Flippin Good Carrot Cake!!

Kay, if you know me, you know I live to create delicious baked goods. Bought too many carrots the other day, and the dudes didn't nibble them down like I thought. So, I was complaining to Mindy, that I wanted to make a carrot cake, but didn't want to waste my time with a fluffy, crumbly piece of duke. She, being a whiz kid, says "why don't you google, moist, dense carrot cake." Took her advice and hit the jackpot. Seriously, this cake is so rad! Tell me if you make it and feel the same.

Dense & Moist Carrot Cake

3 cups shredded carrots 1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup veggie oil

1/2 cup melted butter 1 teas. vanilla

4 eggs 1/2 cup drained, crushed pineapple

2 teas. fresh ginger 2 cups flour

1 teas. baking powder 1 teas. baking soda

1 teas. ground cinnamon 1/2 teas. salt

1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans

Frosting

12 oz cream cheese, softened 6 oz. butter (12 tablespoons)

1 teas. vanilla 4-5 cups powdered sugar

about 2 teas. fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350'. Spray 2 (8 inch) round cake pans with flour-added cooking spray, or a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. If using rounds, use some parchment paper on bottom, cause cake is kinda sticky.

In a lg. bowl, stir together the carrots, white and brown sugar. Let stand about 10 minutes to form a juice. Stir in oil, butter, eggs, vanilla, pineapple, and fresh ginger.

Stir together flour, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir flour mixture and nuts (optional-count me out on them) into carrot mixture. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake for 30-35 minutes (unless you have a classy oven like mine, which takes about double the time) or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes, then take out of pans (8inch) and let cool completely.

Beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Stir in sugar, then beat until fluffy and light. Beat in lemon juice, and have a spoonful to make sure it takes great. If you are like me, you will probably just stand over the frosting bowl and devour it for a good 3 minutes. Frost the cake. Worth it, I swear!

P.S. Off the subject but, the bad luck that I have with blow dryers is maddening. SO, I blew up another one yesterday. You guys, I am down like 6 dryers in like 2 years. Getting crazy. Anyone have a good brand that is trustworthy. I'm looking for professional. None of this light breezy crap. Help a girl out. You should see my hair today, pretty much butt ugly!!!!

Quick Update!

Hey, everybody! Here's what we have been up to lately.....
Adam- he has been getting called in tons these days
The other night at dinner, he did an amazing 2 minute dance for the kids.
Even if some of his moves were borderline "too old" for the boys, they loved it!
He's playing basketball every monday. Love your guts, babe
Me- I have started this parenting class that I go to every week. Loving it,
learning lots, and yelling less, yeah, on our way to a happy home!
Did my first activity for the ward, a potluck. Turned out pretty good.
Plus, we have a trip to Utah coming up, that always perks me up.
Isiac- used all his birthday money to get a new bike. Now, I get the joy of
muddy floors. He is growing his hair out. Wants it long, yikes. We will see how long
I hang with it. He has been feeling the changes of my new parenting skills, and isn't
loving it so much. Still doing great at Ice hockey. It's for your own good, toots!
Henry- I swear 3 is worse than the terrible 2's! Still as sweet as ever, but crazy!
He loves to play in the halloween costumes, use socks as puppets, do puzzles, and
make a mess of mybasement. My little blondie erased all of my camera card, that
had some delightful pics of my girls trip. Got some real good ones of his thigh though!
Quinn- my little meatball is getting so big. He can say, more, up, and I think he has been
trying to say poo! SO PROUD! The time change has treated him great. Still loves to throw
balls all over my house, and at my head. Speaking of heads, his is doing fine. Finally, his
soft spot is closing! Bravo, no more brains showing!

Isiac is Seven!

I can not believe that I have a 7 year old! Weirds! We had a lot of fun the weekend of his birthday. I took the boys to the mall, where they brought in all this sand, and let the kids go crazy. Isiac was bored in 2 minutes. Sm. & Med. loved it. Then, we went bowling for the first time. Ike did great. His game started off real hott, but then kinda cooled off a little. Henry's ball took forever to get down the lane. Forever! But it was cute. We hit the local Bounce House too! That was fun. Isiac had to play some games before he could cut loose bouncing. Hen, Ike, Kellen (Ike's friend) and me, went to see a movie in this old Theatre. They had a huge old time playing piano that some guy was working over before the show. We had a blast! Hen, of course was ready to jam about 20 minutes into it. Then, came back here for some presents and cheesecake. Isiac never wants birthday cake for his parties, he always asks for cheesecake. He has had it the last 3 years. Funny. Well, that's what's been going on around here. Crap, my kids are getting big! Now, I am off to sunny California for a girls trip! Can't wait!

Very late Valentines!

(No comments about me being "Marci Martha" okay)
I know these are a little late for Valentine's Day, but I loved making them, and wanted to share them. We had a great Couple's Party planned, so I spent all afternoon dipping pretzels and rice krispies. I also made some cake balls and turned those into little chocolates. It's about the only time I get to make anything pink. The krispies turned out so cute! You can make these and use any cookie cutter. Chocolate is at Michaels. Loved them! So, after I spent all that time making those sweet treats, my hard working man got called in to work, and didn't get home til late. So we missed the party. I spent a romantic evening by myself. We were in bed (sleeping) by like 9:30. Lame!

Anyway, this picture of Isiac proves to me that we have been living on the East Coast way to long. The boys had earned a toy at the dollar store, and this bling just caught his eye! He was torn between that and the fake gold grill, but in the end the $ won. Good choice, son! Cracked me up. Quinn has claimed it and feels so proud when he is decked out in it! Do they even sell stuff like that in Utah?

For GIRLS Eyes Only!

Kay, my friends, I'm in need of your advice/help! Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I am thinking alot about my lover and my love that I deeply have for him. Here's my question....
how do you stay connected to your hubbies? Life is busy. Work, church, basketball, hockey, friends, and everything else eats up a lot of time. So, I'm wondering how do I show my rock solid man that I love and appreciate him. I have read Proper care and feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura, which is great. I do the basics that she describes pretty good, but it's so easy to slip into routines. When we only have a few hours a day to spend together, it seems like they are wasted hours infront of the set. We all need outlets, time away, I get that. Could use some more of it. Bunco, once a month only goes so far. But, what I am saying is the time that we have, I want it to be great. That way at the end of the day, he wants to get back here as fast as he can. So, what do you have for me? What tricks? What ideas? Marriage is beyond fabulous, but you have to work at it. Not saying mine is in need of work, but, I never want to see us go down that road either.
Lay it on me girls,
P.S. I am not afraid of "romantic/really fun" ideas, so don't hold back
P.S.S. HUSBAND- don't read the comments or you don't get any new moves!!!

Humor with my Hubs!

Yes, that's me! Picture this...... we have just gotten the kids to bed, and are planning on sitting on our cans watching Idol. Well, I get downstairs before Ad, and put this little number on and hide in the kitchen with the light off. SO, my cute hubs starts calling for me. Isiac even gets out of bed to say, "she's probably in Quinn's room." Now, my appartment is tiny, so not really a lot of places I could be right. He tucks Ike back in, and comes looking for me. Meanwhile, I am sweating my head off, and trying not to laugh out loud. I hear him coming. I get my best monster voice ready (which was easy to do, cause I already sound like a man) and get set to pounce. He came around the counter and I launched my self at him, with a scary growl. It was so freaking hilarious! He saw my bod first, and was startled by my leap, (which made him jump) but then he looked at my face, and jumped out of his skin again. I SCARED HIM TWICE!!!!!! He just gave me a look, when he got his breath back, and walked away. Such a grand time. Please, if you have any scary halloween masks, try this one. It's probably my best yet. I live to scare all my boys. I'm doing it all the time. Poor Quinn would hate me if he didn't love me so much. Anyway, I want some feed back on how this works for ya. Crap, I wish you could have seen how scared Ad was. Priceless!!

ICE HOCKEY

Here is some pics of Isiac's and Hen's 1st Hockey class!

It started out great, both smiling and excited, but quickly turned ugly!

Isiac worked hard all his class, but was in a real mood when he came off the ice.

Henry on the other hand, flipped out and ended up crying face down on the floor.

I am really looking forward to next week's lesson!!!

My New Thing- Kicking!

Sounds violent I know, but hear me out! I have been occasionally doing some kicks now again for about a month. Just for fun, or sometimes when I want to really Wow someone, I throw a kick. Depending on how I'm feeling or what the mood calls for, it can be a high one clear to my head, or a fast side kicker to catch ya off guard. Never do I connect with anyone or thing. Safety first! But, can I say, Love it. The reactions are priceless. You get shocked, amazed, and at times scared looks. When you get a round of applause, that's when you know you are doing something right! Try this at home, or in the market with friends. Sure to bring some laughter to the mix. And just think, the benefits of kicking are tons! Let's kick our way to thinner thighs!! Let me know how this goes. Love hearing the feedback.