Carrot Cake Recipe

Alright, Emily... this is for Jason!

Scott's mom makes the BEST carrot cake. It's a birthday tradition and he looks forward to it all year long.

Carrot Cake

2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
3-4 cups finely shredded carrots (just put baby carrots into a food processor.... super easy!)
1 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs

Cream Cheese frosting
8 oz. pkg cream cheese - soft
1 stick butter - soft
2 t. vanilla
1 box powdered sugar

Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan. In large mixer bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients. Add the next 3, beating with an electric mixer until combined (~2 min on medium speed). Turn into pan and bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes or till done. Frosting-beat butter and cream cheese (soften them first). Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Spread on cake once it has cooled.

In love.... with a new tool.

I've been making a lot of apples for Addie lately and peeling them has become quite a chore.... I hate it and sulk the whole time I'm peeling. We have talked about getting an apple corer/peeler for awhile and finally, we spent a whopping $16 on one today. It is super cool and I think Scott actually thinks it's a tool for him. He proudly cored and peeled all the apples... and WANTED to do so! I'm definitely in love with this new, super cool tool.

Cowgirl

We had Scott's 30th party/Game Night tonight with friends from our current and old community groups from church....it was full of fun! We played Taboo and the Wii, ate lots of great food, and the police even came! (Poor Lori, whose car was hit by a neighbor!) I forgot to take pics until Ferris put Addison in Tyler's boots at the end of the night...

Now, how do I get out of these??

On another note, I had a great meeting at Jazzercise Friday night that I have to share... A few of us stayed after the meeting was over and we all talked about finances, which is a topic of conversation everywhere these days. Anyway, 2 hours later, I left with a friend's debit card (long story) and a renewed spirit to be the Proverbs 31 woman I strive to be. Although we don't live near our family, I'm so thankful Scott and I have found an amazing church family and for me, a family at Jazzercise. I love the fact that we all stayed and talked for hours about Dave Ramsey's principles, about being disciplined, good stewards, great moms and amazing wives. Trust me, you DON'T find that everywhere, and I feel blessed to work with awesome people who love God and who really care about each other. And, what am I taking away from those two hours?? God has been gently tapping on my shoulder for awhile to be a better steward at the grocery store and now I have a plan. My goal? $100 in groceries. That's it. Per week. I spent $85 today, so I have $15 dollars to last me the rest of the week in case I need something. I'll let you know how it goes:)

Spring has arrived!

It has been gorgeous in Tulsa the past few days, which means I just HAD to get out to our local nurseries! Addie and I spent the day planting and pulling weeds. She has overcome her fear of grass and proudly walked all over the yard without shoes tonight. Big accomplishment for her!! Unfortunately, with all of my "outside" time, my allergies are now out to get me. Neti pot in hand, breathe rights on my nose, and lots of meds..... I will win this battle!


Here are a few pics from yesterday.

She loves getting into her swing.

Again, picking my flowers off!

I think this one above is too cute!

I know the next one is a little blurry, but she started showing Daddy her belly... :)

We were playing with the Frisbee with Buster. Addie was very proud of herself for finding it before Buster. I think he was too tired to run at that point!

Once again, she was very proud of herself.

From my garden...


Love those purple phlox. Just wish they would bloom more than just once.

Happy Birthday, Hubby!!

Scott is turning the big 30 today! His favorite birthday tradition is to have chicken parmesan and his mom's homemade carrot cake. In fact, he's probably thinking about dinner every 10 minutes at work... seriously! We are going to take the whole week to celebrate, too. Thursday we're going on a date to McGills and then Saturday we'll have a Game Night at the house that will involve Dance Dance Revolution. Just hearing the title should tell you how much Scott *loves* the game.

We decided to take Addie on a fun date this weekend to a local breakfast diner and then we went to my favorite nursery in Jenks. As you can see from the pics, she enjoyed the food:)

Did she really think we wouldn't notice a few bites missing??

This totally captures Addie's personality. She talks the whole time she's eating and usually stuffs her mouth completely full. She had just put her entire hand in her mouth and wanted to show me nothing was left.

Since Easter was cold and rainy, we didn't quite get a good Easter pic. So, here's a pic from a month ago when we first tried it on. Yes, we added tights and a sweater! Poppa calls it her Quaker dress. I think she's precious.

Haircut and trip to the Park

Well, Addie is 13 months old today and I decided to give Addie a little trim in the haircut area. Not easy when you are dealing with a one year-old, so thankfully her hair is a little curly/wavy! Unfortunately, it seems like it's getting straighter as she gets older:( Here are the before and after pics. And, we graduated to bigger bows. I never really liked big bows, but now I find them completely fantastic!

Before... (her new very large bow!!)After...

At the park...



Buster and the best dog walker EVER, Jasmine. (She walked him all over the playground for at least an hour!)


Julia and I also hosted a baby shower for our dear friend, Michelle, at a cute tea room in midtown Tulsa. Doesn't she look great??

Fun with Family!

My brother and his wife (Tim and Kasey) came for a quick visit Monday night and Tuesday on their way out to Colorado for missions training. They had never been to Tulsa before, so it was nice having them out here! Addison had a blast, to say the least. They had never seen her with so much energy.... but they usually see her around her three older cousins! She sure gave them a show and totally knew it, too! We can't wait to see them on the way back to North Carolina in August! Here are a few pics...

Uncle Tim and Aunt Kasey

Uncle Tim built LOTS of towers... I'm not sure if he was building them for Addie or himself! Although her hand is in front of her face, you can still tell that she is having a blast.

20 minutes of building, 2 seconds to destroy:)

Kasey has never seen her in pigtails, so at 7:45pm I let Addie rummage through her bow box so that she would sit still for a couple of minutes. It's the only thing that seems to work! Too bad they had to come out a few minutes later for bed:) Kasey can see why I don't have her in pigtails all the time. Way too time consuming, especially when you're dealing with a wiggle worm:)