Getting Ready for Halloween

This weekend we got the house ready for Halloween. We have about five of these 3 foot spiders crawling all over the house. Lil' Jerry was having a blast playing with the spiders before we put them up. He was throwing them and kicking them - but in all of his playing and moving them around - the spiders ended up encircling him. He suddenly realized that he was surrounded and began to panic. He needed a quick rescue from the spiders.

Growing up in a pumpkin patch....

2007

2008

2009

2008 2009 Tomorrow is her 1st birthday!!!

Jerry was holding her - you can see his fingers!

Haddie's First Up-Do

Yes, Haddie has taken a her first step in to little girl stage - The Palm Tree Up-Do. Here she is ready to go to school this morning. Her teacher Ms. Lupita, one of her most favorite people, exclaimed as she came in the classroom, "Her first chongo, my little baby is growing up!"

She is growing up too fast - only a couple more weeks of BABY - then it will be full toddler mode.

Last week was open house at the kids school. They served cookies and the brightest red punch I have ever seen. Jerry says "CHEESE!"

Look What I Can Do!

On Sunday Miss Haddie will be 11 months old. Watch the video - she shocked us!

I hear fproggies!

Yesterday, we received about 5 1/2 inches of rain in less than 4 hours. Jerry & I went to pick up the kids in the truck - all the major streets were flooded. Fourteenth street was a river and the 5 points intersection was a lake. Lil' Jerry was fascinated with the rain & standing water. We have been in a draught so long that when ever he saw a sprinkler he called it rain.

As dusk came, the frogs started to sing. Apparently they had been holding back for months because they were loud. The noise made Lil' Jerry uneasy. I opened the back door to the choir of frogs and told him that the frogs were singing. He went and got his father and told him to listen, "I hear fproggies!" The long chorus of croaks would come in waves. Then there would be silence. "Where did the fproggies go? I can't see the fproggies!" Then the singing started again. The darker it got the more joined in - even louder & longer. "Hush Mommy, I hear fproggies!"

I started asking Lil' Jerry questions.

What sound does a frog make?

"Ribbit, Ribbit"

How does a frog move?
"Jump"

Lil' Jerry hopped all around the kitchen floor on all fours.

What does a frog eat?
"Sandwiches"
Huh? What does a frog eat?
"Canny" (Candy) "Prune Canny"

Naked Baseball?

Since the Jerrys went to the Hooks game with Uncle Harley and Taylor everything is about baseball. From tee ball in the backyard to finding the baseball pictures in the news paper. We played imaginary baseball last night. I helped Haddie throw imaginary baseballs to Lil' Jerry. He hit them with his imaginary bat. He then took off running through the dining room-kitchen-hall and then slid home on the living room rug - declared safe by the ump/catcher DaDa. The first time he slid- he slid head first - sliding right out of his diaper. I had to convince him that you can't play baseball naked. After that he slid feet first - keeping his diaper on but getting a good wedgie. Haddie is not a very good pitcher - I think she was playing for the other team. Every pitch was a home run and she jumped up & down and squealed every time the runner slid into home.

A long time ago, in a blog rarely updated...

Okay - It has been a very long time since I have updated the blog. Things have been very busy at home and at work. Haddie is almost 9 months old. She is crawling everywhere and pulling to a stand. She has two bottom teeth and likes to use them. Her hair is turning a dark red brown and her eyes are now more of a gray blue-like her brother's. She loves to sing. Jerry can sing his ABC's - but I think it is a foreign alphabet. If I try to sing with him - I'm told to "hush, Mama". I called to order pizza one night when Jerry was working late. I was asked to spell our last name...MCQUEEN - then I heard "Q R S T U V" being sung from the Bubbie. No one can make his Sissie laugh like he can - all he has to do is jump up and down and Haddie just giggles.

What's better than a prune mustache?

I just finished up a grant at work and the family was featured in a informational video about being active with your kids. http://www.qd.esc2.net/ There is a Nutrition podcast as well - I was one of the panel members.

In April we walked at the Kingsville/Bishop Relay for Life. It was a great opportunity to try out our new wagon. Lil' Jerry rode as long as he could stand it - 2 miles. Then he hopped out and took off running. Big Jerry just looked at me like - gee thanks. Lil' Jerry ran 2 laps - 1/2 a mile!

In May we took a trip to Rockport for little R&R. We stayed at the Little Bay Club http://www.littlebayclub.com/ and would definitely recommend it to others - very family friendly. We would play and explore all day. At night after the kids went to sleep I would sit on the front porch and watch the boats - Jerry would go fishing off their pier. We went to Big Tree - to see the biggest Live Oak in the U.S.

The little fisherman was tired at the end - he fell asleep holding his lure. The cottage key was on fishing lure and Lil' Jerry thought that he needed to hold it all the time. So, we went to Wal-Mart and bought him is own - of course he picked out the biggest and Dada took the hooks off.

For Father's Day Jerry tried to read the paper.

And, Haddie sampled Poppie's coconut cream pie.

And on July 1st, Jerry waited for his new cousin to arrive. Welcome baby Liam!

I have to end with another prune pic.

Lessons from Sesame Street

Do they make a 12-step program for Elmo junkies? We are in need of an intervention at our house. We eat , breath and sleep - ELMO. Technically we sometimes sleep with 3 Elmo's. Kinda creepy in the middle of the night to roll over and hear this high pitch squeaky voice saying "Elmo loves you!". Yep the big one talks. On Wednesday Little Jerry and I went to see Sesame Street Live - Elmo's Green Thumb. We made our own Elmo T-Shirt - Jerry painted it. It was also his idea for the hand prints. He does a lot of hand print art work at school. We joined the rest of the Elmo addicts and got cotton candy sugar rush. He drug the Elmo flag around for two days.

His favorite characters are of course ELMO (sometimes pronounced MO-MO), Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Ernie - cause he's a duckie man too. He had taken all three Elmo's with us to the show - but I convinced him that only the baby Elmo, that his Great Aunt Mary gave him, could go inside(because he was the only one that would fit in my purse) -

the others need to take a nap in the car.

Jerry has shown that he is learning from watching Elmo. His favorite video has an scene with Mr. Noodle showing how to eat a cookie like Cookie Monster. Monday he & I went to Harrel's Soda Fountain for breakfast. He had "cancakes" and sausage. He tried to impress the waitress by demonstrating how Cookie Monster would eat cancakes. After Sesame Street Live - we went to Subway for lunch - the entire Lady Javalina softball team was there - he was in full flirt mode. In his best pre-school flirting style he demonstrated how Cookie Monster would eat pizza. That was one buff group of girls that truly appreciated his eating style.

Last night we had him demonstrate for us...

Haddie is doing really well and growing too fast - although she has not rolled over yet - she is scooting on her belly. She still sleeps in a pack and play in our room - but after her early morning bottle she prefers to be cuddled back to sleep in our bed. Big Jerry & I end up practically clinging to the sides.