The Growing Caldwell Family

Charlie loves to build pillow palaces! I think the part he loves most is figuring out how to construct it.  He had a lot of fun thinking about how to get this one high enough that we could still watch TV in the fort. He came up with the idea of standing a broom and u mop up on a chair like a pole and balancing the sheet on that to give it the lift it needed. We piled in the pillows, grabbed a snack, and watched some cartoons together! I found this picture that Charlie took of his Legos. I love finding little treasures that he took time to set up and capture something special to him. 

Charlie was asked to write about an odd pet and he made up a dog ucorn! I love his creativity and his budding writing skills are letting him show it. 

My two cuties dressed up for church. I thought I better take pictures. because Charlie protested wearing this smocked outfit. Sarah Graves definitely has more opinion about what she wears now and is definitely aware of what looks babyish.  I knew the days of dressing them in smocked outfits would come to an end and here we are. 

I had some baking to do and appreciated the kids' willingness to help. There was a time when their desire to help caused frustration, but they have learned how to do a lot and can really help. They still need some guidance, but can handle a lot.  Sarah Graves even added her own special touch to oatmeal cookies by adding peanut butter!

Sarah Graves went for a sleepover, so we took Charlie on a dinner date. He picked Cheesecake Factory and of course, it was prom night and very crowded. Charlie wanted to wait, so we had a nice long hour and twenty minutes to hang out.  When I read him the options for kids, he quickly narrowed it down to his top five. Further questions for the server helped him narrow it down to the flatbread pizza. He was really excited to order the cherry chocolate cheesecake that he devoured!

We spent a fun night in Greece watching kids perform Mama Mia! Several kids from their school were in the chorus and some other friends were there to watch making it very fun! I have to admit, some of the content made me worry I might get some tough questions, like how could a mom not know who her child's father is. Fortunately, they didn't ask too much and now just enjoy singing the music of ABBA. A win all around!

Kindergarten put on a fun musical with each class telling a story about Pete the Cat. There was singing, motions, teachers acting, and kids narrating the story. Each class told one story about Pete. Charlie's class told the story of Robo Pete Charlie was so excited to be in the show! He smiled, sang, and did the hand motions! He loves his teachers and school and I couldn't be happier for him! The day of Charlie's show was a stressful one at work, but when I saw his smiling face lock eyes on mine, I was so happy to be there!

We have had so much rain this year. We enjoyed a lovely dinner and were able to enjoy the beautiful spring weather eating outside. Such a treat! Sarah Graves was excited to get pizza crust baked with just olive oil and no sauce or cheese! Charlie was attracted to the fence and the flowers!

Now that Chsrlie has spelling tests too, it sometimes feels like we are having a spelling bee.  He loves the competition to see who gets more right!  She typically doesn’t want to spell, competition or not!

Sarah Graves and I continued our girls weekend on Sunday. Sarah Graves asked for Krispy Kreme doughnuts before church and they were so yummy and delicious! Then, it was off to church to acolyte! In the end, we had fun during our weekend together. We did some crafty things, cleaned out her closet, and enjoyed some relaxing time watching Buddy v. Duff baking!

Sarah Graves had an assignment to pick a person living or dead to read about, write a book report, create a portrait, and dress up like the person. My gymnastics loving girl picked Simone Biles! Thank goodness Simone wrote an autobiography after the 2016 Olympics! Reading the book was no problem, but it took some work to find the motivation to write the report. She left most of the work for the weekend before it was due and I was determined it wouldn’t hang over us all weekend. I had bagged all week wanting her to get it done and didn’t want that for the weekend too. Friday night was met with much disbelief that I was serious we couldn’t go anywhere until the report was done. There was much pleading and many attempts to negotiate. Finally, Saturday morning she woke up early and got down to business. By 9:30 she had the report written so we could head off to the Home Depot Kids Workshop! She was very pleased to have it done! I am proud of her beautiful cursive and perseverance to get it

Aaron and Charlie has a blast at the Cub Scout Spring Fling camping trip! They did your usual tent camping activities sitting around a campfire and what not but there was so much more! Making elephant toothpaste! Some more science experiment Learning to play Ga Ga Ball! Turns out, he really likes it! He also tried out archery. He was impressed with these gadgets that can follow the line! The only hiccup was a huge rainstorm came through Saturday night and soaked their tent! They fared better than some that woke up to inches of water in their tent!  Charlie enjoyed the weekend nonetheless and is looking forward to going back!

I took Sarah Graves to the Kids Workshop at Home Depot and couldn’t help but marvel at how much she can do all on her own! She read the directions, hammered, and used the screwdriver with no help! Nine year olds are impressive! She opted to wait until we got home to give it a coat of sunny, yellow paint! Now it just needs a bird family!

We spent a gorgeous spring day at Six Flags! I was really looking for a fun day to be together and just enjoy each other and we got it! The morning started out awesome by walking right on to Mind Bender and riding in the first car! We had a thrilling ride and were able to stay put and ride it again! Charlie found a beautiful spring bloom. He pays so much attention to detail and admires pretty flowers. Ready to fight with the Justice League! Aaron got his highest score and the after ride stats said he was in the top 1%. We already knew that! So many smiles! The gorgeous spring weather gave us a lot to smile about! Sis takes her chauffeuring pretty serious! We came home tired and happy. Ready for more fun days riding rides and enjoying ice cream!

Charlie was excited to have his dad join him for doughnuts for dudes.  Charlie made this for his dad and was really proud that he made a blue backdrop to look like water. He is so fond of his sweet teachers, Ms. DeHart and Ms. Freeman. They're pretty fond of him too! My two favorite dudes! They were most impressed that this year they actually served doughnuts at the event! 

Sarah Graves was pleased to Acolyte during chapel with her friends, Sienna and Katie. She was very pleased to be the one to carry the banner. At church, the younger acolytes usually do the job of carrying the torch.