She gave me a picture of a rug as the color inspiration for the shower. Light pink, light gray, with contrast dark gray and cream. I based the entire shower on that one rug and came up with this. I’ll list the pictures and all my notes underneath in case you’d like to do a similar shower. No secrets are held back.

Sorry for the quality of pictures. 2 photographers fell through on the big day, so my sister took these.. and photographer she is not. But what she is, is a wonderful sis.

Seen here: Pink cake pops, mini fruit tarts, cherry bon bons, candy-coated pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, thumbprint cookies, cream mints, and various store bought candies. Besides regular candies.. I made everything there.

The cake pops were made with the Bakerella recipe. The centerpiece (wonky in the picture, but I fixed it before guest of honor arrived) is 2 bowls, 1 baby blanket, 1 onesie, and a burp cloth and 3 cake pops in the center and a spoon on the side.. all made to look like a sundae.

The tissue paper pom poms could not be hung from the ceiling due to the restrictions of the room we rented for the event. However, I could fasten them to the wall.

The tablecloths were rented from an online company (HIGHLY recommended!!). The centerpiece vases were Target frappucino bottles and the flowers were a rose, lily, baby breath mix. There were 5 tables.. 3 cafe size and 2 large, so I kept the centerpieces small.

At the mama-to-be’s request, I served Sangria because most attendees drank. I also served punch. The bottles you see there are Yoohoo bottles. My husband is sick of Yoohoo now… he didn’t want me to waste it, so he drank all of it. Heh. I bought the straws from an Etsy shop. The water bottles are re-labeled saying “Thank you for coming to the shower” in the same chandelier theme all over the shower.

I had the food catered from a friend of hers, so that was a huge weight off my shoulders.

If you want me to post any recipes, let me know. I’ll be glad to do so!

6 is the number of notebooks you have. You feel that none should be empty so each one has your creativity in them.

You have 6 courses in school, and you’re doing so well in each of them. The teachers love you, the children love you, but you need improvement in listening. We’ll work on that together. It wouldn’t hurt Mommy either.

You have 6 big girl cups that are the colour of the rainbow. But yellow is your favourite. EVERYONE knows this. Even strangers. You tell everyone that yellow is the best colour in the world. I think you’re my most favourite colour.

Daddy is usually out of town 6 days a week. We miss him very much. He’s such a wonderful Daddy. And I hope you can see that me and him love each other very much, and we love you too.

Oliver has 6 pacifiers that you help find everyday. We keep losing them.. or maybe HE keeps losing them. Either way. You make him laugh. He loves his sissy very much, and I couldn’t ask for better children. You are both very happy kids and everyone compliments you two. I always say, “Thank you. I know they are truly special.”

You really love candy! You’re only allowed 6 sweets a day. 6 cookies, 6 peppermints, or 6 of something small. It is not a food group. And no.. it’s not medicine either.

It’s hard to believe that you’re six. And yes, you are on another hand when you count your age. Mommy will be sad when you no longer have fingers to count but you move onto toes. I will love you til the end of time. You are our precious daughter, my sparkly – glitter girl, and you are truly a gift to us. I am so lucky to be your Mommy.

I love you.

So with that being said.. to celebrate the anniversary.. Czech set out to do something I’ve never seen before. A level of genius projection on the clock itself. You’ll wonder if it’s even real. The projection is. Trust me, you’ve never seen anything like this before.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/15749093

The 600 Years from the macula on Vimeo.

But it’s not like an American standoff. No. These police charge into the building and the robber drops the hand grenade. The smart thinking cops throw the robber on top of the grenade to shield and protect everyone… and the crazy thing is. It worked. Although 6 were injured and 1 was a police officer who was gravely injured. The toll could have been higher if it wasn’t for the quick thinking cops.

Which is irony in itself because according to my husband – Czech cops are the butt of many jokes and disrespect. Not sure why.. maybe they don’t see enough action to be tough?

Either way.. all of this happened in my hubby’s hometown of Krnov. I hope the EMTs knew what to do because nothing of this caliber ever happens. It’s kind of a sleepy town. My mother-in-law says there’s TV cameras everywhere and there’s a big buzz in the city. Exciting!

Here’s a pretty vague article about it.. the one in Czech is better, but you can’t read Czech. Don’t worry. Neither can I.

My neighbor, whom I don’t know very well, asked me if I could watch his 2 kids after they get off the school bus. They’re off the bus at 3:30 and I would only watch them until 4:00. My initial reaction is to run. But i figure, 30 minutes? I can do that. Besides.. they can play with my 5yr old and everyone will have a marvelous time. Besides.. 30 minutes isn’t too bad. Just throw some juice and crackers and before you know it, they should be gone.

Today was the first day. The mom didn’t show up until 4:45. I now regret saying yes to these people.

Then it occurs to me. Are we living in the times where we really don’t want to do things for other people? Maybe for fear we’ll be taken advantage of? Or maybe because we simply don’t want to help out with “hands on” type work? I don’t know any of my neighbors. I try not to go out of my way to do anything, simply because I enjoy being at home. I’m too scared my neighbors are whackos and I’ll be forced to fraternize with them. Hm. Maybe I’m misanthropic?

I wonder if I should just shut my mouth and watch the kids, after all they’re a struggling family too? and then I think better of it and say no. I don’t like kids anyways. So if you say you’ll be here at a certain time, do it. Otherwise, I know of a great daycare down the street.

Yep. Neighborly. That’s me.

So he made remixes of two songs – Back It Up and A Night Like This. I hope you enjoy them!

Precious child of mine.. today you are 5:

5 is the number of fingers you have on one hand, and 5 is the number of fingers your little brother has and pretty soon… you’ll be able to hold them. Few more weeks Peanut and you’ll be a big sister.
5 is number of dresses you own, but you refuse to wear them. You prefer skirts with shorts underneath.
5 is the number of books I read to you every night, but sometimes its 3 if Mommy is sleepy. Sorry.
5 minutes: That’s how long it takes you to tell me what you want after you yell out “MOMMY!”
No you can’t stay awake for 5 more minutes. It’s way past your bedtime.
5 is the age you begin Kindergarten. Mommy is having a hard time with this. You’re getting so big and I want to protect you forever. I can only hope that your Daddy and I have given you the tools and the strength to overcome any obstacles.
5pm is when we have dinner. And no we can’t have ice cream again for dinner. Daddy should’ve never taught you that.
You have 5 Play-dough canisters to play with, and please stop putting it on the dog. And the cat.
Babi gave you 5 bags of peanut butter puffy thingies.. you had 2. Daddy had 3. Bad Daddy.
If Grandma was here I’d ask her for a number 5. I’m sorry we are without her. I miss her too.

I love you my darling, and Daddy loves to you. The dog and cat love you, they sleep with you every night, do you feel them?
I’m proud of you. So very proud.

Love, Mommy

Yo Yo Band – because there’s nothing like a bunch of Czechs, dressing like Mexicans, and singing to a Caribbean beat.

Buty – “Frantisek” – dudes in trees kind of reminds me of Crowded House

Michal David – from the movie Discopříběh based off his music. (As a footnote.. I do have proof that Hubby’s hair was exactly like that kids!)

10 years have gone by and all I have to show for it is a few cuss words and some basic words that I shared with our daughter.

No more procrastinating. It’s on.