Mermaids on the brain!

Miss Maddie decided that she really wanted a pool party for her birthday party this year with a mermaid theme.  I searched Etsy to find the "just right" mermaid clip-art to make her invitations with.  I found it at a cute shop called RainbowPips.  After about an hour of Maddie standing on the back of my chair & Grace laying over my desk while they offered their opinions, I finished her invitation.  I love how it turned out!!!

I'm a little concerned about the weather.  I decided to go ahead and have a back-up plan.  I made these little cards to let everybody know what would go down if the weather gets funky.  I'll also be making some  coordinating thank you cards for Maddie to fill out after it's all over.

 

  I love them so much but most of all, Maddie loves them and that's all that really matters.  They always look forward to the making of the invitations.  It signals the beginning of the planning & the festivities!  I love their birthdays & try to make them as special as my mom always made ours.  She set the bar pretty high for special.  Not necessarily extravagant, but definitely super special!!!

I ❤ tacos!!!

I love tacos!!!  I could eat them everyday! I have been looking for a little bit healthier version.  I could have made these a little healthier but I didn't.  I could have stuck with eating just these but I didn't.  I could have used chicken but...I didn't.  I seized the day and had them my way!  I'll do better tomorrow at lunch, I swear!

The "confetti" is rinsed black beans, corn, and Lime & Cilantro Rotel.  Getting the right Rotel makes a HUGE difference!  A friend made it for us as a dip but I love it on tacos too!  Give it a try - it's a tasty treat!

I survived!

I survived another child going off to kindergarten!  I also survived my older child going into 3rd grade!  I have no idea when they got bigger but it seems to have happened over night.  I really shocked myself, and everyone that knows me, when I didn't completely fall apart yesterday when I dropped Maddie off.  Mr Davis was prepared to have to hold me up on our walk back home.  I did cry.  I quietly whimpered as we walked home.  Mr Davis simply held my hand and allowed me to be quiet for a few minutes.  I sucked it up, dried my eyes, and went on with our morning. 

When Grace started kinder, Maddie also started pre-school & we were in the middle of a very stressful home purchase.  It was just more than I could handle at the moment.  I did a LOT of crying that fall.  All of that fall.  And half of spring.  Sending her to first grade was quite a bit easier because I took the Dr Seuss quote "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" to heart.  I made it my motto. 

This spring, me and my friend, Ashlee, decided to start training for a 5K.  We used the C25K app.  We started strong but summer happened and she fell off the wagon.  I was determined to stay on and started running with another friend, Noemi, who runs regularly.  She runs faster and farther than I do.  She is a great support and encourages me to keep going even when I feel like I'm dying.  She also tells me it's ok when I take a break.  I'm thrilled that Ashlee is back and I have two amazing running buddies now!  I'm such a lucky girl!  Running allows me to clear my mind and reset.  Our runs consist of mindless chatter, heart to hearts and good laughs.  These two ladies have made such a difference in my world!
 

Me & Ashlee

Noemi & me

A lot of things have changed since this past spring and running has given me a new outlook.  It has made me realize that I'm fine with all of the changes around me.  It has made me realize that I'm more than fine, I'm happier because of them.  It also made me realize that I'm not going to die because my kids are growing into lovely young ladies.  I'll survive the day they start middle school, high school, and college.  I'll survive their wedding day.  I may create my own puddle for a little while but I'll be ok.  I choose to be happy because they're here, they're happening and I've been given the beautiful gift of being their mother.  I've been able to stay home with them until they've both started school.  Tomorrow, I start a very flexible new job that allows me to drop them off and pick them up everyday and to be there for their parties and events.  I'm nervous & excited.  I haven't had an outside job since Grace was a baby.  But I'm sure I'll survive. 

Hill Country Water Gardens

My girls are always asking to walk through Hill Country Water Gardens.  We had no other plans today so why not!?  There is always so much to see and such fun things for your yard!

They have the cutest fairy furniture!

My girls were in heaven with the selection of fairy house accessories 

The fairy house displays were super cute!  Naturally, my children chose to ignore the Please Don't Touch signs!

 

We also found a herd of pet rocks

And some crazy yard birds

My girls have always had such a love for the glass toad stools!  I broke down this time and bought them each a small one.
 

 We were there for about an hour and were the only kids.  The girls were invited to feed the fish in the big tank.  They were so excited & thought it was just the greatest thing!

It really is a very pretty store/ nursery! 

My girls are looking forward to fall and coming to pick out a pumpkin.  They have several varieties that you don't really see at HEB.  They also decided that they really want some fairy furniture for their birthdays.  I love their imaginations and how willing they are to believe in magic.  If it hadn't started to get hot, we would have spent more time there today!  I know we'll be back there soon.  They found lots of things they want to show Mr Davis for our backyard.  If they have their way, he's going to be a very busy guy!

Finally! The DIY play kitchen is done!

So my daughters, 8 & 5, liked to with their play kitchen but it was entirely too short.  Grace was having to play with it on her knees.  I promised a taller kitchen and if they'd give up the old one.  They finally agreed!  My next move was to get on Pinterest and get ideas. My girls loved the overall design of the one made by John & Sherry Petersik.  The link to their kitchen here.  I found a $5 microwave cart on Craigslist and used some scrap wood that my handy husband let me have.  So, here it is before...

My $5 find!

 

Here it is in all of it's sanded glory!

 My girls chose a color called Cockatiel & we found it at Lowes

 I hot glued subway tiles for a back-splash

We found some super cute shelf paper at Target but it wasn't very sticky so I pookied it down

And here is the finished product!

I need to make a little dust ruffle to cover the wheels.  I asked Mr Davis to make me a piece of trim & I got "the look" so I decided a dust ruffle would look better anyway!

 Inside the cabinet

 

 I had planned a curtain to cover the storage area but the girls protested and want it left open so you can see the shelf paper

I found the faucet at Home Depot for $15.  The sink was a chip bowl we use for parties.  I hot glued a clip to hang their recipes and used those sticky poster mounting squares to attach our Dollar Tree dry erase board.  The burners are scrap plywood  & the knobs are just wooden knobs.

The girls are so happy with the finished product and so am I!!!  It's exactly what they wanted and it cost me about $40 to make!

Fairy House project complete!

Like many others, my girls saw the Tinkerbell movie & just had to build a fairy house!  Of course, I'm a sucker for a cute project said "yeah, let's do that!" And of course, it quickly became a huge undertaking & I began to regret saying yes.  After knocking my child's expectation for a twig Taj Mahal, we finally completed our fairy house & I have to say it's a cute addition to our flower bed!

I hate making lunches but...

I hate making lunches but I do like to make them cute.  I like to put notes, jokes, and fun facts in their lunches.  I made little place mat napkins when Grace was in 1st grade and made new ones for both girls this past spring.  I like to plan ahead for the notes so I don't really have to think about it.  I keep them in an envelope on the side of the fridge so I can just pull one out and drop it in their lunchboxes.  With that said, I here's my first round of notes.  I thought I would send them off with some of my favorite pictures from some of our outings over the summer.  So, without further ado...

 These are the little place mat napkins that I put in their lunchboxes.  They are fans of these because they can open up their food & it not have to sit on the table.  Maybe they're borderline germaphobes.

If I make them 3X3, they'll fit nicely into these cute little envelopes I bought for no reason.  But, I can only get 6 to a page.  

 If I make them 2X2, I can get 20 per page and still have room for my little note on the back.  The pictures are a little smaller than I'd like though.  And when I print quotes and jokes, I'm afraid it will be a tight fit.

I think I have found a happy medium with making them 2 3/4" - this way I can make 12 at a time!  The pics look nice and they're big enough for jokes and quotes.

 Realistically, do they need to be in the cute little envelopes? No.  Am I really going to add another step to my morning just for cuteness?  Depends on if I've got myself together and I have an extra minute or two...so the real answer here is no. 

They're a cute size and I'll be printing them on card stock simply because I like it.  I like that it feels more like a card.  When I do quotes and jokes, I won't have to change the template to make room for a legible font.  I'm sure I'll slap myself later for saying this, but I cannot wait to make their first lunches - they're going to be so fun!  I have to go, my nerd is showing.

While my kids were out if town...

My girls were gone visiting their grandparents for a few days.  While they were gone, I got some work done, got major parts of some projects done & got to simply hang out with the Mr.  I though I would share a few things that went down while my kids were gone.

I started them off right with giant Slurpees to get all sugared up for NaNa!

Mr Davis & I had a nice dinner...just us.

We got in some range time together.

 Jared always see cars parked here.  There's a bridge behind me.  He's always wondered what was the big deal so we stopped. 

We took a stroll through the woods to see where the trail took us.

Beautiful!!!

And someone, who shall remain nameless, slipped on mud & went "splat" & promised to destroy my phone if I didn't delete the picture of him covered in mud.

Like I said, I worked on some projects & I'll post more on those then they're complete.  Saying that will give me a good reason to wrap them up quickly - don't want to show you what a slacker I can be!

Here goes nothing!

So, it's 1:12am and for some reason I felt so compelled to start this now.  I tried to start a blog before but failed.  Let's be honest, I have a terrible habit of over thinking things, panicking and then quitting before I even get started.  This should explain the previously failed attempt to even start a blog.  My best friend, Melanie, has been after me for months to start this.  She wins! 

My girls are out of town visiting grandparents for the next 5 days.  This leaves me lots of time for projects and cleaning.  Hoping that it really happens the way I have it planned in my head - I'm such a procrastinator! So, I guess this is my first project.

I suppose I should tell you a little about about me.  I'm Christel.  I'm a stay-at-home mom slash photographer.  I married my high school sweetheart & we have two girls, a dog son, and two foster dogs that are with us for about 2yrs while their parents are living it up in Australia!  I'll admit that I'm a tad jealous.  My husband is secretly a very funny guy.  He helps keep my flakiness in check.  I'm a huge fan of my husband & my kids are my world!  I decide to call my blog Probably THAT Mom because I seem to say things that are sometimes seen as slightly inappropriate or just said at the wrong time.  I do goofy crap that makes me look totally unqualified!  Maybe I am.  It's ok because my family loves me and I'm not that worried about other peoples opinions.  I will leave you with my most favorite photo of me & my girls.

 We took this on our way to gather plant specimens to examine under their microscopes.  Nerdy is cool!