greatest hits: christmas, part I

as it should be, it's new year's eve and my pants are too tight.

we have indulged this holiday, in the very best way.

this christmas was a big deal.  chris' family lives out of state.  we see each other when we can make it work throughout the year, but holidays are always spent on our respective home turfs.  this christmas his entire family hopped aboard an airplane and flew to big d to spend christmas with our little family.  it means the world to us and no words can describe how proud and grateful we were to have them here. 

our house was full of children and laughter and tears (from time to time) and cookie-baking and lasagna-making and presents and fellowship and love.  it'll go down in the books for sure.

here's a peek:

1) nana gave cooking lessons.

 2) every family has a crazy uncle.  ours is my bil, chad.

 3) the highlight of christmas for me was hanging out with my sil, karin.

 these two are best friends, and i am lucky to be a part of it at all.

 4) the idea of opening gifts at mimi and grandpa's can be exhausting.

 5) creepy husband.

 6) santa visited.

 7) yoda and darth maul came by to say hi.

 8) cousins exchanged gifts.

 9) we went for breakfast with zero incidence of attitude problems from the kids (i'm kidding, btw.  breakfast is not breakfast without an attitude problem from at least one of my boys ;)

 10) rookie fire-fighters were trained at uncle matt's station.

 11) we blended families.

 12) cousins bonded.

 13) uncle chad was sacrificed.

14) boys were boys.

 15) best friendships were formed.

 16) chritmas lights were properly appreciated from horse-drawn carriages.

we had fun and we are exhausted.

thank you for traveling to spend the holiday with us, sweet family.

we love you so much.

tonight we are eating our traditional nye dinner, roasting marshmallows, watching the aggies beat duke, and hopefully making it 'til midnight.

how was your week?  what are you looking forward to?

enjoy your evening, friends, whether it be spent out on the town in sparkly clothes or in the comfort of your home in green sweatpants (ahem).

love,

coco

greatest hits

i am a christmas machine.

in seven days i attended six holiday celebrations of some kind, two birthday parties and baked approximately sixty mini-loaves of pumpkin bread.

while i find much joy in the doing, the details, the traditions of the holidays, some days (to be honest) it gets the best of me.  and almost always i end up snapping my poor husband's head off and coming down with a mean case of christmas neck.

what is christmas neck, you ask?  it is a term i coined for the stress-induced neck tension that i get every year around this time.  last year i could barely turn my head and had to get a massage.  what the hell is wrong with me?

christms neck started creeping up on me yesterday, but i snuck out of the house to give my dear friend a birthday hug, and it all melted away.  

we are shopped, wrapped, decorated and celebrated.

i am now ready to truly relish in the joy of my favorite season.

and this year i won't even need a massage.

here's a peek at my week:

1) this bug.  i love her so.

2) our annual girls christmas party where we booze it up and collect money for girls, inc.

3) babies turn into big boys in four phases.

there's the first-haircut phase, then the giving-up-the-pacifier phase, the big-boy-bed phase (sniffle).

now who wants to come potty train this child for me?

 4) marcy hosts an annual cookie decorating party for her kid friends.  crosby eats icing like it's going out of style and then proceeds to spin in circles for an hour.  good times.

 sweet finn

 not pictured: ellie grace who was home sick

 marcy and her elves

5) grandpa turned fifty-six years young.

 6) crosby and addy had a christmas program at school.  crosby's class dressed as stars.  and my boy only had eyes for his mimi.

 7) ben's school hosted a sing-a-long, so i took addy and cros with me to share in the festivites.

 when crosby decided to act like a fool three quarters of the way through the program, the art teacher noticed i was in the weeds and swooped cros away to paint in the art room so that i could snap some pictures of ben.  it takes a village, friends.  i love my village.

 8) this year's company christmas party involved eating bbq, passing out those blasted loaves of pumpkin bread, and digging for worms.

9) i may not have a daughter but i have a niece who was kind enough to let me live out my little-girl ponytail fantasy on her.

10) one of my beautiful girls (and fellow aggie) celebrated thirty-six years on this earth last night, and seeing her managed to make my christmas neck disappear.  thank you, leslie (and happy birthday to you).

looking forward to the in-laws arriving tomorrow!  woot!

how was your week?  what are you looking forward to?

have a wonderful holiday, friends.  i'll catch you on the flip-side.

xoxo,

coco

all wrapped up

i should create a pinterest board titled, "that'll never happen". most of my pins would find their home there. 

but once in a blue moon, a project looks easy enough to try. i was inspired to make chalkboard wrapping paper this year and i love the way my gifts look all tucked under the tree. 

all you need is black craft paper (i found rolls at michael's and hobby lobby), white paint pens and washi tape. easy peasy. 

merry week-before-christmas!

love,

coco

bring your love to me

i bought the newest avett brothers album and i love it.  big surprise.

this one particular song, bring your love to me, is at the top of my list.  i can't get it out of my head, it's so beautiful.  enjoy.

Bring your love to me
I will hold it like a newborn child
One of my own blood
And I might just even sing a song
to keep it calm

If you're wondering, am I capable
God knows I am
And if it's meant to be
I will go alone, God knows I can
Just not as well, and besides what kind of fun is there
to be had with no one else?

And I can only stand here still
And I can only hope you will
keep me in focus long enough to tell
I'm trying to help (that's all)

Bring your love to me
I will hold it like a dandelion
One I want to save, one I want to keep
from the breeze that follows me and no one else

I can only stand here still
And I can only hope you will
keep me in focus long enough to tell
I'm trying to help

p.s. here are some more great love songs.

this one is untraditional and makes me laugh out loud (songs don't often do that).  oh, and their voices...perfection.

this next one is new to me and i am so in love with the story it tells.

p.p.s.  but let's be honest, my heart belongs to sad songs.  here's a new favorite that ben and i sing at the top of our lungs when it comes on the radio.

what are your favorite love songs?  or are your favorite sad songs easier to come up with?

love,

coco

icepocalypse 2013

for the few of you who read this blog that may not live in north texas, it's an icy mess in these parts.  for those of you who do live around here, i hope you have stayed warm and safe during icemageddon 2013.

source unknown

BAD (or good?) NEWS: school was cancelled and we watched two movies before 10 am.

GOOD NEWS: the internet exists therefore i know how to make slime and star wars snowflakes on a whim (to add a little variety to our morning).

BAD NEWS: mean momma won't take them outside just yet.

GOOD NEWS: we have windows.

 GOOD NEWS: daddy came home (there is no bad news in this scenario).

 BAD NEWS: i couldn't step off the porch in fear of falling to my death.

GOOD NEWS: the light was perfect for snapping pics of the wreath i made at a pinterest party.  CRAFTY!

 GOOD NEWS: my guys wash the dishes after i cook.

BAD NEWS: my baby stripped half naked to do so.

 BAD NEWS: we drove sloooowly downtown to see santa a little too early and were temporarily locked out of neiman's.

GOOD NEWS: the windows were gorgeous, per usual, so we didn't mind too much.

 BAD NEWS: did i mention we were locked out in the cold?

GOOD NEWS: i have my new hat and my husband's beard to keep me warm.

 BAD NEWS: the playground down the street was iced over.

GOOD NEWS: there were still photo ops to be had with the #Dallas BIG project.

 {ben acting like a cool guy}

 {the rest of us trying to follow ben's lead}

how is everyone?  what have you done to keep from going stir crazy in your house?

happy december!

love,

coco

p.s. the half marathon was cancelled.  i am sad/happy about it.  but the dallas running club is hosting an unofficial half for all of our runners next weekend, which i think is awesome.  if you are interested in running and would like a push to get started, hit me up and i'll tell you all of the reasons i love the drc.  a new season starts in january!

xoxo