Ten on Tuesday

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack....
Not really.
Sort of.
I'm just saying hi.

1. When I cut Astrid the orchid back after her flowers died I figured that was probably it...but looooook! She's back too. So I think maybe that means...{gasp}...I can grow something.
Lovely. And I'm sure orchids are super easy to move, right?!? yeah.....

2. Little Rock all weekend. Baseball and soccer tournaments. 90++++ degrees. But tons of fun.
Jack got to eat at Hooters twice. I'm still not sure how that happened....

3. It was my first experience there. The waitress messed up our bill not once...or twice....noooo, by the third time I was laughing so hard I was crying and had to excuse myself to the bathroom.
I felt bad. I know she wasn't hired for her math skillz but come on...

4. Is Verizon really getting IPhones? Because I want one...

5. This is the boys last week of school. Crazy.

6. I love my new TapOut shirt. Love. I'm a dork. A huge dork.

7. My sister is having babyZ in two weeks! I'm sort of beyond excited....and I so need to buy my ticket....and go shopping. Twist my arm on the babygirl shopping. Get out....the CUTE level is high.

8. We always do all this stuff around the house to make it "nice" before we sell....and then it's always the way I would have liked while I was living here....and I always wonder why we wait until we're leaving to do that.

9. I like green juice. Just sayin...

10. Jared has his awards ceremony tonight at school. Last year he told me it wasn't important, and Colin was out of town, so we skipped it. He ended up getting a trophy for math.
Not. Skipping. It. This. Time.

The end.
Nothing exciting...but it's all I've got.
xox

ok. I lied....

back briefly to show you what my son did during his field trip to the zoo.
They were suppose to make a video of the animals...
omg. this cracks me up.
(pause my music before playing)
J is video taping, and says "yeah" at the end.
xox

all work and no play makes e a dull girl...
all work and no play makes e a dull girl...
all work and no play makes e a dull girl...
all work and no play makes e a dull girl...
all work and no play makes e a dull girl...
all work and no play makes e a dull girl...
all work and no play makes e a dull girl...
all work and no play makes e a dull girl...
all work and no play makes e a dull girl...
all work and no play makes e a dull girl...

be back once i get this house on the market
xoxox

on this Friday I bring you an excerpt from:
My Awesome Poems
By: Jack
(Dedicated to: My family)

Acrostic poem:

Joyful
Awesome
Cool
Kind

Diamante:

Baseball
Fun Exciting
Running Hitting Catching
off the walls Fun
Yelling Throwing Batting
Cool Awesome
Baseball

Haiku:

A tiger is feirce

It runs fast to catch it's pray

Tigers are so fast

and my personal favorite...

his Couplet:

I don't like to read.

I don't feel the need.

Happy Friday friends!

Enjoy your weekend.

We're heading out of town for baseball and soccer.

{if the rain holds off}

xoxox

...not to dwell on how old my kid is or anything...
but ummm...whoa...
doesn't seem like THAT long ago I made this page.

I'm pretty sure WorldCup is this summer though...
and the boy is 15.
And crazy that Coley is the age Jared was in this photo.

{J looks older to me}
He is still not going to watch the games in a sports bar.
Good to know some things stay the same.

{Gosh I miss scrapbooking & this would be why}
...........
2 posts in one day...
can only mean one thing

someone {might} be procrastinating the cleaning of the house...
the realtors are coming tomorrow.

better go.
xox

the boys are thrilled that over Easter

I realized how cute these jars look filled with candy.

I've created M&M monsters ...

and I can't seem to keep them full for long.

{both the boys and the jars}

Airplanes...

I really don't have much to say at the moment...

Jack cracked me up with his calendar update.
On the 14-15th he crossed off the soccer tournament,
{the one we still have}
and wrote in that he has baseball.
and then "no" "no" and "no" to Little Rock for soccer.
We are having some strong objections lately from Jack toward soccer.
I think this might be his last season playing.
I can't lie. I'm sort of glad he decided on his "own" sport...chose to do his own thing.
I think being the third boy, it's a good thing to have your decidedly different strengths.
Now if someone could put a stop to the endless "soccer is better" "baseball is better" arguments that would be great.

Jared told me he liked my shirt this morning and I punched him in the arm.
In my defense, I thought he was kidding.
He wasn't.
It was sweet.
(not me punching him in the arm, him complimenting me)
He's as sarcastic as I am...it was hard to tell...

Jared is becoming more and more fun to hang out with...
he's a good guy.
Crazy when your kid becomes more grown-up like and less kid like.
I'm sad I only get him here another three years.
I can't think about it because it makes me cry.

Lack of sleep also makes me weepy.
Such a bad combination.
I haven't been sleeping well because I'm stressed I think.
I'm not really sure...
I don't normally get this stressed about anything.

I've moved when I was nine months pregnant with a four year old,
when the boys were 11mos, 3, and 7 we moved across the country,
I've moved with toddlers,
and while it made the unpacking more challenging.
Moving my teenager is just almost more than I can take...
Pulls at my heart...and makes me question our decisions.

(That and selling the house always stresses me out a bit)

sigh.
It will all be fine....
in the meantime
I finished my tiny cross stitch.
(Erin quit looking if you're not suppose to see it)
...totally enjoyed it.

thinking about:
How Colin and Jared can't get along lately, and Jack and Colten can't.
I feel like a referee.
And while I enjoy wearing black and white...
I do not look good in stripes.

Cross stitching is ... coming along.
{insert giant happy face}
I am concerned that the back doesn't look the same as the two rows she started for me though.
The front looks ok I think.
The back looks different, so I am sensing I'm doing something wrong.
What?
I don't know.
Why I'm even stressing over the back of the design...
I do not know.

Kaiser rolls.
I want to see Colten jazzed?
Make his sandwich on a deli kaiser roll.
"I looooooved my lunch. I looked forward to it all morning"
(who knew?!?)

It figures that I find out I'm moving
just when I discover a few people I'd actually love to hang out with...
(Seriously...happens every time)
And here I thought I'd figured out the "distance yourself so you don't get close thing"....
DARN it.

I need to figure out how to tie ties.
With three boys,
it might come in handy.
Like this morning for instance...

It's hot here.
I don't do hot well.
...
Who am I kidding...
I don't do cold well either.
...
Why can't it just be like 75 with no humidity all. the. time.
Is that asking too much?

Soccer tournament for Colten this weekend.
First game?
7am tomorrow.
In Memphis.
Holy early game batman.

I'm staying here for Jack's baseball tournament.
4:30am wake up call? Noooo thank you.
Colin is a much better morning person.

This is the biggest small town I've ever lived in.
Literally I told four people we're moving...
and two days later,
everyone I see knows.

If I like you...I will re-name you.
Really, I'll probably just shorten your name...
If I can't shorten it,
I will lengthen it...
but if I like you, I will probably not call you by your given name.
I apologize in advance for this.

Sometimes people don't like having their name shortened.
One of these people may now being calling me Rika.
I may KEEL this person ifin he doesn't stop.

We went to a church here where the pastor said
God would KEEL {kill} us if we spoke poorly about his church...
have I told that story?
I think I have...
I say KEEL a lot.
Only went to that church the one time.
I have nothing bad to say about the church though.
{you know...just in case}

I'm going to learn to shoot {a gun}...
I am. SUPER. excited.
I have always wanted to learn.
It is on my list along with learn to knit, sew, & cross stitch.
Yeah...That sounds about right.

THIS is super cool.
Sarah is one of my most favorite people I've never met.
(but feel like I know)

I might need more coffee today.
The giggly teenage girls at Target today just about did me in...

That would be my random for this Friday.
Have a glorious weekend friends!
xoxox

Things we will miss from Arkansas: Andy's Frozen Custard.
{Blueberry concretes right now...guess what I'm SO getting this weekend}

Things we are looking forward to in Ohio: Chipotle {oh. how we've missed you}

*Yes. I'm hungry. Can you tell?!?

Dear babyChuck-
I know you're not born yet...
you're a girl...
and your name is not in fact Chuck...
I'm writing you a little note of apology in advance.
You see when your momma emailed me and asked if I'd make a cross stitch for you...
I said yes.

How darling the idea...of having a little cross stitch from lots of different family and friends that all love you so much hanging on your nursery wall...
sigh.
Oh how I love that idea.
and then the mail came...
My envelope from your sweet Grandma,
and inside:and then I remembered an important detail...
I can't sew.
No really.
I can't sew.
I make your cousin Jared sew buttons on pants when they fall off.
True story.
Yes, I know...pathetic.

So while I think I should really really have a practice cross stitch for my first go-around...
I'm going to try this.
I have to tell you though,
it took me a good 20 minutes
to figure out how to get the fabric on that little ringy-thing...
No, ...I'm actually serious.

I know...I know....it's the thought that counts.
We are going to focus on that sentiment.
Deal?
{and if worse comes to worse... there is always Jared}

Love you babygirl ♥
xox
Aunt-e

PS. I'm actually hoping I love this....because it's super cute...and I sense I could find more cross stitches I might need to make. {lookout babyZ}

PPS. I really want to learn to sew.

PPPS. Jared would not be happy I mentioned his mad sewing ability.

not to dwell on this issue...
but it's Wednesday.
and that would be four trains.
I'm just sayin.

*just got back from picking up the boys.

make that five...

Dylan is not a frog...

Setting:
Baseball practice (the other night)

Cast:
Jax- Jack's teammate
Phillip- Dad of another of Jack's teammates
Colin- You know him. However, if you didn't know, he takes his sports pretty seriously

Jax is throwing with another player next to the bleachers the parents are sitting on.
He's wearing his Yankees cap.
Colin: You a big Yankees fan? Who's your favorite player? (or something along these lines)
Jax: A-Rod
Colin: Noooo....You need a different favorite, like Robinson Cano.
Phillip: A-Rod is a fraud.
Colin: Do you like Robinson Cano?
Jax: YOU'RE FAT (to Phillip)
Phillip: (laughing) Wait ...What?
Colin: Really, you need to consider switching to Robinson Cano.
Jax: You are fat.
Phillip: (who is the opposite of fat) Jax...Why are you calling me fat? I didn't say you were fat?!?
Jax: You said A-Rod was a frog...and frogs are fat...so you are fat.
Phillip: I said he was a fraud.
Jax: I know.
Phillip: Fraud...not frog.
Jax: You're a frog.
Phillip: Frau....never mind. I was kidding.
Colin: I wasn't kidding though ...about Robinson Cano.

I was dying I was laughing so hard.
{maybe you had to be there}
I called Jared a frog a hundred times yesterday...
We are easily entertained.

Another favorite {FAVORITE} recent conversation of mine...

Jack (in a disgusted tone) "Your friend Dylan is on facebook, and he just asked if our mom was a professional photographer?!?"
Colten "What did you say?"
Jack (again, completely disgusted) "I said noooo. Then he said she should be."
Me "Ummm....Who is Dylan?"
Colten "A friend from school"
Me "I love that kid...I think he's my favorite of your friends"
Colten - eye-roll. big time.
Great kid that Dylan I don't know.

Things we will miss from Arkansas: Dylan
Things we are looking forward to in Ohio: Parades

Chicken enchiladas and guacamole for dinner! ahhhh yeah....
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
xoxoxoxox

{layout from a few years ago when we lived in Ohio}

We lived in Ohio for exactly one year.
Almost to the day.
I disliked the whole year.
To the day.
When we moved here,
I said I would never...
ever...
ever...
ever

move back to the north.

Which is why we are moving back to Ohio this summer.
Yep.

My list of possible next moves....
included...
South Carolina,
Germany,

Switzerland,

Spain,
Oregon,
Utah,
&/or Colorado...
so we are moving to Ohio.

The town where I left the grocery store multiple times
in tears.
Ohhhh yeah...
(and for the record, I am so not a cry-er)

needless to say I'm really excited.
or not.

I am however going to attempt to make the best of it.
{but thanks for listening to me whine a little here}

...this helped to encourage me this morning...

on the way to the boy's school:

and on my way back from dropping them at school:In an effort to be positive,
we've been doing "what we will miss" and "what we're looking forward to" lists...
I'll have to blog them once I get some photos.
.........................
Been a crazy week.
xox

Dear Trains:
I will not miss you when we move.
Love-e

So April 27 and 28 was my high school EOC's, or end of courses, for Biology. Me being somewhat a genius is in Biology. The first day of testing wasn't that bad and i felt pretty good about it. The second day was a little trickier but i thought i was doing well.....that was until the last open response on the test. It gave me a giant amino acid/codon chart with a strand of amino acids, making a DNA, and asked me four things:
1) transcript to mRNA
2) translate into tRNA
3) find the amino acid bases that code for the DNA
4) now what is the complementary DNA strand

Now i was a little lost on number 1.....so getting number 4 done was near impossible....so i thought "HEY! I'm just going to be funny!" so the picture was my answer to the last open response question on my end of course Biology exam.
Look at the genius answer.Complementary DNA.

I was planning to tell a funny Jared story today.
However, this morning when I was reviewing the details,

and he said to start off by saying "I had a giant codon/amino acid chart" ...
I quickly decided it might be best if Jared just told the story.

(a codon whaaaa?!?)
J will be guest blogging this evening.

So...

My mother-in-law {aka Gaga, aka LadyGaga} was visiting &

brought those lovely lollipops you see above,

(they really are lovely)

thinking they would be a nice treat for our car ride to Mississippi.

{baseball tournament}

She gave them to the boys and said they were for the trip,

that they were...

"road suckers".

Road.

Suckers.

I of course giggled, because I'm actually a teenage boy.

And since last Thursday,

my boys have asked everyday for a road sucker.

Guys sure love road suckers.

What? They are apparently very tasty.

That's all I was saying...

..................

whew...
funny stuff.

but
Jared is way funnier. trust me.

{oh. wait. I have a blog?}
we have been ...
painting the purple room. {it's no longer purple} playing baseball until 10pm. a little sick with a cold. watching soccer. visiting with our Gaga. playing soccer. going to movies. eating yummy food. laughing. watching Gaga make our flower beds look lovely. playing baseball until 10pm. getting a fake-fake tooth put in. {technically called a temporary crown...but really, it's a fake-fake tooth} reading. watching the weather. finding a fantastic pizza place. eating fantastic pizza. getting a mohawk. {again. it's baaaack} forgetting to send april snack to school. {just like I forgot march, february, january...you get the idea} playing cards. out of town for work. laughing with the baseball parents. texting each other while out of town. wishing for a phone with a keyboard. seeing claire. taking EOG tests at school. soccersoccersoccer. playing baseball until 10pm. loving haagen-dazs pineapple coconut icecream. {lots} watching the weather. {to play tournaments this weekend or not. that is the question} picking up extra boylies from school. talking with crazy soccer peeps. in love with the sun. {if we move I will miss you dear sun} enjoying spring.

xoxoxox

ten (or less) on tuesday

"If you read my blog,

you know I'm a pilates freak...

and by pilates...

I mean waffles"

(Zach Galifianakis on SNL)

1. I have not been a good blogger.

2. Jared has a big Greek-food project due tomorrow and it has taken all the restraint I have not to just make the dish for him today.
It would be done now.
I know that's wrong...
but come on. Now I have to wait for him to finish at soccer practice,
and Jack has a game at 7:45....
It could be done now...that's all I'm sayin'.

3. Went to see the movie Date Night...
it made me laugh...lots. I love Steve Carell.

4. I'm getting my house ready to put on the market.
Which is kind of like nesting, but much less exciting...

5. Can't tell you more about #4 yet...

6. Because it's not for sure...

7. I'm making garlic chicken for dinner tonight in the crockpot...or "sprite-chicken" as my boys would say...smells delish, however the garlic has turned blueish-green, and has now grossed me out.
Umm...it's never done that before.
Colin says this is normal.
Since he is the food-safety man I am trying to trust him on this...
Trying. To.
Weird.

8. I firmly believe every post should have a photo, however my computer is disagreeing with that..stating that it has no more memory left and my photos are the root cause.
I sense it's going to try to go all blue screen on me again because it's old.
(and grumpy)

9. Jared got chocolate on my new(ish) couch, didn't fold the laundry after I asked him to, and left a dent in the wall by throwing things in the house...and that was just yesterday.
My fifteen year old.
Whaaaaat is going on here??!?!?

10. I know that's not really ten things.
I really don't even have five interesting things to share.
(see #1)
Have I mentioned I could be cooking right now, and the food for Jared's project would be done?
(I'm a horrible mother...I know)

Instead I sense I'm going to be up late...helping him.
and by helping
I mean waffles.

"I enjoy playing outside with Jamison. I play lots of things like football or kickball. My favorite game is capture the flag. I like it because it gets your heart pumping like a beatbox on loud."
(excerpt from Jack's paper: What I Like To Do)

Here lately:
Jared got a yellow card at Friday nights game.
When I asked how,
he told me he "accidentally pulled the other player down by his jersey"...
hmm...

Jack told me he'd like to find out who invented bagels so he could thank them.

My neighborhood had a "neighborhood garage sale" a few weekends ago
the boys managed to buy a basketball hoop.
excellent purchase.

Just a few from Saturday...

*Colin and Colten left this morning for Kansas City.
*Colten has a soccer tournament there.
* I think it will be nice for them to have some one-on-one time...but I miss them both already.
*To make myself feel better I went to Target after they'd left.
(Target = happy)
*I talked on the phone with Colin and not more than four hours into the trip & he'd already fed my child a corn-dog from a gas station.
*Yes, from a gas station.
*No, I don't know what's wrong with him.
*Jack has a baseball tournament this weekend.
*Actually it starts tonight.
*The tournament is called the Big Nasty.
*Yes, I'm so getting a shirt.
*Because Jack has a game I'm missing Jared's soccer game tonight.
*This makes me a little sad.
*To make myself feel better I dropped off some treats for Jared at the office while he was at school today.
*He texted me thank you.
*Jack and I have to go eat dinner now...so we're not late for the Big Nasty.
*Yes, I'm trying to say Big Nasty as many times as possible.
*Who do you think picked that name?
*We have to go get new baseball cleats before the game.
*I just bought a new bat today.
*If you know how much bats cost you feel my pain.
*I also ordered new cleats for Jared yesterday.
*Again...painful.
*But it's ok. It's their favorite thing. So I love it too.
*Ok, now we really have to go.