Poor Chewie

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, I woke up and brought Chewie downstairs.  I could not feed him because he had his surgery scheduled to be neutered.  He didn't seem real happy with me.  I got the boys' lunches together and I took Chewie to the vet.

Chewie is not a big fan of the vet.  He resisted going into the exam room.  After signing some papers and getting some instructions, the tech took Chewie to the back and I left.

Rachel walked Noah to school with out Chewie and me.

Rachel went into teach and I left later in the morning to go to the office.

In the afternoon, I picked up Chewie from his surgery while Rachel walked to get Noah.  Chewie was wearing the "cone of shame" when I picked him up.  He seemed a bit out of it and he definitely did not like the cone.  Noah came out to meet me when I got home and he helped me bring Chewie inside.  Chewie just laid down on the floor inside.

After Evan got home, I took him to baseball practice.  Rachel and Noah stayed home.

For dinner, we had leftover tacos from Monday night.

We have taken off the cone from Chewie now and he's doing well.  They said we could take it off if we could watch him.  He hasn't even tried to lick his incision so that's a good thing.  As long as he's avoiding licking himself, I think he'll be fine.

The boys are now in bed.

Until next time...

Late Night Again

This morning we walked with Chewie to drop off Noah.

Shortly after getting home we went to Camp Gladiator.  I couldn't stay since I needed to be at work at 8:30, but it was Morry's 100 checkin.  I wanted to be there at least at the beginning to celebrate.  I took a few pictures and left.  Morry said it was a hard workout today.

I came home around 11am or so.  Morry had just left to go into the office.

He came home later in the afternoon and we walked with Chewie to pick up Noah.

Noah went to Grandma and Papa's after school.

Then, shortly after Evan got home from school, Morry and Evan left for baseball.

I walked with Chewie to get Noah from Grandma and Papa's after they were done with dinner.

Morry and Evan are on their way home now.  They are stopping at Chick-Fil-A to bring home dinner.

Another work/school week

This morning we walked with Chewie to drop off Noah at school. Then, Morry and I went to Camp Gladiator.

From there, I went to my school.

On my way home from work I stopped at Petsmart to pick up some more food for Chewie.

Morry got home around the same time as I did.

Morry and I walked with Chewie to pick up Noah.

I was home for just a little bit and then I left to tutor.

I got home around 6:00.

Evan went to Grandma and Papa's for dinner.

For our dinner, we made tacos at home.

After dinner, we walked to Grandma and Papa's with Chewie to pick up Evan.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Beautiful Weather

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We had great weather today.  The temperature was near 70 with no clouds.  It was really nice.  So we decided to take advantage of it.  In the morning, Rachel and I took Chewie on a 3 mile walk.  I think he pulled the entire time.  He is a strong dog too.

We came home and had brunch.  Then we did some Sunday cleaning.

The boys played outside for a little while with Brody before Evan and I had to leave for his football game.

Evan had a very good football game.  On the first play of the game, Evan jumped the route as a defender and almost intercepted the ball, knocking it out of bounds.  On the second play he came up and pulled the receiver's flag as he caught the ball.  Later in the game, he caught a ball on the sidelines with tapping his toes to make sure he was in bounds before falling out of bounds to set up the team's first touchdown.  Then he caught two straight passes, taking the second pass all the way for a touchdown.  In the second half, Evan jumped another route, intercepted it and ran for a touchdown.  And he jumped a third route and tipped that ball knocking it over the receiver.  The coaches were very happy with him.  You can see video of his first touchdown below.

After football, I dropped Evan off at Sunday school.  Rachel had already dropped Noah off.

We met up with Rachel's cousin, David, who is in town for a "bootcamp" for learning some programming.  We met him at Hoover's restaurant.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

The boys are now in bed.

Until next time...

Morning Practice

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan had a morning, indoor baseball practice.  It wasn't as early as last week so we were able to sleep in a bit more.  The boys each got a chance to pitch and they all got at bats vs their teammates.  Evan also caught several pitchers.  Evan said he struck out the side but gave up one single in between.  They broke the boys up into two teams and Evan was one of the captains

On the way home, we stopped at Smoothie King and got a smoothie for Noah as well.

While we were at practice, Brody knocked on the door and said that he was playing basketball in the cul-de-sac.  Noah went down there.  Brody's parents were down there as well, so Rachel took Chewie.  Rachel decided to take the leash off of Chewie because Carlos was there and there wasn't any cars down there.  Noah and Brody were having a good time and Chewie and Carlos as well.  It was sprinkling a bit but after a little while the skies opened up and they ran home.  Chewie loved running back to the house in the rain.

We all had our leftover pizza for lunch and we just stayed at home in the afternoon.

At dinner time, we went to HEB and did some shopping and got some food for dinner.

The boys are messing around in my office as I type this.

Until next time...

Basketball Game

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Thursday continued the busy streak.  As soon as we got home from taking Noah to school, Rachel left to teach and I had a phone meeting.  When that meeting was up, I drove into Touch To so Aaron and I could meet.

We didn't finish the meeting before I left to meet Rachel at Wholy Bagel so I went back to the office after lunch.

Rachel had a staff meeting which she could call into.  Then she went to a coffee shop to meet a PR woman who was trying to see if there was some work Rachel could help with for one of her clients.

Rachel picked Noah up since I was at the office.

Tonight, the 7th Grade "A" and "B" teams had basketball games at the middle school.  Cooper, Evan's teammate and friend from TRPD, is on the "B" team.  Evan wanted to go to see the games.  Noah wanted to join Evan so Rachel dropped the boys off at the school to watch the games.  I picked them up afterwards.  They seemed to have a really good time.

We made pizzas at home for dinner.

The boys are now in bed.

Until next time...

Another Busy Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This has been a busy week so far and today continued the trend.  After taking the Noah to school, I did a bit of work and then went into the Touch To office.  Rachel didn't have to teach today so she stayed home, though she went to a physical therapy appointment in the morning.

I worked from the office most of the day and had a meeting in the afternoon.  I came home after Rachel picked Noah up from school and after Evan had gotten back from the bus.

Noah went to Grandma and Papa's for dinner.  He went from school to their house.

When I got home, Evan and I got ready to leave to go to practice.  I took him out to practice.  Then I went to a restaurant with Cooper's dad, Brad.  I didn't eat as I promised to take Evan out for dinner.  But we sat and talked.  It was nice.

Rachel went to a workshop for bloggers and influencers downtown.

Evan had a meeting with his coach where the coach told Evan what their expectations of Evan were for the season.  They want him to take over as a leader for both teams.  They think he can be that leader and they want him to realize it.  They also are going to start transitioning him to third base when he's not catching as they think he'll have more of a chance to play there in high school.  He'll still get to play first some, but they think he profiles better as a third baseman (I have always thought that but Evan likes first base).  Evan had a really good time at practice.
 
Evan and I stopped at Tucci's Southside Subs and got cheesesteaks for dinner.

When we got home, we fed the animals and then walked to Grandma and Papa's with Chewie to get Noah.

Rachel got home after we got back.  Shortly after she got home the boys got ready for bed.

Until next time...

Recovering

Today I'm recovering from the half marathon.  I'm sore, but not too bad.

We walked Noah to school today, like usual.

Between my classes, I went to HEB to pick up a few things.

I had a few things I needed to do at school before I left, so I got home right at Morry and Chewie were leaving the house the get Noah.

I quickly put the groceries away and then walked to catch up with them.

After Evan got home the kids played outside with some of the neighborhood kids.

Evan went to Grandma and Papa's house for dinner.

For dinner, we had bacon wrapped pork tenderloin and salmon with corn on the cob and homemade bread a friend made for us.

After dinner we walked to get Evan and Grandma and Papa's.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Half Marathon and Football Game

This morning I left the house at 6:15am for the 3M Half Marathon.  This is my third year in a row.

I finished in 2 hours and 23 minutes. It was a little slower than last year, but I'm still recovering from my ankle sprain and the weather was very gross. It was around 60 degrees, very humid, and sprinkling some.  I'm glad to have finished.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to finish it. 

Deborah met me along the course and ended up running the last 5-6 miles with me.

Morry, the boys, and Grandma and Papa met me at the finish line. 

Then, we went to First Watch for lunch.

Evan had a football game this afternoon.  He was not happy about the way his team played, but they still won. The score was 2-0.

From there, the kids went to Sunday School.

With Grandma and Papa we picked up the kids from Sunday School and then had dinner at Tarbouch.

Now the kids should be getting ready for bed.  It's been a long day for all of us.

Here are a few pictures.

Sports Followed By Manners

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan had 9:30 baseball practice this morning.  We used this occasion to renew our tradition of stopping at Donut Taco Palace. 

Evan played well at practice.  He led off the scrimmage with a very hard hit to left field for a single.  He walked in his two other plate appearances and scored each time.  He played catcher for several innings.  He almost threw out a runner stealing third but the third baseman dropped the ball.  He seemed to have a great time and was super hyper on the way home.

Noah slept in until after 11am.  He's been suffering from allergies and I think it just wiped him out.  He said he felt a lot better after getting so much sleep.

When we got home, Rachel was taking Chewie for a walk.  They bumped into Lizzy's old friend Brody the golden retriever.  The two dogs played some.  And then Rachel let Chewie play with the dog, Carlos, who lives across the street.

We relaxed at home for a while.  Evan and Noah went out and played in the front yard.

Later in the afternoon, Evan had his second Cotillion class.  It was actually the third of the series, but Evan missed one when we were in Houston for a tournament.  He didn't seem to be dreading it.  But I don't think he particularly wanted to go.

I picked Evan and Darius up from the class.  I told Daniel that I'd bring Darius over to where he was coaching his daughters in basketball.  Both boys seemed to think the class was boring.  They worked on knowing what each item in a place setting was for and how to eat a formal dinner.  I know it's boring but it's good skills.

After we dropped Darius off, we came back and had dinner.

The boys will be getting ready for bed soon.

Until next time...

Big Chewie

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

For the first time this week, we walked Noah to school.  It was around 27 degrees, but we still did it.  Chewie seemed to get even more energy in the cold weather.  He definitely loved it.

When we got home, we saw Karen, Nico's owner.  So I brought Chewie over to play with Nico.  They played pretty hard for about 15-20 minutes.  It caused Chewie to sleep the rest of the morning.

Rachel went to work.  We met at Wholy Bagel for lunch.

When I got home, Chad from Touch To came over to work.  Just as he got there, a woman came to buy Noah's old mattress.

Chad and I walked Chewie to get Noah.

Rachel left to tutor while we were getting Noah.  We worked for a bit more and then Noah and I left to take Chewie to his 6-month checkup.

Chewie seemed excited when we got to the vet, but the moment we got in the exam room, he got very scared.  He does not like being examined.  They weighed Chewie shortly after we entered the exam room and he weighed 54.5 pounds!  For comparison, Lizzy weighed in the low-mid 60's for most of her adult life.  As she got older she got around 70 or so, but she lost a lot of weight this past summer.  Her last appointment she was 57.  So at six months old, Chewie weighs almost as much as Lizzy did while she was full grown.  The vet thinks Chewie will be around 85-90 pounds.  We'll see, but that is huge.  We also scheduled Chewie to be neutered while we were there.

When we got home, I played football outside with Evan for a bit.

For dinner, Noah helped me make hamburgers on the grill.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Another Snow Day!

They had been predicting a cold and icy day for today, but many times it doesn't end up happening.  Last night we got the news that school would be canceled today.

Overnight it rained and sleeted and then this morning there was more sleet. The temperature didn't get above freezing today.

Evan and Noah took Chewie on a walk and then later walked to Grandma and Papa's house.  They spent a little bit of time there.  Evan had hot chocolate there and Noah had tea.  Then, they walked back home.

For dinner, I made chicken and rice soup.

We are waiting to hear about school tomorrow.  There is still some ice on the roads and the temperature is supposed to be below freezing until tomorrow afternoon.  We will see what they decide.

Touchdown!

This morning Morry got up early to do work.

I made the boys waffles for brunch.

Morry, Evan, and Noah went to Evan's practice and football game. 

I went for a short run.

Then, with Chewie I picked up Papa and we went to Evan's football game.  Evan got a touchdown for his team!

This afternoon we were at home.

Evan and Papa went for a bike ride.

Luna's family came over to thank us for taking care of Luna while they were out of town.

Then, for dinner, we invited Papa over and had grilled chicken.

Tonight, we worked more on Noah's science fair project.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Back to Practice

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan had his first practice of the season last night.  Last night, it was mostly testing measurables - how many push ups, pull ups, their speed, etc..  There was some strength and conditioning going on as well as getting the new kids acclimated to the system.  Today, Evan had his first field practice later in the afternoon.

First, though, Rachel and I slept in some this morning before getting up.  Both Rachel and I did some work when we did get up.  Then Rachel ran for an hour on the treadmill.  She wanted to go outside and run but it was 37 degrees, and she didn't want to run in that temperature.

After lunch, I drove Evan to practice.  I dropped him off and went to a coffee shop and worked some.

Noah stayed home and worked on his science fair project.  I helped him over text.

I watched the last hour and change of Evan's practice.  I saw him pitch in a scrimmage.  He gave up a triple on his first pitch and the didn't let that runner score.  He got ahead on the next batter 0-2 and the got him to weakly fly to first.  He struck out the next batter with a curve ball.  And the third batter, he got behind 2-0, then threw two strikes with the batter hitting a soft liner to short for the third out.  At catcher, Evan was really good.  He blocked everything in front of him.  He also somehow blocked one ball and was able to get up so quick and fire a strike to second.  It was a really good play.  He struggled a bit hitting but that was his only weakness today.

After we got home, we picked up Papa and went to Evangeline's for dinner.  The boys ate really well.

The boys are upstairs playing on the Playstation.  They will go to bed soon.

Until next time...

Noah to Grandma's

This morning we walked Noah to school.

I was at my school from about 9:45-2:00.

Morry had a haircut today.

When I got home we walked to pick up Noah from school.  From there, he went over to Grandma and Papa's house.  It was just Grandma tonight since Papa is out of town.

Morry and I went to an event I was invited to in the Domain.  A fancy candy shop is partnering with a Vodka company to sell Vodka candies.   It was a nice event. 

We walked to pick up Noah from Grandma and Papa's house.

When we got home we ate our dinner.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Long Time No Blog

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

I didn't realize we hadn't written the blog since Friday.  So here's a quick recap. 

Saturday, Evan had football practice followed by a team meeting for his baseball.  Evan was excited for the team meeting because he got to see his teammates after being off for a month.  Josh came home with us and stayed the night.

Sunday, Evan had a football game.  During the first play of the game, Evan pulled a flag and he intercepted a pass on the second play.  Meanwhile, Noah went to a info session for the 6 Points camp he and Evan went to last year.  He volunteered during the session to speak and talk about his experience at the camp for the prospective campers.  After that they went to Sunday school and then we went to dinner with Grandma and Papa at Rudy's.

Monday, the kids went to school.  Rachel had to go into school for a teacher in-service day for a bit.  I went into the new Touch To office.  In the evening the boys and I watched the College Football Championship.

Today, I went to Camp Gladiator after taking Noah to school.  Rachel went into to teach.  After that I went into Touch To.

Rachel had a Pink Ribbon Cowgirls lunch at Whole Foods in the afternoon.

For dinner, Evan went to Grandma and Papa's house and had dinner with Grandma.  They had steel-head trout.  Rachel, Noah and I just had leftovers.

We walked to pick Evan up.

Now the boys are in bed.

Until next time...

Night with the Boys

This morning we walked with both dogs to drop Noah off at school.

Morry had meetings today.

I walked with both dogs to pick up Noah and Noah helped by walking Luna on the way home.

Morry was home for just a little bit this afternoon and then he had TRPD meetings tonight.

Since he would be getting home late, the boys and I were on our own for dinner.  They convinced me to take them to Kerbey Lane.

Now, Evan is having hot chocolate.  Soon the boys will get ready for bed.

Horseshoe Bay and Haircuts

Morry and I just got back from spending two nights at Horseshoe Bay Resort.  The kids stayed with Grandma and Papa while we were gone.

We had a nice time.  Here are a few pictures (below).

We got home around 2:30 this afternoon and then walked to pick up Noah from school.

From there, we went to Grandma and Papa's to get all of the kids' stuff.

When Evan got home from school we took the boys to get haircuts.

For dinner we had leftovers and the kids had pasta.

Now the boys are in bed.