Early Scholars Academy

With the help of Jerry, Taylor and my friend & co-worker's son Daniel - ESC2 finally broke ground yesterday for our children's interactive learning center. They were featured on the front page of the local section of the Caller Times. Taylor was actually on the front page of the paper! http://www.caller.com/news/2009/nov/10/childrens-educational-building-groundbreaking/ This is going to be an amazing place for the school children of South Texas to visit. Think about boarding a submarine for story time with your teacher, exploring space via a space ship with video screens for windows, playing in tee pees and stage coaches, climbing a Mayan temple, pretending to be a paleontologist, building a city, releasing butterflies into the rain forest, hearing the supply plane fly over while you are in your survival tent in the Arctic - oh, I could go on & on forever. It will not be open to the public - it will be for organized school trips only - for children 3-5. But there is talk of summer camps.Taylor is assisting our Executive Director, Dr. Linda Villarreal. And Jerry is helping one of the ESC Board members. That is the Caller Times photographer down in front.

Jerry with the chairman of the board.

They were allowed to keep their hard hats - He wore his to HEB after the ground breaking.

Halloween Fun

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treating is the greatest invention ever!

Look Taylor. I have a tail!

2008 Halloween Parade Day at Jerry & Haddie's preschool.

2009 Halloween Parade Day at Jerry & Haddie's preschool.

Sister is just a little bit harder to hold this year!

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.