The Growing Caldwell Family

Rainbow Bobby and Elfa Claire were back and up to some of their usual tricks and a few new silly moves! They brought the kids fun prizes in a new tree of their own, fidget advent calendars, gingerbread kits, and candy canes! When they first arrived, they didn't move and we were quite worried about them. Sarah Graves doctored them with some cinnamon. Looks like Elfa Claire had to treat Rainbow Bobby at Barbie's infirmary and those must have been magical candy canes because they were up and going after that.  Looks like they were leaving a hint that Sarah Graves and Charlie were on the nice list! Taking a ride on Rudolph! Taking a sled ride! Reading some Christmas stories.  They went out with a bang bringing a pancake mold and hiding candy canes around the house! We are still finding candy canes! We bid them farewell on Christmas Eve and Sarah Graves is looking forward to seeing them in a few weeks for her birthday.   

Although we didn't bake as many cookies as we typically do, we did do some baking to get ready for Christmas.  Charlie wanted chocolate chip cookies and he got busy whipping up a batch of those. He takes it very seriously and did a good job! Eating a warm chocolate chip cookie and watching Christmas Vacation is a good way to spend an evening.  Sis picked up a piping bag and helped me ice sugar cookies.  She also helped Aaron make some gingerbread cookies! I think we each had one of our favorite cookies and hopefully next year we will have family and friends with us to share them!  

We missed out on buying our usual gingerbread house kits from Costco and the kids were worried they wouldn't get to build one this year. The elves came to the rescue and brought kits to them! These kits required assembly and Charlie wasn't fooling around. He went straight for the hot glue gun! Sis kept it authentic and used the royal icing provided.  Charlie took a break during his build to enjoy a get well doughnut from Maw Maw Yvonne.  We kept our Christmas tradition of decorating gingerbread houses even if it was a little different than in the past! Next year, we will buy the kits the moment we see them at Costco!  

Shortly after we started going to Smyrna First UMC, they held tryouts for the Christmas program. Sarah Graves stepped forward and auditioned for a big role and she was pleased to be cast as Ms. Wright, one of the leads! After months of listening to the music, Charlie and I knew the words too! She did a great job! She knew her lines, sang her solos, and had great stage presence! All those many rehearsals really paid off! The show came out great! Grancy and Gramma drove in to see her perform! Pops and Lovie were so proud of her they were bursting! We were very proud too! She did a great job, but I was most proud that she had the courage to go for it! During the show Charlie started feeling unwell and by the next morning, our plans were all disrupted. Grancy and Gramma started for home as soon as we told them Char had COVID. Two days later Aaron and I started with it, and then Christmas was messed up. A lot of disappointment, but we were grateful to have mild symptoms and only truly feel

Having a Christmas birthday isn't easy and last year Olivia's party was cancelled due to COVID, so we were happy she got to have her party this year! Jeanne' did so good making this pop fidget cake happen! The kids enjoyed the Chuck E Cheese games and birthday fun!  

We spent a fun night at Holiday in the Park with Nay, Livy, Lovie, and Pops!  I just love the lights in this candy cane section! We enjoyed shows, sang to the holiday music, marveled at the lights, and of course rode the rides!  Charlie has been on the edge of being fifty-four inches - that magic number that let's you ride everything - for quite some time. I purchased a new pair of shoes that boosts him up and he easily made it over fifty four inches! He isn't ready to ride my favorite, Goliath, but he rode everything else! Such a relief and fun to see him so happy and feeling so good! I love this tunnel of lights! So dreamy to walk through! We stayed until they closed at 11 and just as we were about to go, Pops started feeling funny and noticing his mouth was swelling. First Aid got him some benadryl to stop the reaction, but we still don't know what it was from! Glad we enjoyed the rest of the night!  

Rainbow Bobby and Elfa Claire brought fidget advent calendars! Charlie couldn't find day1 and asked both me and Aaron to help and we couldn't find it either. So, he opened a different day and moved on. Sarah Graves got up and immediately saw the 1! Oh goodness!  25 days of fidget toys brought a lot of smiles!  

We had a great time getting out, seeing friends from school and church, and seeing Santa light the tree! Charlie rarely asks for anything, so when he saw kids with these swords and said he wanted that, we made our way to find them!  We gathered around to watch Santa go up on the fire truck and use his magic to light the tree! Charlie was excited to see his friend, Nico. This was a fun evening to be outside and feel the holiday spirit! I love that feeling of being part of a community.