Ava's 9th Birthday Party

We are not typically a family that has a big birthday bash every year for our kids. I'd love to be able to do that but it gets pricey, especially with all three girls having birthdays in January. I also don't think they need a big birthday bash every year. We did tell Ava last year, though, that she could have a friend party for her 9th birthday, anywhere she wanted (within reason, of course. Hawaii was out of the question!). Ava chose to have her party at Lakeland Pool.

 

She invited 16 friends from the 3rd grade. Fourteen of those girls were able to make it. Mike and I also invited the families from our marriage group, so two were able to come with their kids as well! It was quite a party! The girls swam for the first half hour, then came into the party room for pizza, cupcakes, and ice-cream sandwiches, per Ava's request. Then she opened gifts (her friends were so generous!), then they spent the rest of the afternoon in the pool. Ava had a blast. It was nice not to have to entertain or clean up much! We had such a fun day!

 



Hannah's 5th birthday

Hannah turned 5 years old on January 26th! We had a fun day celebrating her! All day long, I was calling her "5-year-old" instead of Hannah, which she loved!

- "Hey 5-year old, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Are you ready for school 5-year-old!?"

"How was school today 5-year-old?"

I think you get the point. She would break out in this big grin every time she heard it! Hannah was very excited to get to go to school on her birthday. Her classmates sang to her and she brought in chocolate chip cookies to share.

 

For dinner, Hannah chose waffles. Grandma and Papa ate dinner with us and then Hannah opened her gifts. She also chose brownie sundaes for her birthday dessert.

 

Hannah happened to spill syrup on her shirt during dinner, which I didn't realize, so please excuse the messy shirt in every picture! But that's our sweet Hannah, she typically doesn't get through a meal without getting something on her shirt or in her hair. Like mother, like daughter. I tend to have that same problem.

 

 

How did I not notice that, right!? Sheesh! 

 

What can I say about Hannah? She is amazing. She is such an encourager. She is our most dramatic but keeps us laughing all the time! She loves giving hugs and kisses, and is constantly tell us all she loves us! She is so smart. I love watching her little mind pick things up and get excited about it. And she is a great friend! We love you Hannah Margaret. Happy 5th birthday!!



Ava's birthday

Our first born is 9 years old! I can't believe it. Mike and I were talking and realized that in 9 more years, Ava will be graduating. It's crazy how fast these first 9 have gone by, I don't even want to think about the next 9. It's too soon. WAHAAAAAA. That's me crying if you didn't know.

 

Well I discovered that chalk markers work on the mirror even better than soap. So the rest of our birthday messages will be done with those! Ava happens to share a birthday with our children's ministry pastor at our church and since school was off the day before Ava's birthday, Mary Kay took her to lunch and out shopping! What a sweetheart. Ava had a blast.

 

Ava had school on her birthday and enjoyed her day. She also got to pick what was for dinner and she decided on Jet's Pizza and brownie sundaes for dessert. My kinda gal!

 

Grandma and Papa came over for dinner and dessert, then Ava had piano lessons in the evening, which she insisted on since she was excited to see her teacher on her birthday.

 

Ava got books, earrings, art supplies, a pedometer, and new arrows for her bow.

 

 

Ava is so amazing. She has such a kind and sensitive spirit. She is a great big sister to both her sisters, though especially Hannah. Her and Allie know how to push each others' buttons! She is so smart and has one of the highest reading levels in her 3rd grade class. She loves math and is flying through multiplication. She loves the Lord and is enthusiastic about inviting her friends to church! I love this child so much and hope that times slows down just a bit:) Happy birthday Ava Therese Epley.



Family birthday party

We decided that this would be the year that Ava could have her friend birthday party that she's been asking for. It probably would have made more sense to do that on her 10th birthday, you know, a little more momentous. But she's thrilled either way. So in February we are taking her and some of her friends from school, to the Lakeland Pool. Next year, Allie will be able to have her first friend birthday party. Then the year after that, Hannah!

 

Meanwhile, we still have a family party with Mike's and my siblings and all the cousins and grandparents. My genius mother suggested breakfast for dinner, since that's the girls' favorite. So with her help, we had two French toast bakes, four different egg bakes, sausage links, fruit, and juice. Our families are always so generous too and the girls got some pretty sweet gifts.

 

I haven't been on the ball lately with my camera, so sadly, these were the only two pictures I took. The girls had a lot of fun!

 



Allie's birthday

Allie Katherine Epley, our sweet and kind middle child, had her 7th birthday on the 2nd of January! I am a total slacker in that I'm just now getting around to posting about it.

Allie is very lucky to have a day off on her birthday every year. On that morning, we went to Meijer and I let her pick out her own birthday present. She chose a big box of crayons and an art set that had a variety of art supplies in it. That evening, Allie picked where we ate for dinner. She chose Red Robin for, what I think is, the third year in a row! She loves that she gets a free sundae and that they sing to her!

 

After dinner, we came back to our house for ice-cream and ice-cream. Yes you read that right. Allie is not a fan of cake, so she chose a strawberry shortcake ice-cream role, in lieu of a cake, and cookies and cream ice-cream on the side! Grandma and Papa celebrated with us and Mike bought her her very first bow and arrows. She was thrilled about that.

 

The night before the girls' birthdays, I write a message with soap on their bathroom mirror!

 

I can't begin to express how much I love this child. She is such a thoughtful person. She loves Hannah and helps her out with reading all the time. She looks up to her big sister, even though I don't think you'll ever get her to admit it! She LOVES her daddy and is constantly doing projects with him, or going to Home Depot with him. And she's just so beautiful inside and out. Happy 7th birthday Allie! We love you so much!



December

December and January are the busiest months in our family. I'm sure December is probably crazy for many families! We had a great one.

 

First of all, this little kitten has gotten so big. She is super hyper and these two just love each other!

 

Hannah had a Christmas concert with her pre-school. She did such a great job singing and smiling up on stage. This was the last one that we'll attend at Mustard Seeds!

 

This is Mike's whole crew. I've been wanting to take a picture for his facebook page for a while now! 

 

Mike has gone hunting for the first time in his life this year. He hasn't had any luck while out hunting but he's gotten two dear from cars hitting them! This one got hit over by Chris and Miranda's house and had two broken legs. It was alive when Mike shot it, so technically he could count it!? 

 

The Monday before Christmas, Kathy had her annual cookie house decorating party. The girls love this Epley tradition! 

 

Mike and I enjoy it too! 

 

The house was full with kids! 

 

On Christmas Eve, we went to the kids' service at 4 pm. We sang Christmas carols, watched a drama (which Mike was a shepherd in!), and did a service project. We helped make hats and scarves for Community Sharing. 

 

Hannah was done with pictures by this point. 

 

After the service we went to Jeff and Tara's for dinner. It was a great night celebrating the birth of Christ with family. We played a nice friendly game of poker and I took 2nd!

 

Mike, Jeff, Grandma and Papa do not know the meaning of "goofy picture." 

 

On Christmas morning the girls woke up at about 8:30. We ate some breakfast, read from John, and then opened presents with grandma, Papa, Joe and Rachael.

 

This was a cute little bear that Ava bought for Hannah. She was very excited to get a gift from her big sister! 

 

Ava also bought and painted a letter for each of her sisters! 

 

The funny thing about this picture, my mom told us both to look and we both made the same face without realizing it.

 

My niece Rachael made all the girls their own blankets. They love them!

 

Mike made a giant Jenga set for the girls!

 

Mike's Aunt Amy was originally going to host Christmas, but unfortunately got really sick. Then we were thinking about moving it to Joe and Kathy's but they got sick too. So it ended up being here. It turned out to be a great dinner. We just really missed Don, Amy, Joe and Kathy!

 

Lucy was tuckered out from all the attention that day!

 

Merry Christmas! We're thankful for another blessed year.