The Growing Caldwell Family

 Charlie lost another tooth, but this was a little different! He mentioned that he had a tooth that was sore, but wasn't very wiggly. We sort of ignored it thinking the tooth was loosening and would become more wiggly. His complaints became a bit louder and I felt inside his mouth and realized the tooth was coming through his gums and definitely not a typically loose tooth.  I got an appointment to see the dentist the next day and Dr. Schwartz took one look and said we had to help the tooth out. The adult tooth was pushing the baby tooth out of the way and the root was coming through his gums. His mouth was numbed, the tooth came out, and Charlie was relieved to be on his way back to school!

 Sarah Graves was excited to get out and sell cookies in person at a cookie booth! I think she mostly enjoys having time with her friends, but she does a good job of selling cookies and helping customers.  The girls also worked hard organizing a presentation to share about Girl Scouts and a virtual cokie sale to a group of ladies at a local company looking to get connected to community groups. She had a great time doing the presentation and was so proud of what she and her friends did together!

We had a lovely evening celebrating Lovie and Pops' 50th anniversary. I originally envisioned having a large party and surrounding them with their friends and family, but they preferred to celebrate quietly. So, we had dinner at home just us nine and it was a lovely evening.  Sarah Graves made up menus for the occasion and helped set a beautiful table for them. x While Sarah Graves and I were on our campout, Aaron took care of ordering a cake for the occasion.  A toast to their love and many happy years together.  We are all grateful to be loved by them and to learn from them what lots of love and never giving up can do.  Happy 50th Anniversary, Lovie and Pops!  

 After trying tae kwon do, swimming, soccer, tennis, basketball, and football, Charlie decided it was time to try baseball! He lucked out and was drafted to a team coached by two dads who are great with the boys and love baseball! Their sons are friends of Charlie's and they made it easy for him to enjoy learning.  I took Charlie to his first practice and he was very nervous! He did a baseball clinic before practice started and he practiced some at home, but he was still worried about what he didn't know and that he wasn't going to be good at it. We talked about what coaches value - players who show up, listen, try hard, support their team, and keep working at it trying to get better. We also talked about the fact that no coach kicks a kid off the team just for not being good - if you are respectful and a team player, they will not kick you off.  By the time we got to practice, he was feeling better about things. We were there early, but Coach Kevin was there practicing wit

Sarah Graves and I went for a weekend at Camp Misty Mountain for her to ride horses and learn about barrel racing. We shared our cabin with another mom and daughter and enjoyed making new friends with them! Sarah Graves was so excited to set up her hammock! It was really cold out, but our cabin was quite cozy.  On Saturday, we headed to the barns to get started with horseback riding.  First, the girls had to practice how to navigate the barrels. Not the horseback riding she envisioned! Getting in the sun felt really good on a cold morning! Sarah Graves was so excited that her horse was named Sherlock! Her friend Marcela had a stuffed turtle that she named Sherlock and made up a song about Sherlock last year, so SG thought it was very funny that the horse was named Sherlock! We had time to spend in the barn learning about the horses, how they are cared for, some of their stories and how they came to a Girl Scout camp, and also learned to muck the stalls and tack the horses.  The girls r

Sis and Charlie went for their well-visits and as we knew already, they are growing quite well. We had a longer than expected wait in the exam room and the kids found the paper gowns hilarious! By the time we finished, the gowns were shredded from their silly antics! Charlie is 53" tall and Sarah Graves is 59" tall. Everything else indicates they are healthy and right on track for their age. That is a lot to be grateful for! Two kids both healthy and thriving is all I hope for.   

  We decided that we would treat ourselves to popcorn and candy while we lounged at a Spiderman movie for Valentine's Day! Such a nice break from our fast paced days! So grateful for these people who love many of the things I do!

Lucy turned 15 on February 13. We typically give her extra treats or a special meal on her birthday, but 15 felt like such a milestone that we needed to celebrate with a party, a  quinceañera! Lucy is not a fan of other dogs, so we didn't invite them, but we did invite some of her favorite humans! ! These are definitely her two favorite people. They show her so much affection and think about her often! Since Lucy loves peanut butter, we did peanut butter frosting on the cupcakes and a special meat cake with peanut butter between the layers for Lucy! Being so close to Valentine's Day we went with a Valentine theme with a few frenchies thrown in Lucy definitely loved all the special attention! The kids loved playing in the bouncy house! When it was time to sing Happy Birthday, she acted like she knew what to do! I think she definitely felt the love and enjoyed all the attention! It was a fun afternoon and I am so glad we gave Lucy this celebration. She entertains us every day and

For my birthday, I asked everyone to come paint pottery with me. We had a great time doing it!  Dad was a real artiste and took his time painting his grilling plate. Charlie took great care to paint his momma and baby panda and then it slipped off the table! He recovered from the devastation and painted a new one.  After three hours, we all had masterpieces ready for the kiln! Mom made this delicious caramel cake for me and everyone came to sing happy birthday after a long dinner! I was so surprised to receive this sweet delivery from a Girl Scout cookie mom and friend, Stephanie! Warm, chocolate chip cookies in a cute package added to my special day! I had a lot of people go out of their way to make me feel special and it means a lot!