Katie Anderson began sharing her family as part of her larger photography project on InstagramThe mom of six never expected her then-toddler daughter Mila to go viral, sparking the family's passion for content creationKatie, Mila and Emma tell PEOPLE what it is like balancing family life and making people laugh online as the girls approach their 10th birthday Katie Anderson never imagined that a love for photography would lead her family to internet fame, but that's the journey she's found herself on. Before capturing photos of her six children, Katie explored her love of photography with others in the early days of Instagram. "There was this group on Instagram called JJ's Community , and they would post a hashtag every day and you'd just like a flower and you'd try to take a creative photo of a flower and you'd hashtag that and then people would vote and then they'd feature it on their page. And that's really how I grew. It was so fun, but I was more into portrait stuff," she recalls. As any busy mom might, she combined her passions and used her kids as subjects, sharing those photos from time to time. When she welcomed twins Mila and Emma, her following picked up. "I kind of evolved into taking pictures of my kids, but in our house, because I really like interior design, so I gained a following that way. I was just sharing our life at our house, just normal stuff that moms share."Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Katie's older three loved to make videos together, so it wasn't a surprise when Caitlin, then 13, started making videos with the twins. "One day she was like, 'Oh my gosh, I just made this video with Mila,' who was two. And she's like, 'You have to post it,'" Katie recalls. Though she wasn't enthusiastic about the clip at the time, since videos were still relatively new to social media, she went ahead with it anyway, not thinking much of it until she saw the reaction. "It just happened so fast that I didn't really have time to think about it," Katie says. "It was the beginning [of things going viral] so I didn't really know what that meant. I just thought, 'This is fun.' I was in awe of my daughter at the time. Like, 'How are you doing this? I can't write anything.'" Mila's early viral videos were far from one-off hits. The toddler continued to gain laughs from her audience, later joined by twin Emma. Though there's a lot of family fun in their content creation, Katie's been vigilant about not letting it take over their lives. "A lot of creators spend hours upon hours making content. We don't do that at all. We probably spend one hour per week," she notes. While other content creators struggle to limit filming to a certain portion of their day or week, Katie says she's felt comfortable standing with her boundary. "This is fun for us. It's not our whole lives. I have other kids and the kids have sports and it just isn't our whole life. I don't let it consume us and just live our normal lives." While her sons aren't as interested in content creation as her daughters, Katie tries to keep a good balance so everyone gets to explore what they enjoy. "The boys are in the content they want to be in," she explains. "They're like, 'Eh,' but I try to include everybody so that everybody feels included because we love for everybody to be a part of it. But trips and stuff, I always try to make sure they're invited, but sometimes they can't go because of school." These days, the girls are more involved in the behind-the-scenes work of the videos they share. "They come up with ideas or they'll make their own videos on their phone and then bring them to me," Katie says. "Or we'll watch TikTok and they'll be like, 'Oh my gosh, we want to do this trend.' And truly, what you see of them, that's us. That's who they are. What you see is what you get." As they've gone viral for their content, the twins have gotten to meet a handful of cool people along the way. "I don't think there's just one I can say is my favorite because of how many people we've met," Emma says, adding they were excited to meet Will Smith earlier this year. On their wishlist? As nearly 10-year-old girls, who else but the biggest popstar of the moment, Taylor Swift ? Like other kids their age, they also have influencers they love, a few of which they've met. "I had a really fun time meeting the Not Enough Nelsons. I loved ElleCee. I think she's such a nice person and a lot of her other siblings are also very, very nice," Mila says. However, just because they're on social media doesn't mean they have access to it 24/7. Katie notes that part of striking a balance for her family is monitoring her kids' relationship with social media and technology. "They do have their own phones, but when they're consuming content, they're always with me," Katie says of the twins. "I talk to my kids like I would talk to anyone as far as being open and honest with them about drugs, alcohol and social media. I'm very open and I don't baby things. I don't sugarcoat it. We have a really, really good relationship and I'm good with that." While they're very careful, Katie and the girls are also very open to connecting with the community they've built. "The most fun is connecting with people and getting the amazing messages that we do," Katie says. "I've met so many people and have relationships with other moms now that I've met in person. We just met this woman [in New York] who was doing the JJ Community thing with me that was over 15 years ago. We talk all the time." "It's really fun realizing that just someone you don't even know will know you," Emma says about getting recognized by people. "The fact that people like what we do is something really special. If I can do what I want to do and realize that people love what I'm doing, [it] just makes me want to do it even more." When Mila and Emma aren't making videos, the twins are your average kids. After trying a few different sports, the girls are currently enjoying softball, inspired by Katie, who played growing up. "We love doing sports. It's one of the main things that pops up in our lives. I joined the team and I'm really glad I did. I met so many new people and we've made this big group chat," Emma says, explaining Mila joined later when she shared how much she was enjoying it with her. While they're having fun right now, they're actively looking towards the future. "They really want to act. That's what they want to do — be in films and movies and stuff," Katie explains. "People ask all the time, 'Why aren't they?' But it goes back to before. I probably put 10% of my energy into it, and I haven't done more than that because I know what it takes. It would mean even less time together and I feel this guilt about it and how if that's what they decide to do, it'll take me away even more. Even though I know they want it, I'm not ready for it. We're still figuring out that aspect." Mila explains that acting, like making videos, appeals to the extrovert in her. "I feel like some people don't like going out and meeting new people. Most people are a little embarrassed to be social, really show yourself, get on a stage," she says. "I love going out being in front of crowds and walking the red carpet. It's amazing." Katie is happy the girls have brought in "a really good, fun community of people" who cheer the family on. Those people will be showing the girls a lot of love as they celebrate their 10th birthday on Halloween. "Me and Emma really want to go to Six Flags," Mila says of the big day. "It's still a really big day because it's Halloween," Emma adds of her birthday. "You always have something planned on Halloween because everybody goes trick-or-treating. The fact that you'll always have a big day on your birthday — no matter if you're having a birthday party or not — you're always going to have it so big because it's on Halloween, you're getting a bunch of candy, and it's just so fun." The family has come to appreciate their new normal, with Katie admitting, "I didn't think we'd be doing this so long." 
