WHY SHOULD THE KIDS HAVE ALL THE FUN?

That is what I say anyway! I have been having a great time this month celebrating fall fun with my girlfriends. Our neighborhood something-for-nothing club got together for a boo breakfast at my house where the theme was trick-or-treat. We played all kinds of fun games (Draw a Jack-o-lantern.. blindfolded! Find the missing item in the picture - you can download these from many online sites. Word scramble games.) My pal Bonnie provided the prizes: a bunch of girl goodies she'd scrounged from various sources. That blue bottle was a popular item and Annette and Sheila had a leg wrestling contest to see who got it. I have bigger thighs. Why did she win?!!!

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As you can see by the picture, it took all our strength. Good thing we had pumpkin scones and shrimp deviled eggs to recharge our batteries!

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Oh, so many parties, so little time. The boo breakfast was last week and this week, I got together with my Game Girls for a Halloween lunch.  Costumes were over the top - we had everything from pirates to witch doctors. I'm costume challenged. I donned kitty ears and a collar and came as a cat... in honor of Ambrose, hero of my new release, THE NINE LIVES OF CHRISTMAS. Jill Barnett was our hostess and she made the world's best cupcakes... just like the Hostess chocolate cupcakes of our youth... only a million times better, with a filling made of whipped cream and marscapone cheese. Yum! I brought pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Are our cupcakes gorgeous or what?!    You know, as moms we can get so busy making sure our children have fun we forget about ourselves. (Well, some of us. Obviously, I never do!) But here's a bit of Dr. Sheila advice: there's nothing wrong with taking a little time to laugh and enjoy life. Show your kids you can have fun at any age. Make memories with your friends while you can. Our time here is short and it goes fast, so do those girl things now while you're all together! I hope you all get a chance to do just that this month.

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