Building up some birthday fun!

What a beautiful weekend to celebrate the birth of my beautiful baby boys! I can't believe we are already celebrating the passing of two years since their (surprise) birthday! To celebrate this milestone Jeff and I selected a Lego theme for the party. Ashton and Ayden both love all kinds of Lego's and blocks so we thought it would be both fun and cute! We were right! The party was a success and we all had fun!

The party day, Saturday, started out with a "bang"! No...really! The bang of Ashton's head hitting the ground as he jumped out of his crib! (He just saw his brother also do this for the first time on Monday night!) Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of the incidents for poor "Ashton Love" today!

After getting Ashton calmed down we preceded with our normal morning routine of breakfast and getting dressed, etc. While we were getting ready in the house, Daddy and Papa got the patio and back yard ready for the party. Then we finished up getting ready and decorating the inside just as our family and friends arrived for our birthday bash!

After playing with some Lego's (of course!), the boys dug into the mountain of gifts awaiting them! They got so many great things and loved ALL of them! They got the usual clothes and jammies, but they got some great big boy toys and some outdoor toys as well! These gifts included a sand and water table, complete with toys and sand, from Nana and Papa. A picnic table from Aunt Amy, a golf set from Cousin Chase, Aunt "Juju" and Uncle Larry a bubble mower and Lego's from Karen and even more Lego's from Great Aunt Janet and Great Uncle Don. Jeff and I got them a double sided easel and all sorts of things to go with it and a wooden bead and lacing set. We will be saving their other gifts for their actual birthday.

Ayden and Aunt Amy

Yes, it's true...I actually ended up in a picture!

After so many great gifts we had to go outside and break them all in! It was a beautiful day, 68 degrees and bright, warm sunshine! The kids all had a great time playing outside. Jeff picked up some pizza and brought it back for lunch. We continued our backyard party and ate on the patio and the boys enjoyed their new picnic table. After lunch came the "masterpiece" I stayed up working on until after midnight the night before. (You wouldn't know that I made it, as opposed to the boys, to look at it! Much less that it took me nearly 4 hours!) Oh, well! It was fun and pretty cheap and tasted fabulous! I bought premade pound cakes and cut them squared into different size Lego shapes. I also baked some cupcakes and cut them round and flat to be the Lego nodes. I also attempted to make Gigi's 7 minute icing recipe. It took me two tries and more than 7 minutes each try...but I got the icing made! The pound cake soaked up most of the icing during the night and I probably should have made a double batch....again, oh, well! The boys got the idea (I think!) and it tasted great! Why I choose to make the boys cakes from the red icing colored with red food coloring I will never know! Bad idea on so many levels! In the end I don't think they ingested too much of it and I don't think we will have any stains once I get finished with the laundry! Ayden didn't want much to do with the cake. Ashton dove right for the cupcake on top and ate it, but was pretty much done after that. Since we don't give them sweets this was quite a treat, but they certainly didn't care to indulge.

After a busy and fun filled morning it was time to clean up and take a nap! After the kids got down for naps the adults continued the party on the patio. We just sat enjoying the weather and each others company! It was so nice and relaxing!

Ayden and Aunt "Juju"

Our cool Lego shirts made by mommy!

Ashton and Chase

After all the boys woke up from their nap they enjoyed a snack and more backyard activities. We sat up the sand and water table and the bubble blowing mower while they were napping. These were both a great hit with all three of the boys! We again spent the afternoon relaxing in the backyard and watching the boys play. The "men" also started up the grill and cooked turkey dogs, chicken, brawts, and burgers. We then enjoyed a great bbq on the patio!
After dinner as we were cleaning up the toys and food Ashton ran after me and fell and skinned his knee on the patio. This was not the first or even the second time he did this today, but it was the third time! And, this was by far the worst! He also hit his forehead when he landed this time. He just seemed to have a rough day! Falling out of his crib, tripping, running into things...it was one thing after another all day!

Ashton's poor knees!

It was a great celebration for our great boys! The day could not have been more perfect! (Well, I guess maybe if my family could have been there too!) Now, time to plan the day for their actual birthday!