Couch Potatoes

So we're raising a couple of couch potatoes. I thought I could distract them from the T.V. with the camera, but no. Charlotte is looking at me like I've interrupted a very important T.V. watching experience, and she can't wait to get back to it. Meanwhile, Katie can't even tear her eyes away from the T.V. to look at me at all.Did you notice the nice levi blanket the girls are using? Jared's mom made that for them and included some of their old jeans as decorations. Thanks Sisko!
Here's a side view in case you need another perspective.
Ahhh. They're cute when they're being sucked into the wonderful world of T.V. addiction.

P.S. We took a bunch of pictures last weekend so you have at least one more post to look forward to. Jared wanted to do them all at once, but that is pure folly. We can get at least one more week of posts out of them if we wait. We don't want to use up all of our material at once. Then we would have to come up with more material, which is no good.

Bubbles!

The babies got their very first Valentine's Day gifts yesterday- balloons from their dad. Only they like to call them bubbles. Here's a long-awaited video of them enjoying their gift (long-awaited by my mom that is). Disregard the messy kitchen. It is a complete aberration. Ok I'm lying.


Here's one of Katie with Charlotte chiming in in the background.


Charlotte had run off to a corner to pout but turned that right around when I got out the camera to film her pout in all its glory. The very end has her making her movie directing debut as she took the camera away from me.

Brazilian Shrimp Soup

So I won't post another picture (my sister told me even the first one was unnecessary), but my thumb is healing nicely. There has been some interest in me posting the recipe for the Brazilian Shrimp Soup that caused the great thumb injury of 2010, so here it is. I got it off a recipe blog that is run by a young doctor and mom who, by the looks of it, spends her every spare moment in the kitchen. I'm inclined to think that if I were a doctor, I would spend my precious spare time ordering Chinese/Italian/Greek take out instead of cooking, but whatever. Enjoy!

Brazilian Shrimp Soup
by Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup long-grain rice
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
1 ¾ tsp. salt
1 ¾ cups canned crushed tomatoes
5 cups water
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
1 ½ lbs. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
¼ tsp. black pepper
1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper and garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 7 minutes.

Note: Do not cut off any body parts while chopping. That's my little addition to the recipe.

Add the rice, red pepper flakes, salt, crushed tomatoes, and water to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 10 minutes or until the rice is almost tender. Stir in the coconut milk. Return the mixture to a simmer, then stir in the shrimp. Simmer just until the shrimp cooked through, about 3-5 minutes. Stir in the pepper, lemon juice and cilantro. Serve immediately.

Oh, and I just want to tell my mom and my mother-in-law that I am not purposefully not posting pictures of the babies. I just never seem to have the camera when they're at their most cute-tastic. Hmm would cutastic be better since I'm totally making up words? No, it looks like some kind of painful medical procedure. My thoughts on that might be slightly influenced by my experiences earlier this week. Anyway, I will endeavor to take a cute picture and post it soon.

In Which I Take A Divot Out Of My Thumb

Ok people, behold the thumb.
This too could happen to you if you don't pay attention while chopping garlic. Yes, I had the presence of mind to fish the thumb piece out of the garlic before putting it in the soup. No, I didn't have the presence of mind to take a picture of the thumb piece. Although I agree, that would have been awesome. That little black thing up there is the suture the doctor put in. In case you're wondering, the numbing agent did not make it to the tip of my thumb before he started the sutures. Yes, I yelped like a tiny baby. No, the Brazilian Shrimp soup I made on Sunday night was not worth it. It was good, mind you, but not that good.

Day at the Zoo

So I am officially the biggest cold weather wuss that ever was. It has been freezing here in Georgia the past few weeks, and I'm only now beginning to function again. It warmed up to 40 degrees this week, and I about threw a party since it was no longer below freezing. My coworker in Iowa scoffs at me (she wishes it would get out of the 10s), but I truly have not been enjoying the cold. I'm not meant for this kind of weather. Anyhoo, all this cold weather made me think with fondness about our sunny zoo day in Arizona over Christmas vacation. Ahhh..... to be outside in 60 degree weather. It makes me and Katie happy.
Getting ready to slide makes Charlotte happy.
The twins aren't identical, but are these the same expressions or what? It's all in the tongue action. One absolutely must stick out one's tongue to go down the slide properly.
Katie did pet the real horse, but I think she likes the fake cow better.
Meanwhile, Charlotte loves to go down the slide so much that she gets really excited just going up the steps.
The expression on her face is pretty much how I feel at the thought of winter ending. Who knew I would be so wussy? Oh wait, I did.

Retro Picture Monday

Hi! I don't know about you, but I had a royally crappy Christmas vacation thanks to a little thing called stomach flu. It was all over the place- on the plane (Charlotte), on my brother-in-law's doorstep (Katie), at my other brother-in-law's house (me), and hit practically all of my extended family. But none of that matters. I saw a movie people! Sherlock Holmes was pretty awesome. Anyway, I can't find my camera and can't post anything from the trip, but I thought I would post a couple of totally retro pictures of my fam. They are from a time with a little less stomach flu and a little more awesome hair styles.
Lukey was always asking us to tie him up so he could see if he could get loose. At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.Here's an awesome 80s picture. Aren't Chanda's glasses sweet? Don't worry, she won't get mad at me for posting this. She's too cool to read my blog. She told me so herself. Now Darla might get mad because of the awesome 80s perm, but I think her hair is too fantastico not to share.
Now for my last picture, I thought about posting the one of my dad doing the chicken dance but chickened out (get it? chickened out!), so I decided to go with a classic family picture that must have been taken shortly after Darla and Michael got married. On a side note that is not at all related to my comment about Darla's hair and Chanda's glasses in the previous picture, aren't Darla and Chanda pretty? Of course, Mom, Devaun, and Haley are too. And now that I've covered the girls, all the guys look handsome of course. I don't want to leave anyone out. That would never do.
P.S. I was inspired by Devaun's new blog to change up the look of mine a little. Hope you like the new picture on the heading. I took it on our big trip to France last summer.

Other Fashionable Looks

Remember how the girls are wearing their shirts one shouldered lately? Well, they also like the highly fashionable arms-free look.
Here's Charlotte's version of the whole arms-free thing. She's more of a minimalist.
I love the look on her face. It's like she's wondering what in the heck I'm doing taking a picture of her. But then she remembers she's supposed to smile at the black thing that flashes light and makes an effort to please.