Charlotte ...

Charlotte turned nine just after Christmas. It's hard to separate the holidays, so we, at the BallTeam, say that we have Christmas Eve, Christmas, Charlotte's Eve and the 27th - Charlotte's birthday. I asked her the usual birthday questions and here's what she has to say: Her favorite color is blue (the color of water); her favorite subject at school, where she is in the third grade, is PE. Her favorite foods are kiwis and sticky macaroni (our homemade version of mac and cheese); and when she grows up, she wants to be a scuba diver or a swim coach or a teacher. She says she'll decide after the Olympics...

Charlotte likes to cook and she is a talented swimmer. She loves to be busy, be outside and be with people. She is the least likely in our house to play alone - she's a great playmate for Jay Michael. She likes to keep up with the big ladies and she's the leader of our youngest three. She's the perfect middle child. Charlotte is doing fantastic in school - her grades are all A's and B's. Her reading is just above grade level, but, she leans to math and science - just recently she tackled division with ease.

In this picture she is wearing her swim team shirt - the script at the bottom says, "My weapon is my body; My element is water; My world is swimming." That sums up her love of swimming - she is always ready for practice, and she's proud of how sore she feels later. (Mom note - don't you LOVE it when your kids discover their "thing"?) Charlotte is the youngest member of the year-round team and she practices with the high schoolers. Yes, some of the kids on the team are twice her age!

Charlotte is also our singer - her New Year's resolution is to join the adult choir at church. Excellent. Happy Birthday, Charlie!

How the BallTeam does winterized flip flops - :)