Home Sweet Home

We made it home safely.

What a wonderful week in San Diego.

Aside from the trip to Urgent Care, everything else went smoothly.

We created a lot of memories.

As soon as I sort through all 709 pictures I took, I'll post more!



Some bad news- I don't have a car. As Josh was driving home today the "piece" that holds together the drive shaft went bye bye. Thankfully this didn't happen as we drove 85 mph home yesterday because we probably wouldn't have made it home safely. Thank you Dad for watching over us!

Natalee is so happy to be home and sleep in her comfy bed and take good naps again. She slept 3 hours today! She seems to be feeling a lot better so hopefully she is on the mend. Haylee is still fighting her cold but is down to a slight cough and raspy voice although you'd never be able to tell she's sick.

We are so thankful we were able to take this trip with our little girls. They seemed to have a blast! There is nothing better than Making Memories!

Vacation Ramblings

We're having a fun time!

Monday we went to Sea World. Awesome weather, great shows, the girls got Shamu stuffed animals.

Tuesday we went to the San Diego Zoo. Natalee had a meltdown on the tour bus.

Today we spent 3 hours at a mall next to the Kia dealership because we thought we were having a problem with a belt since our car has been squealing. They didn't find anything yet it took them 3 hours to tell us that. Anyway, came back to the hotel for jacuzzi time and nap. Just finished dinner at the Corvette Diner with Nancy and Ted.

Tomorrow we go to the San Diego Safari Park and then Friday we are headed back to Sea World.

My legs are hurting from the intense walking at the zoo.

No sun burn....yet.

Feel totally out of the loop with things going on in the world. I'm barely online and when I do get on, I wish I hadn't. Being on Facebook makes me realize how stupid some people are.

Annoying guys talk outside our hotel door till after midnight. Super rude!

Sleeping is going pretty good after a rough 1st night.

We are making memories and loving life.

Friday Ramblings

WooHoo it's Friday!!!

Time to started getting things together since we leave in less than 48 hours.

I am feeling about 94% better, Haylee still sounds congested but no other symptoms and she is back to her normal self. Natalee has had a runny nose off and on and also drooling which leads me to believe her problem is just teething.

I am tired today. I have been lucky to be able to take a nap everyday this week except for today and I really need one. But Natalee thought she only needed a hour one so.......

We haven't left the house much this week, just been trying to get everyone better. We did go to the mall Wednesday night for a little bit to let the girls play and then Natalee and I went to Walmart yesterday while Haylee was at school.

My Mom sent me a package from Hawaii.....with her dirty laundry. She is having a blast and is sad to leave tomorrow. I would be too. We will see her briefly before we leave for our vacation. She is taking care of Jackson for us while we are gone. I'm sure he is super excited!

Haylee has been taking care of my mom's cats while she is gone. She paid Haylee $10 and Haylee wanted to buy the "Winter" dolphin from Dolphin Tale. Well, with shipping it was $14.50 so she called my mom and said "I need more money!" lol. She says the funniest things.

Well it's about time for Josh to get home from work and we are heading to Kohl's for some winter clothes since it's actually cool in San Diego. Door Busters + $10/$30 + 30% off = Happy Shelley...as long as they have what I'm going after.

Adios Blog.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are a fall favorite around here and super easy. You only need 3 ingredients.


*Spice cake mix. I only found Duncan Hines.
*1 can Libby's 100% pure pumpkin (15 oz.).
*1 bag milk chocolate chips. I only used 1/2 a bag (about 1 cup) but you can use more.


Just mix the dry cake mix with the canned pumpkin (you will not need any of the other ingredients on the cake box). Stir in the chocolate chips and drop small spoonfuls on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes. Makes about 30 yummy, cake like cookies!!!

They may not be perfect, but I love them dearly.

I am thankful for my sweet Haylee girl. She is my big helper and so independent. Yes sometimes she talks non stop and it sometimes drives me nuts, but I love when she will quietly sit in her room and read books and color. She can be hyper crazy and yet she can be laid back and watch a movie. Her attitude needs an improvement but she can be so loving and just want to cuddle. She is very smart and has the wildest imagination. She always wants to pretend she is an animals or person from a movie or book. She always makes us laugh and is so loving towards Jackson. She is so beautiful and has the sweetest face and big, brown eyes. She is my world, and I love her to the moon and back!

Natalee can be so ornery sometimes but I love that little girl like crazy. She keeps me busy for sure but I wouldn't trade it for a minute. Whether I'm getting her off the dining room table or telling her to stop climbing on chairs and coffee tables I can't help but just laugh sometimes because she is such a stinker. I love when she is cuddly and lets me hold her but that is rare these days. Except at night anyway and that is my favorite time. I LOVE rocking Natalee and just talking to her and cuddling with her. She will lay there calm in my arms and I just can't get enough. I am so thankful that these last 2 days she has taken extra long (2 1/2-3 hours) naps. All of us have been laying day each day for much needed rest. I love listening to Natalee talk. She says new words all the time. I love her funny facial expressions, she just cracks me up. I also love the way she dances! She swivels her hips and moves her little feet, we call her Happy Feet. I love my sweet baby N more than life itself.

We leave for San Diego in just a few days and 3 out of the 4 of us and not feeling the hottest. I am feeling better, just weak and yucky, but really no symptoms. I can't decide if Natalee has a cold or if her "issues" are due to teething. She had a runny nose and felt hot 1 day and now she seems better. And then poor little Haylee woke up yesterday not feeling good. I don't get it, I have been planning this vacation and looking forward to it for months and then we all get sick the week before we go. Oh well, I'd rather be sick sitting on the beach watching the waves roll in than sitting on the couch where it's 100 degrees outside.

So I will continue to pray we all feel better soon and that we have a wonderful vacation. San Diego here we come.........in a couple days anyway :)

No no no!

Natalee's new favorite thing to do....about 15 times a day! So not cool.

Mother Nature's Farm

Yesterday we took the girls to Mother Nature's Farm and met up with Dustin & Hannah.

I use to stress about getting the perfect picture. You know, the one where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. Now, I'm just happy if everyone is in the picture!

How times have changed. I have just come to realize it is next to impossible to get both girls to look at the camera at the same time, let alone smiling. It's all about making memories and we do good at that!

This year the girls didn't care too much about the animals, they went straight to the baby pumpkin patch in search of the perfect pumpkin to decorate.

I think decorating the pumpkins was their favorite part. They had all sorts of foam stickers to put on and the girls loved it.

Even Natalee was interested for a couple minutes!

I thought they turned out super cute.

After that, we went to the hay maze.

Haylee & Hannah ran through it over and over.

Poor little Natalee's face was bright red as she was searching for her way around.

Did I mention the high was 102 degrees yesterday? Ya, ridiculous!

Natalee crawled through a "tunnel" and then all 3 girls played in the hay pit.

I love these things that restrict Natalee and we get a break from chasing after her. It's perfect!

Next up was the hay ride complete with Capri Sun's and popcorn to keep Natalee calm and to try to cool the girls down a bit.

And of course, the girls had to get their faces painted!

It's Haylee's new favorite thing to do!

2 pumpkin patches down, 1 more to go! Next up is Vertuccio Farms!

Oktoberfest

Last weekend we took the girls to the Oktoberfest.

We went Sunday to see the weiner dog races yet we never saw one race (more about that later). We started the day at the splash pad which the girls LOVED.

This was Natalee's first time at a splash pad so she was a little hesitant at first.

Not Haylee. She jumped right in, literally.

Natalee liked this little sprayer she found.

However, she did NOT like the bigger sprayers she walked right into. She ended up soaked and was NOT a happy camper. It was sad because she walked right into the crossfire but because she was getting drenched she kinda froze which made it even worse.

She was okay after just a couple minutes and she was off to try out the slide.

Haylee being the big sister, helped her up the stairs and made she was out of harms the big sprayers way.

The rest of the day was spent eating yummy food and riding rides.

Natalee only rode one ride because she was too small for the others, but she had fun watching Haylee.

She did play a ducky game and won fruit snacks so that made her happy.

It was all fun and games till Haylee had a freakout fest! She has never done this before so we were kinda like, "what the heck is going on?" This is where the weiner dog races come in. We were waiting for the races to start, it was hot and people were crowding in front of us so the girls couldn't even see. We decided to leave but Haylee started freaking out because she wanted this little weiner dog stuffed animal we bought Natalee. She seriously carried on for 45 minutes. Needless to say, we left and Haylee didn't get anything. I still don't know why she acted like that but it wore her out because she passed out shortly after we left. Maybe it was her and not Natalee who needed a nap!