Noah's Big Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, Rachel and Noah got up early to run the Race for the Cure.  Noah was able to run the entire way again.  He stopped just to get water at the water stations.  At one point there were high school cheerleaders.  They formed a path for the Rachel and Noah to run through and they were really cheering Noah on.  Rachel said Noah got lots of high fives on the way as well.  He was pretty happy.

At lunch time, Noah and I went to a bowling party that we were having for the Bucs on UT's campus.  Evan came with Josh's family.  Noah was just one of the guys bowling with the rest of the Bucs.  He seemed to be having a really really good time.  They were able to bowl several games as well as play air hockey and foosball.  We also had pizza for the boys.

We were supposed to have a tournament but the fields had some damage from the storms a few weeks ago.  The tournament was postponed until next weekend.

After the party, we went to Smoothie King on campus.  Darius and his dad, Daniel came with us.  Miles was getting a ride home with us so he came as well.  All four boys really had fun together eating their smoothies.

For dinner, we had our leftovers from last night.

The boys (and Lizzy) are showering.  Then they'll get ready for bed.

Until next time...

Calvin Update

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Jack and Evan got up first.  We heard them playing with the air hockey.  Noah got up shortly after.

Jack left the house at 9:30am.

Calvin was still in my office this morning.  He wasn't under the couch but he was on a shelf.  It took us a little while to find him but we did.

Deborah, the woman who gave us Calvin came over later in the morning.  She brought his food bowl and food.  Evan stayed in my office with Calvin and he sat on Evan's lap.  Evan sat with Calvin for quite a while today.  Calvin has definitely warmed up to us, though he's still not brave enough to walk around the house.

For dinner, I picked up Chuy's for Rachel and me while Rachel made dinner for the boys.

We're about to put the boys to bed.

Until next time...

Bowling

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

On Friday, when Evan and I were walking to school, I asked him what he wanted to do this weekend. He said he wanted to go bowling. We figured Sunday morning was probably the least crowded time to go. The boys were very excited to go. They got dressed when I asked them without arguing with me.

Rachel, of course, found coupons for free games. They allowed us to use as many as we wanted. So we bowled for just the cost of the rental shoes - a total of $10. The boys did very well bowling. They can each carry the ball themselves this time and put it on the line. We even taught them how to put their fingers in the holes properly. Evan probably could have bowled with one hand but he felt more comfortable bowling with two. Rachel had the game of her life getting a turkey (three strikes in a row). Ironically, on the 10th frame, the power went out to the hole bowling alley. I told her that she hadn't won then. But the power came back on. They were fixing some lanes and probably either blew a circuit or cut the power to the whole alley rather than the stuff they were working on.

We came home and the boys played and then we had lunch. Before lunch, some kids from the neighborhood came selling cookie dough. I was paying for it and they saw our air hockey and foosball tables. Evan, Noah and the two boys played air hockey together. Everyone seemed to have fun.

This afternoon, I did work on the computer while the boys "rested" in the game room.

For dinner, we just made pasta because it was quick. The kids had baths and now are in their rooms getting ready for the second week of school.

Until next time..

Noah's Third Birthday

TODAY IS NOAH'S BIRTHDAY! It's hard to believe it was 3 years ago today we were at the hospital meeting little Noah.

This morning the boys slept in a little bit.

For brunch we went to Waterloo. The boys played on the playground while we waited for our food. They shared a waffle and fruit and both ate very well. It was a successful meal.

Then, we went to Locomotion, an indoor play place. They have inflatables and then different rooms where kids can pretend to do different things. We all had fun. Evan and Noah were pretty worn out by the end.

We gave Noah a choice between Italian Ice (Water Ice) and smoothies. He picked Italian ice. We went to Rita's on campus and it happened to be free Italian ice day, so we all got a free cup. While we were waiting in line Morry found out the guy behind us went to his same high school a few years after Morry was there. Small world.

We came home and gave the boys their birthday presents from us. They got air hockey and Foosball tables. We bought them from our neighbor who had a garage sale. We had been looking for an air hockey table and when I did a search on Craigslist a few days ago I saw our next door neighbors were having a garage sale and selling those items.

The boys played with all of their new toys for a little bit and played outside.

For dinner we went to Spaghetti Warehouse.

We put the boys to bed a while ago, but both are still awake and playing in their rooms.

Evan’s Actual Birthday

Today is Evan’s actual birthday. We have been celebrating his birthday for the last few days now.

This morning Morry brought Evan’s bike (his present from us) in the house at the bottom of the stairs. We thought we’d surprise Evan when he came downstairs. He was somewhat cranky and tired this morning and therefore, was not very excited about his bike. He was more interested in his unwrapped birthday presents from yesterday’s party that were sitting on the dining room table.

For breakfast Aunt Susan, and Aaron and Shelly came over. Papa/Lenny made French toast with the leftover challah. It was yummy. Aaron and Shelly gave Evan Geo Trax for his birthday so he and Morry went upstairs to play Geo Trax.

Before Grandma/Lynn, Papa/Lenny, and Bubbe went home they gave Evan their present to him. Evan got a scooter so we all went out in the front yard for him to try it out. He understood how to push it with his leg, but he still needs to work on steering. He didn’t understand that you have to lean to get it to turn.

Once everyone left we put the boys down for naps. The both slept well.

Once they woke up we asked Evan what he wanted to do. He said he wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese. Of course, I had coupons. We got 20 free tokens for Evan’s birthday, 20 free tokens for Noah’s birthday, and I had a few tokens leftover from the last time we were there. The whole experience was free. We were there for about an hour and a half and didn’t have to spend a dime. Evan really enjoyed playing the games. The ones he liked most were air hockey and ski ball.

After dinner we went to McDonalds (Evan’s request). Evan and Noah were very well behaved and ate well. After Evan finished eating Morry took him to play on the playground. I stayed at the table with Noah while he cleaned out (ate) a lot of the contents of the diaper bag. The last few days Noah has started saying, “Uh-Oh” a lot. I think he was dropping food on purpose just so he could say it.

So, I have been working with Evan on our phone number. I’ll repeat it a lot and leave off the last number or two and he’ll finish the rest of the phone number. Tonight we were saying it over and over again and he actually said the whole thing by himself.

Well, the boys are in bed now. They are both pretty exhausted. I hope they sleep well tonight.