Happy 9th Birthday, Ashley

On September 11th our sweet Ashley turned 9 years old! I can hardly believe it. Her birthday fell on a Friday so she still had school in the morning, but we did our best to make her feel special. We decorated the house with balloons and streamers, and made sure to have fun birthday music playing, so when she walked out that morning, it was a giant party! We had pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast and got her new underwear (which she needed desperately) and the Taylor Swift - 1989 CD. 

After work, Paul and I stopped at Walmart because they just released the new Wii U Game - Super Mario Maker. The kids have been dying to have a Wii U for a long time and we saved some money and wanted to surprise them with the Wii U and the game (which came as a package deal). We picked the kids up from school and told them to wait to walk out to the living room. We videotaped them walking out to see the Wii U and game. They were BEYOND excited! It made for an extra special surprise for Ashley's birthday. Afterward it was time for dinner and she chose to go to the Cheesecake Factory that night. It was a fun dinner. We sat outside and there was a cool breeze which was lovely.  She was given a special ice cream treat for dessert and the staff sang to her.

Ash with her dessert at Cheesecake Factory

The following day we had her birthday party. It was her first sleepover party!! We went mini golfing first and then the kids came back to the house and we ordered pizza and then I baked cupcakes and we sang happy birthday. The kids danced, played games, watched a movie and stayed up until about 2am! I had gone to bed around 12:30 and I woke up at 1:45am to voices in the living room. At that point, I had to be the party pooper because these parents were probably going to kill me! LOL  The following morning we picked up donuts and the girls hang until about 10am when their parents started arriving to pick them up. I would say that her first sleepover was a success! She had a ball and her friends are just darling. What a great group of kids!

The kids at the Mini Golfing place. L-R - Vivian, Ashley, Teresa, Vincent, Corey, and Lillie.
Her friend Rachelle joined us later at the house.
We invited Vincent so that Corey would have someone to play with while the girls were doing their thing. :)

 

Ashley got some fun gifts!