The Growing Caldwell Family

Last weekend, Sarah Graves and I had a movie date. This was our first time going to the movie together and we picked a good one! We saw Cinderella and the Frozen short film. Both were well done and just perfect for enjoying with a little girl. We can't wait to do it again!

A sweet family friend that I have known as Aunt Sandy sent the kids sweet stuffed animals for Easter.  Sarah Graves received Lambie from Doc McStuffin and Charlie got Clover from Sofia. Charlie calls his Peter Rottentail, though! He loves it and drags Peter Rottentail all around with him!

This precious boy had a check-up with the hand specialist today. His hand is fine, but the middle finger is not straight like it should be. He will probably need surgery again in the future, but we need to time it well so that he doesn't outgrow the correction and require more work.  It is hard to think about putting him through that again. He uses that hand fine and it is definitely not his dominant hand. Then again, we want him to be his very best and don't want to short change him. It's a good thing he is in the midst of a big growth period and we don't plan to do anything for a while! Everyone at Dr. Lourie's office agreed he was the most handsome boy they have seen! I couldn't agree more!

Last weekend we had fun having baby Livy at our house! We pulled out our things for a little baby and she fit right in!  We went to Costco and church with her and she did well. She is used to being worn and it was easy to pop her in the Ergo. She is so light!  She was really sweet and cuddly, too! I must say that it felt odd to be taking care of a small baby and not nursing her. I took for granted how much I relied on my body to tell me it was time for the baby to be hungry and we didn't have to worry about making bottles. Fortunately, Olivia likes the bottle much better than mine did and she will take it even if it isn't very warm. A big relief for me! Sissy and Charlie were good with her! Can't wait for her to come back!

Last week Sarah Graves' school had a field trip for a puppet show. It was all about two caterpillars and their journey to become butterflies. The puppeteer did a great job explaining the puppets as well as the story. Sixty pre-k kids were a lot to keep entertained, but she had them focused. Afterwards, they did a craft to design and make their own butterfly puppet. Glad I join my sweet girl for a fun activity!

We are starting to get some warm, sunny days here! It is welcomed after so many rainy, gloomy days this winter. Last Sunday we had gorgeous weather and just couldn't be inside! Charlie and I spent the afternoon in the backyard.   He got in touch with his inner artist as he made a painting of a bear. He "walked" Lucy around the yard. She was happy to get the attention and didn't mind having her leash pulled this way and that! Charlie was a pirate steering his ship around. He was touching the sky on his rocket, too! We had a good time together just doing what he pleased. Sarah Graves and Aaron spent their afternoon outside at her friend Eliza's birthday party. The kids go crazy for a piñata! It was a ballerina party and she was quite thrilled to be going out wearing her tutu from her ballet recital! Sarah Graves discovered that she loves lemon flavored treats and helped herself to two lemon cupcakes! Eliza had a fun backyard for...

Aaron took Sarah Graves to a Home Depot Kids' Workshop last weekend. She had a great time going on a date with Daddy and proudly made a set of bookends to use in her room!

Sarah Graves was excited for St. Patrick's Day! We don't normally do much for the holiday, but she wanted to bake a special cake. She had visions of frosting a shamrock and a rainbow on it, but on a weeknight my best was a pound cake tinted green. She was happy and I had fun making it with them! Lovie made them cute shirts for the holiday! I didn't have great luck getting one shot of both of them, ha! The bottom one is Charlie's effort to smile, though! Of course, she had to enjoy some more of her green cake! She LOVES this kind of sweet treat! She had a great day and was so excited to see that leprechauns had been in her classroom leaving shamrocks all over and in the adjoining classroom they created a lot of mischief and dumped out all the toys and spread streamers around! Five is such a fun age!

Dear Charlie, You are such a great little buddy and so much fun to have in our life. You make us laugh and impress us all the time with your verbal skills! You can hold a great conversation and really know your mind and speak up for what you want. I love it when you want something, ask for it, then say, "Deal?" to confirm that you will get what we discussed! I could go on and on with cute things you say and how well you put together sentences. You make up pretend things and tell me about them and you can accurately recount what happened while you were at school. While eating dinner you want to tell us about your day as much as Sissy tells about hers. You love your school. Buckhead Prep has been a great place for you this year. The teachers take good care of you and you have learned so much. You have perfected counting (you go up to 20 now), know your colors, your shapes, sing your ABCs like a pro, recognize a few letters, and you sing nursery rhymes better than most adults!...

Dear Sarah Graves, Five years old doesn't seem possible. I remember the moment I first held you and finally looked at your precious face. I have to say that I have really enjoyed this age with you. You talk so well and hold great conversation. You are animated when you speak and use your hands and facial expressions to make your point. It is just precious! You are fascinated with Barbie and everything to do with her and princesses. You love to watch YouTube videos demonstrating toys and acting out scenes with Barbies and princesses. You know a lot about different toys and have really gotten some good ideas for playing with your dolls by watching. You have really enjoyed being in pre-k. You tell us how much you love your teachers, Ms. Marlene and Ms. Renisha. They are both very fond of you and do a lot to make school fun. You seem to get along well with kids in your class. You are friends with a bunch of kids, but your close friends seem to be Sydney, Charlotte, and Hank. You hav...

Sarah Graves' class put on a program to highlight famous people they learned about. Sarah Graves was Cleopatra and other kids were people like Oprah, Sammy Davis, Jr., President Obama, and Babe Ruth. It is so funny to now hear Sarah Graves make mention of Sammy Davis, Jr. In conversation or recognize Oprah on the cover of a magazine! She felt like a queen in this costume! She delivered her line so well and I loved how proud she was of herself. She was also given the privilege of delivering the closing. Cleopatra, Ghandi, and Sammy Davis, Jr. All together!

Sunday Sarah Graves went to the birthday party for her friend, Peyton. Peyton's family was kind enough to invite Charlie as well. Charlie has been to birthday parties, but he doesn't yet get invited to many, so he was excited! The party was at a gym and there were lots of activities for the kids. Sarah Graves was the sweetest big sister and stayed by her brother showing him what to do! She has such a kind heart for him and really tries to look out for him!

My dear friend Sarah had twin boys several months ago and we finally went to visit them! We don't go to other people's houses a lot, mostly because I prefer to keep our kind of crazy at home. The kids are getting older and it's hard to visit in restaurants, so I decided we would take our chances. I waited for a time when I felt like we were all healthy and would be less likely to expose the babies to something, then we made our plan. Turns out, the kids did great! They were a little crazy - Sarah and Pradeep got a sneak preview of what is in store for them - but we had a chance to visit and meet their sweet boys.  My kids were enthralled with the babies and their exersaucers! They were so intrigued with those toys! They were also very sweet and talked to the babies and tried to interact with them.  Sarah and Pradeep have a dog, Murphy, who so badly wanted to play with the kids, but they were no more interested in that dog than they are in Lucy. At least Lucy...