the sidlingers

Sunday evening our neighborhood had a Halloween party.  Knowing there was going to be a costume contest, we convinced Daniel to go with a homemade costume rather than a store-bought one.  Saturday we collected all the things we needed and with a little bit of spray paint, a lot of duct tape and some battery-powered Christmas lights, I put together a robot.

It was a big hit and Daniel won 1st place!  Everyone was cheering for him!

We’re still not sure what he is going to be when trick or treating in tonight, he’s got several super hero costumes to choose from and the robot is a little cumbersome, but we’ll see.  You can check back later tonight to find out, I will be updating sometime around 8pm!

If you want to see all the robot pictures from Sunday, click here.

Updated 8:30pm - Daniel decided on Wolverine (part of the X-Men) and had a great time trick or treating….lots of candy!   Click here for more pictures from tonight.

Happy Halloween Everyone!  Be careful…

No, not a Halloween entry…just numbers….

30 days until Thanksgiving!
62 days until Christmas!

He lost his first tooth!
(It’s one of the bottom middle ones, it just happens to line up with his gap on the top).

Last week I purchased a couple of small mums to use as decorations for the autumn-themed teacher luncheon.  They worked well and I brought them home to use on my porch. 

A problem with my porch is that it gets a lot of direct, hot sun all day long and last week the temperatures were more like June than October.  So I brought the mums into the house until the weather cooled off.

Then one evening while cooking dinner I noticed some little droppings on the counter…the kind of droppings that indicate you might have a furry, little visitor.  I carefully finished up dinner, wrapped everything tightly in plastic wrap and waited for David to get home so he could move the mums, which were standing in the way of seeing where the mouse might be hiding.   

The mums standing in the way.

The droppings.

I carefully tried to investigate a little further and discovered this, hiding in my mums:

I then witnessed the grasshopper, do his…um, business.  You cannot imagine my relief as I realized we did not have a mouse at all, we simply had a grasshopper that had been eating mums all day.

So the lesson of the day is, mouse poo and grasshopper poo look incredibly alike.

I started, kind of, sort of…just a little bit…listening to Christmas music today.

I know most of you are probably saying "It’s too early!"  Some of you are probably shaking your heads, laughing thinking "That Maggie!"

But, some of you….at least one of you is doing it too.

(And for those who think it’s too early…I usually have to listen to at least a few songs in August, so I’m late this year….that and it’s only 77 days until Christmas!)

….and I’m selling things to raise money for my school.  Would you like to buy something, please?

Gone are the days of selling door to door…it’s all online now.  So check your email for a link from Sally Foster to purchase something from Daniel.  You have to use the link in the email for Daniel to get credit for the sell.  I have not tried the any of the chocolates or the nuts (though, they look good), but I have seen the wrapping paper and bags in person and they are very nice and good quality.

If you have any questions about any of the products or about ordering, give us a call or email us.

Thanks!

• This past Saturday Daniel competed in his 3rd karate tournament.  During his first two, he received Sportsmanship Medals/Trophies….this time he got third place!  He did a great job and he is very proud of himself, as are David and I.

• Today he received his very first report card and got all E’s and S’s (those are both good!) and check marks in all the right places.  He is reading right around a 3rd grade level (he’s even been allowed special permission to check out fiction/chapter books in the school library!).

• Tomorrow he goes on his very first official elementary school field trip…on a bus….to the pumpkin patch (not a farm, there is, apparently a difference, I’ve been corrected numerous times by several children).

• This week is crazy busy for me, but the big thing (teacher luncheon) was today and is over and went well.

I promise I will be back soon with more (and asking you to buy things), but until then enjoy the pictures on flickr and check out this short video from the karate tournament.