Another Last

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

With Noah in 5th grade, and this being our eighth and final year at Clayton Elementary School, we're noting all the lasts that we're doing.  So today, when Noah and I walked to school, we realized this was the last time we'd ever walk to school in the morning for school in September. 

I worked from home in the morning and then left for HomeAway around mid-morning.  We had a meeting and then a team lunch.

Rachel went to a luncheon celebrating Breast Cancer Survivors today.  One of the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls that lives near us, picked Rachel up and brought her. 

Rachel and I got home around the same time.  We got Chewie and walked to get Noah from school.

I worked from home, in the afternoon, and then took Evan to baseball practice.  Actually it wasn't practice as the fields were not available tonight.  They put on a clinic on managing money and understanding how to save money for the boys.  They had all four teams there - the 13U, 14U, 16U and 18U.  Perhaps Evan is a little too young for that, but it's good for him to hear.

Evan and I picked up MOD pizza on the way home for all of us. We came home and ate together.

The boys are upstairs playing and then they'll get ready for bed soon.

Until next time...

Family Get-together

Last night I spent the night at Grandma and Papa's house.

This morning around 11am Lorena picked me up and we went out to lunch at Snooze.

Morry, Chewie, and I walked to get Noah from school.

From 6-7pm both Evan and Noah had a baseball lesson.  They said it went well.

At 7:30, we met at Grandma and Papa's house for dinner.  Michael is in town for work.  Aunt Susan and Aaron's family came as well.

We got home a little while ago.

Evan is finishing homework and then the kids will get ready for bed.

Recovering + Getting Back on Schedule

Last night I spent the night at Grandma and Papa's so that I could get some rest.

I spent most of the day resting and doing a little bit of blog work.

Morry was out at a work conference.

I drove with Chewie to pick up Noah from school.

Grandma picked up Noah on her way home from book club.

I drove Evan to Coopers so that they could take him to baseball and then I tutored two students in the neighborhood.  I figured that was a good start to ease back in.

For dinner Morry and Evan had pasta and I had a leftover hamburger.

We just got home from walking to Grandma and Papa's to pick up Noah.

Noah is doing homework now and Evan's playing video games.

Post Surgery

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We're now four days removed from Rachel's surgery and she's improving.  I think she still is tired and she hurts at times.  That said, this is nothing like the surgery she had in 2015.  She's making steady improvement each day.

Also, today is the 9th anniversary of Rachel's cancer diagnosis or cancerversary, as they say.  It's hard to believe it was 9 years ago.

This morning, Rachel walked with, Noah, Chewie and me to school.  It was good that she was able to walk.  She laid down for a while after we came home.

I went into HomeAway for just a bit today.

When I got home, we went to a coffee shop called Radio to celebrate the 9 years.  There was a taco truck outside where we got tacos.

Rachel stayed home while I walked to get Noah after school.

Rachel looked good when we got home.  Even Noah said so.  Rachel was able to do some work in the afternoon for her blog.

Evan came home and stayed for a while before he went to Grandma's for dinner.

We had burgers for dinner.  Noah helped me cook them.

Then we walked and picked Evan up.

The boys will be going to bed soon.

Until next time...

Rachel's Back to School Night

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Both Rachel and I were able to walk Noah to school today.  I worked from home for a little while and then went into HomeAway.

Rachel left later in the morning to teach.

I had a meeting at HomeAway and could not get home in time to pick Noah up.  Just Rachel went to get him with Chewie.

I got home a few minutes before Evan got home.  Rachel was leaving around that time to tutor.  Noah and I took Evan to practice.  Then we went to a coffee shop during practice.

Rachel had tutoring and then she had to go to ATA for her Back to School Night.  I don't know how it's set up or how it works.

From there she went to tutor another student.

Evan, Noah and I went to Tucci's Southside Subs for dinner.

We're home now and the boys are upstairs playing.

Until next time...

This week so far

Yesterday, I had a very early haircut/color appointment at 7am. From there I went to school.

Morry walked Noah to school.

Evan called us from school saying he wasn't feeling well. Since Morry and I were not near home and I was about to teach a class, Papa picked up Evan and dropped him off at home.   Papa got him some challah rolls from their house.

After I got home, I walked to get Noah.  Morry was in a phone meeting.

Then, I went to tutor.

We had leftovers for dinner.

Today, I had my early class so just Morry (and Chewie) walked Noah to school.

Evan was feeling a little better so he went to school.

I was at school for most of the day since we also had a staff meeting.  In between my study hall and staff meeting I quickly picked up a few things at HEB.

I got home around 2:30 and then drove to pick up Noah from school since I had to be back in time to leave for tutoring.

I tutored 3 students tonight and got home around 7:15.

The boys played outside some this evening and noticed we have a few pecans growing on our pecan tree.

Morry and the kids had pasta tonight and I had leftovers from Cheddars.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Rainy Weekend

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

The rain continues here in Austin.  I don't know completely sure how many straight days of rain we've had, but I'm thinking it's about 14 straight days after today.  It doesn't rain all day every day, but we're having huge downpours at a time.  It rained enough on Friday that Evan's baseball was canceled all weekend.   

Saturday, Evan ended up having practice at the facility.  I drove Evan out there and stayed talking to other fathers.  We stopped at Smoothie King on the way home.

Right as we were heading home, Rachel left to meet some women from the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls.  It was an informal get-together with the women who live south of the city.

We had a lazy afternoon.  I did some work later in the afternoon.

Then Rachel and I made dinner from the Easy Plate.  After dinner, we watched Timeless.

This morning, Rachel went to a brunch.  The boys and I stayed home.

Papa came over to see if he could adjust one of the adult bikes for Evan to use.  Evan is starting to get tall enough for the adult bikes.  He ran into an issue where a screw was not allowing the seat to go all the way down.  I think if it had, Evan could have used the bike.  As it stands, we adjusted the seat on his bike, so it's more comfortable.

The boys had Sunday School this afternoon.

For dinner, we picked up the boys from Sunday School and went to Cheddar's next door.  Rachel has worked out a deal to get a free dinner.  Rachel's parents were supposed to come but a mix-up made it so they had to decline.  Since we had said 6 people, we invited Rita and Alan from across the street.  Alan couldn't make it so Blanca took his place.  The food was really good. 

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

Baseball practice tonight

This morning, Morry and Chewie walked Noah to school since I had to be at school for my 8am class.

I got home around 1pm.

We walked to pick up Noah.

Evan's practice was moved to tonight. 

When Morry and Evan got home from practice we made steak for dinner.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Still Quite Busy

This morning we walked to take Noah to school.

I had a phone meeting with the rabbi this morning to discuss possible options for a Bar Mitzvah for Evan.

I left the house around 10am for school and got home a little after 2pm.

We walked to get Noah and then he went to Grandma and Papa's house.

Shortly after Evan got home I left for tutoring.

When I got home, Evan, Morry, and I ate dinner together and then I left again to tutor.

While I was gone Morry picked up Noah from Grandma and Papa's.

Now the boys are playing some video games before bed.

Quite Busy

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Tuesday and Thursdays are Rachel's early days going to school, so just Noah and I walked to school (and Chewie of course).  Rachel was gone by the time I got back home.

I was home for a little while before I went into Touch To.  At lunch time, I went and looked at a car for a long time friend who lives out of state.  She's interested in a used car here in Austin and is willing to fly in to get it but asked if I could help out.  The car was nice.  I took pictures and gave her a report.  I don't know what she'll do.

I stopped by HEB on my way home and got some things for dinner.  Rachel got home shortly before me.

Rachel had to go to tutoring so just Chewie and I walked to school to get Noah.

I had a couple phone meetings in the afternoon.

For dinner we had ham and I grilled corn on the cob.

The boys are upstairs.  They'll get ready for bed soon.

Until next time...

Another Week Starts

This morning we walked Noah to school.

I left the house around 10am to go to school.  I was there until 4:00.  Then, I stopped at HEB and from there went to tutor.

Morry picked up Noah from school while I was gone.

Grayson came by after school to hang out with Noah.

A little while after Evan got home he went to Grandma and Papa's house.  They went out to eat at Me Con Bistro.

For our dinner, we made chicken fajita tacos.

Grandma and Papa dropped off Evan at home after they finished eating.

Soon the boys will get ready for bed.

Games On and Then Games Off

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan played baseball in a tournament for the first time since June yesterday.  It was for the Blue team of TRPD which is the "B" team.  The weather forecast called for rain, but the rain held out long enough to get their two games in.  Evan had a long at-bat in his first at-bat fouling 5 pitches off before ultimately popping up.  In his second at-bat, which was the top of the last inning and his team down 3-1, Evan came up with a man on and no outs.  His coach called for a surprise bunt.  Evan waited until just as the pitcher threw the ball to show bunt and laid down a perfect bunt.  He caught the other team off guard and ended up beating the throw for a single.  After he crossed first base, he turned around and squeeze his chest and arms together with his hands in fists and screamed "Yeah!" The entire bench of his team went crazy cheering.  It ignited a 4-run rally to take the lead.  In the bottom of the inning, they brought Evan into pitch.  He got the first batter to ground weakly to him and threw the runner out and then struck out the next to batters to preserve the win.

The second game didn't go well.  Evan caught and he did a fine job.  He didn't like the umpire's strike zone and I think the umpire knew and so while there wasn't an explicit argument between Evan and the umpire, there was definitely a tension and he wasn't giving Evan the calls.  Evan was definitely frustrated.

After the game, we came home and relaxed.  We went to Buffet Palace for dinner. 

I woke up early this morning because Chewie needed to go out.  I let him out and noticed it was pouring rain.  At that point the tournament had not been cancelled.  I got up when my alarm went off an hour later and checked my email.  It said that the games were delayed one hour.  I came downstairs to feed Chewie.  About 30 minutes after that an email came that the games were all cancelled.

I worked for some of the morning and early afternoon.  The boys played upstairs all morning long.  Rachel did some cleaning this morning.

After lunch, Brody came over and asked Evan and Noah to play.  They all went outside and played for a few hours.

For dinner, we made an EveryPlate meal.  Then we went to Bahama Buck's for dessert. They were giving out double punches on your punch card since it was raining.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

This week

This week we were pretty busy.  I worked more hours this week since I'm subbing and covering for a teacher that is out of town.  I'm subbing tomorrow and Monday for her as well.

Yesterday, I was at school from 10:30am - 4:00pm.  Straight from there, I tutored 2 different students. Then, I picked up Noah from Grandma and Papa's house.  Was home for a few minutes and went back out to tutor another student.

Evan had baseball practice yesterday and got a ride home from Cooper.  Morry had a fantasy football draft last night.

Today, I did not walk Noah to school since I teach on Tuesdays and Thursday at 8am. 

After I was done with my school duties around noon I went to Charles Maund to sign the monthly papers and get my oil changed.

Morry and I walked to pick up Noah today.

This afternoon, there were no activities going on for once.

This evening, we went to H-E-B to buy groceries, get graph paper for Evan, and pick out some food for dinner.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Labor Day Weekend

Early Friday morning, we woke up at 1:50am and drove to Dallas for our 7:40am flight to Pittsburgh for Dora's Bat Mitzvah.

After getting our luggage in Pittsburgh we took the bus to our hotel which was near the Pitt and CMU campus.

We walked got lunch at a deli/sandwich shop, which the kids loved.  Then, we walked around campus.

At night, there was a Shabbat service and then dinner.

Saturday morning was the Bat Mitzvah.  Morry had the honor of holding the Torah.  Dora did a great job.

We took it easy in the afternoon at the hotel.

The party on Saturday night was at a private school.  They had a DJ as well as a photo booth and caricature artist.

Sunday morning there was a brunch at the hotel.

After that, we walked around town.  We walked to Eat N Park to get Smiley cookies and then to Mike and Darcy's house.  Mike gave us a ride back to the hotel and then to the airport.

We arrived in Dallas around 8pm and we drove back to Austin.  It was a little after midnight by the time we got home on Sunday night.

We took it easy most of the day on Monday.

At 4:00 we went to Uncle Marvin and Aunt Sandy's house for a Labor Day dinner.  Grandma and Papa rode with us.

This morning it was back to a full day of work and school.

Evan ate dinner at Grandma and Papa's.

Morry is at Evan's Back to School night now. 

Here are some pictures from our trip.