Night Out and Saturday

Yesterday, we went to Wholy Bagel with the kids for lunch.

Later in the afternoon we dropped off the boys at Grandma and Papa's house.

I had some South by Southwest tickets for a concert and then Morry and I had plans to see a movie.

After dropping the boys off, Morry and I went to the concert party thing.  We stayed for about and hour.  Then, we got dinner at Gourdoughs.

From there, we stopped at Big Top Candy Shop and Crepe Crazy.

Last, we saw The Divergent Series: Allegiant - Part 1.

The boys spent the night over at Grandma and Papa's house.

Today, we went to Grandma and Papa's house around 10:30 to have brunch and a participatory Purim play.  The boys really had fun acting out the story of Purim.

We came home and then I left to tutor.  From there, I went to a casting call and then Costco.

For dinner we made burritos at home and watched the movie Speed.  The boys were very into it. They liked it.

Now, Evan and Noah are getting ready for bed.  Noah is very excited about his birthday tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from yesterday and today.

Goodbye Mottel

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Today we had to say goodbye to Mottel.  He had his 15th birthday just a few weeks ago.  It appears he hung on just long enough for us to get back from our trip to say goodbye.  I have never lived in Austin without him.  We are all going to miss him very much.

I got Mottel right after I graduated, but before I moved down to Austin in May 1998.  When Mottel was a kitten, I would just watch him and laugh at all the things he'd do.  I remember him racing from one side of the room to the other to jump on a ball that was hanging down from his claw sharpening post.  Mottel endured lots of change and always made it through.  We temporarily moved back to Pittsburgh for 3 months.  He drove up in the car with us.  Every time I'd speak, he'd climb from the back of the car into my lap (even while I was driving).  Then Rachel came into our lives and he had to share me with her.  Then, the big change for him - Lizzy.  It took quite a while for Mottel to trust Lizzy, but in the end they became friends.  They'd even play together, as recently as two weeks ago.  Evan was next to enter the picture followed by Noah.  Through all of that, we were close.  Evan and Mottel developed a special bond this past year.  Mottel used to not eat unless I watched him eat.  Evan took over that duty.  Two weeks ago, Mottel slept on Evan's bed for a while.  Evan was so excited about that.  Mottel absolutely loved the extra attention he got from Evan.  Every morning before we left for school, Evan would give Mottel a kiss.  One time, Evan got a static shock on his lips from doing that.

We are thankful that Mottel did not suffer too much.  I tried to get him to the vet this afternoon as fast as I could, but I was not fast enough.  He had passed away before I got there.  Rachel, Evan and Noah met me there and were able to say goodbye.  They took a paw print of Mottel's and gave it to us.  It's a moldable thing that you can decorate and the bake to harden it.  I think Evan would like to keep that in his room.  Evan took (and is still taking) this very hard.

Evan had baseball practice at 3pm.  I felt it was important that he be there.  I thought it would be good for Evan to do something that he loves to take his mind off of everything.  He was very upset when he got there but once he started playing and talking to his buddies, he really brightened up.  Once practice was over, he thought about it again, but it was a very good 2 hour diversion.

I, too, needed to be at baseball practice. I helped out and it helped me get my mind off of things as well.

At 6pm, we were supposed to meet my very good childhood friend, Maggie, at a hotel where a band was playing.  Maggie is in town for South by Southwest.  She works for a music PR company.  Rachel wanted to know if I was up for it.  I don't know if I was up for it, but I really needed to not be home.  So we went over there.  It was great seeing Maggie.  The boys enjoyed the band.  Noah really liked one of the songs.  Maggie has two other friends living in Austin and they were there too.  All of us had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel.  It was a nice dinner and we enjoyed the company.  Noah really liked Maggie and her friends.  He was a huge ham.  It was funny.  He was making everyone laugh.

We came home and I read to the boys and put them to bed.  It was kind of late, but to be honest, I think it was better for Evan for me to put him to bed and have him just go to sleep than have to think about things.  I imagine it will be hard for him in the morning.  He was the one who would go downstairs first and let Mottel out of the laundry room and sit with him.  But today and tomorrow will be the hardest days and every day after he'll feel a tiny bit better than the day before.

Until next time...

Mottel

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

When we got home from our trip, Mottel seemed fine and happy.  On Wednesday night, as well, he was himself.  But late Wednesday night, he disappeared. I couldn't find him to put him in the laundry room.  Noah found him last night because, it turns out, Mottel was under Noah's bed.  Noah heard what he thought was Mottel vomiting under his bed.  I went up to check on Mottel and he didn't seem right. He had vomited kind of this foamy stuff.  Basically like spit.  He then climbed into the box spring where, years ago, he had created a hole.  I couldn't get to him.  Evan came downstairs last night to tell us that he was really worried about Mottel.  I was too.

This morning, Mottel hadn't come out.  I called the vet and made an appointment.  Rachel and I had to tip the box spring up to sort of dump Mottel out.  Evan came with us to the vet.  At the vet, they couldn't find anything wrong with him.  All his blood levels were normal.  He was not in kidney failure or anything.  He was walking very strangely.  He couldn't put any weight on his right paw.  They did some x-rays and there didn't appear to be anything wrong.  They gave us some pain medication to give him and sent him home.

At home, he came in the office with me and went under the futon.  He's been there all day.

I worked from home today.

Rachel took the boys with her to a house where she tutors.  The boys were good there so Rachel took them to Amy's Ice Cream afterwards.

When they got home, Evan and Noah went outside and played baseball.

For dinner, I met a high school friend who was in town for South by Southwest.  Rachel and the boys stayed home.

The boys are now in bed.

Until next time...

The Day After

Hello Everyone, this is Morry. Rachel is cutting out coupons so she asked me to write a blog. For those of you that don't know, Rachel is obsessed with saving money. It's rare that we eat dinner out without using a coupon and we almost always save at least $10.00 in coupons at HEB. Rachel's high is saving nearly $40 one time. I have to admit, that one was pretty amazing. She keeps another blog called the Cha-Ching Queen which tells you how to save and make money. If you're curious about it, click here.

So this morning, the boys got up close to 9am. Rachel got up with the boys and let me sleep a bit. I worked a bunch this week, including well past midnight several days this week. Then having a birthday party on Saturday really wiped me out. I finally got myself out of bed around 10:30 and came downstairs. The boys were sharing bread from the County Line bread and Lizzy was thinking she was sharing some. Of course Lizzy got herself in trouble. The boys seemed kind of cranky. They went to sleep so late last night so I wasn't surprised.

We were trying to figure out what to do so we decided to go to Freddie's Place for lunch. We had a coupon so it was only fitting. Freddies is a very Austin-type restaurant where you can eat outside and they have a playscape for kids. They also had a band playing called the All-In Blues Band. The band was actually pretty good. We figured if we went there, it would cheer the boys up because they could play outside and eat outside. We were right. Both boys really enjoyed playing outside. Noah played in the rocks a bunch, while Evan climbed and went down the slide. Near the end, Evan was pushing Noah in the baby swing. The boys actually ate some stuff as well which is surprising since they were so preoccupied.

When we got home, we put the boys down for naps and they took good naps.

Rachel's parents left around 4pm. The trip to Dallas is normally anywhere between 3 and 4 hours. At 7pm, they called to tell us they were still south of Waco which is about an hour and a half away. I guess with everyone leaving from South by Southwest, I-35 was packed. Oy vey.

We ate dinner outside on our new patio furniture. We got some really cheap small stuff at Target because we needed something. It was under $100 so we got a good deal. Again, the boys really loved eating outside.

After that we went for a walk. Evan walked much of the way and I put him on my shoulders for a while.

When we got back we gave the boys baths and now they are in bed. They were able to play with their new bath toys that Aunt Diane and Uncle Jay got for them. The toys were hits.

Until next time...

Too Much Cleaning

This morning I dropped Evan off at school and Noah, Lizzy, and I met Melissa at the lake. We walked the 3 mile loop. It was a little cool outside at first, but it warmed up and was very nice toward the end of the walk.

After the walk I went to Alamo Draft House to get a gift certificate for Alissa and then Old Navy to return some clothes.

On the way home around 12:00 I got a call saying the cleaning lady will not be able to come tomorrow. I scheduled the cleaning a few weeks ago. I purposely scheduled it for tomorrow morning to get the house cleaned before Noah’s party. The owner of the cleaning company asked if we could schedule for next week, but I said that wouldn’t work and that I needed someone to come tomorrow. He said he’d see if anyone else could come and would call me back later in the afternoon.

At home I fed Noah and ate lunch and then we picked Evan up at school.

As I was putting the boys down for naps the cleaning guy called and left a message saying he was not able to get anyone to come tomorrow.

I frantically started cleaning. The house really needed to be cleaned. As I was cleaning the upstairs bathroom, I saw Evan’s door open. I’m not sure he napped at all. I needed to keep cleaning, so I left him play in the gameroom with his GeoTrax while I cleaned. I cleaned from about 2:00-5:30 (when Morry got home) and still didn’t get everything done. I was absolutely exhausted.

I had plans to meet Alissa and some of her friends for Alissa’s birthday. We were meeting at a restaurant at 7:30.

I made myself coffee to wake me up and give me some energy and then got ready to go out.

Yenis came over at 7:00 and we went together in my car to the restaurant.

We had a nice time at dinner and then went downtown.

South by Southwest Festival is going on right now and I was sure it was going to be crowded and there wouldn’t be any parking spots. Somehow we lucked out and got a free parking spot on the street. We walked around downtown and sat at a bar for a little bit. I just got home at 12:30 and I’m absolutely exhausted.

Morry did some cleaning while I was gone. There is still cleaning to do tomorrow. Blanca is coming tomorrow at 10:00am so I can finish.

Tomorrow will be another busy day. Whew

Lots of things on a nice day

Today was a busy day. We did a lot today.

This morning we met Liz, my Spanish teacher friend from West Ridge Middle School. We met her for brunch/lunch at Panera’s. It was a little cold when we first got there so we sat inside. Evan and Noah were very well behaved. Noah ate almost the whole time. I got a blueberry muffin for Evan. It was pretty big. He ate half of it and Noah ate the rest. Noah also ate some of Liz’s bagel, applesauce, and fruit. After we ate we went out to the restaurant’s patio. Evan and Noah enjoyed running and crawling around the patio. It gave Liz and I a little bit of a chance to talk.

After Panera’s we met Alissa, Ben, and Molly at the Circle C Park. When we first got there we saw a man walking a dog that looked sort of like Lizzy. I’m pretty sure Noah said “Lizzy” when we saw the dog. We were there a long time. The weather was great and the kids were playing well and having a good time. We stayed at the park until about 2:00. When we got home both boys were exhausted and took good naps.

Morry met a friend for dinner. One of his friends since elementary school is in town for the South by Southwest festival. Morry went straight from work to meet his friend.

Evan, Noah, and I ate dinner at home. I made mac and cheese for Evan. Noah didn’t eat much. He ended up throwing a lot of his food on the floor.

I needed to go to HEB today. We were out of milk for Evan and we needed some other things. By the time we were able to leave the house it was about 8:00. Evan and Noah were very good at HEB. I let Evan walk next to me and he did very well.

When we got home about 9:00 Morry was home and he helped unload the car and put the groceries away. Then, we put the boys to bed.