Mottel's bday

Today is Mottel's birthday.  He's now 15! 

This morning after Noah got up and we had breakfast we went to Aunt Susan's house.  We hung out with her and Grandma for a little bit.  We picked up lunch at Zorba's and then ate at Lauren's house.  Noah and Garrett had fun running around together.  It was fun seeing Noah as the big kid.

We came back home in time to get Evan from school.  He was in a good mood, like most days.

Around 5pm I took Noah to his baseball practice while Morry worked from home.  Evan stayed at home.

When we got home I made dinner (leftovers), read with Evan, and put the boys to bed.  Morry is working on a big project now and is still doing work.

The boys are in bed, but not asleep yet.

Here are pictures from today.

 

This morning Noah slept until about 9:30am.  He was in a pretty good mood and wanted to bring one of his Lego toys to school.  I told him he could but would need to leave it in his bag.

We got to school with his Lego in hand.  He got very upset when I asked him to put it in his backpack.  They have Legos as school and we didn't want them getting mixed up with the others or lost.  The teacher and I gave him 3 options (put it on a shelf in the room, in his backpack, or let me take it home).  He wouldn't answer and only wanted the Lego with him.  I ended up taking the Legos home with me.  He was upset for a little bit after I left.  He and the teacher drew a rainbow picture together and then he seemed ok.

At pickup he was acting fine.

Gabby came over and took Noah to get Evan.  I went to tutor.

When I got home I helped Evan with his homework while Morry got dinner ready.

We had turkey tacos for dinner.

Evan is reading to Morry now and then we'll get the boys ready for bed.

Pirates

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning when I got Evan up, he was in a very good mood.  In fact, as we were walking down the path to school, he decided to do a "silly dance" the whole way to the school.

Noah is not going to be able to do gymnastics on Thursday so we put him in a make up sports class today.  Noah had a good time at sports class.

I picked up smoothies for Rachel, Noah and me around lunch as I had to stop at the bank next to Smoothie King.

Rachel tutored this evening.

I have the name of this post as "Pirates".  Most people would assume I mean the Pittsburgh Pirates.  In this case, I'm talking about the little league Pirates.  Both Evan and Noah's team each played the Pirates.  Noah's team had a scrimmage against the tee ball Pirates and Evan had a scrimmage against the coach pitch Pirates.  Both games ended in ties.

Noah's game was first.  I helped warm up the kids and then I stopped and took Evan over to his field for his batting practice.  I came back and helped in the dugout with Noah's team.  Noah had one opportunity in the field at third base and missed it.  But at the plate, Noah got three hits.  He is hitting the ball much harder this season.

Then we went over to Evan's game.  Evan had a big 2nd inning. He was in the pitcher's position.  A kid rocketed a ground ball that somehow Evan got his glove on it.  It didn't stay in his glove and he momentarily lost the ball so he didn't get the boy out, but it was a great play.  In the bottom of the second, he crushed a line drive to right center which they played well holding Evan to a single.   In the third inning, Evan was at third.  He made a diving stop to his left to get a ball and raced to third to tag the base.  He dove to try to touch the base before the kid running from second got there but just missed (He touched the base with his glove hand but was holding the ball in his bare hand.  Also he could have just tagged the kid as they were running side by side to the base).  The next two times at bat he hit the ball hard right at the shortstop.  He got a single on one and hit into a force on the other.  Generally, it was a good game all around.

We got home at 8:30 after leaving the house at 4:45.  The kids are now in bed.

Until next time...

The last 2 days

Since we didn't write the blog yesterday,  here's what we did the last 2 days.

Yesterday I tutored at 11am.  Then, Morry took Evan to his baseball practice from 2-4.

The kids cleaned up their rooms and the game room.

We had turkey burgers for dinner.

Today, while Noah was at school I had a massage therapy appointment.

I got Noah from school and we were home a little while before Gabby came over.

I went to tutor and Gabby and Noah picked up Evan from school.

I got home around 6pm.

We had frittata and salad for dinner.

Evan is reading to Morry now and then we'll get the boys ready for bed.

Jocks

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan had a basketball game this morning so I got up early.  Evan was already up, though I think he had just gotten up.

I got him ready for basketball and we drove over there.  This was the playoffs.  Evan's team was in last place and they were playing the first place team.  Unfortunately, it definitely showed.  Evan's team got killed.  I felt the other coach did not show much sportsmanship as they were still running plays with under 2 minutes to go and a huge lead with picks and everything.  Evan didn't seem upset and Evan's coach had a little party for the kids after the game.

We came home and had lunch and then went to the baseball fields.  Noah had a scrimmage today against the Yankees.  I don't know why, but I just can't stand any team named the Yankees.  Noah's team played very well and won the scrimmage.  Noah ran really well and listened.  He also made a great stop in left field to whole a boy to a single.  Evan found some older kids and played football with them during the game.  These kids seemed much older but they asked Evan if he wanted to join.  He had a great time.

We came home and took quick showers and drove up to Barry and Lisa's for Lincoln's birthday party.  Evan and Noah went right out back and played more sports.

We had a good time at Barry and Lisa's.  Noah started to play with Lincoln right as we were about to leave.

For dinner we stopped at Enchiladas Y Mas.  They have my favorite fajitas.  They are really really spicy.  But we don't get there very often - maybe once a year.  The boys were good there.

On the way home, Noah informed us that he is a jock.  It was very funny.

We are about to put the kids to bed.

Until next time...

Our Friday

Noah was in a good mood this morning.  He was happy to go to school.  Most days he's like this.  Luckily he doesn't fight going to school that much any more.

While Noah was at school I did some cleaning at home and took Lizzy for a walk.

I got Noah from school and we came home.  He played Wii and then went with Morry to get Evan at school.

Evan had basketball practice tonight and on their way home Morry and Evan picked up Torchy's for dinner.

We just finished eating and got the kids ready for bed.

Morry is reading to them now.

Mucho Baseball

This morning Noah and I took it easy at home.  I got some things done around the house and then we went to The Little Gym.  Noah did well and had fun there.

After that we ran a few errands and came home.

We got Evan from school and spent a little of the afternoon at home.

Both boys had baseball practice at 5:30.  Morry took Evan to his practice and I took Noah to his.  Noah's was only an hour long so we got home before Morry and Evan.  Noah ate his dinner and I got Evan's dinner ready for him.

When Morry and Evan got home around 7:30 Evan ate dinner.   Evan read to Morry while I gave Noah a shower.  Evan's in the shower now and then we'll put the boys to bed.

Once they are in bed we can finally eat our dinner - Sprite chicken and squash/zucchini. 

Crankiness

This morning Noah's class had a field trip to see the play Goodnight Moon.  It was cute and the kids seem to enjoy it.  It was definitely geared toward pre-school aged kids.  There was a lot of singing and dancing and silliness.

It was raining when we picked up Evan from school.  The boys were doing ok this afternoon until all of the sudden Noah got really cranky.

Around 6pm we were trying to leave the house to buy a treadmill.  Noah started throwing a fit that he didn't want to leave the house.  He screamed pretty much the whole car ride.

We had dinner at home.  Morry and I had an Asian frozen dinner.

Then, after dinner Evan got really cranky.  The plan was for Morry to clean up while Evan read to me and practiced his spelling words.  Evan threw a fit that he wanted Daddy to do it with him.  He wasn't coming into the room to read, so finally I took the Wii away.  I unplugged it put it in the dining room.  That caused Evan to throw a massive fit that lasted through most of his reading/spelling.  It wasn't fun.

The boys are in bed now, but not asleep.

Hectic Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning I got up and took Evan to school.  It was pretty low-key starting out.  We weren't rushing this morning.  Evan watched the show "The Next Knuckler" while we were getting ready.

Rachel and Noah stayed home.  Cole came over the house.  Noah and Cole played Wii for a while and then they went outside.  When they came back in they wanted snacks.

After Cole's mom picked him up, Rachel went to pick up Evan while Noah stayed with me.

Rachel was tired so she laid down after she got Evan.

Noah had baseball practice late this afternoon.  I had agreed to bring Jack home from practice.  So Rachel and I talked about her taking my car since I'd have three kids and I'd take her car.  She was just on auto-pilot when she left and she took her car.  There was no way I could get her car so I had to put a booster seat in the front seat and make sure the air bags were turned off for Evan.  I was rushing around trying to get ready to leave for practice when I realized this.

At practice, we went to one of the fields.  I helped the coach set up everything, including a practice net, etc...  Another team came and it turned out we were on the wrong field so we had to take everything down.  I loaded the three kids in the car and drove over to the other field.

Practice went well.  Noah seemed to enjoy it.  Evan was able to help a bit again.

On the way home, I drove very very slowly and took the back way so we were not on the main roads.

I made dinner for the kids when we got home.

They are in bed.  Evan is sleeping.

Until next time...

Parent Teacher Conference

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan didn't have school today as it's President's Day.  He got up around 7:30 this morning and played quietly in his room.

In the late morning, we had a parent-teacher conference for Evan.  The teacher had Evan lead some of it, reading to us some examples of work and some self-assessments that Evan made.  Evan had to write down what he thought he was good at and what he wanted to work on.  Included in the list of what he wanted to work on were getting better "at Captain Underpants books" and being able to "run faster".  The teacher, though, talked about how much she adored Evan and how good he was.  She recommended that we try to apply to get him into the gifted program.  She felt he was very bright and very good at math.  Overall it was a great meeting.

Rachel then took the boys on the playground.  After that, they went to Target to use some Target gift cards that got for Valentine's Day.  Evan and Noah put their money together to buy a better Lego set.

Later in the afternoon, the boys played baseball in the backyard.

For dinner we had pasta.

The boys are now in bed.

Until next time...

Weekend with Grandma and Papa

We forgot to write the blog yesterday.  We had a busy day with sports.  Evan had a basketball game.  Noah had baseball practice, and later in the day Evan had baseball practice.

At night Morry and I went out while the boys went with Grandma and Papa to meet Aunt Susan for dinner.

Today, I tutored late morning.

Morry did some work at home.

When I got home I took the boys to play in the cul-de-sac.  Nathan came out to play with Evan.

Grandma and Papa left to go back to Dallas.

For dinner we had fondue again with the leftovers.

For dessert we went to TCBY.

Morry is reading to the boys now and then we'll put them to bed.

Sports, Sports, Sports, Part 1

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today, Evan had wacky dress day.  He work two different socks (one short, one high), two different shoes, baseball pants, a Steelers jersey and a Cat-in-the-Hat hat.   He was very excited to get dressed like that.

Noah slept in some which was good.  They went to bed very late after the Valentine's dinner.

Rachel picked up Noah from school and I picked up Evan.

Around 3:30, Grandma and Papa arrived from Dallas.  The boys were very excited.

At 4:30, I stopped working and got Evan ready.  He had basketball practice from 6 to 7 and baseball practice from 7 to 8:30.  The son of the coach from his basketball team is on Evan's baseball team so he ended practice a bit early so we could get over to the baseball fields.  Since there was no time for dinner, I took Evan out to dinner of his choice for basketball.  He chose McDonald's.

He played well at basketball practice.  We talked about being a bit more aggressive and going after the ball and he did.

At baseball, Evan did wonderful.  He seemed back in form today.  He played well in the field both throwing and catching.  He and the boys from his basketball team, Darius, were really having a good time playing with each other at practice.  Evan just looked like had a ton of fun.  It was very cold, in the low 50s and sprinkling but it didn't seem to slow the boys down.

We came home and put the boys to bed.

Until next time...

Family Valentines Dinner

This morning Noah and I stayed at home until it was time for his gym class.

Noah had fun at his class.

After that we went to the bank and HEB.

We came home and I had just enough time to put the groceries away and then it was time to pick up Evan from school.

Evan was in a really good mood.  He had his class Valentine's party today and had his box filled with goodies and cards.

At home I let Evan play for 15 minutes, like usual, and then it was homework time.   When he finished his homework I gave the boys 10 minutes to play and then it was clean-up time. 

Morry came home and took both boys to Evan's baseball lesson.  While they were gone I started getting dinner ready.

We decided to have a fondue dinner and dessert.

Once everyone got home we finished getting dinner ready, opened presents, and then ate.

The boys really had fun.  Noah ate steak.  Evan had a ton of shrimp.  For dessert Evan really loved the strawberries dipped in chocolate.  Noah ate a bunch of plain strawberries.

After dinner and dessert the boys wanted to play the treat game with Lizzy.  We hid treats around and then she sniffs around to find them.  The boys and Lizzy love that game.

Both boys are ready for bed, but for some reason Noah's in the game room now.  I need to get him back to bed.

Here are some pictures from tonight.

 

Pre-Valentine's Day

I dropped Noah off at school, but came back a little bit later for his Valentine's Day party at school.  They had fruit fondue.  Each kid has a plate of skewered fruit and chocolate to dip in into.  It was cute.  I tried to take a picture of Noah but he didn't want any pictures taken.  Here's all I could get.

Gabby came over this afternoon and I tutored.

Morry took Noah to his baseball practice tonight and I stayed home with Evan. 

Evan helped me make dinner and he actually tasted and ate a lot while we were cooking.  I made these foldover things with ground turkey and cheese stuffed in crescent rolls.  Evan helped/watched me brown the turkey and we talked about how to know it was done.  We added salt and when he tasted it (after it was cooked), he really liked it.  He ate a lot.  

Evan also helped with the asparagus.  He washed them off and then enjoyed snapping off the ends.  After we cooked and seasoned it he tasted a few and said he liked it.

We ate a late dinner.

Evan is reading to Morry now and I'll get Noah ready for bed.

Pizza Night

Noah and I spent the morning at home and then he went to Cole's house.

I got some cleaning and organizing done around the house.

I picked up Noah from Cole's and then we got Evan at school.  Evan's teacher told me how excited Evan was about his Valentine's box we made at home.  Evan even wrote about it in his journal today.  He'll get to take it to school on Valentine's Day for the kids to put their cards/candy.

Morry worked from home this afternoon because we thought Noah would have baseball practice.  Noah's practice was moved to tomorrow since the fields were wet.

I left for tutoring around 5pm.

Morry and the boys went ate a Z Pizza tonight for dinner.

When I got home the boys were ready for bed but not asleep.

Another busy Monday with Late Dinner

Today was another busy Monday.

While the boys were in school I ran some errands and got a therapy massage.

I got Noah from school, ate my lunch, and then Gabby came over. 

I left to tutor and didn't get home until about 7:30.

Morry gave the boys dinner.

We just got Evan and Noah ready for bed and now we'll eat our dinner.

Getting the Gang Back Together, Part 2

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning the boys got up and played well while letting Rachel and I relax in bed for a while.

Rachel had a meeting for MB Squared and then tutoring so she left the house close to 11am.  I made lunch for the boys.  They played Wii or Legos for most of the late morning and early afternoon.

Rachel came home around 3:30.  Shortly after, Evan and I left for his first baseball practice.

On Evan's team, 6 of the 11 kids were on Evan's team in the fall.  1 of the 5 remaining kids is on Evan's basketball team.  It was nice that Evan knew most of the kids going into the season.  When we got to the fields, I realized I had packed Evan's bat bag but had forgotten to put it into the car.  Luckily, since we knew many of the parents, I left Evan at the fields where others lent their Evan some equipment and went home and got Evan's bat bag.

Evan seemed tired at the beginning of practice but warmed up as the practice went along.  At the end they split the team into two groups.  One group was at home place and the other was at second base.  They had a relay race between the two groups as they ran around the bases.  When it was Evan's turn he almost caught the 8-year-old boy who around third base.  He was running faster than I have ever seen him run before.  One of the coaches turned to me and said "I think Evan has gotten faster since November".

We came home and had dinner and gave the boy showers.

They are in bed now.

Until next time...

Getting the Gang Back Together

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan had a basketball game schedule for 9am.  Right when my alarm went off I heard Noah come out of his room.  Normally Noah sleeps a bit later.  He said he wanted to come with me to take Evan.  I got Noah dressed and got dressed myself and then woke up Evan.  We went downstairs and had breakfast and then drove to the middle school where the game is.

Evan's team lost badly again, though Evan seemed to not mind.  He was happy with his own performance.  The other fathers and I were discussing what team our sons were drafted by for baseball. Just about every player on Evan's basketball team plays in the baseball league.  Evan was drafted by the same coach he had in the fall.  Evan had really been hoping that his coach would draft him.  He was so excited that he was picked by that coach he wrote about it in his journal at school on Friday.  Evan's team is the Nationals.

We came home and had brunch.  Rachel made muffins and then we left for Noah's baseball practice.  Noah is on the Rockies with the same coach he had in the fall, which is the same coach Evan had in the spring.

At the practice it was like getting the gang all back together.  Of the 12 kids on the team, 9 are returning from the fall and 6 are returning from last spring.  All of those kids are really getting to be friends and they've been all going to each others birthday parties.  As soon as we pulled up, the boys jumped out of the car and ran over.  One of the boys ran over and told Noah that they had some new kids on their team.  Then in the next breath, he and Evan started chasing each other all over the place.  Evan was able to help out and throw the balls back to the coaches.  It wasn't a nice day.  It was drizzling the whole time.  The boys seemed to have a blast though.

After practice, we came home and the boys played Wii for a while.

We decided to drive to the Galleria and have dinner at Whole Foods.  The boys each made salads from the salad bar.  I think they enjoyed it there.  Then we walked over to Dick's because we needed to get the right color socks and belts for the boys for their uniforms.  The little league sent us a coupon 20% off the entire purchase so we ended up getting more than just baseball stuff.  Rachel and I each got a pair of shoes.

We came home and put the kids to bed.

Until next time...

Late Night

While the boys were at school I did more cleaning and organizing.  I also took Lizzy for a walk.

Noah came with me to get Evan from school and the boys were happy to see each other.  Evan got a book from his teacher to borrow about a Super Bowl.

At home the boys played trios and other toys in the game room.

Morry took Evan to is 6:00 basketball practice and I took Noah to HEB.  We were at HEB for a long time.  We had to wait at the pharmacy for a very long time.

Morry ordered a pizza when they got home, but it took 1.5 hours to get it.  We didn't get our pizza until 9pm.  We had already started the boys eating since it was getting so late.

The boys are pretty much ready for bed and now Morry's going to read to them.

Noah not quite Noah

Today Noah seemed a little tired and not quite like himself.

He didn't want to take a walk with me, so he stayed home with Morry while I took Lizzy for a walk.

Morry and I brought Noah to sports class but he didn't want to go inside with everyone.  I think he's still embarrassed about his cut.  He told me he didn't want me to tell anyone about what happened.  When we walked in the building he was covering his face and wouldn't go into the gym room.   We tried to convince him to go in, but he kept making up excuses for not wanting to go.  We finally left and came home.

At home Noah played Legos while I cleaned/organized.  I've been working on cleaning up both the upstairs and downstairs offices.

Morry and Noah picked up Evan from school.

Evan and Noah played baseball outside with Morry, but Morry said Noah was being whiny.

At dinner Noah was cranky too.  He refused to say please when asking for something and threw a big fit over it.

Morry is reading to the boys now and then we'll put them to bed.

Shmevan

This morning Noah was in a good mood and I had to problems taking him to school. He was happy to see me at pick up.  He and Cole made a dragon out of a box.  I'm guessing for the Chinese New Year?

Gabby came over and took Noah to get Evan. 

I tutored just one student today.

When I got home I took the kids in the cul-de-sac for a little bit.  Evan played basketball and Noah rode his scooter.  When we got home the boys played outside in the backyard.

Shmevan made an appearance today.  All of the sudden Evan got real cranky this afternoon and remained cranky the rest of the day.   He was complaining about everything.  That's really not like him.

For dinner we had grilled chicken.

After dinner we gave the boys showers and Noah insisted on giving Lizzy a shower too.  So, we washed Lizzy and then got the boys cleaned.

Both boys are in their rooms now. We are wiped out.

Noah's day with Cole

This morning Noah and I stayed at home.  He didn't want to go for a walk.  We just took it easy.  We read together.  He really liked the poems from Where the Sidewalk Ends and The New Kid on the Block. 

Cole came over and I took the boys in the cul-de-sac for a little while.  They both rode their scooters.  We came home and they played together some more until it was time to pick up the siblings from school.  Cole's mom came to pick him up and left to get Evan.  Noah was able to stay at home since Morry was working from home this afternoon.

Evan was happy at pick up.

For dinner we had leftovers and then I went to tutor.

Morry got the boys ready for bed.

I came home around 9:30.  The boys were all ready for bed, but greeted me at the door from the garage.  They didn't seem very tired.

Let's hope they get some sleep now.

Cul-de-sac afternoon

Noah was in a good mood this morning and seemed happy to be at school.  I got some thing done around the house.  I cleaned, organized. I also took Lizzy for a walk.

After I picked up Noah Gabby came over.  Noah and Gabby picked up Evan from school and I left to tutor.

I got home earlier than normal today since I had a cancellation. 

When I got home the boys and I went in the cul-de-sac to play some basketball and see if Nathan was home.

Nathan was not home, but we saw Gabriela, Sebastian, and Santiago.  They came in the cul-de-sac with us.  Nathan came home and then he joined the kids.  For a while Evan, Nathan, and Nathan's dad played some basketball.  The kids seemed to all have fun.  It was a nice day outside and it was fun talking to the neighbors too.

At home I gave the boys dinner.

Morry just got home from a meeting.  We'll put the boys to bed soon and then eat our dinner.

Sunday at Home

Today we pretty much took it easy at home.  I only left the house to tutor for a little bit this afternoon.

I still think Evan's not feeling well.  He was pretty cranky today and didn't want to go outside to play.

Evan and Noah played Legos, Wii, and a few other things in the house.

The boys cleaned up tonight and watched some of the Super Bowl.

For dinner we had pasta.

The boys are in bed now.  I think Evan's asleep, but Noah's calling for me right now.

Tryouts and Basketball

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan had tryouts this morning for spring baseball.  I woke him up at 7:30 and got everything ready.  After tryouts he had basketball so I was getting all the baseball gear ready as well as his basketball stuff.  We left a bit after 8 for his 8:30 tryouts.

In Evan's group, there were several kids that Evan knew. He seemed to be happy amongst friends.  His tee ball coach from this first season was there as well and was very excited to see Evan.  He was cheering Evan on quite vocally, even though he was one of the coaches doing the drafting.  Evan did ok.  I'm not sure he's feeling 100%.  He seemed to be a bit more lethargic than usual.  He was the first kid to catch a pop fly which was good.  When was finished, he saw another boy from his team in the fall. They had a catch for a while before we left.

As we were leaving we bumped into a father and son who were at tryouts but the boy was on Evan's basketball team.  They were on their way to basketball though we had some time to kill. I told them we were going to get donuts and they joined us.  We had a good time talking.

Evan's team got killed in basketball.  It seemed the coaches of the other team set up the rotations to just pound Evan's team.  I don't think Evan had much fun.

After that I took the boys to Toys R Us to pick out Legos.  They had gift certificates from Hanukkah and I promised Noah he could get something after his fall the other day.  They each got something. Then we stopped at Smoothie King as I had promised them on Wednesday we'd get smoothies after Evan's basketball game.

We just stayed at home in the afternoon.

For dinner we drove to TGI Fridays on Lady Bird Lake.  We ate outside overlooking the lake. It was nice.

The boys are in bed now.

Until next time...

Noah's doing better

Noah was doing a lot better and acting pretty much like his normal self today.  His nose looks a lot better, but it still a little swollen.

Noah seemed fine at school drop off today.  He was trying to hide his cut so no one would see it.

When I got Noah from school he seemed really tired.  I think he was still worn out from everything that happened last night.

Gabby came over at 2:30 and she and Noah got Evan at school.  I tutored for a couple of hours.

Morry took Evan to basketball practice and I came home.

Noah and I went to HEB.

When Morry and Evan got home we had dinner.

Now we are getting the boys ready for bed.

Here are a couple of videos of Evan singing "Take Me Out the Ballgame."  One is from when he was 2 years-old and the other is recently.