Thanksgiving At Susan's House

Hello future readers,

I had a really super Thanksgiving! My mom and I watched the parade and ate French toast and hot cocoa. I liked the Underdog balloon and the Tom Turkey float.  (Underdog is an older cartoon I used to watch when I was a little kid). My mom didn't cook this year, because we were going to eat at Susan's house! We walked over at 4 o'clock. The house smelled delicious and Mrs. Hormsby (Susan's mom), had the kids' table all set.

Susan and Raychel came running in from Susan's room. Raychel was of course, the first one there, because Susan and Raychel's families share a duplex.

 Mrs. Shaunessy (Raychel's mom) had been there all day helping Susan's mom cook, and Raychel had been there playing.

Susan had invited some of us in school last week. Kim and Bridget and their families showed up first.

I know that because Lisa, me and my mom came in right behind them.

We rapped awhile and then Susan's mom announced it was time to eat.

Each of us took a turn and said what we were thankful for.

"I'm  thankful I can have some of my best friends here to share this day."

"I'm thankful that my grandma's feeling better and that my mom and dad let me come here today."

"I'm thankful for a groovy town like Springfield, where everybody knows everybody and we're all safe."

"I'm thankful for all of this yummy food we're about to eat."

"I'm thankful for my mom and that I'm doing better in Math."

And then at last it was time to eat! And Kim was right, it was all so yummy!

And then it was time for dessert! 3 kinds of pie,  and ice-cream! Outta site!

I love cherry pie!

Everything was so good, and I had such a groovy time. Before we left, I gave Susan a big hug!

I have so much to be thankful for! And I hope people are still thankful for what they have in the future.

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

A Sick Friend

Hello future readers,

This past Tuesday and Wednesday, our friend Cheryl was at home with a bad cold. She had a sore throat, headache and sniffles. What a drag! I knew Cheryl was bummed out, because she can never sit still for very long. She always has to be doing something, like running around, jumping rope, playing hopscotch..anything where she's up and moving around! So on Wednesday after school, Sunny and I went to her house to cheer her up. But first we stopped at the candy store, to get her some surprises. When we went up to her room, we found her sitting up in bed, trying to eat some vegetable soup and drink some orange juice.

She looked happy to see us as we came in. She could barely whisper "Hi you guys". Poor Cheryl!

We sat down and got out out surprises. Sunny bought her a bag of her favorite sour balls to suck on to help her throat feel better.

And I brought her a "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" comic book, so she wouldn't feel so bored staying in bed.

"Would you like me to read some of it to you?", I asked. She nodded her head yes. So Sunny and Cheryl had a few sour balls, as I read about Sabrina's Cousin Ambrose who try to make his new car work with witches brew instead of gas and it made the car fly!

Cheryl's dog Butterscotch liked hearing the story, too!

This kinda reminded me of the time Cheryl first moved to Springfield, after we met in summer camp, and we had "Red Robin's Day".

Pretty soon, Cheryl's mom came upstairs to take Cheryl's tray away. She told us Cheryl needed some rest, and it was time for us to go home now. Cheryl snuggled down in the covers as we said good-bye.

On Thursday, Cheryl was back in school, feeling better than ever! I'm glad she's feeling better. It's one thing when there's no school and you're at home having fun. It's another story when you're sick, you can't enjoy staying home, and it feels like the whole world is having fun without you! That's why I'm glad Sunny and I went to see her. I bet if people get sick in the future, there's some kind of super vitamin pill you can take to get you better in seconds! But Cheryl had to do it the hard way! Being sick is no fun at all!

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

Halloween Party at the Springfield Community Center

Hello future readers!

I had a really groovy Halloween! At my school, we had the Halloween Parade and a class party (no Spook House this year, darn it!). Later on after dinner, some of us went Trick-or-Treating for about an hour, and then we went to the Community Center for a party! And was a it groove!

There was lotsa goodies like candy, caramel apples, cookies and punch. Kerry kept the sets from our Frankenstein play at camp, and decided to use the laboratory set for the party! Isn't that far out? Some of us got there early, and ate, danced and played ring toss.

Some of my friends were still out Trick-or-Treating and hadn't made the scene yet, but they were slowing coming in. The Community Center was having a free monster movie night for those who wanted to watch, so some of the kids were watching "Terror From Beyond The Grave". *shudder* I really don't like those kinds of movies, but the boys, Raychel, Stephanie and Melody did. They came in, grabbed some treats from the refreshment table, and went to watch the movie.

I knew a movie like that would give me nightmares for a month, so I was just fine hanging out at the party. Meanwhile, some more of our friends started to drift in, including The Cooper Family, and Velvet's friend, Mia Malone. (you remember her, right? She was Maria in our Frankenstein play).

Kerry told the little girls to have fun, don't eat too much, don't run around the center, and to mind Crissy. She wasn't sticking around. She was meeting up with some of the high school kids, (and Artie her boyfriend, kissy kissy!) down at the movie house to see "Psycho". Yuck! What is it about Halloween that makes everyone wanna watch icky horror movies? And of course, as soon as Kerry left, Mia and Velvet headed right for the refreshment table.

Well, pretty soon the rest of the kids showed up and the movie was over so the place was really jumping!

After a while, the music stopped and Shante' announced it was time for the Pumpkin Walk!

Most parties have Cake Walks, but Lisa's dad had donated 2 pumpkins, so we had a Pumpkin Walk!
Shante' laid out numbers on the floor, and explained the rules:

1) When the music starts, everyone walks in a circle on the numbers. When  it stops, stand on a number.  (kinda like Musical Chairs.

2) No bumping pushing or shoving.

3) Only 1 pumpkin per family

4) Shante' said she would keep her back turned when the music was on, so nobody could say she was cheating and picking her friends.

I was in the first group.

Monster Mash played over the loudspeaker, and we walked while Shante' turned her back.

When the music stopped, she called out "Number 3!"

"Hey! That's me!", I hollered.

Outta site! I actually won! My mom and I didn't really need another pumpkin for decorating, but it was be super for baking things like her pumpkin pie, or pumpkin bread.

The next group was up.

Crissy won that round. Yay!

Well future readers, one more dance and that was it for the night. It was a super groovy Halloween party! I hope Halloween in the future is just as groovy. Happy Halloween!

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