Charlotte's Birthday

Charlotte turned 12!  She is growing up so fast, but we still get one more year with our sweet Charlie Bear before she becomes a terrible teen!

Her birthday landed on a Friday this year, which meant that she had the day off of school.  It was a great day to have some friends over for some hot tubbing and games.

First thing though, was presents from the family.  She got a new full-size violin from mom and dad since she has now grown out of the 3/4 size.  She also got some fun things from her siblings like some cute new sandals, an oil diffuser, a letterboard, and some sun-in for her hair.

And since we found out that International Waffle day is on Charlotte's birthday, she decided to have a waffle bar with her friends for lunch.

Later in the day we all packed and packed for our cruise since we would be leaving first thing the next morning.  We ended our night with her favorite dessert of all time, cheesecake with strawberries and whipped cream!

 10 Things About Charlotte

1. She is bubbly.  She has a very sunny and bubbly personality and sometimes has to talk a million miles an hour at an incredibly loud volume to get all of her stories and excitement out.

2. She is very athletic.  She loves ALL the sports.  Anytime a sports sign-up sheet comes home from school, she wants in! Even if that means she ends up playing Spring Volleyball and running track at the same time and stacking practices and tournaments on top of each other.  This year she has done basketball, volleyball, softball, and track (hurdles, 200, and long jump).

3. She loves to read!  Can't find Charlotte?  Go look in every nook and cranny and she will eventually show up completely absorbed in a book.

4. She is a good crafter.  She has a subscription to a monthly maker crate, where they send her complicated craft projects and she absolutely loves it.  She picks up on all kinds of crafting techniques easily and is very artistic.  She loves to sketch in her sketchbook and has a good eye for details.

5. She is starting to really love to shop!  She begs to go to the mall and loves to buy clothes and make-up.

6. She is in the Young Women program and she really loves the camaraderie of the girls doing activities together.  She loves her group and her leaders and can't wait for the activities every week.

7.  She is musical.  She continues to take piano lessons, but would really like to learn to play guitar.  She has been teaching herself by watching tutorials on YouTube and has also learned some songs on the ukelele.  She loves to sing and has a beautiful voice and she continues to learn and develop beautifully on the violin.

8.  She is very social.  She loves to be with friends and loves big get-togethers.  As with sports, with any activities that come up, she wants to be the first to sign up.  She is talkative and fun and makes so many friends wherever she goes.

9.  She has a very funny and sophisticated sense of humor.  She often finds humor just by observing the world around her.  She keeps up with the big kids in conversation and can keep us all entertained and laughing.

10.  She is very smart.  She continues to excel in school and has worked on some fun and unique projects in her Gifted and Talented program.