greatest hits

it's raining.  again.

while i should be drawing houses, i decided to blog instead.  and by blog, i mean dump all of my photos into one post.

my head is back above water.

the weekend is behind us, we threw an epic party at our house, and someone else is cooking us dinner tonight.  life is good.

here's what's been up in these parts:

1) for crosby's fourth birthday party, we originally rented a bouncehouse to put in our yard.  but the rain changed those plans.  thank goodness monster yogurt had a party vacancy.  we relocated the party where crosby got to play with his best people and eat frozen yogurt topped with gummy worms and candles from a chalice equipped with blinking neon lights.

2) school is officially out for summer for our littlest dude.  he quit singing halfway through his performance due to his growling tummy (which really pissed him off).  he then refused to leave his classroom until his sweet teacher gently hugged him and explained it was time to go home.  he was in denial, bless his heart.

3) mom's friends hosted the sweetest bridal shower for my sister at my parents' lakehouse.  it was pinterest-y and precious.

4) our family celebrated all may birthdays together.  cros got a jabba the hut toy that he now sleeps with every night.

5) this was our gift to chelsey and jake for their couples shower.  you can find the labels on etsy here.

6) addy elsa celebrated her third birthday at a party full of princesses and superheroes (plus a ninja turtle).

{bffs}

7) and last but not least, the wedding party hosted a couples shower at my house on saturday night, which ended up lasting until the wee hours of the morning.  how old am i?  i seem to forget sometimes.

mac-n-cheese "muffins"

dallas people: smoked chicken from here.  delicious and delivered to our door.

{bridesmaids and the bride}

the party lasted a little long.  see?

bless.

looking forward to drawing the rest of my coco custom orders while finishing up season one of mad men on netflix.  so. good.  (and yes i know i'm late to the mad men party.)

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

love,

coco

day makers

guys, I AM IN THE WEEDS.

lots of things to do (like right now) and little time to do them makes me feel overwhelmed and grumpy.  i'll spare you the details because there is an end in sight (thankyoubabyjesus).  so this morning when i was leaving the house and the chain on the garage door popped which made it impossible for me to back the car out, i could've very easily let it ruin my morning.  because that's exactly the kind of funk i'm in.  but my dad was nearby and saved the day and off i was to work like nothing happened.

and just like that, the sun was shining, the lights were green, my windows were down, and this song came on the radio and planted a big fat smile on my face.

you see, this song reminds me so much of my momma and today is her BIRTHDAY! 

how perfect is that?

she's a young momma.  she gave birth to me at 20 years old after having been married a couple of years (can you imagine?)  she was a teenager in the seventies and is a music lover, which explains my ridiculous knowledge of and devotion to the likes of todd rundgren, fleetwood mac, the doobie brothers, elton john and al green.  is music memory genetic?  because she can hear a song and immediately recall a memory attached to it.  and my memory of this song is riding in the car with her with this song turned up LOUD.

thanks for those memories, momma.  happy birthday.

and THEN, to make my morning even better, i was sitting at a stoplight on the way to work and noticed the car in front of me bouncing.  i rolled down the window to hear what was going on when i discovered the driver was dancing, wait for it, to beyonce.

as in she was dancing like no one was watching.  except that i was (like a creeper) and it made me so happy.  i tried to pull up next to her to wave or thank her or smile like some kind of weirdo, but we never made eye contact.

so thank you happy dancing lady, whoever you are, for spreading joy this morning.

she was dancing to this song:

  what made you happy today?

xoxo

p.s. other things that always, always remind me of my mom:

this song

and this movie (and sound track).  it took adulthood for me to understand why she loved it so much.  now it's one of my all-time favorites, too.

have you read lena dunham's article about 'the big chill'?

it's so good.

"There is so much you can’t imagine. You can’t imagine your parents on this weekend, dancing around the kitchen to Motown as they cook a big meal, moving their butts jauntily and leading with their shoulders. Many years later, at your bat mitzvah or your cousin Stephanie’s wedding, the way they dance will make you want to kill yourself. But if you could see them over this weekend, all together, if you trained a camera on them and let them dance back and forth, you would understand: they were young once too, and this is how they learned to dance, and now every time they dance that way they feel young again, even if you’re scowling at them from across the room and wishing they would explode."

read the rest here.

snap & shop

being the wife of one of my husband's dearest friend, i inherited julie's friendship in our marriage.

and what a gift that turned out to be.  our friendship has deepened over the years as our lives have continuously paralleled and intertwined.  her husband is my music twin and she has two gorgeous daughters, the youngest happens to be my soul sister (she is obsessed with my nose ring and wants to talk about it with me when we see each other.  she's four.)

julie is kind and loyal and friendly and SMART.  she has been working tirelessly for the past couple of years on bringing an idea she had in the grocery store one day to life.  crosby and i were lucky enough to try out her first prototype on one of our weekly target grocery trips.

 her idea is genius.

please check out her kickstarter video to see what this is all about.  and if you feel so inclined, please share this with your friends, on social media, or even better, donate to help her get snap & shop manufactured and in stores!

i'm so, so proud of you, jules.

xoxo 

friday commute

here is a song for you on this fine friday. 

 try not to love this song.  i dare you (now turn it up).

sing it, stevie.

(hippies: there's also this version, if you prefer.)

 

p.s. i got my mother's day present early.  chris bought us tickets to see my boyfriend d'angelo.

i'll leave this video right here for you.  you are very welcome.

p.p.s  i stumbled across this picture of leo dicaprio on facebook this morning.  make fun of the man bun all you want, i will love it always and forever.  my goodness, leo.  you are making me blush.

greatest hits

where did april go?  seriously.

between easter and birthdays and parties and swim lessons and all-of-the-things, i'm surprised i have a brain still left in my head.

but we made it!  i am thirty-six!  ben is seven!  crosby is four!

after this weekend's birthday party, we have officially made it through our household's spring birthday celebration extravaganza.

all that's left is mother's day, wedding showers, may birthdays, a baby shower, girls trip, fathers day and a wedding.

i.am.not.panicking.

here's a peek at april and the beginning of may.

1) what feels like a million years ago, chris and i went to a yummy dinner to celebrate our birthdays (here. duh.) and then out to meet up with some of our very best people.

 2) proof of pawpaw's green thumb always ends up on my desk.

 3) i love this picture.  i worked on my birthday this year, but we all went out to lunch at my favorite restaurant in dallas, s&d oyster company.

 and then dinner at matt's.  on a patio.  with a marg.  a thirty-six year-old's version of heaven, right there.

 4) i captured this sunrise on a four-miler with my running group on a saturday morning.

 5) dude got sick.  look at the size of this kid.

 6) sick day activity for the boys: "wash" your toys.  

 7) my backyard exploded with blooms.

 8) kelly and i have been celebrating our birthday month together since middle school.  

 i love her so.

 9) with some birthday money from my in-laws, i bought a new coffee table.  cute, huh?  found it here.

 10) this guy started and finished swim lessons.  he has his own swimming style, just like with everything else in his life.

11) we hosted my sister's bachelorette party at the lakehouse last weekend.  

um yep, still tired.

looking forward to celebrating my doodle-bug's birthday with his friends on saturday and quite honestly, starting a new show on netflix.  does that make me lame?  

(sidenote: we just got netflix and plowed through the entire orange is the new black series.  l-o-v-e-d it.  any suggestions on what we should watch next???)

how was your day/month?  what are you looking forward to?

love,

coco

four

my baby is four, officially.

he thinks he's grown.  when he was two, he told people he was five like his brother.

this boy is snakes and snails and puppy dog tails.

we always had to work hard for ben's affection, yet crosby surrenders to us when we are needy for his hugs and snuggles (i hope he's that way forever).

true to his zodiac sign, he is a bull.

he has spent his whole life breaking things, most of the time unintentionally.  he plays and loves with force.  don't mess with this kid.

he is our family comedian.  he is hilarious without trying very hard.

since he was old enough to smile, he has had a glimmer in his eyes. it's mischeif.

he is unafraid.

he is independent.

he thinks outside the box.

he adores his brother. 

he hugs until it hurts.

instead of "hold me", he says "holg you". 

(see he's still my baby afterall).

he eats few things, but what he does, he eats with voracity.

especially cheese grits, like a proper southern boy.

he still growls when he laughs, which is and always will be one of my favorite sounds.

he loves to paint and write.

he tricked us into thinking he couldn't recognize his letters until one day he wrote the entire alphabet.  stinker.

he has a vivid imagination and loves to play pretend.

he's a good friend.

his favorite song is 'supersoaker' by kings of leon ond requests it on the regular.

he is my sidekick and has spent more time with me in target than is probably appropriate.

i look forward to seeing who he will become. 

 for the past three years, he has charmed my socks off.

i love you, crosby.

thanks for completing this family.

love,

momma

crosby turns three.

crosby turns two.

crosby turns one.