Healthy Eaters

This morning we had a guy come give us an estimate on tree trimming. He was such a salesman. It was really annoying. I did not like his tactic at all. He was willing to give me a lower price (by $200) if I agreed to go with him right then. We had a coupon and he wouldn't tell me the quote until I told him what coupon it was that I had. I told him that that shouldn't matter. I was glad to see him go.

The boys and I went to the gym. I did a yoga class.

Before I left the house I cut up the rest of these little yellow tomatoes we had. It was a pretty big bag, but I figured if Evan didn't finish we could save the rest for later. When we got in the car I gave the boys snacks. Noah had a bag of apples and Evan had the tomato bag and a bag of apples. Evan chose the tomatoes first and ate all of them.

We ran into CVS to get free Crest toothpaste - a coupon deal.

Then, we went to Newflower. The boys love going to Newflower because we get fruit things (dried fruit sticks/fruit leather, whatever you call it) and they always get their free cookie at the end. As we were picking out vegetables Noah saw the bean sprouts and wanted me to buy some. I put some in a bag and then he wanted to hold the bag. He wanted the sprouts as a snack so I let him eat a few.

When we got home the boys ate lunch outside.

I got dinner ready for tonight.

Around 5pm Gabriella called to see if we wanted to come over and play for a little bit. The boys enjoyed playing in the backyard. We only stayed for a little while.

We had dinner (pork ribs and baked potato). I left for tutoring and Morry put the boys to bed.

When I came home both boys were in bed and asleep.

Here's a picture of Noah snacking on the bean sprouts.

Baseball Cancelled

Evan was supposed to have baseball practice today, but it was canceled. It wasn't actually raining at the time, but I guess they cancel if the ground is wet. Evan was dissappointed.

We ate lunch at home. I made omlettes, blue eggs and ham (for the boys), cinnamon rolls, and fruit.

We went to the gym for a little bit. When we picked up Evan and Noah from the child care they were both red-faced from running around playing kickball outside. They had a good time.

Then, we went to Petco to get some food and treats for Lizzy. Noah threw a fit when it was time to leave and fell asleep in the car on the way home.

While Morry was getting dinner ready I gave the boys haircuts.

For dinner I had fish and Morry had steak.

We just gave the boys baths and put them to bed.

Groupon

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today was the day of Groupon. We were actually able to use four Groupons in one day.

It started out this morning. Rachel had an 8am appointment up in Round Rock at a salon to get a Brazilian Blowout. She left the house around 7:20 or so. The boys got up shortly thereafter.

They played in the game room for a bit and then we left to go to Barry and Lisa's. We were giving Lisa a sling for when she had her baby. We forgot it when went to Lincoln's party. Plus we didn't get to talk to them much. So Evan, Noah and I drove up there. They were excited to go on the swing set at their house. They played in the backyard for most of the time, and then played with Lincoln's toys for a bit inside.

Rachel met us over at Barry and Lisa's when she was done.

We came home and had lunch. The boys and I ate our lunch upstairs in the game room on TV trays as Rachel was tutoring.

In the late afternoon, Rachel and I had a massage class to go to. It was an hour long class with a massage therapist that we had gotten on Groupon. It was four two couples but the little girl of the other couple got sick so they had to cancel. So our lesson was private. It was kind of nice learning how to give real massages.

To do this class, we dropped Evan and Noah off at the Clubhouse for Kids. It's a drop-off daycare. Rachel had gotten a Groupon for 20 pre-paid hours. They served the kids pizza there.

We went to dinner downtown at Garrido's since the boys were being taken care of. Rachel had gotten a Groupon for Garrido's as well. We had a nice dinner there with another large discount.

We haven't figured out how much we saved today. I'm thinking it was over $300 that we saved today with the hair thing being the largest savings. That also doesn't count that we bought another group coupon from a site called Urban Dealight for a tree trimming. I made an appointment for them to come out on Monday. That's another $125 we saved there.

After dinner, we picked the boys up. They seemed to have had a good time. They said they'd go back.

We just put the boys to bed but somehow they are down here. Normally every night, I read Captain Underpants before bed to Evan. Noah listens sometimes, but he doesn't sit still very well. We just received a book from Zayde called "You Can Count on Monsters". Evan decided, instead of having me read Captain Underpants to him, he'd read this new book to Noah. They were sitting in Evan's room as Evan read the book to Noah.

We are going to have to put them back to bed now.

Until next time...

Camp Mabry

This morning Evan and Noah got up somewhat early. We went to the gym for a 9:45 kickboxing class. After that I took the boys over to Camp Mabry. After 9-11 they closed it to the public, but I recently read that they are letting visitors in again.

Camp Mabry has a some old jets and helicopters that you can see from Mopac. The boys always get excited when we drive by, so I thought they would really enjoy seeing them up close. Evan and Noah had fun running around outside and seeing the planes and helicopters.

After Camp Mabry we went to Borders. They are closing all of the store in Austin, so they are discounting everything. Right now most things are just at 20% off, but I still got a few books. I might try and go back there again in a few weeks when there will be a bigger discount.

When we got home the boys had lunch outside. The weather was very nice today.

I cleaned up the house some and tried to get Noah to nap.

For dinner we went to Frank and Angie's (pizza). We sat on the porch outside. Evan and Noah had fun running around with some older boys.

We just got home and now we'll put the boys to bed.

Bird House Completion

This morning I was able to get Evan and Noah dressed and ready to go to school at a reasonable time. I thought I'd walk/run with them (in the stroller) to school. As soon as it came time to go in the stroller Noah threw a fit. I had a hard time getting him buckled and then he kicked off his shoes. We still walked to school anyway. I ran there and back. It's a little over 3 miles round trip. Noah threw another fit when we got to the building. He didn't want to go to his classroom first, but we went there first anyway.

I had a hair appointment that was supposed to be at 9:30. I didn't get a confirmation yesterday, so I called. Somehow my appointment got deleted. The women remembered talking to me and couldn't figure out what had happened. They offered to schedule me at 10:45, but I was worried about timing. I wasn't sure I would be done in time to pick up the boys. Morry offered to pick them up if I needed. Luckily Morry was able to leave work and get Evan and Noah. I didn't get home until around 1:40pm.

When I got home Morry went back to work.

We filled the bird houses with bird seed and the boys picked where they wanted me to hang them. We'll see if any birds want to hang out in the fancy bird castles.

I tried putting Noah down for a nap, but he just played in his room.

Gabby came at 4pm and I tutored.

When I got home we made dinner. Morry and I had a PF Changs frozen meal that you heat up on the stove.

We just put the boys to bed.

Here's a video of the boys making their bird houses.

Gym, HEB, other stuff

This morning I took the boys to the gym. I was going to run/walk, but the weather wasn't so great. It was drizzling a little this morning. I did a yoga class at the gym and then the boys and I went to HEB.

I had some coupons expiring so I wanted to make sure to go before the end of the month. I did very well with coupons- $39.03 in coupon savings.

When we got home we ate lunch.

I put Noah down for a nap, but like most days, he didn't sleep.

Gabby came at 4pm.

I tutored and got home at 7pm. We had pasta for dinner.

The boys are in bed now, but not asleep. Evan is playing with his leapster.

School and Bird Houses

I had to wake Noah up for school today. Whenever that happens, it makes things tough. He didn't want to get dressed. I tried, but it was getting too hard to dress him. I just took him to school in his pajamas and got him dressed there. Evan was very good this morning.

While the kids were in school I got stuff done around the house.

When we got home from school the boys wanted to paint their bird houses. We went outside and I covered the little table with newspaper. Evan and Noah really enjoyed painting. All of the colors got mixed together and Evan's whole house is mostly a purplish color, but that's what he wanted. Once the houses dry we'll add some little wooden cutout decorations they picked out as well.

Evan and Noah got paint all over themselves, so I gave them baths as soon as we were done.

I tried putting Noah down for a nap, but he didn't sleep.

Blanca came at 3:45.

I tutored 2 students and got home about 7pm.

Morry and the boys were at Evan's baseball practice so I rushed and got dinner ready. They got home around 7:30 and we ate dinner. We had quinoa. Morry had pork tenderloin I had fish. Noah ate quite a bit of quinoa. Both Evan and Noah had bagels with jelly and some other stuff to go with it.

It's late and we need to put the boys to bed. They are finishing dinner while I write the blog.

Back on Schedule

This morning I took the boys with me to the gym. I did the cardio kickboxing class and then we left after that. The child care was very crowded today. AISD didn't have school today.

After the gym we went to Michael's to get some art projects. I thought the boys would have fun doing some art at home. We picked out birdhouses to paint and a few other things. I also bought some iron on patches. Almost all of Evan's pants have holes in them.

After Michael's we went to Sprouts to get some groceries for the week.

We came home and the boys played and ate lunch outside.

I tried putting Noah down for a nap but he didn't sleep.

Gabby came at 4pm.

I tutored one student, came back home for dinner, and left again after dinner to tutor another student. For dinner we just had some leftover chicken and potatoes we had in the freezer.

When I got home the boys were ready for bed. Noah was asleep and Evan was playing in the hall.

Dallas Trip

I got to Dallas Wednesday night. Morry and the boys came in on Friday night.

Thursday was a full day of doctors appointments, tests, scans, etc. Everything came back normal and clear.

Saturday Morry and I went out to Granbury, Texas (southwest of Fort Worth). Grandma and Papa took care of the boys. Morry and I stayed at Granbury Gardens (a bed and breakfast). We had a nice little getaway.

Morry and I got back to Dallas around noon today and then we all went to the golf range. Papa gave the boys their first golf lesson. It was very windy outside today, but the boys still had a good time.

We got home to Austin around 8pm tonight. We quickly made pasta for dinner and then put the boys to bed.

Here are some pictures and videos from today.

Dallas-bound

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

When Noah got up this morning, he got in bed with Rachel and laid down for a little bit. Eventually everyone got up.

Rachel took a short walk with the boys and then she cleaned up the house. It smelled very clean when I got home.

Rachel went to tutor and Gabby took care of the boys.

I got home around 5:45 and I got dinner ready for the boys. Both of them ate pretty well.

When Rachel got home she got her stuff ready to go the airport. She was flying out to Dallas tonight so she could go see several of her doctors tomorrow for regular check-ups.

Evan, Noah and I drove Rachel to the airport. When we got home, Evan told me he missed Rachel already.

Both boys talked about how tired they were as they drove home, but they are not asleep and they are causing trouble. So I'm wondering what happened to them being tired.

Until next time...

Real Pajama Day

Today was a planned pajama day for Noah's class. The kids looked cute in their pajamas. I think Evan was disappointed that he didn't get to wear his pajamas to school today.

While the kids were in school I ran 3 miles and got some stuff done around the house.

Noah had his Valentine's Day party at school today. They don't encourage parents to come. I guess it's too much of a distraction? Noah brought home a bag of Valentine's cards and candy and he let Evan have one of his pieces of candy.

Blanca came and I tutored 3 students.

Evan had baseball practice this evening so Morry took the boys there at 6:15. Morry said Evan was hitting and throwing very well today.

I came home around 8. Morry made pasta and they were eating dinner.

We just put the boys to bed and of course, they are still up.

Happy Valentine's Day

For a while Evan has been telling me that on Valentine's day he wanted to go to the lake. So, today we went to the lake. We brought Lizzy with us. While we were walking on the trail we saw a real, live armadillo. Lizzy wanted to play with it. She was pulling pretty hard.

We stopped where the ducks are and Lizzy swam and fetched the ball.

After walking the lake we went to Panera for lunch. We ate outside and Lizzy was able to sit on the patio with us.

When we got home I tried putting Noah down for a nap and got some stuff ready for dinner tonight.

Gabby came over at 3:45pm. I tutored 2 students and got home at 7pm. For dinner we had fondue steak, pork tenderloin, and shrimp.

Between dinner and dessert we exchanged presents. I made a scavenger hunt for Morry to find his present. The only thing was, he had already literally stumbled upon it. Earlier, he went out in the garage to look for an extension plug for the fondue pot and tripped over the present. I didn't think he'd be going out the garage. He still played along.

For dessert we had chocolate fondue. We had pound cake, oreo and graham cracker marshmallow, and strawberries to dip in the chocolate. The boys were funny. They didn't want the fondue. Just their fruity candy and the strawberries.

The boys are in bed now, but not asleep. Evan has been coughing a lot today. We gave him son vicks vapor rub and that seems to be helping some.

Here are some pictures and videos.

Evan's First Baseball Practice

Evan had his first baseball (tee ball) practice today. We went to the field at 12:30. His team has both 5 and 6-year olds on it. Some of the kids were on the team together last year. They split up in to different groups. Evan was with other kids who were first-timers. The coach taught them about the bases. They did some drills catching a grounder and running to a base. Then, they also did a relay like game running around the bases. Evan got the prize (a gatorade bottle) for best listener. Afterward, Evan told us he had a good time. He was pretty worn out.

After practice we all went to Barnes and Noble. I was meeting a student there for tutoring. Morry and the boys hung out in the kid's section while I tutored.

For dinner we had a frozen Chinese dinner and then ran out to HEB to get some food for tomorrow night. We decided to have a fondue dinner at home for Valentine's Day.

When we got home we put the boys to bed and they fell asleep pretty quickly. They were both worn out.

Here are some pictures and video from Evan's baseball practice today.

Long Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

The day began early for Rachel. She got up to go to meet with a running group downtown. Evan was up while Rachel was getting ready.

I got up after the boys were playing. When I came out of my room, I could hear Evan and Noah playing. I realized they were playing in Evan's room and they had the door closed. It sounded like they were throwing a ball and trying to catch it. I don't know. But they were definitely having a good time.

Rachel came home around 11:30 after she went to Luke's Locker - a running shoe store - and got some new running shoes for herself.

When she got home, Evan and I left to go to the park. I wanted to bring our tee for him to hit off of at a baseball field and work with him on running the bases. We stopped at the bank to deposit some checks before we went and then we went to the park. It was a really nice day. I set the tee up at home plate and then I'd yell out "single", "double", "triple" or "home run" after he hit a ball and I wanted him to tell me what base to run to and he'd run to it. I worked with him on running the right direction and to drop the bat after he hit the ball. He picked it up very quickly and he seemed to know which direction to run before I even told him. We both had a good time. Sunday is Evan's first tee ball practice so I wanted to introduce him to concepts he hadn't done before so he'd be more prepared.

We came home and had lunch and the went upstairs because Rachel was having a student over to tutor.

When Rachel finished tutoring, we left to go to Barry and Lisa's for Lincoln's third birthday party. As soon as we got there, Evan and Noah asked to go outside to play on the swing set out back. At one point, Noah and Lincoln were on the glider together. It was very cute.

After the party, we drove back home, stopping at Little Caesar's to pick up a pizza for the boys. Rachel had arranged for us to go to a cooking class at Central Market and Blanca was coming over to babysit. We got the boys set up with dinner, Blanca came and we jumped back into the car to drive to Central Market.

The cooking class was good. We had taken one there before. Actually it was before we had kids so it was a long time ago. They have a kitchen set up and you watch them cook it, like a cooking show and then they serve you the food. The chef obviously like pork products because there was some appetizer with serrano ham, prosciutto covered asparagus, and bacon in the scalloped potatoes. But it was good and Rachel and I enjoyed ourselves.

We had planned to see Just Go With It as we had a Groupon for Fandango that we had purchased a while back and it was expiring. Since we had a babysitter, we figured we'd just see a movie. The cooking class ended a bit earlier than we expected, so we had some time to kill. We bought some stuff at Central Market to kill some time.

The movie was very good. Of course, Rachel and I are Adam Sandler fans, but really it was enjoyable.

When we got home, we heard crying. It turns out that Evan had heard the garage door. It woke him up and he had run to the window overlooking the garage crying for me. Apparently, he had told Blanca he was going to wait up all night for me and he had fallen asleep. I guess he was worried that somehow he wouldn't see me or something. I don't know. But Rachel held him for a bit and then he wanted to come to me and I put him to bed after reading Captain Underpants. I read that to him every night and I think he had been a bit upset that I hadn't read it to him tonight. I think he's asleep now.

Until next time...

School Friends

We were busy today.

We went to the gym this morning. I did a cardio kickboxing class. Evan and Noah had a good time in the child care. They drew pictures and played basketball.

After the gym we went to Walmart. I got the kids McDonalds happy meals and they ate while I shopped.

We came home and I got everything ready for our play date. We invited some the kids from Evan's class to come over and play. Benjamin and his sister Ella, Jake, Cory, and Gregory came over with their moms. All of the kids played really well together. Ella is in Noah's class and Noah seemed happy to see her. The kids played outside for a while. The boys kept purposely trying to get the balls stuck in the trees.

I also put out some snacks. Noah ate a ton of watermelon. He kept eating and eating.

The kids stayed for about 2 hours and then I put Noah down for a nap. I think he might have slept a little bit. It got quiet in his room.

For dinner we went to Stadium Restaurant. It was almost in Dripping Springs. It was a great place to take the kids. The food and service were good. After dinner we walked over to see what the outside/ patio looked like. They had a pet pig in a fenced in area along with 2 sand volleyball courts. There were some kids playing on one of the courts and without hesitation Evan went right in a joined them. The kids were older - maybe ages 8 -12 or so. They were good with our boys. Evan turned out to be the center of attention. They were throwing the ball to him and then calling out "Evan, pass the ball." Noah mostly just played in the sand, but toward the end one of the older kids was playing with Noah too.

We are hoping the boys sleep well tonight. They are in bed, but not asleep yet.

Mason Threw Up + Evan's Valentine's Party

This morning before school we stopped at the post office to send some Valentine's cards.

Evan was very upset when I dropped him off for some reason, but his teachers told me he calmed down very quickly.

Evan's Valentine's Day party was at school today. I came during their lunch to help set up. Morry came for the party. Evan's class did a book exchange. Evan got Star Wars books. They also exchanged cards and made ice cream sundaes.

When I picked Noah up the first thing he said to me was, "Mason threw up today." I guess that was a big deal for the kids? They had a "field trip" to the mailboxes (just outside the school property) to mail some Valentine's cards. Noah told me Mason threw up outside while they were walking to the mailboxes. When Noah came in Evan's room and saw Morry, Noah immediately told Morry about Mason as well.

Gabby came at 4pm and I tutored.

Before I got home Morry called Jack/Zayde and Noah wanted to talk to him. Guess what the first thing was he said to him... "Mason threw up."

For dinner we had pulled pork I made in the crock pot. I combined 2 recipes and it was really good. First you rub the pork roast with some spices, add an onion, and ginger ale. We didn't have ginger ale. Morry told me once that ginger ale is just Coke and Sprite combined. So, I added a can of each. You cook on low for many hours. I did 7 hours. Then you remove the liquid, pull the pork apart, and then pour barbecue sauce over every thing and cook for another few hours. It was good and really easy.

After dinner we cleaned up. The boys helped clean up their rooms. We are having some of Evan's friends and their moms over in the afternoon tomorrow.

The boys had baths and are now in bed.

here are some pictures and a video from today.

Cold Again

It got really cold again today. It was in the 20s this morning. We had a little bit of rain, but luckily it dried up and didn't cause any problems.

Around lunch time Evan, Noah, and I went to Barnes and Noble. We needed to buy a book for a book exchange in Evan's class. Evan randomly picked Jake. He had to interview him to find out what kind of books he likes. Jake said he likes bears and Star Wars. We picked up a Berenstain Bears book about baseball for him. At Barnes and Noble I ran into a high school/junior high friend of mine. Neither of us knew the other lived in Austin. She later sent me a facebook message with her phone number.

Morry worked from home during the afternoon today.

Gabby came at 4 and I tutored late.

Morry took the boys to Burger King for dinner. Evan wanted to go there because of a commercial for a toy they have.

The boys seem to be asleep now.

Underwear to School

Noah came in my room when he woke up and he asked where Evan was. Noah told me Evan was not in the game room or his room. I started to worry. I went Evan's room and he was asleep completely under the covers. I asked Noah to leave Evan's room, but I guess while I was getting dressed Noah went back in there and woke Evan up. Evan didn't seem upset, but he told Noah not to wake him up tomorrow.

This morning Noah put up fight when it came time to get dressed. I tried to hold him down, but he made it very difficult for me to get his clothes off and he kept pulling off the clothes I tried to put on him. My chest still gets sore when I have to use the muscles and I just couldn't fight him anymore. Noah went to school with his pajamas shirt on and just his underwear. Once we got in the classroom he let me get him dressed the rest of the way.

While the kids were in school I ran 3 miles and met the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls for lunch.

After picking up the boys we went to HEB.

Noah did end up sleeping at nap time today.

Blanca came at 3:45 and I tutored.

When I got home we had tacos for dinner. Evan kept asking Morry to make more shrimp for him. Evan ate 22 of the cocktail shrimp!

Noah looked like he didn't feel well tonight. He's been coughing the last 2 days. We took his temperature just now and he has a slight fever. We gave him some medicine. I hope he feels better.

Both boys are in bed now, but not asleep.

Football Season is Finally Over!

Yea! I'm so glad this football season is finally over!

This morning Noah woke up early around 7am, but I was able to get him to sleep a little bit longer.

Noah was not fun this morning. He was very cranky. I wanted to go to the gym and it took forever to get out of the house, mostly because of him. Everything was a fight. I had to hold him down to get him dressed. It took a lot of effort and he ended up taking his shoes and socks off in the car.

Noah threw a fit at the gym because he wanted me to carry him. He seemed to have calmed down a little after dropping off Evan and Noah at the child care. They didn't have to call me. Both boys seemed to be having fun when I came back to get them.

The boys played outside while I got lunch ready. They wanted to eat outside. They sat out there for a few minutes, but got cold and came back inside.

Noah napped for a little bit.

For dinner we had crock pot Buffalo wings and soup.

I tutored after dinner and Morry put the boys to bed.

When I called Morry on my way home he said Noah had been coughing a lot. I picked up some medicine on my way home. Noah has some vicks vapor rub and his humidifier going in his room.

Sad Super Sunday

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Everyone can relax. I am still alive. Despite the game, which shall rename nameless, that ended so poorly, I did not do anything drastic to myself. It will take some time to get over, but I'm as good as can be expected now.

This morning, Rachel got up and let me sleep a bit. Then we got everything ready and drove to Ikea. We needed some shelves for the office and drawers for our closets.

We planned to put the kids in the child care there. To go into the child care, children need to be 37" and be potty trained. Evan was plenty tall, but Noah was close. They had him take off his shoes and stand against a wall that had a line drawn. They then put a clipboard on his head and put it against the wall. The bottom edge of the white line butted up with the clipboard but didn't actually tough, although there was no visible gap. They said that since he was below that line, we could not leave him there. So he was short by the depth of the clipboard, surely less than 1/8 inch. Evan said he wanted to still go to the playroom and we left him. Noah came with us as we shopped. After an hour I went and picked up Evan. He didn't want to leave. He was very busy playing. He said he had been playing with some other boys.

We ended up getting what we came for, as well as some bowls and cups for the kids and hampers.

After Ikea, we walked over to Which Wich. We met Aunt Susan there. In the shopping center with Ikea is a row of restaurants with a deck outside all of them. Beyond the deck is a playground. We ate lunch outside and then let the kids play in the playground.

When we got home, Noah napped while Evan watched the Puppy Bowl.

Then I watched something on TV. Rachel picked up the Salt Lick for us. For a bit, Rachel took the kids outside because some other kids were playing.

The boys are now in bed. Evan is saying he's scared of something. Not sure what that is and I'm not sure it's real.

Until next time...

Crazy Texas Weather

So, yesterday it snowed and today it was 65 degrees.

For lunch/brunch we went to Galaxy Cafe. We had a Groupon we needed to use soon. We ran into some friends of ours (Susan, Frank, and Laurel) - a family from Mom's club and Evan's class. They were doing the same thing we were, using up a Groupon.

After lunch we went to the Circle C park for a while. Evan and Noah loved running around. It was good letting them get out some energy. They spent a lot of time playing with tennis balls on the basketball court and then they played on the playground.

When we got home I made smoothies for the kids and me.

During nap time Evan and Morry played baseball outside. Noah took a nap.

For dinner we ate at home leftover chicken from the other night. For dessert we went to Tutti Frutti, a frozen yogurt place.

We just put the boys to bed.

The Snow

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

I woke up this morning around 5:20. I was supposed to go to the gym, but I checked the news on my phone and saw that UT, the schools, the city and the state government had closed and there had been many accidents from the snow and ice. I decided it wasn't such a good idea to go to the gym or into work so I went back to sleep for a while.

Shortly after I got up and started working downstairs, Evan got up. I could hear him get up so I came out of the office. His eyes were huge as he saw the snow on the ground. He was really excited. He wanted to go outside but we told him we had to wait until Noah got up. We let Lizzy out and Evan leaned out and touched the snow. When we first opened the back door to let Lizzy out, she was running out and put the brakes on when she saw snow outside. She seemed hesitant, but then ran out and had a blast in the snow.

I worked some until Noah got up. When he got up, he was cranky, but I showed him the snow and he got excited to go outside. We got bundled up to go out and everyone, including Lizzy went out. Evan had a great time. I don't think he would have ever come back in. Noah didn't enjoy it as much but he seemed to enjoy a lot of it. Rachel built a very miniature snow man because the snow was powder and didn't stick together.

Shortly after we came back in the boys had lunch.

Rachel put Noah in his room after lunch, but Noah didn't nap.

For dinner, we went to Red Lobster. We had never taken the boys there and actually, Rachel and I have never gone there together. In fact, it's been well over 10 years since I went there. But both boys like shrimp and crab so we thought it might be a good place to take them. It was. They ate really well there. Evan also liked seeing the live lobsters at the front of the restaurant.

We came home and gave the boys baths. They are now in bed.

Until next time...

Snow Coming?

It was really cold this morning. I dropped the boys off at school with their heavy coats, hats, and gloves. It turned out they wouldn't be going outside anyway.

I got some things done around the house. I also went to the post office to send some things to Stephen and the Marines.

The boys had a good day at school.

Noah wouldn't nap. During nap time I got dinner mostly ready and made meringue cookies.

Gabby came at 4pm and I tutored.

When I got home we had dinner.

They have been predicting snow for tonight. They are saying we might get an inch or so. I'll believe it when I see it. Although, right now something is coming down. It's very little so it's hard to tell if it's sleet or snow.

Evan and Noah are very excited that it might snow. I hope we at least get a little. We'll see.

Staying Warm at the Gym

This morning it was way too cold to go for a run. Instead I took the boys to the gym. It had been a while since we were there. Evan and Noah spent most of the time in the gym part of the kids area. They played a lot basketball. I did some running and walking on the treadmill.

Noah threw a fit when it was time to leave the gym. He said he didn't want to go home.

At home the boys had lunch and then I tried to put Noah down for a nap. He didn't sleep today.

Gabby came at 3pm.

I had Skype interview with Renay San Miguel. He used to be an anchor/reporter for channel 8 News in Dallas and CNN. He's now with a Dallas company Spark360TV that "delivers broadcast-quality, network news-style programs via a comprehensive SEO-optimized “full circle” distribution strategy that reaches every corner of the Internet." Anyway, they contacted me to do do an interview about Cha Ching Queen. They wanted me to come to the studios (in Dallas) but since I obviously couldn't come in we did a Skype interview instead. I enjoyed it. They are going to let me know when it goes online.

The interview was at 3pm. It took about 30 minutes for the whole things (getting set up, etc).

I left the house at 4pm to go tutor and got home around 8:30.

Morry and the boys had pasta for dinner.

When I got home Evan was asleep and Noah is still awake right now.

Up Early - Brrrr

Today at 7am the school forms were due to switch to another day. If you want to switch to different days of the week for next year it is pretty competitive. They grant transfers on a first come first serve basis. I asked how early people get there and they wouldn't tell me an exact time. All they said was that in the past some people have camped out. Since it was going to be cold and rainy, I decided it wasn't worth waiting in that just to switch Noah to MWF from TTH. I got there 6am. Luckily they had already opened the building and let everyone sit inside. I was number 12 on the list. The first person got there at 3am! Most likely we will be able to switch Noah. We'll find out in a few weeks.

Later, after I dropped Evan and Noah off at school I was able to take a little nap.

When I picked the boys up they both seemed to have had a good day.

When we got home Evan and Noah played outside, bundled up, for a little bit. It was in the low 30s.

Noah slept during nap time.

Blanca came at 5pm and I tutored one student.

When I got home we had leftover ribs from last night for dinner.

We just gave the boys baths and put them to bed.