Mother's Day, Driving, Cooking

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Since we last wrote, several things have happened.  On Thursday, Noah went over to Grandma and Papa's and cooked dinner.  They made artichokes, teriyaki chicken, cauliflower, salad, and a baguette with roasted garlic.  Everyone enjoyed it.  Papa walked Noah home with some leftovers.

On Saturday, Rachel, Evan and I went to Lady Bird Lake and kayaked.  Rachel and I were in the inflatable kayak with two seats.  Evan had the single person, hard kayak.  Evan did really well, kayaking with no problems.  The inflatable kayak seemed to struggle with the 15mph winds.  I had to really work to row for the two of us.  At one point, the headwind was so strong that no matter how hard I rowed, we moved backwards.

From there, we went to Black Rock and got some drinks.  For dinner, Grandma and Papa came over and we picked up Hula Hut for dinner.

On Sunday morning, Grandmom came over. She joined us along with Grandma and Papa at Snooze for brunch. We checked in online and got to the restaurant when it told us to get there.  We still waited nearly an hour and a half before we could be seated.  Once we sat down, things were nice.  We were able to eat a good brunch.

On the way home, we stopped at Tiff's Treats to get Grandmom her present.

In the afternoon, we took Chewie for a walk.  Then we went to a large parking lot and let Evan drive around.  He did much better driving this time and really enjoyed it.

Today, after school and work, I took the boys to get their hair cut.  Then we stopped at Academy to get some stuff to wear for this weekend for the boys.

Until next time...

It's Monday

This morning Morry walked Noah to school.  I hurt my ankle the other day and am taking it easy.

Before school, I stopped at Academy to get an ankle brace and then Walgreens to pick up a few things. I got home around 2:30.

Morry walked to pick up Noah.

Noah had a doctor's appointment and then football practice.

After that, he went to Grandma and Papa's since tomorrow they will be out of town.

Evan, Morry, and I had leftover Rudy's for dinner.

We picked up Noah.

Now the kids are getting ready for bed.

Morning Rains Mean No Baseball

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

I awoke to a thunderstorm around 4 or 5 in the morning.  It seemed to be short so I hoped that it would dry in time for the tournament this weekend.  Then around 9, heavy rains and thunderstorms hit again, causing a cancellation of the weekend's tournament.

Rachel and I ended up sleeping in since we didn't have any where to be.

Noah was invited over Jude's and went over there around 11:30.  Rachel, Evan and I had lunch at home.

We picked Noah up later in the afternoon and went over Grandma and Papa's.  The boys had to clean up the upstairs.  They had made a mess when they were both over there earlier in the week,

The boys and I went to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2 later in the afternoon.  Rachel had an event to go to for bloggers.  The movie was very very good.  All three of us enjoyed it.

We met Rachel at Old Navy when we were done.  The boys needed some dress clothes.

For dinner we went to Fire Bowl Cafe.  The boys ate well there.

Rachel stopped at Academy on the way home.  The boys and I stopped at HEB to get a movie and get a few things for breakfast for the week.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time..

Full Day

This morning Noah had a football game at 11.  We needed to get there at 10:30.  About halfway there we realized we left his football bag at home that included is flag belt and mouthguard.  He cannot play without those.  We decided to keep going to the field to drop Noah off and then either go home or somewhere to purchase the needed items.

Morry dropped Noah and me off at the field.  I was able to get a belt for him for free from the organization's booth. They normally sell mouthguards but were all sold out.  I guess we weren't the only ones that needed a new one today.  

Meanwhile, Morry and Evan stopped at CVS, but were unsuccessful.  Though they did think they saw Vince Young there.  They went over to Academy, bought a mouth guard, and headed back to the field.

Evan ran through the field to give Noah his mouthguard and got it to him just as the game was starting.

Noah played well and his team actually won their first game of the season.

From there, we ate lunch at Denny's.  I had a free gift card from a review I had done.

Then, we dropped Evan off at Altitude (indoor trampoline park) for a baseball team building event.

We were home for about an hour and then Morry went back out to pick up Evan.

They got home and then we left for a party of a friend of mine.   They had a family friendly party at her house for her 50th birthday.

We had a nice time.   They live in Rim Rock and have 1-2 acres or so.  There were other kids there and the boys had fun running around their yard playing various games.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Here are some pictures from today.

Google Fiber

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

The title of this post is Google Fiber, but it could have easily been "Very Cold".  This morning, it was 23 degrees on the walk to school.  It was not windy so I don't think it was any colder than that.  But it was cold.  Rachel seemed very uncomfortable.  Lizzy and the boys didn't mind.

I had a meeting where I gave a demo when we got home.  Then Rachel and I went to the airport.  Rachel had a meeting to get her Global Entry.  My meeting is scheduled for January.  We were hoping they could fit me in but they couldn't.

We stopped at Academy on the way to get hand and foot warmers.

Just after lunch, Google came to the house.  We had schedule Google Fiber to be installed.  With that we'd get 1 Gigabit download and upload speeds.  For comparisons sake, typical internet speeds are between 10 and 20 Megabits.  So this is 1000 Megabits.  I have been looking forward to this.  The installer was very good.  He knew what he was doing.  He actually came early which is a first for this type of service.  Aaron came over and we talked through some stuff with the installer.  Papa also stopped by to see how they were setting it up.  Aaron and I are going to put some hardware for work in the house since the internet speed will now be that good here.

Rachel went to pick up the boys since we were still dealing with the installation.

For dinner, we had some coupons and a gift certificate to Taco Cabana so Noah and I went and picked up the food and brought it home.

The boys will be getting ready for bed soon.

Until next time...

All By Myself

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today was officially the coldest morning of the school year.  It was 33 degrees on our walk to school.  To be honest, it felt better than yesterday even though it was 9 degrees colder.  The 20mph wind was pretty bad yesterday.

Both Rachel and I worked from home in the morning.  We had a call with HomeAway.

After that we went to Wholy Bagel.

The boys weren't home for long after we picked them up.  They both went to Grandma and Papa's.  The synagogue was having a grandparent/grandchild Hanukkah cookie decorating event.  So the boys ate dinner at Grandma and Papa's and then they drove up the synagogue.

Rachel had a Christmas/Holiday party for the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls that she went to.

Meanwhile, that left me alone.  It is the first time I have been alone on an evening or weekend day in I-don't-know how long.  Just sitting here, I cannot think of the last time I was alone.  Unfortunately, I had to run out to Academy to get Evan a long sleeve warm undershirt for his game tomorrow.  He has an 8am game where they are predicting a tropical 37 degrees at game time.  I looked in his drawer and his shirt that he would wear under a uniform is way too small.  So my trip to Academy took away some of my alone time.

I picked up dinner from Austin Pizza Garden and I watched the movie Deadpool.  Nothing too exciting.

The boys are in bed now.  Rachel will be home soon.

Until next time...

Return to Wholy Bagel

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

It was a low-key morning as we didn't have anything going on.  I had a phone meeting at 10:30, but otherwise, we were home.

For lunch we went to Wholy Bagel.  We missed last week since Rachel and I went out to a different lunch for her birthday.

We stayed home for most of the afternoon.  In the late afternoon, Evan and I went to the Oak Hill baseball fields so he could try to hit more home runs.  He hit three this time.  Two were absolutely crushed.  He had a good time, but it was hot.

We then went to Costco to get a few things.  From there, we tried to find a place to eat dinner.  The place we were trying to go, Uncle Maddio's, apparently went out of business.  We didn't find out until we got there.  We ended up eating at Chipotle.

Then we went to Academy so Rachel and Evan could get more shorts.  We also got some socks and sliding shorts for the upcoming baseball season for Evan.  Evan and Noah had some gift certificates for Academy that they hadn't used so they got some stuff.

We are home now and the boys are about to get ready for bed.

Until next time...

Birthday Party

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan had a birthday party to go today.  They were doing standup paddle board on the lake.  We hadn't yet gotten a birthday gift, so Evan and I went to Academy this morning to get a gift certificate.

When we got back, we had waffles.  Rachel had made the batter while were gone.

Rachel dropped off Evan at the party.  When she got back, she, Noah and I walked to Grandma and Papa's to see them for a bit.

For dinner we picked up Pho Thai Son.

I picked up Evan from the party after dinner.  He said he had a really good time.  The boys were playing basketball when I got there.

The boys are in bed.

Until next time...

98 cents

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Wade's mom picked Evan up at 7:40 this morning for basketball camp.  Rachel picked up all the boys after camp and then picked up Wade's sister from her camp.  The boys convinced Rachel to get ice cream while they were out.

I had two meetings in the morning.  Both were good meetings.

Later in the afternoon, Rachel and I ran out to Alamo Drafthouse to pick up tickets.  I had a free ticket for my birthday as part of the rewards program, but you have to redeem the free voucher in person.  We're going to see Ghostbusters tomorrow night so we picked up the tickets.  From there, Rachel went to Target and Academy to buy some things.

Evan needed a new backpack so Rachel was looking for one at Academy.  She found a nice one for $49.99.  She also got some shorts for herself. As she checked out they told her the total was around $25 something.  Rachel swiped the credit card and then thought, how is it only $25.  Just at that moment the clerk said the same thing.  They looked and the backpack ran up for 98 cents.  They called the manager over and it took some time to figure out why.  The manager said they'd give it to Rachel for half off.  But then the manager realized Rachel had already paid.  So the manager just let Rachel have it for 98 cents.

For dinner, I cooked ribs and corn on the grill.  Both were good.

We went for a walk in the evening.

The boys are about to get ready for bed.

Until next time...

Kick Pleat

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Rachel has been doing quite a bit of work for my client Kick Pleat.  She was up last night finishing up entering all their products into the new Point of Sale.   I set up the hardware here and she went through training today on doing a sale and a return and other stuff related to that.  She's also been printing out the bar codes for the products.

Last night was a late night because of baseball.  Rachel and I didn't get to eat until close to 9pm.

While Rachel was going through more training today, I ran out to Academy to get new baseball pants for Evan and I stopped at Home Depot to get a new board for the fence.

I went by myself to get the boys as Rachel was finishing up training.

For dinner we had hamburgers from the grill.

The boys are staying at Grandma and Papa's today as we are getting up early to go to Houston.  Rachel has a check up there and I'll set up the hardware for Kick Pleat at their new Houston store.

Until next time...

Lisa

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, Rachel and Noah went for a run.  They ran most of the way to Starbucks.  Then they got some stuff at Starbucks and sat down.  They walked most of the way home.

Evan saw a kicking tee that he wanted to buy at Academy.  He had a gift card there so he and I went and he bought it.  We then went to Clayton where we threw the baseball and he kicked a football off the tee.

We came home and had lunch.

After lunch, we left to go to Barry and Lisa's.  Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer and had her first chemotherapy session on Thursday.  We brought a fruit salad up to them.  We stopped by Tiff's Treats first to get some cookies.  Lisa has been using Rachel as a sounding board which I think has been good for both of them.  Lisa's sister, Angie was there helping out.  Barry and I played football against Evan, Noah and Lincoln.  Not surprisingly, there was some questionable calls that went the way of the boys over the fathers.  Evan was behind most of those questionable calls.

On the way home, we stopped at Zen for dinner.  The boys ate really well there.  They said they want to go back.  We didn't realize that on Saturday it was Kid's Eat Free.  It ended up being a very cheap meal.

Rachel is making stuff right now for the get together we're having tomorrow.  Some of the families from the Bucs are coming over for the Super Bowl.

Until next time...

Noah the Architect

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Noah had an assignment this week to build a bridge.  They could use any material they wanted.  It had to be at least one foot long but no longer than 2 feet.  And it had to be strong enough to have a Hot Wheels go across the bridge.  Noah built his bridge out of cardboard and a shoe box completely on his own.  Rachel and I did not help him at all.  He walked with it going to school this morning.  When I dropped him off in the cafeteria, all the other kids' bridges were obviously built by their parents.  They were all colorful and everything was perfectly done.  We warned Noah that this would be the case and told him that we were proud of him for doing it on his own.  Grades for Kindergarten thru second grade are given on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the highest.  Noah received a 4 for his bridge.  The teacher also wrote a nice short note praising Noah for doing it by himself.  He was the only kid in his class to not have any parent helping him.

Rachel went to Houston today for a checkup.  She left around 9:30.  She was there for about an hour.  The doctor gave Rachel a clean bill of health and said she can resume all normal activities.  She ran into traffic on the way home and it took her a long time to get back.  She didn't get home until around 5:30.

I picked up Noah after school. Evan went over Jack's house.

Evan got home right after Rachel got home.  Evan had asked that we go to Genghis Grill for dinner.  Noah agreed.  We had a nice dinner there.  Then we stopped at Academy on the way home to get a gift for Wade.

The boys are about to go upstairs to get ready for bed.

Until next time...

Goodbye Rachel and Noah

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, Rachel and Noah left for San Diego.  They are going there for a Bar Mitzvah.  Rachel called in a breakfast order to Wholy Bagel and they stopped there on the way to the airport so they left a bit earlier than they normally would have.

Evan and I rode bikes to school.

Around lunch time I picked up a smoothie at Smoothie King and then stopped at a restaurant called NXNW that is sponsoring the Bucs.

I rode my bike to get Evan and then Evan and Jack rode home together while I rode with Jack's dad.

In the afternoon, we went to Academy to get new cleats for Evan and then went to Chipotle for dinner.

Then Evan and I drove over to the Oak Hill baseball fields to watch Jack play a baseball game.

Evan is getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Golf today

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Lizzy has begun to get very excited for school in the mornings.  Evan holds her leash as we walk to school.  Lizzy trots very proudly.

Noah still doesn't sound so good but he looks better and his cough does not seem as bad.  Rachel has gotten worse and she cancelled her tutoring.

I ran out to the bank at lunch.

After school I picked up the boys.  Evan said that there was some "game" that first the teacher asked questions and only the girls could answer and then she switched and only the boys could answer.  Evan said he was the only boy answering.  I guess people took note of that.

After school, I took Evan to golf lessons.  Noah and I sat in the clubhouse.  Noah did his homework while I did some work.  Evan seemed to enjoy it.  The instructor let him borrow two clubs to bring home.

After that, we went to Academy to get some things.

We had a dinner Rachel made in the crock pot.

Now the boys are in their rooms.

Until next time...

Dentist

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We walked to school today.  The boys did well walking.

The boys had dentist appointments today.  It had been a year since they went last.  Both boys had appointments at the same time.  Rachel picked them up from school at 10:20 and took them.  Noah's appointment went really well.  He got a good bill of health.  However, for Evan, the news was not as good.  He has two more cavities and the one last year the filling had become damaged.  So he had to stay longer today while they fixed that filling.  He didn't need any anesthesia or anything.  He'll go back in the summer to have the other teeth fixed.  We're at a loss for why he keeps getting them.  He's just going to have to floss consistently.

Evan did not go back to school.  He said he wasn't feeling well after the ordeal.  Noah wanted to go back to school and Rachel dropped him off.

I ran out to Academy looking for baseball pants for a boy on the Marauders and got some things for myself.  Then I stopped at Wholy Bagels and got lunch for Rachel and me and brought it home.

Evan watched a movie and Rachel walked to pick Noah up later.

Noah had a baseball game tonight.  They won again.  This time, the team was finally able to get three outs in one inning.  We've won every game based on the number of outs recorded tie breaker.  But today, we actually held them to four runs in one inning and won the game.

Evan had baseball practice at the same time.  After the game, Noah's team was going to the Austin Pizza Garden to hang out.  Rachel and Noah went over there while I walked over to Evan's practice and helped out at the end.  Then Evan and I drove over to the restaurant.  We had a really nice time and got to spend time with a family that I hadn't gotten to talk to before.  It was very nice.  We enjoyed it.

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

Until next time...

Nationals - Game 1

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning was a normal morning.  Both boys were behaved and we went to school without incident.

Neither Rachel, nor I, had meetings or anything like that.  We stayed home most of the day.

Rachel and I picked the boys up from school.  It was very nice so we walked today.

I could not find Evan's red belt that he wears for the Nationals.  I looked everywhere.  So when I ran out to pick up his pants that were hemmed, I picked up a new red belt at Academy.

When I came home, we had dinner.  Then Rachel went to tutoring and Evan, Noah and I went to the Oak Hill fields for Evan's first game.

This was the first time either boy had a game at the Oak Hill fields since before the flood.  Their last game was on October 6 there.  We were excited to go out and play.

Evan led off the game with a hit.  Unfortunately, he did not the first run as he was forced at third.  In the second inning on a ground ball up the middle, Evan came over from shortstop and fielded the ball in front of second base and threw a bullet on the run.  It was a really nice play.  In the third inning, Evan was playing left center.  There was a boy on first.  There was a pop up that dropped into shallow right center.  Evan raced up fielded the ball and saw the running rounding second.  Evan turned and threw a bullet to third base which was caught by the third baseman.  Unfortunately, the third baseman didn't realize it was not a force and stood there with the ball in his glove not even attempting to apply the tag.  The throw reached third base when the runner was not quite half way to third base.  Inexplicably the runner, who was safe since he was not tagged, overran third base and then the third baseman tagged the boy.  Evan's team ended up winning the game.

We are home now and the boys are in bed.

Until next time...

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...

Labor Day = Shopping Day

This morning we went shopping at Dicks Sporting goods to get the boys stuff they need for baseball.  Unfortunately, it wasn't such a successful trip.  They didn't have what we needed.

We ate lunch at home and then I took Noah over to Cole's house for a little bit.

Later in the afternoon Morry took the boys to Academy to look for the baseball stuff and they were unsuccessful there too. 

Morry picked up Chipotle for us for dinner on the way home.

The boys are cleaning up now.

In a little bit we'll get them ready for bed.

Lizzy's Birthday

Today is Lizzy's 10th birthday.  She still acts like a puppy sometimes.

This morning the boys went to baseball camp. They both had a good time. They said Noah was fearless and really tough.

We worked out with our trainer.

Blanca came over and then I left to tutor.

Tonight we ran some errands.  We got Lizzy a birthday toy at Petco. We went to Academy to get bigger water bottles for the boys.  For dinner picked up Chipotle.

We made dinner for the boys at home and all ate together.

We just did reading/writing/math with the boys.

Now they are getting ready for bed.

Sleepy Noah

It was cold this morning (upper 30s) so Morry drove Evan to school.'

Noah woke up around 9am and got into our bed and went back to sleep until about 11am.  When he woke up he was in a good mood.  I guess he just really needed sleep.

Noah and I ran some errands.  We went to Bed Bath and Beyond and Academy Sports.  Then, I dropped Noah off at Cole's house.

He had fun.  They played board games together. 

Noah came with me to get Evan at school.  We drove since it was still a little chilly.

Evan and Noah played at home until Blanca came over.  I left to tutor.

When I got home we made dinner - egg drop soup and a Chinese frozen dinner.

Evan just finished reading to Morry.  Now, we'll get the kids ready for bed.