The Growing Caldwell Family

We had a great time with family on Friday night! My parents made shrimp poboys for us, we had time to talk and laugh, and we watched the movie "Sing". We haven't had much time to all be together the last couple of months which made it feel really good to all be together!   These crazies had a great time!   Dancing and singing watching Sing!   The kids enjoyed being together! I hope now that spring is here and the weather is getting warm we will be able to spend more time together!

Charlie and I had a date night last Friday! He was very excited! He thought he wanted to go out for pizza, but changed his mind and wanted to stay in and build a fort. I think we succeeded.   We took a walk and played hide and seek outside. An oak tree doesn't make a great hiding place for momma! We came in and got to work on his fort.   He was so tickled to hide from Daddy and Sissy before they came home!    

Olivia had a cold, so Lovie was taking care of her on Thursday. I picked the kids up from school and had a chance to take Sarah Graves to gymnastics.    Charlie was a fun guy to hang out with!     Sarah Graves worked hard and really listened I'm glad she has something she loves so much! It was fun to spend the afternoon with them!

Sundays are usually pretty relaxed at our house. Here's how things looked last Sunday.   Aaron surprised the kids and went out for doughnuts for a breakfast treat! A sweet treat was especially welcome since as a family we gave up sweet treats for Lent. It has been a challenge at times but gives us a good way to talk about Jesus' sacrifice for us.   They had the idea to take a photo all dressed up with their bunnies. We had lots of compliments on our color coordinated outfits (totally on accident). I helped teach their Sunday school class   We did some grocery shopping and grabbed pizza for lunch at Costco. Charlie takes his pizza seriously!     The afternoon was gorgeous and they had fun playing outside before dinner. Then, its bath and bed.  The end to a nice weekend.

I forgot to post these videos of Sarah Graves ice skating.

I have been a little surprised that Sarah Graves and Charlie already resist sitting down to practice school work. They don't get homework, but the teachers ask us to review and practice a little each dsy.      In an effort to reduce the griping, I decided to pretend I  was Mary Poppins! This was a huge hit! There were no complaints! I will have to add her to my repertoire of characters like the Southern woman who washes their hair at "Hair Jiff" and the German woman who urges them to "brusha the.beef!" 

We spent most of Saturday at home hanging out and doing a few chores. We decided to go out for burgers. The kids love to play the games at Chili's! We did a family game of connect the dots!     Afterwards they indulged me in a little shopping. Sarah Graves got tired but Charlie hung with me and was the sweetest shopping buddy! He helped me pick colors and the softest fabrics. The best part was getting Ugga muggas and kisses from him!

  Charlie's shirt says, " I traded my sister for a leprechaun!" He was quite pleased with it!   Sissy was super excited about the tutu skirt with this outfit. She wore it out to dinner, but actually wore pajamas to school! Her class got to wear pjs, bring a stuffed animal, eat popcorn, and watch a movie as a reward for all the compliments their class has received so far. We weren't sure SG would get to go because she had a bad cold with fever, but the fever broke and she was determined to go!

We have been looking forward to opening day at Six Flags! Aaron was down with the flu, but Lovie and Livy were happy to go! After a really warm winter it felt odd to get bundled up in March! On our favorite ride (that we can all ride), Harley Quinn! We had to ride twice because the first time we were in car #7 and it didn't move. Our second time we got car #4 and it is always spiny!   These three cuties had fun!       They only want to ride on this boat because it is "LSU"!         Cutie truck drivers! Livy wanted to ride anything the kids rode! She was a little nervous when the Twee House went up, but she hung in there!  We definitely missed Aaron, but we had a fun time! And I am definitely glad mom was with us! We are looking forward to many more visits this season!

Sarah Graves has really wanted to learn to ride her bike without training wheels. Our neighborhood is so hilly that we were worried it would be hard for her to get the hang of it. Finally, we went to a local school parking lot on a Sunday afternoon and she was ready to roll! After a little of this... She got the hang of this... And then this!  She was so proud of herself! It didn't take long and she was staying on, then she could steer and stay up! The next day we went out to try again and she was able to get on and get going on her own! I could not be more proud of her! She wanted to do it, she worked at it, and she was able to make it happen! Charlie is working on steering his bike, but he'll be riding without training wheels soon!

Sarah Graves has really wanted to try ice skating! We thought that would be a fun activity for spring break!    It turns out, everyone loves it!   At first, Charlie was not sold on it. He tried it a little, then wanted to sit down. He even took off his skates but decided to try again and he started to catch on!       Sarah Graves loves it like she expected to! She worked hard and got the hang of it! At first she fell a lot, but practicing paid off and she got better!       It was a really fun afternoon! I am so proud of the kids for sticking with it!

We celebrated Mardi Gras at Copeland's! They bring in a jazz band, decorate, wear costumes, and make it a party!       Charlie loved all the balloons!   Sissy and Lovie tried a piece of king cake cheesecake! It received rave reviews.     It took a while for us to be seated and as soon as Charlie ate his food, he crawled up in my lap and went to sleep. My sweet boy.