Happy Halloween

This morning Jack and I dropped Noah off at school. I came home for a few minutes and then went back again at 10am for Noah's parade. The kids dressed in costumes and paraded around the playground.

After that I ran some errands.

Morry and Jack went to Noah's school at 12:30 for the class Halloween party. They played pin the nose on the pumpkin. When they asked Noah to put his nose on the wall, he did that, literally. Blindfolded, he put the nose on his face right up to the wall.

After Noah's party, Noah, Morry, and Jack picked up lunch and then ate at home.

A little while later Jack, Noah, and I left to pick up Cool Whip from HEB and then get Evan from school.

My tutoring ended up being cancelled today.

When we got home, I made Ghosts in the Graveyard.

For dinner we ordered pizza from Papa John's.

Around 6:30 we went outside, took a few pictures, and talked to neighbors. We started trick-or-treating around 7pm. Noah was very good and did not complain at all. He outlasted Evan. Evan wanted to go home and Noah wanted to keep on going. We dropped off Evan at home with Zayde. Morry and I walked around with Noah for quite a while. We had never seen him walk that much before. He was highly motivated by all the candy.

We had a lot of trick-or-treaters come by tonight. It was nice. There were lots of kids out.

It's been a long day.

The kids are worn out. We put them to bed and I think they are both asleep now.

Another Big Day

This morning Noah got up somewhat early.

Morry and I were able to sleep in a little bit.

For brunch we ate at Nutty Brown.

We came home and then I left to tutor one student.

After my tutoring, Morry, Jack, and the boys met me at Wonders and Worries. They had a Halloween festival with a petting zoo, games, bounce house, and more. Evan and Noah had a good time and the weather was very nice.

When we got home Morry and Jack watched some of the Steelers game and then we left for Evan's baseball game.

It was Evan's last regular baseball game. The playoffs start Thursday.

After the game we picked up dinner for Morry and Jack at P Terry's. I had leftover soup and Evan and Noah had pasta at home.

We just got the boys ready for bed. Morry is reading to Evan and Jack is reading to Noah.

Very Big Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today was a very big day in terms of how much stuff we had.  It started off with a Pancake Breakfast.  The Clayton Elementary School teachers were putting on a fundraising drive at Applebee's.  They were serving pancakes.  We were told that it gets ridiculously crowded, so get there early.  Noah was still sleeping, so Zayde stayed home with Noah.  Rachel, Evan and I went and got there early.  We were the first people there.  The teachers dressed up for Halloween and the kids were supposed to dress up.  Evan went as Darth Vader.  We saw his teacher, Mr. Valdes, and his friends Patrick and Liam.

When we got home, Rachel and I laid down while Zayde played with Evan and Noah.

Then we went to Evan's football game.  Barry, Lisa, Lincoln and Justine came to see Evan play.  Noah and Lincoln played together with the football on the sidelines. In the second half, Evan got to play quarterback.  The coach had him throw downfield several times.  One of the times, unfortunately, he threw an interception, but overall, he did well.  I was proud of him.

From football, we drove to Doc's Backyard and had lunch with the Kincarts.  Lincoln insisted on sitting next to Noah which was nice.  Once lunch was over, the boys went on the playground together that they have at Doc's.

We came home for a bit and the boys "relaxed" some.  Then we had a block Halloween party at the end of the cul-de-sac.  Evan immediately started playing football with some of the older boys.  Noah asked for his big wheel and rode that around.  We enjoyed spending time talking with our neighbors.  The boys had so much fun that they didn't want to leave.  We didn't get back to the house until 9:30.  Evan was exhausted.  Noah spent quite a bit of time with the 4-year-old girl across the street named Bryn.  Noah told me that she was his girlfriend.  It was really cute.

The boys are in bed now and I don't imagine they'll be getting out of bed.  They both were very tired.

Until next time...

Halloween Parties

We got a cold front and it was pretty chilly this morning. I went for a 3 mile run and then Morry, Jack, and I took Noah to school.

For lunch we got Which Wich.

We picked up Noah a little early from school and went to Evan's class party. There were lots of parents and a few other siblings there. They had different stations where the kids had various activities. There was BINGO, bracelet making, puppet making, and more. The party was over at 2pm, but school doesn't let out until 2:40. Morry needed to get home to work, so I dropped Morry and Jack off at home and Noah and I went back to school to get Evan.

After school Evan's friend Patrick came over for a little while. Last week, we asked Evan if he wanted to invited someone over. He chose Patrick. They had a good time together here.

At 6pm there was a party at the Little Gym. They had small games the kids could play and win little prizes. Evan and Noah really enjoyed that. They got lots of those little junky toys.

We left the party a little after 7pm and picked up some Vietnamese food from T&N. While we were waiting for our food we watched some of the World Series. Evan was very interested in it. We watched some more while we ate our dinner at home.

We are about to put the boys to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow. There's a pancake fundraiser at Applebee's tomorrow for Evan's school and Evan insisted that we go. Many of the teachers are going to be there in costumes serving the families.

Noah's hair was sprayed green at school today

Zayde

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

They have been predicting that a cold front would come in today.  Even last night they said that today's high was going to be 62.  When I got up I got dressed warmly to take Evan to school.  There was only one problem.  The cold front did not arrive until 5:30pm.  It was still in the 70s this morning.

I took Evan to school.  When I came back I mailed a letter at the mailbox.  As I was walking back to the house I saw Noah looking out of the gameroom window waving to me.  I got breakfast for the two of us and then I went to work.

Rachel got up and ended up going for a walk with Noah (after Noah got over throwing a fit that he didn't want to walk).

Rachel then cleaned, mopped the kitchen floor and straightened up.

We had lunch and then we left the house to go to Noah's sports class.  On the way, my cell phone rang but I didn't look at it since I was driving.  Then Blanca called Rachel's phone to tell her that the front door was open to the house and the alarm was going off.  The missed call was from the alarm company.  I quickly dropped Noah and Rachel off and got home as the police were pulling up.  Since the front door was open, they police wanted to check the house.  It was crazy - like TV.  They went in each room yelling "Austin Police" and then checked it real quick.  The only difference was their guns were not drawn.  Lizzy really liked them.  I had been concerned that Lizzy might leave the house but she hadn't.  When Rachel mopped, she went out the front door to dump the water.  Noah went with her.  We think that Noah was the last one in and he probably didn't shut the door well and definitely didn't lock it.  I guess the wind blew it open.  It must have closed enough that we could turn the alarm on.

After sports class, Rachel and Noah went and picked Evan up from school and then met Yenis and Kevin for frozen yogurt and they played at the park.

They came home and we left to pick Zayde up at the airport.  The boys were excited to see him.

We ate at Logan's for dinner and we got home late.  The boys said they were tired.

Now they are in bed and quiet.

Until next time...

CPR Certification

Noah had picture day today, so he wore a polo type shirt and khaki shorts. He looked really cute. I asked if I could take his picture and he said, "No Thanks. They'll take my picture at school." Noah asked if Morry could come too to pick him up later at school. I said that we would see. Morry had a meeting this morning.

While Noah was at school I cleaned the house and got a few things done.

Morry was able to go with me to pick up Noah.

We dropped Morry off at home and went to HEB. Right after HEB we picked up Evan at school.

Gabby came at 4pm and I tutored.

I got home with just enough time to eat dinner and then I needed to leave again.

The MOMS club had CPR and First Aid certification at someone's house tonight. I have been wanting to do that for a while but a lot of the classes are not at convenient times or are very long. It was a good class and now I'm certified in both CPR and First Aid.

I got home around 10pm and both boys are sleeping.

Lake and Noah's Playdate

This morning I wanted to take Noah and Lizzy to the lake. For some reason Noah threw a fit and didn't want to go to the lake. After a little while at home he changed his mind and decided he did want to go. We didn't have a lot of time so I ended up running most of the 3 mile trail to make sure I had time to finish. We were supposed to be at Cole's house at 12:30.

After the lake we met Morry at Smoothie King.

Then, we came home and I tried to give Noah lunch, but he didn't want to eat much.

He was so excited to get to Cole's house for a playdate. As soon as we walked in their house the boys ran upstairs and started playing. I talked to Cole's mom for a little bit and came home.

I picked up Noah just before 2:30 and then we went to get Evan at school.

At home, Evan and I played badminton outside for a little bit. The boys drew on their pumpkins. I got ready for tutoring.

Kim came at 3:45 and I tutored.

Morry took the boys to football practice.

For dinner we had leftover ham from last night.

We just put the boys to bed.

Mopac

I spent a lot of time on Mopac today. I did a bunch of back and forth driving.

After dropping Noah off at school I was able to do a short 2 mile run. Then, I went to Texas Oncology for a check up. Everything looked good.

Noah's class was outside when I picked him up. He had climbed up to the top of the playscape and wasn't going to come down until I got there. He wanted to show me how high he could go.

We came home for a little bit and then it was time to get Evan.

At home, Noah relaxed in the guest room while Evan and I played outside.

Blanca came at 3:45 and I tutored.

I came home at 5:45. Evan's baseball practice is from 5:30-6:30 on Mondays. The plan was for Morry to take him to practice, but he got stuck in traffic. I needed to take the boys to the baseball practice and Morry met us there. We got there about 6pm so Evan was still able to get some good practice in.

Noah and I came home right after the practice to get dinner ready. Morry and Evan stayed a few more minutes.

For dinner we had Coke ham and rice.

We were supposed to do clean up night last night, but we moved it to today. Noah threw a major fit and wouldn't clean up.

Both boys are in bed now, but not asleep yet.

Sports Day

This morning we took it easy and then walked around the shopping center trail. After we walked we all got smoothies at Smoothie King.

We had lunch and then around 2:30 Morry's friend Kelsey came over. She's in San Antonio for work and came by to hang out for a little bit. She came to Evan's baseball game. Evan had a good game. He got some good hits.

Morry, Evan, and Kelsey went back to the house. Noah and I stopped at Target on the way home.

For dinner we had pasta.

Since the Steelers game was on during Evan's game, Morry recorded it. Morry and the boys are watching the game now. We'll put the boys to bed in a few minutes.

Monster

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, Rachel got up early to go for a big run. She's only got a few weeks left before the San Antonio half marathon.

I got up around 8am and got Evan ready for football.  He had a flag football double header.  There are only 3 teams in his league and to make sure that each team plays each week, they rotate which team gets a double header.

We left when Rachel got back from her run as Noah was still sleeping.

Prior to today, Evan had not played well on defense.  But somehow, today was his breakout day.  He was all over the field pulling flags in the backfield or diving to grab the flags off of kids.  In fact, he spent half the day on the ground because he went to the ground every time he went to pull a flag.  At one point, before the snap, he was running in place.  I told him he looked like Jack Lambert out there.  One of the mothers came over to him and told him he was "playing like a monster out there". All in all he played well and the coaches were so happy I think he only sat down for 4 series total in the 2 games.  Evan told me he really likes playing defense.  He seemed to be pretty tired after the game, though he didn't nap.

After football, we went to Don's Grass to buy some pumpkins.  The boys weren't in a particularly good mood there so we didn't stay long.  We thought they'd enjoy all the decorations, the pumpkin patch and all the stuff they had up for Halloween.

We came home and had lunch and the had the boys settle down in the gameroom.

After "naps", Evan and I went in the backyard and played some more football.

Before dinner, we went out to the Wildflower park and let the boys play some.  After that we ate at Cypress Grill for dinner.

The boys are now in bed.

Until next time...

Night Out

Evan and Noah had good days at school.

For lunch I met the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls at Central Market. Central Market was really busy today for some reason. It was hard to find parking and I had to wait a while in line. While I was there I got a challah.

We did Shabbat at home tonight and then dropped the kids off at Clubhouse for Kids. Morry and I went to Phara's for dinner and Mozart's for dessert. We sat outside at both places. It was a nice night.

We are home now and got the boys ready for bed. Morry is reading to them now.

Noah's Friend

This morning Noah's friend, Cole, came over to play at our house. They had a great time together and really played well. Cole speaks very well and they both talked a lot. It was very cute. Cole's mom picked him up around 11am.

Noah and I ate lunch and then went to sports class. Noah loves going to the Little Gym.

After sports class we went to HEB to pick up a few groceries including Halloween candy.

We went straight from there to pick up Evan from school.

When we got home Evan wanted to put the Halloween candy in a bowl. I usually do that with them on Halloween. Evan said he didn't want to wait. It wasn't worth a fight. So now, our candy bowl is all ready for Halloween.

For dinner, we had roasted garlic with bread. I had my leftover fish from last night and Morry had a rotisserie chicken I picked up at HEB today.

We just read to the boys and now they are supposed to be in bed.

Early Noah

This morning Noah woke up around 7am. Normally he is not up at that time. Morry and Noah took Evan to school. It was pretty cold this morning.

After I dropped off Noah at school I went for a run. It was cold at the start, but then I was warm by the end. It was in the upper 50s at that time.

When I picked up Noah at school he told me he wanted Cole to come over. I said he couldn't come today, but I could ask him mom about coming tomorrow. When I emailed Cole's mom to set up a playdate she said Cole was also talking to her about having Noah over. They must have discussed it at school. Cole is going to come over to our house tomorrow morning.

Evan had a good day. He was happy at pickup.

Gabby came over at 4pm and I tutored.

Morry took Lizzy to the vet for a checkup. Everything looked good.

For dinner Morry had hamburger and I had fish.

We just gave the boys baths and now Morry is reading to them.

Good Noah

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today the temperature dropped considerably.  It was around 60 this morning when I took Evan to school.  We both wore sweatshirts into the school.  Evan wore jeans for the first time since school started.

When I got home, I did some work and left around 9 for a meeting with StoredIQ.

Noah got up after I left and got himself dressed.  He and Rachel went out in the backyard for a bit and then they went to Central Market.  At Central Market, they had these real small pickles.  Noah tried them and loved them so they bought some.

When they got home, Noah told me that he was "very good" at Central Market.

Rachel left shortly after picking Evan up and Kim came over to babysit.

At 5:40, we left for Evan's football practice.  It was like night and day with how he performed today at practice vs the game.  He was very good today.  He was paying attention and running fast.  Their belts have two flags, one on either hip.  At the end, they had a "last man standing" and let the kids run around in a square without going out of bounds.  They had to pull everyone's flags off.  When you lost both flags you were out.  It ended up down to three kids - Evan and two others.  Evan had this massive collection of flags he had pulled.  One boy had two flags in and Evan and the other had one.  Neither of the boys with one flag could catch the one with two flags and eventually they turned on each other.  Evan and the boy pulled each other's last flag out at the same time.  But the coach said Evan won for collecting the most flags.  Evan was very happy.

We came home and had dinner.

Rachel just read to the boys.  Apparently, I've lost my job as book reader.

Until next time...

Empty House

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today was the first day I worked at home where there was no one in the house but Rachel and me.  Evan and Noah both had school.  We didn't have anyone cleaning the house or working on the floors.  It was quiet and I was able to be productive.

This morning, Evan and I got up and I drove/walked him to school.  Evan has been taking forever to eat breakfast so I drive him to the path and then we walk the rest of the way to school.

Noah got up around 8:30.  Rachel got him dressed and got breakfast for him and took him to school.

Rachel went for a run when she got back and then laid down for a bit.

I had to run a few errands including paying for the floors and running to the bank.

In the afternoon, Dmitriy came over for a bit as I owed him some money for work he helped me with.

Blanca came to babysit while Rachel tutored.  When I was finished work, I came downstairs and got Evan ready for baseball practice.

Noah was very good at baseball practice.  I spent some time coaching and some time in the dugout with Noah.

For dinner, Rachel made pizza on Boboli crust.

Rachel is reading to Evan and Noah.

Until next time...

Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Norman

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, Allison got up with the boys and let Lizzy out.  She had a brunch to go to at 9am.  We had thought she was coming back to the house afterwards so we didn't get up.  Unfortunately, we were wrong so we didn't get to say goodbye.  But we had a good time having her visit.

We didn't do much of anything this morning.  We just took it easy.

The boys and I watched the Steelers game until it was time to go to Evan's baseball game.  I took Evan and then Rachel met us later with Noah.

Evan played well at baseball.  He had a great defensive inning at 2nd base fielding two balls cleanly.  He got one boy out by fielding the ball and then racing him to 2nd base.  His defense is the most improved thing he's had between last season and this season.

After baseball, we drove the parking lot of BJ's.  We dropped my car off and I got in Rachel's car where we drove out to the Omni Southpark.  We picked up Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Norman and drove them to Frank and Angie's for pizza.  There we met Matt, Rachael, Maddie, Tristian and Max.  It was a nice to see everyone.  After dinner we drove Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Norman around campus a bit since they hadn't seen much of the city and the back to the hotel.

We came home and gave the boys baths.

They are in bed now but not yet sleeping.

Until next time...

Outside day

This morning I met my running group at 7am. Louis came with us and we ran 6.2 miles.

The boys slept in today. Evan didn't wake up until 9am. That's late for him.

Morry and Allison did some work this morning so Louis and I took the kids to Starbucks for a little bit.

Evan had a flag football game at noon. He wasn't very focused out there. Maybe he was tired? After the football game Evan and Noah ran around the track a few times. Evan ran 1.25 miles and Noah ran 1 mile.

For dinner we picked up Thai food and ate at home.

We just went over to Blanca's house to give her a check for watching Mottel while we were gone. The boys also played with some of their Halloween decorations for a little bit. They have a blow up house in their front yard that the boys like to play in.

Morry is reading to Evan and Noah now. Let's hope they sleep well tonight.

Austin Stuff

This morning Noah slept in again. I woke him up around 9am so that we weren't too late for school.

After I dropped off Noah, Louis and I went for a bike ride downtown. We rode for about an hour through downtown and around the UT campus.

For lunch, we met Morry at Hula Hut.

I dropped Louis off at home and then picked up Noah. A little bit after that Noah and I went to pick up Evan.

Allison came in town tonight and we all went to Salt Lick for dinner. We had to wait a little over an hour for a table, but the kids did well. We brought a football and snacks to keep the kids occupied.

We got home around 10pm and got the kids ready for bed.

They have been put to bed, but they are both still awake for some reason.

New Floors!

Today was busy.

This morning they came to finish our floors and were here all day. We also had someone come to clean the upstairs in our house.

Noah and I went to Sams Club. We had just enough time to put all the groceries away and then it was time to take Noah to sports class. Morry was able to come too.

Noah had fun at his class, listened, and participated.

After sports class we went to Target to pick up a few things.

I dropped Morry off at home and Noah and I picked up Evan.

Morry's cousin Louis came in around 5pm. Morry picked him up from the airport and then we all met at Home Slice for dinner.

Morry and Louis stayed downtown while I took the boys home. I got their lunches ready, cleaned up, put things back on the floors, and got the boys ready for bed. I'm exhausted.

Morry is on his way home now.

What a mess!

Noah must have been tired. He slept in today. I let him sleep until about 9:30 even though school starts at 9am. I figured he needed his sleep.

The flooring guys came today and started work. Our downstairs is a mess right now. Everything is very dusty. The carpet and entry tile was pulled up and concrete was poured to level the floor. Tomorrow they will start laying down the wood.

I met the MOMS club at Kerbey Lane for lunch today. I enjoyed it.

Noah had a good day at school and was very happy that Morry came to pick to him too.

Gabby came at 4pm and I tutored.

For dinner Morry had steak and I had fish. We ate outside since there was no where for us to sit downstairs. Everything is pushed into the kitchen.

The boys are in bed now.

Adjusting

We are all trying to get back on schedule and get adjusted to our time change.

Evan went to school today and did well.

Noah and I got stuff done around the house and made a trip to HEB.

Kim came at 3:45 and I tutored.

Morry took the boys to Evan's football practice.

I got home around 7:45pm. Morry and the boys were having dinner.

We just got the kids ready for bed.

Tonight Morry and I have to do some cleaning/moving things around. We are getting hardwood floors put in tomorrow. It will be a 2-day process.

Aloha... We are back from Hawaii

We got back today from Hawaii. We left the morning of September 30 and got back this morning around 11:30am.

We had a very nice trip to Maui and spent some of the time with Michael and Jen.

We rented a condo in Wailea for a few days and then stayed in the Westin Hotel in Ka'anipali /Lahaina.

Today has been a very long day. Yesterday our plane left Maui at 9:00pm. We had an overnight flight with a quick early morning stopover in Los Angeles.

Here are the pictures. Belkin Hawaii Trip

and here is the video.