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...

Finally, Some Rain

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

They have been predicting rain for the last two days but it hasn't come.  This morning it was really gross outside.  It was hot and very very humid, but still no rain.  We walked to school through the gross air.

I worked from home most of the day.  Rachel took the woman from the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls to a doctor's appointment in the late morning.

I went into Hey Cupcake for a meeting.  I stopped at Smoothie King on the way there.  They gave me cupcakes to bring home.

When I got home, it still wasn't raining and it had gotten hot.  It was 95 degrees and ridiculously high humidity.  It was an even worse walk to get the boys.

When we got home, Rachel went to tutoring.  While Rachel was tutoring, the skies opened up and it poured.  It made it tough for her to come home.

We had burgers and corn for dinner.

After dinner, the boys watched the first half and a little of the second half of the Steelers game with me.

The boys are sleeping now.

Until next time...

First Football Practice

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Grandma and Papa stayed back at the house while we walked the boys to school this morning.  They had to get ready to meet a flooring guy at their house.  Rachel went with them.  When they came back, they got their things and stopped at two more flooring places before leaving.

I went into Aaron's for a Your Trainer meeting.

I got home just as Rachel was leaving to go tutor.  I walked to get the boys.  The boys were in very good moods on the way home.  We had a nice walk.

A little after 5, I left to take Evan to his first football practice.  Noah stayed home by himself for just a few minutes before Rachel got home from tutoring.  The Bucs are playing flag football again.  Evan had a very good practice and earned praise from the coach.  He did a very good job at catching footballs.

When we came home, we grilled flank steak and corn.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

Jeremy's Birthday Party

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, everyone got up a bit earlier.  When I got up, I did some work while the boys played.  When Rachel got up, we got ready to go to Jeremy's birthday party.

We were first to the party.  Eventually, Lauren and her family came as well as Aunt Susan and some other people.  Jeremy played with the boys the whole time.  In fact, they were so busy playing, they didn't eat lunch.

After the party, we came home and then Rachel took the boys to the pool.  After the pool the boys cleaned up.

For dinner, we had hamburgers and corn cooked on the grill.

On our walk, we walked by Grandma and Papa's new house.

The boys are about to go to bed now.

Until next time...

Heavy Rain

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning it appeared to be sunny.  We put a leash on Lizzy and got ready to walk to school.  When we got outside, it was drizzling - in the sun.  We ended still walking because we weren't really getting wet.

In the morning I had a meeting that I went to in central Austin.  Rachel stayed home.  Around 11am, the skies opened up.  It poured and hailed with thunder and lightning.  It was crazy.  Our backyard is not able to soak up water quickly anymore.

I stopped at Smoothie King on the way home from my meeting.

The rain stopped after about 30-45 minutes and the sun came out.  We walked to get the boys.

In the afternoon, Rachel went to tutor.  Noah and I took Evan to the doctor.  He's been coughing for a week.  He's had no other symptoms.  I think it's affecting his sleep somewhat and since today is the eighth day of coughing we decided to take him.  The doctor didn't think he was sick and prescribed an allergy inhaler for a week.  He should be ok.

We came home and had steak, salmon and corn for dinner.

The boys are about to go upstairs to bed.

Until next time...

Rain

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

It was raining very very hard this morning.  It was raining too hard to even drive to the trail.  When that happens, we leave early before the traffic backs up in front of the school and park in front of the school and run in.  This is Evan's fourth year in elementary school.  I think this was the hardest it's rained on a morning when we had to take him to school in those four years.

We stayed home pretty much the whole day though I got my hair cut and ran to HEB and picked up movies from Redbox.

In the afternoon, it was still raining but not nearly as hard.  We parked by the trail and ran down and into the school.  Because of the rain, we had to go to each child's classroom to pick them up.

Evan started watching the Transformers movie I got at Redbox for the boys.  For some reason, Noah didn't want to watch it.

For dinner I grilled hamburgers and corn.  The boys ate left over salmon from the other night.

The boys will be going upstairs to bed soon.

Until next time...

Stevie

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Last night we had a massive rain storm.  Around 2am, I woke up to heavy rain, thunder and lightning.  It was clear this morning, but from what I heard, it rained between 3.5 to 4 inches over night.

We walked to school.  The path was pretty torn apart. In one spot where the water must have come through the path was about a foot deep and maybe a foot wide.  It was easy enough to step over but I saw a kid hit it with his bike and tumble over.

We stayed at home today though I did run out to Smoothie King and the bank.

It's Evan's turn to bring the class pet home this weekend.  The pet is a guinea pig named Stevie.  We stayed after school with Evan and got Stevie's cage and things (food, treats, etc...) and brought them home.  Stevie is staying in Evan's room and Evan will have to keep the door closed to keep out the other animals.  Calvin does not seem to be a mouser but Flash does so we wouldn't want Flash to get to Stevie.  Lizzy wouldn't do anything other than bark.  But it's just safer to keep the door closed to the room.

For dinner, we had hamburgers and corn on the grill.  As I started to grill, the skies opened up and we're having rain like last night.  Our patio is covered but even so the rain was coming sideways so I got a bit wet as I came out to flip the corn and burgers.

The fields where Noah plays baseball flooded again.  They are closed at least through next week, so Noah won't have a game this weekend or have practice.

The boys are upstairs.  Noah has to do his reading and Evan is with Stevie.

Until next time...

Rise and Shine

This morning both boys were up at 6:30am. That's very early for them. Evan said he heard the air conditioning come on and thought it was the garage door. When he ran out in the hallway Noah was coming out to use the restroom. Both boys were excited to see each other and never went back to sleep.

Evan and Noah were very hyper this morning, but then it turned to crankiness. I dropped them off at Clubhouse for Kids around noon. I packed a lunch for them to eat there.

I stopped in Target to get a few things and then went to the hospital to visit Lauren and Shayne. She had her baby last night. I visited with Lauren, Shayne, Aunt Susan, Aaron, Mandy, and of course baby Garrett for about an hour.

I picked up the boys at Clubhouse for Kids and then we came home. Noah wouldn't nap.

For dinner we had flank steak and corn. Noah ate really well. He actually ate our dinner, which was nice. Evan ate ok.

We tried getting the boys ready for bed a little early, but they are both still awake right now.

Lauren, Garrett, and Aaron

Lots of Cleaning and Crying (Noah)

After dropping Evan off at school I had Riley come over. She lives in our neighborhood and babysits. She is only 12, but had great recommendations/referrals. I started babysitting when I was that age. I wanted to find another babysitter as a backup when Blanca is not available.

Anyway, I had her come for the first time today. I planned on being home the whole time and having her help me with Noah. When Riley first got here Noah was very clingy. He cried for about the first 15 minutes. I sat on the floor with them and slowly backed away. I did a lot of cleaning around the house. Noah was fine until the end when he saw me vacuuming. He wanted me to hold him and got very upset. It seemed to work out well except for the first and last part. I plan on having her come again next Thursday to help me.

When I picked up Evan the kids were on the floor for story time. I put Noah on the floor and Evan came over him and hugged him.

At home, I tried to give the boys haircuts. Both were very cranky and didn’t want to sit still. I managed to trim their hair a little.

Evan and Noah went down for naps around 2:30 and they both slept well.

Morry got home around 6:00.

For dinner we had hamburgers and corn on the cob.

I put some hot wheels/matchbox cars in a container and put it in the bathroom. I’m going to fill it with a few more toys. We told Evan he can pick out a car each time he pees/poops on the potty. He sat on the potty tonight for a long time, but didn’t do anything. He was upset when we told him it was time to get off and get ready for bed.

We just put Evan and Noah to be and it seems quiet.

Cooling off in the fountain

This morning we met Yenis and Kevin at the lake. Yenis and I ran most of the 3 mile loop with the kids in the stroller. It was pretty hot out. It was a good workout.

After the lake, I took Evan and Noah to the water/spray fountains on the other side of the lake. Last time Noah didn’t want to get wet, but this time he had a good time. He was still kind of timid. It took him a while to get in. He played in the little pools they have around the fountain. Evan had a great time running around. It was tough getting the boys out when it was time to leave.

On the way home, we stopped at KFC and got our free chicken meal.

Evan and I shared the chicken. I tried to get him really excited about eating a drumstick. He thought it was neat eating chicken like ice cream, but he only took a few bites.

Noah fell asleep in the car on the way home. I tried to put him down for a nap when we got home, but he wouldn’t sleep. I tried again around 3:00. Evan took a good nap, but Noah did not nap at all.

Blanca came at 3:00. I tutored 3 students and got home at 7:00. We had hamburgers and corn for dinner.

We just put Evan and Noah to bed. Evan did really well and did not fight going to bed. We believe it was because he took a good nap today.