greatest hits

so, i went to austin for the acl music festival last weekend.  i got home late sunday night, and here it is thursday, and i am just starting to feel like myself.  good lord, what am i trying to prove?  man, it sure is a good time though despite those mysterious bruises on my arms and what feels like shin splints.  can you get arm bruises from dancing in a field with your friends?

i have proven that the answer is yes.

i am hoping to be fully recovered by early 2016.

wish me luck.

here's a small peek of our lives from the past couple of months.

1) summer's last hurrah at the lakehouse.

{boating with my babe}

{addy's face cracks me up for some reason}

2) marcy's grandmother recently found out that she is very ill.

but that didn't stop her from making her famous buttermilk pie on marcy's recent visit and sending me home a slice or four all the way from amarillo.  sweet granny.

3) at ben's school's faculty softball game, we ran into our sweet friends.  ben is trying to show nolan that being a big brother can be pretty cool.

4) it's the moooooost wonderful tiiiiiiime of the year.

5) everybody loves our precious pawpaw.  especially when you get to drink ice cold cokes during our visits.

6) crosby's teacher came to visit us at home before school started.  cros was too shy to pose for a picture, so this is the best/only one i got.

7) crosby reunited with his posse at a back-to-school playdate.

{biker gang}

8) y'all, he's such a little stinker.  but this face.  this is everything.  i want to eat him with a spoon.

9) crosby started school.  it's his last year before kindergarten.  i can't.

10) we hit up late night at the dallas museum of art one recent friday night with my sis and her family.  museum admission was free and we (crosby) managed to escape without destroying any priceless works of art.

{food truck dinner from easy slider.  yummy.)

11) crosby's school has monthly sing-a-longs and the parents are invited.  last year he made fart noises instead of singing OR got shy and sat in my lap.  this time he stayed with his friends and sang with enthusiasm.  progress.

12) the face-paint at national night out was on-point.

hallelujah!  you made it to the end!

looking forward to snuggling a friend's baby this weekend.

how was your week, month, months?  what are you looking forward to?

love,

coco

blorft

 tina fey is speaking my language.

i'm blorft. super blorft.

this feeling frustrates me.  i get mad at myself for over-committing, for putting too much on my plate, for not saying no as often as i should, for letting these things that sound fun/helpful/important/necessary that i EAGERLY agree to, completely overwhelm me.

but on the other hand, i am glad to do these things. i am grateful for the opportunity to be present and involved and useful.  i am wired this way.  i have always been involved in a million things.

***i did take a nice long break from this neuroses in college where i committed all of my time and energy instead to lots and lots of natty light, mtv, and four years of shenanigans with a handful of the funniest human beings on the planet.  oh and let's not forget the freshman fifteen and the other twentyish pounds that followed.

but now there are my kids.  and their schools.  and their lives. want to bring food for the teacher luncheon?  sure!  want to serve on this committee?  why not!  how about the board of directors?  how flattering, okay!  want to help with this carnival?  organize the mentor program?  help with this class project?  donate to the fundraiser?  host a party?  ohmygod.

then there is the rest of life.  not the extra stuff but the living part.  work. feed the kids.  pay the bills. listen to the stories (so many stories).  grocery shop (it never ends). pets. doctors appointments.  tonsillectomy. tuition. field trips. manage the damn calendar. exercise(for my health and sanity). save money (lol).

oh and just in case i get bored, i decide to draw pictures for people in my spare time.  which means from 8:30-11:00 during our nightly netflix binge.(but don't get me wrong, coco custom is such a huge blessing to me and i an not complaining about it at all).

this is who i am.

so this is why i take yoga.  and drink beer with my husband on our patio once a week.  and decorate little vignettes in my home that bring me joy.  these things center me and help me calm the crazy.

marcy and i had an interesting conversation once about these little spaces we create for ourselves that bring us joy.  hers was her old cube at work, full of pictures and quotes and things that keep her centered at her very demanding job.

mine is in my bathroom.  it's a simple shelf that i've used since i was a girl.

on it are photo strips of chris and me at various weddings, pictures of my babies when they were babies, a snapshot of my girls and their families from right before robin moved to denver, a reminder to kick ass daily from my sister, a print of the dallas skyline from marcy, a gift from my husband pre-kids, a photo of my precious aggie family, and a puff-paint decorated frame holding a photo of my (still to this day) best friends from our senior year in high-school, my jewelry, a geode from colorado, my perfume, my favorite quote on the planet (see below), and a photo of chris and i pretending to meditate during a high-stress family photo shoot (thanks, crosby).

my eyes graze this shelf every morning and every night.  

it calms my crazy.

what calms yours?  yoga, quotes, beautiful spaces?

i'd love to know.

xoxo,

coco

p.s. my favorite quote:

p.p.s. thanks for your patience, sweet friends.  i'll be back with a greatest hits soon :)