greatest hits

i am off my game.

i've lost my mojo.

my rhythm is gone.

i have started working on fridays, which means all of my non-work time is spent in the company of children.  my blog has suffered.  i'm sorry.

BUT, i don't plan on quitting this blog, so i just need to find a new rhythm.  i work best on a schedule, so i'll just have to figure out a new greatest hits day and go from there.  i also want to bring back other posts, like this and that and on my radar.  and for sure i want to incorporate little reviews of some local favorites.  how does this sound?  is there anything you'd like to see on this blog?  i would love your input.  on the real.

but for now, here is a photo dump of the past week or so.

1) i should've used my zoom lense to adequately capture crosby's shenanigans during his end-of-the-year program at school.  you know the kid that is always on the front row (whhhhy?) who, instead of singing, makes silly mouth faces?  or instead of doing the cute hand gestures that accompany the lyrics "put you hand in myyyyy hand, i will be your friiieeend", he shoves his hands dramatically in his pockets?  yep, that's crosby.  he's in the striped shirt on the front row (of course).

2) mimi had a birthday!  we celebrated at the rustic, pat green's new place.  it's pretty rad (more on that in a later post).

3) instead of field day, ben's school calls it "buddy fun day".  they have partners and complete all of the events together.  this is ben and his buddy cameron (or "cam", as ben informed me that you give your closest friends nicknames and call them cousin).

4) addy had a bubble guppies birthday party.  if you are unfamiliar with bubble guppies, then don't worry about it.  ignorance is bliss.  here she is on her big day with her swimsuit wedgie.  i love that little nugget.

5) and finally, finally, finally we made it to the lakehouse to celebrate memorial day.  i feel my blood pressure lower on the drive there.  it's divine.

even though these kids were try to harsh my mellow by acting like a couple of insane people.

and for the first time in a loooong time, the lake had enough water to get the boat out.  yay, rain!  keep it coming!

looking forward to redeeming my mother's day gift this weekend, a massage and a mani/pedi here.  happy dance for days!

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

love,

coco

once upon a time

when chris and i were first married, we decided to take a european vacation for our tenth wedding anniversary.

july 2014 seemed like a million years away.

let's all have a good long laugh, shall we?  bahahahahahahaha!!!!!

i feel better now.  years later we demoted those european dreams to mexican ones, and a few months ago we demoted our mexican dreams to austin ones, and then more recently our austin ones to a nice dinner out in dallas. 

i'll admit, i was a little disappointed that we couldn't pull off something big (and extra special) for such a milestone anniversary.  i pouted for a good bit before my husband told me to get a damn grip (that's a sign of a good spouse).  

on the couch after the kids bedtime the other night, chris and i had an idea (good ideas are often cooked on that couch).  using some hotel points, we booked an anniversary weekend away to take the kids here:

 {krause springs}

 and here:

{hamilton pool}

three hour road trip, summer heat, certainly some central texas barbeque, and two of the three best watering holes in texas.  it ain't europe, but it's the texas hill country, and that's not half bad at all.

happy ten years to you, my love.

and happy anniversary to these kids who are the product of our ten years together.

let's go swimming!

love, 

coco

greatest hits (and happy mother's day)

"Instead of Happy Mothers Day, I say, send love to all who have lost moms, to those who want to be moms, but are unable, to women who are moms by action, not gestation...let's celebrate women and what they do for the planet everyday, not on a Sunday in May..."

my former co-worker, sarah, wrote this as her status update on facebook and i happen to love it.

so now i share it with you.

(this blog post about mother's day struck a chord with me as well.  you can read it here, lovelies).

although this mother's day ended with this sweet little nugget throwing up and being entirely pitiful and sick, the rest of it was fantastic.

it all started yesterday when the boys let me sleep until 8 (i know), then i took a serious afternoon nap, and later went to bed at a decent hour.  i was a sleeping machine.  it was glorious.

today (in no particular order), i dunked in the pool and laid in the sun with my favorite little skinny-dipper.

i snapped snazzy family pictures in the car while waiting for our brunch reservations at the delicious hg sply co.   

there they gave us mommas a complimentary mimosa and a rose.  yes, and thank you.

i even pulled off a solo trip to old navy while my guys got their hairs cut.

a lot of family time, a little alone time, brunch, shopping, sun worshipping and snuggles.

you can't beat that with a stick.

here's a peek at all the rest:

1) i had a breakfast date at my big boy's school.

2) severe storms and tornado alerts sent us into the closet on thursday.  good times.

3) this boy was not-so-much feeling his school's "dress like daddy" day.

his teacher told me the belt and jeans lasted an hour before he insited upon changing into shorts.

if only he owned a widespread panic t-shirt and some birkenstocks.

4) our pool (a.k.a. the sugar magnolia swimming hole) is open for the season.  it's a bit chilly, but the sun is hot, so it all evens out.

5) i ran a race at white rock lake.  my big boy ran the last few yards in with me, while my baby boy fell in the lake.  try to hide your disbelief, dear readers.

6) i went to see the band trampled by turtles with my two bests.  it was a stompin' and twirlin' good time.

7) this guy opened a restaurant.

 8) one night he was two,

 and then like that, he was three.

we celebrated with balloons, his favorite breakfast, two carnivals (one with bad-a** face-paint), and a mexican food dinner complete with a sopapilla finish.

 9) to milk this birthday for all it's worth, we celebrated at school

 as well as at his official monsters university themed birthday party.

he's a cute little sulley monster. 

 10) t-ball started.  although bad-attitude-ben proclaimed while walking off the field that t-ball was the "worst!ever!", we thought it went pretty well.  he loved snack-time and hanging with his buds once the game was over.

what.ever.

whew!

looking forward to not planning an immediate family member's birthday celebration this week and PRAYING that this stomach bug only visits crosby and no one else.

how was your week?

what are you looking forward to?  i'd love to know.

xoxoxo

love,

coco

three years old

birthdays are bittersweet for mommas.

i've spent the greater part of this year wishing this boy would hurry up: from potty-training to staying in bed, so on and so on.

then his birthday happened and all i want to do is smell his baby head.  his three year old sweaty little boy head just doesn't do it for me like that precious, precious baby head.

since birth, crosby has delighted us.

he is charming and funny and self-sufficient and affectionate.

he is full of mischief and will not take no for an answer.

he is determined and quick-tempered.

he thought he was five when he was just two.

he idolizes his brother and daddy.

he loves to watch me put on my "make-ups".

he replaces the "sp" sound with an "f" sound, so he eats with a fork and a foon.

he hates to get fankings.

he thinks ghosts are fooky.

he loves to "cook".  epecially "smoothies" made of ninja turtles in a salad bowl.

 he's a nudist.

he has gorgeous green eyes and his laugh is, and always has been, a growl.

he says, "i wuv you everyone guys!!!", which just means he loves us all.

and we love him back.

happy third birthday, cros man.

greatest hits

i have been slacking here, friends.  i 'm sorry.  i haven't forgotten about this blog nor do i plan on ever quitting it but i have some big news to share...

WE'RE POOPING ON THE POTTY, Y'ALL!

HALLELUJAH, THANKYOUJESUS.

as in we, i mean he.  as in he, i mean crosby.  the rest of us mastered that skill long ago.  but my baby, well, he had his own idea of the proper pace of potty-training.

bye diapers.  don't let the door hit 'ya on the way out.

i do understand that this is not exciting for you, so just humor me.  thanks for reading past the part where i spelled POOPING in all capital letters.  

lots-o-things have happened since i last blogged.  here's a peek:

1) my angel-pie husband booked a sitter (thanks, mimi and grandpa), took me to my most fav-o-rite restaurant in dallas, 

and then surprised me with some of the very best people i know on our old stomping grounds.  perfection.

2) this picture cracks me up because it was taken pre-potty success and this boy had to go sooooo badly but wouldn't so he was walking around (barely) in misery during the easter egg hunt.  surrender, child!  relief awaits!

3) we celebrated easter and a bajillion april birthdays with our family in frisco.  my sweet little cousin has become a teenager and it makes me sad because i still want to snuggle him to death.  and now that would be weird.

4) i chaperoned a field trip to the heard museum (which was gorgeous).  chaperoning a kindergarten field trip, especially when hiking is involved)is not for the faint of heart.  be warned.

i did get to snap this pic of ben straight macking on his gf, ella.

5) my precious pawpaw turned ninety so we threw him a party.  isn't he precious?

{above is pawpaw with my cousin hannah, who just started a fashion blog.  she's rad.  you can check it out here.}

6) ben's very first friend turned six so we celebrated her as well.  i have pictures just like this except they're in diapers.  time to cry now.

7) chris' parents came in from syracuse to visit for a long weekend.  we ate mexican food and drank margaritas (it's the texas way) and they spent every moment they could soaking up the sunshine before they had to return to the snow.  womp, womp.

8) oh yea, i finished that half marathon a while ago and forgot to share.  seven minutes faster than my last one.  holla!

looking forward to my baby's third birthday tomorrow.  THREE?!?!?!?!  hooooooooooooow?

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

love, 

coco

p.s. because this post took me three days to write and because you made it to the end, i will reward you with this little treat.  i'm in love.