Hebrew

 Today I taught my two classes and then came home.

Starting at 3:30 I had online tutoring and classes until 7:15.

Noah had Zoom Hebrew with Grandma today and I taught a new Hebrew class on Outschool.  The one last semester went well, so I listed another beginner's one this semester.  I have 7 students signed up for the 8-week class.  

For dinner, we had pork tenderloin and couscous. 

Then, Morry, Chewie, and I went for a walk.

More Rain

 Today we had more rain.  It was raining most of the day.

I didn't teach today, so I was home, but I still had tutoring.

For lunch, the kids had pork tenderloin meals we got from H-E-B.

At 4:00 I Zoom tutored a college student.  I have tutored her since she was in middle school and the mom recently contacted me because she needs help with her college Algebra class.

At 5:00 I Zoom tutored the girl whose mom found me on Facebook.  I meet with her twice a week for 30 minutes each.  She's in 8th grade.

After I was done tutoring, Morry and I went to H-E-B to pick up some groceries for the week.

When we got home we got dinner ready. Morry had leftover Chinese food.  I had a chickpeas/rice/cauliflower prepared meal, and the kids had pasta.

Before dinner, Evan and Noah played basketball outside with our new neighbor, Riley who is Noah's age.

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

Last Day of School 2018!

Today was the last day of the school year for all of us.

We walked Noah to school as usual.

I went to my school and gave my last final exam.  Then I took care of a few things at school and came home.  This was our last of school, though I have a teacher workday tomorrow morning.

We walked to get Noah from school.  He was in a really good mood, of course.

Evan got home about 30 minutes late.  His bus was late getting to school to pick up the kids.

We took it easy this afternoon and then ate dinner - pork tenderloin and baked potatoes.

After dinner, Morry and Evan went to baseball.

Rita, our neighbor across the street came over for a little bit for her puppy (7-month-old German Shepard) to play with Chewie.

After that, Noah and I took Chewie for a walk.  Noah wanted to walk Chewie and he did a good job.  The new leash and harness really make a difference with Chewie's yanking.

Morry and Evan got home a little while ago and now the boys are getting ready for bed.

After Messy Morning, No More Dogs

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

As I mentioned yesterday, we were taking Adam in to be neutered.  His adoptive family (assuming they were approved) were going to pick him up after his surgery.  I had to drop Adam off between 8am and 8:30.

First, we walked Noah to school.  Then we put Adam in the crate in the back of the van and I left to bring him to Austin Pets Alive.  About 5 minutes into the ride, I smelled something.  I realized that Adam must have pooped in the crate.  I was stuck in traffic so there wasn't much I could do about it.  As I was stuck in traffic, I saw that Rachel kept plastic bags in the van and she had Clorox wipes.  I figured when I got there, I'd use the bag to pick up the poop and then after dropping him off I'd wipe down the carrier.

I parked got out of the car with the wipes and the plastic bag and I opened the back hatch of the van and then I opened the crate to let Adam out and was absolutely horrified at what I saw.  There was poop covering everything.  The entire floor of the carrier.  It was up the walls.  Meanwhile he raced out and jumped out of the van.  I quickly caught the leash only to have the startling realization that the leash was covered in poop as well.  He pulled hard and the leash rubbed against my pants leaving more poop.  I managed to hold him while getting wipes out and I tried to wipe down the leash and my hands but there wasn't a whole lot I could do.  The leash I was using was basically a rope that Austin Pets Alive had given to us and the poop was in the cracks and crevices.  I just closed the van and decided to try to drop him off as quickly as possible and see if they could get me something to clean up.  I walked to the medical center but things were not getting any better for me.  There was a line of people dropping off dogs and cats to be neutered and spayed about 15 people deep.  Adam got so excited and for all 35 minutes (yes, 35 minutes) he pulled and pulled and pulled to try to get to the other dogs in line including one directly behind us.  Meanwhile, the leash, my hands and Adam still had poop on them.  When we finally got in, they wanted to weigh Adam who would not stay still.  Then they took Adam away and wanted to me to write the name and phone number of the adoptive family on the paper.  I didn't want to get my phone out with my hands as they were.  I was able to find hand sanitizer and paper towels and I cleaned as thoroughly as I could and got the information.  By that time, they had taken Adam away.  Unfortunately, I was not able to say goodbye.

If the story is not good enough.  I had a meeting right after I was to drop Adam off.  I had to email the guy and tell him I was covered in poop and could not come despite the fact it was 8:55 and I was supposed to be there at 9am (which is why I told the truth).  I'm sure that's a story he will tell for years.

I got in the car and drove back home.  The carrier was still covered so I had to smell this the whole way home.  When I got home, I had to take the carrier out back to clean it out.  Unfortunately, Adam had bitten the end off of our hose so I was not able to attach a nozzle to the end.

I think I'm going to have nightmares about this morning.

I showered and did some work.  Later in the morning, I met Rachel at Wholy Bagel.

We walked later in the afternoon to get Noah.

Rachel left for tutoring just after Evan got home.  I was on a phone meeting at the time.

For dinner, I grilled a pork tenderloin.

We took a walk after dinner without any dog.  Aside from a handful of nights where we were either leaving for a trip or coming home from a trip and we could not get Lizzy from where she was staying, as well as a few nights where Lizzy went with Rachel to Dallas, we've had a dog in the house every night in the last 14 years.  It's a very odd feeling to be without a dog right now.  It's making it a bit harder without Lizzy.  At least Adam got our mind off of things somewhat.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Teacher Meeting, Grocery Store, Papa's Birthday

I accepted a job teaching Math part time at Austin Tennis Academy.  I will be teaching two courses, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra I.  We had our first teacher meeting today.  It went well.  Everyone there seems nice and laid-back.  Classes start September 6, but I will be going often until then for planning, meetings, and student orientation.

After the meeting, I went shopping at H-E-B.

Today was Papa's birthday. So, this afternoon, the boys and I dropped of Papa's present.  He wasn't home at the time though.

Noah went to Jude's house this afternoon.

For dinner, we had pork tenderloin, bread with roasted garlic, and vegetables.

After dinner, we walked to Grandma and Papa's house to say Happy Birthday to Papa in person.  Lizzy came with us.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Disappointing Game

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan has been asking to go to this place called Doc's to watch the Steelers game.  They have a playground outside, and they have big screens everywhere showing the games.  The Steelers game was not on local television this week and Evan didn't have a baseball game so we decided to go.  Noah joined us.  Also, Evan's friend Jesse came with us.

Within 3 minutes of being there, Evan and Noah made a friend.  He was another Steelers fan who "almost 13".  They played football outside until the game started.  He'd come over to our table and hang out with us some.

The game itself kind of stunk.  So that was disappointing.

Rachel braved HEB while we were at the game.  She was still there when we got home.

For dinner, Grandma and Papa came over.  We grilled a pork tenderloin.  Rachel roasted garlic to put on sourdough bread she got.  For dessert, Rachel made a cranberry-apple crisp.

The boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Lots of Construction

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Yesterday, construction started outside of our house.  Google is installing fiber in our neighborhood so we can get Google Fiber.  They have drilled two large holes right out in front of our house.  We signed up for Google Fiber so as soon as they finish installing the fiber lines in the neighborhood, we'll get that.  What that means, is we'll start getting a gigabit/sec download and upload speeds.

We walked to school today and then went to CG.  It's been somewhat easier with the colder weather but we did one exercise that was really difficult today.

Both Rachel and I stayed home.  For part of the day, it was impossible to leave our house with the construction right out in front.

We walked to get the kids.  Neither boy had practice today.

Rachel tutored in the afternoon.

We had leftover pork for dinner.

The boys are about to get ready for bed.

Until next time...

No Sports Today

We walked to school and then went to Camp Gladiator.

Later in the morning Morry got a hair cut and I met Deborah at Starbucks.

I stopped at HEB on my way home.

We walked to get the kids from school.

I left to tutor.

When I got home we had dinner.  Morry grilled a pork tenderloin and corn on the cob.

The kids will be getting ready for bed soon.

Laid Back Wednesday

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

While the mornings were a bit warmer the last two days, this morning it was cold again on the walk.  The only problem with it being cold is that not as many other people walk so Lizzy doesn't get as much attention on those days.

I stayed home all day today, though I had to run out to pick something up at Staples.  And since Staples is just behind Smoothie King in the same shopping center, I went ahead and just picked up a smoothie.

Rachel ran out to Kohl's and HEB in the morning.

We walked to get the boys and Jack came home with us for tutoring.

For dinner, Rachel had made a pork tenderloin in the crock pot.

The boys are playing in the game room right now and should start to get ready for bed shortly.

Until next time...

Cloudy Day

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Evan is sitting here with me as I write this.  Evan says, "meow".

Just before Evan and I left for school, he said he wanted to ride his bike.  Unfortunately, the tires in our bikes needed air so we walked today.  Tomorrow morning, we'll ride bikes.

Noah slept until close to 10am.  He gave Rachel a hard time about taking his medicine and eating.  He needs to eat and drink enough to take his antibiotics.  It took until nearly 1pm to get him to eat enough to take it.

Rachel had jury duty today.  Rachel was supposed to take Noah to Grandma's but because he hadn't finished his food and drink, she came over to watch Noah here.

Rachel got downtown, found a spot to park for 5 hours and paid for it, got to the courthouse only to be told she wasn't needed.

I walked to get Evan from school.  We walked home with Jack and his dad.

After I finished working, Evan and I dropped off a check for someone and then got a PowerBall ticket.

For dinner we had a pork tenderloin.

Evan wants to finish the blog with the following thought, "Poop!"

Until next time...

Cloudy Sunday

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

When we got up this morning, Evan asked that we go to the park that Rachel and the boys stopped at yesterday.  It's an old school park with a metal sliding board, a merry-go-round and a see-saw.  We drove over there.  They had a very good time.  They also had really never played on equipment like that before so they immediately were testing the limitations of that equipment so we had to make sure they knew the rules.  But they had a good time.

We just hung around the house in the afternoon.  Evan and watched the Steelers game when it came on.

Noah and Rachel went to Grandma and Papa's for a bit.

Noah came down and watched with us in the fourth quarter.

For dinner we had pork tenderloin and asparagus.

After dinner, we walked around the neighborhood and looked at lights.

Until next time...

Busy Afternoon

This morning and after we walked to school.  John and Jack walked home with us after school.  The boys played in Jack's yard for a little bit while we talked.

At 4:00 Noah and I went to tutoring for Audrey.  Shortly after Morry and Evan left for baseball practice.

After tutoring Noah was invited to play at Brody's house.

I got a text that one of the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls needed some help. She lives nearby.  She had fallen a couple of days ago and was still in a lot of pain.  She needed someone to take her to the doctor/ER clinic.

Noah stayed at Brody's while I took my friend to an ER clinic.  The woman that runs the PRC met us there and I went back home.  It sounds like they are still there getting x-rays and meds.  I might be going back out to her house later today or tomorrow if she needs more help.

I picked up Noah from Brody's and I finished getting dinner ready.

Morry and Evan got home around 8pm.

We had pork tenderloin, asparagus, veggies, and fruit for dinner. The kids ate really well.

Now, they are getting ready for bed.

Lots of Activities

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

We were able to submit the Your Trainer app last night around 11pm.  It was good to finish that.  I had another deadline with Hey Cupcake today that I was able to finish up.  Because of that I stayed home most of the day.

Around 9:30, Wade's mom came and picked up Evan and Noah.  Wade invited the boys plus Nathan to go to Wazoo's which is a jumpy place.  After Wazoo's, they all went back to Wade's for a while.

Rachel went to Whole Foods for Pink Ribbon Cowgirls lunch.  It sounded like she had a good time. On her way home, she picked up the boys from Wade's.

I went to Hey Cupcake for a meeting in the afternoon.

Evan had a coaching session with Coach Chris today.  It was just him so they worked on hitting for more than an hour.  It went well.  As always, Evan was in a great mood afterwards.

For dinner we had a pork tenderloin that Rachel made in the crock pot.

We went to for a walk and now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Until next time...

Texas-Style Sledding

This morning both boys slept lats.  Noah woke up a little before 9am and Evan woke up about 9am.  That's pretty late for Evan.  I think they were still recovering from New Year's Eve.

We dropped Noah off at school (his first day back), and Evan came with me to tutoring.  The house where I tutor has a little girl in kindergarten. 

At my tutoring, Evan started out just playing with their Legos while the girl played in her room, but later they went outside and next thing I knew they were playing baseball.  I'm sure that was Evan's idea.  It seemed like they had a good time and the family said they would like me to bring the boys tomorrow too while I tutor.

I told Evan we could get a special snack after tutoring if he was good. He wanted to go to Rita's but when we drove up they were closed (not open yet).  We went across the street to a frozen yogurt place and Evan picked out his on concoction of sour apple frozen yogurt, fruit, and a few candy pieces. 

We can home for a little while, but I could tell Evan was bored.  He kept asking what/where we could go.  I decided to take him to the park and try sledding down the dry hill on cardboard.  I had done that before as a kid and thought maybe he would enjoy it.

He loved it!  We did that until it was time to get Noah.

After picking up Noah we went to the bank so the kids could put their own money into their bank accounts.

At home Evan and I ate lunch while Noah played Wii.

We took it easy this afternoon.

Morry got home around 6:30 and we made dinner.  We had pork tenderloin, couscous, and veggies.

Morry and the boys are reading now and then they'll go to bed.

Here's a picture and video from today.

Noah the Cranky

This morning Noah was cranky. I had planned on maybe going to Evan's school for lunch. I wanted to see how Noah was doing. I thought if I suggested we meet Evan for lunch, that would cheer up Noah. He was very excited and we hurried to get out and get the lunches (for Noah and I) packed. Evan's class eats really early at 10:30am.

When we got to the cafeteria Evan's class had just sat down at their table. Sometimes there is extra room at the table for visitors, but today there were just 2 extra spots at the end of the table. We sat at the visitors table in the back of the cafeteria. That's when Noah's tantrum began. It lasted for most of the lunch. He was throwing a fit because we couldn't sit at the end of the table. I tried reasoning with him and explaining why. I offered to let him sit there with the class. Nothing worked. The lunch was miserable. I couldn't really talk to Evan. Noah was hitting me and trying to pinch me. He finally calmed down with about 5 minutes of lunch left. Evan and Noah didn't end up eating much of their lunch. That's the last time I take Noah to school for a while.

We needed to go to HEB, so we went there after lunch. Noah was pretty good at HEB. We ended up seeing a few people we knew while we were shopping there.

At home, Noah and I worked on reading. I have these reading/writing workbooks from when I helped in a kindergarten class while getting certified. Noah really liked doing those. It was mostly circling pictures that started with certain letters, and other alphabet activities.

Noah wanted to stay at home while I picked up Evan.

For the kids' snack I made shaved ice.

During naps I worked on some MB Squared stuff.

I tutored at 6:15.

Morry gave the kids dinner and got them ready for bed. We ate when I got home. I put a pork tenderloin in the crock pot and we had baked and sweet potatoes with it.

There were a lot of stars visible in the sky tonight. We tried taking the boys outside to look at them, but they got super hyper outside and didn't really seem interested in the stars.

The boys have been put to bed, but Evan just came downstairs to show me a Lego creation.

Locomotion and Chick Fil A

This morning we met another mom and her kids at Locomotion. I met her through the Pink Ribbon Cowgirls and she has girls close in age to Evan and Noah. At Locomotion, Evan ran off and played with some older boys. Noah mostly wanted me to stay by him.

After Locomotion we all went to lunch at Chick Fil A.

We got home a little before 1pm.

I had a student come over for tutoring and had the girls down the street watch the boys while I tutored. The boys seemed to have a good time with them.

For dinner I had the leftover pork tenderloin and Morry made a hamburger.

Noah is very cranky right now. He took a little bit of a nap, but he needs to go bed soon.

Oh, I forgot to tell you about Noah's dream last night. He woke up crying and saying that the cactus hurt him. I had to explain to him that he had a bad dream and there was no cactus in his room. Today, I asked him about it and he thought it was funny that he dreamed about a cactus in his room that had poked him.

School and Art Project

I ran/pushed the stroller to school today. I ran the empty stroller back home. I always feel weird pushing the empty stroller. I wonder if people look at me funny and think maybe I forgot something. The kids were good at drop off. Evan brought his Evan Bot to school today. Evan bot is a robot Evan made out of paper.


While the kids were at school I got stuff done around the house and dropped off my art bra.

The boys were happy at pick up from school.

At home they were both very energetic and of course didn't take naps.

We decorated a tshirt with a photo of the boys. Evan and Noah picked out a picture and we edited it in Photoshop. Then, I printed out the picture on a special iron on sheet. The boys showed me where they wanted their pictures on their shirts and I ironed them on. Evan said he wants to sleep in his tonight.

For dinner we had pork tenderloin and vegetables that I made in the crock pot and quinoa to go with it.

Pretty soon we'll put the boys to bed.

School and Bird Houses

I had to wake Noah up for school today. Whenever that happens, it makes things tough. He didn't want to get dressed. I tried, but it was getting too hard to dress him. I just took him to school in his pajamas and got him dressed there. Evan was very good this morning.

While the kids were in school I got stuff done around the house.

When we got home from school the boys wanted to paint their bird houses. We went outside and I covered the little table with newspaper. Evan and Noah really enjoyed painting. All of the colors got mixed together and Evan's whole house is mostly a purplish color, but that's what he wanted. Once the houses dry we'll add some little wooden cutout decorations they picked out as well.

Evan and Noah got paint all over themselves, so I gave them baths as soon as we were done.

I tried putting Noah down for a nap, but he didn't sleep.

Blanca came at 3:45.

I tutored 2 students and got home about 7pm.

Morry and the boys were at Evan's baseball practice so I rushed and got dinner ready. They got home around 7:30 and we ate dinner. We had quinoa. Morry had pork tenderloin I had fish. Noah ate quite a bit of quinoa. Both Evan and Noah had bagels with jelly and some other stuff to go with it.

It's late and we need to put the boys to bed. They are finishing dinner while I write the blog.

Busy day of Shopping

Evan woke up at 7:20am today, a littler later than normal. Morry had already left the house for work so I got Evan set up in the gameroom.

Once the boys were fed and dressed we went to Southpark Meadows for some shopping.

First, we went over to Marshall's. I tried to find a printable coupon for Marshalls before we went out there, but didn't have any luck. At the store I was able to get 2 cute sandals for Evan and Noah for just $15. They both have really wide feet and we normally have to shop at higher end stores like Stride Rite. I was really happy to find these cheap and cute shoes that also fit their feet. I went there looking for dress shoes for Evan, but didn’t have any luck.

Then, we went to Carters. Almost everything in the store was on sale. Sweatshirts were 60% off. Most of the other items I bought were at least 50% off as well. Then, I hit the clearance rack and found a few shorts for $1.50! Evan and Noah had a great time playing with the toys in the store while I shopped. For most of the time we were the only customers in there. I brought my $10 off $50 printable coupon. My total was going to be over $100. I saw a coupon for 20% off but it expired 8/25. I thought I might as well ask, and sure enough the checker allowed me to use it. Yea!

Then we went to Target and of course I had a bunch of coupons there too.

The boys were very good while we were shopping. It was a successful trip.

At home they ate a little bit for lunch and then I put Evan and Noah down for naps. They both napped. Noah slept for 2 hours and Evan slept for 3 hours.

For dinner we had pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes.

After dinner we introduced Evan to his new behavior chart. I got posterboard at Target the other day and finally today I was able to make the chart. We will reward him with stickers and take them away if he misbehaves. After a certain amount he will get certain rewards. His first reward will be a trip to Target (or wherever) to pick out a matchbox or hot wheels car. He needs to get to square 26 to get the car. Evan earned 2 stickers today. We’ll see how this goes.

I’m about to go out with Alissa. We’ll go downtown for a little bit.

Noah is in bed now and Evan is still up. Morry’s in his room now trying to get him to sleep.

School. Then Ice Cream

Evan woke up early this morning while Morry was getting ready for work. Morry got Evan set up in the gameroom and I stayed in bed a little longer. Around 7:45am Evan came in my room and asked to get dressed. A little after that Noah woke up.

I fed and dressed the boys and took Evan to school. Noah and I got gas for the car and then came home. Around 11am Noah got really cranky so I put him down for a short nap.

Noah and I ate lunch and then went to pick up Evan.

When we got to the classroom door I left Noah go in first. He immediately ran in to try and find Evan. Everyone was saying, “Hi Noah.”

After school we went to get ice cream. I got a free ice cream coupon from Baskin Robbins because it’s my birthday month. I chose a scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Evan got a vanilla soft serve cone. Noah had a little of ours, but he was more interested in walking around the store. Evan ate his whole entire ice cream, cone and all.

We came home and I put Evan and Noah down for naps. Neither of them were napping. I let Evan play in the gameroom and eventually it got quiet in Noah’s room. Evan played in the gameroom while I got dinner ready.

For dinner we had pork tenderloin, couscous, and black beans. Evan didn’t eat very much at dinner. Noah ate his hot dog, but that’s about it. Morry was trying to get Evan to eat his broccoli, but said banana by accident. That got Noah all excited about bananas and we had to give him one. It was the last banana we had in the house.

After dinner, Evan and Noah were running around playing. Evan put his underwear on his head and was acting very silly.

We just put Evan and Noah to bed, but Evan has already come out of his room.