Relaxing at Home

Today we mostly stayed home.  It was cold outside.  Morry and the boys watched the Steelers game this afternoon. 

Evan and Noah played outside in the back yard for a little while.  Morry and Evan played some football out front later on today.

We ate dinner at home and then got dessert at TCBY.

We made another quick stop at HEB tonight to get a few more things for tomorrow night.

We are having Jack's family over for New Year's Eve tomorrow.

The boys are ready for bed now and will hopefully be sleeping soon.

Back from Dallas

We left for Dallas on December 25 and came back today.

We had a nice trip. It snowed a few hours after getting there and the boys were so excited.  It was the first time they saw snow coming down from the sky.  Evan could have played outside in it all day if we let him.  The snow actually stuck to the ground (about 1 inch).  It wasn't much, but the boys thought it was the best thing ever.

Here are a few pictures and videos of the snow in Dallas.

Locomotion and Gumbos

It was nice not having to take the boys to school today.

I took them to Locomotion, an indoor play place.  They had a good time there.

We came home and Morry had gotten lunch ready for them.

We took it easy this afternoon.

For dinner we went to Gumbo's.  It's a nicer than we usually take the kids, but it was one of the only places open today.  The boys did very well there.  It worked out well.

We just got home and we'll get the kids ready for bed soon.

Johnson City

This morning I took the boys to the park for a little bit to play some football.  At noon Morry and the boys watched the Steelers game. 

When it was over we met at Will and Bradford's house and all drove to Johnson City to see the Christmas lights there.  We at dinner in the square and went on a hayride.  It was a nice night.  Everyone enjoyed it.

Here are some pictures from today.

Baseball in the Park

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

I got up early as I'm trying to finish up some things for Monday.  Evan got up first followed by Noah 30 minutes to an hour later.

The boys were good together.  They played upstairs (made a gigantic mess in the game room) as well as playing Wii.

Later in the morning, I decided the boys needed to get out of the house.  I decided to take them to the park to play baseball.  For Hanukkah the boys got bases, a bucket of baseballs and a tee.  They also got  a screen and soft-toss pitching machine, although I left those at home since we were going to be running the bases.   We first tried to go to the Wildflower Park but someone was already playing baseball.  We then went to the Circle C park where they have an actual backstop and cut outs for the bases.  I think the boys really liked playing on a field.

We stopped at Smoothie King on the way home and got smoothies.

Rachel made the boy lunch and I put on Monsters Inc for them.

Later in the afternoon, I played Wii with them and then we had a light dinner.

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

Until next time...

Noah's Last Day of School

Today was Noah's last day of school.  Morry, Evan, and I went to Noah's party at school at noon.  The kids decorated gingerbread houses.  Evan got to do one too.  Noah seemed very happy to have us there.

We took it easy this afternoon.

We went over to Nathan's house and Jack's house to drop off cookies for their families.

Tonight we ran out to Target to get a gift card for a birthday and then picked up food for dinner.

We got Little Caesars for the boys and Thai Taste for us.

We just finished eating dinner.  We told the boys that if they were good tonight they could sleep in the same room.  They choose to sleep in Evan's room.  We'll see how that goes.

Last Day of School

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

At 4am in the morning, the smoke detector began to beep every 30 seconds to tell us we needed a new battery.  Considering that we sleep less than 8 hours a day, you'd think that the smoke detector beeping while we'd sleep would happen only 1/3 of the time.  I'd say it happens 90% of the time that it decides to let us know.  I think the other 10% happens to be during a Steelers game.  I think that's what someone needs to invent - a smoke detector that starts to beep during normal business hours.

I took Evan to school.  He brought in some of the cookies that we made last night to give to his class.

Noah slept in a while, which was good.  When he got up, Rachel and Noah went to HEB to get fruit and things as well as stuff to make more cookies.  Rachel wanted to make some for some of our neighbors.  From there they stopped at home to put away the refrigerated goods and then went to Noah's gymnastics.

I went to Evan's class party.  They had four stations to do things.  At one station, they made holiday cards for someone.  At another they made snow.  They took some powder and added water and it turned into what looked like fake snow at the mall.  Another one they had to say make a chart of how many ears and feet if you had 1 through 20 reindeer.  Basically it was a counting/addition issue.  The last station was counting of Skittles where they had to make a bar chart of number of Skittles by color and then made math sentences out of certain groups.  Evan seemed to have a really good time.

I came home and did a little work and then Noah and I went back to pick Evan up.  It was 42 and super windy this morning.  I put Evan in a t-shirt with a long-sleeve shirt underneath.  I did get him to wear a sweatshirt into school but he gave it to me to take home.  This afternoon it was in the high 50s.  Everyone whose last name wasn't Belkin was all bundled up waiting for their children.  When Evan came out he had taken off the long sleeve shirt and was just wearing a t-shirt.  I think people thought we were crazy.

For Hanukkah, Evan got a private baseball lesson.  I took him to it today.  The place was very nice and I was really impressed.  The guy started Evan hitting right away.  The guy asked Evan if he was right-handed or left-handed.  Evan said he was a switch-hitter.  The guy took him at his word and Evan did bat from both sides.  Afterwards the coach said that Evan was a lot better than he had anticipated.  We scheduled another lesson in two weeks.

When we got home, I made pizza while Rachel and the boys finished up the latest batch of cookies.  Noah and Rachel just delivered some to Blanca and her family.

We're about to put the boys to bed.  Until next time...

Cookie Making

Today the boys had good days at school. 

I took Noah to school and picked him up.

Morry and Noah got Evan at school.  Gabby came over to babysit while I tutored.

When I got home we made sugar cookies and after dinner we decorated them.

The boys are pretty much ready for bed.  Morry is reading to them now.

Tutoring marathon

It was a really long day for me.  I'm exhausted.

The kids seemed to have good days.

Noah had Cole over at our house today.  They had fun like always.

Cole left a little before 2pm.  I got ready for tutoring and left the house around 2.

I started tutoring at 2:30pm and my last student was done at 8:45.

While I was gone Morry and Noah picked up Evan from school and then Blanca came over to babysit.

Morry and the boys had dinner at home.

I just home a little while ago.  The boys were still awake, but all ready for bed.

Now, to relax a little.

Work, School, Tutoring

We were all busy today. 

The boys had a good day at school.

Noah was happy when I picked him up.

Morry and Noah went to get Evan at school while I left to go tutor.  Gabby came over.

I tutored 3 students tonight and got home around 7:45pm.

Morry and I haven't had dinner yet.  He's reading to the boys and after we get them in bed we'll have our dinner.

Ok, I need to get the boys in bed now so we can eat.

Houston Trip

We are back from Houston.

We left Friday afternoon and came back today around 2pm.

We stayed in a hotel for two nights and went to NASA and Kemah yesterday.

While we were there we saw my friends Julie, Sara, and Robbie.

We all had a good time.  It was a nice trip.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

The Mall

This morning Noah and I went to the mall.  I had a few things to buy.  It wasn't too busy, but there was a little bit of traffic making the turn onto the street where the mall is.  Noah was very well behaved so we bought cookies on our way out.

After that we went to the Little Gym for Noah's gym class.  Towards the end of the class they had the parents come in so the kids could show us some of what they have learned.  We did "Smash The Cheese", a game both of our kids have always liked at the Little Gym.

Noah and I came home and a little while later we went to pick up Evan. 

I thought I was going to tutor today, but it got canceled so we stayed home this afternoon.

For dinner we had leftovers.

Morry is reading to the boys now and then they'll hopefully go to sleep.

Our Wednesday

Noah was in a good mood this morning and was happy when we got to school.  Cole had been out of town for a few days and was back today. The boys were happy to see each other.

Noah was in a good mood at pick up too.

Noah and Morry went to pick up Evan while I left to tutor.

Gabby came over.

I came home this afternoon after my tutoring and we ate dinner together (corned beef).  I left to tutor again after dinner.

I just got home.  The boys are in bed, but not asleep yet.

Late

Hello everyone this is Morry.

Yesterday, I changed my alarm to wake me up at 8:30 instead of 6:30 since Rachel was going to be taking Evan to school.  I guess I never changed my alarm back.  When I drop Evan off at school, I leave him in the cafeteria.  The teacher comes and gets the kids at 7:35.  At 7:45 kids are officially late. I woke up this morning at 7:29am.  I managed to get Evan (who himself was sleeping) to school at 7:42.  I did have some help from Rachel and I made Evan eat while we were driving/running to school.  But I got him there without being late.

Noah got up shortly after I got home.  He was in a good mood.

Rachel and Noah went to Sam's Club to get some things.  When they got home, I set up the batting screen in the backyard and the new tee that Noah got for his birthday.  He was outside for quite a while hitting balls off the tee.

Rachel picked up Evan from school today.  He was in a good mood when he got home.

The boys went outside and played baseball and football.

Rachel left around 5 to tutor.

The boys and I ate dinner at the coffee table and watched Christmas Vacation.

The boys are sleeping now.

Until next time...

Flip-Flop

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Rachel and I flip-flopped who took each kid to school.  I was up late last night trying to get a project ready for a demo so Rachel took Evan to school.  She came and laid back down to sleep and I got up and took Noah to school.  Rachel said that Evan was in a very good mood.  He wore his Franco Harris jersey to school today.

When I took Noah to school, he, too, was in a good mood.  We had a cold front in last night so it was cool and very very windy this morning.  Noah kept pretending he was blowing away while we were walking into the school.

My clients came to the house at 11am.  It went well.

Rachel picked Noah up from school and he was in a good mood when he came home.  He and I went to pick up Evan at school while Rachel went to tutor.

Gabby came over until Rachel got home.

Rachel came home for a bit and we had an early dinner and gave celebrated Hanukkah.  Then Rachel went back out to tutor.

The boys and I played Lego Star Wars Wii.  They are in bed now.

Until next time...

Jumpy Birthday

This morning Morry worked and later went to get smoothies.  The boys and I had lunch while Morry put on the Steelers game.

This afternoon I took the boys to a birthday party at one of those jumpy places.  It was the party of a kid on Noah's baseball team.  Evan and Noah had fun there, but it was a little bit of a drive.  It was in Kyle which is about a 30 minute drive, but it took 45 minutes to get home for some reason.

Morry made pasta for dinner and we ate when we got home.

We lit the menorah and the boys opened their gifts from Michael, Jen, and Maya.

Evan and Noah just had showers and now they are brushing their teeth.

First night of Hanukkah

This morning I took the boys with me to run some errands so Morry could work at home in peace.

We had lunch together and then Morry worked some more.

We stayed at home this afternoon.

We lit the menorahs and the boys opened their gifts from Grandmom and Zayde.

For dinner we picked up food from Zpizza.

The boys are playing football together in the hall and then we'll get them ready for bed.

Baseball Night

Hello everyone, this is Noah (as told to Daddy)

I woke up.  I went in the game room.  Then I went downstairs to see Daddy.  I scared him by saying boo.

I ate Lucky Charms for breakfast.  Then Mommy came downstairs.

Noah has exited this blog post.

Evan is now here to tell about his day.

I got up for school.  I ate breakfast.  I had mini-blueberry muffins.  Then the power went out so we walked to school.

At school, I played football.  I did well.  I threw two touchdowns.  I won the game.  Then I ate my snack.  After that, I went home.

I played Star Wars Wii when I got home.  Then I got dressed for the Longhorns baseball camp.  Then we drove to the women's softball field.

I played a baseball game and I got a walk-off triple.

Then I went home and I'm writing the blog right now.

Evan's Blog

I woke up. And then I ate food for breakfast. And then I went to school. I went in Daddy's car to school.

I played football at recess. I did good. At centers I played on the computer.  Next, I did iPad and iPods.  I played Stack the Countries.   I colored in my square last. I colored it green because I did good.

After school, Daddy picked me up and I went to the gas station with Daddy.

At home, I made cookies with Mommy and Noah.  I used frosting and sprinkles and stars to decorate the gingerbread guys. 

Mommy went to tutoring and Daddy went to a meeting.  I was with Nathan's sister, Ana at home.

Mommy came home and then we finished making our cookies.

We had dinner.

I played Star Wars Wii and then I had to do my homework.

After I finished my homework I looked at a card from Grandma and Papa.  And then I ate a cookie.  And I'm writing the blog right now.

And now, I'm going to go to bed.

Tomorrow is Friday and then it will be the weekend.   I will have fun on the weekend.  I might play with Noah.

From Noah's view

Here's today's blog from Noah's view.  He's sitting on my lap.

I woke up around 8am and I went in the game room. I lied on the couch and then I put a blanket on me and went back to sleep.  I got up from the couch around 9am.

I got dressed and I ate a waffle.

Then, we went to school.

At school we went outside and I ate lunch.  I made a cookie man, like a gingerbread man.

Then, I got home.

Then, I walked to my brother's school with my dad.

Mommy went to tutoring.

At home we played Lego Star Wars with Daddy and we got to be characters.

Gabby came over.  We saw Evan play Lego Star Wars.  We played outside.

Then, Gabby left.

We ate dinner. For dessert I had Skilttles.

Then, I took a shower.

And now, we are writing the blog.

And next I will play on my computer before bed and then I'm going to go to sleep.

Crazy Morning

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Yesterday, Noah kept asking to come with me to take Evan to school.  He really wanted to ride bikes.  I told him if he went to sleep at a decent time I would wake him up.  He kept his end of the bargain so I kept mine.  I woke Noah up after getting Evan set up downstairs eating breakfast and watching the MLB channel.  When I was getting Evan's folder, lunch and backpack together I discovered that Evan didn't read his book last night.  So while he ate breakfast, I held the book and listened to him read.  It just happened to be a super long book this time so we were running late.  We finally got going and had sweatshirts and helmets on the boys.  As I was backing the bike out of the garage the chain popped off. We were already running late so I didn't have time to fix it.  So we ended up driving to school.

Noah played Star Wars Wii when we got home while I did work.

At 11am I had a normal cleaning at the dentist.  Rachel and Noah went to HEB to get food.  I got home shortly after Rachel and Noah because Rachel was still putting groceries away.

Rachel picked Evan up from school while Noah stayed here.

Rachel tutored and Blanca came over.  They played baseball and rode their bikes in the cul-de-sac.

For dinner, I picked up McDonald's for the kids and Popeye's for me.

Then we played some Wii and I put the kids to bed.

Until next time...

Back to Work / School

I woke up Noah this morning a little after 9am. I didn't want him to be to too late to school.

After I dropped him off I ran and then came back and did some mbsquared work.

Noah seemed happy at pick up.

We were home for a little while and then Morry and Noah went to get Evan from school.

I left to tutor.  Gabby came over this afternoon to watch the boys.

For dinner we had grilled chicken and rice.

The boys are in bed now, but not asleep.  Evan just tattled on Noah by yelling, "Noah's in my room."  Now, I need to go get him back in his room.

Evan Bowls and Noah Plays Baseball

This morning we took it easy.  Morry did work though.

We had lunch at home and then Morry took Evan to a bowling birthday party of a kid in his class.  While they were gone Noah and I played some baseball outside and then we played Wii together.

When Morry and Evan got home the Steelers game was about to start.  The boys watched the game together with Morry.  They had Morry throw a football to them during the game.

For dinner we had pasta.

The boys cleaned up their rooms tonight and then we got them ready for bed.

Morry is reading to them now.

Work

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning I woke up around 8am.  I could hear Evan playing MLB Power Pros downstairs on the Wii.  I got up and dressed and the two of us went out from to have a catch.  Every day, Evan seems to get more comfortable, both with his throwing motion and catching the ball in front of himself rather than to the side.

When I came in, I had work to do.  I had to call a friend who is working with me on a project.  Evan sat in the office eating at my desk while I talked to him.

Noah slept until 10:45 when Rachel finally went in and woke him up. There is a cold going around our house and both boys have stuffy noses.  I think that may have contributed to Noah sleeping so long.  It was also overcast outside.

Around noon, I went to Wings To Go to work and eat lunch.  The boys stayed home with Rachel.

I came home around 2pm.  A little while later, Jack and his sister came over.  Jack's grandparents are watching Jack and Audrey but they had an appointment this afternoon.  We said it was no problem to have the kids over.  Audrey and Noah stayed together while Evan and Jack played football out back.

For dinner, we went to Johnny Carino's.  The boys hadn't been out of the house so we wanted to get them out.  They have been kind of cranky today but we thought, sometimes eating out helps.  They both didn't behave all that well, but Evan ate his whole pizza.

We came home and Noah wanted to continue to eat his dinner.  So he sat down for a little while.

They are taking showers now.

Until next time...

Another week done

After I took Noah to school I had an appointment with my rheumatologist.

He went over the test results with me from last time.  He said everything looks good and there's not sign of arthritis or autoimmune disease (of the ones he checked for).  He said he checked for a lot.  He doesn't have a diagnosis for me.  It could be neuropathy.  He working on a combinations of drugs to help me feel better.,  He added a few to the mix of things I can take as needed.

Today, at Noah's school it was show and tell. He chose to bring his baseball trophy into school.  He's very proud of it.  Noah was in a good mood after school.  We stopped at the HEB pharmacy (which took forever) and the bank on the way home.

Morry walked to get Evan from school.  Evan had asked Morry to pick him up today.

The boys played outside in the backyard this afternoon.

For dinner we picked up Blue Bamboo.

Morry is reading to the boys now. They are all ready for bed.

Little Gym With Noah

This morning Noah and I went to Sam's Club.  We came home for just a little bit and then went to the Little Gym.  Noah had a good time.

I got a corned beef bagel sandwich for Morry at Wholly Bagel.and brought it home for him.  He had a lot of work to do today and couldn't come with us to the Little Gym.

Noah stayed at home while I got Evan from school.  Evan was in a good mood.

I tutored one student today at the library.

For dinner Morry and I had burgers.  The kids had various things including some fruit we got at Sam's Club today.

Evan finished his homework and read.  Noah helped me quiz Evan on his spelling words.  Noah would read the words aloud and Evan would spell them for us.

The boys are in their rooms now ready for bed.

School Day for Both Kids

Today Noah slept until about 9am.

I took him to school and then I had a meeting.

I came home in time to eat lunch and then it was time to get Noah from school.

Morry and Noah went to get Evan from school while I tutored.

Gabby came over while I was gone.

I just had one student today and got home around 4:45pm.

For dinner we had pasta.

Evan just finished his homework.  We'll get the boys ready for bed soon.

Gray Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

I felt well enough to take Evan to school this morning.  It was cold and Evan told me he wanted me to drive.  He was in a good mood though.

Noah got up a little after I got home.  He, too, was in a good mood.

Around 10:15, we had an air conditioning guy come to look at the system.  Our downstairs air conditioner is not turning on unless I unplug the thermostat and re-plug it in.  Then it will run for a bit.  It seems to work for heat though.  He told us we didn't have enough refrigerant and added some and checked for leaks.  He also felt like we needed a new thermostat.  So we're in the market for a good thermostat now.

Rachel made lunch for Noah and then he was supposed to go to Cole's.  For some reason he said he didn't want to go.  I don't think he's feeling 100%.  He said he wanted to just play sports.  I suggested he take the football to Cole's so he did.  He also wanted me to come to drop him off so I did.

Rachel picked up Noah, dropped him off at the house and then went and got Evan.

Rachel had to tutor late tonight, so after I paid Blanca, I took the boys to McDonald's.  They were well behaved and ate their entire dinners.

We came home and Evan did his homework.

They are in bed now.  Until next time...

Outdoors

This morning I walked Evan to school so that Morry could sleep in some.  When I got home I went for a run.

Noah got up on his own and dressed himself while I was out my run.  Morry, Grandma, Papa, Uncle Mike, Maya, and Aunt Jen were still at home.

I took Noah to school and then came back home and ate breakfast with everyone.

Shortly after that Grandma and Papa drove back to Dallas.

Michael, Jen, Maya, and I walked around Town Lake and then had lunch at Freebirds.  We picked up Noah from school on the way home.

After being home for a little while, Michael, Maya, and I walked to get Evan from school.  Evan was very happy to see Uncle Mike and Maya.  Evan held Uncle Mike's hand some of the way home.

Gabby came over.  Morry took Michael's family to the airport and I left to tutor.

Morry gave the boys dinner.  I got home around 7pm and we ate leftovers for our dinner.

The boys are in bed now.

Here are some pictures from today.

Wreck-It Ralph

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan has asked me several times in the last week if we could go see Wreck-It Ralph.  Last night, I looked at the showtimes for this morning.  There was an 8:55 at one theater and a 9:40am at another theater.  The second theater was at the mall and I was hesitant to go there.  The other times would have conflicted with the Steelers game.  I got up early this morning.  I had to wake both boys up.  I had told Noah that if he wanted to go he needed to go to sleep early last night.  When I woke him up, the first thing he told me was that he had gone to bed early the night before.

We were the first ones to buy tickets this morning.  The box office opened a few minutes after we got there. (though they were supposed to open earlier than when we got there)  I had coupons for free Icees with the purchase of a popcorn.  So each boy got popcorn and an Icee.  Evan seemed to really enjoy the movie.  Noah got a bit antsy and had to go to the bathroom at one point, but he liked it.  The movie was very clever.  It was one of the better movies that I have taken the boys to.

We came home just in time for the Steelers game.  The game was not fun.

After the game, Papa took the boys out to play baseball, while I worked some.

Tonight, we had leftovers for dinner.

The boys are in bed now.

Until next time..

More Family Fun

Today we had a more relaxing day.  We went out to brunch/lunch at Waterloo.

Late in the afternoon Leah's family and Aaron and Christina came over.

We picked up dinner from Home Slice Pizza.

Evan had a great time playing with Leah's "boys".  Jacob, who is 23, was worn out by Evan and Noah.  They were really tackling each other.

Evan loves playing with the older boys.  He's been having a great time hanging out with older cousins.

Here is a picture from today of Evan and Noah with Leah's boys (Stephen, Jacob, and David).

More Thanksgiving Fun

We had another day of Thanksgiving fun.  Uncle Jay's family came over today.  It was so fun seeing all the kids together.  Ryan played baseball with boys outside for a while.  Everyone had a nice time.

We picked up Rudy's barbecue and ate other Thanksgiving leftovers.

Here are pictures and a video from the last few days.