Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas Everybody!

Hello future readers!

Merry Christmas to all! I hope people still celebrate Christmas in the future, because it's the best day of the whole year! It's such a busy time, and a really fun time! This is gonna be a long entry, because so much has happened!

On the last day of school, before the Christmas break, we had a special Christmas assembly. I think our music teacher, Mrs. Johnson, was more nervous than us kids! Backstage, she was still giving us instructions just before we went onstage.



I think we did a really good job! We sang "Away In A Manger", "Go Tell It On The Mountain", "Jingle Bells", "Deck The Halls" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas". Lisa was kinda shy about singing. She wasn't sure she knew all the words, since she only had 4 days to learn them. The rest of us have been practicing since after Thanksgiving. But I think she did really well.



I was glad we only had half a day of school that day, since I was having a tree trimming party that night. I had so much to do to get ready; set out the snacks, find the ornaments, set up the music, and put everyone's presents under the tree!

 
 
 
 
 
 



All my friends came over. My mom and I went all over town to find everyone just the right gift. I was a little nervous, because I wasn't sure everyone would like what I got for them. After everyone arrived, my mom started acting kinda funny. She kept looking at the front door and checking her watch. I asked her what was wrong, and she said nothing, but I didn't believe her. Then the doorbell rang. I wondered who it could be, since everyone was already here. My mom smiled and answered the door. When she opened it,  I couldn't believe my eyes! My friend Wendy was here!



I was so happy, I was crying! Wendy moved away last year and now she's back! I gave her a big hug!



She brought her sister April with her. I had never met April before, because she was in a car accident last year, and lived in another state with her dad while she was in the hospital.Wendy lived here in Springfield with her mom. I knew why she went away last year, but I was still really sad when she left. Her sister April is all better now, and I was glad to meet her too.



All of us trimmed the tree together. Danny got a little tangled up in the garland, and my friend Crissy's little cousin Velvet wanted to eat my gingerbread ornaments. But when we finally finished, the tree looked beautiful!



We ate and sang and opened our presents. Everyone loved what they got. I gave Crissy, Sabrina and Velvet dolls, Stephanie got a jacket, Sunny got a groovy toy van, Danny got a Superfriends record, Lisa got shoes, and April and Wendy got new outfits. I even got to open one of my presents early; an Operation board game! Outta site!



The next day was Christmas Eve. I was so excited I could hardly stand it! Santa was coming tonight! My mom always gives me a "Waiting for Santa" gift. This year it was Charlie Brown Christmas jammies and Santa slippers! My mom had Santa slippers when was she little too!


I put out some milk and cookies for Santa and went to my room. Since we don't have a fireplace, I hung my stocking on my bedpost.





The next morning, Boomer didn't have to wake me up it was Christmas! My stocking had candy inside! Yummy!

 
 

I ran into the living room to see if Santa had come. He did! Most of the cookies were gone and there were presents under the tree. I got a new Dawn doll with a hairbrush and extra outfits!





I also got a new poncho and a warm flannel shirt!



My mom loved the new blouse I gave her. I spent the morning playing with my new toys, eating waffles with my mom and watching TV specials.



I hope Christmas is just as fun in the future as it was for me today! Merry Christmas, future readers!



Until next time,
Your friend,
Julie Newman

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Good-bye Susan and Raychel/The Nutcracker`

Well future readers,

Today is the day Susan and Raychel moved away. Even though I'll miss them, I'm not as sad as I thought I would be. We promised to write and call all the time. And who knows? Maybe someday, they'll be back to Springfield for a visit. We took one last picture together before I left for school. Don't they look nice in their Christmas dresses?


I'm glad we had our class field trip to see The Nutcracker, to take my mind off my friends going away. My mom came along as one of the parent helpers. We took a school bus to the Springfield Civic Auditorium. There was a big inflatable Santa in the lobby. He was almost as tall as I am!



We have a new girl in our class named Lisa. She's very nice. Miss LaSalle made me her "buddy" for the day so she could get used to things. Wow, is she lucky she started school on a field trip day! I sat next to her on the bus. She used to live in Florida, but her family moved here to help take care of her grandmother, who's been sick. My mom took a a picture of us together. I think she's really pretty.

 
 
The show was really good! I really liked the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy the best. All the costumes were so beautiful, and the Mouse King looked kinda scary! After the show, my friend Sunny and I bought Nutcracker ornaments to hang on our trees.
 
 
 
I just love Sunny's Chtristmas dress! It looks almost like the clothes The Partridge Family wears when they sing! Isn't it groovy?
 
So even though today was a sad day, it was a fun day, too. I made a new friend and saw a great show! And Christmas is next week! All right! My mom and I have some more shopping to do and then we're having our tree trimming party!
 
 
Until next time, future readers,
Your Friend,
Julie Newman 
 
 

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Our Last Slumber Party

Hi future readers...

Well, Susan and Raychel came over this weekend for our last sleepover.  At first it wasn't any fun, because no one knew what to do. We weren't sure whether we should be sad and serious, or really go crazy and just have lotsa fun. My mom came up to my room because we were being so quiet, (and trust me, that's not normal for us),  and asked us what was going on. Well, we explained we just weren't sure how to handle this. She told us that just because Susan and Raychel were moving away that there was no reason we couldn't still be friends. That's what telephones and letters are for. And you know, she was right! My mom has a friend that she hardly ever sees. They write and call, and they've been friends for 10 years! Raychel and Susan will always be my friends. I can write them and give them the lowdown on what happening in Springfield. Mom even said I could call them once in awhile. And that's when we loosened up and started having a groovy time!



Raychel started digging through my records, and playing all our favorite songs. We kept changing the speed and making the singers sound like chipmunks! That cracked us up! Susan got out my Barbies and pretended to be sad that Ken broke up with her.  She sounded just like one of those soap operas on television! We stuffed ourselves with candy and Jiffy Pop and soda. I looked over at the door and saw my mom peeking in. I think she was happy we were making so much noise!



And of course, it wouldn't be a slumber party without a good spooky ghost story! I just got a new book of ghost stories from the Arrow Book Club order at school. Usually, Mom yells up the stairs that it's getting late and we should go to sleep, but not this time. We stayed up late, telling ghost stories, playing games and having fun.




And you know, even though I will still miss my friends, I feel better about things now. Raychel heard her dad say that maybe the move won't be permanent. Wouldn't that be something if they moved back here someday? I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that one.

I hope I haven't bummed any of you out with all this sad talk. I promise all my entries won't be a downer. Christmas is coming, and that's definitely a happy time!

Until next time, future readers...
Your friend,
Julie Newman

Friday, December 7, 2012

My new Christmas dress!

Hi future readers!

I'm still kinda down about Susan and Raychel moving away, so I've been sitting in my room listening to music. Last week I recorded a bunch of David Cassidy and Partridge family songs by holding my tape recorder up to the television. I don't have any money for his latest album, since Christmas is coming and I'm buying my mom a new blouse. It's the first time I'm buying her a present all by myself! I can't wait to surprise her!



LIstening to David's dreamy voice usually makes me feel better when I'm down, but it hasn't been working that well. (sigh) My mom knows how bummed out I've been lately, so today she came in my room with a surprise! She went downtown to the department store while I was at school and bought a new Christmas dress for me!


Isn't it pretty? It's got red jewels near the neck, a shiny belt and a matching headband. My mom says I really needed a new Christmas dress and this year it's gonna get used a lot! My class is going on a field trip to see "The Nutcracker", and we have to get dressed up. Then there's the Christmas concert at school, and of course, our annual Christmas party. I'm really gonna look outta site! It's fun to get all dressed up, especially at Christmas time.

I will admit, this cheered me up a little bit, and is giving me something else to think about besides Susan and Raychel. They're coming over for one last slumber party tomorrow night.  On one hand, that's good, because we always have so much fun when they sleep over. On the other hand, it's kinda bad, 'cos it's our last one. (sigh again). Well, I'll try not to think about that right now. It's almost time for The Brady Bunch, (that's a TV show), so I gotta go now.

Until next time, future readers!
Your friend,
Julie Newman

Sunday, December 2, 2012

I got some sad news today...

Well, future readers...

Remember when I said that some of my entries might be a drag sometimes? This is one of those times...

We just had a storm last night, and even though it was sunny, it was still too wet to go outside and play. I decided to invite Susan and Raychel over. We were in the living room, playing "Barrel Of Monkeys" on the floor.


Suddenly, Raychel got this really sad look in her face, like she was going to cry.  I asked what was wrong, but she wouldn't answer me. Susan told me that she and Raychel were moving away.


What??!! Was she kidding? Both of them had only moved here a year ago. Their dads work together for the same company. Susan and Raychel were best friends before they even moved into our neighborhood. Now they were moving away, because their dads were being transferred to another branch of the company in another city. I felt like crying. This just wasn't fair! I hugged Susan.


I was really gonna miss her. She always loves to come over and play dolls or listen to records or watch television. But what I really like about her is that she would never tease people, or let anyone else tease her friends, because she knows what that's like. Even though she's afraid of the dark sometimes, and didn't want to go in the Spook House at Halloween, she's never afraid to stick up for what's right. Then I hugged Raychel.


Out of all my best friends, I think I'm the closest to Raychel. She's not afraid of trying new things. She's the only one of us who isn't scared of spiders. She's really good at keeping secrets, and even likes David Cassidy, (but not as much as I do). And even though she's a bit of a tom-boy at times, she's still very much a girly-girl. She's the one who helped me realize that all boys aren't yucky, and that I should be friends with our new neighbor, Danny. I wiped my eyes and put on my "brave face", (that's what my mom calls it).


I told them that we're just gonna have to have all the fun we can before they leave, which won't be for a couple of weeks. I'm sad they won't be here for Christmas. But my mom always tells me that it's important to love the people we care about and appreciate them when they're around, because someday, they may not be.

Well, future readers, I guess that's it for now, because I really don't want to think about this anymore, because when I think about Susan and Raychel leaving, I get the world's biggest lump in my throat. Being brave is a bummer, and right now, all I wanna do is curl up in my mom's lap and have a good cry.

Until next time...
Your friend,
Julie Newman

Friday, November 23, 2012

I had a great Thanksgiving!

Hello future readers!

Happy Thanksgiving! OK, so Thanksgiving was yesterday, but I hope it was happy all the same. I have a lot to be thankful for. But let me tell you what's been happening...



The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, it was the 4th grade's turn to lead the weekly assembly. I was really excited, and a little nervous, too. Getting up onstage always gives me the butterflies. All the other 4th grade classes were going to do the First Thanksgiving. I was glad Miss LaSalle was going to let us do something different. During the week in class, she told us to draw really big pictures of what we were thankful for. Then on the back of each picture was one letter in the word THANKS. We could draw whatever we wanted as long as it was big enough to be seen by the audience.  My mom told me she was gonna come watch and take pictures! Here are some of the pictures she took:

 
 
 
 
 
 I was thankful for my teacher, Miss LaSalle. She's really super. Stephanie drew her favorite foods, Raychel drew her brother Randy, Danny drew his new house, Sunny drew pictures of all of us, (I thought that was pretty cool), and Susan drew a picture of our town, Springfield. Nobody tripped walking onstage, and no one goofed up their lines. We were all pretty proud of ourselves!
 
The next day was Thanksgiving! No school, and lotsa food! I know that there's more to the holiday than that, but those are my favorite parts! My mom and I got up early, made egg nog french toast, and watched the Macy's Parade on television. Then it was time to start cooking! I was gonna help, because my friends were coming to dinner, and I wanted everything to be extra special. I was in charge of the drinks, mashed potatoes and setting the table. My mom did everything else. She's really outta site! I went and changed into my new outfit. I almost flew to the door when the bell rang.  My friends were here!






 
We all sat down at the special table my mom set up for us kids. My mom, uncle, aunt, and older cousins sat at the big table. Everything looked so good! I couldn't wait to start eating!
 
 
 

The food was really good! Danny had 3 helpings of mashed potatoes! We talked, and laughed, (and almost had a food fight until Mom caught us!)
 
 
 
Later on we cleared away the leftover food and dishes and set up the dessert table.
 
 
 
We had all sorts of yummy things. Everyone took what they liked best, and gathered in the living room to watch "Miracle on 34th Street", one of our favorite holiday movies.
 
It was a really groovy day. I wonder, do they still have Thanksgiving in the future? With all the flying cars, and robots and machines, has giving thanks gone out of style? I hope not. So future readers, I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!
 
 
 
Until next time,
Your friend,
Julie Newman

Sunday, November 18, 2012

The new boy on my block

Hi future readers!

Today an interesting thing happened. My friend Raychel and I were playing in front of my house, when we saw a moving van going down the street. It stopped about 3 houses up the street from mine.



Raychel and I decided to walk up the street and see who was moving in. We saw a station wagon park behind the moving van. A man, a woman and a boy got out. The boy looked like he was about our age. Wow..a boy? Our neighborhood has a lot of girls in it. Raychel's brother Randy is a boy, but he's 13, and doesn't hang around with us. Most of the time he's at the ball field with all the other boys his age. This was the first boy around here who was a kid our age. We watched as the movers unloaded the truck. Then we saw the boy sit on the front steps with his baseball and glove.



Personally, I think boys are kinda yucky. Raychel doesn't mind them so much, because of her brother. She wanted to go and say hello to him, but I wasn't so sure. What if he was a creep? But Raychel reminded me that if I was the new kid, I would want someone to make friends with me. She's right, I guess...but I still think boys are yucky. So we walked up and introduced ourselves.


He said his name was Danny Campbell, and he was 9 years old. I was right, he was our age. And he seemed nice enough. He didn't tell us to get lost because we were girls, and he didn't want to talk to us. Ok...so maybe all boys aren't yucky. There are exceptions to every rule, aren't there?



So we sat down and talked awhile. Danny told us he moved to Springfield from San Diego. He thought it was strange moving to a small town from a big city, and wasn't sure he was gonna like it. We told him that Springfield was a pretty fun place to live, and since it is a small town, it's pretty safe and everybody knows everybody. He said that was kinda weird, but cool. I was getting kinda hungry, and invited Raychel and Danny to my house for a snack. Danny asked his mother if it was OK. She thought it was nice he was making friends so quickly.


So we sat around eating chocolate chip cookies, drinking soda, and telling dopey jokes all afternoon. It was fun, I guess. And I learned not to "judge a book by its cover" as my mom likes to say. I guess I wouldn't want people not to like me, 'cos I'm a girl, or what I look like. So today, I made a friend who's a boy. But that doesn't make him my boyfriend!

Until next time, future readers,
Your friend,
Julie Newman