Ahoy It's A Boy!

Sam and Alexandria are expecting their first baby on June 4th.  This baby will be the 13th grandchild on the Titus side and the first grandbaby on Alex's side.  Babies are so exciting.  There is always so much joy and such anticipation...what will his name be? what will he look like? what will his personality be like?  Everyone in my family loves babies, so we were thrilled to find out they were expecting!

The adorable shower invitations Amanda made

We threw a baby shower for Alex in Carmel last Sunday at my mom's house.  My mom throws the best parties.  She always goes all out...researching ideas and paying careful attention to every little detail.  The shower had a nautical theme which was a lot fun with all the different options for decorations and food that we found on Pinterest :).  All the Titus girls as well as Alex's mom and sister pitched in to make the party a big success.

The beautiful mother-to-be with her sister, mother, and grandmother

The lifesaver game...if you say "baby" you lose
your necklace.  Person with the most necklaces wins.

One of the professional sugar cookies made by Mom, Olivia, and Maddie

Advice for the Mother-to-be

Stanley sisters

The two youngest Titus sisters

Opening gifts

Some of the many spectators

The beautiful quilt Grandma made for the baby

Some of the many adorable baby clothes they got as gifts

The mother-in-law and mother of the mother-to-be
...that is a lot of mothers :)

Almost all the Titus sisters and sister-in-laws...we missed Amanda :(

Can't wait to meet the newest little Titus!

A Dream Come True

I got to meet one of  my role models on Sunday.  It's funny that I called her my role model before I even met her, but I follow her blog (so closely) that I felt like we were old friends.

Her name is Lindsay and she is the niece of one of the ladies in my homeschool group, Ange.  (Many of you have heard me talk about her before or may have even seen her blog:  http://mychildiloveyou.blogspot.com/). Soon after Ange and I met, she told me I reminded her of her niece (who also happened to have a lot of girls...6 to be exact!) and that I should read her blog.  I have been hooked ever since.  The likelihood of ever getting to meet her seemed slim because she lives in Nebraska.  But it just so happens that she is the godmother of Ange's son who made his First Holy Communion on Sunday, so she and her husband and four of their children flew in for the celebration.  Ange also invited the whole homeschool group over...so I finally got my chance.  The whole week before, I was giddy with excitement...like I was preparing to meet a celebrity.

She was very sweet and very real.  I wish I could have sat and talked to her all day.  We had a lot in common and I enjoyed sharing stories of growing up in big families, raising girls, knowing the Zunigas, and the different temperaments of our children (of course!).  Her children were very sweet too.  The girls all matched in the same dresses that they have on in the picture above.  We talked about how we love to dress up our girls.  Paul and I also got to talk with her husband, John, too.  It was fun to hear some of the stories about his family...he is one of 8.  We really enjoyed their company.

One of the things I love most about her blog is that there is so much joy in her writing.  You can tell by her words that she LOVES being a mother and truly delights in her children.  She writes about the small things that many parents (including myself) tend to overlook.  She also writes about the big things...issues we all deal with and how she handles it.  It is refreshing to hear from someone who seems to be living her faith and her vocation to the fullest.  She inspires me to be a better mom.  I am grateful for her example.

Daddy's Birthday?

I put a question mark in the title because aren't adult birthdays really celebrated for the kids?  I mean usually we don't care much about the cake and ice cream, and the balloons and crepe paper, but the kids...they get SO excited...as if it was their birthday.  I try to include the girls in as much of the planning, decorating, baking, and gift giving as I can to give them an opportunity to think of someone else besides themselves and experience the joy of giving.  I often have to remind them that the day is not about them and what they want, but to think of the other person and what he/she would like.

The girls were thrilled when I told them we were getting Daddy an ice cream cake from Bruster's, our favorite ice cream spot.  Paul picked a chocolate oreo cake with chocolate cookie dough ice cream and carmel filling...and yes, it was just as delicious as it sounds!

Paul had to go out of town on a business trip on his actual birthday, so we gave him his cards and gift the night before, but we didn't end up having his birthday dinner until Friday.

One of Rose's birthday cards for Paul

The 31 year-old...he is so old ;)

We wanted to do something special for his birthday dinner, so we decided to make him a birthday banner.  Our store-bought birthday banner is quite girly and we thought he deserved a more masculine look on his special day, plus this was way more fun!   I wrote the letters, then the girls decorated each one....even Ella got in on the action.  It was so cute how they kept trying to hide it from him and say, "you can't look!" until everything was perfect!

We also got him a balloon bouquet...the girls picked out an Angry Birds balloon.  Quite fitting since that is only game he will ever sit down to play. 

The next day, he got to "use" his gift which was 18 holes of golf with two of his buddies.  And he played with his new set of golf clubs which he got with birthday money from his parents and mine!  

Paul is truly a gift.  He gives SO much of himself to our family.  He plans his days so he can be home with us as much as possible.  He is never too busy to read to the girls, lay with them at bedtime, take them on a bike ride, or watch a play that they made up for him.  Even after a long day at work, he will give me a night out instead of complaining that he needs a break.  I thank God every day for bringing us together and for such a selfless father for my children.  I don't know what we would do without him.  

Titus Invasion

Last weekend my parents and a few siblings stopped at our house for the night on their way to Nashville (one of the benefits to living in Louisville!).  I wish everyone could have come.  It was mom's birthday, so we had a little celebration together, which was nice since we often miss out on birthday parties in Carmel.

Mom's birthday cake

Pinterest idea...couldn't resist

Happy Birthday, Mom!

I love when family comes...it is always a big party with people everywhere!  Mom called the week before they came and asked how many people could sleep at our house.  I told her we would make it work for anyone who was able to come. We always seem to find room, especially since all my siblings can pretty much fall asleep anywhere.  The girls are more than happy to give up their beds for visitors...they actually enjoy sleeping on the floor...it's like a big campout.  Or sometimes they end up with a sleeping buddy, which is even better :)  I wish I had taken pictures of the sleeping arrangements...two of my siblings ended up in bed with my girls, one in the room with Ella, two in the school room, and parents in the basement.  And I think only one person had to sleep on the floor!

Mom and 4 of her 5 granddaughters...love this one!

I don't know if it just brings back memories of growing up in a big family or what, but I love the crowdedness (is that a word?!)!  There is nothing better than a house full of family!  I commend my parents for bringing up 11 kids who all get along and enjoy each other's company.  I think I speak for all of us when I say that we would rather spend time with each other over anyone else we know.  My siblings are my best friends.  I pray for that same friendship for my girls.

Thank you Mom and Dad for always making family so important.

Ava on Two Wheels

We had been teaching Ava to ride her two-wheeler for the past month or two whenever there was  nice enough weather.  On Holy Saturday, Paul decided to practice with her, but told her he was just going to run beside her this time.  She took off and all the sudden she rode like a little pro...turning, going down curbs, and starting by herself!

She needed a little fine tuning, but I couldn't believe the difference from the last time we practiced with her just a week or two ago!

Everything finally clicked and she is so excited to be able to ride with the big kids now!  We are so proud of her!  

Happy Easter!

As is the tradition, we dyed Easter eggs on Saturday morning.  I will have to remember to buy more eggs next year...I think the girls could have dyed Easter eggs all day.

Ava and Madeline dying eggs

Rose making sure her egg is the perfect shade of purple.

Even Ella joined in the fun...but only for a minute
...one year-olds are too destructive.

Lots of color

My favorite...the majestic eggs

Easter morning, the girls woke us up bright and early eager to hunt for their Easter baskets.

Ella found her Easter basket

She needed a little help from Dad to get it down

Madeline found hers behind the couch pillows

Ava found hers in the bathroom

Rose's was in the oven

Sleepy Happy Easter faces!

We had time to make Resurrection Rolls (they taste like cinnamon rolls) for breakfast before getting ready for mass.

The marshmallow represents Jesus.  Ava is dipping it
in melted butter representing embalming oil

Then you dip the marshmallow in a mixture of cinnamon and
sugar representing the spices used to anoint Jesus' body

Lastly, you wrap the covered marshmallow in a crescent
roll which represents the cloth Jesus was wrapped in

After they are baked, you open the "tomb" and it is
empty...representing Jesus rising from the dead

We went to mass downtown at St. Louis Bertrand.  I love that church.  It is beautiful inside and we especially love the little grotto off to the side of Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette.  I wish we could go there every Sunday, but it is close to 30 minutes away and there is no cry room (which is a necessity with a loud, fit-throwing one year old!).  But I love the tradition of going down there for Easter.

A family picture in front of church

The best picture we were able to get of the girls in their
adorable matching pink dresses from Mom and Grandma

Love Madeline's smile in this one

The rest of the day Paul and girls spent outside in the beautiful weather.  We finished the day with a

special Easter dinner and a family walk.

Place setting: Bunny Napkin with name egg

Easter Dinner

Lenten Activities

This year I was not as organized with our Lenten activities as I was last year.  I never did make the salt dough crown of thorns, we only did the Stations of the Cross together once, and our Alleluia banner from last year got destroyed and I never made another one.  I really have no excuse, except for the fact that some years are better than others :)

The few things we did do this year that I really enjoyed were:

-our Lenten calendar that we made together with different sacrifices or acts of service for each day

-our morning devotion, which consisted of: our morning prayers (including the girls' daily prayer intentions that I would write in a cute little notebook), reading a couple stories from the Children's Bible as well as the daily reflection from our Lenten Mother Teresa book.  This idea was not mine, of course, it was taken from my favorite blog:  http://mychildiloveyou.blogspot.com/2013/01/morning-devotion.html.
The girls especially loved the bible stories, always wanting me to read more.  I especially loved hearing who or what they wanted to pray for each day...it was so sweet what they would come up with.

-our special Holy Thursday dinner representing food that may have been eaten at a Passover meal...find the symbolism of all the food here:  http://klinkersinkentucky.blogspot.com/2012/04/holy-week-treats-and-crafts.html.

-the homemade pretzels we made on Good Friday

Ella had to help too!

All the girls rolling the dough

The girls wanted to put together a "how to" video

The final result...not too bad

-the girls Good Friday sandwiches for lunch :)

-Holy Thursday mass and Good Friday services.  Paul and I split up due to a squirmy and quite loud 20 month old, so I took Rose and Ava with me both nights and we sat as close to the front as possible.  They loved watching Father wash the feet of the volunteers on Holy Thursday (in fact, they washed each others' feet the next morning trying to be like Jesus) and it helped them pay attention being up close.

-and the watching of the Passion.  The girls watched an animated version and Paul and I watched the adult version later that night.  It is always hard for me to watch (I still have to close my eyes in some parts), but it is such a good reflection for me on what really happened that day...all that Jesus went through...because of MY sins.

I also just started reading a book, thanks to Mollie's recommendation, called Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, which made everything more meaningful.  It explains how as Catholics, we can not fully understand the Eucharist and Jesus's words without understanding the Jewish roots of our faith...their traditions, beliefs and their culture leading up to the time of Jesus.  I am only two chapters into it, but it is already fascinating!

So, despite my slacking a bit during Lent this year, it really was a reflective and prayerful Holy Week.