The Growing Caldwell Family

Both kids are doing so well in school this year! Charlie has been very proud to be in coloring club! If you take your time and do a nice job coloring, the teacher puts your name on a list for coloring club and you get to use colored pencils. He lost his coloring pencils for a bit, which was upsetting to him. His teacher said he was rushing and needed to take his time and do his best work. He has the pencils back and feels very proud. Sarah Graves is a hard worker and spelling doesn’t come easy. We were so proud to see her effort pay off on this test! She receives many compliments on her handwriting and Ms. Valentine stopped Lovie to tell her what a joy it is to have Sarah Graves in class! All of that makes my momma heart proud!

Charlie and I had an afternoon together. He was very agreeable and helped me do some cleaning and tried on clothes for me!  Then he found a book he made at school that looks a bit like a cookbook but showcases foods you can cook starting with C. He was particularly excited about the “castle” fish. He did the legwork to find the ingredients they showed in the picture. He worked hard to delicately stack the crackers to make the shape. I was impressed with his flexibility when we couldn’t get it like the picture but made more of a House shape! That could have turned a fun time together sour. He even had the idea to generously spread peanut butter on the plate to help the crackers stick. Typically Charlie, he ate the fruit, licked some of the peanut butter and left the crackers! He was very pleased with our accomplishment!

SG enjoys art so much and had a great time at her best friends’ birthday party. She has been close to Lauryn and Olivia since kindergarten! She made this cool painting that she proudly hung in her room!

I enjoy dressing my babies up all cute and love it when they are coordinated! The older they get, the less they let me do it and the harder it is to find sweet clothes. They looked so cute supporting the Tigers in their purple and gold! I’ll enjoy it while I can.

I had the sweetest moment with Sarah Graves last night. She was reading Sheila the Great (she says it as Shelly because she finds Sheila too hard to read!) at bedtime to me. We were at a part when Sheila and her friends broke some model airplanes and they try to fix them. Sheila’s mom smells the glue and the girls lie about it and say it is a new kind of toothpaste! We laughed so hard at that! She giggled and giggled like I have never seen! So much fun to see her enjoy a book that much!

Our trip to White Water completed our summer bucket list! And just in time, too!

For her birthday, Jeanne' suggested we all go to White Water! We haven't been all season, but she and Livy go all the time. The weather was really warm, so a water park was a good place to be! Pretending to be Pops! Livy's favorite part is the lazy river! The family water slides were a lot of fun! Everyone doing the same thing together! Livy was not sure about that slide! Three cuties! Pops tried out the ropes course and figured out how tricky it is to get across! Sissy is really strong and she worked very hard to get across. Charlie was so proud of himself for making it to the other side! 

Friday night kicked off another season of cotillion for Sarah Graves. She was really looking forward to it and had a fun time with her friends! Excited to see Izzy. She practiced introducing people, shaking hands, and worked on dancing with a partner. I love the idea of her having confidence as she grows up and is in social situations on her own. 

One of Charlie’s favorite things to do is go down to the basement with Pops. Their basement is full of all sorts of stuff and he loves to look around and see what treasures he can find. Recently, he hit the jackpot and found Pops’ first iPhone, complete with accessories! Pops let him have it and he thinks he is too cool having his own phone! He likes to use the camera and video feature which is cute! He has confidence that Daddy can work on it and get some games. We will see...

We now have a Cub Scout Lion, Girl Scout Brownie, and a Den Leader in the House! SG is excited to do some science and technology badges and hopes to go on a camp out this year! Charlie is proud to learn the pledge and excited he gets to see his friend, Emmett! Aaron graciously volunteered to lead Charlie’s pack and is hoping to survive seven five-year old boys!

A while back we watched the 1990s version of the movie Jumanji and reslly enjoyed it! I love that they are getting old enough to enjoy movies that I think are fun! No offense to Frozen and Sing-those were great cinema! For Charlie’s birthday he received a Jumanji board game and we finally played it. Turns out, it is a fun little family game! There were a lot of rules and definitely need an adult to play with them. The best part is that there are some tasks that you have to work together to do! Each player is trying to advance but you have to pull together too. The kids liked it a lot!

We had a fabulous time st Six Flags on Saturday! We got there early and rode so many rides! Notice Charlie the crazy pedestrian! Livy happily let Charlie chauffeur her around. So much love! Livy was all too happy to wait while the kids rode Mind Bender. Livy was tall enough for Harley Quinn and she did ride it. She was a little uneasy about it but proud of her for doing it! Rode it 4 times in a row! The kids didn’t even get off! Aaron and I took turns riding. So fun and it reminded me of childhood going to Astroworld! So proud of Charlie for getting brave and wanting to ride! We waited out some afternoon showers at the carousel. Dry and the kids were perfectly content! We had a really great day! The kids enjoyed themselves, we had fun, everyone was happy!

Before everyone left we took some family photos. I love that we have a souvenir photo of a fun weekend together.  After the Baton Rouge crew headed out, we went out for more water king and wake boarding. Sarah Graves keeps getting better! She can hang on as we go through some waves! Charlie likes to be the lookout when Sissy is skiing. Livy gave the ski trainer a try! I am so proud of Charlie for trying the ski trainer. He tried to get up on the water skis but couldn't get the hang of pulling up out of the water.  This weekend really was a fun time with beautiful weather spent in a place that we love so much enjoying it with people who are special to us. 

We woke up to a mother pretty day on the lake filled with breezes and sunshine! Ryan and Sarah Graves worked together to mix up pancake batter! Sweet times for cousins to spend together. Charlie calls the fly swatter a fly "swapper"! Everyone's kids run around carrying it, right? It can be a sword, a wand, or any other weapon a young superhero might need! There was lots of fun on the water too. Jet ski, rafts, water skis, wakeboard, paradise pad, slide we used them all! We came in for dinner and time to cheer the Tigers on in their victory over Miami! Aaron and Charlie enjoyed watching football together. Aaron would love to have a football watching buddy and maybe Charlie will be it. With both grandmothers celebrating birthdays in September, we needed two cakes! I am so grateful that the kids have had a chance to meet and spend time with their great grandmothers. I remember three of my great gr