Another Bike Ride

This morning I was planning on going for a run and asked Evan if he wanted to go with me.  He asked if we could ride bikes instead.

We rode to the Velloway, around twice, and back home.  That was 13 miles.  He did well.  It's pretty hilly.

For lunch, Noah had fried matzoh and Evan had challah with powdered sugar.

Morry and Evan left for baseball around 2:00.

At 3:00, Chewie and I walked Noah to Grandma's house to spend the afternoon and have dinner together.  They made fried rice.

Morry had a meeting downtown after baseball, so he took Evan with him.  On their way home, they picked up Noah.

For dinner we had turkey.

Here is a picture from today's bike ride.

First Day of School 2016

The kids were in good moods this morning.

We walked to school and stopped to pick up Jack on the way.

As we were walking we saw Grandma coming back from her walk.  Noah insisted she come with us to take the boys to school.

Since it was the first day of school, parents could drop off kids in their classrooms.  First, we went to Evan's room and then Noah's.

We walked again to pick them up from school.  They seemed to enjoy their day.  Today, they didn't have any homework. Of course, they were happy about that.

The kids played outside with some of the neighborhood kids while we were making dinner.

For dinner we had various food. Morry had fried matzoh.  Noah had shrimp.  Evan had leftover pizza, and I had an omelette.

We took a walk after dinner.

Now, the boys are getting ready for bed.

Here are some pictures.

Very Hectic Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today ended up being a hectic day.  I had an early meeting at Starbucks.  The meeting ended up going long.  From there I went to get my hair cut.

Meanwhile, Rachel was cleaning the house and then she went to the Verizon store to get her new phone that came yesterday all set.  Rachel was able to turn in another phone of ours for another $200 credit.  Unfortunately, the whole process took a really long time.

Rachel was going to go to Evan's holiday party at his classroom but she was stuck at Verizon, so she asked me to go.  All the kids were reading some stories they wrote.  They had to write about a memorable time for them.  I thought at first that Evan's might be about a baseball game.  Then I thought it would be about Flash.  My second thought was correct.  Evan read a very well written story about the day we got Flash.  It was really nice.

We picked up the boys but only Evan came home with us.  Noah got invited over to a boy's house after school.  We had never heard of this boy.  In fact, Noah has flat out refused to tell us what he does at recess every day.  Well this boy invited Noah and 3 other kids over for a playdate.  When we met the mom who was bringing them all home, she said her son had told her these five kids play together at recess every single day.  It was really nice to find out that Noah has been doing well at school socially.  And he seemed really excited to be with the four other kids.

For dinner Rachel and Noah had tilapia.  Evan and I had fried matzoh.

The boys just showered and are going up to bed.

Until next time...

Check Ups and Whole Foods

The boys has their yearly checkups this morning.  Everything looked good and they didn't need shots.  They were happy about that.

For lunch we went to Whole Foods for the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls lunch. The boys sat at their own table.  They were really good during the lunch, so we stopped and got Tiffs Treats cookies on the way home.

For dinner Morry and Evan had fried matzoh, I had a tuna sandwich, and Noah had a variety of things.

Morry ran out to return the Redbox movie.

Soon we'll get the boys to bed.

Meeting with Noah's Teacher

This morning at 9:20am Morry and I went to the school to meet with Noah's teacher.  He had all good things to say about Noah.  It sounds like Noah's ahead of where he should be and his teacher is making sure to challenge him.  It was a good conference.

We came home and a little while later we all went to lunch at Einstein Brothers Bagels. Both boys ate very well there.  Evan had a cranberry bagel and a yogurt parfait.  Noah had a whole bagel with lox and capers.

From there Morry and I went home while Grandmom took the boys to the mall.

I left to tutor and the boys stayed home with Morry with and Grandmom.

For dinner we ate at home.  Morry made fried matzoh.

The kids are all ready for bed now.

Close to Home

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

For the most part, we stayed close to home today.  The boys got up earlier than us as usual on the weekends.  Rachel was scheduled to tutor at 10:45 this morning, so we got up around 9:30 and Rachel left at 10:15.

After Rachel left, the boys played baseball in the backyard.  Then I took them to Smoothie King to get smoothies and pick up dog food for Lizzy at Healthy Pet.

When we came home, I made lunch for the boys.  I made fried matzoh for Evan and me and a hot dog for Noah.  Rachel came home just after lunch.  She ate a quick lunch, while we had a catch out in the yard and then Rachel took the boys to a birthday party at Lifetime Fitness.

The birthday party was for Evan's old friend Kevin.  They had a bunch of things going on there, some sort of scooter and they played freeze tag.  Evan played basketball with Rachel there a bit.  On the way out, Evan bumped into his buddy, Carter, from his baseball team.  Evan was super excited to tell me he saw Carter when they got home.  That seemed to be the highlight of the afternoon.

For dinner, we went to Brick Over Pizza.  The food was served super fast and the boys did really well there.

We just gave the boys showers and about to put them to bed.  Until next time...

Also, please note - if you are looking to get the boys gifts for Hanukkah, there is a list to the right of things they would like.  If you have any questions, please let us know.

Not Much

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Not much happened today.  Rachel and Noah were still in Dallas.  Rachel had an appointment with the Nurse Practitioner from the breast surgeon's office.  Everything looked good.

Evan was in a good mood this morning and had no problems going to school.

I had a meeting this afternoon with a new client.

When I picked Evan up, he was still in a good mood.  He had had a good day.  He played quietly while I finished up work at home.

After I finished up, he and I went outside and played baseball in the front yard.

For dinner, I made fried matzoh.

I helped Evan with his homework and then put him to bed after dinner.  He's sleeping now.

Below is a picture a mom took of Evan from his baseball game on September 23.  The mom is an freelance photographer, I believe.  Anyway, you can see how focused Evan is during a baseball game.

Until next time...

Winter in May

It felt like winter here today. It was cold and rainy. We mostly stayed indoors. Around noon we went to Clayton Elementary, where Evan will go to kindergarten, to pick up his registration packet. Kindergarten registration is tomorrow.

For lunch the boys ate really well. I was surprised. They ate all of their food.

Noah actually took a nap today. I think a few things helped. It was dark outside and he didn't have any toys in his room to distract him.

Gabby came at 3:45.

I tutored one student.

For dinner we had soup and fried matzoh.

We just gave the boys a bath and now Morry is reading to them.

Music on the Bridge

This morning it took a while to leave the house. The boys were both cranky this morning and fighting a lot.

We took Lizzy and walked around the lake. At various spots downtown there are pianos outside. It's part of this Street Pianos movement. We stopped at the piano on the bridge and the boys played it for a little bit. Below is the video. Oh, and as we were walking a naked guy on a bike rode by. I didn't look that closely, but I was pretty sure he was naked. I told Morry and he said there's a guy that rides around downtown in just a nude colored g-string. I guess that's what I saw.

After walking around the lake we stopped at Walmart on the way home to pick up a few things.

When we got home I put Noah down for a nap, though he didn't sleep. Evan and I gave Lizzy a bath.

Gabby game at 4pm and I tutored.

Morry took the boys to Evan's baseball practice.

We all got home around 7pm and had different things for dinner. I had leftovers. Morry made fried matzoh and the boys had jelly sandwiches.

We just put the boys to bed, but of course, they are still playing around upstairs.

Errands

This morning Evan woke up early. A little before 7am he came in our room. I set him up with tv in the game room and then went back to sleep for a little bit.

Once Noah was up we all got up and got dressed and had breakfast.

We had some errands to run today. First, we went to Sams Club. We spent a while there and got some good deals. Evan and Noah were good, so we got them a soft pretzel and ICEE to share.

After Sams we went to Office Depot. We wanted to look at printers. Evan and Noah were getting into everything and touching all of the printer buttons. It was very hard trying to keep an eye on them and check out printers.

We came home and ate lunch. While the boys were eating I vacuumed upstairs.

Noah took a nap while Evan watched TV.

For dinner Morry made fried matzoh for him and the boys. I had a salad and egg sandwich.

After dinner we took a walk.

When we came back home we gave Evan and Noah baths and then put them to bed.

DirecTV Messed up Again

This morning DirecTV was scheduled for 8-12 and the gutter guys were coming at 9:30am.

Around 8am I got a call saying the DirecTV guy was on his way. He got here about 30 minutes later. I had hope. Then, he was about to go up on our roof and I confirmed what we were having done. Supposedly we were getting a dish upgrade a SWIM line put in so that we could watch one thing and tape another. He said the SWIM line requires a full system upgrade of all the receivers in the house. He was told just to do a dish swap thinking we were having problems with our HD. GRRR. I’m glad I checked before he went up there. So, I spend another 2 hours on the phone with DirecTV this morning.

The gutter guys came to install our gutters right at the time they said.

I just can’t believe DirecTv can get by treating people so badly. After talking to multiple people and about to disconnect our service they finally offered us the deal I wanted for about half the price we were currently paying. We have to get a new account in my name and switch everything over. They are supposed to come again Friday between 12-4 and get everything hooked up. I’ll believe it when I see it. I just hope they can get all of this taken care of so I don’t have to spend any more time on the phone with them.

Evan and Noah were pretty good during all of this. It was a very chaotic morning though.

At least one thing went right. The gutters were completed around mid afternoon.

Noah went down for a nap once the gutters were done.

I spent the afternoon taking care of various things and getting stuff planned for Lauren’s shower.

I’m feeling a lot better, but still not 100%. Today really wore me out.

For dinner I just had mini bagels and soup. Morry made fried matzoh for him and the boys.

We just gave Evan and Noah baths and put them to bed.

Another Sunday

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning, Evan got up around 7:10. I got him breakfast and set him up in the gameroom. Like yesterday, when the movie finished, he continued to play and didn't come in the room to get us up. It let us sleep a little more which was nice.

We got downstairs and played some. I made fried matzoh for the boys and me, while Rachel had hard-boiled eggs.

The Steelers were on after that. Rachel took Evan and Noah for a walk during the first half. Evan walked some of the way, but she ended up pushing both of them for most of the walk. She said it was tough but she was able to do it. She didn't take Lizzy as that would have been too hard.

After the game, everyone went down for a nap and Dmitriy came over. I have not been able to get my new work computer to connect to the VPN from home. I can connect to the VPN from elsewhere. It's a Mac and Dmitriy offered to come over and look into the situation. He was here for about 2 hours but we did get it working.

I made myself a hamburger for dinner and we had the twice-baked potatoes my friend Jeff had made for us as a side. Rachel was finally able to eat without being in too much pain. She said she has been really hungry.

After dinner, we went to Wendy's for Frosties. Noah and Evan each had their own. Noah could not sit still in the booth. He was standing or sitting or crawling behind Evan. But he did manage to eat a lot of his Frosty. Evan ate his entire Frosty.

We gave the boys baths when we got home and they are now in bed.

Until next time...

Jumping and Making Cookies

This morning we took Evan and Noah to Loco-Motion. It’s an indoor play area with inflatable jumpy areas and it also has a little pretend area. There are little rooms where they can pretend to do different things (Animal Hospital, Grocery Store, Diner, etc.). Evan and Noah had a good time. Noah loved pushing the grocery cart. Evan threw a fit when it was time to leave.

At home I quickly ate lunch and then left to tutor a new student. Morry made friend matzoh for him and the boys. When I got home the boys were napping.

For dinner we made blackened chicken and rice with zucchini. Noah enjoyed the rice, but got it everywhere. Little pieces were stuck in his hair.

We were going to take a walk after dinner, but it started raining again. It’s been raining on and off all weekend.

Instead of walking I made cookies. Evan helped some, but mostly wanted to taste things.

We just gave Evan and Noah baths and put them to bed. Evan is now back downstairs (not sure why) and Noah is crying. I hope they go to sleep soon.

Tutoring, Birthday party, and Football

This morning the boys woke up around 9:00. I tutored from 10-12. This coming week is the last week of school before the holidays. The students have finals and tests this week and some needed extra help.

When I got home we make lunch. Morry made fried matzoh and I had an egg salad sandwich. Evan ate some leftover pasta and Noah ate his usual cereal. Noah got real cranky and fell asleep in his high chair. We moved him to his crib after lunch.

Allen, a kid in Evan’s class, had his birthday party today. It started at 3:00. Usually Evan naps around 2-4. We were trying to decide whether to put him down for an early nap or just skip nap altogether. By the time we finished lunch it was 1:30. I would have had to wake him up at 3:00. Sometimes when you wake Evan up from a nap he’s so cranky it’s almost better if he didn’t fall asleep in the first place. We decided to skip Evan’s nap.

Evan had a good time at Allen’s party. The weather was very nice and most of the party was outside. Evan played in the sand box. He played soccer and football and played on the playscape. When it was time for cake all the kids, including Evan, sat very nicely at the kid’s table. Evan chose the white cake over chocolate. He ate his whole piece and had some of my icing I left on my plate.

We came home and Morry and Noah were watching the Steelers game upstairs. Evan and I played outside in the backyard for a while Morry watched football.

For dinner we made grilled chicken and couscous. Evan ate the couscous and a ton of applesauce, but not much else.

Evan and Noah are in bed now. It sounds like Noah is asleep, but Evan is still up.