Microwave

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We walked the boys to school this morning.  On the way there, we saw Lizzy's dog friend, Tucker.  Tucker's family got another Australian Shepherd named Pumpkin.  While Tucker is super excited to see Lizzy as well as all of us, Pumpkin was quite scared.

When we got home, I left to go to a conference downtown for something called NodeJS.  Aaron and Mandy were there too.

Deborah came over and worked at the house today with Rachel.

I was at the conference all day so Rachel picked the boys up from school.  She then took Evan to TRPD for his facility practice.  Noah had to go too.

We made a pork tenderloin for dinner.

After dinner, I went to Best Buy to get a new microwave oven.  Ours broke on Sunday.  It is 13 years old now and just to get the problem diagnosed is at least $50.  So I ran to Best Buy and got a microwave oven tonight.

The boys are in bed.

Until next time...

Persimmon

We walked to school this morning and then Morry and I went to Camp Gladiator.

I had a 1:00 meeting at Home Away.  I got home just in time to walk to get the kids from school with Morry.

Shortly after getting home Morry and Evan left for a baseball lesson.

Jude came over around 5pm.  He hung out with us through dinner time.

For dinner we had hamburgers.  We also ate one of the persimmons from our tree.  We finally had a few pop up on the tree this year.  They have not been ripe enough to pick.  The boys insisted we go ahead and try one.  It was a little hard, but still tasted good.

After dinner I took Jude home and then Noah and I stopped at a neighbor's house to buy some snow boots for him.

The kids are getting ready for bed now.

Goodbye, Maya and Artie

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

After our big day yesterday, we decided to take it easy today.  Rachel and I slept in.  When I got up, Evan and I put on the tv and got ready for the Michigan-Ohio State game.

Rachel went for a long run.  When she got home, we made lunch for everyone.  The boys wanted crawfish, so we heated that up for them.  Rachel and I had left over pizza.

Before the game was over, we walked over to Grandma and Papa's to say goodbye to Uncle Mike, Aunt Jen, Maya and Artie.  We watched overtime in the game and then the boys played with Maya and Artie some before saying goodbye.

We came home and relaxed at home.

For dinner, we picked up Rudy's while stopping at Zoe's Kitchen to get a meal for Rachel.  We watched Timeless while eating.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

UT Game

This morning we left around noon to head out to the University of Texas football game.  Grandma and Papa took all of us as an early Hanukkah present.

After finding a parking spot in North Campus, we "tailgated" and ate our picnic lunch near the car.

Then, we walked to the stadium.   It was a bit chilly, but still a nice time.  Texas lost.

We picked up food from Me Con Bistro and ate dinner at Grandma and Papa's house.   Then, we had leftover desserts.

Here are some pictures from today.

Thanksgiving 2016

We had a great, full day today.

This morning we ran the neighborhood 5K Turkey Trot.

Then, the rest of the day was spent either getting ready for Thanksgiving or celebrating Thanksgiving.

We had about 40 people at Grandma and Papa's house.  Everyone seemed to have a nice time.

Here are some pictures from today. See all of them here - https://goo.gl/photos/S545XUnUDMPhSKGv8

Beginning Preparations

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

With no Camp Gladiator this morning and no school, Rachel and I slept in some.  I still worked today so I couldn't sleep in too much.

Rachel and the boys met Uncle Mike, Aunt Jen, Artie and Maya at the Circle C Park.

I had to run into Kick Pleat to bring them a couple things.

The boys went to Grandma and Papa's after the park.  Rachel and I both were at home working from the house.

Later in the afternoon, we walked over and picked up the boys.

For dinner, we picked up Domino's and watched Timeless.

Rachel and I started making things for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Gingerbread House

This morning Morry and I did Camp Gladiator.

I had a short phone meeting this morning.

The boys went with Michael and Jen's family and Papa to the park.  Morry and I met them for lunch at Zen.

In the afternoon, the boys hung out at Grandma and Papa's house.

Michael and Jen went out tonight for a date night.  Grandma and Papa brought Maya and Artie over to our house and we all had dinner together.  We had grilled chicken, asparagus, and rice.  The kids ate very well.  After dinner the kids, with Papa's help, put together the gingerbread house kit we got.  They all seemed to enjoy that.  Even Artie.

They liked eating it even more!

Noah left his iPad at Grandma and Papa's house, so the boys walked back home with them and then Papa walked them back to our house.

Now, Evan and Noah are getting ready for bed.

Here are some pictures from today.

Eating

This morning Morry and I did Camp Gladiator.

When we got home I took the boys to Grandma and Papa's house.  Around 10am I dropped Evan off at Wade's house.

Then, around 11am we all left to go for a hike.  We picked up Evan and Wade and went to the Barton Creek Greenbelt.

The kids had a great time.  The boys, started out just putting their feet in the water, but somehow got most of their clothes wet.  We walked for a while.

For lunch we went to Torchy's Tacos and then got dessert at Amy's Ice Cream.  The kids played on the playground there for a little while.

Morry took Evan to a baseball lesson.

Noah and I took it easy at home in the afternoon.

For dinner, we went back to Grandma and Papa's house and ate leftover brisket and shrimp.

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

Here are some pictures from today.

UT

This morning we slept in and took it easy.

Around lunch time we drove over to the University of Texas and walked around campus.

For a late lunch we went to Wild Wood Bakehouse, a gluten-free restaurant/bakery.  The food was good and the kids ate well, but it took a very long time.  We got some bakery items to go after eating.

Evan had a birthday party to go to from 3:30-6.  It was after 4pm by the time we got there.  We dropped him off at the park where the birthday party was and then came home.

Morry packed an overnight bag for Evan and left to go back to the party.

I cleaned around the house and baked cookies and rice crispy treats for tonight.

Morry picked up Evan from the party and from there took him to Josh's house to spend the night.

Noah and I went over to Grandma and Papa's house.

Michael, Jen, Maya, and Artie arrived around 7pm.

We all had dinner together that Grandma and Papa made - brisket, potatoes, squash.

The kids had fun playing together after dinner.

We just got home.

TRPD Party = Date Night

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

It was a nice this morning on the walk to school.  A cold front was going to be coming in, but it hadn't come during our walk.

When we got home, I took my car in for an inspection.  It went fairly quickly.  The place I took it had a nice waiting area and Wifi, so I did work.

Rachel left for a meeting with a client shortly after I got home.  I met her over at that same place to get her car inspected.  She left her car there and then we went to Wholy Bagel for lunch.

Deborah came with us to walk to get the boys.  She and Rachel worked from the kitchen in the afternoon.

TRPD had an end-of-season party at the facilities tonight.  It was not for the parents, but Noah was invited to join.  We dropped the boys off and then went to Lucy's Fried Chicken for dinner.  I had had it once before but today was not nearly as good as last time.  After that we went to the fancy HEB in Lakeway as well as Randall's to get everything we'd need to make stuff for Thanksgiving.

The boys said they had fun when we picked them up.  They didn't want to leave when we got there.

The boys are now asleep in bed.

Until next time...

Haircuts

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

It was a fairly uneventful walk to school, followed by Camp Gladiator.  The wind was strong this morning so it helped during the workout.  It wasn't particularly cold, but the wind helped keep us cool while we were exercising.

Rachel went up to HomeAway not long after getting home.  She had two meetings scheduled.

I had to be at the second meeting.  I stopped at Smoothie King on the way up.

The meeting was ok.  Kind of boring.  I left to get home right after the meeting.  Grandma picked the boys up from school and I had to get the boys.  Rachel left from there to go to tutoring.

After getting the boys at Grandma and Papa's, I came home and had two more phone meetings while the boys cleaned their rooms.

I took the boys to get hair cuts when we were done.  Evan got a nice hair cut.  Noah got a very tiny trim.  He really didn't want to have his hair cut.  It still looks nice.

We stopped quickly at HEB on the way home.

For dinner, we had hamburgers.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

Mid Week

This morning we walked to school.  Our neighbors, the Marquarts, were walking at the same time, we we walked with them.  They have a cute little puppy that walked too and it was very interested in Lizzy.  Lizzy seemed really happy the whole walk.

I took it easy at home and did some work.  Morry went into Aaron's.

We walked to pick up the kids from school.

Morry and Evan left for baseball practice around 4:45.  The plan was for Noah and I to go get him a haircut.  He didn't want to go. He threw a fit and insisted we not go today.  I just didn't feel like fighting any more.  I tried to convince him and gave him reasons on why we should go today, but he just didn't want to go.  Obviously, I'm not very happy about that.

For dinner we had leftover ham and couscous.

The boys will be getting ready for bed soon.

Tutoring and Baseball

This morning we walked to school.

Morry and I had another tough Camp Gladiator workout today.

Later in the morning Deborah came over to do some work.

I left for tutoring around 2:15 and Morry walked to school.

Noah went to Altitude, and indoor trampoline place with Jude after school.   Then, he was dropped off at Grandma and Papa's house.

Morry and Evan went to baseball practice.

On my way home from tutoring I stopped at Costco.

Then, I had dinner at Grandma and Papas with Noah.

We brought some flank steak home with us and then Morry and Evan ate that for dinner once they got home.

Now, the boys are getting ready for bed.

Everyone Is Tired

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Everyone was tired when we got up this morning.  I actually let Evan sleep about 20 minutes longer than I normally do trying to let him get as much sleep as possible.

We had Camp Gladiator this morning.  It is Endurance week which was particularly difficult after a busy weekend.  Both Rachel and I did reasonably well though.

Both Rachel and I had phone meetings when we got home.

It was warmer than I expected on our walk to get the boys this afternoon.

The boys played outside in the afternoon.

We had ham for dinner and baked potatoes for dinner.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

Busy Baseball Weekend

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan had two baseball games yesterday.  They were later - at 4:45 and 8pm.  So we were able to sleep in.  Rachel and I also went to Costco to get some things around lunch.  Evan and Noah stayed home alone.

Of course the games were running behind.  Evan's team lost the first game.  But the second game didn't start until after 9pm.  We didn't get out of there until after 10:30 and not home until after 11pm.

Evan's game this morning started at 8am.  So we had to be at the fields by 7:15am.  Evan's team won in extra innings.  Evan started the double play that allowed the game to go into extra innings.

After winning that game, their next game was not until 4:45.  Two boys came home with us as well as one father.  They lived up in Cedar Park and didn't want to drive all the way home.  We picked up pizza from Austin Pizza Garden and watched football.

Rachel went to Grandma and Papa's and Noah joined her there a little while later.

Noah had a birthday party to go to at BAM Austin which is a Parkour place.

In the second game at 4:45, Evan was catcher.  He did a great job at catcher.  He threw out a runner stealing second.  In the bottom of the third, he broke up the no hitter.  He smashed a ball up the middle which hit off the pitcher's glove.  The pitcher got his glove down just in time to make sure it didn't hit his leg and it caromed off to the third baseman, but Evan was safe with an infield single.  In the 4th inning, he broke the scoreless tie with a 2-run single.  The team went on to win 3-2 in six innings.  It was quite successful.

In the championship game, Evan's team was losing 5-2 going into the top of the fifth inning which was going to be the last inning.  They scored one run to make it 5-3.  Evan came up with two outs, runners on second and third.  He swung and missed at the first pitch.  Took a called second strike (a really bad call) and then lined a single to right knocking in the tying run.  Everyone was jumping and screaming.  The joy was short-lived as the other team scored one in the bottom of the fifth to win the game.  Evan pitched 1 2/3 innings and caught two more innings after catching six the previous game.

The coaches pulled me aside after the games to tell me they are so impressed with Evan.  They really felt he was the MVP of the weekend.  They could not say enough good things.  They said he has a switch inside that allows him to turn things up a notch.  It was all really nice things to hear.

We are home now and Evan is going to bed.

Until next time...

Houston

We left the house a little after 7am.  We dropped the kids and Lizzy off with Grandma and Morry and I headed to Houston.  Grandma walked with the boys school.

I had a full morning of tests and appointments.  Everything looked good.

When I was done, we had lunch at a deli.

Then, we drove back to Austin and got home around 5pm.

Evan went to Wade's house after school and Noah went to Jude's.

Shortly after getting home we drove to Grandma's house, walked to get Noah, drove to get Evan, dropped Lizzy off at home, and then ate dinner at Chipotle.

The boys are playing video games now.

In a little bit they will get ready for bed.

Here is a picture from today.

Dentist

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

The sun came out this morning for the first time in more than a week.  It was still cold on the walk to school, but it was nice having some sun.

We stayed home in the earlier morning, but I went to the dentist for a normal cleaning around lunchtime.

Rachel met a friend for brunch and then went into HomeAway for yet another set of meetings.

After HomeAway, Rachel went to tutor.

I walked to pick the boys up.  The boys played outside with neighbors in the afternoon.

Rachel went to a bloggers event from tutoring.

I grilled steaks and shrimp for dinner.  We watched some of Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation while eating.

Rachel is home now and the boys are in bed.

Until next time...

Gloomy Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

For lots of reasons, weather-included, today was a gloomy day.  It was misting in the morning so we decided not to walk to school.  We drove to the trail and walked the boys in.

I had to run into Kick Pleat for a short time.  I had some equipment for them that I set up.  Rachel stayed home.

I stopped at HEB to get some things for dinner on the way home.

Rachel left shortly after I got home to go to a meeting at HomeAway.

I walked to get the boys.  It started misting on the way home.

Later in the afternoon, I took Evan to baseball practice.  Rachel wasn't yet home but I passed her on the way out.  Noah stayed home for the 2 minutes before Rachel returned.

Evan did well at practice.  All of his coaches seem to really like him.  The strength and conditioning coach made sure to give Evan an extra pat on the back (literally) and tell him what a good job he did. The second half of practice, they got one pitch in the cage to swing at.  They had to figure out what kind of pitch it was, chart it and designate whether they hit it well, just made contact, or missed it.  Then they reviewed the findings at the end of the hitting session.  It was very interesting.

We came home and had dinner.  The boys had crawfish.  Evan ate a ton.

The boys are in bed.

Until next time...

Another Busy Tuesday

This morning we walked the kids to school and then went to Camp Gladiator.

Deborah came over this morning to work on Lizzy and then we went to the Pink Ribbon Cowgirl lunch at Whole Foods.

After the lunch I had a meeting at Home Away.

Then, I stopped at Kendra Scott event at the Seton Breast Care Center.  I talked to Kendra for a little while. She was very friendly.  She does a lot of great things local and national charities.  She gave all of us a piece of jewelry.  I got a pretty, small, pink necklace.

From there, I went to tutor.

While I was gone Morry picked up the boys from school.  Noah went to Grandma's house on the way home and was there until 7pm when I picked him up.

Morry and Evan went to baseball practice tonight and are on their way home now.

When they get home, Morry, Evan, and I will have dinner.  Noah ate with Grandma.

Here is a picture of Kendra and me today.

Middle School Introduction

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan went back to school this morning.  He didn't give us a problem going.  It was just a typical morning.

There was no Camp Gladiator today, so Rachel and I went for a 3 mile walk instead.

Rachel had a phone meeting in the morning.  I worked from home all day.

It rained around mid-day but stopped in time for us to walk to pick up the boys.

In the late afternoon, Gayle came over with her daughters, Naomi and Bryn.  They were helping Rachel with a product review video.  Rachel recorded them for one of her reviews.  They did a good job.

After that, we went to Gorzycki Middle School (pronounced Go-Risky).  In Austin, students can choose their middle school.  There are several magnate middle schools.  Students have to apply to get in there.  There are also several programs at other middle schools that aren't magnate but students still have to apply to get in.  Because of that, many of the middle schools have events to "sell" their middle school.  Tonight was the one at Gorzykci.  Gorzycki is just our local middle school.  I don't think Evan will be applying to get in anywhere.  It's a very good middle school, it's close to our house, and it has everything Evan needs.  But we went to the event.  They had one of the three dance teams perform, as well as one of the three choir groups, the guitar group, the top of the three orchestras and the top band.  The principal spoke and introduce the assistant principals and counselors.  The principal seemed good but she did say the thing that will always discount an educator in my eyes - she said the word "y'all".  I don't mind when people say "y'all" but if an educator says it, I immediately lose respect.  If you were in New York or Philadelphia and the principal said "you's" or you were in Pittsburgh and the principal said "yinz", I'm sure you'd feel the same.  Other than that big gaffe, I had no issues with her.  After all the presentations, they had the kids walk around the school.  It was huge.  I think it's close to as big as my high school.  Something online said it has 1300 students for the three grades.  My high school had 1000 for the four grades.  It was exciting.  Evan seemed to enjoy running around the halls looking in all the classrooms and seeing the classes he can take.  I think it took some of the nervousness away.

We came home, had dinner and the kids are now in bed.

Until next time...

No Baseball, Movies Instead

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan's scrimmage this morning was canceled so the boys and I went to go see Dr. Strange.  The three of us hadn't gone to a Sunday morning movie in a long time.  I had a gift certificate for concessions that we used.  The movie was pretty good.  The boys really enjoyed it.

Rachel went for a walk with Deborah while we were at the movies.

When we came home, we watched the Steelers game.

Later in the afternoon, after the afternoon rain stopped, the boys played outside with the neighbors.

For dinner, we went to Me Con Bistro with Grandma and Papa.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Lots of Football and a Party

Hello everyone this, is Morry.

Today was the flag football playoffs.  Noah could have played a maximum two games today and Evan had a maximum three games.  

Noah's games were first.  Noah's team hadn't won a game all year, though the team improved.  Noah also improved greatly.  In the first game, Noah's team finally got over the hump and won their first game.  Noah had a few runs but he did better on defense.  He pulled several flags.  It was nice to see the kids get their first win.

The second game didn't go as well, unfortunately.  Noah still played well though despite the team not playing well.  Noah had a couple big runs and several key flag pulls.  Overall, it was a good season for him.

Rachel and Noah went home and then Evan had an hour practice before his game.

In Evan's game, the officiating was really poor.  It was probably the worst officiating I've seen in flag football.  Officials will always make good and bad calls.  That's inevitable.  As long as they are doing the best they can, then you can accept it.  My problem, though, with youth officiating is when the official doesn't put him or herself into a position to make a call.  I see it in baseball where the umpire doesn't run over to make the call. They'll just make it from across the field.  Simply taking 5 steps towards the play may have resulted in a different call.  Sometimes it's hard to be in the right position, but more often than not, it seems like laziness.   In Evan's game today, the officials just were never in the right position to make a call and it was clearly laziness.  They were trailing the play too far, or they forgot to watch the quarterback.  I think that was frustrating to the boys.  Evan's team lost by 2, but probably should have won by 10 if they had been in the proper position.   Evan had a good game.  He caught a touchdown pass and almost made a great catch on the extra point.  He had some flag pulls as well.  Evan's coach was very happy with him.

We stopped at Smoothie King on the way home.  Evan got a big smoothie.

At dinner time we went to the Hughes house for their after-Halloween party.  The kids played kickball in the backyard.  It was a nice time.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

Brunch and Evan's home again

Evan still wasn't feeling well this morning, so he stayed home yet another day.  I walked Noah to school while Morry called the doctor.

When I got back I went to HEB and got ready for the brunch I was having for some friends.  Mom/Grandma came over to help get everything ready.

It was a nice get-together.

Morry and I walked to get Noah from school.  On the way home he decided he wanted to hang out at Grandma and Papa's house, so we watched him cross the street and he walked over to their house.

Finally, in the afternoon Evan started feeling better.

Evan went with Morry and Noah to Noah's football practice.  Evan was playing on the basketball court and made a really good shot.

For dinner, they picked up Dominos pizza (gluten-free for Evan).

We watched Timeless as we ate dinner.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Here is a picture from the brunch.

Another Day at Home

This morning Evan was complaining again about not feeling well so he stayed home.

I walked Noah to school.

We got a 9am doctor's appointment for Evan.  Morry went to Camp Gladiator and I took Evan to the doctor.

The doctor did an exam, x-ray, and blood work.  Basically, Evan is just constipated, but the key is finding out why.  The x-ray looked normal besides the constipation.  We are getting him tested for Celiac.  The doctor said it would be a good idea to try a gluten free diet for a month or so and see if that helps.  He also suggested Evan take more Miralax.

We got back just in time for a phone meeting.

After the meeting, I cleaned up around the house some and made lunch for Evan.  Then, I left for a meeting up north at Home Away.  The traffic getting there was horrible since it was raining.

After Home Away I left for tutoring.  Again, the traffic was horrible because it was raining hard again.

I tutored two students and then met Noah, Morry, Evan, Grandma, and Papa at Noah's school performance.  The third graders were doing a Disney musical performance.

It was cute and only lasted about 30 minutes.

When we got home we made dinner - baked potatoes and pork.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Here are some pictures from today.

Evan Stays Home

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning when I woke up the boys, Evan said his stomach was hurting him.  We're started testing him out on a gluten-free diet this week to see if that helps his stomach any but apparently he ate something yesterday for snack without telling us.  He ended up staying home today.

It was raining so Rachel had to drive Noah to school.

Later in the morning, I went to Randall's and voted early.  I picked up some gluten-free stuff for Evan.  Then I drove to Smoothie King and got a smoothie for Evan and me.

It had cleared up by the afternoon so both Rachel and I walked to get Noah.

Evan didn't feel well enough to go to baseball in the afternoon so we just stayed home.

We made tacos for dinner and watched Timeless.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.  I think Evan will be fine to go to school tomorrow.

Until next time...

Busy, Busy

This morning we walked the kids to school.

When we got back home Morry took Jack to the airport and I went to HEB.  We needed groceries badly.

When I got home, Morry was back and we quickly put the refrigerated items away.

Then, we went to the later Camp Gladiator class.

We walked to pick up the boys from school.

On our way home, Noah asked if he could go straight to Grandma and Papa's house instead of waiting until 4pm.  So, he went over there right after school on our walk home.

I left the house around 3:30.   First, I voted and then tutored two students.

Morry and Evan went to baseball practice.

I picked up Noah from Grandma and Papa's house around 7:30pm.

Morry and Evan got home around 8pm.

It's been a long day for all of us.