The Next Food Network Star

If there is one thing I can't stand about my cable company, it's that we can't pick and choose what channels we want. I feel it's a far better option to just charge $1 per channel and allow people to select a la carte. However, last I checked, they weren't asking for my opinion. So I'm stuck paying $30 a month AND NOT GETTING THE FOOD NETWORK!

A travesty.

Because of this, we are resigned to creating the live versions of our favorite Food Network shows. I, of course, am the master chef on all episodes and my big 4 year old is the sous chef. Our audience typically consists of 2 3-month olds and the occasional 2 year old - though most tapings of episodes occur during his naptime since he tries to eat all the ingredients before they're cooked.

As the master chef, I take on different identities. Most days I'm Paula Dean, but occasionaly I'll become Giada de Laurentiis or Sandra Lee. The babies prefer Paula Dean. Must be the comforting southern twang.

My sous chef is the best in the business. She organizes, pours, and mixes all ingredients, even joining in on the "script" with her own funny antics. She is a hit with the audience every time.

This afternoon, though, she'd had enough.

When I asked her to help me bake some brownies, she huffed, "Ugh, I have to do EVERYTHING around here. I cook, I clean, I feed babies. I just need a break!"

Hmmmm. Wonder where she heard that from.

Too beautiful for words

Ok, so I've always said if I could do my wedding all over again, I would not change a single thing. Now, though, I'm reconsidering. The following ceremony is the epitome of BEAUTY.

Eyes

Here's 4 reasons I wake up every morning.

Best Friends

When I was 15 weeks pregnant, we found out one of the twins would be a boy. The other baby was facing my back and all curled up so no matter what angle the camera pointed during the ultrasound, we couldn't see a thing. So we had to wait until my next appointment which was a month later to find out what the 2nd baby was. It was always funny when people asked if we knew what we were having.

"Yes, we're having a boy and something else."
"Something else?"
"Yes, we're not sure if it's a human baby or a monkey. We'll know by next month."
This was only the beginning of the smart alec responses I became so good at!

(Other favorites: "Did you use fertility drugs?" I'm sorry, Joe Stranger, did you just ask that?)

Anyway.

When we found out we were having a boy AND a girl, someone (I can't remember who) put into perspective for us what neat relationships our children would have. There would be the twin bond. There would be the big kid bond. And then there would be the Big Sis/Little Sis, Big Bro/Little Bro bonds. Vertical and horizontal bonds, they said.

Pretty cool.

The big kid bond has been around since the day Buster Boy was born. Inseparable. And that bond has strengthened since the twins were born. Buster does not like to be away from his YaYa. Even today, he refused to go to his class at church (which has NEVER happened) and screamed until they finally had to come find me. When I asked him what all the trouble was, he responded "I want YaYa". Not Mommy. Not Daddy. Just big sis. Sweetness.

And tonight. Though they share a room with bunk beds, it seems the distance from top bunk to bottom bunk was too great.

And these two hooligans have never shared a night more than 6 inches from each other. I'm guessing when we free up their flailing arms, they may scoot a bit from each other's side. They won't go far though...they like to keep their heartbeats in sync!

Vacation

We survived our first family beach vacation to St. Augustine as a family of 6! The twins did really well, and we had plenty of help from grandparents, aunts, uncle, and cousins...so that made it much easier. The weather wasn't perfect but we were able to get out into the sunshine at least for a little while each day.

We get so excited thinking ahead to family vacations to Disney or out west (my dream is for us to rent an RV and drive cross-country for a few weeks...we'll see if that pans out!). Vacations take on a whole new meaning when you see it through the eyes of little ones.

We look at pictures of our family and are still amazed that there are 6 of us. Not a day goes by where one of us doesn't say "Who gets to have twins?!?!" I hope we never get used to the fact that we've been incredibly blessed to raise 4 kids. It is so much fun!!!

Here's a few pictures from the week...