Mini Carrot Cakes

I'm back! Having a baby is an amazing experience, but it took me a while to feel normal and capable again. Baby Thomas is almost 3 months old now and he seems so big already. I love him so much!

Born February 27, 2013 at 8:08 pm

Our family of 3! James, Cami, and Thomas

Okay now to get to the point... a Dish & Serve post! Courtney from baxtronlife.com is behind this wonderful experience. Check out her blog, she is very down to earth and blogs about a variety of things. Courtney, thank you for finding a way to do a Dish & Serve and for taking so many great photos, too! Courtney's words:

Our little family loves to spend time cooking and baking together in the kitchen. When DeAnn from the S.I.P. Project asked me to share a recipe for her Dish & Serve series on her blog, I was delighted. Now, since we've been away on an extended business trip in Alaska, it wasn't a matter of finding a great recipe to share, it was figuring out who to give the treats to once they were made. Luckily we've become friends with two other business travelers who work for my husband's company. Since one of them isn't big on sweets, we decided to find out what kind of things the other one would like --- carrot cake was her choice, and Zion loves cooking cupcakes, so it was easy to decide on making mini carrot cakes!

After we got our cupcakes cooking in the oven, it was time to make a delicious cream cheese frosting. Now, anyone who makes frosting from scratch will tell you that it is no easy task to do by hand. Since we don't have a hand mixer up here where we are staying, I used the next best thing --- my strong husband! After much elbow grease and a slight variation on the ingredients to make it easier, we finished our delicious frosting.

We taste tested a few of the cupcakes to make sure we weren't going to be sending over any disasters to our friend, and then packed up several to bring to her. We knew she'd love them and couldn't wait to see her reaction!

She was thrilled to receive some home made goodies, especially since she has been away from home much longer than we have been! I loved seeing Zion proudly hand over the cupcakes she had made.

I loved the pictures, but loved Courtney's adorable little girl helping her daddy make the cupcakes even more. That is just too sweet. Courtney, great job capturing the surprise on the face of the cupcake recipient! I am wishing I had a carrot cupcake now! Please email me if you have a Dish & Serve experience you would like to share, I would love to post it! Cami at dish.n.serve@gmail.com

Mini Carrot Cakes (Variation of recipe from paleomg.com)

Prep- 10 min, Cook- 20 min, Serves- 10-12

Ingredients
For the carrot cupcakes

3 large carrots, shredded (about 1.5 cups worth)
1 cup almond flour/meal
2 eggs, whisked
¼ cup Virgin Coconut Oil, melted
1 tablespoon raw honey
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ginger
¼ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
¼ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
¼ cup raisins (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Put your shredded carrots in a bowl, mix in almond flour, follow with remaining dry ingredients except for raisins and walnuts.

Whisk your eggs in a small bowl, add honey and vanilla and stir until mixed.

Add egg mixture to other ingredients and mix together.

Fold in raisins & walnuts if using.

Place cupcake ingredients into a muffin tin lined with paper liners . Should fill 10-12 muffins depending on size.

Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Easy Mixer-free Cream Cheese Frosting (Recipe from spinachtiger.com)

12 ounces whipped cream cheese (1 1/2 containers)

5 tablespoons pastured butter, softened

5 1/2 - 6 cups confectioner’s sugar

3 tablespoons of heavy cream 

2 teaspoons real vanilla extract

Cream butter and cream cheese together.

Add in confectioners’ sugar, one cup at a time until about 5 cups have been added.

Add in heavy cream and vanilla.

Add an additional 1/2 to 1 cup of confectioners' sugar

Beat until fluffy.

Iheartfaces Photo Challenge "play"

Play

What little hands can resist the strong magnetic pull of playing with the window controls or any buttons, knobs, or lights in a vehicle when they aren't strapped in and allowed free range?!

 He sure can't!

                                                       iheartfaces photo challenge "play."

Ideas on a Silver Platter

I know, it's been over a week since the last SmileFest post (go here and here if you missed the last posts), but I have been working on something of my own and it kept me from the computer. I was also out of town hanging out with my mom after she had surgery. Okay so Krista is dishing these ideas on a silver platter, not sure how to help in the community?! Well here ya go...

SmileFest is fully supported by donations that are generated through
bake sales, fundraising events such as cleaning the Pit and football stadium, silent auctions and donations from individuals throughout the community.

There are numerous opportunities for individuals, companies and/or organizations to get involved with SmileFest and help support kids in New Mexico born with a cleft and their families.

Here are 4 ways YOU can help...

Family at SmileFest

•  Bake for upcoming bake sales 
• Make/donate something for a upcoming silent auction please visit our website www.smilefestnm.com and check out our calendar for upcoming events. 
•  If you are unsure of what to do but are moved to help and need some guidance please feel free to email me at smilefest2011@gmail.com. 
• If you are able to make a donation to SmileFest please send a check payable to : New Mexico Medical Foundation (please memo check - cleft palate fund - SmileFest) and send to : New Mexico Medical Foundation C/O NMMS Cleft Palate Education Fund ATTN: Sally Blackstad316 Osuna NE, Suite 501Albuquerque, NM 87107

Krista's son Cody

As you can see six years and five cleft surgeries later my families journey is one 

marked by much love, unexpected joy, unforeseen obstacles and victory in everyday 

challenges. I can only hope that my son Cody’s smile and our families journey has 

inspired you with not only the desire to support SmileFest but to also live each day to it’s 

fullest and to plant seeds of love, joy, hope and smiles wherever your road travels!

SmileFest at Balloon Fiesta Park 2012

Thank you for this opportunity to share my story. 

Chatting with one of the Doctors at SmileFest after he got out of the dunk tank :)

Please do something! Plan right now the way that you will help SmileFest. Follow up reading this post with some kind of action, whether that's writing on a sticky note to have a family meeting to plan how your family will help or setting up a reminder in your phone, SOMETHING! Don't just assume that the other people who read this will be doing something, if we all assume that then nothing will happen.

Magic Show

Summer is upon us and what a great way to spend time with your kids, baking, learning how to make something that can be donated and sold at auction. Starting a coin jar just for SmileFest. Teaching them to work by helping clean the PIT etc. Or next time your paying bills send a little money to SmileFest.

Be inspired, but don't let that feeling fade follow it up with action! 

All our love, 

DeAnn & Krista

Out of Trial Came A Determination to Help Others

She didn't feel sorry for herself, she saw the need and had a desire to help those perfectly imperfect children and families. She acted on her desire and this is the continued story of how Smile Fest was born...
"As a result of my journey as a mom of a child born with a cleft. I saw a need in New
Mexico for an organization whose primary purpose was to provide these children and
their families with the support and companionship needed to help them cope with
feeding difficulties, surgeries, and self esteem issues and to help them build lifelong
friendships with other children who have faced similar challenges. It is important to me
that each of these children and their families know that they are special and that their
smile has a story to tell.

Smile Fest group shot

Out of this vision an organization called SmileFest was created.

 I can honestly say that the Lord placed this on my heart. Many times I pushed it away, thinking this was way to big for me or more than I wanted to do. But the Lord is funny sometimes and needless to say very persistent when something is meant to be. Finally one day (out of the blue) I said to myself, why not? After much prayer and family discussions I decided that I would organized a event that one day out of the year the New Mexico kids affected by a cleft and their families could come together and have a 

day of pure fun - no medical purpose involved what so ever.

Loved all the candid shots I was able to get like this one. 

It would be an opportunity for the kids to see other children affected by a cleft and for the families to discuss theirs experiences. I would describe myself as one of those people who goes “all in”. So once
I made up my mind I was determined for this “event” or should I say “calling” to be a
success. I started out by merging in with the New Mexico Medical Foundation Cleft
Palate Fund because they were already non-profit and had all the tax information
completed.

Then I wrote a letter about SmileFest and my vision, sent it out to everyone I
knew and asked for donations of any kind. I just short of begged every body I knew. I
did a lot of research into fundraising and got our first big fundraising opportunity set up
for just one month later. Cleaning the football stadium was not my family and friends top
category of fun ways to help out but nevertheless through their amazing love and
support I had about 40 family members and friends there that first night to bare the cold
and help clean. After all, it was going to a great cause and was for a very persistent
person (thats me). I then arranged for bake sales, silent auctions and again just short of
begging for individual donations. The biggest blessing came one day when I received a
phone call from a friend who knew of a amazing woman who was interested in making a
large donation in memory of her late husband who was a dentist. I’d like to extend a
special thanks to Mrs. Irene Navarre for her amazingly generous donation in memory of
her husband Dr. Harry Navarre and in honor of Dr. John Pederson. It is because of her
selfless gift that year that helped jumpstart SmileFest and make the 1st annual event a
grand success.
The 1st annual SmileFest took place on August 20th 2011 at the Albuquerque BioPark
Aquarium and Main Plaza. This free event allowed cleft kids and families to enjoy
dinner, entertainment and the aquarium all to ourselves. It’s funny how persistence,
determination, word of mouth and most of all faith works. I believe that this 1st Annual
SmileFest opened the eyes to many of our cleft families who were affected the way my

Krista's son watching a magic show at Smile Fest

family was and also to those looking in. I continued to schedule dates to clean the
football stadium and pit and bake sales to raise money to support annual events for
“Every Smile Has A Story To Tell” By: Krista Sullivan these kids and their families. I was even asked to speak at Albuquerque Day 2012 for a dental hygienist convention (this showed me that God has a sense of humor). During the winter of 2012 I looked back on my experience of having Cody, his surgeries and hospital stays and decided that Smile Fest needed to do more. I thought how great it 
would be if families didn't have to worry about a meal for that first night in the hospital 
post surgery. I called every pizza joint in the Albuquerque area and told my story and my
desire for these other families who are struggling the way I knew my family did. I
thought how simple a pizza meal would be but what a huge impact it would have.
Thankfully Pizza 9 not only saw my drive and passion but also shared in it. So in
February of 2012 Smile Fest and pizza 9 teamed up and now provide a meal for cleft
families for their first night in the hospital, post surgeries. These families can now focus
on the demands and needs of their child who have a whole new way of eating and are
in pain and not have to worry about leaving their side.

 I just loved all the face painting! My SIL Keri (on the right & below) came and donated her time and talents to helping out. There were lot's of volunteers manning the other stations too.

                Krista got dunked by at least 5 people on purpose! Her son Cody and Sister dunking her hehe!

                                                                               

 The 2nd Annual Smile Fest “Smiles Under The Big Top” was a circus theme and
successfully took place on Saturday August 18th 2012 at the Balloon Fiesta Park. The
fields were full of fun activities and food including jumpers, a rock wall, the opportunity
to dunk their surgeon in the dunk tank, magician, games, cotton candy, snow cones and
the list goes on and on. The 3rd Annual Smile Fest “Smiles With Family Fun” is already
in the works and is scheduled for Saturday July 27th at Hinkle Family Fun Center.
I can honestly say that if you believe in yourself, seek guidance from the Lord and try
your best, success in whatever has been place on your heart is just a door waiting to be
opened."

I hope you have enjoyed this posts and been inspired to either support good causes like this or start one of your own.

Wind - iheartfaces photo challenge

WIND in her hair...

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; 

the realist adjusts the sails." - William Arthur Ward

This is my entry for the iheartfaces photo challenge - Wind.

New Definition of Perfection.

A friend of a friend, that's how I met Krista. She is the big hearted mama behind ----- ----. I am so glad I got to take pictures for her event as a service to her and our community. If you want to know what I am talking about you will have to wonder until Wednesday's post where you will find out what she was moved to do for kids with Cleft lips and/or palates. Go ahead, throw something at me if it makes you feel better, but I'm still gonna leave you wondering :)
"Hi my name is Krista Sullivan. I am a pediatric nurse of 14 years, a wife of 10 years
and most honorably a mom of two healthy kids, a 6 years old son and a 5 year old
daughter. My son Cody was born with a cleft lip and palate and I would like to share our
journey in having a child born with an abnormality. Well that's at least the term used
when Cody’s cleft was detected at our 20 week ultrasound. I will never forget that day, it
started as a day full of excitement and joy, a boy or a girl that's really all I was thinking
about. Then came the bombshell, the ultrasound tech turned to my husband and I and
informed us that our child had a cleft lip and probably cleft palate. Tears immediately
formed and streamed down my face as the nurse in me not only visualized the faces of
every severe cleft child I had cared for in the past but also the syndromes that are often
associated with cleft lips and/or palates. My husband on the other hand took the news

very well and was overjoyed to know that his first child was a boy who had a healthy heart and vital organs and that as he grew older he had the ability to grow a mustache.

My expectations were to have perfection and at that moment I felt that I was being  handed less than perfect. It is now hard to hear myself say that or even to know that I had those thoughts. All I can say is that unless you have been told something less than what you expected you go through a mourning process and that is all I can explain it as. Through talking with other mom’s faced with the unexpected news of their precious infant having a cleft, they to experienced those similar feelings. Feelings like doubt, anger, frustration, fear and even devastation. I now look back and feel like I was able to mourn, grow and move forward in those early stages of grief after finding out that Cody
was going to be born with a cleft. It is through that experience during my pregnancy that completely transformed my perspective on the meaning of true perfection. I know now that my eyes were opened to a new found ideal of true perfection when I held Cody for the first time cleft and all. All those feelings of uncertainty disappeared and now I was able to focus on being a mom and providing Cody with the care he needed to grow and start the journey ahead of us that consisted of coping, adapting, delicate feedings,
preparing for surgeries and Dr. visits to follow his hearing, speech and dental concerns.
Cody had his first surgery at 5 months old which consisted of repairing his lip. A short 7
days later he went back into the operating room to have his sutures removed. He had
his third procedure at 10 months old which consisted of repairing his palate and placing
ear tubes which is a common need for cleft kids. This was the most invasive and painful
of his operations and to make matters worse he could not put anything in his mouth for
7 days to ensure that the palate could heal. This included his bottle, pacifier, hands and
toys. He had to wear elbow restraints and he was fed strictly with a device called a zip n
squeeze or through a syringe. Cody was then 18 months old when he had his first lip
revision then a second lip revision at 3 years of age. Through all of this Cody was such
a trooper and is now a very normal, active and energetic 6 year old full of love, kindness
and laughter. At a early age he is able to accomplish more than most adults can - that is
to look past an imperfection and see beauty at first glance. He is not defined by his cleft
but has grown to know that it is a part of who he is. Today, Cody attends Stapleton
Elementary, is a awesome soccer player, a wonderful big brother and a amazing son."

 Thank You Krista for sharing this :)

Is there such thing as a talent hoarder?

No, I don't believe you can have too many talents ,but you can hide them and let no one see them which is what hoarders do. I want you to write down your talents/gifts (which include attributes like, "I'm always happy"). Yes, stop reading this and do it now then come back and finish reading.
I hope you got more then 3 things written down, if you didn't it's time to sit down and think about it some more. Write at least 10 things down. If you have trouble ask a loved one to help you. If this seems like too daunting of a task to write down 10 things, keep the list handy and add to it through out the week.

Jenae sharing her sewing talent with me

What good is hiding our talents?! Whether it be done by denying we have any, or hiding the ones we have. You have many talents/gifts. You know how I know? Because you are a child of God, and as such we are all creative, eht! Don't even think about saying something negative to yourself here! I won't allow it! Creativity comes in many forms; it's not just about being ubber crafty! Bringing something into creation (not talking about creating something from nothing cause that's not possible) could be photography or it could be fixing an engine. If you really feel like you have no talents then I would ask you; what talents have you tried to develop? Not all talents come naturally, some are inherent. We are drawn to them even if we don't know why. Whether it is a gift from God or just part of our make-up, either way it is who we are. The photographic eye is just part of me. But not the tech side of photography, I have had to work to develop that part of it. Other talents take a lot of persistence and patience to develop, but isn't the pay off worth it?!

Do not compare your perceived weaknesses to others perceived strengths. Just like I shouldn't compare my singing ability to that of my voice lessons teacher. Why should I do that to myself? She spends a lot of time singing and learning about music. I don't have nor do I want to devote that much time to singing/music. I love it but I love photography more. If you don't take many pictures but wish they looked like a pro's should you berate yourself?!  How much time do you spend working on improving that skill?  Or why should you berate yourself about not doing something that you see someone do so well when you really have no interest in it anyway? I have seen several articles lately and had a few discussions with friends about the battle that social media facilitates because we can see into others lives like never before. The battle is about super crafty mamas who make everything and moms who don't...Who freaking cares! Really?! Just do your "thang"! Don't compare. Don't judge. Just be you and do what you do best. Encourage others in what they are doing best which in no way belittles what you are doing best. If you have a friend who is super patient etc  then ask them how they do it. There's a good chance they don't see themselves that way and your asking about it will be a huge compliment and encouragement to them. Oh...and you stand to learn a ton!

The scriptures tell us to "seek ye the best gifts" but I don't think that means envy the person you see with that gift and compare your lack of said gift to their strength with that gift. It means go out and make it happen instead of disliking them, or yourself, instead have them help you learn it. If you have no interest in acquiring that gift that you were envying then you need a swift kick in the pants cause you need to get over yourself. I actually had to do this to myself the other day I am sure I looked funny trying to kick myself in the pants ;)

This is the first dress I have ever sewn. Just finished it today!

I have lot's of interests and try and work on lot's of things like learning to sew, voice lessons, cello, learning Tagalog, mountain biking, etc. But my family, church, photography and The SIP project take up a lot of my time and are my main priorities. I can't work on everything like I want to, but I do my best with what time I have. I'm not going to be an awesome singer or cellist anytime soon and that's okay, but I still try and make time for it. My friend Jenae is well known for her mad sewing skills and so I asked her to help me learn. I have enjoyed it a ton, even if I feel like an idiot. I don't however compare my skills to hers. What would be the point? She spends a lot of time sewing and has for many years, so why even go down that road? I love people with talents, especially when they love to share what they know. So thank you Jenae for sharing your talent with me :) Learn to share your talents, that is also a gift worth seeking!


Develop talents that it might be blessing to both you and those around you. (I recommend you read this post about talents)My SIL Keri is a great example of this. She is always using her talents of painting, drawing, wood working, baking, etc to bless those around her. She increases her skills as she puts them to use for others, a win-win. Feeling useful really increases the joy in ones life. The more you acquire talents, the less you focus on your lack of talent, and others abundance of talents. Observe others strengths and be inspired by them. That is something you can't do if you are envying them.

Sharing your talents and gifts isn't always a very tangible thing like sewing. It can be like my hubs who listens to me, and listens to me, and listens to me, and... does it some more. He also has a great sense of humor. In fact last night when I felt icky (due to a med that is supposed to help with PCOS) I was having him listen to the song I will be doing as a duet (eek!) "Great High Mountain." He sang most of it in a silly hick like fashion. I smiled and laughed so much my face hurt. My sister who is quit good with technology has helped me tremendously, but she has helped me even more because she has listened to me go on an don about The SIP project. She always gives me sound advice. I am one who needs to talk things out and I learn a ton as I do. Without her I would explode (I need to talk a lot). My friend Claudia is always happy! She is also very supportive of The SIP project. She really understands what it means to me and that's huge for me. She is the one who did the 10 random acts of kindness for my b-day which I talked about in my last post. She is just a great example of what a friend should be like. Misty get's what The SIP project means to me as well and is always spreading the word about it (as well as Claudia) she is super crafty with all things scraptastic and is willing to share her skills with everyone. I know countless people have received beautiful cards from her including myself. Both very service minded women and I find myself inspired by their examples regularly.

Truly I could go on and on. I am blessed to have some pretty amazing and talented people in my life and I try and learn from all of them; whether it's their example of patience or learning a skill like sewing. (If I didn't mention you please don't be offended, I really can't mention everyone :P).

I would love to know how you share your talents! Please take a second and share anything that goes
along with this :)

All my love,

-DeAnn