Are they triplets?

We skipped school last week and went to the aquarium.  The Long Beach aquarium is really impressive, and I think I love it as much as the girls.  It's right on the ocean, and many of the exhibits are connected with the tides of the day.

Penguins are always funny to look at!

Here's our silly girl.  I've said it from the beginning, but she is always looking for a laugh:)

Getting ready for the day.  It's usually a challenge getting both girl's hair done in the same day, so I try to get really creative with the conversation to keep their interest.  I think this day's topic was, "Lauren, is that syrup in your hair?  What if you had waffles in there too?"  :)

Made this fall wreath, just needs a brown ribbon.  It's fun to create!

Many people ask us as when the girls are together, "are they twins?"  As Lauren gets older, they look more and more alike.  We just found out today that we may be asked in the future, "are they triplets?" YES!  WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!

We're super excited, and can't even think of finding another girl name, but we've got some time to figure it out.   Wahoo!!!!!

What's up lately..

 
We've been having a great time lately settling in to a routine.  It's kind of a oxy-moron(laugh at my spelling, please).  'Routine' sounds rigid and strict, but it is actually freeing and motivates to us to be able to accomplish more.  The above photo is Maren and her teacher kickin' it at the table.  I've heard many pieces of info from her teacher that reminds me that children have NO filter.  It'd be hilarious to be a preschool teacher:)

Isn't it awesome when you and your child uncover her hidden abilities?  This is one of them.  Maren can do the wash.  She is trying to earn money, and is motivated to do almost any job.  We love it.

Another thing I've craved this time around is home-grown tomatoes.  For some reason, our tomato plant we put in a grow box never produced, but this one above has been producing cherry tomatoes since February!  While we were first looking at this home, I noticed it intertwined in this other plant. 

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Spiders are everywhere.  I hate it.  I don't hate anything in this world, except THEM.  Gross, ugly, and poisonous.  Even after being a former 'pest controller', spiders will forever terrify me.

These two girls are hilarious.  They're tall enough to ride alone on this ride and Knott's now.  It is a pregnant mamma's dream come true:)

From the looks of Lauren's eye positioning, she's not too happy with all this:)

Happy Monday!

Recipes and where did summer go?

 Summer really went fast.  With moving, and other things, I'm not sure our girls will remember this summer as 'fun', but when children are this young, summer kind of runs year round!  Here are some pictures of our new place.

The family room

The previous owners painted this chalkboard wall in the kitchen.   We have fun with it, each using it for different reasons!

Living room

Backyard.  We were sold when we saw the flat space in the backyard.  That is hard to come by here in So. California.  When we finish with improving the front yard, we'll head back here and start planting anything that we can keep alive.  Thanks to Janette, we have one avocado tree started!  When we moved in to the home, this grass was yellow and the girls would cry if they had to walk on it barefoot:)

We went on a hike yesterday for Labor day.  Lauren is in a skirt, but fared just fine because she asked Andy to carry her on his shoulders(which he can't say no to).  She knows how to work that.

At my Dr. apt. today, these two each brought their doll\baby.  They are getting ready for the real thing I guess.  I'm 17 weeks, and find out the gender at the end of the month.  Despite being out of the 1st trimester, I still have the grim reaper of TIREDNESS on my shoulder.  Maybe this is normal for the 3rd time around, but still not fun.

Right before naptime today, Lauren told me that she was going to see Jesus tonight when her baby came out.  It was a little strange and a lot cute!

So, on to the fun stuff:)  Each pregnancy is different, and for me this time around, I am craving anything with a strong, fresh taste, with fresh ingredients.  I found this delicious salad dressing recipe, and thought someone might like it too:
1 Orange juiced
1 Lemon juiced
1\2 Lime juiced
Salt and Pepper to taste
Olive oil

Combine and serve over spinach\lettuce of choice, feta, crushed walnuts, and cherry tomatoes.

Growing up in my household, a common ingredient in many of our meals was Cream of 'Something' soup.  Now don't get me wrong, I do still like this, but I try to hide it when someone else is over:), and try to use it less than once in a while.  So I've been on a quest for a few years now to expand my horizons in the kitchen.  Here's what's in store for tonight:

Zucchini ribbon pasta