The Growing Caldwell Family

We managed to get ready for Christmas Eve service a few minutes early and took a few pictures. That may have been our Christmas miracle right there! Our church does a children's service in the late afternoon that is really focused on kids and lets them be a part of it. There are paper bags with head pieces to make a "costume" and you grab one on your way in. Charlie chose to be a cow and Sarah Graves chose an angel. During the service the children do readings and we sing Christmas carols. When it's their turn, the kids come forward to be up front. Sarah Graves loves when they bring the kids up front and is always eager to go. I was so proud of Charlie when he went right up there with the other animals. He went up like he had done it many times before! Our baby is getting to be such a big boy!

Sarah Graves' pre-k class sang carols in the cafeteria at Home Depot and oh the cuteness! When she went into her guitar moves, it was so funny! They performed four songs: Feliz Navidad, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Jingle Bells. Their teachers had choreographed moves and some musical props to make it a full performance. The cute fella on the right is her good buddy, Hank. She tells us that she is going to marry Hank even though he is an Auburn fan! Charlie came to watch his Sissy and he was really taken with this carved Homer on Home Depot's main street. So cute to see him hold its hand!

Sarah Graves' teacher wanted a Polar Express party for their class, which sounded like a lot of fun! I offered to help and before I knew it, I was in charge! Pinterest was a wealth of ideas for this one and it was a lot of fun to plan! The kids came in pjs and Aaron did a fabulous job making this truing and Polar Express sign to go on the door. I used black electrical tape to make train tracks on the floor. The kids and parents were excited to come in and see what was going on that day. I made a bell with a "believe" tag for each child and they really enjoyed hearing the bell ring/ SG and her friend, Charlotte. They watched the movie for a while. For the snack we had fancy hot chocolate with peppermint marshmallows, chocolate chips, and whipped cream! We also had cookies! A real treat to have at school. They enjoyed watching the movie with their hot chocolate. Sweet girls, Sydney and Charlotte. Once they started getting bore

The last several days have been very chaotic with a lot of sleeplessness nights, but all is well and our christmas was merry! Olivia Claire joined the family on December 25th at 3:45 a.m. Her arrival made the day that much more joyous. Now we need sleep...

Christmas afternoon passed in a blur as we were all exhausted from the birth. We opened presents as usual and worked with Olivia to learn to nurse. That evening guests came for Christmas dinner and we managed to pull it all together. I think I was in a fog and just barely thought to pick up the camera! Props to Mom and Dad for getting a delicious Christmas dinner complete with beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes, and pumpkin pie served for all of us! Sarah Graves quickly decided she loves her new cousin!

Santa came! Charlie was worried that Santa wouldn't bring him any presents. In fact, our conversation went something like  Charlie: Santa not bring me any presents Me: Santa isn't going to bring you anything? Charlie: No, I sad he not bring me any presents. Me: Really? None? Charlie: Christmas is soon. I sad. Well, I would say that Santa remembered each of them quite well. Sarah Graves was really wanting more Barbie toys this year. She was very clear that she wanted a Barbie cruise ship. That was her first request and she stuck with it. She also got a Barbie babysitter set complete with a baby that wets its diapers when you feed it water, an astronaut Barbie, and a mermaid Barbie. Her other things included a set of magnet toys, an Elsa doll that sings, and some small Frozen dolls. Charlie asked for Olaf and books. He received a stuffed Olaf with a blanket, a set of Caillou books, and a new book about a train. He also got a set of power tools that make

We went to Chartwell to have cookies with Santa and Mrs. Claus. This is a fun, low key event, and I love that you get to take your own pictures. Santa is very sweet and takes his time to talk with them.