Saturday, November 30, 2013

Fishing

We walked over to the pond at the school today.  Evan got a fishing pole from Michael and Jen for Hanukkah and he wanted them to show him how to use it.  It was a nice walk and Evan seemed to have fun, but he didn't catch any fish.  We didn't see many fish in the pond.

Later in the afternoon everyone left to go home.  Grandma and Papa drove back to Dallas.  Uncle Mike, Aunt Jen, and Maya left for the airport.

For dinner we had leftover and the kids had Hanukkah pasta.

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

Here are a few pictures from today.




Friday, November 29, 2013

Thanksgivukkah

Yesterday we had a nice Thanksgiving at Mandy's parents house.

Today, we had the family over here for Shabbat and Hanukkah.

Everyone seemed to have a nice time.  It was fun seeing the little kids play together.

Here are some pictures from today.


































Wednesday, November 27, 2013

First Night of Hanukkah

This morning we had a meeting with the guy building our porch.  We are still waiting on city approval.

Jen wasn't feeling well and went to the doctor. It turns out she has strep too.  I had a little bit of scratchy throat so I though I should get checked too.  Luckily, I don't have strep.

We lit the menorahs, opened presents, and had a big Hanukkah dinner.

Here are a few pictures from today.












Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Sick Evan

Last night Evan had a slight fever and this morning he still wasn't feeling well.  We kept him home from school.  As we were dropping off Noah at school we saw Evan's teacher and she said Strep has been going around the classroom.

When we got home I made an appointment to take Evan to the doctor.  It turned out he does have Strep so we got him started on an antibiotic.

I had a muscle activation appointment and Morry had a meeting during the day.

Morry picked up Noah from school.

For dinner we had salmon that Michael and Jen made along with some other yummy foods.  The boys ate very well.

Both boys are ready for bed.  Evan is in his room.  Noah is in the game room playing with Maya.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Date Night

This morning we drove the boys to school since it was too cold and wet to walk.

We also drove to pick them up as well.  It was cold and rainy all day.

I tutored and then Morry and I went to the Alamo Drafthouse to see Hunger Games.  The boys stayed home with Grandma, Papa, Aunt Jen, Uncle Mike, and Maya.  They had pasta at home for dinner.

We got home a little while ago.  Both boys are in bed.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Warming up with Home Slice

I was cold here today.  We mostly stayed at home.  The boys took a walk with Grandma and Maya this morning, but they didn't go very far.

Morry and the boys watched the Steelers game.

For dinner we all went to Home Slice pizza.

We just got home and both boys are in their rooms now ready for bed.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Everyone's Here

This morning we took it easy.  I made cranberry apple crisp.

Morry took Noah to a birthday party at 11:30 and Evan and I stayed home.  I finished sewing the couch pillow covers.

Later in the afternoon Grandma and Papa arrived.

Morry ran out to pick up Salt Lick for all of us.  Michael, Jen, and Maya got here right before Morry got back home with the food.

The boys and Maya are having a lot of fun together.

Maya's taking a bath now.

Soon, hopefully all of the kids will be going to bed.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Cold and Wet

I was a cold and wet day. This morning we drove to the community center and quickly walked the path into the school.

For lunch Morry and I went to Wholly Bagel.

It was raining at pickup time so we also parked at the community center this afternoon.  We had to pick up the kids at their rooms since it was rainy day dismissal.

The boys played Wii this afternoon.

For dinner we had Chinese food from China Dynasty delivered.  It was our first time trying the place and we liked it.

The boys are in their rooms now ready for bed.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Baseball night and time with Noah

This morning we walked to school.

I went to Target while the boys were in school.

We walked to pick up Evan and Noah.

Around 4:30 Morry and Evan left for Evan's baseball practice/scrimmage game.

Noah and I spent time together at home.  I made meringue cookies for Evan's school project tomorrow and we ate dinner.  We gave Lizzy a bath. 

Morry and Evan just got home.  Evan is eating his dinner now and then we'll put the boys to bed.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

End of Season Party

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning went well.  The boys were in a good mood.  It was easy to bring them into school.

I had to run out for a bit this morning.  Rachel had an appointment with the muscle activation place.

I picked the boys up from school.  They continued to be in a good mood on the way home.

Gabby game over and the boys played outside with her.

For dinner we went to Doc's Backyard.  We were having an end-of-season party for Evan's baseball team.  They have a playground there, though it was kind of misting at first.  The boys had a good time playing but then it started to rain much harder.  They had cake and everything which the boys liked.

Afterwards we went to Academy to get socks and a belt for Evan's uniform for his select team, the Marauders.  He needed a black belt and black socks.  He's got a scrimmage for that on Thursday night and at least three games this weekend.

We came home and the boys are in bed now.

Until next time...

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Clean House

This morning we walked the boys to school without problems.

Around noon we had a cleaning crew come and clean our house.  It's nice having a clean house now. We'll see how long that lasts.

I went to Pilates and HEB.

Morry picked up the boys from school since the cleaning people were still here.  I stayed home.

For dinner we had burgers.

The boys are playing now, but soon we'll get them ready for bed.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Monday after a busy weekend

Surprisingly, both Evan and Noah were in good moods this morning.  That was nice.  We walked to school without any problems.

While they were at school I got my hair done and went to tutor.

Morry picked up the boys and then Gabby came over.

For dinner we had pasta.

The boys are supposed be cleaning up right now because we have cleaning people coming tomorrow.  I hear a lot of whining coming from Noah.  Evan sounds like he's playing in his room.  I need to go check on the situation.

Soon, we'll get them ready for bed.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Baseball, Part 2

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

At 8:45, Evan and I left the house to go to his game.  We wouldn't get home until nearly 8pm.  His game was at 10:30 but we needed to be there at 9:30am.  By the time we got there, it was already hot.  We are having an unusually hot spell this weekend.  I don't know what the end result was for the high but it was predicted to set a record.  After warm ups, Evan was complaining he was hot.

Unfortunately, Evan's team lost and was eliminated from the tournament for the game.  He had one big hit, and another single.  The big hit was a very very high and very deep flyball to left field that wound up as a triple.  But where he really shone was in the field.  Because the kids were hitting it to the outfield he played some outfield and some third base.  He did very well in the outfield make sure nothing got behind him.  At third base, he actually bobbled a ball but still was able to fire a bullet over to first to get the boy.  He also made a nice tag play when a boy was trying to come to third on a non-force play.  Evan made a great catch and swipe tag.

After the game, Evan and another boy from his team Chase and I went to a sports bar restaurant to watch the Steelers game.  The fields are far enough away from home that it didn't make sense to drive home just to turn around and drive back up again.  Evan's coach and his family joined us as did Mario, Evan and Noah's former coach and his family.  We had a very nice time watching the game.

Then we drove back to the field for Noah's game.  It was a very very tense game with some, ahem, questionable calls by the umpire.  The other team's parents/fans also were a bit rowdy and got under my skin a bit.  Their kids were hitting every ball to the outfield.  One kid hit the fence on the fly hitting off of a tee.  It was unbelievable.  But despite all that, our team played hard and we only lost by one run.  In fact, going into the bottom of the 4th (the last inning) if we could have possibly managed to get three outs before giving up 3 runs we would have won.  So I was very very proud of the kids.

Aunt Susan, and her daughter Lauren along with Lauren's husband and two kids came to watch Noah's game.  After the game we went to dinner at Smashburger.  The boys ran around constantly with outside with Lauren's two-year-old.  I don't know how they had the energy.

When we got home, the boys had showers and they are now in bed.

Until next time...

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Full Day of Baseball

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today, we had the first day of a tournament that is benefiting the Oak Hill fields that were destroyed in the flooding a few weeks ago.  Each boy had two games today.  The games today set up seeding for tomorrow.  Noah had games at 10:30 and 1:30.  Evan played at 4:30 and 6pm.

Noah and I left the house around 8:45 to get to the fields which were far up north.  We were playing a team from Cedar Park.  I wasn't sure how good they were going to be.  During the regular season, I am required to have each player play in the infield sometime in the first three innings.  The tournament rules do not have such a requirement.  I decided to stick with those rules for our team.  Unfortunately, the other team was really good - they were a select team and we got absolutely killed.  We started off well getting three outs on the other team, but that was pretty much the high point.  Noah hit the ball well though.  His hitting has been doing well.

From there, much of the team went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, so we joined them.  Evan and Rachel met us there.  Noah seemed to enjoy playing with his teammates.

In the second game, we played another team from Oak Hill.  But I didn't want to wind up with the lowest seed on Sunday so I changed the lineup to play to win.  I talked to some of the parents about this ahead of time and I didn't get any push back.  The strategy worked and we scored the most runs of any team in the tee ball portion of the tournament.

We stopped by the concession stand between that game and Evan's first game.  Then we had warm ups for Evan's team.

His team also was playing against a select team and like me, Evan's coach tried to play fairly in the first game with similar results.  Evan crushed a ball in the first inning down the left field line for a double.  He singled in his second at bat.  Unfortunately a mix-up with the third base coach had Evan running to third and he was a sitting duck.  He realized this but there was a kid on second and he had to run but he slid hard.  I mean really hard.  Somehow the third baseman held onto the ball because Evan clearly was trying to knock it loose.

Evan's coach employed my strategy in the second game.  The results were not the same as mine because we played another select team.  But the game went better even if we didn't win.  My feeling has been that Evan's best position is third base.  He played first base in the first inning and made a sliding catch of a really short pop up, but then he was at third base the rest of the game.  There he caught a really high pop up in short left field, snagged a hard hit line drive, and caught a force thrown by the shortstop with the boy running hard on him and sort of running into him without sliding.  His coach described him as a "monster" at third base.  His hitting was not as good in the second game but I think he really liked being at third base.

So after getting to the fields at 9:30am, we finally left the fields around 7:20pm or so.  For Father's Day, Rachel got me a Fitbit which keeps track of your steps, active minutes, calories burned, miles walked and even your sleep.  I set personal highs in steps, calories burned and miles walked today.  I think I stood pretty much the whole day as I was the assistant coach for Evan's team.

For dinner, I stopped and picked up Torchy's Tacos.  We ate dinner when we got home and then put the boys to bed.  Both boys went to sleep fairly quickly, though Noah didn't go down right away.

Noah's team is the number three seed in just a 5 team field.  The game is at 4:30pm.  Evan is the #8 seed in a 9 team field.  He is part of a play-in game now.  He will play at 10:30am.  If he wins he plays at noon against the 1 seed.  If he wins that at 3pm and then with a win there he'd have to play at 6pm.  If Noah wins, he will play at 6pm.

Until next time...

Friday, November 15, 2013

Not as cold

This morning we walked to school. It was not as cold outside.  My phone said it was 48 degrees. 

Morry and I ate lunch at Wholly Bagel.

We walked to get the kids from school. They were both in good moods.

Evan went over to Jack's house to play this afternoon while Morry and Noah went to baseball practice.

I picked up Evan from Jack's house around 5:30.  Morry and Noah got home around 6:30.

We just ate dinner and now we will get the boys ready for bed.  They have a big day of baseball tomorrow.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Snacks in the Tree

This morning we drove the kids to school. We actually drove to the community center and then walked the path to school.  According to my phone it was 28 degrees.

I had a muscle activation appointment today.

We walked to get the kids at school.  Noah was happy at pickup.  For some reason he started getting really cranky as we were leaving.  He was mad at Morry and was hitting him.  Then, he wanted his snacks, but wouldn't ask nicely.  The hitting continues and Morry threatened to throw Noah's snacks in the woods.  Noah picked up a bunch of rocks and threw them at Morry, so Morry tossed Noah's snack baggie.  Morry threw it pretty high and it got stuck way up high in the trees.  It was pretty funny.  Well, Noah didn't think it was funny.  He continued to throw a fit pretty much the whole walk home.

Evan and Morry had baseball practice, so Noah and I stayed at home.  He was good for me.

Morry and Evan just got home and the boys are getting ready for bed.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Very cold morning

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning when we were getting ready to leave for school, it was 34 degrees out.  That is very unusual for this time of year.  We had a cold front come in yesterday.  Because of that, we decided to drive to school today.  We drove and parked at the community center and walked the rest of the way in.

I worked from home all day.  It was a busy day for me.  Rachel had a doctor's appointment.  Everything is good.

Rachel tutored in the afternoon.  I picked up the boys from school.  It was much warmer in the afternoon so I walked.  It was a pretty nice day actually.  The boys were both in great moods on the way home.

Gabby watched the boys while I worked, but Evan and I had to leave for baseball practice early.

Evan's fall baseball team is going to be in a tournament this weekend. The team is made up of about 66% of the boys he played with but they picked up some kids from other teams.  It was an early baseball practice because we didn't have a lighted field.  Evan did well at the practice.  He seems to have gotten his energy back.  I think he enjoys his select team a bit more but he enjoys playing baseball no matter what.  He has his select team practice tomorrow.

We came home had dinner and then Evan worked on a project due for school on Friday.

The boys are now in bed.

Until next time...

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Cold Front Coming

This morning we walked the kids to school.  It was in the 50s.

I went to Kohls today while the kids were in school. 

During the day a cold front started coming in. It's supposed to be in the 30s tomorrow morning. That's cold for us.

We walked to get the kids from school.  It was a little bit cold, but not too bad.

For dinner we had pizza we made at home.  After dinner we went to HEB.

We just got home and soon we'll put the boys to bed.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Evan and Noah's Day Off

Evan and Noah did not have school today because of Veteran's Day.

We went to the dog park.  The boys and Lizzy had a nice time.

Then, we stopped at Target and picked up a few things.

I asked them if they wanted to go to Einstein Bros Bagels for lunch, but they said they wanted to go home.

We ate lunch at home.

Later in afternoon I tutored and Gabby came over.

For dinner we had pasta.

Both boys are in bed now.

Here are some pictures from today.