the sidlingers

If all goes well, this:

will be in my living room in the next 24 hours.

Complete story tomorrow.

Guess what I get to do tomorrow?

Want a hint?

Click below for explanation.

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Early in the week we noticed that we had a visitor out front, a golden garden spider.

Well, we’re half way through the new four day school week and I’m still OK (oh yeah, Daniel’s good too).  I’ve been keeping busy the past couple of days by catching up on some house cleaning and bookkeeping.  Tomorrow I am going to be assisting with eye exams at the school Daniel will attend next year, so that will keep me occupied for a few hours.  I just have to figure out what to do about Friday now.

Our first attempt of going from school to karate went OK.  I did have to get an instructor to tell Daniel that it was OK to come in not wearing his karate uniform, but other than that things went well.

This morning the kids in his class were surprised to find that they had a classroom pet.  Miss Debi brought a hamster in.  At some point during the day though, someone squeezed out all the water from the water bottle, so I don’t know if the hamster is coming back tomorrow.

I also found out that the teacher had not accounted for booster seats when she made the 3 kid rule, so I will be able to go on the field trip at the end of the month!  I am definitely looking forward to that!

Off to bed now, I have to get up early tomorrow.  I’m hoping by volunteering at his future school this year, I can get an idea of who the best teachers are and get to know them. 

Daniel’s day went well.  His only complaint was that his teacher made him eat his sandwich before eating anything else.

We got the calendar for the rest of the month and their annual trip to the pumpkin farm is going to be at the end of this month.  They are only letting four parents go and you have to be able to transport three kids.  We’ve got three seat belts in the back, but I don’t know that it would hold three booster seats.  I’m going to talk to her tomorrow about it and at least offer to take two.  I also have to talk to her about Daniel’s reading and writing, he tends to let others do for him and not speak up about what he can do.

Speaking of his reading, it’s just absolutely amazing how fast he’s picking it up.  He can sound stuff out really well and already knows so many words.  This weekend he read a 32 page book to me and got all the words right.  It really is just amazing.

He is excited to go back tomorrow and hopefully he will continue to be.  Also…I saw cookies out today at school, so be prepared for another cookie dough fundraiser soon!

Tomorrow:  Our first attempt at going from school to karate, in a happy and timely manner.

Daniel woke up at 7:00 (the alarms were set for 7:30) and was ready to go.  We went downstairs and had breakfast and then we went back up to get ready.  Daniel got dressed quickly and headed back downstairs before I was done.  When I came down the steps, Daniel was sitting in the middle of the living room with his backpack on and his lunchbox ready and was putting on his shoes.  Except he had forgotten his socks and it was still 20 minutes until time to go.

After fixing the sock problem, we were ready for pictures.

When we got to school we met his new teacher and found his seat.  Since Miss Debbie is new, she obviously did not know about Daniel and Madelyn.

Look who sits next to each other.

I’ll give a second report this afternoon when I pick him up.

New Buzz Lightyear Backpack - Check

New Buzz Lightyear Lunchbox - Check

New First Day of School Outfit - Check

New Light Up Tennis Shoes (also Buzz Lightyear) - Check

New Pillow and Blanket - Check

Lunch Requests Met - Check

Rules Reviewed - Check

Fresh Batteries in the Camera - Check

Alarm Clocks Set - Check

Mama’s Ready for Daniel to be in School Four Days a Week? - Not So Much

Pictures and updates tomorrow.

It’s football time in Tennessee!

Football starts today (Go Vols!), which means fall is here.  It’s early, early fall, but it’s here.  There is never a loss of things to watch on Saturdays now, we can always find a game.  I’ve switched the ringtone on my phone to Rocky Top and the shakers are coming out of storage.

I am making chili (yes, I know the high today is in the 80’s…shut up) for the game and making a spice cake for dessert tonight.

If I go outside right now it’s early enough in the day that it even feels a little like fall.

I predict today will be good.

Nada* is Daniel’s imaginary friend.  Nada has been around for a couple of weeks now and seems to tag along everywhere.  Nada is from Mexico* and is not allowed to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Nada and his family live in the imaginary house in between us and our neighbors.  And today is Nada’s birthday.  Nada is six years old now.  Daniel and I had to hide behind the refrigerator to surprise Nada when he showed up this morning.  Apparently, I got Nada a Captain America toy.  Nada’s favorite cake is chocolate and strawberry and that’s what we (imaginarily) had.

So happy birthday Nada!  Hope you have a great one!

*Daniel made up Nada’s name and origin without knowing that ‘nada’ is Spanish for nothing.