It's my Birthday! Cake for you! Guest post

Hey all! Since today is my birthday I got you all a little something! Marina from Energizer Bunnies Mommy Reports Is here today to share a yummy recipe! Marina is an awesome member of BloggerPR with me and I'm so looking forward to trying this cake!

I've tried several carrot cakes but this has to be my favorite and Hubs favorite too. I halved the recipe as I didn't know how yummy the final outcome would be. The next time round I'm going to make sure I stick to the original quantities. We don't have any cake left even though it was only baked 2 nights ago!   Oh yes, those pecans definitely add richness to every moist, delicious bite! .

Delicious Carrot Pecan Cake

#ratingval# from #reviews# reviews

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Recipe Type: Dessert

Author: Tammy Elliott-All Recipes

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour 30 mins

Serves: 18

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 2 cups white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Google Recipe View Microformatting by Easy Recipe

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Summer blog Challenge day 23-25

Summer blog challenge

Sorry I got behind again! So here are days 23-25

Day 23 favorite blog post you've written before this challenge. Probably my pretty in Pink Lace Dress tutorial. I love that dress and it was my first tutorial to be featured on Craft Gossip. 

Day 24 Favorite eco-friendl thing you do. We try to be pretty eco friendly. we have a brita filter and take reusable bottles with us, we recycle anything we can. I like to re use loathing items to turn them into something else, usually clothes for Tabitha, but I've also repurposed some of my own clothes for my self since i've lost weight. I turned a way too big top into a maternity shirt and turned my favorite jeans that got a hole in the thigh into a jean skirt. But the thing I do most often that is eco friendly is cloth diapering. I'm amazed at how much garbage we produced by using disposables on Tabitha and besides saving money, cloth diapers don't sit in landfills for 100's of years. And besides who can resist those cute fluffy butts! =)

Day 25 Ideal day of Me time

Ha whats that? Even on Saturday which is supposed to me my "me day" where I can get my sewing and blog stuff done that didn't get done during the week, i still have to have Eva with me (Morgen does take Tabitha, but she usually stands at the bottom of the stairs yelling at me most of the day until I give up and come down), and I usually end up getting half my list done if that because Eva is going through a very needy stage and I think about to cut a tooth. 

But if I could have a whole day to myself with out having to do cleaning or taking care of kids, I would turn on some silly trashy tv show like damsons creek or one tree hill (darn netflix doesn't have the last season and I want to finish it!) Or something cheesy and creepy like the original Dark Shadows (I watched that while nursing today and I'm hooked although netflix only has a small fraction of the series, they start when barnabis collins returns and then only have 160 of the 2000 something episodes.) I would watch my shows, and sew all day. Stoping to eat dryers all fruit bars, drink newmans own lemonaid. and snack on mike and ikes. 

Technical issues!

I'm having Technical issues with my linky tools subscription right now. I'm too tired to deal with it tonight, so I will try to get to it this week. Thank you to everyone who joined the hop this week, it won't let me see your submissions but I hope when I get it fixed I can see them. I'm skipping the getting crafty weekend hop this week because of these issues and because I just have way too much going on this week. I finally got my sewing Machine up and running again so I will be finally getting some over due prizes finished and sent out as well as some stuff for the girls, presents for my niece and nephew and some items for my etsy store. I'm going to focus on getting sewing done this week, so while I will hopefully have my daily blog challenge posts up on time, I probably won't have much else up this week. Friday is my birthday and then next monday starts the Summer Fun With Kids Series. So Make sure you are signed up to receive updates! You don't want to miss all the great things that my guests have in store for you!

Natural House Glassy Review

Do you hate doing windows? I do, Mostly because it takes FOREVER to get the darn streaks off the windows and mirrors. I also hate the smell of all those household cleaners. But I was recently introduced to Natural house Glassy.

Natural House is all natural, no harmful ingrediants. In fact Tabitha was looking at it while she and Morgen were down in the kitchen and she asked if it was bubbles, Morgen told her no and to put it away, she accidentally sprayed herself in the eye and it didn't hurt her at all. We rinsed her eye out and  she's a-ok! 

Natural House Glassy uses probiotics to help clean. the probiotics consume dirt, grime and germs, and they continue to work until the next time you clean. 

I used Natural House Glassy on my car windows this week, because they just were not coming clean no matter what. The Glassy was amazing! Not only are my windows amazingly clean but I have no streaks on them either. 

Morgen wanted to see if it would work on our glass top stove. Being a typical guy he didn't read the instructions and just sprayed and wiped. I explained he had to let it sit for 5-10 seconds to let it sink in and start working. Since our stove was kind of gross (I had just cooked bacon) it took 2 passes but it looks great now. 

This was before I used the Glassy on the back window of my car.

This was the after, as you can see its a lot cleaner. There is one spot that didn't come out the first time around. But it came out the second time through. 

I really like this product. I will definitely be buying more of this in the future. If there other products work this well I will be using all of their products. 

Check out their whole line of all natural house hold cleaning products. Natural House Glassy Contains no VOC’s or other harmful chemicals Keeps dangerous pathogens off any surface. Glassy is all natural, non-toxic and biodegradable. 

I give Glassy a 4 out of 5 stars for how well it cleans, 5 out of 5 for being safe for use around kids,  and 5 out of 5 stars for being good for the environment. Over all score of 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. I would definitely tell everyone I know to buy Glassy and other Natural House products. 

I was given a free bottle of Glassy for the purpose of this review. I was not monetarily compensated and all views are my own. I would never recommend a product that I wouldn't use myself. 

Ultimate Fluff Stash Giveaway!

Welcome to The Ultimate Fluff Stash Giveaway hosted by Daily Mothering and sponsored by Kebbie's Diaper Bag! We are giving away a huge cloth diaper prize pack valued at over $600 to one lucky winner! How exciting is that?

You could win all of the following:

30 Bubbz 3.0 Quadcore Anti-Leak Pocket Diapers Bubbz Ultimate Wet/Dry Bag Bubbz Super Cinch Pail Liner

For a total retail value of $634.40!

Winner chooses colors and prints!

Haven't heard of Bubbz 3.0 Cloth Diapers? These new one-size cloth diapers from Kebbie's Diaper Bag feature a waterproof TPU outer, super soft microfleece inner, color coded waist snaps, four rows of rise snaps, dual pockets, extra gentle leg gussets, and a Quadcore Anti-Leak Protection System complete with twin gussets, a back pocket gusset, and a front waterproof flap. Each diaper comes with 2 Deluxe Organic Bamboo Cotton Inserts for superior absorption. The inserts snap onto the diaper, and they can either be stuffed inside the dual pocket opening for a stay-dry feel or laid on top of the diaper against your baby's skin for a soft natural fiber layer. Read the Bubbz 3.0 diaper review at Daily Mothering for more details and pictures! Bubbz has so many cute prints and colors, one lucky winner will get a ton of amazing diapers!

For those who want to buy some of these awesome diapers there is a 5% off your entire purchace coupon for Crafting in My Closet Readers enter ultimatefluff in the coupon code box. 

Want to win?

Use the Rafflecopter below to enter the giveaway. This giveaway ends on June 30th at 11:59pm and is open to contestants in the US only, ages 18+. The more entries you submit, the better chances you have of winning! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summer blog Challenge Days 20-22

 I've gotten a few days behind on my summer blog challenge posts so I'm just gonna cram them all together. Its been pretty hectic around here lately, but I'm hopeful that I can get back to blogging and sewing soon.
Day 20 was to post a picture of me when I was younger.

I'm second from the left on the bottom row. This was from when I used to dance, I think I was 14 or 15 here.
And thanks to my childhood friend Gina for posting these on FB so I have the next two pictures of us playing dress up

Day 21: Most recent words of wisdom that stuck with me. Probably that being a mom isn't easy, but its the most rewarding job in the world. I've been having a rough time with Tabitha lately. She is really jealous of Evangeline and has been acting out because of it. But in the midst of her fits and peeing on my floor, there are still those wonderful times when she hugs me and tells me she loves me, and the times when she wants to hug and kiss Eva, or help me with whatever I'm doing. I know the hard times will eventually fade, and I will remember the laughs, the kisses, the jokes, the hugs, how much she loves her sister and what a good person she is. She has an amazingly big heart. She is so sweet and so loving, the other stuff she'll grow out of, but I know she will always be an amazing, sweet, funny girl who I will always be proud of. 

 

 

Day 22:  When I was little there were a ton of things I wanted to be: a teacher, a pediatric cardiologist, a ballet dancer, a writer, a photographer, a baker, but the most important was to be a mom. I always wanted to be a stay at home mom. I got my degree in History (which makes me qualified to say "would you like fries with that" and live in a cardboard box) because I love history. since I was already married while I was in college and I knew that we planned for me to stay home with the kids one we had them, I thought it was important for me to get a degree in something I loved. I still plan to go back to school and get a masters some day, but for now, I'm loving being home with my girls. I'm their first teacher, their boo boo kisser, their dance teacher, their story teller, their photographer, and their baker, all those dreams I had did come true, just in a different way than you would expect. I have everything I ever wanted in life, and I'm so very lucky. 

 

 

Summer blog challenge Day 19

Something you're proud of from the last few days.


Last friday when I went ot pick Tabitha up from preschool I had just got her in the car when she said she had to go potty. So I got both girls out and we ran to her classroom to use the potty. So the first thing I'm proud of is that Tabitha can finally tell us she has to go potty and hold it log enough to get there. That is a big accomplishment and something we have been working on for a long time. But the even bigger thing was while I was helping her in the bathroom her teacher heard her say "thank you" and told me she was so impressed by how polite Tabitha is. She said Tabitha always says please and Thank you and that Tabitha is over all a very nice and polite kid. That made me so happy. I've been instilling manners and being polite since before she could talk. Please and Thank you were two of the first signs I taught her and as soon as she could say mama I started teaching her to say please and thank you along with the sign language. While she may be a terror at home some times, its good to know that she uses the manners I have taught her when she is away from me. 

Summer Blog Challenge day 18

A Recipe you love:
This is my mom's recipe for stuffed chicken breasts.

(recipe makes 9 servings)

heat oven to 350

9 boneless skinless chicken breasts
bag of crushed tortilla chips
3 tablespoons of butter melted
1 teaspoon of cumin
3 1/2 cups of shreaded mexican cheese
1/2 a large onion chopped small
1 can of chopped chili peppers
1 small can of chopped olives

Lay each piece of chicken between two layers of parchment paper and pound flat with a mallet.

Mix cheese, onion, chili peppers, olives in a bowl

place a heaping spoonful of mixture in the middle of each flat chicken breast. Close with toothpicks

mix butter and cumin

roll chicken in butter mixture then in crushed chips.

Place in Pyrex and cook for 45 minutes or until chicken is white all the way through.

Tastes really good with black beans and spanish rice.

Linky

Summer Blog Challenge Day 17

Three things you are proud of about your personality.

1. I'm inquisitive. When I see something I like I try to figure out how its made so I can do it too.
2. I care about others. I always try to help others, If someone needs dinner or clothes or to borrow some baby item, I am almost always willing to help as soon as I find out the need.
3. (Had to ask my husband for another) He said I'm fairly patient, I said "Really", he said "you haven't killed Tabitha yet!" To which I laughed, he then said I have a good sense of humor.


Here's the code for the button! =)

Linky

Summer blog Challenge Day 16

Fitness guru or couch potato....

Um well... While I always have the best intentions to work out, I usually fall flat. After running around after the girls all day, the thought of exercising after running after Tabitha all day, I don't really have the most energy in the world.  But at the same time I wouldn't consider myself a couch potato. Here's the code for the button! =)

Getting Crafty Weekend Wrap up Linky Party #3

Hey Everyone and Welcome to the Getting Crafty Weekend Wrap up Linky Party #3 at Crafting in My Closet! We had some great items linked up last week and I hope we have even more this week! Its always so fun to see the awesome projects that get linked up!

So lets start out with a few of my favorites from last week. We had some great projects linked up and I wish I could feature them all.

Red Headed Mommy linked up this AWESOME steampunk bridesmaids dress, How Amazing is this!? Seriously Love this. 

What's Cooking Love? Linked up this yummy looking strawberry mango layered smoothie! 

Craftionary linked up this super cute Pinwheels Wall Art. Love the colors. 

And Finally Chase the Star linked up this awesome mason jar to soap dispenser tutorial. 

For those of you who were featured this week, feel free to grab a button letting everyone know you were featured!

                                                                     <center><a href="http://TAPeschkecrafts.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Crafting In My Closet" src="http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac76/TAPeschke/featured.jpg" border="0" /></a></center>
On to this weeks Party! So for the Rules: (Every party needs rules, otherwise they end with the cops at your door. Maybe that was just the parties from college, oh well) 1. The project, tutorial, whatever you link up must be made by you. 2. Please grab my button and put it in your post or side bar so others can join the fun. Because what fun is a party with no one there?

                                                                      <center><a href="http://TAPeschkecrafts.blogspot.com/"><img alt="Crafting In My Closet" src="http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac76/TAPeschke/Crafting%20in%20my%20closet/weekendlinkup.jpg" border="0" /></a></center>

Summer blog challenge day 15

post a picture that you took that you are proud of.

I have 2. One of each of the girls.

I love both of these pictures, and actually both of them I got a phone call from Walgreens when I sent them to be printed telling me they thought I was printing professional pictures. 

Summer Blog Challenge day 14

Give your blog readers 15 tips to get through life.

1. Learn to sew, Even if you don't think you are any good at it, its a really good skill to have.
2. Spend less than you make. We try really hard to do this. Right now its tough because we live on less than $400 a month (rent is paid for by Morgen's financial aid so thats not included), so most months we just scrape by. But its something we strive to do.
3. Recycle. Not just paper and cans, but everything you can. Our planet has been good to us, be good to it by recycling as much as you can.
4. Get to know your neighbors. I never did before moving to Idaho. But Tabitha's best friends are the kids in the complex and I've made some really good friends here too. My neighbors are awesome and I don't know what I would have done without them. They took Tabitha while I went to dr's appointments  when I was pregnant. They watched her so Morgen and I could go on a date. I've watched their kids so they could run errands or go on a date. Neighbors are awesome.
5. Take pictures of everything. We are lucky to live in such a great time that we can easily snap pictures of everything. Someday you will be able to show your grandchildren all the great times you have had because you will have the pictures.
6. Always back up your computer. In this day and age we live on our computers. You would hate to lose everything because you didn't back it up.
7. Try to exercise as much as you can. You'll feel so much better.
8. Be the first to say your sorry. It doesn't matter who was wrong.
9. Send Thank you cards. It really does make a difference.
10. Take time to play with your kids. They won't remember our dirty floor, or the time you left dishes in the sink, they will remember the time you had a tea party with them or played cowboys and indians.
11. If you have more than one kid, make time to do something with them individually as often as you can. They will appreciate that one on one time and so will you.
12. Always ask how your kids day was. Be there for the small stuff so they know you will be there for the big stuff.
13. Unplug once in a while. Take a day, a weekend, or even a week and ignore the email, facebook, twitter or whatever.
14. Take some me time. As a wife and a mom, its important for me to have some time by myself, doing what I like. My family is much better off when I get my alone time on saturday mornings.
15. Eat dinner as a family. We make it a priority to eat dinner together every night. As our kids get older we will continue to do this. No phones, no computers, no tvs. Just family, talking, eating, being together.

Summer blog challenge day 13

How do you see your self at the end of the year.

Well hopefully 30 lbs lighter for one. Thats my big goal, but I can't diet because i'm breast feeding. I try to get some exercise but between the girls and my back problems its a little hard. I've been stuck at 205 for about 2 months now. If I could just get under 200 I would be really happy, but my goal is 170.

at the end of 2012 I will be packing. In April 2013 we will be moving. To where? I have no clue yet. Morgen will be doing an internship from April to July then he will officially be done with school and we will go wherever he gets a job (hopefully not back to CA, sorry to my friends there, but after living out of CA I know we can't afford to move back there).

One thing I've been working on is anger. I've had a problem with it for a long time and I'm trying hard to control it. So I hope at the end of this year I will have a handle on my anger and I won't fly off the handle but will be able to handle things gracefully.

Linky

June Baby Babu Diaper Giveaway ends 6/20

Hey guys! The AWESOME people over at Baby Babu are giving you another shot at winning a baby babu diaper! They were so awesome to work with for the Mothers Day Cloth Diaper giveaway hop, and when they sent the diaper for me to review they also sent me a letter telling me I get to give you all 12 more cances to win a Baby Babu Diaper! Thats right one year of monthly Baby Babu diaper giveaways! How cool is that? If you missed my review in May of this AMAZING diaper check out the sponsor spotlight here.
Now for the fun part! GIVEAWAY TIME!
Open to the US 18 or older. If you leave a comment anonymously you must put your email and name in the comment or it won't count.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Summer blog Challenge day 12

Worst injury you've had & how it happened.


Well, Those of you who know me IRL know my worst injury, although I've had a lot of bad injuries, by far the worst was when I was 7 months pregnant with Tabitha. I was driving home from K-mart, it was raining and Morgen was in our friend Josh's truck. We had just made our last layaway payment on Morgen's TV that I had bought him for Christmas. I was 7 1/2 months pregnant and there was construction on 101. The car in front of me stopped suddenly but I was able to stop without hitting him. I got like 5 inches from his bumper but I didn't hit him. Then The car behind me slammed into me. Then the car behind him slammed into him. The second car actually hit and runned, the driver backed up and drove on the shoulder and got off at the exit and took off. My car wouldn't even turn back on at first. When the two cars hit me my car was thrown into the car in front of me and my little civic was crunched. The passengers side airbag went off but not the drivers side one. IT was a known defect that they didn't contact me about. But The Dr at the ER said it was actually a good thing it didn't go off. He said the force of the airbag going off could have caused me to lose Tabitha. I seemed fine at first just really sore. They did an ultrasound and Tabitha was perfect. My dr decided not to have me do physical therapy but take me off work until I went on maternity leave. After I had Tabitha I started having horrible back spasms, I had had them while pregnant but thought they were Braxton hicks contractions. The back spasms have only gotten worse over the years. My insurance has not let me do physical therapy for the accident. I've been told I would probably always have the back pain. It was a very scary accident. I was so scared I wouldn't drive on the freeway for 2 months. I still have a hard time driving on the freeway in the rain. I kind of wish I had a picture of my smashed car but I don't. Oh well.

Summer blog Challenge day 11

Best day of your life.
Its hard for me to choose just one day, so I won't. Instead I will choose 3.

This is from our wedding day. November 15th 2003. We were married in the Oakland LDS Temple.

April 6, 2009. Tabitha's birthday. Her birth was not good, but that didn't matter. She was all we had wanted for so long that even though her birth wasn't the best experience, just having her with us finally was the best feeling in the world. A part of me was missing until I had her. 

                                    

 January 26, 2012. Evangeline's birth. Her birth was calm, and I got to hold her fairly soon after. I recovered much faster with Eva than Tabitha and her birth while not what I had pictured at first was perfect, we were both healthy and happy. I wouldn't change it for the world. Eva was a piece of me I didn't know was missing and my life wouldn't be complete without her.