Chewie's Trainer and Thrift Shops

 Today Chewie's trainer came by to show us everything she has worked on with Chewie.

Then, Morry and the boys watched the Steelers game.

After that, we went to two different thrift shops to find stuff for the boys to wear on Halloween. Evan was successful, but Noah wasn't.  We will have to find something for him online.

Then, we did our grocery shopping at H-E-B.

Evan went over to Reid's house to go swimming tonight.  He just got home.

Now Morry and I will sit down for a little bit and probably watch the last episode of Schitt's Creek.

Friday - Wednesday

Friday - We met the Williams and Mantis (the families we normally vacation with) for dinner and swimming.  We had planned on going on a vacation together this summer, but it didn't work out.   So, instead, we all got together on Friday.  We met for dinner at Mandola's and then went to the William's house after. They have a pool and all of the kids had a great time playing together.

Saturday - Evan had a baseball practice and then Morry and the boys met Alex and Jake at the movies. While they were out, I met a friend of mine for happy hour in the neighborhood.

Sunday - We took Chewie for a walk around the lake.  For dinner, we met Morry's cousin, Aaron, for dinner at Moonshine.

Monday - We took Calvin, Flash, and Chewie to the vet for their yearly checkups.  Calvin lost another pound so now we will give him one pill daily, rather than 1/2.  Flash looked good, except he needs a teeth cleaning and possibly one or two teeth extracted.  Everything was good with Chewie.  He was a big baby though.  He's so scared of the vet for some reason.   After the vet I tutored.

Tuesday - I tutored.  For dinner, Evan went to Grandma and Papa's house.   For our dinner, we made chicken and rice in the Instant Pot.

Today - I tutored.  Then, I met Morry and Evan at Hill Country Indoor, where we might have his Bar Mitzvah party.  Noah went to Grandma and Papa's.  For our dinner we made Buffalo wings.   After dinner Evan had baseball practice.  I walked with Chewie to pick up Noah from Grandma and Papa's.

Here are a few pictures from today.

Evan insisted we by 3 beets at H-E-B and he peeled and cut a beet.  Then, ate it raw for lunch.

At Grandma and Papa's Noah and Grandma made cinnamon rolls.

Garrett's Party

This morning we picked up Grandma and Papa around 9am and then went to Cedar Park (45 minutes) to Garrett's birthday party.  They rented out a pool.  We had a nice time. The boys played water basketball for a lot of the time.  Evan also jumped off the high dive board.  We were surprised to see Ben, Matt's son, working there as a lifeguard.  He came up to say hi.

We came back home and took it easy until it was time for Chewie's training at 3pm.

Chewie did well.  He enjoyed eating all of the treats.

We ate dinner at home tonight and then went to TCBY for dessert.

Now the kids are playing in the gameroom.

Party, Pool, and Michael

This morning I took the boys to a birthday party at Austin Sports Academy.  Noah's friend Liam invited both boys to the party.  They had a good time.

I made lunches and did laundry.

Then, later in the afternoon, I took the boys to the pool for about an hour.  It was overcast and only about 75 degrees outside, but they still wanted to swim.   The pool was pretty empty.  For most of the time, it was just Evan, Noah, and one other kid in the pool.  Evan knew the other kid. He is in his class this year.

Around 5:30 we went to Grandma and Papa's house.  Michael is in town for work.  So, we all went out to dinner at Maudie's.  We had a nice time.

It started raining pretty hard tonight.

The boys are in bed now.

Last Day for Allison and Avery

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

Allison had four conference calls today.  She was already up and preparing when I woke up this morning.

The kids played upstairs most of the morning.  In the late morning, Rachel took Avery and Evan to the pool to go swimming.  Noah stayed at home.

When they got back they had lunch.

Later in the afternoon, I played wiffleball in the front yard with all the kids.

For dinner we went to Grandma and Papa's.  Aaron, Mandy, Jeremy and Nathan joined.  All the kids really had fun together.

The boys are about to go to bed.

Until next time...

No School and Flash at the Vet

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

It was nice sleeping in an hour and a half extra this morning with no school.  When I got up, Evan was in his room but awake.  Noah was sleeping.

I worked all morning.  The boys just played on their iPads.

We went to Wholy Bagel for lunch.

When we got home, Flash began to throw up.  He'd vomit a little bit every 2 minutes.  One of the times, a big clump of something came up.  Rachel and I looked at it.  We thought maybe it was some cable from something.  Then we realized it was three elastic hair ties of Rachel's.  He continued to throw up after that but finally stopped.  He went under my desk and looked weak and lethargic.  We weren't sure if that was because he was sick or if there was anything still in his stomach.  Rachel called the vet and they said to bring him in immediately.  They said of there was another hair band in there, it could get wrapped around something and cause big damage.  Rachel brought Flash in and they were able to take an x-ray.  The x-ray is not 100% definitive, but nothing was shown and no air pockets were visible that would be associated with something like that.  When Rachel brought Flash home, he seemed to be acting more normal.

Evan went to Jack's this afternoon.  They went swimming for a couple hours.

For dinner, we picked up Evan, then Grandma and Papa and went to the Chuy's up north.  Rachel's cousin Lauren was having a dinner there for her daughter's third birthday.  We were able to see Aaron and his family and Aunt Susan.

After dinner, we stopped at Aaron's new house for everyone to get to see it.  Jeremy and Nathan were very glad to have Evan and Noah there.  At one point, Noah was chasing Jeremy around telling Jeremy he was a zombie and was going to eat him.  Jeremy thought this was very funny.  When we went to leave, Jeremy insisted that Noah and Evan bend down so he could give them a kiss on the cheek.

The boys are in bed now.

Until next time...

Home from Costa Rica

Morry and I went to Costa Rica from Monday to Saturday.  We got back late last night as our plane was delayed in Houston because of weather.

The kids stayed with Grandma and Papa.

Today was spent unpacking and getting ready for the week.  I took the boys to the pool for a little while (even though it was only 70 degrees outside).  Morry took them later in the afternoon for haircuts.

Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Outdoors

The boys and I had a busy day today.

First, we went to someone's house to buy some books for the boys.  We have a neighborhood Facebook group where people post things they want to sell. This woman was selling a bunch of her sons books that he no longer reads.  The kids loved the house.  Not for the books, but for the animals.  She rescues animals, mostly cats.  There were quite a few cats walking around that the kids played with.  We picked out a few books and then left.

Next, we met Morry at Wholy Bagel.

From there, we went to Half Price Books.  I filled up 3 bags with our old books.  I wanted to see if we could get any money for them and the boys wanted to pick out some books too.  I ended get a little bit of money for our stuff.  The boys picked out a few Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes books.

Then, we went on a hike/swim.  We went to the Barton Creek Greenbelt.  It's a long system of various trails and the stream.  We walked about 1/2 mile to the stream, that was pretty full and busy.  The boys had a great time playing in the water and swinging off a rope.  Then we did a little more walking around and found a nice spot with a bridge/deck.  We hung out there for a little bit too.

We got home mid afternoon and both boys fell asleep. They almost never take naps.

We had to wake them up so we could pick up some dinner.

We go Subway for the boys and Via 313 pizza for us.

We ate at home and now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Here are some pictures from today.

Swimming, Tutoring, Costco Shopping

This morning we met Owen and his mom at the pool.  We stayed there for about 2 hours and ate our packed lunch there as well.  The boys had a good time.

We spent most of the afternoon at home.

I tutored from 5 -7 pm.

While I was gone Morry took the boys to Costco.  Evan and Noah ate dinner there.

When I got home Morry and I had leftover Sprite chicken from last night.

We went for a short walk.

The boys are getting ready for bed now.

First Swim and First Sweet Carolines of the Year

For lunch we had leftover pizza from last night and then I took the boys over to the pool.

They had fun.  It was hot out, but the pool water was pretty cold. 

When we got back home Morry and Evan went to Marauders baseball practice.

On their way home they picked up dinner from Saps.

After dinner we went to Sweet Caroline's for shaved ice.

Now the boys are getting ready for bed.

Here are a few pictures.

Swimming and Cookies

This morning the boys took it easy at home.  They watched Field of Dreams.  I went for a run.  I made them lunch and then left for tutoring.

While I was gone Evan and Noah went to Jack's house to play and swim.  They had a good time.

This afternoon and evening Noah helped me make and decorate sugar cookies for our block party tomorrow.

For dinner we had leftovers.  The boys (all 3 of them) are playing Wii now.  Soon, we'll put the kids to bed.

Brave and Jack

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

It has been a while (last time was Mother's Day) when the boys and I went to a movie.  I always love taking the boys to the movies because they behave really well and they always seem to enjoy themselves.  So we planned a trip today.  We thought we'd let Rachel have a morning to herself. The movie started at 11:35 so it wasn't so much of a morning by herself for Rachel, but she did get a lunch to herself.

As always the boys behaved extraordinarily well.  It was a pleasure to take them.  We got our normal popcorn and Icees.  They loved the previews.  Unfortunately, they weren't that thrilled with the movie.  It was set in the time of castles and archery and that's just not their thing.  There were no lasers and no one got hit in the crotch.  I thought the movie was wonderfully animated and I thought the story was interesting, but I knew it wasn't their cup of tea as the movie went on.

We came home and then left shortly thereafter to go to HEB to get some food.  Rachel and I each got a cart and had our own lists to get through the store faster.  I think it worked.  The boys came with me.

We weren't home for very long before we went over to Jack's house.  His parents, John and Randa, invited us over for dinner and swimming.  They have a pool.  Before we went over, I had a catch with Evan and Noah in the front yard.  It was our second time that day (we went out before the movie).  Evan backhanded two ground balls I rolled to him to his right.  He was very proud of himself.  Tryouts for fall baseball are in three weeks.

We had a great time with the Stephensons.  The boys had a good time in the pool while we enjoyed adult conversation.  They ordered pizza and we ate.  We brought over an ice cream cake for dessert.  Evan and Jack liked that.  We also cut up watermelon.  Evan and Noah almost ate all of it.

The boys went back in the pool for 15 minutes before we left.

They are in bed now though not sleeping.  I think Noah is overtired.

Until next time...

Tennis

Today Noah was supposed to go to school, but we let him stay home with us. We knew he would rather spend time with all of us than go to school. We gave him a choice and he chose to stay home.

Jack rang the doorbell and asked Evan to come play. The kids rode their bikes in the cul-de-sac and then Evan went swimming at Jack's house for a little bit.

I went for a run and then we picked up Evan on our way to lunch.

For lunch we went to Satellite and ate outside.

Morry took Marilyn to the airport and then met us at Evan's tennis lesson.

There were 2 other kids in Evan's class. Evan seemed to enjoy it. Here is some video from his lesson.

For dinner we had leftovers.

Now, we'll put the boys to bed.

Kids Night Out

This morning Morry met Evan at school for lunch. Morry decided to surprise him. Evan, of course, was very happy.

Noah's class had friendship day today. They were supposed to wear orange, so Noah picked out his UT shirt to wear today.

Both kids had good days at school. Today Evan brought home Perry, the class dinosaur. Each weekend a different kid brings him home and then adds pages to the scrapbook with pictures and stories of what Perry did that weekend.

At 4pm I brought Evan over to Jack's house for a playdate. They live on the next street over. We picked up Evan at 5:30. He and Jack had a lot of fun. They swam and played inside the house as well.

At 6:30 we dropped off the kids at the Little Gym for Kids Night Out.

Morry and I went to dinner at Gumbo's and then got dessert at Mandola's. Evan and Noah were both pretty tired when we picked them up.

We just got home and they are eating some fruit now. As soon as they finish we'll put them to bed.

Full House

This morning I did more cleaning, straightening up, etc. Then around lunch time the boys and I went to the gym to go swimming. I packed a lunch for us to eat there. The boys were very good and had fun.

After swimming we went to HEB.

I tried to get the boys to nap but they didn’t. I tried putting Noah in Evan’s room since I had already changed Noah’s sheets, but Evan wanted to be in there with him.

Late afternoon everyone came over. First Grandma, Papa, and Bubbe. Not long after that Uncle Mike and Aunt Jen arrived. Evan and Noah loved getting all the attention.

For dinner we went to a barbeque place called Uncle Billy’s.

We just got home and put the boys the bed.

Night at the Golf Course

This morning Evan, Noah, and I went swimming at the gym. They were both really good.

After that we went to HEB.

We came home and had lunch and I tried to get Noah to nap.

At 6pm we went to the golf course near our house. Once a month they have life music and this month the event was benefiting Evan's new school. I took the boys and packed a picnic dinner. Morry met us there and bought a hamburger for himself there. Evan and Noah had a great time running around. There were lots of other kids there. We saw a lot of people we knew.

We came home and had a smoothie and then put the boys to bed.

Last Swimming Lesson

We had the swimming lesson today since Monday was July 4th. The boys had to have their swim lesson outside since the indoor pool was closed. I'm not sure why. Evan and Noah did very well and the teacher was impressed when Evan told him he went down the slide and swam multiple times over the weekend.

After the gym we came home. The boys played in the sprinkler in the backyard while I got lunch ready.

Noah didn't nap.

We had Wonders and Worries tonight. On the way over there we stopped at the library. Noah insisted I get some Hawaiian music while we were there. I picked up a CD for him.

We just got home from Wonders and Worries and are about to put the boys to bed.

Happy 4th!

This morning the boys were good. Noah slept in and Evan played quietly in the game room.

We went to Target and bought a few things. Then we went to the gym again.

I packed a lunch for all of us. When we first got there the boys had about 5 minute to play in the water before the safety break. At that time, we ate lunch. After lunch the boys had a great time playing the pool. Evan went down the slide multiple times. Noah loved jumping into the water like yesterday.

At home, Noah took a good, long nap.

We got dinner ready as the boys played outside. Morry grilled hot dogs for Noah and him. I had fish. Evan had shrimp. We also had corn on the cob and I made watermelon juice. We sat outside and used the fan we bought at Target. It seemed to mostly keep the bugs away.

While we cleaned up and got dessert ready, they boys cleaned up upstairs.

We sat outside again for dessert and ate our watermelon and meringue cookies.

Morry is reading to the boys now. They both kept saying how much fun they had today. They like July 4th now.

The Pool

Hello everyone, this is Morry.

This morning the boys played in the gameroom for a while and let us sleep a bit, though they were very loud. They only fought once with Noah coming in to tell us that Evan called him "poop names".

When Rachel and I got up, we tried to decide what to do today. Rachel said the boys wanted to go to the pool at the gym. I was hesitant because I think that since it was 4th of July weekend, it would be packed. Since I couldn't think of anything better to do, we decided to go.

When we got there, it wasn't crowded at all. At first the kids played in the very shallow end where they could walk around. Then we went where it was a bit deeper. Noah was very confident and would just jump into the water for us to catch them. It was great seeing him be so confident about it. Evan was jumping into the water too. He'd then swim several feet to get to one of us. He was doing well swimming.

Eventually, Evan said he wanted to go down the big water slide. There's a rope that blocks off the pool at the end of the slide. There is a lifeguard standing there but the don't want the parents waiting at the bottom. We have to be on the other side of the rope. Evan came down and immediately turned to his left and Rachel quickly went under the rope and grabbed him. Evan wanted to do it again. He ended up going down the slide probably a dozen times, if not more. Twice I went and Rachel went once. Before Evan's second-to-last time going down, the lifeguard at the top of the slide talked to Evan. We could see him talking to Evan. When Evan got to the bottom he quickly righted himself as he came in feet first and then swam about 20 feet to the edge of the pool and pulled himself out of the water. Rachel and I were stunned. I guess the lifeguard at the top told him to give it a try. So Evan was very proud and went back up and did it again.

We came home and had lunch and then put Noah down for a nap. He slept today. Evan fell asleep watching Ghostbusters in the gameroom.

After they woke up, I made popcorn while Rachel worked with Evan on reading time. She bought a lesson book and was working with him on it. He's very good at it.

For dinner we went to Joe's Crab Shack. We got a kid's meal of king crab for Evan. Rachel ordered a crab pot that came with sausage. Noah ate the sausage. Evan at all of his crap in about 2 minutes and then ate some of Rachel's crab.

After dinner, we stopped at HEB to pick up some food to grill tomorrow.

Now the kids are in bed, but Evan is singing.

Afternoon at the Gym

It took a while to get dressed and get out of the house today. I packed a lunch for us and we went to the gym around noon.

I worked out first and then got the boys from the child care. We swam and ate our lunch at the outdoor pool. Evan and Noah were both very good and listened when it was time to leave.

I tried to get Noah to nap, but he fought it. Eventually it got quiet and I found him asleep in his rocking chair.

We left the house around 5pm to go to Wonders and Worries. Morry met us there. We signed up for a parenting class that meets once a week for a while. They dinner for all of us and activities for the kids while we were in the class.

The dinner wasn't that filling so on the way home I got Panera and Morry got Popeye's for dinner.

When we got home Evan said he wasn't feeling well and was cold. He has a fever. I'll try to make an appointment for both boys tomorrow morning. Noah has been coughing a lot, but I think it's just a cold or allergies, but I'd like to get him checked out too.

Morry is reading to the boys now and then they will hopefully go to bed.