Jessica sent over another one of her cakes...this one is the 9 Drummers Drumming.  Love the silver on the drum...AND its edible!  Yummmmmmm,

Moon is a dork!

Can you believe this is a little cake?!

I shared my cakes with friends at New Years. 

I bit the head off the Goose!

Twins? YES!

html_removed html_removed

Chances just 1 in 500,000

By HELEN GILBERT

SUN doctor Carol Cooper, author of a book on twins, said there was a two in a million chance of a second set of twins like the Durrant girls.

She said: “It’s not that common to have a second set of twins, for a start.

“On average, non-identical twins share half their genes — sometimes it’s more, in which case they are quite similar, sometimes it’s much less.

“In this case they’ve not got the same number of genes from each parent.

“To have a second set of non-identical twins is unusual. It means the mum is very fertile.

“I think the first time this happened was in Germany in 1978, when a woman gave birth to one black baby and one white.

“I have met some mixed race twins and they have been different in colour.

“The white one has often had preferential treatment at school and the darker one felt very much in a second division. That’s incredibly sad and I hope this doesn’t happen.

“To have two sets of twins in a similar situation means they will feel much stronger.

“It will be interesting to see how the relationship between the four twins develops. I hope they grow up without prejudice.”

 

html_removed html_removed

2 eggs so gene mix is altered

By HELEN GILBERT

ONE twin can be born white and the other black when two separate eggs are fertilised by two sperm, an expert explained.

This means the genes that define each child’s skin colour can be different, Jane Denton of the Multiple Births Foundation said.

She added: “Differing characteristics in the parents can be passed on — different colour hair and skin.

 

Remarkable

“But I cannot think of a family having had two sets — it really is remarkable.”

The twinning rate has risen by 50 per cent in the last 20 years, with 11,165 sets born in 2006.

But the chance of them being different colours is so slim statistics are not kept.

Delyth Raffel, of multi-birth group Twins UK said: “Nobody records it. I’ve probably heard of two cases in the last two years.”

Experts expect numbers to rise because of more inter-racial relationships.

It can even happen when each parent is of mixed race.

The woman’s eggs contain a mixture of genes coding for both black and white skin — as would the man’s sperm.

When they meet, they produce a baby of mixed race, a white or black.

 

html_removed

BLACK and white twins Hayleigh and Lauren Durrant proudly hold their new sisters Leah and Miya — who incredibly are ALSO twins with different coloured skin.

Their mixed-race parents Dean Durrant and Alison Spooner repeated the two-tone miracle after a seven-year gap.

Ebony and ivory ... Alison and Dean Durrant with two sets of twins - Hayleigh and Leah on left, and Lauren holding Miya

When the first set of twins arrived in 2001, the couple were astonished to see that Lauren took after her white mum, with blue eyes and red hair, while Hayleigh had black skin and hair like dad Dean.

Then this year Alison, 27, found she was expecting again — and lightning struck twice.

She had twin girls again. And little Miya was born with dark skin like her dad and Leah is white like former recruitment consultant Alison.

Dean, 33, of Fleet, Hants, said: “The girls just love Miya and Leah to bits.

Delighted

“We didn’t think it was even possible when we had Lauren and Hayleigh — and it didn’t cross our minds that it could happen again. But we are just delighted that it has.”

Early days ... Hayleigh and Lauren in 2002

Alison said: “I was shocked when I first found out I was pregnant with twins again — but I never thought for one second they would turn out the same as last time.

“After the babies were born they weren’t breathing properly, so they were taken to a special care unit.

“It wasn’t until about five days after they were born that we saw them side by side for the first time.

“And when they were together it was clear that one was darker than the other. It was unbelievable.”

Staff at Frimley Park Hospital, in Surrey, decided to deliver the babies by Caesarean section after just 37 weeks of pregnancy, when scans revealed both were breach.

Doctors took 30 minutes to deliver them on November 13, with Miya weighing 4lb lloz and Leah 5lb 10oz.

Alison said: “Now the girls are back home with us and are very healthy. Lauren and Hayleigh think the new arrivals are fantastic.”

Block paver Dean said: “It was a real shock to the system when I found out we were having twins again. I didn’t think the same thing would happen again. The odds must be millions to one against it.

Friends

“It was really stressful when they were first born, because they were being kept in different parts of the hospital, and the difference in shade wasn’t apparent.

Keen reader ... Hayleigh

Solent News & Photo Agency

“I was running around all over the place between Alison and the girls and when we finally got them all together it was the first time I noticed the difference.

“I could tell straight away that one was darker than the other. But it wasn’t as much of a shock as last time, as we had already been in this situation once.”

He went on: “Leah and Miya are so small they haven’t been out much yet — but some people have looked at us a little bit funny when we’re with Lauren and Hayleigh due to the colour difference.

“Looking so different has never caused them any problems and I’m sure it won’t for Leah or Miya either. When people see Alison and I they tend to realise why our children are different.

Tomboy ... Lauren

Solent News & Photo Agency

“The most important thing is THEY know who their parents are. It doesn’t matter what anyone else might think.”

Alison agreed: “Everyone knows who their mum and dad is and it doesn’t cause any problems — why should it?

“We’ve had the odd comment from people about how different Lauren and Hayleigh look.

“Children at school used to say to them, ‘You can’t be twins because you’re different colours’.

“Some of the other mums didn’t believe they were twins either at first but then they see Dean and I together and realise.”

Dean added: “Having two sets of twins is absolutely hectic and we haven’t even had a chance to work out how much it will cost us.

"Thankfully we’ve had girls again, so we have some things put aside from when Lauren and Hayleigh were little. Friends and family are all offering help as well.”

Mixed emotions ... Durrant family

Solent News & Photo Agency

Little Lauren said: “Me and Hayleigh are really good friends and we really enjoy playing puzzles together. It’s very exciting having two new baby sisters as well.”

Mixed twins are rare — but back in 2006 The Sun tracked down the parents of FOUR sets.

Terri and Malcolm Rayhaman, of Cricklewood, North London, were convinced there had been a mix-up in the IVF clinic when their tots were born.

Fair-skinned Luca was followed by his dark sister Marina.

Terri said: “It was such a dramatic difference. But as soon as I held Marina I knew she was mine.” Malcolm, the darker of the two, has a Turkish mother.

A couple from Basingstoke, Hants, had twin boys Oliver, who was dark skinned and Boyd, who was white. Mum Claire is white and dad Spencer is of mixed race.

Kylie Hodgson, of Nottingham gave birth to blonde, fair-skinned Remee and twin sister Kian, who is black, in 2006. Both parents were of mixed race.

And Kerry Richardson, of Middlesbrough, Teesside, told of her two-tone twin boys.

Layton is like his dad who is white. Kaydon is more like his mum, who is of English-Nigerian heritage.

Kerry said: “Everywhere we go you can see people looking and you can tell they are dying to comment. I have to explain they really ARE twins.”

Safe rides for you -- and your car

 

Brian Peters and Bob Janisch co-own Drink and Drive Intelligently, which gets tipsy patrons home, with their cars.