Busy week

We had a super busy and fun week last week. We were able to do things as a family that we wouldn't have even tried while we were working full time.

First we started making pinatas. We made three of them. Two for Jillian's 4-H demonstration and one for her birthday party. We decorated the one for her party like a flower garden. That wasn't the original plan but sometimes you have to go with the flow of the project.

We also planned a birthday party for Jilly. She wanted a 50's party. We had the girls dress up in their poodle skirts and we took them to a 50's style diner. They sat at the counter and had malts. It was a great time for everyone. When they came back to the house we had individual cookie cakes made for them. We then put out different colors of icing and let them decorate their own cookie. I never thought this would be as much fun as it turned out to be. Between the four girls they used two tubs of icing! Talk about sugar overload.
The last part of the party was breaking the pinata. This was really fun. Our pinata was hard to break open. They broke the strings holding it before the pinata itself. We left it on the ground and took turns hitting it until it opened.

Besides all that, we worked a concession stand for 4-H at the Thomas bullriding, went to co-op where Jilly learned to embroider, and did a full weeks worth of school work.

What a great week!

Diet Starts

Well, the diet starts today. I have really added the weight over the last year. It is time to get back in shape and watch what I eat. I know I'll feel better once I get back in gear.

I'll give a little product review today.

Guiltless Gourmet Black Bean Dip is really tasty. It doesn't have hardly any calories and really packs in the flavor. It would be a good sandwich spread if you were tired of the same ole same ole. It would say it tastes a bit vinegary (if that's a word) with a little kick at the end. Since it's made with black beans it also has a lot of fiber per serving too.

Weight Watchers Vanilla Yogurt is also a big hit. I can have a whole cup of this stuff for only two points. For those of you familiar with WW, you know that is a bunch of food for tiny points. I bought the big tub of yogurt and it was less expensive by far than the little containers. The only trouble is packing it for work but that is easily overcome.

Those are the only new products I've done today. I'll be sure to post any new dishes I try and if they are a success or not.

Disney Vacation

We just got back from a two week Disney vacation. WOW!! It was a long trip and a lot of fun. I think that we discovered that we are now better suited to visit the area for trips of 4 days or such. This one was just a bit to long. We had several days where we just hit the parks in the morning and went back to the hotel by lunchtime.

This trip we let Drake stay in the room in the morning and then take the bus over and meet us in the parks for lunch. It was stressful for me but he did great. Let me just say that cell phones are a blessing. It kept me sane knowing exactly where he was at any given moment. I didn't think I was so protective of him.

We also let both kids go off together in the parks for a little while. The only problem was when the went outside the turnstiles at the International Gateway in EPCOT to use the bathroom. I didn't send Jilly's ticket with them so she couldn't get back inside the park. Again, cell phones to the rescue. Drake called us and we left what we were doing and took her ticket over to them. Jilly freaked out just a little bit but I think it was because she was worried we would be mad at them. I still don't know why they went to that bathroom but we weren't mad about the situation.

We did a couple of days with the Disney Y.E.S. program. Y.E.S. stands for Youth Education Series. We learned about the International Program that Disney uses to get their workers for the different country pavilions. It was very interesting to hear these young people talk about their home countries and what their experiences here in the USA have been. We learned that each of the young people share apartments with a few other people from different countries. This lets them get to know other cultures and such on an intimate level. The big idea behind this program is to let people from different countries become friends with different people. When they leave the program they will take these friendships and knowledge into the business world. In the end, the world at large will be a better place.

Even with the extended time at Disney we had a great time over all. We will be going back but I think we will wait a while before we go again. I say that every time we leave but we'll see....

Jillians's Various Writings

Cookies

Today I made cookies. I used cake batter for them. The strange thing is they look and taste like brownies. They are GREAT. My brother also made some cookies. They're good too. I tried to put my brother's cookies in the oven but they were too heavy. So my dad did it. I had lots of fun and hope to make some again.

The Library

today I went to the library. I read my book called Diary of a Wimpy Kid : The Last Straw. It was such a good book. While I was looking for a new book Mrs.Carol ,(the librarian), told me she had the second one too. I haven't started it yet but it look's real good. Well, after she showed me the book a reading program lady read us stories about monsters. Then we made monster masks. It was awesome.

Absolute Zero

The show was amazing. Some stuff I did not understand but I mainly understood. It talked about from the french war and down to today the they still are trying to get to absolute zero. It's very interesting seeing these such smart people doing this stuff.

Thoughts by Jillian

I went to my best friends pool Actually its her grandparents pool but they play in it. They have the coolest place .Plus they have a diving board AND they have a water slide. Its great there.her Then i i went to her house .We played dress up almost the hole time. Then we went well I went home and guess what they gave us CAKE .

Quiet House

Well, the rest of the family has went to San Antonio and Corpus Christi for a few days. This leaves me home alone. This house sure is quiet with no one else around. I seem to get all my chores done before 8am.

I wish I had a good book to keep me company. I wonder why it is that when you are really busy you find the best books and have to work at getting them read but when there is nothing going on there is nothing interesting around to read.

Drake is posting updates of their trip on my facebook account. I am really loving that I can "watch" them during the day. Technology is a great thing if used properly.

OK, I guess that is enough rambling for this morning.

Social Experiment

I had a thought of a really interesting book/social experiment. I think it would be interesting to see if a person could work their way across the US without money. You would have to find people willing to let a stranger work for some cash or willing to give you cash. You would be able to have a car but would need gas money as well as food money.

I wonder if a person could do it. I know that I would be skeptical of a stranger asking for some work. Would I allow someone like that to sweep my floor or mow my grass for a few dollars? I hate to say that it would depend on how that person looked on the outside. If they were clean-cut, I might consider it. If they were scraggly.....I'm not so sure.

If I were to take on this project, and I admit I would be hard pressed to take it on, I would start with a full tank of gas and a full cooler of food. I would stop in small towns before I totally ran out of gasoline. I would check in with the local police and explain what I was doing in the town. I'm not sure what kind of stores I think would make good places to try for work.

What do you think? Does it sound interesting? Would you be willing to help a stranger out?