Is Picasa at fault?

I've had several posts over the last few days that weren't loading correctly for some people. Certain pictures in the posts just wouldn't show up. They all look correct on my computer, so I'm not sure what's causing it. Does anyone use Picasa to post their pictures? I have recently started using it because it makes blogging so much faster, but I'm wondering if that's where the problem is coming from. Any solutions you may know of are greatly appreciated!

Oh, are they twins?

Taking the babies out in public is always an interesting experience. I realize that most people only have one baby at a time, but multiples aren't that uncommon. Still, every time I venture out, I get lots of stares & random comments from everyone I pass. Though I've had just about every question imaginable asked of me, by far the most frequent is, "Oh, are they twins?" I smile politely & say yes, but I would really like to respond, "As opposed to what?"

Another chart topper on our FAQ list is "Who's older?" I'm always surprised by this one because it just wouldn't occur to me to ask this, but the answer is Jake, by one minute.

Sorry for the slightly obscene picture of Mal here, but it was too funny to pass up. Those are the basketballs that go with the goal you can see that are in her shirt. Obviously, she thought it was funny, too.

Probably next on the list would be "Are they identical?" Sometimes I just say no, & sometimes I throw in, "No, one is a boy & one is a girl." At that point, the questioner usually realizes that they've asked a no-brainer & says, "Oh, what I mean is do they look alike?" This is also funny to me since the babies are right there in front of them, not hidden from view. My response? "I don't really think they do, but some people have said they favor one another."

"Which one is the quiet one?"

Well, we don't really have a quiet child. It seems to go back & forth depending on the setting & their moods. If it came down to an all-out screaming match, Mal could win every time, hands down. That girl has got some lungs!

"Are they both boys?"

(Yes, this boy just prefers pink.)
No, one boy & one girl.

"Which one is the girl?"

This one in the dress with the bow on her head.

Other favorite comments of late:

• You sure have your hands full!
• Oh, my goodness! There's two of them!
• Wow, that's a huge stroller!
  

Home Sweet Home

We've been having fun making this new house our home over the last couple of weeks. Here are our first family photos at the new house. My mom took these the weekend we moved in, but I just hadn't loaded them on my computer yet.

There are lots of things that we love about the new house, but one of them is not having any neighbors behind us. Our street backs up to a green belt next to a creek. On the other side of the creek is a golf course. It's great to have a glimpse of God's creation in the middle of the city. Since we haven't purchased any blinds for our windows yet, not having anyone back there has been nice!

There have been a couple different mornings when I had some furry friends in the back yard to greet me. I'm sure they'll learn to steer clear of our house as soon as the twins are walking!

Sugar Rush

As I've mentioned before, I love to bake. Decorating sugar cookies is one of my favorite baking activities, & I've gotten to do a lot of that lately.

I was recruited to help decorate cookies for our recent Ladies' Day at church. We were supporting the ministry Handbags for Hope, so we had purse cookies for dessert. I can't really take much credit with these. My sweet friend Sarah came to my rescue because she knew I had a busy week & came over to help decorate. She ended up providing most of the creativity between the two of us, so I mostly just copied her designs. Here's what we came up with.

I also made cookies last week for my friend Kim's baby shower. She is having twin girls in just a few weeks, so we have a new member of the "twin mommy club!" Baby cookies are usually my favorites to make. The shapes are easily recognizable, so you really just have to fill them in with color & everyone knows what it is. Much less creativity required for this than the purses, so that's more my style.

Now if only I had a magical calorie-free cookie that tasted as good as these do!

Bunnies on Drugs?

Here's the portrait we got from the photographer at Northpark. They would plop these bunnies down & they literally didn't move. Karen & I decided they must have been drugged to not run with fear from the noisy, squirmy children. Either way, I'm glad we got a cute picture of their first Easter!

Hippity Hoppity

A mere week and a half late, I'm finally posting about Easter! It rained in Dallas on Easter Sunday, but since our kids are too young to hunt eggs, it worked out just fine. We were blessed to have Mimi & Pops and Nana & Papa with us for the holiday. I got a very cute portrait made of the twins with live bunnies at Northpark, but I haven't gotten J to scan it in yet, so I'll put that up later.

Here they are on Easter morning, dressed up & ready for church. I loved all of these shots, so I couldn't narrow it down. Notice their adorable Easter basket liners! Kathy Johnston, aka Grammy, was so sweet to make them for Jake & Mal. Thanks Grammy! They turned out beautifully!

Chamblee family photo

Pops & Mimi with their favorite little sailors

Papa & Nana with their favorite sailors

We had a wonderful Easter lunch of ham, hashbrown potato casserole, asparagus, salad, yeast rolls & banana pudding. Yum!

Inspecting their loot after lunch. The basket in front was J's when he was a kid. Mimi brought it to put their goodies in.

Ooh...plastic grass!

Nana brought the cute bunnies that are in their baskets. Unfortunately, Mal decided to "decorate" Jake's bunny the other day with some nice yellow mango spit up. Not so good for white fur. Good thing Mommy is a laundry magician & got it out!