The pic isn't my cake but mine looked very similar in color. I made 2 box cakes and divided and colored (much like you would for frosting) and layered the colors into 1 big cake pan. I used the 3 primary colors and mixed orange, green and purple myself. You can just use 1 box cake too (but we needed more). And then bake like directions say on box. Easy peasy! Edit to add pic of our leftover cake still in the pan. Even the crumbs are pretty ;)

I'm lazy when it comes to decorating but I love doing the rainbow batter cakes. I leave the outside frosted in plain white which makes the inside all the more of a surprise.:D I made one of these 2 weeks ago for my newly 10 yo DD, and used Wilton icing colors (the kind in the small jars) and it turned out super vivid and pretty. :) Also, cake balls are fun and easy and super yummy too! (We made those then too)

I'm pretty lax about fevers too, but heads up-- if there's a fever on and off it could be a sign of a secondary infection setting in-- I had no idea until my DS had to be hospitalized for pneumonia :( I was way off on that one. Definitely watch the breathing patterns.

Any chance you could work in the Y daycare a few hours a month? My sister does this so the family membership is much cheaper. I believe she just brings her kids along on the days she works too.:D

Love this. Thanks.

I don't think the punch has been for sale for an entire year yet, so not sure if they will reduce for back to school sales, but I have not seen it on sale and I've been checking periodically. All I've seen is Buy One Get One Free (or half price?) on accessories in store only.

Our PBS channel still airs the reruns nightly (10 pm in Iowa). Might be available in your viewing area for free as well.:D

Congrats!! My twins are 5 months old, born in Feb-- so I was in your shoes at this time last year!! They were induced at 39.5 weeks, 7 lbs and 6lb 15. Be careful what you google, so many scary twin statistics/stories out there. Also, watch your iron levels, mine got low and I was so pooped all the time. Floradix helped get my energy back. Be prepared to feel "fully baked" at, oh, about 30 weeks, and continue to expand for another 2 months after that. Insane. I've successfully nursed my 2 so far. It was crazy at first so make small goals and celebrate when you reach them. I never cared for nursing both at once-- only in dire situations-- I need to be able to jump up and check up on my sneaky (now) 2 yr old.:glare: Twins+others is a lot of work. Lots of patience is necessary. It's gotta be one of the most challenging/rewarding things I've ever done. Get the big kids on your side and have them help with as much as possible. Another good book... http://www.amazon.com/Mothering-Multiples-Breastfeeding-Caring-International/dp/0976896931/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b Take care!!

I gave DH's grandma a coffee cup with the kids' photo printed on it. Or what about socks? A magazine subscription? Chocolate? Family photo in frame? Pay-as-you-go phone already set up? Homemade cookies?

Wow, she's definitely got smarts... it can't be easy to button a shirt that is inside-out!

Me too, me too! Not a huge fan of caves, but if the internet speed was better than here, I'd definitely consider it! And wow, glad I'm not the only one that avoids the phone!! (DH doesn't get it at.all.)

Oy, we had an horrible, no-good, very bad time picking names for our twins. Guess I should have started one of these lists years ago!!:tongue_smilie:

Oh I knew I should have quit reading at "dog baby":tongue_smilie:

I think it's for the support side... there are boatloads of various old phones out there and it would be impossible to know how to troubleshoot each one when problems arise. Even with pageplus, they don't offer tech support on the bring-your-own phones.

I have both pageplus and tracfone. I like them both. I don't believe the minutes roll over on pageplus so you can get about 2000 minutes for a year for $80. There is the $.50/mo service fee. You can't stack cards to extend time (possible on tracfone). I too get them at callingmart with the coupon code. Kittywireless is another option, they have excellent customer service but no coupons. You can bring your own device, so if you've got a verizon phone it will work. Or get one cheap off ebay or CL. Disable data on your phone; it is $.99/mb-- HORRIBLE!! Pageplus also has $10 cards good for 120 days with 100 minutes. So you could have service for as little as $30/yr if you rarely use any minutes. (of course, if you run out you could buy more). $6 fee per year will end you with 240 minutes for the year for $30. Tracfone $20 cards are good for 90 days, and they have the best coverage in my area (CDMA+free roaming; superior to pageplus) but the phone selection is abysmal. But I keep it in the car, so no frills is fine by me. Minutes rollover and you can find coupon codes for bonus minutes + double minutes (or triple minutes) to get around 150-200 minutes for $20 for the 90 days. We never use up our minutes, so I buy the $20 card for the 90 days of service. Last I checked, Net 10 cards are only good for 30 days, so they are NOT a cheap option for super low usage.

Yup, nursing a newborn is much more difficult than even a 2-month old. It is hard to get them to latch, stay latched, relatch, wake up, stay awake, etc, etc. I really think it takes 2 hands to juggle it all at first. And I do find the nursing pillows useful for positioning on those first days but after they get the hang of things the pillows are more in the way than anything IMO. Especially if there are other little ones to chase after. I'm currently nursing my 4-month-old twins and I was so nervous at first (my last babe wouldn't latch) but we have made it successfully this far. I can't say it was a walk in the park (definitely has its own multitude of challenges)-- but yay I'm thankful we worked through the rough spots to get where we are today!!

I often use mostly lowercase since I'm usually NAK and it is tricky to hit 2 keys with 1 hand correctly; esp to capitalize an "i" and I hate leaving "i"s uncapitalized almost as much as I hate deleting and going back and correcting my mistakes. :tongue_smilie: So yeah, I know my circumstance is unique, but all lowercase is much better than all UPPERCASE!:ack2:

have you taken a glance at this site... contrariwise:literary tattoos :drool5: (and yes, there are Harry Potter ones!) I've got no tats yet (incredibly indecisive) but love seeing and hearing the stories as well as dreaming up future possibilities. Thanks for sharing:001_smile:

Whoops:blushing: misread as Richard Dawkins. I was confused as to why childhoods were being talked about.:confused::lol: Guess Dawson was a bit before my time, but I remember him on Nickelodeon reruns of Laugh In. ;)

My g/b twins are almost 4 months old. And yes, I've been asked (by an in-law) if they were identical. My heart is heavy for the twin mamas here that have shared of their losses. :grouphug: You've brought tears to my eyes.

:grouphug: Yeah, I was getting glimpses of feeling human again about a year ago when my fifth turned one... but since then, after having surprise twins, i pretty much threw that out the window. After a minor revelation, I am now trying to learn how to "roll with it" more than just aiming to survive, since I know life is going to be crazy for quite some time here on out. My oldest will soon be 10 and I feel that she will be grown before I'm back to where I want to be, so I want to be there as best as I can now-- I've been saying "just wait" for far too long. :grouphug:

Congrats!! From a fellow surprised mama of twins here-- after 5 singletons and not expecting more:lol: My g/b set are now 3.5 months. (my Baby A was the girl too:001_smile:) I didn't find out until my 2nd trimester either, and I agree, I liked not knowing right away and stressing over those early days. I measured large for my dates too and had to get an ultrasound to check it out. Fundus measurements can be wonky with twins depending how they are situated at the time, so don't rely to much on how your numbers change appt to appt (although it is fun to see how huge they get!) Be careful what you read online, you can scare yourself silly over it all, not many stories are written of uneventful experiences:tongue_smilie: My local hospital doesn't deliver twins, (unless by emergency c-section :glare:) So I had to travel 1 hr 45 min to the "city." If you are hoping for a vag. birth, there are many hoops to waddle through;)-- my doc said as long as Baby A was head down he'd do it but my delivery had to take place in the operating room just in case. Some docs say only if both babes are head down. Watch your iron levels-- mine got pretty low and I became super tired and blah, so had to heavy-duty supplement. I remember feeling "full term" (how I felt near 40 weeks w/singletons) at, oh, around 30 weeks and it was so hard to fathom I had over 2 more months yet to go!! Not fun. And even though it is totally possible to go into labor early do NOT rule out the chances of making it to term. I say mentally/physically prepare for both. Everyone just knew I'd go a month early... well, they all were wrong and after those extra excruciating weeks (over-analyzing every.single.thing thinking labor was a'comin') I had to be induced at 39.5 weeks. If planning on breastfeeding start researching now! Many love the twin nursing pillows but I prefer to bf one at a time so I have a free hand and can jump up if I need to (5 other kiddos to keep up with) but I do like having the pillow when traveling so bf'ing can go faster (like at weddings, etc). I recommend getting matching infant car seat carriers-- so either one can fit into each base, if you need new ones. And I'd make sure you have 2 of some sort of entertaining baby holder-- either 2 swings or 2 bouncers or 1 of each or 2 of both.:tongue_smilie: It really starts to feel like juggling when there are big kids and babes all needing mom at once! And probably get the twin stroller too. It is just really difficult to get out of the house with baby twins + young kids. Well that's my novel for ya for now :tongue_smilie: (NAK is a lovely thing:lol:) May your pregnancy continue to be a healthy one (+one)!!

yikes, 30 minutes?! We'd still be working on our last summer's corn if we waited that long!! We froze over 50 qts of corn, after boiling each pot around 5 min. I too believe in watching for the color change.:001_smile:

Probably my highlight of last month was getting a new toilet!! :D:D:D We tried numerous times fixing the old one but wow, no more incessant water running, clogging, etc etc... I swear angels are singing in our bathroom now!:lol: And on top of all that, we saved about a fourth of its cost on our water bill in a month!:hurray:

You're right. I'm a fan of sauerkraut but I've NEVER had it mixed with potatoes and carrots!!:001_huh: Yes, kraut as a side with pork-- brats and chops, etc but my fav is kraut on pizza :drool5: Sauerkraut + Pineapple pizza = :001_tt1: the perfect mix of sweet, sour and salty loveliness.