Aleah is 9!!!!!!!!!

(Picture 1: Aleah being the most fabulous Goalie ever, Pic 2: Aleah & her side of the haunted castle, Pic 3: All the kids decorating the castle and Charlie 'supervising')

I can't believe I haven't posted in over 3 weeks - what a slacker! We have been so crazy busy. But it was Aleah's 9th birthday yesterday and I had to tell everyone how wonderful she is. She's such a big help around the house and does most things I ask her without complaint. Her aunt Sharee was here last week and bought her a hamster for her b-day. She loves it & named it Ruby; besides the one time she tried to give it a leash out of yarn, she she is a very good pet parent. She is in Karate & Soccer. She is so good at Karate that she now has to spar with the teacher because she beats up the other students to badly. She is the full-time goalie in soccer. She chose that all herself even though I wish she'd switch it up once in a while. But she is the only one that is not afraid to dive head-first into a bunch of kicking cleats to grab the ball. She's made some amazing saves that Aaron swears is ESPN worthy. And when I went to parent/teacher conferences on Monday, her teacher couldn't say enough wonderful things about her. She's in the advanced class again, and her teacher said, "She just knows so much; we start talking about a new subject and she already knows everything." I guess that comes from reading encyclopedias since she was 4 and everything else she can get her hands on.

Anyway, for her party we are taking her and a few friends to Gardner Village to dress & play with the witches; I can't wait to post pictures of those.