rain, rain....

go away, coming again another day....

Last year Emilie was singing this song and stopped half way through it and said with hunched over shoulders "Ah never mind it never works."

And she was right, it never works. this time of year the rain just keeps coming.

for Christmas the kiddos each got an umbrella to help in our daily march up the hill to the bus stop. In the rain.

So out we went with our new umbrellas taking them on their madden voyage.
I always forget that Molly is still a toddler and can't do everything that the other two do. Our normal 5 minute walk without umbrellas took 15 minutes with. Thank goodness we had plenty of time to figure it out. This little one is as stubborn as me if not more and she was going to figure it out all by herself.  as she says "I try! I do! mama."

Even Emilie knows to keep her distance.

Great job Molly!! You did great!

I love my past

 Driving around today A Dave Mathews Band song came on the radio. As with all of their songs it made me smile. They always make me smile because they remind me of my past. I love my past. Starting when I was 18 I worked for the Forest Service fighting forest fires as they are called up North and in Southern California, where I worked they are called wildland fires.

I loved my job and I was extremely proud of my job. The picture below was taken my first year I was with El Cariso Hotshots. The crew is station on the Cleveland N.F. North of San Diego but we traveled all over the United States. Looking at this picture reminds me of how young and dumb I was when I started. I thought I knew so much. But I didn't.

These people taught me so much. And I love who I am today because of them. Not all of the memories are good. Some are down right awful. But most of them are amazing. Throughout my twenties I got to see parts of the U.S. that most people will never see.

The job is crazy hard. You have to be strong and smart at the same time. I miss that.

Now a days I feel useless. I know my job as a mom is  important. All I have ever wanted to be is a wife and mom. The 10 years I fought fires was just a job to pass the time until I got married. And now that I'm in the thick of raising kids I'm not sure what to do with myself.

I've almost been out of fire as long as I was in it. At what point is it not OK to say that was job before kids? When will  it have been too long ago? Am I no longer that person? I was so proud of that person. I did a job with 20 other people that not just anyone could do. Once I left the hotshots and became full time I got to work with a great group of guys on a fire truck and spent a summer working on a helicopter. I want to do something amazing again. I want to do something that I'm proud of.

I'm proud of my kids and the great job we are doing but I need more.

I'm sure that this is also just a phase and it to will pass....

I am the hunched over one 4th from the left in the back row

I'm the one with no hard at on the right between a hard hat guy and no hard hat guy.

I wish the pictures would have scanned in better. I need to figure that out too.

*update*

First of all, I am not and will not be having another baby. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't want another one. I just know what this family can handle. And right now 3 is perfect.

Second, after I posted pictures of "my hobo" I was wondering what Playmobil was thinking when they made him.
First off they called him a A Tramp. A Tramp? Really?
Second off they put a policeman with him.
Weird...

On the site 16bit.com this is some of what they said about the set.

The Policeman & Tramp set is really just a drunk, shoeless, homeless guy on a bench with a cop. As such, it's the best preschool/grade school toy the world has ever seen.

Neither figure is groundbreaking or particularly noteworthy from a toy design standpoint, but the "wow" factor is very high. For anyone that has wanted a drunk cavorting around on your desk, this is the toy you've been waiting for.

The best part is that I have been waiting for him! Instead of an office desk he sits above my sink. Which in a way is my office.

Just for kicks here is my second favorite from our new sets.
The Snake charmer. He's part of the "circus set" and yes, he is standing on a bed of nails.

On mamapedia this morning they had a great deal  $15 for $30 at Cafe Press. When I first got the deal it was because I could personalize my iphone case. But once I went to the site I found soooooo much more.

Here are some of my favorites. 

This should be written on my hand. I make everyone of these mistakes. hahahaha

This little miss is the reason why I love to sew. Everything that I sew, no matter how dorky it is she tells me that its what she has always wanted and that she loves. it.

And I LOVE her and she is what I have always wanted.

Houdini...

Back in December I thought I had Molly figured out. At the bottom of  this post you can see my awesome work. Once again she proved me wrong and was able to get out of her backward pj's. My next option was using her old Halo sleep sack that zipped on the front and down. That way I could turn it around. the only problem was that it was for a 12 month old and Molly is almost in a 3t. Off to the sewing machine! I cut the bottom off of the sleep sac and added a few inches of a fleece blanket. It's very ugly but its holding strong. Its been a few days and she is still cozy in her giant sleep sack every morning.

Of all of the 3 kids she is the most opinionated on the things she likes, doesn't like and things she wants.

After nap she was sure that she wanted to wear a diaper cover of her pants. Whatever Molly. After Emilie beat me down for 2 years I'm done fighting over the clothes my girls wear. Emilie wasn't hard to get dressed she just loved changing her outfits a thousand times a day. After many loads of laundry I realized that if I just let her wear what she wants she stays in it almost all day.

The last few weeks I've been feeling like I want another baby. Or at least be pregnant again.  I know that, that is the last thing this family needs. We are finally hitting a nice stride as a family. The only reason why I think I "need" a baby is because I'm really missing those times with my babies. Those quiet times were a little human looks up at you with pure love. And instead of just thinking about those times and missing them. I need to make sure I find that time in the present with the three I have. I also think that I'm trying to control something I have control over. Meaning get pregnant. The only reason why I know this is because after my dad died I said a million times "if only I had more time with him". Having another baby, for me, is kinda like that. A do over. Another chance.
Instead of wanting another baby I need to go sit on the floor with my kiddos, play barbies and LOVE the one's I am so lucky to have.

She was very proud of herself and even when she is tripping and falling on her face she has a smile.

Really Play Mobil????

A few months ago my amazing friend Sam gave my kiddos a GIANT set of Play Mobiles (actually Sam's sister gave us the set :-) ).  I decided to keep them until Christmas and then I forgot we had them. A few night before Christmas we remembered and got the giant tub out and started going through all of them. In that amazing tub of play mobiles there was a hospital set, mid-evil set, family set and about a bazillion more (I Know we are crazy lucky)

but the one that stood out the most and made me laugh so hard I peed my pants was the strangely accurate hobo collection..

I've decided to keep this one for myself and he hangs out above my sink. Every time I see him it makes me giggle. Not because homelessness is funny, but because whoever designed this cute little man thought "hey would should give him a bottle, stick, a park bench and call him a hobo.

Thanks Play Mobile for the laughs!

Happy birthday to My 3 Little Ducks

I can't believe it has already been a year. I actually thought I started this blog on Jan. 1, 2010. Oops guess I was wrong. It was Dec. 30 2009.

Here is my first post of many
http://my3littleducks.blogspot.com/2009/12/here-i-go.html

A lot has changed in a year but one thing is for sure. I still have awful grammar, I still suck at spelling and I take a bazillion pictures. But, I've learned soooooo much from all of the new people I've met through this blog and I wouldn't change a minute of it.

Thank you for reading this little ol'blog and sharing a few laughs we me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

catch up

I feel like I'm finally getting caught up on everything since our trip to Mexico. But then again I'm in complete denial that Christmas and New Years eve have come and gone. I remember thinking a year ago when we were planning our vacation that it seemed so far away. And now it is all over. Holidays and vacations are both so exciting leading up to the day and then its awesome as you are living it....then its over.

BAM! Reality. But then again reality isn't so bad. I love getting my house put back together and getting everyone back on a routine.

The only true bummer part is that Doug and I can't start working off the holiday pounds we gained because we are both sick, again.

Here are some of the greatest hits

Emilie LOVES the bike Santa brought her

Colin of course LOVES all of his new LEGO's and his TAG map



Christmas blew this little one's mind.



And the hits kept coming



She really mastered present opening



She then got busted enjoying her crayons



Colin spent all day building



Then we danced and danced to our new (to us) record player. I had an old fisher price one that I got when I was Colin's age and it finally passed away this year. (Stuff was made sooooo much better back in the day)  All of those awesome old records finally have a new home to spin on!!

Colin's (official) birthday party
finally happened the Monday after Christmas at Chuck E Cheese. He loved it!! It was his first ever friend birthday party and he had so much fun sharing his big day with his best buds.

Happy 6th birthday Colin

You are such an amazing boy!





hmmmmm....I think the boy could use a few more LEGO's. What's even funnier is that the orange and multi colored ones are still on the basket.
Doug spent the last two days sorting them by color because I really wanted to get all of the sets re-built before Christmas. That way if when he gets more for Christmas all of his LEGO cities will be all up and running.

This is as far as we have gotten

It's a lot harder to re build

At least it "dumps"

Pretty awesome, I know.

success!!

Little Molly made it through a nap and bedtime with her diaper and PJ's still on. Hurray! No poo to clean up this morning.

Glad to see that this stinky problem may  be solved.....

Bad things come in three's....

Is a bunch of crap. Bad things don't just come in three's. The past few weeks have taught me that a lot of shit can be thrown our way and no matter how much I cry, cus and scream there's a good chance that more will keep coming. and coming. I know I'm going to jinx myself by saying at least everyone is healthy and we have a home. But its true. As of right now we are all healthy and our home is sorta standing.

It all started 2 days after thanksgiving and our washing machine died. Between cloth diapers and cloth paper towels this house cannot go with out a washer. BUT, it was the weekend after thanksgiving and we got a smokin deal on a washer.  I could finally get rid of my HE washer and go back to the old fashion, top load, non smelling, watch my clothes get cleaned and be able to soak my diapers kind of washer.

Everything seemed great until a few days later when I didn't pull my car  all of the way into the garage and the garage door came down, hit my bumper and didn't bounce back up. It just kept pushing down on my bumper until the garage door crumbled in on itself. Thank god my husband can fix almost everything. He took the door apart, reinforced it here, pounded on it there and hung it back up. Good as new...almost.

Once again everything was going great. We were getting ready to go on our family vacation in 2 days and I was running out one evening to pick something up for my sister with my kiddos. I pushed the garage door opener and all of a sudden we heard a weird grinding sound then a GIANT POP!! I had left the back window open in my expedition and when I opened the garage door it caught the window and exploded it. SHIT!! We leave in a few days, this is going to cost money we don't have, and I am out a car. shit, shit, shit...

Once again SAFECO insurance to the rescue. (they were a huge help when my car got broken in to) When I called and told them what an idiot I was the very nice man I the phone chuckled and said his brother did the same thing and that it would be free. It was a Christmas miracle!!!

A guy was at my home by 11 am and a new window was in by 12.  Phew.

Normally I would have a ton of pictures documenting all of this craziness but shockingly I didn't. Until this one. Can you guess which one this was from

Yep...My window

By 7 am Friday morning we were leaving it all behind with the rain, wind and snow and I no longer cared. All that mattered was that I'm was with my family heading some place warm and awesome.

Can you guess where we went?

Besides on a balcony with a cocktail and a perfect sunset.

There will be plenty  more picture and stories from our vacation but right now I am wrapping my brain around the fact that we came home to a roof that has a leak and may not be under warranty.
This morning I found Molly in her crib naked. She had taken everything off her body then took a dump. Everything had crap on it except for her diaper. I thought for sure I had this situation fixed weeks ago when I started putting her underwear on over her diapers. I guess she can now get them off too. Normally I would have taken a picture of this event but I was to busy dry heaving while giving her a bath at 6 in the morning.
Now I am left with the question. How do I keep her diapers on while she is alone in her crib?

This is what I came up with

I cut the feet off of one of her old footed jams and turned then around. If she can get out of theses I need to suck it up and just potty train her.

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining about all of this. Because in the end all of this crap sandwiched a fantastic vacation and I am a true believer there is a reason for everything. and so far each thing that has happened has made me so thankful for the things we have to help us get through them. A talented husband, insurance and the thing with Molly, well that just funny and hopefully my brain gets us through this one.

Thanks for letting me vent!
Buenas noches

good morning

I love hanging out by the Christmas tree in the early morning with my coffee while the house is still quiet.
All of the pretty lights are always so magical to me. It reminds of why my kiddos are always so excited to see that the tree is on in the morning and why they always want to hang out by it and look up at all of the past years treasures.
Have a great weekend

Today was good...

Today was good. Colin loved his December 2nd book, and Emilie did not... and it was a perfect book for her.  The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. It has two little girls in it that remind me of her and Molly. And Emilie always tells me that her favorite pie is Apple. But on this early hour of December 2nd Emilie had her heart set on a princess book.

Oh well...At least one of them was happy.

And my sweet little knock kneed daughter did like her new dress so I didn't completely fail in Emilie's eye's

After a day filled with school and gymnastics Colin had a great idea to go for a walk and check out all of the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Sadly most of the neighborhood has been dragging ass and hasn't set up their lights. We still had a great walk and I tried with my very poor night time picture taking skills to take some fun pictures.
I got a nice one of Moll's.

And a fun one of my big kids.

Its been fun this year hearing what each kiddos remembers from last years holiday season. Emilie doesn't remember much but Colin remembers everything.

His favorite things are the little village under the tree and the train going around the village and going out looking at Christmas lights.

His birthday is in December and that's all he wanted to do on his birthday night last year was go drive around neighborhoods ouuuuuing and ahhing at their lights.

Cheer's to the folks out there that put lights up so we can come out and dance in front of your home!

Thank you!

before and after

It seems like forever since I did my last before and after. It's nice to be back.

I love this picture of Molly. It captured every part of personality.

Always drooling, always wearing a head band, super sweet and always a little sneaky.

Goodness I love this little human so much.

SOOC (nikon d90)

After

Crop, adjusted the shadow and some highlights shifted around. all in Picasa 3

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are having a great Thursday!

I wish...

I could have a job working out of my home making these little cashmere hats. I love making them and the are super easy. But...you can only make so many before your daughter says "I have enough mom"

I also love making these little felt flowers that can be pined on a hat, or a jacket, bag or even a lamp shade. But, although they are crazy cute we finally hit our max for personal use/love

now I've moved on to making pinafore dresses for my girls. Another thing that is fun to make. But little girls can only have so many.

My next project needs to be something for Colin. that poor kid is definitely left out when it comes to my sewing projects. Any ideas?

Isn't it cute? and it's reversible!!

On another note. today was the first day of December and this year we are trying something new. Instead of a candy, candle, ext. advent calender we are doing a book a day.

My sister and I went to The Goodwill on the day after Thanksgiving for their 50% off entire store sale and it was wonderful!! I was able to get all of their books for the month and a ton of other awesome stuff. I truly LOVE the Goodwill.

I think they enjoyed getting a new "to them" book. Colin thought his came from the library so I think that's why at first he wasn't that excited. and I can understand that. we check out about 50 books a month. Once he realized that he could put "his" book in the bookshelf upstairs was a nice treat for him. I'm not sure what Emilie thought. She loved her book and all of the pictures but after we read it she moved on pretty fast.

On our way up to bed tonight Colin said "I can't wait to see what book I get tomorrow." and that my friends makes it all worth it.