Sunday, January 29, 2012

Doing for myself.

My girls are overly obsessed with YouTube... I have only caught them watching donkeys mate once so far. It's all good. Mostly Payton likes to watch the bird's eye view of a roller coaster... no idea... she's wild at heart. And then there is Charlie... Nika has every word of this video memorized. It's hilarious... Charlie!

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And if it isn't the iPad... then it's the iPod or my iPhone.

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We need to have a serious intervention... Nika, especially. It is a rare moment that she is not playing on... or headed for... the iPad. It has sort of become a joke in our house... Nika, step away from the iPad.

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We went to the auto show yesterday... family bonding day at the auto show with my mom and grandmother. We drove into DC and as we patrolled the streets for a parking lot... we saw a spot opening up on the street. There was a man... he appeared to be homeless, but who am I to classify... that stood in the road, waving me into the parking spot, as if he was in charge of the street parking. I did my parallel-parking deal and he stood behind my car, waving me on and telling me when to stop. Once parked... he kindly approached my window.

You are in a public parking spot. I agreed and said, "Yes I am." But look all around you and you will see that each and every parking lot around here is $25+. Indeed. So you decide how much my assistance was worth to you today... have a great day.

Dude walks over to the sidewalk, I roll up my window, laugh and ask, "Is this corruption? Seriously. Bribery at its best!" We all agreed that dude deserved a chunk of change... I think we came up with $12 cash. That, or we joked that quite possibly we would return to four flat tires... or a missing car. Dude thanked us and walked away counting his cash. Such suckers we are.

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When all was said and done... I think my facebook status said something like this...

Home from the auto show and my babes are in bed. Note to self: Never take 3 kids to auto show again. Nika could care less. Payton got her fingers shut in a car door by her brother, on accident. And um, I hate cars... found the bimbos walking around talking cars with dudes more entertaining than anything. Oh, and trying to figure out who the secret service was there guarding.

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Payton: *walks out of room* Bye Mom. Schoo.
Me: You are going to school?
Payton: Yeah.
Me: Okay, see ya!
Payton: See ya!
Me: *rolling with laughter at the way she mimicked me*
Payton: MOM! PAY-TON.
Me: You're Payton?
Payton: Yeah. PAY-TON.

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Now that Payton can say her name and she realizes as much... she is not appreciative of anyone calling her anything else. Honey. Girlfriend. Sweetie. She ain't having it... she quickly will turn to you, and demand, "PAY-TON!"

Duh peoples... her name is PAY-TON. That is said with a clear break in syllables... you know, in case you were wondering.

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She's hilarious.

Here is PAY-TON cheering... ohmygosh, she is doing so well. We think she has deemed herself head cheerleader. Her coaches kindly put her in her place... which she so needs. Ha.



Her squad has a new cheer that they are doing to introduce them at the beginning of games. They do their thing and then each one of the girls presents herself by saying her name. I missed it this weekend because I was in the other gym with Mason... but Kyle texted me after the cheer... Payton did her cheer perfect and said her name on cue and everything.

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Love. And so, so proud.

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Been trying to take some time for me... doing little things I wouldn't normally do. Little things, that once you do them... you wonder why you don't do them more often.

The local cupcake shop. Why have I never been there and why don't I go more often? Heaven.

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A bath. I don't think I have taken a bath since I was trying to force myself into labor with Mason. For reals.

A hot drink from Starbucks. I don't drink coffee, so I rarely go there. But once in awhile some hot cocoa in a little Starbucks cup... it relaxes me and makes me feel happy. And walking around with that cup in my hand makes me totally get the Starbucks obsession.

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Breakfast. On the griddle... something I rarely do. And eggs without broken yolks = a happy day.

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Beer bread. I love to bake... not sure why I don't do it more often. It makes me feel all Martha. Last weekend, I made some beer bread for football Sunday. In my world, beer bread is reserved for parties. It made me happy to make it... just because.

A splurge. I have become obsessed with schoolhouse lights... and sort of went on a mission to find the one that was just right for my laundry room. Love.

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I am a nerd... I understand this. Ha. I realize it sounds stupid... but just the feeling of actually doing for myself... it triggered something. Momma likey.

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'Til next time.

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14 comments:

  1. Perfect photos!! Love, love, love!

    And yes - for me, the Starbucks obsession is less about flavor and more about holding a cup of warm goodness in my hands.

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    1. Ha! Thank you so much for validating me ... I was wondering if it was just me. :)

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  2. I enjoyed your stories about Payton and her learning her name! We can relate as Chloe is now learning to say and sign her full name. We say Hartsfield and she thinks we must be talking about someone else, because clearly her name is simply, just Chloe. HA!

    Girlfriend {correction: PAY-TON!} has some serious cheer skills! She's doing so fanastic! How did you find that cheer group?

    I'm happy that you're doing things for yourself mama! It's not dorky at all to enjoy the little things you don't always get around to doing. Anything that makes your mama self happy, is a thing worth doing! :) I do the same exact types of things - it always boosts my mood and makes for a better week ahead!

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  3. I totally get your Starbucks thing...it makes me feel like a grown up when I have a cup from there....who cares if it is hot cocoa. Nobody has to know :).

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  4. Love all the pictures! My two-year-old is about to enter iPad rehab. :) Glad you got some "Mama time" in!

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  5. PAY-TON looks sooo much like her mama! :)

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  6. Thanks for the snapshots. Such a beautiful family. Long live Martha!

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  7. It's so common for the homeless to hail a cab for you when leaving the train station in Chicago and then ask for a tip as if you can't hail your own cab. Drives me nuts! However, if I were saving on $25+ and didn't want my tires slashed, $12 might have been a good deal.

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  8. I love that Charlie clip, too :)

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  9. Ummm we just THREW AWAY a house full of schoolhouse lights. Really. I had no idea.

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  10. LOL!! Chloe has been doing the youtube thing for awhile now. How she finds some stuff amazes me. Some of her favorites? Kids playing in ball pits, and the history of some of the film companies logo's..(paramount is her favorite)I just shake my head sometimes.

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  11. our girls love the charlie bit me video too :) great pics!!!

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  12. I'm convinced apple made their iPad, iPhones and iPods just for our kids. What. Would. We. Do. WITHOUT. THEM!?!?! My daughter needs to be in on that intervention! Seriously! Same situation at our house. We even get dueling iPads where she'll have more than one going at once! Thanks for sharing. Great stories and photos.

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