Texas Sheet Cake

Ingredients for cake:

1cup Sugar

2cups flour

4 tbsp cocoa powder

1tsp baking soda

1tsp cinnamon

2 sticks margarine

1 cup water

2eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

(if you don't have any don't worry, put 1 tsp of lemon juice in a cup, add milk to the rest, walla, buttermilk)

1 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingriedents together in bowl, set aside.  Melt butter in pan, add water, bring to a boil.  Pour dry ingredients into butter mixture, beat slightly.  Beat eggs, then add to rest of batter, mix well. Add buttermilk to batter and vanilla. Beat well, bake in greased and floured cookie sheet,

for 20 min. at 350 degrees

For Icing:

1 stick margarine

6Tbsp milk

2Tbsp cocoa powder

1 cup mini marshmellows

1 tsp vanilla

1 lb powdered sugar

Melt margarine in pan, add milk, marshmellows and cocoa. Sitr over low heat until blended.  Add vanilla and pwedered sugar beat well, spread over cake while still hot.

Not as pretty as my mom's turns out, but I can't wait to sink my teeth into this yummy treat!!!  This is what we will be having for New Years Eve tonight, as well as homemade pizza, and milkshakes!! Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Sharing a little Okinawa Beauty!!

Today we were able to enjoy the beauty of the island and explore a bit more in depth one of our favorite beaches here.  This is stairs going up the the playground.

One of the many beautiful views.

This is a pothole cover, I love that they all have different designs on them.

Another beautiful view!

Some of the rock formations that we explored.

Brains anyone??

My beautiful babies!!

Another neat pot hole cover, made me think of my grandma with all the honeycombs on it.

Baby Gecco that Xanen found.

If you squint you can see the Kayaker!!

and of course I had to write in the sand.  It was beautiful today and I needed the sunshine. 

Reading While on Vacation.

While we were gone and doing all of our travleing, I got the chance to read quite a few books.   Thank goodness for my Kindle so that I didn't have to lug around a ton of books.  I enjoyed reading all of these. "The Christmas Jar for Santa" by Jason Wright is only a short story and the only place I have found it has been on Amazon for the kindle.  I love all the Christmas Jar books and loved this one as well.   "Christmas Dog" by Melody Carlson was a nice read and reminds us not to judge people by the way they look, you just don't know what is going on with them. "Spun by Socrcery" by Baraba Bretton is the 3rd book in this series.  It's fun to see what the characters are up to and what they have to go through in the name of love and magic.

I also read a few Debbie Macomber books: Wyoming Brides, Orchard Vally Brides, Orchard Valley Grooms, Fairy Tale Weddings, and Trading Christmas.  I love reading her books, one of the biggest reasons is that they are clean romance stories and also because most of them are based in the Pacific Northwest where I grew up.  Pick up a good book and read something today. :)

When Christmas Comes by Debbie Macromber

This one was a really quick read, started yesterday and finished it this afternoon.  Would have been faster, but of course had to deal with husband and kids too. ;)  What a fun little Christmas story and love story too!!! Very fun for me since one of the settings is in Leavenworth WA, a little bavarian town hidden in the cascade mountains.  2 yrs ago my husband and I were able to visit there for our 10 yr anniversary before we moved to Japan.  I love it there!!!   So if you are in the mood for a nice fun romantic read, check this book out!!

We were planning on going on leave today, but flying space A kind of is a waiting game. We got the house all ready , I put all my craft stuff away. Now that we are home for a few mores days I am tempted to pull stuff out and work on some more projects, I have a list of so many that I want to do.  There just never seems to be enough time.  What are some projects you are working on?

Back on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

Yes yes, I know another one of her books. Let's just say they are addicting, and it's nice that they don't have smut in them, and I enjoy her characters so much!!!  This is another one in her Blossom Street series.  It's fun to see how all the characters progress throughout their lives, the changes that happen.  I still love that it is set in Seattle and that they talk about strolling down to Pike Street Market.  I can just picture it. I love it there!!

My two latest books I have read

I loved reading the Sisterhood of the Traveling pants series By Ann Brasheares, so I was super excited to see the characters come back in a book 10 yrs down the road.  It was a different kind of book from those that dealt with teenage problems, this was more adult.  There are big twists that I wasn't really expecting, but it was very well written and I enjoyed reading it!!!!

This is a book with 3 short stories  in it, they all have to do with knitting in one way or another.  I love Debbie Macomber and I had already started reading the Blossom Street Series, which her short story is about one of those characters.  I really enjoyed each story and had fun getting to know the characters. Each very different story, but all had the love on knitting in it.

MANDI !!! Hope you get this!!

Mandi!  We would love for you to send up coupons!!!  Please just leave your email address or you can email me at droopydrewie@yahoo.com

Nose Picking Booth

I wish I had taken pictures of the process that we went through to make this guy.  We made it for our boys Fall Festival. It is a nose picking booth. You stick your hand in the nostrils, one has candy and the other slime. EWWW right?  Tom had so much fun designing this. The kids decided it was squidward, but we were thinking more along the lines of an ogre.

can't wait to see the looks on peoples faces tonight when they come to this booth.

Bazaar and Owl Scarf with crocheted flower

This last weekend I did a bazaar here on base again. This one is a monthly one that only lasts one day. Business was ok, but I did get a few things done.  Including making this flower to sew onto this cute owl scarf that I made.  My friend ended up buying it and looks rather stylish in it.

Kane Chronicles: The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan

This week I decided that I would read some of the books we already have and save the ones on my kindle for our upcoming trip.  I finally got to read this one.  I read the first one awhile ago, and didn't like it as much as his other series.  I have to say that I liked this one a ton better than the first one.  It was a good read and I enjoyed learning even more about Egyptian history through this book.

Scarf and a Back pack made out of a t shirt

I have seen quite a few different scarves made from t shirts on line.  I made this one fit for a little girl.  Hazel of course has already claimed it as her own, so I guess I'll have to make a few more.   The next picture is what the ruffles look like.

As you can imagine I had some left overs, pretty much the entire top, so I thought, why not make it into a back pack?  The girls love things to carry their toys in.

This is what the front looks like/

then I made straps and connected them to the back of the "bag".   

Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

My grandma gave me a few of these books for Christmas, I finally got to read this one.  I love them because they are mostly based in the Seattle, WA area (I am from close to there). It was a nice read, lots of great people who you root for and like with all their problems and things going on in their lives.  I can't wait to read more of her books.  This one is about a knit shop owner who has a class Knit to quit, all the people who take the class are trying to quit different things. It is about the journey of some of their lives and the things that happen around them.  Go ahead, you know you want to read it. :)

Laced With Magic by Barbara Bretton

This is a sequel to Casting Spells, I really liked the first book and wanted to conitue on in the journey of Chloe Hobbs and the Town of Sugar Maple.   It was a fun read, lots of action and twists to the story.  I can't wait to read the next one!!

Newcomer gift baskets

When we arrived here two years ago, we were picked up at the airport, shoved into a hotel room and my husband was whisked off to work.  The kids and I were left alone in this new place, not knowing where anything was, very tired from our trip and had no food.  The entire hotel was filled with people in the same boat, so of cousre the snack machines were bare.  Luckily we had a bag of chips between the 6 of us at 3am when we all woke up starving.  We decided that we dont want anyone else to have to go through this who is coming into the unit, so we started putting together baskets. 

Of course in these there are no food, we don't want that all to go bad, so the new deal is that the sponsor takes them to get food, whether it be at the grocery store or at one of the shoppettes. I will also be working on a little booklet to give to them so that it can answer a few of their questions.  So this has been my little project for the last couple of days.  What do you think?

Life as an Air Force WIfe

I saw this and thought it was neat. The life of an Air Force wife varies, but for most of us it is very different than the life that we came from.  I lived in the same area since I was very little, went to the same schools.  So the moving around, switching schools for the kids, learning new things and languages has been a HUGE learning experience.  I am proud to be an Air Force Wife, I am proud that my husband serves, and I am proud that my kids are military brats.

Never a Bride By Amelia Grey

O.K., first off this isn't normally the kind of book I pick up to read, it was a free one on my kindle and thought, hmmm that sounds good.  It has a very nice story to it, but it was a bit smutty in a few parts, not overly nasty smutty, but tame smutty. (don't know if that makes sense).  I actually really enjoyed reading it and wouldn't mind reading another one of her books.

COUPON QUEENS OF OKINAWA!!!

This past weekend I participated in a bazaar for the USO here on Okinawa.  Sales were kind of crappy, but I did get to talk to a lot of people about couponing and I also got to tell them about the awesome group that I am apart of here on island, the Coupon Queens of Okinawa.  It is a Facebook group, we send each other coupons, help to find the best deals around and help whereever we can.  We donate our time to the Airman and family readiness center, as well as the other equvaliants on the other installations by going in and stuffing envelopes of coupons for them to give out to  others.  If you have any questions about us, feel free to contact me. :)

USO Bazaar

This weekend I have been working the USO Bazaar with my friend Heidi Day.  It has been a learning experience that is for sure.  The building has been unbareably hot, the management has not done what they have promised and sales have been o.k.   I am looking on the bright side, I have gotten my name out there, gotten to talk to a lot of fun people, had my teeth whitened at one of the other booths, (they went up 4 shades) ate some yummy food, chatted with my good friend and bought some christmas presents.  I also got myself a few Kokeshi dolls for my house that I LOVE!!!!!!!!  I'll make maybe 200 bucks, but now I have some new ideas of stuff to make and take. I realized as I was looking around that there was NOTHING for little boys, so I think I am gonna start making some little boy stuff.  Hopefully tomorrow I can post a few pictures.

Okinawa Beauty

Just thought I would share a little of the Okinawa Beauty we get to enjoy!!

16 Brides By Stephani Grace Whitson

Just finished my second book on my Kindle.  Sixteen Brides is a story about 16 ladies who were conned into moving to Nebraska, were promised land, but found out that the slime who promised them all kinds of things also promised them to men out in the area for a price.  The main story is about the women who decided not to go along with his plans and proving that they could take on the area and things that went wrong.   I really enjoyed reading this, I can't wait to look into her other books and see what else she has to offer.

Mr. Darcy's Vogage

This is the first book that I read on my Kindle. I didn't think that I would like not reading out of a book, but I actually liked it.  This book was a fun take on the original Pride and Prejudice.  It starts with Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy traveling on a ship to America where they meet and think that they have seen each other before.  Elizabeth gets sick from being steerage and helping with the other passengers, so Mr. Darcy proposing something very unexpected.

No, I am not going to tell you, you'll just have to read the story.  :) Happy Reading!!!

Busy Sewing

This week I finally pulled my sewing machine back out. I put together a quilt top, which now I just need to figure out the borders, I made 2 baby blankets to send to my friend for a blanket drive that she does for the Children's hospital that her son has had many surgeries in, and I made a bunch of burp clothes to donate to my husbands squadron for the new baby packets that they give out.  There are so many things I want to do, but not enough time in the day to get them done.   Plus the fact that my husband bought me a Kindle, and all I want to do is read.  Hopefully some fun pictures will be following.  I am also ready to go buy the rest of my supplies to make a batch of salsa!! YUM!!!

Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton

Not a very good picture of the book, but it as a fun read.   A fun story about a knit shop owner who just happens to live in a community of magical creatures. Her mom was a sorceress, but married a human.  She doesn't have powers until....... well, I don't want to spoil it for you. It was a fun quick read that I really enjoyed.  Wondering if they have a second one.

Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant that Ever Lived!!!

My Mom gave me this book for Christmas. For those of you who don't know me, I love elephants.  They are one of the most amazing animals.  -- This is a true story about one amazing Elephant and the boy who was born on the same day and same hour as her and they grew up together.    She saved many lives, did amazing things and truly loved.  It is a wonderful read.  I would recommend it to anyone!!!!!  Happy Reading!!!