There is an awesome new network of sites called Woo! Jr, created by Wendy Piersall. The newest addition to the network really piqued my interest ==> Classroom Jr – Teacher Resources, Lesson Plans, Worksheets, Classroom Supplies and Creative Ideas for Educators.

So I was over there browsing around when I found ==>

Halloween Mad Libs at Classroom Jr

Totally awesome!! I have always loved mad libs and Halloween has long been one of my favorite holidays, so combining the two has just tickled me pink! I used to love mad libs when I was a kid, because, they were so darn funny. And I love them as a literacy advocate, because, they really help kids get a grasp on the parts of speech (and I still enjoy the ‘funny’, too). They are one of those great ’secret’ teaching tools. Kids are learning – and they’re having so much fun they don’t even realize it. And they are laughing. One of the very best ways to truly learn something.

I’m definitely going to print some out to do with my kiddos! All three of my kids love mad libs, so I know we will have so much fun doing them! You can click on the image above and go get some yourself, too!

And while you’re at it, check out the rest of the cool sites in the Woo! Jr Network:

• Craft Jr – Crafts for Kids, Paper Crafts, Easy Crafts & Craft Ideas
• Animal Jr – Animal Printables, Teacher Worksheets, Free Wallpapers & Free Jigsaw Puzzle Downloads
• Fantasy Jr – Unicorns, Fairies, and Fantasy Coloring Pages, Games, and Printables
• Space Jr – Space facts, teacher resources, coloring pages, and science fiction for kids
• Cartoon Jr – A Disney, Nickelodeon & Cartoon Network Fan Site for Kids

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I am, I am! It’s true and I know it, because, Loretta told me so! That’s right – she gave me the Halloween Sweet Award for encouraging kids to read (and for lots of fun Skype chats)! Thank you, Loretta! And why do I do so much ‘reading preaching’? We all know that I do it because: READERS ARE LEADERS!

And that is exactly why I want to give this award to three of my new visitors to The Bookworm Broadcast! They have been leaving wonderful comments here on my site and they love books as much as I do! I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing from other ‘bookies’ and so I would like to bestow upon them the sweetest of treats!!

Terry of Terry Heath – A Writer’s Journey

Deborah of The Rhythm of Write

Catherine of everyday life as lyric poetry

Eldon of Wordpreneur – How to Make Money Writing

(Can I just say? I love that word ‘Wordpreneur’!! Very cool word!)

All of these guys/gals have been super sweet bookworms and wonderful bloggy visitors!

If you guys want to ‘pay this forward’, that would be totally awesome! The creator of the award just asks that we pick people that are new to us and/or outside our regular circle of bloggy friends.

I know I keep talking about how much I love Halloween – well, it’s definitely true! And my whole family enjoys it with me! Just check out my sweet Sammie creating some yummy Halloween goodness!

What a great little Halloween chef! We should put her on TV!

You can check out the awesome, wonderful, stupendously fun cookbook right here:

You know how I’ve been telling you how much my family completely and totally loves Halloween? And how my daughter and her friends just put up all of our Halloween decorations? Well, guess what! We love Halloween so much that we even changed our outdoor lighting for it! It’s true, really! See, my brother and his wife know how much we love Halloween, and they just happened to see these really cool Halloween light bulbs one year, and thinking immediately of us, they just had to get them for us! The one on our front porch looks really cool! I’ll try to remember to get a picture of it for you tonight! (If my darn camera will stop eating all of the batteries!)

Halloween is sneaking up on us – it’s just around the corner! I can’t believe that! This year is just flying right past us! But, oh how I love Halloween! My daughter and her friends just put up all of our decorations yesterday. And we’ve been discussing costumes, and plans for the magical, spooky, creepy evening! Last year we definitely all had a blast! Our whole family just loves Halloween and I know that we will have so much fun this year, too!

And then it will be over. Just like that. And then we’re in the last inning stretch towards Christmas. Christmas? Already? Wow!

Yep, Christmas will be upon us – I think, in just over a week. You see, once Halloween is over, then it’s all about Christmas. Sure, we’ve got Thanksgiving first, but, that is really just Christmas’ appetizer. (As well as time for Mrs. Lisa to rant on and on about how Columbus did NOT discover America!)

When my brothers and I were kids, I know this will come as a big surprise to you but, one of my very favorite, most-coveted Christmas gifts was my gift certificate to Taylor’s Bookstore. (Which isn’t even around anymore.) It was always in my stocking, and I would search and dig in there until I found that wonderful brown envelope! And then the day would come when Mom would take us all to Taylor’s and OH! how I loved that day! We would all go our separate ways to our favorite sections in the store and I was just in Hog Heaven! I suppose you might want to call it Book Heaven!

There was another favorite gift that we would often receive, though. And that is RC cars. Each year, they were newer, faster, stronger, bigger, etc and we were always so excited to try them out! We would go across the street to the elementary school and try out our new cars in the driveway or on those long sidewalks or even in the parking lot. And there were always neighbors there with their new RC cars, as well! It was so much fun!

Sammie and I have been on the hunt for the perfect Halloween costume for her. It has been a bit of a challenge, because, since we live in a small town now, we don’t have a lot of options available to us right here. So we have turned to the internet. I found one that I think is not only cute, but, also practical. So many girl halloween costumes are dresses. And so many of those dresses are even short dresses. Well, I don’t think that is very practical for running around excitedly through the neighborhood. And then there is the little fact that my favorite thing to dress up as is a witch!

Here is the one I picked for her:

Isn’t it cute? There was another one that I thought she would like – it was a Gabriella costume, from the movie, High School Musical. The thing about that one, though, was that it was basically just a red dress. It didn’t actually ‘look’ like a costume. I like costumes that you can look at the person and know right away what they are, or figure it out without an explanation, at least.

Anyway, I’m not sure if she’ll go for this one or not. I’ll have to show her in the morning and see what she says.

I just can’t wait until Halloween! I love it!

I absolutely LOVE Halloween! We all have so much fun every year – even my hubby! And now we live right next to a neighborhood that goes absolutely Halloween-CRAZY! It is the coolest Halloween neighborhood I’ve ever seen! Just about the whole town is out and about in this neighborhood on Halloween night – we even ran into the kids teachers! And oops! Hubby was going around scaring people with this creepy mask on – and he accidentally scared our daughter’s teacher – it was embarrassing and hysterical all at the same time!

My family and I just love Halloween, though! We always have a total blast that night! And I, for one, always come home that night feeling more connected to my community – in all of the communities that we have lived. That is a cool thing.

And I love Halloween so much that I’ve made four Squidoo lenses all about Halloween!

Check them out:

Kids Love Halloween

Kids Love Halloween Crafts

Kids Love Halloween Parties

Kids Love Halloween Costumes

I am just so excited! I have a friend back in Texas, who I’m sure is already decorating! You should see her house when she gets done with it – it looks amazing! If you’re in Waxahachie, Texas in the next few weeks, just drive down Main Street – you won’t miss it!

I think I’ll definitely ask my husband to get down the Halloween decorations this weekend!

And I’ll be sure to tell you about the great Halloween books I run across, as well!