The Growing Caldwell Family

 My team at work planned an outing to a Braves game and it happened to be on Charlie's birthday! I guess all the excitement of turning 5 wore him out! He fell asleep before we made it to the game and couldn't wake up for the excitement. He did get a special button for celebrating his birthday at the Braves! Sarah Graves is so good natured and has fun wherever she goes. She was friendly and spoke to my co-workers! About midway through the game Charlie woke up and came alive to enjoy it! What a way to kick off being 5!

Rainbow Bobby and Elfa Claire were hard at work getting ready for Charlie's big day! Sponge Bob balloons for his chair. These crazy elves had fun with crepe paper! There was crepe paper on the mantel and they made a curtain at Charlie's doorway.  They made a fun sign for his chair, too! I have to say that his birthday got off to a rough start. We had a misunderstanding because he thought his birthday party would happen on his birthday. Needless to say, he was upset when he found it it was a school day. I think he thought he wasn't going to have the party like we had talked about and planned. He was beside himself upset.  Sarah Graves very badly wanted him to enjoy his birthday. If it were possible to will someone out of a bad mood, she did it. She had the best attitude, encouraged him, and tried to help make his birthday really great. She has a big heart and wants everyone to be happy. Eventually, her efforts paid off and he agreed that he...

My sweet boy turned 5! He was so excited about it! He had been talking about his birthday for months! Charlie is full of life, very affectionate, has a great sense of humor, a logical mind with an attention to detail, and an all around great kid! When he starts a sentence, "If I understand correctly," I know I'm going to be called on the carpet for something. He showers me with kisses regularly; continues to be my snuggle buddy at night; and is hooked on playing video games, particularly Smash Bros. with Aaron! On any given day his favorite food is pepperoni pizza, peanut butter and jelly uncrushable, or strawberries. He pretty much only drinks water and cannot stand any carbonated drinks. Some of his favorite things to watch are Puppy Dog Pals and Sofia the First. He has a tender side and takes good care of his doll, Max. It is very cute to hear him and Sarah Graves playing dolls as Mom and Dad. He also enjoys playing with his superhero figures and building with h...

Although Atlanta was not in the path to totality for the eclipse, we had about 95% coverage. There was a lot of excitement for the event. Charlie watched the eclipse with Love and Pops. Love how cute he looked with his eclipse glasses and "shield." Sissy watched it at school with her class. She was quite pleased with her glasses! Aaron and I worked as usual but took time to watch the eclipse. Glad we all got to experience this historic event!

With three successful days of school down we decided to celebrate with a Friday pizza night at New York Pizza Exchange!  One of the highlights of going to this restaurant for pizza is eating outside on their patio and on weekend evenings there is live music. Usually they welcome the kids to play or sing along and the kids were eager to join in with the band! Yummy pizza! They love to go out with Lovie! It's the bearded lady!

It felt all too soon our vacation was over and school was starting, marking the end of our summer! SG helped pack lunches for the first day. Aaron takes care of lunches since he leaves soon after the kids get up, but SG was eager to help with picking items for the first day. This was my first time working with chalk markers and I was really impressed with how it worked! Sarah Graves wanted to write her information and I think she did a great job! My buddy was excited for his first day! Thanks to Love for another precious first day of school shirt for this man! Love these two so much! Excited and eager for the first day! Sarah Graves was a little nervous to be moving up to second grade and leaving her beloved teacher, Ms. Muller, behind. She was really excited and proud to carry her backpack and lunchbox that she picked and that were beautifully monogrammed thanks to Lovie! She was also super proud of her fun tennis shoes that Grancy took her to get. My...

Coming back for our third year at St. B's felt pretty relaxed. In fact, the meet'n greet for Charlie's class was night and day compared to last year! He was confident and enjoyed it more like a playdate! Charlie and Miles have been in the same class for three years now! He lit up when Miles got there and they picked up playing where they left off last year. They seem to be well matched for one another and get on great! Charlie is in Ms. Jeanie and Ms. Allison's first grade class. He was very pleased to be in this class because he was confident it's the class you go to when you are five! We call it pre-k 5 since he will be 5 while he is in this class! He found his seat, folder, and cubby with no problem!