Cheetah Bridal Shower

Last Saturday we threw a bridal shower at my mom's house for Taylor, Max's fiance.  I hadn't gotten to see Taylor since they had starting dating again since she lives in Memphis, so I am glad she came it town so I could visit with her a little before the wedding.

Max and Taylor

Taylor loves anything cheetah, so we went with an animal print theme for the shower.  I am pretty sure she loved it.  My mom went all out on decorations like she always does and it really turned out awesome!

The adorable invitations Amanda made

Homemade puff balls :)

One of Max and Taylor's engagement pictures

We got really creative with some of the food labels.  Some ideas came from the internet, others we had fun coming up with on our own.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Gorilla Grapes

Animal print cake pops

Zebra cakes

The food table with lots fun food labels

Hungry Hippo Dip

Baboon Butter (bananas, peanut butter, cinnamon, & chocolate chips)

Cheetah towel cake

Since Taylor's family used to live in Carmel, they knew a bunch of people in town, so there were a TON of people there.  But we managed to get a couple of games in and all the gifts opened without too much chaos!

The Mother and soon to be Mother-in-law
with the Bride to Be

Titus girls, minus Amanda :(

Taylor's mom, Taylor, my Mom, and my Grandma

Fisher girls with Taylor's mom, aunts, cousins, and niece

It really was a fun party...to prepare for and to be at.  Now the wedding is only a month away...can't wait for the big celebration!

Friday Funnies

Rose:

"I love this song...it is so rock and roll."

A short video to show you how Rose rocks out when she sings:

Ava:

"Boys who are awesome stand like this (leans against the wall and puts her hand on her hip).  Daddy stands like that."

Madeline:

Rose was trying to pull something out of her hands and she said, "Mom!  Rose is trying to break me!"

Ella:
Every time she sees a bug she yells, "Bee! bee! bee! bee..." until we take care of it.

HAPPY Friday!

5 Year-old Soccer

Ava played soccer this spring for our parish (St. Aloysius) on a pre-school team and Paul was her coach.  A few weeks into the season, we find out that they really weren't supposed to have a pre-school team.  Paul quickly realized why...5 year-olds have NO clue what they are doing!  Not only do they not have a clue, but many of them don't even understand what you are telling them to do!  Oh well, you live and learn.  And they sure did look cute out there though in their little blue jerseys and soccer socks.

Ava practicing before the game started

Team prayer before the game.  Starting off on the right foot!

All the parents kept commenting on how patient Paul was with the kids.  He really was so good with them.  He knew not to expect a lot from them, but just tried to get them to run in the right direction and keep the other team from scoring.  We played Kindergarten teams all season, so needless to say, we got creamed every time.  Actually, I don't think we ever made a goal.  That is why defense was our safest tactic ;)

Ava in ready position

See how many players they have blocking the goal?!  D-E-F-E-N-S-E!!

Ava actually making contact with the ball!  Go Ava!

Ava going head to head with the other team

Good defense, Girl!

The whole season we got really unlucky with the weather.  At least 4 of their practices were cancelled due to snow, freezing weather, or thunderstorms and two games were rescheduled due to flooded fields.  I wasn't complaining too much since they were only 5, but then we ended up having 3 games one weekend, with two games back to back.  Not exactly ideal.

Ava throwing the ball in

Ava playing with her hair

Ava had extra cheerleaders for her last weekend of soccer games.  Paul's parents came down to see her play the day of Rose's dance recital.  She seem to show off play better since she knew they were watching.

The little girls practicing their own soccer

Ava with Coach Daddy

I think Paul will coach soccer again, but probably not for five year-olds.  It was a good learning experience though and Ava had a blast, which is the most important thing!

Rose's Dance Recital

We had our first pretty busy weekend of kids' activities.  Ava had 2 soccer games back to back on Saturday and Rose had a dance recital on Saturday.  And of course the times overlapped making us split up.  Oh well, it all worked out in the end.

Rose, as you all know, is my little diva, so it is no surprise that she loved dancing on stage!  It was right up her alley with loud music, fun moves, fancy costumes, make-up and a bunch of her girlfriends.  She was not the least bit nervous.  She owned it up on that stage.  I was very proud of her because we had been practicing almost every day for the past two weeks and it definitely paid off.  She knew every step and some of the girls were watching her to see what to do next.

Rose with some of the girls from her dance class

Rose with her good friends, Whitney and Reese

Watching the all the other dances on stage

Rose and Whitney at rehearsal

Practicing ON stage!

The proud mama and little dancing queen

Watching with their dance teacher, Miss Amanda

Paul's parents were able to come down to see Rose's performance which just made her day.  She was so excited to show off everything she learned and they brought her a beautiful bouquet for doing such a great job.  What girl doesn't love flowers?!

Rose with everyone after her performance

The fam

Rose with 2 flower bouquets.
She felt quite special that day.

I love to see my little girl following in her Mommy's footsteps :)

Friday Funnies

Rose got in trouble one day...can't even remember what for...so I sent her into the basement.  A while later I went down to check on her and talk to her about what she did wrong and found this note for me on the chalkboard:

It says, "You broke my heart and hurt my feelings soooooooooooooo bad."  I was trying not to laugh out loud when I read this.  Oh, my little diva!

Ava:
"I'm keeping these glasses on in case I get blind."

Madeline:
"Mom, can I play the I-patch (I-pad)?"


Ella's version of "cheese" cracks me up every time.

HAPPY Friday!

Mother's Day

I had a lovely Mother's Day last Sunday.  It was very low-key and relaxing...I even took a nap in the afternoon!  My favorite part about the day though was how thoughtful the girls were...especially Rose.  It does not come easy to a kid with her temperament to think of others before herself, so I was very proud of her effort on Mother's Day.

She started out by making me breakfast in bed (a big bagel with peanut butter and 2 slices of bread...a LOT of bread...haha).  She must have been eager to surprise me because she brought it up at 6:45 am!  Paul told her to leave it by my bed and let me sleep.  Such a treat...I LOVE sleeping in!  They also left me the cards they had made me.  It is always fun to see how they drew me this year :)

They were all SO well-behaved in mass.  Definitely one of the best gifts!  Ella took her socks and shoes off and put them back on for probably 45 minutes straight.  It is amazing what simple things entertain little ones sometimes.

One my favorite winter outfits of Ella's

Since it was so beautiful outside, we biked to Bruster's for some ice cream after Ella woke up from her nap.  Paul and I both got salted caramel ice cream with toffee pieces in it...soooooooo good!

My one request for Mother's Day was that I didn't have to make dinner.  That probably sounds selfish.  It is not even the making of dinner that I don't like...I don't like figuring out what to have for dinner every night.  My phlegmatic temperament at its finest!  So, we had pizza and salad for dinner.  Easy and delicious.

I am so thankful for my four little girls and a wonderful husband who made my day so special!

Friday Funnies

Kids (especially toddlers) say the funniest things.  I laugh at something my kids said or did on a daily basis.  So I thought I would use Fridays to share some of these funny things with you in hopes that they bring a smile to your face as well.

The Most Recent Madeline Funny:
Last Sunday, Paul had to usher so we split up for mass.  Paul took Rose and Ava with him at 11 am and I took Madeline with me to the 5 pm mass.  In the middle of mass, Madeline looks up at me and whispers, "How old am I again."  I told her she was 3.  She thought for a minute, then pointed to the altar and innocently asked, "Can I have one of those big mints (referring to a communion host)?"  I didn't stop laughing for 5 minutes straight.