Mural Complete!

Mural is done!




What a huge sigh of relief. I hate the fact that I can't just hang out and get stuff finished. But I guess that is the way it is when you have kids.

After many trips and my brother's help it is finally done.

We added two buildings to the left of the mural as well as the Clock from the It's a Small World Ride. And down below there is a little guy that was taken from another one of Mary Blair's paintings. There will be no doubt when walking into this room as to where the picture came from. Oh, and see if you can find the hidden mickey ears.

It's kinda hard to get a picture because it takes up an entire the room.
Again, here is the original I went off of.

Zilker Botanical Gardens

This was the last trip we made before Uncle Brian had to leave for Portland. There is supposed to be a display of dinosaurs but they had to take them down because if IKE. A few were up but most were sleeping somewhere else and we didn't get to see them.

While we missed the dinos, it was worth the trip to smell the fragrant flowers.

Yesterday we all went fishing. It was kind of windy but we did manage to catch a few fish. Raita and Chloe caught a blue gill.

While we were dealing with that catch, we heard Jonah yelling. He caught a small mouthed bass all on his own! Both fish were too small too keep but it was fun.

Even Freya had a chance fishing. She was sad that she didn't get to catch a fish.

Today we went kayaking with Uncle Brian.

It wasn't too hot, about 93 or so. That definitely made the breeze appreciated. Brian and Jonah handled the two man pretty well while Freya sat between my legs on the single.

Last time we went, I had Jonah to help me. Needless to say, it was a bit more difficult for me this time around without his help!




We saw lots of wild life; Blue Herons, turtles, ducks and the occasional fish jumping out of the water. Can you find the turtle and the heron in the last picture?

Today my friend Bethany brought us to Jungle and Java. It's basically an indoor play scape with tunnels, slides etc. There is a full coffee bar with food and snacks. The kids seemed to enjoy themselves and I got to have a latte so I can't complain either!

It's nice to have another option that is close for us northern Austinites.

Freya was able to convince Eli to go into a few places that seemed kinda scary to him. She is pretty fearless.

Even baby Noa had fun hanging from the railing.

Cheesy Bran Muffins

Yep, the bran in here will counteract the stopped-upedness of the cheese. We make these minis and keep on hand for the kids' lunches. They also pair well with chili or soups etc.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup bran
1 TBL baking powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4oz (1 stick) melted butter
1 beaten egg
2-3 TBL of ground flax (optional)

Put dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Put cheese in flour mixture and mix together.
Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients.

Mix butter, milk and egg in a separate bowl.
Pour wet ingredients into the well of the dry ingredients.

Mix together using more more than 15 strokes. (the batter will still be lumpy)

Spoon into greased mini muffin pans until 3/4 full.
Bake at 400F for 15 minutes, or until golden.

Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight container. Muffins can be frozen in a sealed bag for up to 1 month.

Since Freya has started school, I have been using Tuesdays as my do everything day. The day to do the laundry, clean bathrooms, plan and shop for meals and bake up the woo-hoo for the week (or hopefully 2 weeks!) etc.

Today we also made some chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. The recipe is the basic recipe, I just change it up using half whole wheat and half all purpose flour. I also always add some ground flax to it for added nutrition. Today we had some Texan Pecans so those went in there too. I always make a large batch because inevitably one of my friends has done me a favor and I love to say thank you with baked goods.

Speaking of oatmeal, I found this great recipe for Amish Baked Oatmeal. I followed the recipe except I put half the sugar and added some raisins. Next time I will try honey or agave instead of the sugar. It was fabulous! Prepare it the night before and put it in the fridge. When you wake up, pop it in the oven and it's done when you get out of the shower! The kids loved it. We put it in a bowl then topped off with milk. Chloe said it tasted like oatmeal cookie cereal.

Mural almost done

Getting a bit done on the mural.

It is going slow. I have spent about 9 hours on it so far. I feel like I haven't gotten anything done so I took a picture of it when I got there and also when I left.

There is still a lot to do but at least I have a feeling of accomplishment after looking at these pictures. At the bottom is the original that I am going off. There will be an additional element to the right of the mural which will be the clock at the start of the It's a Small World ride.

Hoping to get this done sometime before the end of the millennium.

If you look in the upper left corner of the mural, you will see some red dots that will be flowers soon. There is one flower that is kinda smudged. The little boy who's room this is going into, made that one with his thumb! How adorable is that?

Oh Yeah, it's Soccer Time again.

Time to get up at the crack of dawn and stuff the kid's feet into those super tight shin guards and socks, then try to get the whole monstrosity into stiff leather cleats.

Chloe seems to have fun but who knows as anything that takes effort doesn't seem like fun for her. Especially since it starts before she is usually out of bed in the morning.

Jonah really puts in the effort, I worry about him keeling over from heat stroke because he plays for most of the game. Amazingly he is totally fine and gets pretty mad at me if I suggest he take a break. Seriously, a mom knows nothing more than a 9 year old boy.

Today we also went downtown and visited a ballet studio. The girls had some fun trying out some classes as well as rubbing elbows with part of the cast from the Nutcracker. We also had a chance to see a snippet of Not Afraid of the Dark. The dancers were all in black costumes except for certain parts of their costumes which were illuminated by a black light. It looks pretty good and we may go and see the full production some time. Freya was able to get out on stage for the first part of the performance. By the way, Freya doesn't like to be in the spot light at all, can't you tell??

Freya has informed me that she is a super model. Not sure where this came from but she seems to think she has it all down. Here she is striking a pose, I love the face.

We may need to get Fancy Nancy from the library today.

Mural time!

Mural time!

I'm painting a mural for a super nice family in their little boy's room. It's a painting done by Mary Blair representing It's a Small World in Disney World.

The artwork is this painting, however it will be lighter in feel as the original is very whimsical and not so color blocked and solid. I am going back on Sunday and will take a picture then. I actually wish I could go work on it sooner cause I hate to leave stuff unfinished!

We're adding some fun kids to the painting wearing mickey ears and maybe even hiding a pair in the picture somewhere....

First Day of Preschool.

Freya had her first day today. When we were waiting to go she looked at me with a huge grin and said, "I'm so 'cited today!"

She was perfect, walked right in, found her name and started coloring. She didn't even want to look away from her work for the camera. When I left, she was talking to Mrs. Dee and asking her what they would do today. I did get choked up, thankfully no tears though.

Here is a great recipe to put in those kid's lunches.

Homemade Orange Julius
1/2 can frozen OJ concentrate
1 cup milk or soy milk
1 cup water
dash of vanilla
Sweetener of choice either 1/4 cup sugar, 3 TBL agave or 3 TBL honey

Blend in blender until mixed. Add ice cubes as needed while blender is going until you get your desired consistency.

Raw Version
3 Oranges freshly squeezed
1 cup almond milk
dash of vanilla
3 TBL agave

Follow directions above

I save these little drinkable yogurt containers because they are small and have screw lids. You can send juice in there or smoothies. Today they all got an Orange Julius!

Yesterday, Geni and I did the Human Race. Freya took some pictures of me in my shirt before the race. It was long and hot (I think it was about 100F when we started running) but surprisingly doable. Everyone had to wear these red shirts because the race number is printed on it. When we were up on a hill and looked out ahead, the mass of people made it seem like a sea of red. It was creepy to see 13000 people in red and very difficult to find your running buddy! Austin came in 2nd for the fastest running time out of the 25 cities that participated.

After running, we had a few beers and listened to Ben Harper for a bit. Like I was telling Geni, it would have been better if every song didn't have a 5 minutes jam session at the end. Maybe if I were tokin' it up like the crowd (the smell indicated that most were), it would have been a much better concert. My favorite part of it was that the stage was right in front of the Capital Building and that Ben Harper played so many different instruments.

Raita and I watched Sicko when I got back home. It is very eye-opening. Let's hope more American's wake up and see how bad the Health Care System is here. I love the part of the movie where Michael points out that the US already has some Socialist programs (library, schools, cheap mail, etc) and those systems work beautifully. I just wonder if people are afraid of Soylent Green happening if Health Care became Free and Universal. I wish we were given the facts instead of the falsities presented by the politicians.