I'm a Pinterest Mom: Dino-Four and Two-Tu Birthday Party

Disclaimer: All posts beginning with "I'm a Pinterest Mom" are not meant to be snarky. I legitimately enjoy being that mom. I don't own a vinyl or sewing machine (yet), but darn it if Etsy isn't my next best friend. Crafting and creating and designing are things that relieve stress and give me joy. Don't knock Pinterest moms until you get to know them! From home design to birthday parties and recipes - I am a Pinterest Mom... and proud of it.

Dino-Four and Two-Tu Birthday Party 

When you have two kids who have birthdays 6 days apart, you combo them. For all fairness and sanity sake, at least. Plus, lets be real, one birthday DAY versus two birthday DAYS - the answer is obvious. I'm one for a little party chaos but not that much. Also, I enjoy doing these things and don't want to ruin it for myself! So, combo party it is as long as I can help it!

Also, with the party happening just after our kitchen reno, money was TIGHT. I DIY'd a lot of this and found some pretty great deals at the dollar store and amazon. It just takes a little thought. Parties, especially Pinterest and Instagram worthy ones, don't have to be insanely expensive! Oh! And making your own cake/cupcakes will save you a TON of money. I normally spend about $100-$150 on cakes and cupcakes for both kiddos. That's insane. This year, I made their cakes and I am pretty proud of them - pics below.

Up until very recently, my 4 year old didn't care much about birthdays. I swear, every kid in his class has a birthday between July and December with the majority taking place at the end of September through mid-November - that's a LOT of birthdays when you consider the fact there are about 15-17 kids in the class. That being said, the idea of a birthday party was ingrained in his little brain pretty quickly - oh and thanks, Daniel Tiger. Luckily for me, the two year old could still care less so I was able to salvage a little creative freedom.

My 4 year old made it pretty clear, pretty quickly that he wanted a dinosaur birthday party. Let the pinteresting begin (here are some ideas I found in my initial search which helped lead me to the Dino-Four theme):

https://pin.it/ok3kuycednkinw

Backing up, I had purchased a SUPER cute tu-tu made by mudpie, from a little boutique in my home town (the owner is super sweet and her stuff is #totesadorbs - Farmhouse Market and Farmhouse Market Kids) back in April. I HAD to incorporate tu-tu's into the birthday party somehow. But not so fru-fru as ballerina's and baby pink BS everywhere. Yuck, no offense. I mean... look how cute...

And then, I got it! I was pretty stuck on the Dino-Four theme but my son, Grant, kept referring specifically to T-Rex. I muddled and mashed over a myriad of options and finally settled on a T-Rex & Tu-Tu's theme celebrating my son's Dino-Four Birthday and my daughter's Two-Tu birthday.  I'm big on shirts and invites to set the tone for an event (probably the marketer in me). The Dino-Four shirt was an easy find, as were the mamasaurus and daddysaurus (sorry, dear) shirts. I went one step further and got Lucy girl a dino shirt, too, tu-tu and big bow included that read Two-Rex.

Must have's - no baby pink, T. Rex, Tu-tu's, Dino-Four and Two-Tu slogans and a statement making it clear that gifts for both kids was NOT necessary. Step 1 was done and look how cute the invites turned out! 

The party was held at a park so minimal activities needed to be planned...or so I thought. There is never a perfect or weather proof event. When it never rains in October where you live, but then it rains every day since Hurricane season and the forecast calls for it the day of the party - you look for alternatives for play. I ordered a super cute pin the tail on the dino game, a bubble maker and some soft and small dodge-balls the week of the party (thanks, Amazon) and it was all a hit!

Big ticket items for me are food and decor...and of course party favors.

For the love of food: 

The party wasn't during the peak of a meal (because we wanted to let the other three kids who had birthdays that weekend enjoy their time, too!) but I needed some kind of sustenance. Enter Pinterest again. The Dino-nuggets were an obvious and easy choice, I threw in kolaches at the last minute, and we had the basics like fruits and veggies and pretzels. It was perfect and simple! Huge thanks to my mother in law for always helping with food needs! I was a little extra when it came to the tu-tu pops. However, (1) they were super easy and (2) they were a huge hit! Also, as previously mentioned, the cakes were a major cost savings. I used funfetti gluten free cake mix and gluten free frosting, mini cake pans from pampered chef, gold luster dust mixed with lemon extract for the 2 year old cake and chips ahoy cookies for the 4 year old dino cake, and a mini bunt mold for the small cakes.

   

   

   

More Decor! 

I usually go overboard with decor - like making centerpieces for instance. But, it's what makes a party and event special, in my opinion. Side note: the supplies for the centerpieces were all found at the dollar store - thank you very much! We split the pavilion (basketball court). One side was teal and dinosaur themed and the other was white/gold and tu-tu themed. Just like the invite, and it worked! The few days before I pieced together the back drops and with the help of a good friend (and amazing babysitter) we got the centerpieces done in no time at all. If this looks like it took hours, it really didn't. An hour or so a day here and there, just enough to keep me from freaking out the day/night before. Setting the tables and back drops the day before was also a huge time saver for set-up. We also had an army of people helping the morning of the party. Funny story: there was a group of men playing basketball under the pavilion where the party was to be held. They did NOT like that we wanted to set up, which delayed us a bit, and there was even a cop there to back us up. EEK! Luckily, they moved and only a few words were exchanged between my husband and one of the guys. Sheesh people, it is a little kid birthday party - you can play basketball any day #amiright

   

   

   

Ugh...party favors...

Let it be known, I am not one for goodie bags - I know, I know the kids love them and they are usually easy to put together and they ARE a nice gesture. But I just cannot with the excess sugar and trinkets that get lost or forgotten or broken within a few hours. This was an easy one, though. I decided on doing a dino-dig where the kids got to keep a dinosaur as their party favor - and  yes, I caved and ended up giving a sugar cookie, too. We also set out some tattoos! The little girls invited were able to make a DIY tu-tu! With the help of this same good friend mentioned above, we strung together basic white tulle and ribbon, I bought some princess and jewel stickers and cut some other strips of tulle in multiple colors for the girls (read: mom/dad) to add to the basic white that was provided. The kids loved both activities!

Links to what was purchased 

Bubble Maker

Pin the Tail on the Dino

Jewels for Tu-Tu's

Soft dodge-balls

Shovels for Dino Dig
Dino Decor
White Tulle for Tu-tu's
Multi-colored Tulle for tu-tu's
Gold luster for cake
Ribbon for Tu-tu's
Dino's for Dino-Dig
Extra Tiny Dinos
Dino Backdrop
Two-Tu Backdrop supplies
Stickers for Tu-Tu's
Dino Tattoo's 
Invite - Etsy link
Cake toppers - Etsy link
Dino-Four Shirt - Etsy link
Two-Rex Shirt - Etsy link
Cake Stands - Target
Table/Food signs - Target

Everything else I already had or was purchased at the dollar store.

Well, We Won't Be Doing That Again - Kitchen Remodel Part 7

Well, we won't be doing that again. I know, never say never. Even through the plague, we are so thankful this project came together (and came to an end). We are hoping and praying everything checks out with the inspection but all, in all, we are very pleased. As previously mentioned, it was not for the faint of heart. Remodeling is NO JOKE and it is definitely no HGTV, picture perfect process.

Also, it just goes to show you, that even though everyone else on the internet, with their picture perfect Instagram, seem to do these kinds of projects without issue or frustration - it's totally there. No matter how good the idea is or how beautiful the outcome, there was definitely a curse word said... or two or two hundred.

We learned so much - about things I don't care to ever encounter again - and some pretty hard lessons. Financially and logically we should not have undertaken a project of this magnitude. We should not have tried to help out a budding contractor because we felt for him. We should have researched and inquired more. We should have been patient and enjoyed our new home as it was for a while.

What's done is done and we are so thankful it is...done. All in time for our kids' birthday party and friends and family to visit!

Here is the final reveal of our kitchen. Caution: These are not professional photos, you will notice the terrible lighting, stuff lying around and dishes by the sink because... we are normal. Enjoy!

We spray painted our bar stools navy, the pendant lights are from Lowe's, the lamp is from Target, I sanded and stained the support under the granite (someone tried to tell me that it was unnecessary... huh?!?!), the track light is from amazon and the fan is from Home Depot. 

Opposite view - we removed the double doors to the dining room. That helped to open the space up, also. Now I have a cute coffee bar in there! 

Ignore the mismatched tile but notice the ice maker and wine fridge - so fun! Fun Fact: We found terrazzo flooring underneath the tile and restoring it might be our next project *insert evil laugh*. If you're not familiar with terrazzo - get familiar. It's basically a piece of (expensive) history in our home.

Note: Dishes by the sink. Debating on adding hardware but, one thing at a time, people. The track light replaced a nasty, huge square fluorescent and the fan replaced a nasty and tiny white fan. Fan in the kitchen - life saver! 

The next light to go - above the kitchen table. We decided to keep this L portion of the bar because it would have been a lot of dead and wasted space. Our breakfast area is already exceptionally large. You'll notice, too, we got rid of the entire, huge, walk-in pantry. The door in this picture was a cleaning supplies closet but is now the pantry and works great. Most of the food we eat is in the fridge or freezer or bought the week of cooking so our pantry didn't need to be huge. Our previous house had a small pantry, too, so it works for us! 

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Part 6

Race to Finish - Kitchen Remodel Part 6

After the plague, things picked up. Well, after our BEAUTIFUL counter tops were installed, things picked up. Supposedly that was the missing piece to getting this thing done. Even the granite didn't come without issue though - the original one we picked was said to be "too soft" and would scratch easily (why no one told us before is beyond me), then we had to wait for the weather to clear up. Who knew cutting granite generated so much dust? That dust, when mixed with water, can turn into some really hard to clean paste. However, the finished product of the counter tops was well worth it.

Counter tops went in, cabinet paint was finished, floors were patched, back splash went in, electric was done. Even though there was a lot of doing, and re-doing, we could see the end. Here are a few more progress pics....

With a few stern words and tough conversations about needing to "get'r done", the contractors stayed late a few days to finish up. We had a grout issue and mismatch tile issue. Floors are the next project but not for a while. The grout issue was major, for me, because it stuck out like a sore thumb. It was too dark. BUT, did you know, there is grout paint?!?! It was a time and life saver for the contractors because I was NOT a very happy camper.

Grout paint cleaned up - left, grout painted on - literally with a paint brush - center, original (too dark) grout - far right.

Once all that was in and things were still being buttoned up, we realized the wall color - a flat, builder beige - was not going to work. We absolutely loved the color we chose for our previous house so we decided to go with that. It took the stress out of trying to find the right color, that's for sure. And yes, we went cheap - good ole' Gentle Rain  by Behr.

To all the painters who wanted me to spend an arm and a leg on paint -

Why would I spend money on expensive paint when we have a four year old, a two year old, a huge and clumsy dog and are about to welcome a newborn to the Walker clan, who all, at any given moment, can projectile vomit, lose the lid to a sippy, or splatter food/water/mud/etc all over said paint? We bought the most economical, but durable paint. It's paint. Not a purse...or shoes. So for all you Benjamin Moore, Farrow & Ball, Pratt & Lambert snobs lovers- buzz off. We will stick to our beloved Behr and Valspar, k thanks.

Final reveal will be posted next!!!!! YAY! The saga has an ending!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

The Plague Worsens - Kitchen Remodel Part 5

Kitchen Remodel Part 1
Kitchen Remodel Part 2
Kitchen Remodel Part 3
Kitchen Remodel Part 4

So, picking up where we left off with our lovely rodent friends from Part 3, I took a little field trip to the local DIY pest control place because clearly our current pest control guy was NOT capable of getting rid of these things. Also, there wasn't much we could do about the power line but wait for the plumber to HOPEFULLY agree to fix it!

I learned so much at the DIY place from my new friend, John. Did you know rats can enter your home through a quarter size hole?! If they can get their head in, they can get their whole nasty body in! Did you know poison packets are super cheap?! And that the trick to getting rodents to eat them is PEANUT BUTTER (well, we used almond butter because #paleofriendlyhousehold, I'm THAT mom) - genius. Screw the pest control guys who tried and failed three times. I checked out with poison packets, odor control sponges, some bug/mosquito killer (because again, Houston), a mask, a sprayer and a head full of ways to kill things. I was as ready as Rambo.

I came home ready to kill some stuff only to find out about another fun issue...

Bees.

Honeybees, to be exact.

That's right. You know, the kind you really shouldn't kill because they are becoming extinct and throwing off the ecosystem - yea, those.

We had noticed one or two here and there since, hello, the attic had been exposed for over a week at this point. The electrician who finally decided to show up, said he had been stung and wasn't able to work up there because there was a swarm of them. This was something else, I tell you what. I killed about 15 bees in 30 minutes. The weird thing? They weren't trying to come after me, they were trying to get outside.

So, I made a call to my new pest control friend and his first question was, were they there before? I thought about it and remember that right before we moved in, a bee keeper came and took away a whole honeycomb. I told him that and his response was that they were back and ready to set up shop again.

Bee facts: 1. There are seekers and workers and honey makers. 2. The bees that were there were seekers. 3. Honeybees leave behind a pheromone that the seekers...seek... and if found, they will alert the workers to set up shop again. They are erratic and not out to harm - hence flying into windows and not attacking me. 4. A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. 5. The bee keeper did NOT spray to get rid of the pheromone, NOR did he properly seal the roof flap to the attic, hence the reason for The Return of the Honeybees. 

So now, not only am I Rambo the Rat Killer, I am killer of all the things. However, bees don't play so I called someone. Luckily, they had not nested and so killing them was socially acceptable (and cheaper)!

To recap - we've had a major plumbing issue, changes to the design and scope of work, a rat infestation, a power line down and Return of the Honeybees. That's when I started writing all of these posts... See part 1. 

The bee man came out, the poison packets went into the attic, Greg ended up throwing out BAGS of soiled insulation and 4 rats, drywall was up, lights and outlets had been cut out and wired, cabinets had been primed, counter tops and our new cabinet had been framed in... things were looking up. We were going to make it after all.

Kitchen Remodel Part 1
Kitchen Remodel Part 2
Kitchen Remodel Part 3
Kitchen Remodel Part 4

No Power? No Problem! - Kitchen Remodel Part 4

Kitchen Remodel Part 1
Kitchen Remodel Part 2
Kitchen Remodel Part 3

I realized while trying to write all of this out that so many issues overlapped and yea, yea we really weren't under construction forever. So, for all of you who said "It will be over before you know it," you win. Now you can sit back and say, "I told you so!"

Being in the thick of things was definitely not easy. Much like parenting and marriage and other hard things. Every day there was some new issue or frustration. There was one night, after the bomb I'm about to drop on you came to fruition, that I told Greg if one more thing came up, we just needed to torch the place and start over or move out. Dramatic, much? I was serious. We were over it.

So while dealing with contractors, a painfully slow remodel, and now rats, we had another fun issue. One we thought was tied to the remodel but wasn't.

One morning, while getting ready, the lights were flickering pretty badly. Sometimes that means the bulbs are about to go out but it was odd. I got out of the shower and half the power went out. I don't mean half the house or just the lights. I mean, one outlet worked and one light didn't in one room and the next room half the lights and outlets worked, the AC worked and the fridge worked but the microwave didn't. It was very odd. Greg called the home warranty company, that had only come through with ONE request so far (the fixing of our garage door!), and I called the electric company. Both were going to cost time and money but, hello, we needed power.

The electrician the home warranty sent, and the electric company both said that our main power line had been severed. A power line can go out even just by nicking it with a shovel. They also both said it was more than likely due to the plumbing work that was done.

Thank GOD we called 811 and had the line marked before the plumbers dug anything up. I mean, there was a good 4ft deep trench in our backyard while they re-piped the sewer line. Our next call was to get quotes. Turns out, replacing and burying 60+ feet of power line can cost anywhere from $2500-$3600! We didn't have that. We kept digging and researching and then realized we needed to get the plumber involved. We did our part, calling 811, they needed to help us fix this.

Unfortunately, our neighborhood wasn't one where the electric company owned the line - otherwise, they'd fix it all and we would be set. The electric company came and put in a temporary line that we were able to use for a month. Yes, it took a month, to the day, to get the line fixed. Now that it is done, our backyard is still a mess.

There will be more issues along the way but with a finished product that diminishes the stress of all of this. Man, what I would have given to know and see what I have now.

If you're wondering why there aren't many remodel pictures. It's because things literally didn't look much different in these weeks. Here are a few more - we finally trained the contractor to cover the ceiling when they left for the day. There is more to the kitchen remodel saga, so stay tuned.

Kitchen Remodel Part 1
Kitchen Remodel Part 2
Kitchen Remodel Part 3

Demo Days & The Plague - Kitchen Remodel Part 3

Kitchen Remodel Part 1
Kitchen Remodel Part 2

This is not your typical renovation blog series. Sorry, not sorry. We didn't lift a hammer. Again, sorry, not sorry. This is essentially a safe space for me to whine and moan and hopefully, one day, look back and laugh.

There are those who renovate and those who pay-to-renovate. Let me clarify, I love me some projects. My husband, not so much. I get the good ole eye roll every time I have a "bright idea." Which subsequently seems to (almost) always occur while pregnant. I would also love to be the one to do the renovation but, lets be real, I'd probably kill myself trying to knock down a wall and I just don't care THAT much. My husband, would want nothing to do with said wall. Which is fine. Totally get it.

Day 1 of the kitchen remodel was so, so, so exciting! I totally felt like I was on the set of some major HGTV show. There were loud bangs, and high pitch squeaks, and sounds of a saw and lots of things hitting the floor. It had begun! We were stoked!

For about a week. Then progress slowed. I mean almost a screeching halt. Of course everything was to blame... I changed my mind, the counter tops weren’t in, waiting on the electrician... excuse after excuse. Much to our dismay and according to our remodel veteran friends, these excuses were normal.

Our attic had been exposed due to changing the ceiling height and the installation of support beams, and the smell of sheet rock and musty attic filled our house. For a hypersensitive prego and her husband, who has a sense of smell like that of a freaking dog, it was not pleasant. Something wasn't right. My husband insisted the smell was something else and I hate to even document this but, he was right.

Some back story for you (and another expense I forgot to mention during our short 1 month in our home): Before we bought the house, we did our due diligence and we had the house inspected by a fantastic inspector (I have to put this in here because most everyone says, "Didn't you have the house inspected before moving in?" Yes, Carol). He pointed out that the HVAC duct work in the attic was all torn up on the kitchen side of the house and suspected rodents once lived up there. Before we purchased the home, it sat vacant for a good year so we were not surprised by this news. We had our trusty HVAC guy come and repair the duct work ASAP because Houston summers are no joke. Anyways, we weren't concerned about current rodents because he didn't notice any fresh feces (yummy) or traces of nesting.

Fast forward 3 months from inspection - holy rats nest, did those turds (literally) come back and wreak havoc on our attic and senses! It was awful! The contractors also noticed and even snapped some pictures of these cat sized rats - gross! Pest control came out on THREE occasions and it did NOTHING. During this time, it had been a question of "what next?"

And you'll see... stay tuned! Until then... I realized I never posted pictures of the OUTSIDE of our home. OOPS! For those who love mi-mod's as much as we do, here is our 1960's charmer (#allthehearteyes)

Kitchen Remodel Part 1
Kitchen Remodel Part 2