Not to brag, but...

Ok people, seriously, my children are geniuses. 

My daughter is all of 17.5 months old.  Lately she's been showing interest in the potty.  She kept walking into the bathroom with us and lifting up the shirt as she walks up to the toilet.  So we brought up the little potty.  Now, she runs to the bathroom yelling while pulling up her shirt.  The other night, by the time I got her shoes, pants and diaper off, she peed on the floor.  However, hold on  to your hats folks...while sitting on the potty for a while...SHE PEED ON THE POTTY!  Unfortunately, she is too small for pull ups, so the diaper thing is going to conintue to be an obstacle.  By the time we can get it off, it's too late.  Either way, she's a genius.  I chalk this early development up to a few things: she's female, she's a second child, and all that breastmilk (I know TMI).  We're so proud of her!

Now, on to Patrick.  He said "remarkable" the other day.  Remarkable!  He's three and says the most amazing things.  And he remembers EVERYTHING!  He's learning some Spanish too.  Hola, adios, leche, queso, gracias, (pronounced glacias), de nada, etc.  He asked me the other day, "How much till I grow up mommy?  If I eat a lot of food, I'll grow up?"  He also told me a while back that he wanted to be a police officer when he grew up.  He asked if that would be ok.  I told him he could be anything he wanted.  He said, "ok, I'll be a police officer or a circus clown."  I kid you not people.

My children are magical.  Thanks for indulging me a few details of their lives.  I hope I can save this blog in written form someday so that I might have some recollection of their childhood.  My memory is terrible.

Some of Evie's Favorite Things

This shelf holds tea cups that Eva and I have recieved from my mom. The first came at my baby shower and the next on the day she was born. We get them on special holidays now: Christmas, birthdays, etc. Anyway, it's a special thing between the three of us. I've taken pictures of each tea cup individually and put them in an album with a photo of me and Eva from that day/time period. This way, if in her childhood, one or more gets broken, I won't get too upset. And it will serve as a nice keepsake for whichever of us doesn't keep the collection.





This bookshelf holds lots of goodies like her piggy bank, a baby photo, the aforementioned album, some sweet book ends, a pretty lamp, Evie's treasure box, and some great books. I love this bookshelf; except when it's time to dust.








The above shoes are precious. My baby daughter officially has more shoes than her momma. That's ok with me. I'm not a shoe girl. Eva, on the other hand, is way into accessories. Hats, shoes, even bibs. She'll put on multiple hats or all her bibs at once. It's funny, Eva is a girly girl and a tom girl all at the same time. Very versatile she is! :)

Catching Up

Alright, life has gotten so crazy, I've TOTALLY slacked on blogging and posting pics of the Hooligans. I've posted an album of our fun day sledding at my mom's house. Also, there's a great album of some SUPER cuties from January.

We've all been well. Real estate work is picking up since the holidays are over and the tax credit advantages are in full swing. Sam's keeping busy with work at the police department and the union. He's also been working at the furniture store on the books. Patrick and Eva have been exploring their independence, each in their own way. Fun times for us. Eva had her first pig tails today...OMG, she was SO cute! I'll try to take pics next time she lets us do it. She will not let me put them in, her teacher at day care apparently has the magic touch.

We're enjoying the kids and continuing our journey to be healthier.

http://www.rineyhooligans.shutterfly.com/

Christmas 2009

So this Christmas was by far the best of my adult life. I think Sam would agree the same for himself. The night before Christmas, the kids and I went to my Grandma Green's house for the Green family Christmas. As per usual, the treats were delicious as always and the kids all had a dizzyingly and deafeningly great time. Sam had to work on this night. When we got home, Patrick put out cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. I stayed up most of the night and cleaned the house and helped Santa get all of his gifts arranged. On this night, I could not get to sleep. I was so excited for the kids to get up in the morning. I woke up very early and was, for once, just waiting for Patrick to hurry up and wake up.

When Sam came home, I asked if he'd seen the cookie crumbs and carrot top that Santa and crew left. He thought it was odd that I'd cleaned the whole house, but left out one plate with crumbs, so he washed the plate and put it away! No worries, after a good laugh about it all, we found more crumbs and carrot tops for display in the morning.

So finally, Patrick got up and saw the bicycle Santa left him. He calls it his "Woody Bike" because it's got Toy Story characters on it. We've got video of it and I promise to post it soon. Eva and Patrick had a great time on this morning. Many folks came for breakfast for my mom's famous Christmas casserole. Let me not forget the perfectly timed snow that fell on Christmas morning. Everyone left and Sam went to bed for a few hours of hard earned sleep while the kids and I played the day away in our pj's. It was great to not worry about the huge mess the house had become since the aforementioned cleaning the night prior and just enjoy my kids without worrying about my email, cell phone, clients, laundry, or the clock, etc.

In the evening, we went to Tom and Gwen's to celebrate the holiday with that part of our family. Again, more very tasty food and much fun visiting with everyone. My children are so lucky to have so many that love them and got to open lots of great clothes and toys.

For the next two days, I stayed home and served as the resident toy and clothes manager. Our home has finally been released from the grips of Father Christmas. We've still got the tree and decorations up, but the toys have been handled. Finally.

In the end, while I've never worked so hard over a holiday, this was a magical Christmas for us. It was the first year Patrick really got excited and participated. Also, Eva got to dress up this year for many occasions and was just beautiful and so sweet. I am grateful for this time with my family.

Click Here for photos of Hooligans at Christmas.

Click Here for photos of the last several weeks pre-Christmas

Gratitude 2009

What I'm Thankful For This Year...



My husband, Sam; you're the best!

My beautiful, healthy, sweet babies, Eva and Patrick.

Libbigus and Mootigus, a.k.a. Libby and Moo



Activity POINTS

Hanging at Mom and Dad's house

Going for walks

Katie, you always fit right in with us!

A new iPhone

That although we said goodbye to my Grandpa Huber this year, I've still got 3 of 4 grandparents, and they're all healthy and happy.

A new bathroom

Baking pies with dad, it's "our thing"

My mom got to retire this year, 40 years of service. WAHOO!

Getting healthy with my fam

Patrick likes his new school

The village that helps take care of the Hooligans

Some great family weddings this year

News of babies on the way (not ours, reference weddings above)

Our first official family vacation to Chicago and Milwaukee this summer

Molly McButter Cheese Powder (only 5 calories a tsp.!)

Cold bottles of water

Carolyn, our WW Leader

A successful year in real estate

Most importantly, our family and friends. We love you all and feel very loved. You are treasures.

Eva and Green Beans

So yesterday Eva helped me snap green beans. By "help" I mean she removed already snapped beans, took a bite from the middle and released them back into the wild (the floor). However, since she was having such fun with the green beans, I snapped a few photos to share with you all.

Also, tonight we went to dinner at Los Tres Amigos. Every time the server would come to the table, Patrick said "glacias" (gracias). It was so darn cute! The servers were good sports and politely replied "de nada."

Patrick has been calling girls "gills" too. Yeesh, our babies are GREAT!

Miscellaneous Fall Photos

Check out these pics of the fam from this fall so far...

Click Here
-k8