Evan's First Practice

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We did very little this morning.  Rachel and I woke up around 9.  The boys were downstairs playing Wii.  We just decided to take it easy.

Evan had his first baseball practice of the season today.  We thought he'd be drafted by one of two former coaches but he was drafted by someone that I didn't know.  I think he was a bit nervous about it though he didn't come out and say it.   We got to practice early and Evan was all about starting to play baseball.  They had hitting practice first and Evan seemed to do well. I helped out.  The coach came to talk to Evan and me.  It turns out he is from Pittsburgh and is a big Pirates and Steelers fan.  I think this actually made Evan feel more comfortable.  After hitting practice, they worked on fielding.  They had Evan begin at shortstop.  He had some excellent throws over to first.  And he showed off his hustle by running in and barehanding a ball in the grass.  The final drill was baserunning and Evan showed some speed.  That's never really been part of his game.  The finished off practice with a relay race.  One team started at home and the other team started at second base.  The team that got all their players through won.  Evan was one team captain and the coach's son was the other captain.  Evan's team won.

Evan made me stay after practice to practice some more.  He wanted to pitch to me.  Then he wanted me to throw to him while he played first base.  And finally, he wanted to go out into right and make throws to me as if I were a third baseman covering the bag.

On the way home, we stopped at 7-eleven and got Slurpees.

At dinner time, I had to go back to the fields to pick up equipment for my team.  Then the boys and I went to Austin Pizza Garden for dinner.  Rachel wasn't feeling 100% so she stayed home.

After dinner, Evan told me that he wants to start playing baseball when he wakes up and doesn't want to stop until it's time for bed.  We'll see how that goes.

Noah and I have our second practice tomorrow.

Until next time...

First Week Done

Well, the boys made it through the first week of school.

This morning we walked to dropped the boys off.  We ended up walking with Evan's friend Jack and his family.

We walked to pick them up too.

After school Jack came over to our house.

For dinner we picked up Z Pizza.  The boys are playing Wii now and soon we'll get them ready for bed.

First Practice

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Last night both boys got up at one point and came into our room.  I don't know why exactly.  I think it was a coincidence.

I woke up Evan first this morning and got him ready for school.  As I was getting Evan dressed, Noah came out of his room.  He was in a wonderful mood and very very talkative.  So far the mornings have gone incredibly well.

Jack was coming out of his house as we were walking to school.  Evan ran along side Jack while Jack rode his bike.  Somehow Evan was able to keep up.

I had another meeting for lunch today.  Rachel ran out to HEB while I was at lunch.

We walked to get the boys.  Again, Jack came back with us and again, Evan ran along side the bike.  When we got to Jack's house, it was nearly impossible to separate the boys.  They were in deep discussions about their kickball game they had at recess.

In the late afternoon, we had Noah's first baseball practice of the season.  He is on the Timber Rattlers and I'm the head coach.  Rachel came with us.  We got there early to set up the all the stuff.

The practice seemed to go really well.  There are four kids from Noah's team in the spring on the team.  The rest of the kids are all brand new to baseball.  Some looked pretty athletic and played well.  The parents were all very nice.

We came home and had dinner.  The boys are now in their rooms.

Until next time...

Day #3

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

So far the mornings have worked out really well.  Noah sometimes is difficult when you wake him up but he's been terrific every morning.  It's been very easy getting him up and he seems excited to go to school.

Rachel has been walking with us to school which has been nice. I think the boys have enjoyed having Rachel come to school with us.  On the way while we were walking in, Jack rode up on his bike with his dad and sister.  Evan and Noah ran along with Jack while Jack slowly rode his bike.  Eventually Jack just got off his bike and the three boys walked together the rest of the way to school.

I had a meeting this morning that I went to and then ran some errands.

Rachel had her first tutoring of the new school year so I walked to get the boys.  Noah was in a very good mood when I got him.

The boys read by themselves for their homework when we got home.  Rachel got home around 4:45.

We had leftovers for dinner.  Evan is outside practicing baseball.  Noah is on the Wii.

Until next time...

2nd Day

This morning both boys were in good moods, but Noah was especially in a good mood.  He was talking non-stop the whole walk to school.

The boys seemed like they had good days when we picked them up.

We had tacos for dinner and then Morry left for a baseball coaches' meeting.

While Evan did his reading for school Noah wanted to work on math with me.

I'm about to give them a shower and then put them to bed.

First Day of School 2013

Today was Evan's first day of 2nd grade and Noah's first day of kindergarten. 

We all walked to school and drop off was nice and easy.

For lunch Morry and I went to Bruegger's Bagels.

We walked to get the boys at school.  They both said they had a good day.

Noah fell asleep later this afternoon in his room and we had to wake him up to eat dinner.

Here are some pictures and video of today.

Last Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today is the unofficial last day of summer.  School starts tomorrow.  It's Noah's last day before he enters elementary school.  He seems to be excited to start Kindergarten.  He said he's not scared at all, which is good.

Rachel and I slept in a bit.  When we got up we had to run a few errands.  We stopped by Target.  On the way home, we picked up smoothies at Smoothie King.  The boys and I are there enough that we just have to say "We'll have our usual" but Rachel had to order something.

Rachel got the boys lunches ready for the week - at least all the non-refrigerated food.  On the white board in the laundry room, she put what we should take out of the refrigerator for their lunches for each day for each boy.

In the afternoon, the boys cleaned up some and played Wii.

Dmitriy and Katheryne stopped by for a bit.

For dinner I made pizzas and then we gave the boys showers.

They are in their rooms now.

Until next time...

Tryouts and the Circus

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, Evan had his tryout for fall baseball.  I believe the draft is Monday or Tuesday and then we'll find out Wednesday or Thursday what team he is on.  I woke up a little after 7 and then woke Evan up and got breakfast.  As is our tradition on early Saturday games/tryouts we stopped at Donut Taco Palace I and the way to the fields.  Evan got his standard glazed donut and a drink.

Evan's tryout began at 8:30.  The term tryout is somewhat inaccurate as every kids makes the team.  They are just demonstrating their ability for the draft.  They get 5 pitches and they are supposed to swing at everything.  Then they get three balls at short and they have to throw to first.  Then they get three pop ups.  If they catch it they throw to first.  Even though it was Evan's third time doing this, he took the first pitch.  It wasn't a good pitch and even though he wasn't supposed to do that I think it actually showed something about him that he didn't swing.  They gave him another one.  He hit all 5 and two of the balls he crushed.  He ended with a solid line drive to left.  After they swing at the 5th ball they run around the bases.  In the field, Evan pulled a "Bill Buckner" on the first ground ball.  He easily moved over to field it, spread his legs, got in perfect position but didn't put his glove all the way down.  It didn't faze him (and really he looked like he knew what he was doing all the way up to missing the ball) and he cleanly fielded the next two and easily threw to first.  He then caught all three pop ups and followed with nice throws.  The father next to me said "He's got an arm!"

When we got home, we got ready to go to the circus.  Our next-door neighbor works for a radio station and they had 4 tickets to the circus that someone had won on the radio but not picked up. She gave them to us.  It was the first time to see the circus with the boys.  It was Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.  The boys seemed to enjoy it.  Both Rachel and I were glad we didn't pay for it.

When we got home, the boys played Wii.

Later in the afternoon, he we went to HEB.  We picked food up from Sap's Thai Cuisine on the way home.

We're about to put the boys to bed.

Until next time...

Many Activities

This morning Jack came over to play.   He went home for lunch, but after lunch Evan went over to Jack's house to swim.

Noah and I picked up Evan from Jack's house and came back home for a few minutes so that Evan could change clothes.  Then, we all walked to school for meet the teachers and to drop off supplies.  That went well.  Evan's teacher seemed nice.  Mr. Valdes seemed happy to see both boys.

We came home for a little bit and then walked to the Circle C community center for food trailer night.  There were a ton of people there.  Morry and the boys got pizza.  I got a wrap.  We all had shaved ice for dessert.

We just got home and now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Good School News

This morning I took the boys to the pool.  They had a good time.

We ate lunch at home and spend most of the afternoon at home too.

Around 5:30 we met Jack's family and walked to school. They were having a little event there with vendors and display of the class lists.  Noah got Evan's kindergarten teacher (who we really liked) and he has his friend Cole in the class with him.  We don't know anything about Evan's teacher, but he has 3 friends in the class and he was happy about that.  It was all good news.  The boys got shaved ice there and then we walked home.

For dinner we had pasta.

We just got the boys ready for bed.

Trail and Sweet Carolines

We stayed at home this morning. 

A little bit after lunch I took the boys and Lizzy to the Circle C park and we walked the trail there.  We had a good time.  The boys liked looking at rocks in the dry creek bed and trying to find fossils. 

After our walk we went to Sweet Carolines for shaved ice.

For dinner we had leftovers.

In a few minutes we'll start getting the boys ready for bed.

Cave

This morning we left the house around 9am and drove to Georgetown to go to Inner Space Cavern.  Evan went with school last year and really liked it.   We got a neat tour inside the cave.  Both boys seemed to enjoy it.  After the tour the boys got a bag of sand/rocks that they had to sift through to get to the gem/rocks.  They liked that.

For lunch we met Aunt Susan at Fish City Grill in Georgetown.

After that we did some shopping at IKEA.

It was a long day, but the boys did pretty well and we all had fun.

For dinner we had leftover corned beef from last night.

The boys are in bed now.

Cupcakes!

This morning we hung out at home. 

Around noon we met Morry at Hey Cupcake and we got a tour of the bakery.  We saw very large mixers, huge canisters of sprinkles, and huge containers of icing.  They even gave us a few cupcakes to bring home with us.  The boys enjoyed that.

For dinner we had corned beef and potatoes.  Evan didn't eat the corned beef, but he ate leftover salmon. 

We took a walk and now the boys are watching some of the Steelers pre-season game.

Stayed At Home

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We were tired from yesterday's big day so we stayed at home.  When I got up, Evan was downstairs playing Wii.  He asked me to play a baseball game with him on the Wii so I did.  Noah came down shortly after.

After a little while Rachel came down and we agreed to go to HEB.  We thought if we got to HEB before noon it wouldn't be as crowded.  That may have been true but it was still pretty crowded.  We got a bunch of things as we're preparing for the start of school.  We got things for the boys lunches, etc..

When we came home, we had lunch.  Then the boys played upstairs with Legos for a while.

We grilled for dinner.  I grilled a steak for myself and salmon for everyone else.  Then we went to TCBY for dessert.

The boys are in bed.

Until next time...

Baseball and San Antonio

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning I organized a "practice" for anyone who wanted to play baseball.  I emailed the parents of Evan's team from last year as well as a few others.  We had 8 kids, including Evan and Noah, out at the fields.  Evan was able to use the new bat we got him this week.  It's an inch longer but is the same weight.  He hit very well with it. I think it made a difference.

Noah also played very well.  One of the dad's pitched underhanded to him and at one point, he hit four straight balls.  He also is using a "new" bat (although it is a used bat).  It's a bit longer but actually 2 ounces lighter than his previous bat.

At the end of practice, Evan, Jack and Noah practiced fielding a groundball at short and throwing to first.  That's part of the tryouts which are next week.  Noah did really well.  He was able to throw it from short to first on one bounce which is significantly farther than he was throwing even back in May.  He seemed to have a good time.

We had lunch at home and Evan played a bit of Wii.

Then we left for San Antonio.  Rachel's cousin Jonah was having a birthday party for his daughters, Valencia and Ayesha at a movie theater.  We saw Smurfs 2 and then we got a tour of the projection room.  It was pretty cool, though I think the kids weren't as amazed as the parents.

On the way home, we stopped at Best Buy and got a FitBit for Rachel.  I had gotten Rachel one for her birthday but it wasn't working properly so we returned it.  They were all sold out of them in Austin so we checked to see if they had any in San Antonio while we were down there.  It turns out one of the Best Buys did have one in stock so we picked it up.

Noah fell asleep on the way home and is now sleeping in his bed.  Evan stayed awake.

Until next time...

Today's Project

This morning I was hoping to take the boys swimming, but it really looked like it would rain.  We ended up just staying home, and of course, it didn't rain.

My project for today was to make the couches upstairs look nicer.  I made pillow covers for the old pillows.  I only got 2 done today, but here's a picture.

In the afternoon Morry and Evan played baseball outside with Evan's new bat.

For dinner we picked up Torchy's and ate at home.

The boys are ready for bed now.

A Day with Friends

This morning around 8:45 Jack's dad came to pick up Evan.  For Jack's birthday he was allowed to invite one friend to Schlitterbahn (water park in New Braunfels) and he chose Evan.

Then, around 9:30 I dropped off Noah at Cole's house.

I got a massage and then picked up Noah.

Around dinner time Evan came home.  It sounded like they all had a great time.

For dinner we had last night's chicken and oven baked potatoes.

The boys are playing Wii now, but soon we'll put them to bed.

Walk with Lizzy and Evan

We stayed at home this morning.  After lunch the plan was to take a walk, but Noah didn't want to go.  So, he stayed home.

Lizzy, Evan, and I went to the school.  It was fun.

I got a lot done around the house today.

For dinner we grilled chicken and had couscous.

After dinner we took a walk.

The boys are ready for bed now.

Lunch at Whole Foods

This morning we didn't do much.  I had a lunch with the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls at Whole Foods.  My plan was to bring both boys, but Noah didn't want to come.  I didn't feel like fighting him.  Morry said it was fine if he stayed at home.

Evan and I did a little grocery shopping at first and then picked out lunch to eat at Whole Foods.  He was good during the lunch and played with my phone some.

For dinner we all ate different things.

After dinner we took a walk.

The boys are ready for bed now.

Glow in the Dark Mini Golf

Morry left the house around 6:30am drove to Dallas to get a new car.  They gave him a good deal and he thought it was worth the drive.

It took the boys a while to agree on what we would do today.  I gave them a lot of options, but they couldn't find something both of them wanted. 

After lunch we went to Main Event and played glow in the dark mini golf. The boys had a good time and Noah got a hole in one.

After that we stopped at The Container Store for me and then went to mall.  Noah wanted to go to the Lego store.  I told him we wouldn't buy anything and he said he just wanted to look.  The boys were good at the mall and I got them each a cookie on the way out.  While we were walking back to our car in the parking lot we saw Evan teacher from last year.  She stopped for a minute to say hi.

When we got home Morry was home with his new car.

For dinner we had pasta.

The boys are ready for bed now and Morry is on a phone meeting.

Turbo

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

The boys have been wanting to see the movie Turbo.  So I promised them I'd take them today.  Noah was up first and then Evan got up a bit after him.  They played Wii until it was time to go to the movies.

They were good at the movies.  They each had an Icee and a popcorn as I had a coupon for each boy.  They seemed to like the movie.  In my opinion it was kind of stupid but there were some funny lines.

When we got home, Rachel had made the boys lunch but I guess, because of the popcorn, they were not hungry.  They went upstairs and played in their rooms and the game room.

We took Noah outside and helped him ride his bike more.  I hadn't seen him ride the first time, but Rachel said he was getting much better.

We came home and later the boys started some game where they were throwing a ball from the upstairs into the foyer or something.  I don't know exactly what they were doing.

Later in the afternoon, I went outside and "pitched" to Evan while he was catching with his catcher's mitt.

We had left overs for dinner and Rachel made brownies.  The boys went outside to play baseball.  They are actually still out there. We'll be putting them to be shortly.

Until next time...

Coaching

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

I have decided to make the leap into coaching little league.  I am going to be coaching Noah's tee ball team in the fall.  As part of the responsibility for coaching, I had to volunteer at the registration today.  Evan wanted to come with me but Noah didn't.  We drove to the location and I did all the manual data entry for the kids signing up.  I talked to the parents as they did it and for some of the ones who seemed to know baseball, I tried to get them to put me down as their request for coach.  Evan and Noah's old coach Mario gave me this tip.

Registration was nice as I got to see a lot of people I hadn't seen since the spring.  We saw Evan's coach from last year as well as Mario.  Mario knew I was coaching - and he ended up giving me all the old bats he had and a huge bucket of tee balls.  It was really nice of him to do that.

Evan saw some of his friends and then he met some more. He went out to the playground with two boys and they played for a while.

After the registration, I came home and Noah was playing Wii.  I played with him for a bit.

We stopped by someone's house in the neighborhood who has a covered porch and looked at that for some ideas.

When we got home, we went in the cul-de-sac.  At the registration, they sell used baseball equipment as part of a fundraiser.  Evan wanted a catcher's glove for $10.  So I got it for him.  Noah rode his scooter while Evan and I had a catch with it.  He wanted me to pitch to him while he caught.

We went to dinner at Trudy's though Noah only ate a bit of his food and Evan decided he didn't want anything.  Of course when we got home, they both were hungry.

They already has baths and they are brushing their teeth.

Until next time...

Noah on the Bike

This morning we just hung out at home.  The boys couldn't agree on what they wanted to do today.  I decided to take the boys in the cul-de-sac and start teaching Noah how to ride a bike (without training wheels).   I bribed him with Legos.  I told him when can ride on his own he can pick out a $20something Lego set.  He thought that was a good deal.

He did well for the first time without training wheels.  I was only able to let go for a few seconds, but at least that's a start.

The rest of the day we stayed at home.

For dinner we picked up Pho Thai Son for us and Mc Donalds for the boys.

The boys are in their rooms now all ready for bed.

Noah with Cole and Noah at the Pool

This morning Cole came over for a little bit.

When he left I gave the boys lunch and then got everything ready for the pool. Evan decided he didn't want to go.  He was mad at Noah about something.  So, he stayed home with Morry while Noah and I went to the pool.

For dinner we had leftover pizza and the boys had leftover salmon.

After dinner we went to Best Buy and Target and looked a neighbor's added on covered patio.

The boys are ready for bed, but not in their rooms yet.

No Brakes!

This morning Evan and Morry went out early to play baseball with some other kids.  Morry said Evan was doing a great job at fielding.

After we ate lunch at home I took the boys to the pool.  They had a lot of fun there, like usual.

For dinner we had pizza and salad.

After dinner we started on our walk.  Noah was on his scooter and Evan was on his bike on the sidewalk.  Evan was a little bit ahead of us right in front of our neighbors house and suddenly his brakes stopped working.  Luckily, he was able to just fall/roll into the grass. It shook him up a little, but he wasn't hurt.  We aren't sure exactly how the right brake broke, but it was definitely not working.  We'll have to take it in to get fixed. 

The boys are in bed now, but not asleep.

Walking and Errands

This morning the boys, Lizzy, and I went for a walk to school.  We stopped there for a little bit and played ball and ate a snack.

While I tutored the boys ran errands with Morry.  They went to the bank and then Smoothie King.

For dinner we had salmon and corn on the cob.  The boys ate well.  Morry grilled a steak for himself.

After dinner we took a walk.

Morry has a phone meeting now and when he's done we'll put the boys to bed.

Unpacking, Adjusting...

Today we mostly took it easy.  We are mostly done unpacking.  I just have a few more things to put away.

We took a walk to the school/pond and the boys played on the playground for a little bit.

For dinner we had Sprite chicken and potatoes.

After dinner we got dessert at TCBY and then went shopping at Target.

The boys are in bed now.

Back Home

We just got home today.  Morry and I went to Dominican Republic while the boys and Lizzy stayed with Grandma and Papa.

We had a nice time.

Here are a few pictures from our trip.