25 Target gift card, the cute lil snowman and the "K" ornament!!

....................................................................................

My oldest son's teacher had asked me if I would be in charge of the 2nd grade Christmas party this year...

I told her yes, that it would keep my mind off of things.

I must admit that the party turned out pretty great!!

The 2nd grade class is a great group of kids!!

They had several different craft stations set up...

This one they were making foam bell ornaments...

Here's my hunk working on decorating his foam ornament...

Here is Miss "C"... isn't she too cute??

Decorating cutout cookies that I made...

Also found these Snowflake candy necklace kits for the kids to make!

Snack time!!

The kids also played a game called "Stuff the Stocking" where they were in 2 teams; they took turns racing across the room with a spoon full of small candies to "stuff the stocking" with; the team that finished first won!

It was really wild during that game so I didn't get any pics:( But they loved it!!

Santa was supposed to come visit the kids too but was "out sick" that day!

How can Santa take a sick day?!?!?!?

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Each Christmas, my mother in law's best friend makes "Reindeer Food" for the kids; which is oatmeal and glitter! The kids are supposed to throw it out in the snow the night before Christmas so the reindeer can find your home by seeing the glitter sparkle in your yard, then they can munch on the oatmeal when they land!

Here are my babies digging in their bags of reindeer food...

Throwing out handfuls...

Lil man just dumped the whole bag in one spot, lol!!

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I also received a surprise box of Gingerbread goodness from my doll Holly!!

Look at all this cuteness!

A g.house tin, a soap and isn't this lil lined basket so cute??

More cuties, loved the snowglobe!!

Some crafting fun goodies...

ribbon, doo-dads and some scrabble tiles to spell...

Family and Love!

Thanks HOLLY!!! Loved my surprise:)

I sent a box of stocking stuffers off to Holly too but she's a good girl and is waiting till Christmas mornin' to peek into hers!

Here's a lil sneak peek...

Close your eyes Holly, no peeking for you!!

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I hope you all have an AMAZING Christmas!!

Happy Holidays!
Love,

Noelle ♥

Its my Birthday!

Its officially... I'm 31 today!

Wow, what a year 30 was...

I felt more mature, felt my life was coming together finally- got married!
Felt lots of sadness with my dad's cancer diagnosis and then again with his sudden death:(

What will 31 bring me? 

Lots of GOOD LUCK I hope!

Tomorrow I will be posting a few presents I got from my mom and girlfriends...

Till then... 

Love,

Noelle ♥

...

Hi friends! What a long week it has been:(

I am still so drained!

My dads viewing was very nice; lots of his co-workers came to show support. They had a lot of funny stories to share about my dad. The funeral Saturday was rough; I decided to be a "paul bearer" and help carry my dad, along with my husband, 3 brothers and my dads brother in law. I just have to keep reminding myself that he is in a better place now. Christmas may be rough at my moms because he was always there too. Next week we will have to begin moving his things out of his apartment by the end of this month, not looking forward to that.

Tomorrow is my 31st birthday... not too excited about that.

Today I am celebrating it with 2 of my best girls and also with my sister in law. Lunch then dinner later. That should cheer me up a bit.

I feel so moody, happy one minute... sad/cranky the next. I guess thats normal.

I probably won't post much the next few days but I will be by to visit all of you!

Love,

Noelle ♥

My Heart is Warm today...

My heart is warm today with love and kindness from those around me, but filled with so much sadness thinking about what the next two days will bring. My dads viewing is tomorrow from 2-8 pm and Saturday is his funeral:(

I have to tell you a bit of a wild story at first... and you may all think I am crazy but here it goes...

We have a local radio station here that features a psychic named "Barbara the Gray Witch" every Thursday. I've listened to people call in and what she has said to them. I've tried to call in a few times before but never got through. I DID it today... I knew what I wanted to ask... the phone rang at least 25 times as I sat in my car in my son's parking lot at school...

THEY ANSWERED!

They asked my name and my sign- which is Capricorn...

They asked my question...

I had 3...

"Why did my dad pass away so unexpected? Was it the cancer or did he just stop breathing?"

"Was there anything he wanted to tell me?"

Barbara told me... "It was time for him to "leave body" he did just stop breathing, but he is still with me. He's not sick anymore or sad, and I shouldn't be sad either. In a couple weeks strange things will begin happening, lights will flicker, sounds, etc... it will be him and he will appear in my dreams! Set a place for him still at the table this Christmas cause he will still be there with us. And when you are an old old lady and leave body as well,

you two will be reunited once again"

WOW... I cried the whole time I was talking to her and THEY PLAYED it on the RADIO! I missed the first part but heard the end of it, and heard myself sniffling in the background.

WAS it a SIGN from my DAD that my call got through? Makes me WONDER ♥

So then on Monday, I got a call from the Senior Vice President of the chain of hotels that my dad worked for. She had told me how sorry she was to hear that my dad had passed, and that she was sending something to our family to help out at this sad and difficult time. I then later spoke to the GM of my dads hotel where he worked and he told me that each year the corp. holds various fundraisers each year such as bake sales, etc to raise money to award 3 employees at the Holiday season who they feel are "in need of some help". MY DAD WAS NOMINATED this year ♥ I broke down into tears on the phone because it made me so sad to think that he wasn't here to receive the "award". So they sent it to me instead to take in his honor...

Today I received an envelope delivered by UPS and inside it was a card...

And...

A MONEY ORDER FOR $400.00!!!!

I  was completely astounded!

I spoke to my mom and told her and asked what she thought my dad would have done with it this year; and she said, "He would have spent it on you guys!"

There are 4 of us kids!!

So on Christmas my brothers will all be surprised when they receive a special card with a note from me and $100 for themselves.

I've been contemplating what I want to do with my $100 and have a few ideas... :)

Although today was very rough on me emotionally, I feel like these things happened for a reason...

maybe my dad does want me to know he is here with me...?

I am SO grateful to his company and their generosity ♥

Please keep myself and my family in your prayers the next two days as we deal with such a difficult time; give ask God to give us the strength to say good bye for now, but know that our dad will be with us always!

I love you all and wish you all the MERRIEST of all Christmases this year!!

You don't know how much you all mean to me and each hold a little place in my heart ♥

Love,

Noelle ♥

P.S. I know, I know... I changed the page again, LOL! The ADORABLE header was designed just for me by my darling friend Katie, go visit her... you will love her too!!

thank you all!

Hi friends! I've missed blogging this week but haven't had energy to get on here and look around. I feel mainly numb, like "This isn't happening" but sad, very angry with the hospital, my dads dr., etc. A mix of common emotions at times like this. I know that I can't shut down like part of me wants to; the busier I stay the less I have time to "think". He's always on my mind but all the unanswered questions that are pounding away in my head don't surface when I am busy doing things. I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all your support, kind thoughts and prayers! It means the WORLD to me ♥

With that being said, I need to try to focus on things that I love and that make me smile this time of year... so here are some pretty pics to share...

Love this tree, love the staircase, love the green paint on the walls... its not MINE though.

Isn't this the cutest lighting fixture; love those lil lampshades!

Oh and to have a fireplace of my own some day is such a DREAM! Love the mantle and the cutest gingerbread stockings too ♥

Look at this gingerbread display My children would be at the table 24/7 feasting on all the candy pieces on the gingerbread houses;)

I recently won a giveaway, shown here from Gina at Simply Heart and Home; she was hosting a 12 Days of Christmas giveaway!

Its a Country stamp set from Stampin' Up... I just need to purchase a couple new stamp pads!

~So how are you Christmas plans coming along? Are you done shopping?~

Love you all,

Noelle ♥

Please Pray... My dad passed ♥

Hi friends,

I am so sad to say that my dad passed away this morning at 12:47 am at the Hospice House in South Bend, IN. He was finally brought back home Friday morning at 1 am via medical transport from the hospital in Indy that he's been at since his cancer surgery on Oct. 19. 

I had planned to go see him yesterday with the boys because I had worked 2 jobs on Friday and was unable to make it. I let life get in the way of me going to see my last yesterday with my boys. We planned to just go visit him today because it was getting late.

After midnight the nurse went to move my dad in bed and he quickly changed color and stopped breathing. 911 was called and they tried for 25 min. to revive him. At that time God sent an angel to take my daddy to Heaven where he could be pain free.

This came as a COMPLETE shock to us! We were told last week that the dr. felt he had 9 month- a year to live. We just saw him on Monday and he seemed to have some trouble remembering some things and was very down in the dumps. I think he did enjoy seeing and "talking" with myself, my brother Andrew and our mom.

I am devastated and feel such guilt and remorse for not seeing him yesterday. There was no way to know this was happening anytime soon. I just thank God that he took my daddy away from the pain and suffering he's endured so far; and didn't allow him to continue on in pain. Maybe getting back to his hometown gave my dad a sense of ease in his passing, I can only hope. I have so many questions I want to ask my dad; with him not really being able to speak the past 2 months since the surgery it kills me to think of how he was feeling, the thoughts that ran through his head... etc. I just hope he knows how much we love him and tried everything we could to get him back home in time for Christmas.

Please just pray for my dad that he is happy and healthy again in Heaven...

Please pray for my family that we can come together to support each other...

Please pray for my 2 lil boys- Papa's only grandchildren, that they may always remember him and find comfort as well.

Daddy...

If you can see and hear me, know how much I love you and will miss you!

We grew apart for a long time but I once again felt like your little girl.

Please always watch over me and my family;

you will always be in our hearts and minds.

Thanks for all your support girls, it means the world to me!

Love,

Noelle ♥