Gym Class with Santa

If there’s one thing I dread about preparing for a trip, it’s packing while two little tornadoes are running through the house. Packing suitcases while the girls were up was not an option; the girls were either wreaking havoc throughout the house or pulling things I had just packed.
With Jake working crazy hours at the firm trying to wrap up some deals before Christmas, that left us about three hours on the day of our departure to finish laundry, pack and get the car ready. The best option, we concurred, was to put Jake in charge of getting the girls out of my hair for an hour so I could do some power packing in peace. 
Jake opted to take the girls to their gymnastics class Christmas party where they, (surprise!), sat with Santa for a picture. 
A text from Jake: The gym Santa is creepy! Some skinny teenage guy…
Me: That’s Brandon, one of their teachers 🙂
Despite the lack of plumpness, Brandon may have turned out to be the best Santa of all. Jake took multiple pictures of the girls actually sitting with Santa by themselves without screaming
If I don’t look at you, you can’t see me. 
Not exactly smiling faces, but no freaking out, so I’ll take it. 
Now let’s get to the fun stuff. 
Peekaboo!
Giggling with glee after pushing sister off. 
After about 30 minutes, I got a text from Jake saying he was on his way home. 
Oh no no no no. 
Needless to say, he turned right back around to the gym so I could continue running around the house, literally throwing things haphazardly into suitcases so we could leave on time. 

We need one of these at home. 
Blurry pics perfectly encapsulate S and A’s love of all things active. 

Fun was had and packing was successfully finished. 
Lots of love, 
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Merry Twinmas

Santa Torture 2014 continued at the annual Saddleback Mothers of Multiples Club Breakfast with Santa at South Coast Plaza. 
Santa Fail #4. Amelia’s face was so red from crying! Don’t worry girls; we have a savings account solely dedicated to paying for your future therapy from all the Santa visits this year. 

A few minutes later and Amelia had calmed down enough  to sit an inch closer to Santa without screaming. 

Eating breakfast with the other twins and comparing notes with the other parents is always fun. I find it encouraging to talk to parents of older twins or triplets– if they managed to do it, we can survive too!

Breakfast lasted all of about five minutes before S and A spotted the carousel, which had been overhauled with reindeer. The girls were obviously thrilled. Good thing the mall was closed for our club, meaning free, unlimited carousel rides. The girls thought Christmas had come early.

Watching all the twins go round and round made my head spin. There were over 80 sets (plus some triplets and quads), so everywhere you looked, it was like seeing double. Kinda freaky. 
When we tried to get off after our first ride, the girls looked at us like we we had gone insane, so we decided to go around again. And again. And again. For ten consecutive rides. 
Around ride nine, Samantha was getting pretty dizzy. Must…keep…going…
Amelia decided to be silly and pretend she was a daring reindeer cowgirl. 
Monkey see. Monkey do. 
The carousel attendant nearly had a heart attack and stopped the ride until the girls got back on properly. 
Boo. All my fun ruined. 
We managed to pry the girls away from the reindeer to make some ornaments. 
Comparing Amelia’s handiwork. 
Uh oh. The girls spotted the stores. 

No idea where they get it from. 

DOLLS! LET US IN!

And so it begins.

Merry Twinmas!

Lots of love,

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Holiday Baking

Baking with two toddlers definitely takes more time and causes a lot more stress, but the memories we made were worth it! At first, S and A were so excited to help make cookies and took their jobs very seriously. As the baking progressed, the girls got really silly (read: destructive); apparently, there’s a sweet spot when it comes toddler attention spans while cooking.

Samantha wins for best measurer/pourer. 
                           
             
Amelia was a little bit more…shall we say…uncoordinated. 
How dare you call me that?! Upset it was sister’s turn to measure. 
At one point, Amelia had to go potty, so it was just Samantha and me in the kitchen. Just having S there was a zillion times easier. No fighting over the measuring cups or whose turn it was!

Mesmerized by mixing. 
After letting the dough firm up in the fridge for an hour, it was time to roll out the dough.

And cut out shapes.

Their favorite part. 

Unfortunately for the girls, it was their bedtime before the cookies were done cooking and had cooled. Even more unfortunate was the fact that Bandit somehow snatched the cooled cookies off the counter that night, so the girls didn’t even get to taste their creations. 
Good thing we had time for another baking session before our Christmas party and the girls had plenty of chances to eat their cookies then. 
Coal for Bandit this Christmas!
Lots of love, 
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Little Green Monsters

Attack of the green smoothie monsters!
I’m drinking kale and I don’t even know it. 

Lots of love, 

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