Our BIG preschool Graduate!

Last week marked a very special occasion for my little Elle.  She graduated from the Teens an Tots program, where she's been attending preschool the last two years.  Here she is walking in with her cap and gown with her high school student teacher, Miss Rachel.

 Ella LOVED Miss Rachel, as well as the adult teacher, Mrs. Budd.  She told me she didn't like her other student teacher, Mr. Matt, because he was, well, because he was a boy.  Poor guy.  She also told us on the way to graduation that she didn't want to sing.  What I didn't know was that graduation was ALL about singing, about a half hour or more of songs by the tots.  Ella was the only one to not sing a single note.  My goodness she's stubborn.

Even when it was her turn to sing the bumble bee song (photo above with props to match), she did not sing.  And she was one of only four who were singing that song.  But what can I say, she knows all the songs.  She sings them at home all of the time.  She just made up her mind she didn't want to, and no one could convince her otherwise.  She seemed to have a nice time at graduation and she was in a good mood, so I guess I can't ask for more than that.

 Amelia enjoyed the performance too.  She's excited for next year so it can be her turn to be in Mrs. Budd's class.  She already has the hearts of everyone around her.  I have a feeling preschool will be a completely different experience for her.  One thing Mrs. Budd did say was Ella is super smart, and she will need to have a teacher that challenges her, but that is also caring and sensitive.  Firm yet loving.  I'm so nervous about next year, though I've heard good things about the Kindergarten teachers at her school next year.  Mrs. Budd used to teach there, and she says there are some wonderful teachers Ella will do well with.

 Ready to get her diploma/certificate:)

 Mrs. Rachel was able to say a few things about Ella, and was able to give her the certificate.  Miss Rachel said having one Ella is like having four typical five year-olds.  But she truly loves Ella and Ella could sense that.  It was nice to hear a teenager gets worn out by her too.  It's not just me because I'm old.

 Miss Rachel also loves Amelia.  She goes to church with us so she gets to see both girls every Sunday.

 It's a little bit of a smile, even though her tongue is out.  She has the cutest little smile if I could ever capture it on camera.

 Ella with both of her teen teachers, Matt and Rachel.  Of course I can't get her to smile in a photo EVER.  So instead, a photo of her stuffing her face.  Stinker.

Ella with her wonderful and patient teacher, Mrs. Budd.  We are excited we will get to work with her the next two years as Amelia has her preschool experience.

So congratulations to my sweet, strong-willed, feisty, smart as a whip Ella Celeste!  I'm sure this is only the first of many graduations to come (I hope).  She is challenging, but I wouldn't trade her little personality for anything.  To me it's a sign of her confidence and her intelligence, and when she's a teenager she's going to lite the world on fire because she certainly wont do anything just because the crowd is doing it.  She has a strong testimony already for a little one, and she will go far!  I just adore her, even though I also lose many hours of sleep hoping I'm channeling all of that energy in the right direction!  Thank goodness for wonderful teachers who help us along the way:)

Catching up on the photo front: Spring Break

I realize this year ranks as my LAMEST yet when it comes to posting photos, or really posting period.  Part of that is because life has been hard.  We are just trying to get by.  Now that it's Spring and we have a new home we are moving into, there seems to be light at the end of a very long tunnel.  But the other reason for the lack of photos is that our Aperature that we use to store all of our photos needed to be updated, so we finally got around to doing that.  And now we have some fun photos to share with you of our small adventures:



Above:  the girls Easter baskets on Easter morning and our cute little Easter mantle

 We also got to visit Kristin and meet beautiful baby Samantha (born February 6th just like Ella).  We love Kristin, Matt, and their family!

 We went to the park to play but it was still chilly

 We had fun even though we needed our jackets

 Pretty Easter Tulips and daffodils

 We went to the movies, and did a quick stop at the store after.  The girls got swim suits, and enjoyed wearing them the rest of the week.  Even with no pool in site, we made the most of our Spring Break.

 It's fun to color, especially when you can color in your new swim suit.  Ella chose it because it was "rainbow" colored.

Amelia had her FIRST hair cut!

 And we went to our friends Easter Egg hunt:)

The girls playing Red Rover

 Ready for the hunt to begin

So there you have it.  I FINALLY got around to posting some of our Spring Break photos.  More to come later!

Casa Calderwood... Here we come!

Wow!  What a whirlwind house hunt we've had.  When we realized it had become a sellers market, and that things in our price range were selling particularly quick, we became a little discouraged.  And discouragement was exactly what we didn't need.  As lovely as our little basement home has been, we have felt strongly the time to move is now.... for many reasons I wont even go into.  I'm sure common sense can help you fill in many of the answers.  Anyway, given our budget, and the high prices in the Northern Virginia area, we were starting to feel like we may be trapped, and at the rate we are going we may NEVER end up moving.  It was literally one of the hardest weeks I've ever had.  The girls were challenging, we were arguing with each other, we were feeling pressure from my family, and my work was harder than ever (I had a student make two suicide attempts).  My mom told me, "just remember it's darkest before the sun comes out."

We found out we qualified for a USDA loan, a first time home buyer loan that offers government backing for individuals/families making below a certain income.  We barely met the criterion based on our income, and now in hind site, it's a blessing Shaun hasn't started a new job because that could have kicked us out of the running.  But regardless of having a good loan to use, it made it a little harder to buy from an individual seller because the wait time for the loan is typically 60-90 days, and most home owners don't want to wait that long if they don't have to, especially in this hot market.  And on top of all of that, we were not on the same page in what we we were looking for.

Shaun wanted the more mature home with "projects."  I would love that one day, but I was concerned we wouldn't have the time, but more importantly the money, to put into projects an older home would require.  I have seen these town homes going up in Warrenton over the last year and I LOOOVE them.  They are truly beautiful, walking distance to quaint and charming Old Town, the library, and parks and other community events.  But we had reservations about the re-sale of a town home, the lack of space, the lack of yard...  But the town home accepted our loan, and they pay closing, so we can essentially move in for nothing!  On top of that, utilities will be much cheaper, lawn care will be much cheaper, general upkeep will be much more doable, and they put us in a good school district too.  When we added in all of those factors, we realized we'd be stupid not to go for the town home. 

In the end, after looking at both options (the old and the new), we came to the conclusion through prayer and studying it out in our minds, that the town homes were the right fit for us for this stage in our life.  I'm hoping the next five to seven years this will be our very happy home!  We made an offer on April 23rd, the offer was ratified or accepted on April 25th, and now we are waiting for our little clod of dirt to become our home new home!  We go to closing on June 28th, which works perfectly with the USDA loan because it usually takes around 60 days for them to process.  The photo above is what it will look like.  I think the fourth one from the left looks the most like ours will.  

We are THRILLED!  I know this is a longer story than you probably care to read, but if you want the short of it, we have seen the hand of the Lord in this.  We know it is right, and we couldn't be happier.  We know it wont solve all of our problems, but it certainly will make many situations better.  I know we need to leave our family (i.e.: my parents) and truly cleave to one another.  This will make our marriage happier and our home happier as we try to be our own family unit and let my parents be the grandparents, not the co-parents that they end up being simply because proximity makes it too hard not to be.

I'm so excited to decorate and make it ours, although I know this will have to happen over time as finances allow.  In the end, this was DEFINITELY the right move for us, and we look forward to seeing our house go up over the next couple of months.  I'll post pics along the way.

Let the House Hunt Begin!

My apologies for my absenteeism.  Our little family has been busy with the day to day routine of life.  We had a nice and uneventful Spring Break.  We tried to do something simple and fun each day to get out of the house, but the weather wasn't conducive to anything really outdoorsy, so we made the best of what we were dealt.  I plan on devoting a post to Spring Break soon, but tonight I just wanted to announce that after eight years of waiting and seven years of basement dwelling, the house hunt has begun!  We've gotten a realtor and are in the process of being pre-approved with our finances.  We are hopeful and excited!  We will keep you posted on the hunt and let you know how it's going.

March Madness

So the Calderwoods haven't posted much lately because... well we aren't that exciting to be quite honest.  But you know what, the girls say funny things each and every day, and I should really be documenting some of their cute words and phrases before I forget about them.  I wish I had pictures too to show how stinkin' cute they are.  Every day I marvel that these two beauties are my daughters.

So let's start with Ella:  She talks like a twenty year-old.  Today she told me, "Mom, for crying out loud, you need to get over it."  I'm thinking... really?  Where is all of this attitude coming from, and yet I'm so proud of your articulation.  She tells us she does not want us to have a new home, and when we say prayers at night and pray daddy can find a new job so we can have our own home, she likes to leave that part off.  She's enjoying preschool and seems to like her teachers this semester.  She can be so fun and full of love, and then she has her moments that test us and remind me of all the psychology classes I've taken to date.  Saturday she went with her dad to a basketball game at the church and then the two of them stopped and got donuts.  He tries to make special time for her that is positive for both of them.  That's something that makes me happy.  Ella is an excellent big sister.  She teaches Amelia games and looks out for her to make sure she's safe.  I'm so proud of what a loving big sister she is.  She tells me Amelia is "sort-of" her friend, and of course Amelia worships her big sister.


And speaking of Amelia:  Oh my goodness she has more charm in her little finger than some kids do in their whole bodies.  She loves "Dumbo" and asks to watch it all of the time.  She's very observant of others' feelings and emotions and is bothered when Dumbo's mom is put in jail (who isn't, right?).  She talks about it through the whole movie.  She talks about everything all of the time.  Half of the time I understand her, but she really means what she's saying.  She calls her bike her Bikelcycle.  Shaun changed her crib into a toddler bed and she is very proud to sleep there as this symbolizes passing the threshold to big girl status (except we are still working on the potty training).  This morning she came in to my room and climbed up and laid by me for twenty minutes.  She didn't say a word.  She just put her blankie on my tummy, and then cuddled up putting her head on my stomach (she likes to use her blanket as her own personal pillow).  She wakes up every morning happy and ready for the day.  She is such a doll, but she's definitely two.  She's into everything and can have her meltdowns.  She bounces back pretty quickly though.

Shaun and I continue to make the best of the many wonderful things we do have control over.  We are trying to save as much as we can in hopes to buy a home within the next six months... all depends on when Shaun gets a new job.  We enjoy date nights every now and then and last Saturday enjoyed going to dinner and a movie with a couple of friends.  We do that kind of thing so rarely that we really enjoyed it and appreciated it.  We enjoy our time together from 8pm till we pass out (usually 10 or maybe even 9:30).  I feel like our life is one continual tag team of naps, laundry, work, cooking and cleaning.  We are tired, but we are happy.  Shaun has a wonderful looking resume thanks to a good friend at church who took time to help him.  He is sending it out to whomever he can, and we pray that all things will fall into place before too long, but I continue to learn and re-learn that the Lord is at the healm.  He has a plan for us, a timetable for us.  We do all things that lie within our power, and then we have faith.

So that's us lately.  We enjoyed the big snow storm that came through last week and left 12 inches of beautiful snow, only to see it melt away by the weekend with the gorgeous spring like weather.  It was perfect.  One big storm and now bring on Spring!  More to come as we prepare for Easter Egg hunts and warmer weather.  I know I'm ready.

The Fab Five

Ella celebrated her 5th birthday this month.  It seems almost unbelievable that my little girl is five, but she reminds me of it nearly every day.  "Mom, I'm five now.  I can do that by myself."  

We celebrated in style with a cowgirl themed birthday party.  I tried to offer a simpler celebration option, like just taking one friend out to the bounce house, but she insisted on a party (o' my I've set the bar too high too soon... next year definitely will be more low key).  That being said, it was a wonderful party.  She had about five little friends over, and we colored, played pin the badge on the sheriff, had a cowgirl boot piñata, and learned to rope the hobby horse (thanks to Shaun and his cow roping skills).  The kids had a wonderful time, but I was exhausted when it was all said and done.  

 My most favorite part was decorating.  I was inspired from ideas on Pinterest, and I was pretty proud of the final result.

 We started out by doing some coloring- cowgirl coloring pages.

 We even put bandanas on the windows to add to the cowgirl feel.

 Everyone got a photo opp with the hobby horse.  Riley and Amelia took a turn riding together.  Those two are so stinkin' cute.

 After that it was time for a little game of pin the badge on the sheriff

 Followed by a turn at the piñata, a cowgirl boot

 Even Amelia took a turn hitting the piñata

 And then it was time for ropin' the horse.  Yipee Kay yai eh!

 The kids waited patiently on the couch for their turn to rope the horse.

 Shaun was so good with all the kids.

 Some of the girls got really into it, like Miss Maggie Mae of the wild west, or just Maggie.

 After that we opened some fun gifts.  I told Ella our gift to her was the party itself.  She also got a bike from nana and papa, and we got her the helmet.  Grandma and Grandpa C sent gifts too.

 And after some cake and ice cream, the group posed for all together shot in front of the hobby horse.

Of course I couldn't get one single photo where everyone was looking, but hey, we tried.

So Happy Birthday Ella Celeste!  We love you o' so much!