Charlotte Becomes a Teenager

Charlotte turned 13 this year which means that she is now officially a teenager!

She designed her own birthday party invites and even made and decorated her own cake.  On the day of her birthday party (which was a week before her actual birthday due to a volleyball game on her actual birthday), her friends came over and we gave them each a little $ and took them to the mall to spend it!

On the day of her actual birthday, we headed to Highland to watch her participate in a club volleyball tournament, which she didn't mind because she absolutely loves volleyball.  The absolute icing on the cake for this birthday tournament was that Charlotte served up the winning points in the final game!  We celebrated with her team with some Little Debbie's birthday cakes and juice!

Afterward we came home for a family party and some presents!  Which mostly consisted of new shoes, clothes, and hair stuff... because she is a teenage girl!

For the family party, she picked her favorite dessert in the world cheesecake.  She especially loves it with strawberries.

Charlotte is a great girl and we are so happy to have her in our family!

Here are 10 things to know about Charlotte.

1. She is social.  She is the kind of girl that doesn't just have one or two close friends but has large groups of friends.  Whenever it is time for a birthday party or a friend over day, the question is always asked... "How many people can I invite??"  She is funny and fun and kind and attracts all kinds of people to her.

2. She loves sports, but most especially volleyball.  She has participated in school track, basketball, and volleyball as well as summer softball and she is so coordinated and awesome at all of them.  She has some natural athleticism, which is fun to watch.  But right now her heart is in volleyball and she lives and breathes for practicing, learning, and dreaming of when she can play again.  She is hoping to be a front-row hitter this year.

3. She is smart.  She has always done well at school.  She catches on quickly to concepts and is even often called upon to help other kids understand their assignments.  She is killing it with straight A's at school.

4. She is ambitious.  She has so many hopes and dreams.  She is always setting goals and then working on them.  She has been striving to learn to frost and decorate cakes, make jewelry, learn to do her hair and makeup, and has been learning to play the guitar and ukelele, as well as the violin.  At school, she is also involved in the student council and loves being involved.  She has lots of hopes and dreams for the future and I know she will accomplish them!

5. She is artistic.  She loves to sketch, and paint, and craft and she is good at it!  She took an art class at school and spends her spare time at home creating pretty things.  I am always amazed at her artistic talents!

6. She loves cheesecake and Nutella.  If we get milkshakes I always know Char will pick a strawberry cheesecake milkshake and that is always her go-to birthday dessert.  And lately, she has also been putting Nutella on everything!  And she needs that extra energy because she is growing so fast!  She has really hit a growth spurt these last couple of years!

7. She is a little bit of a hippie.  Okay, hippie trends are coming back and Char owns some pairs of pants that could probably be considered bell bottoms.  She also loves parting her long hair down the middle and wearing sunflower apparel.  She even dressed as a hippie for Halloween.  She makes a cute little hippie!

8. She loves fashion and hair.  She has a talent for picking outfits and has invested time learning about hair and makeup.  It is paying off.  She knows how to style herself and she is often mistaken for being older than she is.

9. She is funny.  This kid keeps us laughing all the time.  She has a very adult and sophisticated sense of humor and she always catches me off guard with her sharp wittiness.

10.  She loves her family and has a great testimony.  At the end of the day, she loves spending time with the family playing games and hanging out.  We love having Char around and we are so glad that she is in our family!