Andrea had taken the girls downstairs to the kitchen in order to make dinner, Miranda wasn't keen on the fact that she could not longer hear their voices as well as she could do when they were in the den with the baby monitor on. Although, it did mean that she no longer had that distraction, not that the others were aware of it of course.
"How would you both like pizza for dinner?" Andrea asked the two of them with a huge smile.
Both of them bounced up and down with excitement.
"I will take that as a yes, then." The woman commented softly, "Would you like to help make it with me?"
Again, Caroline and Cassidy seemed rather excited at the idea. "Make Pizza!" One of them cheered with excitement.
"Okay, first of all, I will measure out the dough ingredients and then I will need your help to mix it all together," Andrea explained, "So, for now you can either watch what I'm doing or you can play on the floor where I can see you."
The girls looked at each other before they looked back towards Andrea, "Watch." The two-year-old children confirmed.
Andrea got Cassidy strapped into her high chair first so that she was at the breakfast bar and then she did the same with Caroline too. The high chairs meant that the two of them were safely strapped in and secured whilst also making sure that they could reach the work top and see what was happening in the kitchen.
The girls seemed quite interested whilst they watched Andrea pour out each of the ingredients, measuring them before she put them into individual bowls. She then got out the items that the girls would need which was a big bowl and spoons. To save time later, Andrea got out a mix of ingredients that she knew that the girls would like and using two different children plates with separate sections on them, she divided the ingredients up so that each of the children had the same amount for their pizzas although Andrea knew that the chances were that the girls would eat a lot of the toppings before they managed to put them on their pizzas. She also cut up some ingredients for her own pizza and some for Miranda's too.
"Okay girls, are you ready?" Andrea asked the two of them with a bright smile, it had not taken her long at all to cut up the ingredients in preparation for the two of them and she had had a very attentive audience whilst she was prepping the ingredients too. She was actually quite surprised that they hadn't become bored just watching her but she had tried to make it fun by pulling funny faces at the two of them and also offering them pieces of toppings for the girls to eat or try whilst they waited patiently for her to finish.
Andrea moved to stand in between the twin girls and she first encouraged Caroline to help her with the mixing of the dough, then she swapped and encouraged Cassidy to help her. She took turns with each of the girls until it became too hard for the girls to do and she finished it off quickly herself. She then grabbed the dough out of the bowl and (much to the girls' delight) threw it on the counter, onto a pile of flour, which made the flour shoot all over the place. It gave the two little ones a case of the giggles.
She then divided the pizza dough into pieces and showed the girls how to roll out the pizza dough. Of course, Andrea snapped a couple of photos whilst they were attempting to make their bases.
Cassidy nearly dropped hers but luckily, Andrea leaned over and grabbed it before it slipped off of the counter and on to the floor.
Andrea got the pizza trays and helped the girls put theres onto each of their trays, discreetly stretching the girls' pizza bases out a little more than they had been. She then gave them spoons and squirted a bit of tomato puree on top of each of the bases.
"Now, you can use the back of your spoon like this," Andrea said as she demonstrated what she was saying to them, "And then you can move it just like this and spread the sauce all over the pizza base but not to the edge." Of course, instructing someone is one thing but instructing a two-year-old is another.
There was sauce everywhere and it made Andrea glad that she had squirted the puree out herself rather than letting the girls do it for themselves.
She then gave the girls their own plates with ingredients on so that they could decorate their own pizzas whilst she decorated her own.
Andrea snapped a few more photos to show Miranda later, then she put her pizza to the side so that she could help the girls finish theirs off.
Once both Caroline and Cassidy were happy with their creations, Andrea moved them over to the side where she had put hers, "How would you like to help make your mothers?"
Cassidy and Caroline cheered at the idea, finding it quite fun to do, especially as it was so different to the norm.
Their mother's pizza base was put in front of them along with the plate of select items for the top. Andrea put the mozzarella down first before giving them the go ahead to put the rest on. The girls had had cheddar cheese on their plates but Andrea knew that Miranda would prefer the mozzarella for hers just like she had done with her own.
Once the girls had finished, Andrea moved all of the pizzas over and put them into the oven that was already preheated.
Andrea got the pre-made salad bowl out of the fridge and put it on the side and then got some garlic bread out of the freezer to put in with the pizzas.
"Dinner won't take long in the oven, so how would you like to come with me and invite your mother down for dinner?" Andrea asked the two of them with a huge encouraging smile.
Again, the girls cheered with excitement and as soon as Andrea got them out of the high chair seats they ran towards the stairs and started to make their way up the stairs.