She's a 5th Grader

CHARLI CHARLL CHARLI CHAMPION CHARLI 5th grade!!! Gymnastics, Soccer, Girl Scouts, Choir, Origami club, CLASS REPRESENTATIVE. Did I miss anything? You are rocking all of it! This year so far you have moved up to 6th grade Math, you ran for CLASS representative and WON, along with Aiden. " Be a smartie, vote for CHARLI!" You are continued your Charli Collections brand which includes purses, wallets, tissue holders, bags. You are really going to be a big deal someday, I mean you already are but everyone else will continue to figure it out world wide. I continue to watch you develop a soccer player, you were the best player on the field this past weekend. I saw things in you that would put you on a Varsity team now. Way to go! This weekend you have a tournament which your team has a chance to bring home some hardware! Go SOCKERS! Gymnastics Competition season is only a few weeks away. I can't believe that it was a year ago that you first competed and qualified for State in your first meet. Then to be 8th overall in the State, I can't wait to see what this year will bring. I am watching you become such a kind little girl. I am stating to see physical changes in you that remind me so much of me. Your long blond hair, your strong physique, you little zitties on your face, and of course those teeth that contiue to make thier way in. I have watched all your fashionista outfits change more in to tomboy chic. I can see how shy you are and just how much of a creative perfectionist you are becoming, questioning everything you do for approval. You don't need any one's approval you just need to be you and do YOUR best, whatever that means. You are so loved and looked up to by Danica and AJ, you were meant to be the OLDEST, your patience should be commended. Danica does try to copy you in so many ways but you could not be more different from one another. AJ definitely favors you, don't tell Danica...but that makes sense because all she does is bother him! I can't believe that you work so hard every day to no complaint. Of course there are days where you don't want to go, but you go without a struggle. I wonder what goes on in your little mind. You are so independent and driven, I wonder how you juggle it all. There is always a smile on your face...excpet when you are hangry and boy that is not a good thing to witness. Little things make you happy and you love to talk. Not as much as Danica but you love to talk. Half the time I am not sure what you are talking about or why you are telling me what you are telling me, but it lets your kind personality shine and gives you the spotlight brom Danica and AJ even for that short time. You are quiet, silly, shy, smart, strong, independent, easily likeable, fierce, driven, loveable, and so much more. We went to Colorado for a wedding this past weekend and I know my favorite part of the trip was when you came to hold my hand at the Cheyenne Zoo. It was one of the most amazing experiences and sharing it with you put it over the top. I am so blessed to have you as my daughter and my friend. You are so honest with me and I appreciate it. I am a tough person to deal with and you handle me with care. You always blow me kisses and kiss me on the forehead. You are a very nuturing person and I love how much you absorb what goes on around you. I know you are still figuring your place which is the greatest part of life's journey. I have all the confidence in the world you will always land on top which for a MOM is the greatest feeling in the world. I want to give you all the tools you need and watch you run with it. I couldn't in my wildest dreams think of doing a flip on a beam or off of bars. I remember you wanting to quit gymnastics- " I don't want to jump to the pit bar, it's too far..." and look at you now. I will not let you quit, as long as you love what you do and the butterflies keep showing up. I love you Charli more than you will ever know, even more than I know. I hope you stay 10 forever, even when you act like a teenager... I will love you always and forever. I am so proud of you and so excited for each new day!

2022 End of 4th Grade Update

I mean how could it be that you are 10?! I don't ever want you to leave, like really I don't ever want you to leave the bubble I have you in. When they say time goes by so fast I have realized this every day that is why I always want to be with you guys. You are such a blessing. From the day you were born you have been an incredible human. Every day you get older this only rings more true. 4th grade has continued a pattern of almost perfection. Your grades are all A's. Your Cogat score was 97% national ranking in Math. You were the leading scorer on your club soccer team- playing in a boy's league. You improved each gymanstics meet on your overall scores and finished 5th on beam, 6th on floor, 7th on bars and 8th All-Around in your first Illinois State Meet. I really don't know if a Mom could be more proud. You are a Girl Scout, you give back to others. You have the kindest heart and so many different friends. For your birthday you had 20 girls over for a sleepunder. You had the girls pick between 3 movies: Sandlot, Cheaper by the Dozen, and Enchanted. You invited everyone from your class so that no one was left out and you have an individual friendship will all of them. How great is that? I really am so proud of you, even as hormones start to take over you still LOVE me and want to spend time with me and tell me everything. I will leave those personal things out of this blog, but we definitely have an open relationship and I hope you always know I am hear to listen and talk about anything...and to make sure your put on pitty juice! I can't believe that you started the year with one "boyfriend" and ending the year with another. I sure do like the boy's you pick, I am thinking Danica will be going for more of the bad boys. OH BOY! Your days are filled with things to do. MWF Gymnastics, T/R Soccer, weekends games or meets. Days are filled with school and homework. You have completed one Math assignment almost every day this entire year...it pays off as all tests have been an A+. You set a goal of perfection and you met it. Your Math brain is amazing. That must translate to how awesome you can braid hair. I can't even believe how you taught yourself to do that. You also are writing songs, " I was driving down the road in the middle of Texas, when I saw you standing there." There are so many things you can do that I don't even know what your future holds. Well I do know it has a clarinet in it, even though I am rooting for the drums :) Your long blonde hair, blue eyes, not an ounce of fat on you, crooked teeth, red nose, adorable amazing person. Your creativity is beyond imagination. Your room is full of pictures you made, pillows you made, blankets, you made, medal and certificates you achieved. From a Golden Paw at school to first place on beam and floor. You keep setting goals and reaching goals and you smile the entire time you do it. You have learned to presevere.... and that the biggest challenge is to just show up. We will always have our little secret of how we got to the State meet in Bourbanaiss when I went the worng way. BUT WE MADE IT! Next stop your placement meeting today! I look forward to you finishing the last month of school post-pandemic, no mask, huge smile ready to take on 5th grade. You are an amazing sister, you own that role. You were meant to be the first born. I appreciate all your help, your kindness, your softness, and I love when you blow double kisses not matter where you go; mask on or mask off. I love that you LOVE karate kid and Cobra Kai. I love that I see you as YOU, you are your own little person who I am so very proud of and I love with all my heart. Hugging you makes my heart full. Here's to 10 years together Charli! Keep it Rockin! Poonie rocka ruuda , Judy Hops, Luli Lu xoxoxo I forgot to mention one thing about Easter. We saw 2 bunnies for pictures one out and about and one Easter bunny our house. You, Danica, and AJ wore your ears out to eat; it was awesome. However, a girl at school told you the bunny is not real and that her Mom is the bunny. You told her,"Well that is not true my Mom can't be the bunny we got Birkenstocks for Easter and My mom hates those!" Thank you for being you!

10.5.21 Update School and Sports!

I want to make a quick update on what has been going on with 4th grade, Sockers, and Signature.... and Girl Scouts. Two math tests and an A+ on BOTH. You tried to trick me that you got one wrong.... and you got me both times. We have talked about you checking your answers twice by putting a check mark next to them once you have done this, I think it is a great strategy. I have told Danica to do the same, we will see if she produces the same results. School is really going well, mask and all. I am very proud of you. Your current book selections have been about gymnastics and soccer so I guess that is par for the course. You do a great job doing your hair each morning, but we really need to keep brushing our teeth and taking care of our pitties and face. We are a changing and we need to take the necessary steps to stay clean everywhere and looking our best. When you feel good you look good and vice versa and then you do your BEST! Sockers is going SOOOO well. 1 goal in the first game with the club on a PK, a hat trick, 1 goal 1 assist, 2 goals 1 assist this past weekend and did I mention before league play is against boys, so even better. I told you to keep a soccer journal to track this... otherwise you will have to go off Mom's memory. I think in the spring you led the house soccer league with 14 total goals....15 if we include the penalty kick in the championship when the game went to PK's. Sunday you wore the captain band so that was really exciting! Afterthe game Coach Ivan asked, "Did you get your soccer skills from Mom or Dad?" You said, "Mom." During the game he asked, "Who is your coach?" and you replied, him-- then he asked, " who do you listen to, me or your mom?" you replied, " My Mom." Oh how I love you. In real life that means Mommy has to go upstairs or learn to zip it while you play. I can coach you when we are home. OK I promise to try my best to zip it! I only want the best for you and being a coach my whole life sometimes it is hard to shut that off, but it is better I learn to now, or I am going to end up coaching again. LET'S GO 21! Well, you are a level 5 gymnast and your first meet is weeks away. OMG! weeks away. You came home for the first time after practice the other day and you said it was "not good." Coach Matt had a clipboard and was "watching you" and it threw you for a complete loop. It made you so nervous. I had to explain that he is always watching you and always coming up with scores in his head with or without his clipboard. That is his job. I then said why don't you picture everyone in their underwear when you get nervous. You did this at the next practice, and guess what, you told me it WORKS!!! You did such a better job and they even had your perform a routine in front of the club. I feel your first medals of a long line of them are on the horizon! I am so excited for you no matter how you do. I PROMISE Dad and I, Danica, and AJ will always be your biggest fans. CHAMPION CHARLI CHAMPION CHARLI... To Be Continued....

Pandemic Year and a brand new school year!

What, where has the time gone? Since the last time I updated it has been almost a year and a crazy one to say the least. You started the 2020-2021 school year from home learning remotely from your room, ended the school year (3rd grade) from school wearing a mask...and now all of a sudden you are in 4th grade wearing a mask and going in to school with a brand new teacher. PHEW! Did I get that right???? Today is your first day of 4th grade. Now I need to back up and tell you how we got here. Well, as I mentioned before we are still going through a global pandemic of Covid-19. Vaccines have been created, but we are still fighting to keep people healthy and safe. Daddy and I both got Covid and were quite sick, you and Danica both were tested and were negtive. Dad and I wore masks in the house and kept ourselves away from you guys as much as we could to keep you safe. Since that we have both been vaccinated but there is a variant and people vaccinated are still able to get and spread Covid. I sure hope that we can beat this and fast, until then we are doing what we are told and wearing our masks to keep ourselves and other safe. It is carzy to think of all we did when we really couldn't do anything. The last normal day of your life was your birthday party on 3.14.20 then the world changed. You never went back to school that year. All your learning was done at home. Dad and I never went back to school for the next school year either. I went back from Apri 16th 2021 to the end of the year. You and Danica started the 2020-2021 school year from zoom in your room, went back to school, back to zoom, and thne finished safely back at school. But school does not look the same. It isn't just that we wear masks, but we had to socially distance 6 feet from each other. All desks are apart from each other, recess and PE we had to stay away from each other, even lunch. A lot of people were getting sick from not seeing other people and human touch. Luckily we were able to be with family and you have a brother and sister to play with. You might have missed not seeing all friends but I think you adjusted amazing. Restaurants were closed, no trips to costco or the grocery store. It was really a time were people stayed home, cooked, did things around the house, ordered out, and spent time with the family they could see. Doctors and dentists would have to escort you in and only one parent at a time. At 2:00 daily we watched the number of positive cases just keep increasing and waited to hear what we need to do- including the stay at home order-- JUST STAY AY HOME- crazy to think of, right? I cancelled our spring break trip to Florida in fear of the unknown. Know having had Covid I still can't taste and smell everything, so I do wish I could have protected myself more. When sports were cancelled, concerts, no spectators at anything world wide we just keep figuring it out,there was a toliet paper shortage, no more clorox wipes. People were losing jobs, places closing their doors permanently. talk shows were from the hosts homes. There was more zoom contact that physical contact. People need people and boy do I love my people! About life here we go: In regards to atheltics and activities you able to compete in your sports and at times there was a pause, just like with school. When Gymmanstics took a pause you then you started at a new club called signature and you are now a level 4/5 gymnast practicing 9 hours a week! You will have your first competition in October, I can't believe it! You excel at gymnastics. You actually excel at everything and that is not because I am your Mom saying that, it is the truth. In the spring you played soccer and your team was second place in the league, losing in the championship in penalty kicks. Guess who made their penalty kick, YOU! That game had some drama and on any other day I know your team would have won the trophy. You loved that team and made some really nice friends. In that league you were also the leading goal scorer. You have 3 games with hat tricks! It was then you learned what a hat trick is! You scored in every game and I believe finished with 15 goals! OMG! Yes exceling at soccer. Remember when you told me, "Soccer is a waste of time." We have come a long way with you now playing travel for a club team called sockers, picking your own jersey number of #21 and having just competed in your first soccer tournament. Oh and get his this- YOU HAD A HAT TRICK! and socred on a Penalty kick totaling 4 goals in 3 games with a brand new team. How about that, Champion CHARLI! Soccer completes your other 2 week days with 3 hours of training a week. At this point you are just a well oiled machine, you don't complain you just do and you do it WELL! You and I went and tried out for different soccer programs, I was so proud of your ability to try new things and jsut get out and work. You are a force, a kind hearted force, and we know those are the ones to look out for! School, you have always loved school and the work you bring home is outstanding. 3rd grade report card was the first time your received letter grades and you earned STRAIGHT A's! I am so proud of all you do. For PE we made a home workout tabata video and it was shared with your school during quarantine! You created art projects, hair styles, made pictures for your walls, bracelets for friends. Your ability to sew, eye for fashion, and creations are amazing for example but not limited to pillows, pants, book bags, purses, masks. Just you and your sewing machine. You even made a blanket for Reilly to cover her dog bed. You are the next life style brand CRC, you can do it all. Including making your own special banana recipe. You are an all american girl in the best kind of way. Blonde hair, blue eyes, stinky pitties (don't worry you have deodorant) physically starting to grow up, crazy teeth, so strong, beautiful smile, kind heart, athletic, smart, funny, serious. You check off all the boxes! Oh and guess what your same little crush from 3rd grade Adien, well he has the same crush on you and he let you know he likes you the first week of school! he said he wanted to tell you he likes you, because he "really likes you"...and you are in the same class! That made starting school all the more exciting! And you earned a paw on the first day! Welcome to 4th grade! Thinking back on the covid year I was able to see you learn from your room, be a part of your class from the hall, be with you all the time, spend time with our family that we will never get the chance to do again. We got to watch all of AJ's firsts together. I wouldn't trade that for the world. It was a terrible time in the world of all the people's lives we lost and families that were crushed... but it was also a time for us that I will never forget. We took our annual trip to Florida, masks on! We swam, we ate, we saw family & friends. We lived, we laughed, and we loved. We will continue to be a team, the best team, we can do anything and we are stronger together. I already knew that but this past year and a half has emphasized all of it! I couldn't love my family more, I am so thankful, grateful, lucky, blessed. My heart is so full it is crazy. I have to thank my 3 miracles for that! Thank you I don't want to shortchange all that happened so I will try to go in my memory and recap: March 2020- June 2021- school from home Summer 2020- perfect weather, no pools open, we went to Grandma's a lot, had people over, mostly outside, restaurants were closed, we bought a pool for the yard, a giant unicorn sprinkler, we hung out, we cleaned and organized. We celebrated milestones with family. School year 2020- started on zoom as I mentioned- went to school- then back to zoom- and back to school THE WORST NEWS CAME IN DECEMBER 2020- We had our annual night before Thanksgiving party and my side of the family came over and I am forever thankful we did. You and Danica played soccer in the basement with Mark and Bryan. Sadly, that will be the last memory of Uncle Mark. On December 6, Mark has a massive heart attack at home and passed away. My heart will forever be missing one of its greatest pieces. Just know that the joy you guys gave him made his life better and he loved you so. This is the same with Aunt Soph, she may not always get to see you but she loves you and is so proud of you! Winter break 20-2021- Florida, beautiful family dinner with Eric and Grandma New friends during covid, Ganas family, Cole, Reagan and Paisley Weddings postponed during Covid Spring- gymnastics started again and soccer Summer 2021- Soccer camp in Naperville, swimming, gymnastics, lot of sushi and weddings! This summer you Danica, and AJ were in Courtney's wedding in Milwaukee and you were beautiful. Aj didn't do his job they way he was expected but it was exactly as it should be. It was so much fun! You met cousins and danced and started to show a little of your teenager side. When we got back from Milwaukee after a stop at the outlet mall. We practiced songs and dances for your next flower girl gig in Christopher and Kayla's wedding. Another awesome wedding and beautiful job by you and Danica. We had such a great time dancing and you were so upset when it was time to leave. But as family we have to work on - all good things comes to an end and there is always a new day full of promise! The thing is that you all think every day should be a party... I wonder where you get that from LOL! It was trulu a great summer. Anotehr highlight being the lemonade stand you and Danica had with Rose where you made $150! Yes close to $150- you told Frank, that your "cuteness if really paying off!" Got to love it. Bike rides are a daily request same with going to cook in front of you. We met Mr. Sumo's family and Joanne even came to babysit you!!! It was so fun. Another highlight was meeting cousins like Brennan, and seeing Uncle John and Auntie MIMI. In July we went to Kentucky and you had your first hotel sleepover with Kensie. We went to the Lexington horesepark and keenland and saw lot of fireworks. We even stayed another night at Embassy Suites hotel and you can Danica rode the elevators for hours. It was our first long car trip and everyone was awesome! You both are the best big sister, although at this point AJ defintely favors you and loved to tell Danica, "NO DACA, NO SISSY." Believe me you love it!!! Your clubhouse is amazing so that really came to fruition during the pandemic. It is a girls dream and only members are allowed! Good thing there are only a few friends that came over and they are members :) We are just really back in the swing of things. The pandemic isn't over but we are adjusting the best we can to life as it is now. We go out to dinner, we hang as a family, we go boating with Terry, we look froward to waht each new day brings. We spend a lot of time in the car :) We walk to school. We just LIVE. I can't wait for allthe year brings. I love you Charli, I am so proud of you, 9 couldn't look better on anyone else! I will remember when you told me you want to live with me forever. I hope so, I love you!