Twinibration!

We recently celebrated MORE birthdays at our house!  And twin birthdays are quite the celebration because there are 2x the cake and 2x the friends and best of all 2x the presents!  Yeah buddy...



This is Tanner's cake.  He is all about ocean life and has been for quite some time.  As the kids are getting older, I am shifting more of the cake making responsibilities into their own hands.  Tanner first of all, designed the cake, selected the cake mix, baked it, and frosted it.  I made a small batch of fondant and we both colored it and molded it into various sea life.  Of course it was killing Ashlyn and the other kids not to have a hand with this cake and Tanner very graciously let everyone make something to put on the cake.  There is so much detail that I had to take at least 5 pictures to get every cute little fish, sea shell, and piece of coral...

However one of the best parts was when we cut into it, it looked like this!

Ashlyn on the other had, has realized that she doesn't actually like cake and wants something more to her liking, such as Ice Cream Cake!  Of course it is a hard compromise for her as she loves to decorate cakes and our decorating capabilities are compromised with ice cream cake.  But to her credit, she still finds a way to cutesy them up and this is what she came up with.  We used left over fondant from Tanner's cake and some black frosting.  She made the cake start to finish and decorated it herself.  What a girl.

And have I ever mentioned this girl's obsession with mint?  The whole cake was mint themed.  And it turned out to be a hit with everyone.

For the first time in ever the twins were allowed to have a friends party.  The poor kids didn't even anticipate that the friends would bring them presents and they were beyond thrilled with the kind and thoughtful gifts chosen by their friends. 

Both Tanner and Ashlyn have adorable well behaved friends.  We piled them all into a suburban and headed down the road to Lava Hot Springs.

And even Whitlee got to put on her swimming suit for the first time... 

Is she not the CUTEST baby you have ever seen?  Followed in a close second by all the rest of my other babies.  And yes, she is always this happy!

After a long day of swimming we fueled up on pizza, cake and cream.

What did they wish for? 

A sewing machine for Ashlyn.  Yep, my 10 year old daughter can sew! 

We found the perfect sewing machine for her.  I am SO (sew?) jealous!  My sewing machine is on the fritz and I may just have to commandeer hers for future projects... (was this a gift for Ashlyn or me?  shhhh... don't tell her).

Grandma J and Grandpa B gave her a kit to sew a pillow case and a sewing box.  She was thrilled and had so much fun putting it together.  My daughter rocks!

And Grandma K was so generous that she came and got the kids the day before their birthday and helped them pick out the outfits that they are seen wearing in aforementioned pictures.  The outfits are adorable, but the date as a whole was a priceless gift! 

Thanks Grandmas and Grandpas!!!

Legos set from Grandma J was a huge hit!

How can Mom and Dad even compete? 

With this!

We made this boys every wish come true with a 30 gallon aquarium that he keeps in his room.  This is one happy kid!

TEN THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT TANNER NOW THAT HE IS 10!

1.  He is one of the easiest kids a parent has ever had to raise!  He is beyond obedient.  He doesn't like to even be close to the line of right and wrong.  He is always on the right side of the line and encourages others to be good with him.  He is a huge peace maker in our home.  And is also always finding ways to help around the house without even being asked.

2.  Tanner is extremely fascinated with ocean animals.  He has read many books and watched lots of documentaries.  This boy even has a love for sharks.  He has a huge shark poster next to his bed and hopes to someday work at sea world with the animals in some capacity.  Don't suppose I could teach him to love cows to keep him a little closer to home?

3.  Tanner also adores basketball.  Tanner likes to play other sports as well, but when that kid gets a basketball in his hands, he turns into a whole different person, it is like a fish to water.  He got to go to basketball camp this summer and he was just in his element.  He is so much fun to watch.

4.  Tanner loves reading.  I can't take him to the library enough.  Way to often this boy stays up at all hours of the night reading.

5.  Which brings me to my next point... Tanner thrives on LITTLE amounts of sleep.  I don't know what it is about this kid, but he has a really hard time settling down to go to sleep.  There have been many times where I have gone in to check on kids for some reason or another and he is still up past midnight wide eyed reading a book.  And even though some of us (okay me) would be grouchy with the little amount of sleep he gets, he is always pleasant, so I leave him be.

6.  Tanner's favorite food is hamburgers.  Every month when I plan my menu, he chooses hamburgers without fail.  If we go to McDonalds, I can guarantee he can pound at least 4 cheeseburgers.  He also loves anything chocolate (twixes, snickers, reeses pb cups, etc.) and knows that if he ever gets his hands on a candy bar that he better make fast work of it, because there are too many people in this family to share with.

7. Tanner loves to draw.  Every time we go to the library he seeks out a "How To Draw a..." book and spends lots of time learning to draw.  Some of his favorite things to draw are of course ocean animals, but also cabins and houses.  Maybe he will design houses like his dad when he grows up.

8.  Tanner enjoys scouting.  He hates to miss any scouting activities.  He has been so blessed to have wonderful leaders and has earned his Bobcat, Wolf, and Bear awards.  He started Weeblos as of yesterday.  While he was at his activity I read over 100 pages of his manual trying to understand how all of this scouting stuff works.  I have no doubt that he will have his Eagle scout award earned in the next 3 years.

9.  Tanner is the dare devil in our family.  If you know Tanner, you wouldn't guess this side of him because he is usually pretty shy and quiet.  But he is my kid who will try stunts on his bike that make me shudder and has taught himself to land various flips on the trampoline and will even flip off the diving board.  And yet, no broken bones or any notable injuries to date!

10.  Tanner loves to play with friends.  Some of his best friends include Keegan, Greyson, Dahlen, Logan, Ryker, and of course his best friend Ashlyn.

ASHLYN'S TOP 10 AT 10:

1.  Ashlyn is super funny!  She is constantly making up jokes, riddles, and puns.  And they actually make us all laugh.  Last Saturday we were weeding the garden and Ashlyn says, "What do weeds call a hoe?"  What?  "A HOE NO!!!"  ha ha, I laughed.

2.  Ashlyn is almost always happy.  She just has a really cheerful and jolly countenance.  She is charismatic and friends want to be around her.  Her siblings also flock to her and look to her to invent games for them and tell them what to play.

3.  Ashlyn's favorite food in the whole world is strawberry filled crepes and no one complains when she picks it for her dinner choice every month.  She is also a mint fanatic.  When she is given an option at the grocery store for a treat, among all the candy bars, she will without fail pick a pack of mint flavored Mentos.  Never before did I think anyone actually ate those.  I thought they were strictly made to throw in a 2 liter of Diet Coke... but nope, my daughter consumes them like they are candy.

4. Ashlyn loves to play with her friends and is getting to that age where she chats on the phone and has constant parties to go to.  Some of her best friends include Reagan, Cassidy, Shayli, Shayna, Greyson, and Logan, and Tanner.

5. Ashlyn absolutely loves animals.  She wants to own a pet shop owner some day, though I think it is a bad choice for her, because I don't think she could ever actually part with any of the animals.  Maybe she should be a farmer instead.  She collects stuffed animals and My Littlest Pet shops and has quite an impressive collection of both.  This is what she loves to play with most with her siblings.  And her dad recently built her a stuffed animal house in her closet.  She is a pretty lucky girl.

6. Ashlyn loves to sew.  She likes the whole idea of being able to create something.  I love watching her learn every time she sews.  She can thread the machine all by herself and knows a lot of the basics.  Can't wait to see what she creates as she gets older.

7. Ashlyn loves art and is very artistic.  She is the kind of kid that is given a coloring book and will sit and meticulously start at page one and color every page in the book beautifully.  She can draw better than I can and loves to "craft".  Now that she is older, she will get on the computer and look for crafts to do on Pinterest or google and then does them herself.  I love seeing the things she makes.

8.  She also loves to cook.  I think any hobby in which she can create and be creative is up her alley and cooking fits the bill.  She can create several easy meals now, which is SO handy for me if I get in a pinch.  I can tell her to go make pancakes or other easy meals and she feeds the family. 

9.  She is a little quirky.  I laugh at her worries over the weather.  It can be 100 degrees outside and she will be in a long sleeve shirt and pants because there are clouds in the sky and she is afraid it might rain.

10.  She is a great babysitter.  Ashlyn is amazing with kids.  The little kids love her to death.  If Bronson gets hurt, he wants his "Ashie" to love him better.  She has special girl club meetings with Charlotte and teaches Charlotte to make bracelets and is always making cute things for her.  She plays animals with Ian and keeps him entertained.  And she is great with Whitlee.  She holds and plays with her and will even change her diaper.  Ashlyn is great to have around and we are so happy to have her as part of our family.

Happy Birthday Tanner and Ashlyn!  We love you both and are so happy to have you in our family!