Round Mountain + Hanukkah

 On Friday, we went to Round Mountain to get together with the Krasnow side of the family.  We had a nice time seeing everyone.  Here's a picture.

Yesterday, Morry and I ran some errands.  We went to Dick's Sporting Goods to get Wiffle balls for the boys for Hanukkah.   Then, we went to HEB to do our weekly shopping.

Yesterday afternoon Morry and I clean out his side of the garage and then took a lot of stuff over to Goodwill to donate.

Today, we dropped off Morry's car for an inspection.  

Then, we took a long walk from our house to Summer Moon coffee and back.    After that, we went back out to pick up Morry's car.

This afternoon Evan and some friends went to the mall to see a movie and shop for holiday gifts. 

For dinner, we ate at Kerbey Lane.

When we got home we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah.

The last week or so

 Here's what been happening since the last post.

Last weekend Michael came to town and we had a nice visit with him, Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Susan.

This week we celebrated our 18th anniversary.  On Tuesday we got dessert at Kerbey Lane. and last night we went out to dinner at Sundancer Grill overlooking the lake.

Evan worked out with Dio on Tuesday and I brought Chewie along.  While he worked out, I took Chewie for a walk on the trails around the school.

Tonight Morry made smoked chicken.  While he was cooking the chicken a big thunderstorm passed through and it's still raining.

Here are some pictures from the last week.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday

 Here's what's been going on the last few days.

Thursday: I tutored in the morning, then taught, and then tutored later in the afternoon.  The trainer came to train Chewie during the day.

Friday: I met Aunt Susan at her doctor's appointments to be there for support and take notes. Then, I went to my school and taught my afternoon class.  The trainer came during the day. Last night, Morry made ribs for dinner and we ate them outside.

Saturday: Late morning Morry and I took a walk on a trail and then picked up drinks at Black Rock on the way home.  Shortly after getting home, he and Evan went to baseball.  I met them for his later game.

On the way home, we ate dinner outside at Kerbey Lane and brought food home for Noah.

Now the boys are playing some video games before bed.

Half-Marathon + Day Off

Yesterday, I left the house around 6:15am for the half marathon.  It was 31 degrees at the start of the run.   I did pretty well for about the first half, but then I got some stomach cramps and had to slow down.  I ended up finishing in just under 2 1/2 hours.  Deborah met me around mile 8.5 and ran the rest of the way with me.

Morry, Noah, Grandma, and Papa met me at the finish line.

Morry went to Evan's baseball scrimmage game.

Grandma, Papa, Noah, Deborah, and I met Holly (Suzanne's sister) and her family at Kerbey Lane for brunch.

Later in the day I took Noah to Sunday school and then went to Evan's flag football game.

Morry and Evan picked up Noah from Sunday school and then they picked up food from Me Con Bistro for all of us.

Today, the kids and I had off from school.

Evan and Noah went with Morry into the office for a little a while.  I got some things done around the house and was able to rest a little bit.

I tutored one student this afternoon.

For dinner, we had steak and shrimp.

Noah finished his science fair project tonight.  Morry helped him edit and print his reports and I helped glue them on the display board.

Noah the boys are playing video games until it's time for bed.

Here are some pictures from yesterday.

Second Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

The second morning of school seemed to go smoothly.  The boys were not hard to wake up.  Chewie enjoyed his first morning walk of the school year.  We got home in time to say goodbye to Evan.

I did some work at home before going into HomeAway.  Rachel left shortly after me for a meeting at Austin Tennis Academy.

We both were home by early afternoon.  We walked to get Noah with Chewie.  Several kids were excited to see Chewie.

For dinner, we picked up Grandma and Papa and drove to pick up Rachel's cousin, Evan from work.  It's his last week in Austin so we took him to dinner at Kerbey Lane.  We had a nice time and everyone ate well.

We're home now and Evan is doing some homework and Noah is playing on his iPad.

Until next time...

Night with the Boys

This morning we walked with both dogs to drop Noah off at school.

Morry had meetings today.

I walked with both dogs to pick up Noah and Noah helped by walking Luna on the way home.

Morry was home for just a little bit this afternoon and then he had TRPD meetings tonight.

Since he would be getting home late, the boys and I were on our own for dinner.  They convinced me to take them to Kerbey Lane.

Now, Evan is having hot chocolate.  Soon the boys will get ready for bed.

Highlander and Adam

Yesterday we walked Noah to school. Evan walked to the bus stop.

Morry had a 10am meeting up north and we had a 12:15 appointment at Charles Maund Toyota, so I went with Morry to North Austin.  I dropped him off and then went to one of the locations nearby of Austin Pets Alive.

I wanted to see if they had any dogs there to foster.  When I got there it was very chaotic.  I finally managed to speak with someone who told me the dogs there were not available for foster and I need to go to the downtown location.  During this time, I kept hearing them ask for volunteers to transfer donated items to the other locations.  So, I volunteered to load up my car and take some stuff to the downtown location.

We filled the van with litter, food, crates, cleaning supplies and more.

At the downtown location, everyone was busy so I had to start unloading the items on my own. Finally, a woman came over a helped me.

When I was done unloading my car, I went to look at the dogs needing fosters.  There was a cute young looking dog named Adam.  I wrote down my name on the sheet to say I was interested.

Then, I left to pick up Morry from the meeting.

From there, we went to Charles Maund.  I worked out a deal with them.  I will help them some social media and they will lend me a car.  I chose a Highlander and it was finally available for pick up.    We signed some paperwork and I was on my way with a new 2017 Toyota Highlander!

While we were there I got a voicemail that someone else was interested in Adam and they wanted to see if I was still interested in fostering.  I called back and said we could come over now to let them know.

Morry and I went to Austin Pets Alive and played with Adam a little bit.  He was very hyper but seemed sweet.  We could not bring him home yet since he still needed an exam and shots, as well as a meet and greet with Lizzy.  They said they'd call us in a couple of hours when he was ready.

We were home for just a minute or so and then walked to pick up Noah.  

Evan got home a little after 4pm.

Around 5pm we found out Adam was ready.

We piled everyone in the car and headed over there.  Lizzy and Adam met. Although he was jumping on her a lot, he seemed to be learning not to do so.  So, we decided to bring him home.

On the way home we got more dog food at Petco and then picked up dinner at Mi Con Bistro.

Around 8:30 Morry left to pick up Marilyn from the airport.

This morning, Adam started whining around 8:30.  He did well throughout the night.

We took both dogs for a walk.

For lunch, we went to Kerbey Lane.

After lunch, Morry, Evan, Noah, and Marilyn went to the mall so that she could buy the boys some things.

A friend of mine came over this afternoon so her dog and Adam could play together.  They played nicely and wore each other out.

For dinner, we went to Via 313.

We took another walk when we got back with both dogs.

Now, everyone is getting ready for bed.

Here are some pictures from the last few days.

Mid-week

This morning we walked to school.  We did not have Camp Gladiator today.

Around 10am Morry went to Evan's class.  I got there around 10:50. They were sharing writing pieces and presenting to the class.

At 11:20 I left Evan's class to pick up Noah so we could go to his therapist appointment.

After his appointment, I dropped him back off at school.

Morry and I walked to pick up the kids from school.

My tutoring was canceled.

Evan got a ride to baseball practice.

Morry and I dropped off Noah at Grandma and Papa's around 4:45 and then went to an event at Kerbey Lane.  I was invited to sample their new summer menu and got a +1.

The event was at the Kerbey Lane on campus.  We had a good time and got to try lots of different foods.

We picked up Evan at Cooper's house.

Then, we got Noah at Grandma and Papa's.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Client Meetings

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

There wasn't any Camp Gladiator this morning so we didn't go out after walking the boys to school.

I went up north and picked up the client who was in town and brought him down to the house.  We sat outside on the porch and worked for about 3 hours.  It was really nice out there working.

I took him to lunch at Kerbey Lane.  Rachel came with us.

Rachel left to pick up the boys and I took Michael (the client) to the airport.  Right after the airport I met with a designer who I do work with occasionally for clients.  We have an upcoming project that we talked about.

Rachel tutored in the afternoon so the boys were alone for a bit.

For dinner, we grilled corn and chicken.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Noah's Pre- Birthday

Today we celebrated Noah's birthday since he will be in school tomorrow on his actual birthday.

He made the plans for the day.  First, we went to Top Golf with Grandma and Papa and then had lunch at Kerbey Lane.  Next, we went to Big Top Candy Shop and then walked around South Congress.  Finally, we went to take pictures in the bluebonnets (that was my choice).

The kids played outside in the afternoon and made YouTube videos.

For dinner we had steak and fish and ate outside.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Here are some pictures from today.

No Baseball

This morning we walked without Lizzy.

Then, Morry and I went to Camp Gladiator.

Morry left early to get back for a meeting.

After CG, I drove over to the private school to tutor.

From there, I met a friend for lunch at Kerbey Lane.  A woman from our old playgroup was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, so I met with her.  Luckily, it was caught early.

Then, I was home for just a little before it was time to go back out for tutoring.

Morry picked up the kids from school.

They went over to Grandma's tonight for dinner.  Papa is out of town.

Morry and I walked with Lizzy to pick up the boys.

Now, they are playing a new Pacman video game Noah got.  He ordered it for Hanukkah, and it was released today.

Soon, the boys should get ready for bed.

Zayde In Town

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Rachel got up early again this morning to get Flash from the emergency vet and return him to the regular vet.  I walked with the boys to school.

After Camp Gladiator, Rachel went to Snooze for Selena's 50th birthday.

I met Daniel for lunch at a barbeque trailer called Valentina's.  It was quite crowded.  The food was pretty good.

Rachel got a call from HomeAway and they wanted to her to come in so she drove from Snooze to HomeAway.

After HomeAway, Rachel had another call for work and then went to tutor.

I picked the boys up from school.  When we got home the boys played outside.

Right before dinner, we drove out and picked Zayde up from the airport.  We went from the airport to Kerbey Lane where Rachel met us for dinner.  Noah had a good time teasing Zayde and had a laughing fit (he wanted that part in the blog).

We are home now and Evan is finishing up his homework.  Then he'll go to bed.

Until next time...

Very Long Championship Night

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan's last baseball tournament of the season got reduced to a one-day tournament because of rain yesterday.  With a one-day tournament, he had to play two games.  The two teams with the best record played in the championship.  The games were schedule for 4:30 and 6.  The championship was scheduled for 7:30.

Since it was a late start, we took it easy in the morning.  Rachel wanted to go for a walk around Lady Bird Lake, but the boys refused.  Rachel and Lizzy went.  Rachel said much of the trail was underwater and she had to find ways to get around it.  They opened the dams so the lake (which is really a river) was flowing pretty fast so Lizzy couldn't go swimming in the lake.  When they got to the boat ramp, the water had gone completely up the boat ramp.  Rachel let Lizzy swim in that for a bit since it didn't have a current.

Evan and I left the house just before 3.  We found that the games were running nearly 45 minutes late.  The Bucs did not start out very well.  We scored just two runs in the first inning.  Evan struck out to end the first.  The other team, which was not very good, scored two in the bottom of the first.  The Bucs scored one in the top of the second.   Then the other team scored 2 in the bottom of the second to take a 4-3 lead , had bases loaded and no one out.   Evan came in to pitch.  He walked the first batter on some questionable calls to make the score 5-3.  Then he struck out the next batter and induced a pop up which led to a double play to end the inning.  The Bucs scored one in the top of the third.  Since they were trying to fit a lot of games into a short amount of time, no new inning could start after 65 minutes.  So Evan came out in the bottom of the third with about 6 minutes.  If he couldn't get 3 outs in 6 minutes, then the game would end and the Bucs would lose.  He got the last out with 43 seconds so we were able to start a new inning.  The Bucs ended up scoring 9 runs.  Evan pitched the bottom of the fourth quickly getting 3 outs for the win.

In the second game, the Bucs continued hitting well.  Evan crushed a ball in his first at bat.  I think it was his hardest and farthest ball he hit all season.  Unfortunately, the center fielder made a nice play and caught it in the air.  The Bucs went on to win that game.  Since we won both games, we made the championship game.

Since the first game started late and we scored 9 runs to end the game, we finished late too.  Then the second game ran late as well.  We didn't start the third game until after 8:45, a full hour and fifteen minutes late.  The Bucs jumped out to a 9-0 lead after the top of the first. Unfortunately, the other team scored 8 in the bottom of the first.  We answered with 5 runs in the top of the second and the other team only managed one run.  In the top of the third, we scored 4 runs to take an 18-9 lead.  Evan was 1-1 with two walks and three runs scored.  The other team scored 4 runs and had bases loaded with one out when we brought Evan in to close the game.  He quickly got ahead of the batter but the batter managed to hit a hard ground ball to the right side of second base.  Unfortunately, our centerfielder was playing on the left side and the ball rolled to the wall.  All three runs scored and the batter got to second.  At this point it was 18-16 with a man on second and one out.  Again, Evan got ahead of the next batter.  He induced a somewhat weak line drive to the first baseman for the second out.  Then the next batter hit a weak ground ball to second to end the game.  So Evan wound up with a win and a save in one day.  He was very excited.  The Bucs won the championship.

Rachel and Noah came for what they thought was the second game, but the first game hadn't finished.  Noah wanted to stay the whole time so they were there until the very end.

By the time we had the ceremony to get the rings and got back to the car an into it, it was 11pm.  The problem was we hadn't had dinner.  We figured they were up this late and the boys were pretty wired, so we went to Kerbey Lane for dinner.  The boys both ate well.

We are home now and the boys are already asleep.

Until next time...

Take a Hike

This morning we walked the boys to school.

Right after we got home Lynn/Grandma and Lenny/Papa picked me up and we went for a hike on the Violet Crown trail.  After that we ate brunch at Kerbey Lane.  We had a nice time.  The hike was beautiful and the weather was good.

We walked to pick up the boys at school.

I tutored Audrey this afternoon and Morry and Evan went to baseball practice.

After tutoring, Noah and I went to HEB.

For dinner we had corned beef and baked potatoes.

The boys are in bed now.

Track and Field Days

Yesterday Evan had Track and Field Day at school.  Today, Noah had his.  We walked to school.  Then, I stayed to help out.

Later in the morning Morry dropped off Zayde so that he could see some of Noah's rotations.

Morry and Zayde ate lunch at Kerbey Lane and then went to buy Zayde an iphone.

Morry and I walked to pick up the boys from school.

I tutored at 5:00.

When I was done I met everyone at Grandma and Papa's house for dinner.  We had a nice time.

The boys are in bed now.

Here are some pics from today and yesterday.

Evan's Parent Teacher Conference

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

The kids were off from school today for President's Day.  But we had to go in for Evan's Parent-Teacher Conference.  That's what it's called, though we barely spoke to the teacher.  She had instructions for your child to show you what they had been working on.  Evan has been working on poetry.  He wrote two very nice poems.  One of the poems was about PNC Park.  I was very impressed with it.

When we came home, Rachel and the boys went to Mt. Bonnell.  They went with a family where the mother is  Pink Ribbon Cowgirl and friend of Rachel and her son is Noah's friend.  Deborah and another Pink Ribbon Cowgirl met them there.  They stopped at Whole Foods and picked up food to each there.

I worked all day.  Late in the afternoon, I played football with the boys.

We went to the airport to pick up Grandma and Papa.  We stopped at Kerbey Lane for dinner on the way home.  The food was good.

The boys are in bed.

Until next time...

No School Today

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Last night, Evan and Noah stayed at Grandma and Papa's.  They went over there around 5:00.  Everyone went to dinner at Kerbey Lane.  Then the boys slept in sleeping bags.  Rachel and I went to see the Hunger Games at the Alamo Drafthouse.

I got up later than normal since I didn't have to take the boys to school.  But I still had to do work.  I worked for several hours in the morning and then took my car to the car wash.  Rachel went to Grandma and Papa's to get the boys.

I met everyone at the Wildflower Park and we played football for a bit.  Noah went home with Rachel and Evan came with me to get smoothies at Smoothie King.

I worked all afternoon.  Evan watched Rat Race.

For dinner we went to Grandma and Papa's.  They picked up Torchy's Tacos.

The boys are showering and getting ready for bed now.

Until next time...

Zayde Goes Home

This morning we walked the boys to school.  It was very foggy outside.

Morry and Zayde went to breakfast at Kerbey Lane and then Morry took Zayde to the airport.  From there, Morry went to a meeting.

Deborah came over for a little while until it was time to get the boys.  She came to hang out and work on her computer.

I left to tutor while Morry went to school.  He picked up Evan and Jack since John wasn't feeling well.  Noah was staying at school for Math Pentathlon.

Morry and Evan left for baseball. Noah stayed home. I came home a little while later.

When Morry and Evan got home we grilled/baked our steak and fish and then ate dinner.

The boys are ready for bed now.

Happy Birthday Rachel

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today is Rachel's 37th birthday.   Rachel got to pick out what she wanted to do.  She kept it pretty low-key.

In the  morning, I went into Aaron's for a bit until lunch. Rachel chose to go to Kerbey Lane for lunch.  She brought the boys and I met her there.  The boys ate well.  Rachel got lemon pancakes.  She left to go tutor and I brought the boys home.

The boys just played at the house in the afternoon until Rachel got home.  When Rachel got home, Evan, Rachel and Lizzy went for a walk.

For dinner, we went to the Melting Pot.  The boys again ate very very well.  They each had steak, salmon and shrimp.  The service was not as good as normal there.  But everyone had a good time.

The boys are now in bed.

Until next time...

Noah Rides a Bike!

This morning we walked the boys to school.

After that Grandma/Lynn and I went for a walk.  Later we met Aunt Sandy for lunch at Kerbey Lane.

We walked to get the boys from school.

Evan had the first day of STAAR testing (statewide tests).  He said it was not as bad as he thought it would be.

I went to tutor and Morry and Evan went to baseball practice.

While we were gone Grandma made dinner and Papa worked with Noah on the bike.   Noah made a lot of progress today and was able to ride on his own a little bit.

Here is a picture and video.

We ate dinner and soon the boys will get ready for bed.