A Swimmingly Good Birthday Party

So... only 3 months AFTER their birthday we finally have completed the twins 10th birthday party with friends!  This had to be one of the easiest and truly extremely fun parties we have done to date for any child! It was as simple as swim, swim and swim some more... eat a quick couple fishie cupcakes and had to open presents outside. We utilized every minute we could out of swimming so no time for present opening before the aquatic center closed! It was a bit chilly after being in the pool but Will and Shelley made quick work of the gifts and they all loved it! I am rarely in the photos with the kiddos as I am usually taking them so I was blessed when a momma there thoughtfully suggested a photo of me with the twins...a novel concept ... photos with my children!  :-) I have to get better about that!
We are blessed with a great group of friends for all of our children and I am so thankful for the memories that were made for both William and Shelley. :-)



Double Digit Midgets

We had the joy of celebrating the twins 10^th birthday last week!  I kept thinking really …. 10??!??  Ten is such a big number for me as a momma!  At this age sometimes I feel desperation to slow the hands of time as I have noticed over the years the speed at which 10 becomes 13 and then 13 becomes 16! While they are both growing independently in so many ways, I love it when they do something similar and I will hear one or the other say … “well we are twins”.  J

10 is a big deal around here for a few reasons.  You get to have a “friends” party, you get to go out to dinner with just momma and daddy and possibly the biggest of them all for a Honey….your first “cuppa”… cup of coffee that is!  Shelley in particular has been unabashedly anticipating her cup of coffee for many, many months now!  I am so thankful our machine did not disappoint for her, she absolutely LoVeD her cup! Poor Will on the other hand was a bit like his sister Isabelle in that the delicious steaming cup of coffee just did not meet all the big hype and they both could gladly go without.  Our tally is 2/2 now… Mitchell and Shelley are coffee lovers, Isabelle and Will, not so much!  JD is already talking about his cup of coffee he will get in oh …. 4 years … so hopefully the tie breaker will go to the “cuppa”!!

 I could still say about Will much of what I wrote about him on his 9^th birthday!  He is still faithful in his tenderness in response to instruction from us, he is always willing to work with rarely a complaint, he still LOvEs building all he can with KNEX and LEGOS!  He still constantly asks Daddy how he can help him or if he can work or build with him around the house, and his handwriting is still beautiful! He is the faithful caretaker of our dog Rocky, and he is growing stronger this winter as he hauls in wood almost every day for our fireplace.  He has come to love RC items, especially the helicopter and airplane he received over this last year for Christmas and birthdays.  He spent many hours mastering his helicopter before it met it’s demise and now he is mastering the RC plane he just received for his birthday.  Hands down, he still is one of the most longsuffering big brother anyone has ever met….someday JD will have the privilege of understanding what a gem he has in his older brother William.

 

Much is the same for Shelley also!  She is all girl, all the time and we love it! She has a deep love for horses and cooking, she loves spending hours listening to stories/books on CD while her imagination is living the story in her mind. She still so enjoys “playing out” those stories for hours on end with her siblings in their makeshift frontier home. She is still a faithful student and is loving her sewing and knitting instruction this year.  I can’t wait to post about some of her completed projects! Hands down she has the most beautiful penmanship of ANY of our children.  She still excels at helping me around the house and is always willing to do the next thing I might ask of her. She has become an excellent reader aloud as she has spent many hours reading to Will for school and JD for pleasure.  Still one of the best ways to pass the time for JD is to snuggle next to his big sis for a story time. Yes, she still loves being “little momma” and gets better at it each year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9 years and a Cheeseburger Cake

Our little "Will-Bug" and "Shell-Belle" celebrated 9 years of life this month!  We have had such a sweet time of celebrating them and enjoyed 2 separate gatherings to commemorate this milestone! It is such a joy to see them grow and watch their individual personalities develop and at the same time they definitely are twins and similar in so many ways! 

William continues to be so faithful in his tenderness in response to instruction from us, he is always willing to work with rarely a complaint, he LOvEs building all he can with KNEX and LEGOS, he constantly asks Daddy how he can help him or if he can work or build with him around the house, he has great tenacity in his schoolwork and some of the best handwriting I have ever seen for such a young man!  His handwriting speaks of a future as an “architect” or “engineer” to me!  He is always willing to play many hours of “Little House on the Prairie” with his sister’s out in our red building they have converted to their frontier home! Hands down, he has to be the most longsuffering big brother anyone has ever met….someday JD will have the privilege of understanding what a gem he has in his older brother William. 

Shelley is all girl, all the time and we love it!  She has a penchant for all things pink or purple, she loves spending hours listening to stories/books on CD while her imagination is living the story in her mind.  She so enjoys “playing out” those stories for hours on end with her siblings in their makeshift frontier home.  Shelley is also so faithful in her schoolwork and also has beautiful penmanship herself! She is quite dependable in her chores and work around the house, always willing to do the next thing I might ask of her.  She loves to read stories to little ones and is so helpful to me when JD needs a little quieting down.  One of the best ways to pass the time for JD is to snuggle next to his big sis for a story time.  She loves being “little momma” when big sister Isabelle and I happen to be gone at the same time and she does a marvelous job filling in my shoes. 

They chose a delicious birthday dinner again this year…. Chicken Carbonara, garlic ceaser salad and golden garlic bread…. it is all “to die for” food!  They both wanted Kelsey and Aaron Tolsma over for their birthday dinner celebration and so we had a sweet time of fellowship with the two of them a couple nights ago.  This year for dessert they chose a Cheeseburger Cake!  WOW…. what an endeavor!  I baked everything, got all we needed from the store and planned on putting it all together and then my gem of a hubby actually ended up doing the assembly for me and he did an amazing job!  He had some interesting cake to work with as the top part that was supposed to be the bun had a hard time coming out of the bowl it was baked in and then broke into 3 pieces, but his talents prevailed and created an awesome and memorable cheeseburger cake! Children are a sweet blessing from the gracious hand of the Lord and it was another precious year of celebrating these two “not so little” ones that we love so dearly.

Look Who's 8!!

Birthdays are some of my favorite days and we had the joy of celebrating the twins 8th birthday on Saturday! I know, I know, I am only echoing what most Mom’s say when I ask…”I can hardly believe it, where has the time gone”???

The day started off very fun with breakfast in bed for both of the twins….and Daddy had surprised all of us and purchased Pop Tarts for the special occasion! We haven’t had Pop Tarts in the house for quite a while, we used to keep them around only as “after Sunday night church” treats but it has been a long time since we have done that. Needless to say, EVERYONE was quite happy over Daddy’s purchase! The day included Will getting to play Madden 10 and Mario Kart with Mitchell and Shelley checking many things off her “birthday to do” list! We had a delicious birthday dinner thanks to the delectable palates of the twins…..50/50 marinated sirloin steak, baked potatoes with all the toppings, lots of salad with Ranch dressing, Sierra Mist and Toy Story 3 and Princess cupcakes to finish! We also extended the celebration a bit to Superbowl Sunday when we had both Eschbach families out for some Superbowl fun…GO Pack GO!!! Since Dan’s birthday is today (Happy Birthday Dan!!) we got to sing to him also yesterday! It has been a fun weekend rejoicing in the lives of Will and Shelley and simply spoiling them on their special day!

Here is a peak at Shelley’s “to do birthday” list…. exactly as written…..we were able to accomplish numbers 1-12...I loved it!

1. Breakfast in bed
2. Make a crown
3. Dress up nicely
4. Curl your hair
5. Play a game
6. Paint nails
7. Go to jo-anne Fabrics
8. Sew peddiecoats
9. Have tea
10. Have dinner
11. Have dissert
12. Open presents
13. Play dolls
14. Do crafts
15. Make heart valintines
16. Make crown for Will
17. Paper chains
18. Paint with easle, outside if 60 degrees or inside if cold
19. Play house
20. Make big bed

Double the Blessings....Double the fun!!

Well, dinner is in the oven, children are playing, JD is snuggling his Mitchell, Papa and Gigi are resting and I have a minute (or two... hopefully) to get some photos on here!

We were excited to celebrate our twins 7th birthday on February 5...where has the time gone?!?! Both William and Shelley each have sweet and tender hearts and we are so thankful to be entrusted with the joy of parenting them! Will loves to please, is very inquisitive, asks the best questions, loves his Daddy, and is an amazing creator with his KNEX! Our Shelley is a girl who adores her big sister, loves to be a little Mama and help all around the house, she really enjoys her "big girl" chapter reading books, and loves listening to Radio Theatre with her sis.

 

 

We had a fun celebration with a some dear friends and families who had birthday's in the same weekend! Madison turned 17 the next day on the 6th and Dan turned...(well we won't mention his waiting to become a grandpa age) on the 7th! We had nummy food, fun frog and daisy cupcakes and a whole lot of laughs!