Happy to be called "Mommy"

Daycare Mural Progress #2

2010-03-19T13:13:00Z

Progress pictures from yesterday's daycare mural painting day...

I had the kids bring their school lessons along and work on them before playing...here's Bonnie helping Noah with his reading lesson. So sweet!

And here's Caleb working on his math...

The word "Storytime" was colored in yellow, arched over the barn, and a cute little tree was also added in the first couple of hours..

Then I just started adding little cartoon animals...

And another tree...

It's hard to get a good picture because of all the toys in the room, but here is what it looks like right now... I'm sure I'll be back sometime next week to work on this some more. I just love the little barn prop they have in there!

Baptistry Mural Progress #3 and Daycare Mural Progress #1

2010-03-18T00:34:00Z

I talked to the lady in charge of the baptistry mural, and she was hoping I could change the color of the rocks to more tan colors, and to have a little less contrast between rocks- as well as changing the mortar color to a tannish color as well.   So I went to church early this morning and got started.

After about 3 hours, here is what it looked like:

And here is a closeup:

As soon as I got finished with this, I headed towards the store to buy some paints - I have another project to work on before the baby comes!   It's a preschool- childcare center that is in the process of being established.    Check out all of the toys and books in the room I'm working on.     The kids were extremely happy to be able to play in here while I worked, and had a blast.

Bonnie took this picture of me as I was painting the sky...

There will be a farm scene, to go with the little barn prop that is in the middle of the floor there.   Above it, I'll have arched lettering that says, "Storytime", and there will be cartoony farm animals and trees, etc on the scene.

See Bonnie in the picture, among the toys?

I painted some clouds and the sun on the wall, along with a white fence to go with the barn. I think it looks cute but there is a lot more work to be done.   I was exhausted by the time I was done, but am looking forward to getting started again when I have some more energy.

Baptistry Mural Progress #2

2010-03-16T23:40:00Z

Here are some more progress shots from the baptistry mural- it should have a wooden cross hanging in front of the center of it, so all I had to do was the stone background.

Caleb, Bonnie, and Noah did their homeschooling studies at the table while I was working- when they were done, they got to watch Tom and Jerry cartoons, eat snacks, play with balls and and lego blocks. I made a pot of white beans with sausage for dinner while I was there at church. Cheaper than going out afterwards!

I need to talk to the lady in charge of this mural project and see whether she wants anything changed or added ...if she likes it the way it is, I think I might be able to call it finished. I am really curious to see what it would look like with the wooden cross!

Pasta Using Garbanzo Flour

2010-03-16T02:56:00Z

It has been hard doing without pasta! I love it so much.    But today, I found a great recipe for homemade garbanzo flour pasta that I thought I would try.   I was afraid it would taste too "beany", but it couldn't hurt to try it anyway.

Here is the flour that I use:

I used a pasta machine for mine, and they are a little stickier than regular pasta is, so use enough cornstarch to keep them from sticking to the machine if you do it this way.

You only have to boil the noodles for about 2 minutes, and they're done. Put a little olive oil in the water, and it helps separate the noodles!   Here is what my noodles looked like when they were done...Mmmmmm

These were surprisingly good!! I put butter, salt, pepper, and italian spices on mine. I didn't expect them to taste so much like regular pasta, but they DID.

I guess it's because garbanzo beans are more bland than other beans? - I think I can make spaghetti with these noodles and no one in my family will ever know the difference. In fact, I plan to do that this week!     It's great having alternatives.

I highly recommend these noodles!! Very simple to make, and really delicious- and helps curb that craving for carbs without the guilt! Very, very good for you.     And for those of you who are searching for gluten free recipes, this is gluten free. (along with most of the other low carb recipes i've posted!)

Here's the recipe:

BEAN FLOUR PASTA

1 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 eggs
cornstarch for kneading

Directions:

Combine flours, cornstarch, xanthan gum, gelatin powder and salt in large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil and water until thoroughly blended and light yellow in color. Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir together. Work the dough into a firm ball. Knead for 1 to 2 minutes. Place the dough on a board or firm surface lightly floured with potato starch flour. Roll the dough as thin as possible. Cut into desired shapes, very thin for spaghetti or fettuccine, slightly wider for noodles. MACHINE SHAPED PASTA: If using pasta machine, mix dry ingredients and liquid ingredients, separately. Follow directions on machine. Use 1 teaspoon canola oil.

Baptistry Mural Progress #1

2010-03-16T01:40:00Z

Our church has asked me to paint a baptistry mural for them before Easter. After finishing the mural for the city, this seems so small that this task doesn't seem as daunting! And hooray for no scaffolding being necessary!

I am supposed to paint a stone wall- the church will be having someone build a wooden cross to be displayed on the center of the mural. I hope I can do it justice!

Here are progress pictures from today. I brought the kids to church with me, and they played in the fellowship hall while I painted there- they had so much fun and were really great.     I love being able to take them with me while I paint! : )

The background (mortar) was the hardest part, because the canvas soaks up so much paint that I had to glob it on over and over and try to spread it as much as I could.   It took a couple of hours just to paint this gray background.

Drawing the rocks didn't take nearly as much time. I had them all freehanded within about 1 hour.

Painting those in took a couple more hours!

\\

At this point, I was trying to add highlights and shadows to some of the stones...I finally got tired and put up for the day.   I'll be going back to work on it again soon!

Fried Radishes

2010-03-16T01:30:00Z

I'm finding all kinds of ways to enjoy my low carb diet - sometimes I do splurge and allow myself to eat something sugary, but only rarely. It doesn't seem to count on my blood sugar as long as it's just a tiny bit and I work it off right afterwards.

And I'm finding that I actually LIKE decaf coffee with half and half and no sugar. Amazing. I never thought that would happen!

Anyway, last week, I had read somewhere that you can use Daikon radishes as a substitute for potatoes and make them into french fries- they're supposed to taste so much like the real thing that you'd never know the difference.

I'm not sure where you can get the Daikon radishes, but I did have some regular radishes in the refrigerator, and I decided to just fry them with a little bit of butter and oil and see how they tasted. They were surprisingly good!

They don't taste anything like radishes once fried. They lose that "heat" and turn into something completely different. I would say they taste sort of like a combination of potato, and eggplant. I think that these would taste absolutely delightful with some onions and cabbage thrown into the frying pan as well. Surprisingly tasty! I need to find those Daikon radishes now and try my hand at radish "french fries"!

Really Nice Gift I Received Today

2010-03-12T23:08:00Z

I got the nicest email a few weeks ago from a reader in Japan...her name is Sarah Joy Albrecht. She has a really great blog that I recommend highly...check it out and bookmark it if you get a chance!

Sarah had asked me if she could send me a set of chopsticks for the family...how could I refuse that? What a nice thing for her to offer. Today I received this wonderful little package of them and just had to show them off... They are adorable!

She even included a fourth pair of children's chopsticks for baby Ian!

Precious!!

By the way, I know everyone loves giveaways, and I noticed that on Sarah's blog, this month she is hosting a March giveaway for these CUTE little Japanese canvas tote bags!

If you would like to have a chance to win these, all you have to do to enter is post a comment on her blog entry, (following the rules contained in her post, of course!)... or if you have a blog of your own, make a post about it for another entry! You can even tweet it for another chance. You can enter HERE to win.

Good luck!!!

Delicious Garbanzo Bean Flour Bread

2010-03-11T00:03:00Z

I have to share this recipe from KarenHurd.com- I've been trying so many great recipes from there. Without being able to eat breads and pastas made with regular flour, it's so nice to find a substitute- and that is exactly what this garbanzo bean bread is. I never would have thought that you could make bread with beans before. Amazing.

It is a TERRIFIC substitute for regular bread....very tasty....it is absolutely delightful when it is served warm with some butter. It almost reminds me of cornbread- hard to describe really. I'm going to have to make this often. Every single one of my kids loved it and asked for more.

A slice or two of this bread counts as a serving of beans too!

Here is a link to the recipe.

Black Bean Salad

2010-03-10T20:02:00Z

I absolutely LOVE this recipe, and can't get enough of it.

I got it from KarenHurd.com. Here is the recipe:

1 can black beans

1 cup diced radishes

1 medium tomato, diced

1/.2 cup celery

1/2 cup diced green pepper

1/2 cup diced sweet onion

1/2 cup italian dressing (not zesty italian)

Mix all ingredients and enjoy! I used Balsamic vinegarette. It was absolutely delicious.

And so good for you too.

City Mural Progress #8

2010-03-09T04:22:00Z

Today was a beautiful and warm day...perfect for painting!

The rental place was able to raise the scaffolding for me this morning, and I finished the oval top in less than 30 minutes. Once the scaffolding was moved, though, James came by and noticed that the oval isn't just right, so sometime next week (it will be raining the rest of this week), we'll go back and fix that. It shouldn't take any more than 30 minutes to an hour.

I'm sure most of you have noticed the Dry Cleaners' sign on the top right side of the mural. The owner of the building contacted me the last time I was painting, and asked if I could help make it look better, since the mural makes it look more faded and old. He wanted it to match the colors in the mural.

I decided that since the scaffolding was already up, I would have them moved over just a little, and get that done today. It took about 4 hours to complete. (I actually made a little bit of money with this one).

Here's what the sign looked like before:

My mom came by and took this picture of me while I was working on the sign. I could see my kids in her car, looking up and saying, "WOW, it's SO HIGH!" (because the scaffolding was raised twice as high as before).

When the sign was finished, here's how it looked:

Whew! I feel relieved that everything has come together, and still weeks before my due date.

City Mural Progress #6 and #7

2010-03-07T13:24:00Z

Friday, I went back to paint some more on the mural. Every time I get started, it's just so exciting. I love seeing the results after a few hours of work.

My friend Allison was kind enough to bring me some delicious homemade deviled eggs and a Chick Fil A salad for lunch while I was painting.   She said she was surprised at how big the mural is in person.   It really is much bigger when you're up close to it!

The first thing I did was spend a few hours filling in all of the letters with white, and outlining them in black.   The letters had grid lines on them, and I had to remove those to make it look better. It took some time, but looked so good once it was finished!

I finally was able to start working on the Colonel's face, which I figured would be the most challenging part of the whole mural. It was pretty challenging.   It took me a while to figure out exactl where to start to make sure his head would be centered inside of the oval.

Here is my initial outline:

Then, I tried working on the features.   When you are right up close to the mural, you cannot see what you're doing. I had to climb down from the scaffolding over and over again to see whether the proportions were looking good or not. Unfortunately, at this point, his nose and eyes were too big. I had to keep going back and working on it to see if I could make changes to improve his looks.

I adjusted his eyes and nose some more, but still couldn't seem to get them just right. It would take several more adjustments before I was happy with him! By the way, did i mention how hard it is to paint features on brick?

I still wasn't happy with his eyes and nose at this point, but I moved onto his beard and collar.

At this point, a man from the Historical Society came and took my picture for his blog:

I continued working on the Colonel's face for a little while, then put up for the next day. Total time spent: 6 hours.

I don't have any progress pictures from Saturday, unfortunately, because I forgot to bring my memory card for the camera!   So I just had to wait till we got done, then came back and took pictures of the results.

James had a wonderful idea to add some yellow-gold to parts of the mural.   He spent his time Saturday helping me fix mistakes on the mural, adding the little green boxes on the corners, and painting all of the gold stripes.     I think that the yellow really goes well with the blue and gives it more contrast and vibrancy.

With James pair of eyes to help guide me, I was able to fix some proportional issues with the face, and after a few hours, this is what he ended up looking like:

We got the whole mural finished, except for the top of the oval over the face- which we could not reach without adjusting the scaffolding (the rental people were closed by the time we got to this part).   I will have the scaffolding lifted Monday, then will finish the oval and the mural will be completely finished!

I can't wait to take a picture of it without the scaffolding in the way!

Total time spent Saturday: 5 hours.

Miracle One Minute Muffin

2010-03-03T14:17:00Z

My friend, Debra, from Days of Grace, sent me this recipe at a moment when I was really craving something "bready".

I made it within 5 minutes of receiving her email. It was so quick, and so easy....and it had a nutty, delicious flavor... I was just so excited about this recipe! See Debra's post here.

Here it is....

One Minute Miracle Muffin

1/4 c flax

1 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tb coconut oil, melted

1 packet of Splenda or Stevia

Microwave 1 min 20 sec. Slice in half and toast, spread with butter.
2.6 carbs

( I tried it with and without the Stevia, and I liked it both ways

Just a Thought

2010-03-02T15:02:00Z

Regardless of what others may tell you, or what society might say...

Pregnancy and having children are NOT obstacles in the way of you achieving your dreams!

If you have something you want to do or try but have been putting off trying until your children are older or grown- start thinking of it differently. Let your children be a part of your adventures!

Don't think of them as a hindrance to your goals!

They will many times be your biggest fans.

Completely Sugarless Peanut Butter Cookies with Garbanzo Flour

2010-03-02T14:09:00Z

My mother in law is also trying the same diet that I am on, as she is diabetic, and has seen great results from it!   After years of not being able to get them down, she told me that her fasting blood sugar levels have dramatically dropped (even a bit lower than her doctors had given her the goal for!) just like mine have...she said she hasn't gotten that to happen for years, no matter what else she tried...so it seems to be a very good diet to be on!    You just have to be creative.

I was planning on making some garbanzo bean flour after reading many articles about it, and about how you can substitute it for regular flour in baking recipes. I guess my mother in law must have been thinking about the same thing, because she came to my house the other day and brought me a 1 lb bag of garbanzo flour that she picked up at the grocery store!

I have been wanting some cookies so bad, but without sugar, it's almost impossible to imagine what kind of cookies I could have without flour or sugar. I looked up "sugar free cookie recipes", only to constantly find sugar substitutes in the recipes.   No one seems to make them without any kind of sweetener at all.   And finding a cookie that uses garbanzo flour is also difficult to find.

I finally came on a recipe that does include sugar (just 2 tbsp), and flour, but I substituted garbanzo flour- and omitted the sugar. (And I did not chill the dough. I just cooked them right after mixing.)

Here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp. granulated sugar replacement
1 egg
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Cream together margarine, peanut butter and sugar replacements. Add egg, water and vanilla, beating until fluffy. Combine flour, baking soda and baking powder in sifter and sift dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Stir to blend completely. Chill thoroughly, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheets, 2 to 3-in. apart. Press flat with the floured bottom of a small glass.

Bake at 375º F. for 12 to 15 minutes.

Yield: 42 cookies

Exchange 1 cookie: 1/3 bread
Calories 1 cookie: 34

********

The dough turned out perfectly...very soft and pliable, and they looked really good as they went into the oven. Without sugar though, I had to wonder whether they would be worth eating.

As soon as the cookies were done, I took a bite. I wasn't totally sure what I thought. It was like a very peanuty biscuit, or maybe a scone. But it wasn't bad. I soon had to go back for another cookie, and enjoyed it so much, I had a third. I think the trick is not thinking of it as a "cookie"- don't expect it to be really sweet. Think of it as something else, and it's delicious.

The kids asked me if they could have one of the cookies- I said that they could, but I warned them in advance that there was no sugar in the cookies. I figured they would hate them. I was amazed when I heard them saying, "Yum! These are good! Can I please have another one?" I thought, seriously? They like a bean cookie with no sugar? It's pretty amazing. I guess I'll make these more often. Very good for them, AND they like them!

City Mural Progress #5

2010-03-02T03:02:00Z

I wasn't sure whether I would be able to paint today, because I thought it would be too cold. But as I kept watching the weather, it looked like it was going to get better in the middle of the day (about 50 degrees, partly cloudy).

I decided to go ahead and try painting today. I'm so glad I did, because I got a lot more done! I painted from about 11:00 to 3:30...would have stayed longer but the sun started hiding behind the clouds and it got pretty cold by then.

Here are progress pictures throughout the afternoon:

Yay! Getting so much closer to the goal!

Delicious Northern Beans

2010-03-02T00:47:00Z

My husband knows how to make beans taste really, really good.   His mom does too. I have never been that good at it, probably a lot of that has to do with the fact that I rarely try!

But now, since my diet (which is still working well, by the way!) calls for lots of beans, I need to try a lot more often!   And in order for me to do that, I have to find a way to LIKE them.

I asked James to show me how to make some beans the way he makes them...that way I can start making them more often.   He also can make them in less than 2 hours without even soaking them beforehand.   He chose northern beans and used about half a bag, added water and a pork neck, then set it to boil.    I had previously sauteed onions and jalapenos earlier that day, and he added them to the pot.    That really added some flavor! He let them boil, checking the water level and stirring the beans every 20 minutes or so, for about 1 hour, then turned it down and let it simmer for less than an hour, when they were really soft.

He added cayenne pepper, regular pepper, and salt to the pot of beans.     I am not usually a fan of beans, but I honestly couldn't get enough of these. They were absolutely delicious!

Oh, if you make these, don''t forget to add a carrot to the beans, then remove the carrot once it's finished- it's supposed to keep the beans from causing gas. Don't let anyone eat the carrot!

City Mural Progress #4

2010-02-28T00:18:00Z

This morning, James and I headed to the building to see if we could get some more done on it while it's still warm. I'm so glad he came to help me!   He really helped save me time by painting the border around the mural.

Next week is supposed to get colder, so we wanted to get as much done as possible while we could.    Our mother in law watched Noah, and we brought Caleb and Bonnie with us. They played ball, read books, and chased each other around while we painted.

Here is James painting the border...

And me working on the lettering...

I was actually able to finish most of the lettering (with the exception of the "welcome to" part), and was able to start using some color...that really made it start "popping".... I love the way it's looking so far!

Caleb took these pictures of me and James...

And Bonnie ...

Here's how it looked from the scaffolding (I had the boards pushed away so I could access the lettering on the bottom of the wall- they are usually right up against the wall).

And here is how it looked when we were ready to put up for the day...we spent about 5 hours total. I can't WAIT to get started again when it is another warm day!    It's coming along so quickly!!

My husband is SO sweet to take time out of his Saturdays to help me do this. This has been so much fun.

City Mural Progress #3

2010-02-27T00:18:00Z

Today was much warmer than the other day (low 50's), so I decided to get out early and start working on the mural again. My mom has been watching the kids for me as I do this, so that really helps!

I got to the building at around 9:30 AM, and worked until 2:30 (I would have stayed longer but had to get ready to take a picture for the newspaper at 3:00).    5 hours is a good amount of time anyway.

I brought a jacket with me, but ended up needing to take it off because I got so warm. The sun was shining really nicely, and it just felt great!

I was able to finish the vertical lines, and I used a level to make sure that they were all straight up and down (I would hate for the whole image to be distorted because the lines were off). The horizontal lines took a lot less time than the vertical lines because the bricks are lined up and are level- so I just follow the bricks.   I was done with the grid part in about 2 hours time.

Here's how a pregnant woman gets up onto the scaffolding....LOL

I was so excited that that part was done- I actually thought making the grid would take a few more days, so it was just such an encouragement for it to be finished so quickly. I guess the warmer weather helped a lot!

Next, I began using the picture that I'm going by, and drawing the outlines, little by little.    I was surprised that each letter (which are roughly 4 foot long each) only took me about 30 minutes each to outline and color the shadows on.    After a few more hours, I had drawn "Cullm" and I did do part of the "a", but I will have to redo it because I made a mistake with it.    I was thrilled to have gotten this far!

Every few minutes, I climbed down from the scaffolding to see if the outline was proportional...

'll be sure to post more progress pictures as I get them! I just hope I can complete the whole thing before baby Ian gets here.

Lentil Soup

2010-02-25T16:18:00Z

Here is what we made for lunch today. The recipe actually calls for split peas, but I only had lentils so I used them instead. Since beans are my carbohydrate source, 'm trying to find ways to enjoy them. The soup was very good!

Here is the recipe:

6 cups vegetable broth or 6 cups water and 3 cubes Vegetable Bouillon (McCormick)
2 cups dried green split peas, rinsed
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup chopped carrots
2 celery ribs with leaves, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
5 tbl shredded carrots

In a large saucepan, combine the first nine ingredients; bring to aboil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour or until peas aretender, stiring occasionally. Add salt and pepper; simmer 10 minuteslonger. Cool slightly. In small batches, puree soup in a blender;return to the pan. Heat for 5 minutes. Garnish with shreded carrots.Yield: 7 servings.

Number of Servings: 7

You can find the nutrition facts, and original recipe source here.

City Mural Progress #2

2010-02-25T03:15:00Z

There were some challenges this week that made my mural painting just a bit more challenging, but somehow I'll make it!

First, I had been planning to spend all day yesterday, today, and tomorrow painting the building. The forecast had predicted that it would be in the high 40's until Saturday...but yesterday was much colder than the 49 degrees it was supposed to be... It was 37 degrees all day, because the sun never ended up coming out.

Second, I had met with the rental people, and apparently, they have rented all of their scissorlifts out this month and don't know when they'll be back. Apparently, because the ground is kind of soggy, they can't let me use a regular scissorlift (or it will get stuck in the ground), I would have to use one meant for terrain. If only the ground was concrete in front of the building! The other rental place in our city also had rented all of theirs out as well. Scissorlifts weigh about 6,000 pounds, so probably isn't a good idea to be driving one on soggy ground.

So I had to make a choice- wait until they knew when they would have the right kind of scissorlift available (which could be another month or more), or just go ahead and use the scaffolding.

After discussing it with many people and my husband, I decided to go with the scaffolding. I wasn't too happy with the idea (of course, neither was anyone else!), but sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.

So yesterday, two men came out to set the scaffolding up... as I was watching them, I wished that I had worn something warmer, because it was just so cold! lol I had a light jacket with a hood. (Eventually I did sort of adjust to it- when you're moving around a lot, it warms you up). I was pleasantly surprised by how sturdy the scaffolding was- I had been afraid that it would be shaky, but it does stand pretty firm. There is a board that goes across the whole area that I will be working on.

When I got started, I started to realize just how enormous this project really is.   The length of the banner is going to be 36 feet (I had forgotten before, and thought it was only 30), and 11 feet tall.    The scaffolding actually does get in the way of where the bottom of the banner will be. I guess when I get to the painting part for that, I can hopefully have them push the scaffolding out of the way.

I spent about 4 hours climbing up onto the scaffolding, trying to measure the wall, and figure out where the banner would be placed, going back down to the bottom and trying to measure again to see if I had it right- walking back far away to see if I had it centered correctly (using duct tape as a reference point for where the corners would be), and then climbing back up and down the scaffolding over and over and over. Since I had no one to help hold the other side of the tape measure, I had to try holding it on one side with duct tape, and sometimes it wouldn't stick completely and I would have to go over and re-tape it.... it would have helped tremendously having another set of hands, but my husband was at work and I can't think of anyone else who could do it. But next time I will have someone help me, *don't worry.*

It was a lot of work with seemingly so little progress to show for it.   After 4 hours, this is all I had- a rectangle! I felt silly.... I never would have thought that a rectangle could be so much work but it really was!   I have a lot more appreciation for muralists who do this kind of thing all of the time. Of course, they probably use a scissorlift.

The next 3 hours I spent trying to make the grid lines - I went across the whole rectangle, marking each 1 foot area. Then I used masking tape, stuck it to the top, and then let the tape roll fall down under the scaffolding. Then, I would climb down, go under the scaffolding and tape it the rest of the way. Then, I would use black paint to mark a line beside the masking tape. This was a time consuming process.

After a few hours, I looked back at it, and I couldn't tell for sure whether my lines were completely vertical. If they are leaning at all, I will have to completely redo them, because it would distort the whole image. The scaffolding itself isn't completely level, so it kind of threw me off ...and I don't have a level that will show whether vertical lines are level-only horizontal (I'll be buying one of those this week), so I just decided to leave it until I can figure that one out. I don't want to do anymore until I know for sure everything is aligned correctly.

It may be next week before I can get started again - possibly Saturday if it's warm...James will be able to help me then.    Once the grid and the outlines are finished, the actual painting part shouldn't take nearly as long.     Whew!