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October 2008 Journal
So, this year
October actually feels like Fall and for some days...Winter!
School has been fun and I am learning a lot. Karate is getting
more challenging but I like it that way....I get super excited when
I get to learn something new! |
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First Grade News -
Week #6
October 3, 2008 |
Wow!
First grade is moving along.
October has begun our "take home reading" assignments. Mom
and Dad are so proud of the reader I have become. We have
been practicing all summer. I have no idea what level I am
on. The teacher hasn't sent a note home saying...and well,
if she told me...I don't remember. The stickers on the
back of my books say L5 - so that is probably the "teachers
code". The books have a lot more words in them than
the ones I brought home last year, but they are still pretty
easy. I am learning a lot of new words and what they mean.
I am also learning what books are...for example, the book I
brought home the other day was called "The Picnic In The Sky" -
I asked Mom if that would be considered a "fantasy" book and she
said it sure sounded like it. We would need to read it and
see. Man, she's always getting me to think and investigate
like that! Just the other day, I had a question about
mosquitoes so I remembered that I had a bug book - so we got it
out and looked it up! Oops, I got off topic there...back
to Reading...anyway, the level I am bringing home is not the
level I am practicing at school. The teacher said they
send home a "lower level" to encourage independent reading.
Hmm...but these books are soooo bor-r-r-r-ing! I do quite
fine going thru my collection and reading them to Dad at night.
I am not to the point of picking up a book on my own, just to
read it. Mom is hoping that someday I will have my Dad's
passion of reading....and possibly both my Grandma's.
To go along with our reading, we are working on the Pizza Hut
"book-it" program. Last year this was a to do at home
project, but my teacher is keeping track by using our take home
reading assignments. After I read 10 books, I earn a FREE
personal pan pizza! I can't wait...I am so close already!
Writing - we
are always writing and really learning how to use the lines and
to form the letters correctly. This is so different that
what we were doing in Kindergarten but I have made the
transition pretty easily. I am still mixing up some
letters, like "p" and "d" and number "6" and "9" but the teacher
said that is still quite normal. We have our own
dictionary's in our desks to help with spelling but are still
encouraged to sound things out on our own. I'm still
struggling with that "th" sound as I still say "dat" and "duh"
for that and the. My "L" sound seems to have straightened
itself out...Mom still thinks it has to do with my under bite.
:)
Wall
words...I'm doing great. Every week we meet with the
teachers aide and do a little spelling test. So far, I
have gotten all of them right. Well, I missed one because
I flipped the "p" in the word up. I still enjoy doing this
homework assignment.
Comprehension skills. I am struggling with this a little
bit. It's hard for me to explain an idea. Mom isn't
sure if I am just rushing to finish or what is going on.
We are going to start practicing this skill more at home.
I have a listening center that I do at school. We listen
to a story and answer some simple questions. I have
brought home 2 papers on this and have "missed" the same
question both times...tell what you liked most about the story.
Both times I just say "this book was good". I had trouble
with this last year, the whole re-telling a story confuses me.
However, mom thinks if it were about a video game or Lego's I
would have no problems! heehee!
Whew...I
sure am telling you a lot of stuff....you still with me?
Math:
We are doing a lot of practice with "finding the missing part"
thru the use of addition. For example: my paper will
give me two numbers...if I have a 4 then a 5 - I know the answer
is "9". If I have a 2 then a blank, then a 9 - I know the
answer is "7". Dad thinks this is pretty advanced stuff
for 1st grade!
We have
some fun stuff going on this month - an assembly, picture day
and a scarecrow party! I am doing pretty good with my
behavior, still get the occasional yellow card, but hey, who's
perfect? I really enjoy my special classes with gym still
being my favorite but have been enjoying music class more this
year. I've been trying new things for lunch that I have
discovered I like - especially the ham & cheese pretzel melts -
yummy! I just hate the long lines!
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Karate
Class #59
October 6, 2008 |
I am
enjoying being in my new class in karate...but now I am low man
on the totem pole. I am glad that a few of my friends from
school are now in my class! They won't be for long though,
they are green belts, so they should be moving up very soon!
It kind of stinks that all my classes are in the back room now,
so Mom & Dad can't watch me! I do still get to be in the
"big" room on Saturdays though, so that is a plus.
We are still just reviewing some skills right now. This
month's stripe color is WHITE! This is the only color
stripe that I have never gotten and it is for SPEED - white like
lightening!
We got our new newsletter assignments for the month with
emphasis being on our student creed. Things to do using
positive thinking so I can avoid things that would negatively
impact my physical and mental health. Also we are talking
about when it is appropriate to USE my martial art skills of
self-defense.
The quote we have been learning about "Quitters never win and
winners never quit! I choose to be a Winner!"
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A Fun Fall Day
October 11, 2008 |
I had karate
class this morning that Dad took me to because Mom was watching
our neighbor's son and my friend, Devin for the day. We
had fun plans of spending it at the local farm stand,
Risser's. They
had a corn maze and other fall festivities to do.
When we got there they were launching pumpkins from a trebuchet,
pronounced tre-bew-shay. It was pretty cool - they flew
pretty far and smashed into a million pieces! Devin and I
were excited to start the corn maze! We took turns
deciding which way to go, only getting us stuck in a dead end
one time! We completed the maze in 25 minutes! Next,
we hoped on the wagon for a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch
where we each picked a small pumpkin to paint. Devon
painted his blue and I did mine all yellow, I'm going to make it
into a "Lego guy's head"! heehee. I wanted to do a
ghost but they didn't have white paint!
After our fun day at the "farm" we went out to lunch at
Friendly's. We had a fun time there and ate yummy ice
cream!
We got home just at the same time as Devin's grandma came to
pick him up!
It was a fun fall day!
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Mom and
Dad are Running their first 5K!
October 13, 2008 |
I told you
before that Mom and Dad have started running...they have to
using a training program that is for beginners called From Couch
to 5K and things have been going well for them...so well, that
Mom found a race for them to do and they signed up for it today.
It's the The Great Pumpkin Chase 5K and it is on Saturday the
25th of THIS month!
Well update you on the results!
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Uncle Mark & Lisa
Visit with a Surprise to Tell!
October 17
-18, 2008 |
We had some
special company coming today and I was soo excited when Mom told
me they were coming...and even more excited when I saw them
standing on my porch when I got off of the school bus!
Uncle Mark and Lisa came up from Florida to see his parents and
to share some exciting news! They are getting married!
Now, I have an "Aunt Lisa"! :)
We planned a little gathering Friday night with them and the
Martinelli's but first I had to take Lisa to Chocolate World!
I think she really liked it - we spent quite awhile there
looking around and I rode the "ride" two times!
Everyone had a fun night visiting and playing games. I was
excited because Drew came - he's 13 and I think he is just the
coolest guy. It was a late night and I had to get up
in the morning for karate class.
I was glad that Uncle Mark and Lisa could come and see me - I
was a bit bummed out that I lost the game of Sensei Says....but
Justin tricked me! I was doing great, down to the last 4
left and he came up to me and said "Great job Cole, Sensei says
Give me Five!" but he put up two hands and I smacked them
both....D'OH! Sensei said Give me FIVE not TEN!!!
I thought i was going to cry, right then and there...but I
sucked it up and waited until I got in the car with Mom and Dad.
I was just so upset with myself...but I recovered in time when
we got out of the car to eat at Friendly's! We had a nice
breakfast there before Uncle Mark and Lisa had to head back to
his parents house. Mark's mom was beyond herself with
excitement that soon her little boy will be getting married.
I guess a small casual beach wedding around this time next year
is in the works! Can't wait and I hope we get to go!
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Golfing...may become my new favorite sport!
October 18, 2008 |
When the
Martinelli's came they brought me Drew's old golf clubs from
when he was a kid! Dad and I went to Hershey's Adventure
Sports and hit up the driving range, I had a free coupon with my
Hershey Park Season Pass! It was fun and I did a pretty
good job. My problem is that I really don't want to take
direction from my Dad. So, I heard him say about maybe
getting me an actual lesson or two with someone else....we'll
see. We also hit up the mini-golf course (again Free from
my Pass - thanks again Grammy & Pap) - after one meltdown (due
to my lack of sleep this weekend) I did a good job. Then
Dad and me hit the arcade for some fun games of pinball and air
hockey!
It was a fun afternoon with my Daddy...I like those outings.
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Say Cheese!
October 20, 2008 |
Today was
picture day at school. I got to pick my back drop for my
photo and I chose the American Flag one. So, Mom put me in
a red shirt.
We are hoping they come out okay....Dad took me for a haircut on
Saturday and it was only supposed to be a trim and well....all I
heard Mom say to Dad was "weren't you sitting there when they
cut it?"
It's a nice haircut just a lot shorter than you are used to
seeing me with. I like it though, it's easy for me to comb
in the morning! HA! |
My First
Sleepover!
October 24 -
25, 2008 |
So, I told
you that Mom and Dad were running in a race this weekend, so
they had to figure out something to do with little old me!
I got to go over to my neighbor's (and friends) house and have a
sleepover with them! I was so excited all day and couldn't
wait for them to come and get me! I was driving my parents
nuts! Mrs. Richard's and Devin came over and got me around
7 o'clock and we stayed up playing games and talking until 11!
I got to stay in Alec's room and we talked and talked until his
Mom said "that's enough, go to sleep"...heehee. We were up
and playing our DS's by 6AM! We all got to go out for a
pancake breakfast - they were the best pancakes and I cleared my
plate!
The weather was kind of lousy all day Saturday, by the early
afternoon it was storming and pouring pretty good. Alec
and Jared were both supposed to have soccer games for us to go
to but they got cancelled. Mrs. Richard's felt bad that
she could really plan anything for us to go and do, since the
boys' games were not cancelled until the last minute. I
didn't mind, I had fun hanging out with my friends, even though
at times we all fought like brothers.
I can't wait to go again and I hope that they will have me!
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The Great Pumpkin
Chase 5K
October 25, 2008 |
Mom
will have to tell you about the race...I'm sleeping over at my
friends house! Woo-Hoo!
This is mostly my experience of the race:
Mark and I have been using the "Couch to 5K" 9-week training
program. Anyone who is interested in beginning a running
program, I highly recommend it! I was walking prior to beginning
this program but really felt that I needed to add something else
to my workout.
Anyway, to help stay motivated, I found this 5K race being held
in Harrisburg. The Great Pumpkin Chase - in it's 15th year and
sponsored by the St. Stephen's Episcopal Cathedral which
benefits the local outreach programs.
Only being 7 weeks into the program (running for a period of 25
minutes - about 2.2 miles for me), I was nervous about how I
would do running for 3.1 miles. I was not really worried about
my time for this race, my goal was to RUN the whole thing.
Stopping to walk was not going to be an option!
Race day was here, and I was nervous...and the weather was not
really great. The forecast was for thunderstorms and high winds
and we definitely woke to a very wet morning. Oh well, dressed
for the weather and arrived early to pick up our packets. It was
drizzling a little bit but the skies cleared for the race! YAY!
Mark and I started at the back of the pack - estimate around 4
to 5 hundred people showing their support - and looking the
crowd over, no one "looked like us" :). Ugh, could ALL these
people be "runners"? I think the weather scared off the
newbie's. Oh well, don't worry about it. Mark and I tried to
stay together in the beginning but his pace is just too fast for
me - longer legs are definitely a factor. The race route was
mostly flat - a loop of City Island, continue across the Walnut
Street Bridge, south along the Susquehanna, then turn back north
to finish at Riverfront Park. I started out feeling pretty good
and reached the 1-mile marker (on the bridge) at 10 minutes
something. Tried not to get discouraged seeing the LARGE pack of
people at the 2 -mile marker already! I have been getting cramps
in my neck while running at home and low and behold, experienced
one just as I was nearing the end of the bridge...ugh. I talked
a lot to myself in my head and remember Lisa saying to "run thru
any pain" - and continued down the hill to the river sidewalk -
staying to the right because the crazy fast people were already
on their way back! Never mind them...I am running (in my head
"just keep running, just keep running") - I even passed someone
who stopped and started walking and a friend came up to her
telling her not to stop running, just go slower - once you stop
it's too easy to stop again. At one point while running along
the river, which can totally mess with your balance, I had to
look away from the water and look at the bank so I wouldn't get
dizzy. Passing the 2-mile marker at 22 minutes and
something....whew, feeling like I won't make it and now at the
end of the "river sidewalk" and I have to go up a hill? Just a
little one, okay....around the bend, laughing with some others
about the shortcut we "could" take...nah! A nice level run along
the street - LOOK OUT (some guy about takes out 2 runners
backing out of a parking space! - Geez!). Still feeling okay,
but wishing I was almost done and hoping I am not actually
talking out loud when I say to myself again - keep running. I
feel good passing a few people who have stopped to walk. Time to
get back down on the track by the river - running downhill - my
first step is careful as the roads are wet and slick and my
thighs scream "what the heck are you doing now?!!" Baby steps
and back on level ground - yells of encouragement from people
working the race - "Not far now - you are doing great!" I'm
thinking not far? How much farther lady?! I still have a bit of
some neck pain and a cramp but they are going away....continue
my run down the sidewalk and I can see the Walnut Street Bridge
getting really close - at this point I am wishing that knew
where this church was at since that was the finish line and I am
really starting to feel kind of spent....then I hear "only a
quarter mile left - you can do it" I have no idea what that
means and all I see is this hill I have to run UP (Mark hit a
wall here and had to walk it) so I think I'll never make it if I
trot up this baby...so sprint away...."oh dear Lord, what have I
done, I am going to puke! Seriously, how do I talk my body out
of doing that? Amy, you can't puke, how embarrassing would that
be? Okay, at the top, the end has be to close - no puking - can
you see the end? I see more people, it has to be close - breathe
deep - don't puke, where's a spot, just incase....oh there is
the finish! There is Mark....done!" Time 34:48 - better than I
thought I would do! Staying in line and trying to remove my
number tag was a challenge - grabbed an orange and walked and
walked and walked until I caught my breath - got close to a
trash can - just incase! Funny, though I had heard someone say
that pain during running is kind of like childbirth - you don't
remember it when it's done and you feel great knowing what you
accomplished. I would have to agree that this is how I felt.
Mark finished well with a time of 32:33 minutes. We hung out for
the awards ceremony and were quite impressed with people's
times...amazingly fast! I believe the first place person
finished in 14 minutes! WOW! I think my goals for right now are
to continue running and to get stronger at it - maybe a little
faster but that will probably come with the first goal.
Keeping up with the running during the winter season will also
prove to be a challenge so I think we are going to try and find
races to participate in to help with motivation. It can get kind
of expensive so I choose to find races that will support a good
cause.
We'll see how it goes.....my friend had asked if I was losing
any weight with running. I can't say that I have but I need to
get the "diet" under control with it and then we will see. I
probably can say that it has helped me not to gain any weight! I
want to get thru the holidays this year without gaining weight
and if I can lose a pound or two that would be awesome!
Not to leave Mark's feelings or experiences totally out of the
entry...he said that he felt pretty good during the whole thing.
He is not sure what happened that caused him to "hit a wall" so
to speak and have to walk up that last incline, which probably
only slowed his time down by a few seconds. He did
struggle a bit with trying to get around people at times but
other than that his experience was a good one.
They are
supposed to post the results online someplace, but I still have
yet to find them. I do know that Mark finished 16th out of
18 runners in his age group of 35 - 40 year old males and I
finished 24th out of 29. I would like to know the overall
numbers but they did not have those posted at the finish line.
We both walked away door prize winners too...Mark got a t-shirt
(from last years race) and I got a Halloween Treat dish with
Halloween cheese spread knives. Nice!
We had a nice walk back to the car in the rain.....and then the
heaven's opened up and we got thunderstorms and wind like you've
never seen! Kind of funny.
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My Karate
Halloween Party
October 26, 2008 |
My karate
school had a Halloween Party today for all the students that
wanted to come. I was excited about going...and I little
nervous. I told Mom when I was putting on my costume that
I thought I looked ridiculous but that was when she pulled my
pants up to my chin - explained that everyone will be in costume
and when I was completely dressed, I thought I looked awesome!
When we got there the Sensei's had a sign on the door that said,
"Parents, thanks for bringing your kids to the party - see you
at 3PM!" The doors were all covered with decorations and
we couldn't see in but it looked dark. We opened the door
and WOW...the place was all dark, decorated and spooky with
music and smoke! Sensei Anne was all dressed up and she
told me to follow the spooky feet to take off my shoes - I tried
to get Mom to come but Mom said to go and have fun - the party
was for kids. I didn't hesitate, spotted my friends from
class and school and didn't look back!
It was such a fun party! I told Dad that I am going to it
every year! Everyone had cool costumes...scary one too!
Quite a few of them! No one was a Jedi like me but there
were other Star Wars characters. My two buddies from
school (on my bowling team) were there dressed as Indiana Jones
(the other choice I thought about) and a skeleton. We
played games and ate snacks.
Mom was impressed with how into it the teachers got...made it
fun for us kids, you know we don't get to have parties like that
in school anymore - silly people being afraid of Halloween!
Anyway, I can't wait for next year and I am already talking
about wanting to have a scary costume next year! |
Red
Ribbon Week
October
27-31, 2008 |
My school
had Red Ribbon - Say No to Drugs Awareness Week, and for each
day we had a special theme to help make it more fun! I
liked it and even made a comment to mom "good thing I am a
drug-free kid!"
Monday - Red, White and Blue Day. I help mom to
pick out my red pants, blue long sleeved shirt, topped with my
USA American Boy tank top! Can't get more red, white and
blue than that!
Tuesday - Class Color Day - and my class had a tie of
either wearing Red or Blue. I chose to wear blue!
Wore my blue striped shirt, blue jeans, blue socks
(Mom's...heehee, since i don't have any!) and my blue water
shoes! I even put on blue underwear but Mom told me not to
show people that!
Wednesday - Cougar Day! Sporting my Cougar Black
and Orange gym pants with my Cougar Pride t-shirt...I looked
awesome!
Thursday - Workout Day! I wore my grey workout
"swishy" pants and my new blue "workout" sweatshirt. We
had an assembly today that talked about saying no to drugs and
the guy was really funny. He did some magic tricks too!
Plus, we had to run for 10 minutes with our teacher at recess
today!
Friday was dress like your favorite character from a book
day - but our teacher had already planned Friday as our Fall
Harvest Scarecrow Party! That was fun too!
This was a
fun and crazy week at school...but I am happy to say that I did
earn all
GREEN
cards this week. It's been a while since I have done that,
so Mom and Dad were impressed.
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Pumpkin Carving
Night
October 28, 2008 |
Time to
carve the pumpkins....I had picked out 2 and Dad picked out 1.
Mom couldn't really find one that inspired her and she figured
she would be too busy helping me, and she was right. I
think next year though, she will do her own.
I picked out a really tall and skinny pumpkin and then a white
pumpkin that I wanted to carve like a ghost. After some
thought though, I decided just to paint on the white pumpkin.
I'm not much into the mess of the carving. I set up
my station with my tall skinny pumpkin and designed his face.
He must have "angry eyebrows" and I wanted his back to be open
so he looked like he was on fire. Dad decided that would
be a good idea, so I drew it on there and he cut it off for
me...it opened up the whole pumpkin so scooping out that stuff
was easy. By easy, I mean easy for Mom...I wasn't touching
the stuff! I helped to carve out the face features
the best I could, this years pumpkin skin was much tougher or we
need new knifes, not sure if those pumpkin carving knives that
are kid safe can get dull or not...it was even tough for mom to
do...so she started and Dad finished. He looked awesome
when he was done. I then decided that I wanted him to have
ears, so I used the cut out pieces from his eyes, stuck in some
toothpicks and stuck them (with Mom's help, Dad couldn't figure
it out...heehee) on the side of my pumpkin's head! I
finished my painting touches to my white ghost (yes, with angry
eyebrows) and finished my other pumpkin (from when I went to the
corn maze with Devin) "Lego Head", again with angry eyebrows.
Daddy finished up his pumpkin face and we lit them all up,
turned out the lights and took a picture!
I did have a fun time given my resistance to really help with
the whole carving process. Mom spent about an hour sorting
pumpkin seeds and we cooked those up for a night time snack.
They like them more than me!
Next year, I think I will build my pumpkin out of Lego's! |
Karate
Class #67
WHITE STRIPE
Testing (Speed)
October 29, 2008 |
This was
white stripe testing day - this is the only stripe color left
for me to have earned. They were testing for white stripes
when I first joined the karate school back in April! The
white stripe stands for SPEED - fast like lightening! I
was excited to be earning this stripe...I'm all about speed!
Sensei Anne led the class
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Trick or Treat!
October 30, 2008 |
It's trick
or treat night in my neighborhood and I have been waiting ALL
week for this night! Mom thinks this is the first year
that I was truly excited about it - seems I have finally figured
out what it's all about!
I knew mom had made arrangements for us to meet up with
neighbors and hit the houses like we did last year. We met
up with The Bruce's: Jack, Abraham Lincoln, Sophie, hermit crab,
and Carly, a roaring 20's flapper. The Moore's:
Ethan, a storm trooper and Emily, a football star. The
Richard's: Devin, a roaring (must not forget that most
important thing) Lion, Alec, a blue camo Navy guy, and Jared, a
green camo Army guy. And The Lavendier's: Colin, a
storm trooper too! And then ME: The Jedi!
We had a fun time running all over the place and getting candy
but the most fun we had was ringing the doorbells and then
hiding! Jumping out and trying to scare the person giving
us the candy! We stopped at the houses that turn their
garages into Haunted Houses - and I went in with my friends and
NO mom! She said she couldn't believe that I did that!
We didn't think it was scary at all though....until that monster
at the end jumped out at us!
We stayed out the entire 2 hours with no complaints from me
about all the walking! Funny, how that works, huh?
We hit all the houses we could and I got 3 full pumpkin buckets
full of sweet treats to bring home and drive my mother crazy
with! HA! I even got some full size candy bars...a
bunch really! In this day and age and with the amount of
trick or treaters that we get...it was kind of a nice surprise!
Dad stayed home and handed out stuff out...we got 112 trick or
treaters which is a low number compared to last year...it really
didn't seem like there were as many kids out this year...not
sure why. We unloaded all we had left on the teenagers who
rang our bell last - they were thrilled!
I gobbled up about 4 pieces of my choice, grabbed a quick
shower, we watched a Halloween episode of The Simpson's and it
was time for bed!
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Scarecrow Party
October 31, 2008 |
The FIRST
graders at my school were all having a Scarecrow Party today.
Mom made me a nice scarecrow costume just using my old jeans, a
flannel, some yellow felt, fake leaves and a felt pumpkin bucket
(for my hat).
Well....I have my issues with being embarrassed and I just did
not want to do it. Mom and I talked about it and I agreed
to just wear the shirt and take the hat. I made sure that
it was all tucked up under my jacket for the bus stop, loaded up
my bag with my pretzels for the party and off to school I went.
We had a fun party at school...had some awesome snacks,
cupcakes, cookies, and some healthy fruits. We played
games and did some activities like M&M counting and scarecrow
word making.
Mom was surprised to still see me in my scarecrow shirt when I
got off the bus. I told her that I was the only one
wearing a scarecrow shirt...I didn't elaborate on that comment,
so I am pretty sure she doesn't know what I meant. :)
It's tough getting information from me sometimes! HA!
It was a fun day and a fun week at school...but I am ready for
the weekend!
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Happy Halloween
October 31, 2008 |
I knew Mom
was planning a special Halloween dinner so I was excited for
that all day. However, I think I kind of spoiled my
appetite with the candy from trick or treat the night before and
today's party at school. I did eat some of it though.
She made: Mummy Dogs (low-fat hot dogs wrapped in low-fat
crescent rolls with mustard faces) Vampire Blood Soup (uhm...tomato
soup) Graveyard Dessert (SF white chocolate pudding topped
with crushed chocolate cookies, some gummy bones and pretzel
pumpkins) and Witches' Brew (green diet ginger-ale) to drink!
We watched a fun Halloween movie - The Little Vampire and soon
it was time for bed!
Happy Halloween everyone! BOO! |
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