Visiting the Hospital

This morning I went for a run.

When I got back Morry took the boys to the park for a little bit.

Once they got back we all went to the hospital to visit Jimmy, who had hernia surgery. Aunt Doris was there too and we took her out to lunch. We ate at Manny's Uptown Kitchen. We had a nice time and the boys were well behaved. We spend a little more time in the hospital room when we got back.

Then, we went home and tried to get Noah to nap.

For dinner we had leftovers. I had my leftovers from Buca Di Beppo. Morry had pizza. The boys had shrimp.

After dinner we did more cleaning up.

It seems quiet upstairs. I think the boys are asleep.

Zookeeper

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

I had been promising the boys that we'd go see a movie together and so I told them last weekend that the three of us would go this weekend. The boys are generally very well behaved when I take them to the movies and they love to go so it's very easy for me to go with them by myself. We talked about going to see the Smurfs or Zookeeper. I much prefer Kevin James to CGI Smurfs in New York City so I chose Zookeeper. The boys and I talked about it last night so they were very excited this morning.

Evan got up early excited for the movie. I got up around 8am because I had to refill Mottel's prescription with the vet. I hadn't realized we were at the end yesterday. The vet opened at 8. Noah got up shortly after.

When it was time to get ready to go, I told the boys to get dressed. Their excitement was a good driving force because they both went and did what I asked them and I didn't have to ask a second time.

We drove over to the vet and picked up Mottel's medicine and then drove to the movie theater. I let them play in the arcade of the movie theater for a while before we went into the movie. They love to do that.

The movie, while advertised as a kids movie, was slow for big chunks of time as there was a lot of dialog. The loved the parts where the animals talked and a lot of the slapstick humor. They seemed restless during the talking, although they were still really really well behaved. They sit there and watch the movie and don't cause problems. It's great. And I love going to the movies so this is great for me. We'll be doing this again as it gives Rachel a break and the boys and I enjoy it.

After the movie we drove home. Rachel had gotten brunch ready for us. She made eggs, blueberry muffins and cut up fruit. Noah had a ton of blueberry muffins and Evan had muffins and fruit.

Neither boy napped, but Noah stayed in the guest bedroom with the TV on so at least he relaxed a bit.

Before dinner, Rachel took the boys out and played badminton (with no net) with Evan.

We went to Buca di Beppo for dinner. Both boys ate wonderfully there. Evan had pizza, spaghetti and bread. Noah had fried calamari and spaghetti.

The boys are in their rooms now but not sleeping.

Gym, Sprinklers, Clean Up, and More

Today was another busy day.

This morning we went to the gym. I did a kickboxing class and the boys played in the child care.

After the gym we came home and had lunch and then played outside.

Then, the sprinkler guys came over to fix our sprinklers. It was a valve issue. $200 later they seem to be working well now.

I did a lot of cleaning in the house today. It really needed it.

For dinner we went to Kerbey Lane.

Tonight the boys cleaned their rooms and the game room. Morry gave them baths while I finished cleaning and vacuuming.

Evan and Noah are in bed now, but not asleep.

Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school. It was Evan's last day at that school - his last day of preschool.

Noah threw a major, one-hour fit this morning. That was not fun.

While the boys were at school I went for a run and got some things done around the house.

Evan's class had a field trip to the pool (right next to school). I came a little early and met them there. Evan was having a great time in the pool.

Noah's class rode bikes and made ice cream sundaes.

After school we came home and the boys were pretty good. Noah did not nap.

For dinner we had corn on the cob. I had fish and Morry had pork.

As I left to take Lizzy on a walk I notice a couple of puddles in our grass in the front yard. It turns out we have some kind of sprinkler leak. Even though the sprinklers weren't running, somehow 2 of them were dripping water. Morry turned off the water to the sprinklers, so we'll have to figure out how to get those fixed now.

The boys are in their rooms, but not asleep yet.

No break

Today was a busy day.

We went to the gym. Then, right after the gym we did a big shopping trip at HEB.

When we got home I put the groceries away and made lunch for us. I had a phone call for MbSquared business at 2pm. Then, I had just enough time to shower before my student came for tutoring at 3pm.

Then, from 4-5 Evan and Noah both got special playtime, a Wonders and Worries thing. I played with them each for 30 minutes.

Then, we left for Wonders and Worries. They had dinner there, but none of us ate very much of it.

Morry and the boys stopped at McDonalds on the way home.

We just ate dinner and now it's time to get ready for bed.

Long day.

Back at School

The boys were excited to be at school again today. Drop off was easy.

After dropping the boys off I went for a doctor's appointment. I had a check up with my oncologist and everything looks good so far.

I went to Target to get Evan's school supplies. It was busy there. I wasn't the only one with that idea. I got everything we need for Evan's kindergarten class.

Evan and Noah had a good day at school.

At home, they played outside while I got my lunch ready and then ate it. Even though it was 100 degrees they didn't seem to mind. They weren't out there that long because I wanted Noah to come in for him nap.

Morry came home a little later today, so he picked up Little Caesars pizza on his way home.

We are about to put the boys to bed.

That video from our trip is uploading now. I was having trouble with it. I'll try to get it up as soon as a I can.

Looong Vacation

We got back around 1am last night from our long vacation. We were gone 17 days. We went to Margate, NJ and Dallas.

Below are some pictures and video.

Today the boys and I went to the dentist for check ups. It was the boys first time and they did really well.

We still have a lot of unpacking to do, so this will be a short post.

More tomorrow.






Picasa Album with Pictures from Our Trip

Video Uploading now

Last Swimming Lesson

We had the swimming lesson today since Monday was July 4th. The boys had to have their swim lesson outside since the indoor pool was closed. I'm not sure why. Evan and Noah did very well and the teacher was impressed when Evan told him he went down the slide and swam multiple times over the weekend.

After the gym we came home. The boys played in the sprinkler in the backyard while I got lunch ready.

Noah didn't nap.

We had Wonders and Worries tonight. On the way over there we stopped at the library. Noah insisted I get some Hawaiian music while we were there. I picked up a CD for him.

We just got home from Wonders and Worries and are about to put the boys to bed.

School and Dinner Outside

This morning the kids were pretty good. They wanted to play so I had a hard time getting out of the house on time, but at least they weren't cranky.

When we got to Noah's room he asked his teacher if she had a good time at the beach (she was out a few days). She thought it was so sweet that he asked her that.

While the boys were at school I ran 3 miles and got some things done at home.

After we got home from school Blanca came over and I went to get my hair done.

It has been a while since Blanca came to babysit. The boys were very excited to see her. They were a little disappointed that she didn't bring over one of her wii games. So, they all walked over to her house to get the game.

Evan and Noah enjoyed eating outside last night and asked if we could do it again tonight. So, we all ate outside again. The boys ate first since Morry came home a little later than usual. He had a meeting. Morry and I had grilled chicken and salad.

We just ate dessert - the cookies, watermelon, and peaches. The boys are outside, but we are about to get them to come inside and get ready for bed.

Happy 4th!

This morning the boys were good. Noah slept in and Evan played quietly in the game room.

We went to Target and bought a few things. Then we went to the gym again.

I packed a lunch for all of us. When we first got there the boys had about 5 minute to play in the water before the safety break. At that time, we ate lunch. After lunch the boys had a great time playing the pool. Evan went down the slide multiple times. Noah loved jumping into the water like yesterday.

At home, Noah took a good, long nap.

We got dinner ready as the boys played outside. Morry grilled hot dogs for Noah and him. I had fish. Evan had shrimp. We also had corn on the cob and I made watermelon juice. We sat outside and used the fan we bought at Target. It seemed to mostly keep the bugs away.

While we cleaned up and got dessert ready, they boys cleaned up upstairs.

We sat outside again for dessert and ate our watermelon and meringue cookies.

Morry is reading to the boys now. They both kept saying how much fun they had today. They like July 4th now.

The Pool

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning the boys played in the gameroom for a while and let us sleep a bit, though they were very loud. They only fought once with Noah coming in to tell us that Evan called him "poop names".

When Rachel and I got up, we tried to decide what to do today. Rachel said the boys wanted to go to the pool at the gym. I was hesitant because I think that since it was 4th of July weekend, it would be packed. Since I couldn't think of anything better to do, we decided to go.

When we got there, it wasn't crowded at all. At first the kids played in the very shallow end where they could walk around. Then we went where it was a bit deeper. Noah was very confident and would just jump into the water for us to catch them. It was great seeing him be so confident about it. Evan was jumping into the water too. He'd then swim several feet to get to one of us. He was doing well swimming.

Eventually, Evan said he wanted to go down the big water slide. There's a rope that blocks off the pool at the end of the slide. There is a lifeguard standing there but the don't want the parents waiting at the bottom. We have to be on the other side of the rope. Evan came down and immediately turned to his left and Rachel quickly went under the rope and grabbed him. Evan wanted to do it again. He ended up going down the slide probably a dozen times, if not more. Twice I went and Rachel went once. Before Evan's second-to-last time going down, the lifeguard at the top of the slide talked to Evan. We could see him talking to Evan. When Evan got to the bottom he quickly righted himself as he came in feet first and then swam about 20 feet to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out of the water. Rachel and I were stunned. I guess the lifeguard at the top told him to give it a try. So Evan was very proud and went back up and did it again.

We came home and had lunch and then put Noah down for a nap. He slept today. Evan fell asleep watching Ghostbusters in the gameroom.

After they woke up, I made popcorn while Rachel worked with Evan on reading time. She bought a lesson book and was working with him on it. He's very good at it.

For dinner we went to Joe's Crab Shack. We got a kid's meal of king crab for Evan. Rachel ordered a crab pot that came with sausage. Noah ate the sausage. Evan at all of his crap in about 2 minutes and then ate some of Rachel's crab.

After dinner, we stopped at HEB to pick up some food to grill tomorrow.

Now the kids are in bed, but Evan is singing.

More Crying from Noah

I'm trying to write the blog and again Noah is crying and throwing a fit. We don't even know why. He just picks something to argue about and then doesn't stop.

Earlier in the day we went to Barnes and Noble and Sams Club.

The boys played outside this afternoon.

For dinner, we tried out a new Thai restaurant, but it wasn't that good. It was just ok. The boys weren't well behaved there either.

I guess I need to go try to deal with Noah now.

Swimming with the boys

Most of the morning we spent at home. The boys were kind of wild and it took us a while to leave the house.

We went to the gym. I exercised a little bit while the kids were in the child care then. When I was done we all went swimming. Evan and Noah were very good at the pool. They listened to me and did well in the water. Evan went down the water slide for the first. I met him at the bottom to help him. It too deep for him to stand up. Normally they don't let you do that, but I stood off to the side and was there to catch him when he came down. He loved it and wanted to go again, but they closed it for the 10 minute safety break.

the slide looks like this. Evan went down the open top one, not the tube one.




Evan and Noah were both very good when it was time to leave.

We ate lunch at home and Noah took a good nap.

Morry picked up Carinos on his way home and I made pasta for the boys.

Morry is reading to them now.