Decisions Decisions

Well, we had to make a decision between church and taking the girls trick or treating. We chose both. We went to a trunk or treat at a church and they showed a video about Jesus, then we went trick or treating around the neighborhood. I wasn't satisfied with my decision not to come to CIC, but Kenzie didn't go to the Nursing Home last night, partly because I didn't know about it. Now since we went tonight, I did get a few pics. Here we go....

My little flower! I just loved the costume. I don't know where Mom found it, but she got it for like $2.00. That's my kind of buy! Love it! And Maddie had a blast too!

Our ballerina Princess. She is just too funny! She had a great time. We got so much candy we had to empty her bucket (seen here) into a pillowcase we took with us like 3 or 4 times. I will have to limit her on candy she got so much!

After we got home, I let Maddie have her first sucker, she loved it but my camera batteries went dead in the middle of trick or treating so I couldn't get a pic of it. Anyway, hope you all had a great night talk to you later!

Love,

Dawn

looking for a home warranty

do yourselves a favor when looking for a home warranty, DO NOT GET ONE THROUGH HMS. They suck. Here we go into another coldfront and we won't have a heater until at the very soonest Monday could possibly not be until AFTER we get back from Ohio and they might not even cover it. I hate that company and I am looking for a new one!

Furnace update

I had the heater people come out to look at my furnace and they confirmed what Lloyd said. They went back to the office to send the report in to the home warranty and we are waiting for them to call and let me know when they will be installing the new one. Thank God for the warranty! I don't know what we would have done without it. Maddie is doing fine. Still can't find my rings, but on a lighter note, she pooped twice today. Kenzie had fun at school. Ryan called and we decided for me to do cupcakes, but I decided to do a cake for him to take to work with him. I made a pumpking cake. He will take it to work with him on Weds. I will probably post the picture tomorrow. And now for the funny part of the day... WITH AS MANY DIAPERS AS RY CHANGES, HOW COME HE PUT MADDIE'S DIAPER ON BACKWARDS? I got a good laugh out of it! Anyway, Amanda had her surgery and I am waiting to see how it went will update you when I know more.
Dawn

Taco Salad

This is a really fast, easy recipe that Ryan loves!

BROWN ONE POUND GROUND BEEF, DRAIN, PUT BACK IN POT WITH ONE PACKET TACO SEASONING. PREPARE ACCORDING TO PACKAGE DIRECTIONS. ADD ONE TABLESPOON TO TWO OF RANCH DRESSING. IN THE MEAN TIME, CHOP ONE ONION, ONE TOMATO, TOSS WITH 1/2 PACKAGE CLASSIC TACO SALAD, TOP WITH CRUSHED TOSTITOS AND SHREDDED MEXICAN CHEESE. ADD THE MEAT AND TOP IT ALL. SERVE WITH SALSA AND/OR TACO SAUCE. (I USE ONE WHOLE BAG OF SALAD AND DOUBLE THE RECIPE, THEN WE HAVE LEFTOVERS OR WE USE THIS RECIPE FOR A CROUD. I ALSO USE ONE WHOLE BAG OF TOSTITOS)

There is my recipe. Tweak it how you like and then let me know what your family thinks. Ryan absolutely loves it!

Recipe Exchange

1. Karen Carter
2. Dawn Cox
> You've been invited to be a part of a recipe exchange. Please send a recipe to> the person whose name is listed in the number 1 position above (even if you> don't know them) and it should preferably be something quick, easy and without> rare ingredients. Actually, the best one is one you know in your head and can> type out and send right now.> > Then, copy this letter into a new e-mail, move my name to the number 1> position and put your name in the number 2 position. Only my and your name> should show when you send your e-mail. Send to 20 friends.> > If you cannot do this within 5 days, let me know so it will be fair to those> participating. You should receive 36 recipes. It's fun to see where they> come from!! The turn around is fast because only 2 names are on the list.

I thought it would be fun to do this on the blog, so, here are the rules, instead of emailing it to me, post it on your blog then send me a comment saying that you posted your recipe. I will tag each of my blog friends to tell them to check out the recipe exchange to get it started! I don't know if we will get 36 recipes, because it is being done on the blog, but all in all I think it would be interesting. Have fun with it!

~Dawn~

Wonder where they are....

Ryan found my heart ring last night. We have torn the house apart looking for the other two. My wedding band and engagement ring are missing. Don't know if Kenzie got them down from the bathroom and was playing with them or what but two of my three rings are missing and I pray to God that neither of the kids swallowed them. We don't know that either of them did they are not having any symptoms of having a foreign object in their bellies, but it is in the back of our minds since we can't find them. Work was work was work today. We are still awaiting word on the car. Ryan says the girls have been good today. He has been hanging out all day with them and watching some of the college games that were on tv today. That is about it. Mainly just me a little upset about the ring thing. Oh and Lloyd came to service the heater today and told Ryan to call in a claim to our home warranty people because there are cracks in it and we need to have it replaced! Thank goodness for family friends. So, I had Ryan find the claim phone number and the 8 digit account number thing and called, but they can't come out on the weekend unless it is an emergency. I told them that it is supposed to get below 40 this weekend, they said if it does to call back and they will upgrade us to emergency status and send someone out to take care of it. When Lloyd was here, he said he found some cracks and that that was probably why the gas company wouldn't lite it for us when they were here in July. Vectren told me to have it serviced because it needed cleaning. I should have done it earlier, but figured if it only needed cleaning I had time. Lloyd also said that it is "antique" and probably as old as the house. So, if it gets below 40, we will call and have them come out and take care of the furnace. I can almost guarantee that we will end up with a new one out of this and the good thing is it will only cost me a co pay! Furnaces are very expensive, but with a home warranty, everything works out! And that is about it. Got to shower and head to bed for work tomorrow! God Bless everyone!
Love,
Dawn

Check out my Slide Show!

My Grammy Nomination....

I am nominating Mackenzie Lynn Cox for a Grammy! (No, Carol, she didn't start calling you that). She has been going around singing "Go on up to the Mountain of Mercy" here lately, but everytime she sings it she learns a few more words to it. So she goes something like this.

"GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN O MERCY,
....... TIDE
KNEEL DOWN ON THE SHO THIRSTY NO MO..."

I think you get the picture. It is so funny to hear her trying to sing it! I thank Megan and Chris for that one too! They sang it at church one night and she loved it from that moment so I play it all the time for her!

Maddie is doing really well. She is such a hammmm. She woke up from her nap and when I went after her, she looked up at me, smiled and said "Hi" I couldn't believe it. Although, I know my baby is growing up and she is the last one for us. We can't put another baby through what she went through or worse, so we decided right away that she would be our last miracle and that she is!

Ryan is working today. He should be home in about an hour..

We are still waiting to hear from Mike on the car.

I got my vacation for Florida in December.

And that is about it.

Love,
Dawn

ZZZZZZ

"I wanna watch Gray's Anatamy" Kenzie said an hour ago. She is now leaning on my shoulder snoring now. She was just so tired. She had a good day. She is helping me teach Maddie what the potty is and what you do on it. Maddie was running around talking all day. Ryan had a good day. It is still raining here. Good for us. Just wish it would rain in California and give them some kind of relief. Wendy, my friend, is loosing her house tonight. They said that they can't save it because the fire is too out of control in that area, but Allstate and FEMA are taking care of it for her. They sent in a tow truck and got the cars out so that they didn't loose their vehicles in the fire. And that is about all that I have going on.
Love,
Dawn

Megan gave me....

A new favorite song. You will find it in my playlist over there >>>. It is called Grace and the lyrics canbe found on Chris and Megan's Blog. The link for their blog is over there >>> too. To me the song just means so much. When we need Him, most times, we are so worried about the situation and forget to ask. I really love this song because of the lyrics. Oh what the heck, I will copy past them here for you.

Phil Wickham Grace Lyrics
The sky is grey and the light is far
The sea is a rage within my heart
I turn my sight to the crashing waves
I cry in the night just to be saved
I need eyes to be my guide
I need a voice that’s louder than mine
I need hope and I need You Cause I can’t do this alone
Grace I call Your name Oh won’t Your smile fall over me
I’m cracked and dry on hands and knees
Oh sweet grace rain down on me
I need You grace
I pray for dawn a new day to live
I pray for mercy only Jesus gives
Though darkness falls and a million cry
I believe over all there’s a greater light shining for us
I need eyes to be my guide
I need a voice that's louder than mine
I need hope and I need You Cause I can't do this alone
Grace I call Your name Oh won't Your smile fall over me
I'm cracked and dry on hands and knees
Oh sweet grace rain down on me
I need You grace
Come down and save me

God is good and I LOVE this song now! Thanks Megan.

Love,

Dawn

P.S. My finger feels much better today! Chat more later!

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Brrr

Brrr it's cold in here. There must be a cold front in the atmosphere! LOL. I still am not used to the change of weather in the fall. I must say that Fall/Winter is my least favorite season when it comes to the weather. We wanted to go to church, but we have to stay home and wait for the heater man. He couldn't tell me today what day he would be here. He said he would call when he is on his way. So that could be any day tonight through Saturday. I will be back into the swing of things next week. And now I have cut my finger! Wow that hurt. I will blog later if my finger feels better! Missed you guys tonight! See you next week!

Cassie.....

I took Maddie out for a ride today and ended up at the Dollar General here on Highway 3 in Charlestown only to run into Cassie. It was great catching up with her. I haven't seen her since March of 1999. We graduated together. By the time we left, we decided to keep in touch via myspace for now. I have already sent her a message. Maddie was quite the happy kiddo. She loved seeing a new face. By the time I got home, Ryan was like "What took so long" so I had to tell him where I went, I was only supposed to go for a ride around the neighborhood to get Maddie to calm down. She was having a rough afternoon until I put her in the car just like Amanda used to do with Shelby when she was a baby! How funny! I have found out that Amanda's surgery is next Monday not yesterday. So keep her in your prayers. Kenzie has been crazy today. She just danced and danced and danced. I would hear her repeating the following "Go on up to the mountain of mercy" that is the only line she remembers to it! And thanks to Megan and Chris, I don't think she will ever not want me to play it on my playlist! She loves the song. We have had to make a deal that I will add new songs when we get home from church on Wednesday evenings. How funny! Ryan had an ok day. It was so nasty out today that I didn't let the kids outside at all! Other than the goofy girls and seeing Cassie, nothing new! Talk to you all later.
Love,
Ryan, Dawn, Kenzie and Maddie Cox

We were...

Love by ruby mae
Your name
Your partner
You two are	Inseperable
Your meeting was by	Fate
He/She is your	Protector
You are his/her	Soulmate
Your love will	Last for all eternity

Thank you Mom!

We have had quite a year, and well, here goes a brief explaination. I was able to get Kenzie on the track to getting speech therapy in January with the help of Mrs. Monroe. Then over the summer while trying to get financing for the house in Jeffersonville, God made it possible for us to get financing for the house I grew up in here in Charlestown, now he has made it possible for us to get a second vehicle. Mom told me this morning that she and Pop had talked about it and that they agree to sell us the van! Thank you Jesus! We have needed one for some time and were just waiting for the right time and deal! Man did she give me one! I love this vehicle! Now when we get ours back from Mike, Mom will use the van until she finds another car for her and we will have two cars! No more being stranded in my own home. I can start taking the girls places! That is what I love the most. We can start those play dates that we have been missing! Also, Kenzie is doing great! She took her plates to school for tomorrow's party, and they loved them! She is going to go in her ballerina outfit (weather permitting) and if not, I will come up with something creative. It should be interesting to see what she actually ends up wearing. Maddie is enjoying her time with her big sister. She runs around her chasing her! She loves her big "inzi" and she is starting to try and say more words now days. She says "mil" which is milk. And "dada, mama, papa, nana" those are just a few. She has said "yaya" a couple of times. That is what the girls call Ryan's mom and it happens to be greek for grandma. I was shocked when Kenzie decided when she was Maddie's age to start calling her that. Ryan is still contemplating about the higher paying position he was offered. He said he wants to take his time thinking abou it since it means he will be away from us for 6 months out of the year. It will be hard for all of us, but if it is what God has planned, we will get through it and praise the Lord for caring enough to get him this job. I will keep you all updated. Anyway, I guess that does it except for the fact that it is still raining here. I almost feel like that we live in a rainforest here lately! LOL! From what I hear it will be raining for the rest of the week :( but then we do need it! Anyway, I will talk more later!
Love,
Dawn

Tagged

Here's a different spin. Enjoy and post you married ladies!

Husband Quiz
1. Who is your man? Ryan Matthew
2. How long have you been married? 5 years 2 days
3. How long dated? 2 years 2 months
4. How old is your man? 32
5. Who eats more? Ryan
6. Who said “I love you” well i think we both did at the same time
7. Who is taller? Ryan
8. Who sings better?Me.
9. Who is smarter? probably me, but if you ask him, it would be him.. lol
10. Whose temper is worse? his
11. Who does the laundry? me
12. Who takes out the garbage? we both do
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? if in bed, him
14. Who pays the bills? dawn
15. Who is better with the computer? dawn
16. Who mows the lawn? ryan
17. Who cooks dinner? i work the gas stove, he does the grilling
18. Who drives when you are together? Most of the time Ryan
19. Who pays when you go out? depends
20. Who is most stubborn? we both are
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? ummm me
22. Whose parents do you see the most? My mom
23. Who kissed who first? i think we kissed each other at the same time... was a wierd moment... like we were both thinking the same thing at the same time.. l
24. Who asked who out? he did
25. Who proposed? long story. ask me someitme
26. Who is more sensitive? me
27. Who has more friends? um we haven't counted them, but alot of our friends are OUR friends..
28. Who has more siblings? me
29. Who wears the pants in the family? if you ask me it would be me, if you ask him, it would be him.

Two friends were walking through the desertDuring some point of the journey they had anargument, and one friend slapped the other onein the face.The one who got slapped was hurt, but withoutsaying anything, wrote in the sand:

TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.

They kept on walking until they found an oasis,where they decided to take a bath.The one who had been slapped got stuck in themire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.After he recovered from the near drowning,he wrote on a stone:

TODAY MY BEST FRIENDSAVED MY LIFE.

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friendasked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now,you write on a stone, why?" The other friend replied"When someone hurts us we should write it downin sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away.But, when someone does something good for us,we must engrave it in stone where no windcan ever erase it.

"LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS INTHE SAND AND TO CARVE YOURBENEFITS IN STONE.

They say it takes a minute to find a specialperson, an hour to appreciate them, a day to love them,but then an entire life to forget them.

Send this phrase to the people you'll never forget. If you don'tsend it to anyone, it means you're in a hurry and that you'veforgotten your friends.

Take the time to live!
Do not value the THINGSyou have in your life.
But valueWHO you have in your life

Orientation!

On Friday night, Steve (my hr person) called. Here is the conversation as best as I can remember.

"Hello"
"Hi Dawn, it's Steve"
"What do you want" (very sarcastic)
"I need you to come to work tonight. I need your help really bad."
"I can't"
"No, really I need to put a brand new cna with you for orientation. She is so new that she is green. Would that be ok?"
"Sure"

So then I get to work all weekend and no orient for me. On Sunday, I find the girl and eventually she made it over to work with me since she was about to leave and never come back. So, when she was with me, she said she had learned more in the 3 hours than she had all weekend on the other unit. She said that Saturday's orientation was a little better than the girl who had her on Sunday. Anyway, I felt like I saved her from leaving us and I sure do hope that she stays because we need more people like Cathy who are willing to work, they just need to be taught what is supposed to happen at certain times. She was waiting around for Steve to get back to the facility (for another insurance meeting) to talk to him about the whole thing. Hopefully everything turns out ok. Anyway, I gotta go wait for Kenzie to get off the bus. I will blog later for today just wanted to catch everyone up on us.
Love,
Dawn

My Saturday

Busy. That is the only word I can come up with to describe my day. I worked on the 100 unit at work that morning. This in it's own can say that I ran and ran. Then to the 200 unit for second shift only to be jipped out of my regular assignment because the other person didn't want to have to go into a room that is on extreme precautions. So, I took the other assignment which was probably better for me anyway. During the day, Angela Bailey was there as weekend administrator. I got to talking with her because she is the activities director and since I helped in activities when we lived in Florida, I told her that if she needed some extra help a couple of nights a week, I would be willing to come in and work some hours. I really enjoyed that position and it has been like 2 years since I have been able to do anything like that. She is going to talk to Steve who came in on Sunday and said that it is entirely possible that they might be able to allow me to start doinig some activities hours since there is a pregnant assistant and one with chronic health problems which prevent him from achieving 80 hours a pay period. So with that said, I might start being able to pull some extra hours. I do have plans to make sure that Weds. night is not one of the days. I will probably agree to Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. And I can't wait. I loved delivering activities and catching Len and Andrea up on the paperwork when they fell behind. So anyway. There was Saturday!
Love,
Dawn

Date Night

For Ryan and my 5th wedding anniversary, Mom said she would keep the girls on Friday night and Saturday night (since this was her weekend, she usually keeps them on Saturday nights). We were greatful to have a night without them. We love our girls, but let me tell you, it wasn't until I had a few hours away from them that I realized how much we need that every once in a while. It was great. We decided to go to Applebee's instead of Tumbleweed. While there, they only had one table open and the people next to us were chain smokers, and kept blowing the smoke right at me. I started having issues with that so we requested that they move us to a different table. We ended up at a "bar table". The smoke there wasn't near as bad. We had our dinner, then Maxx came to meet up with us and watch a little of the game. We had a good time just hanging out with Maxx. I only see him once every two weeks at work. We headed home about midnight. I didn't get much sleep that night because I had to be at work at 6a.m. on Saturday, but I wouldn't have wanted to stay home! Anyway, all in all it was a good night. We have decided to take some money and put it behind for one of the projects for the house instead of buying material things for each other for our anniversary this year. And that was our date!
Love,
Dawn

Wow 5 years

I know that our Anniversary isn't until tomorrow, but we are celebrating today, we are going to meet mom to drop off the kids, then we are going on the first date we have had in a long time. I don't like to leave the kids with anyone. Mom usually takes them on Saturday not Friday, so that doesn't leave much time for us. We are letting her take them so that we can have a date finally. I think we are going to Tumbleweed for dinner, then shopping around to find some ideas for Christmas presents. I will post more later! Hope all is well with everyone. Will put pics of the jello jigglers that Kenzie and I made a little later. Well I gotta go shower for the big DATE.

Love,
Dawn

Do you know your Honey?

This was on Megan's blog. I thought I would do it for kicks! Enjoy!
1. Who is your man? Ryan Matthew Cox
2. How long have you known each other? 8 years
3. How long have you dated? Dated 2 years, Married 5 years tomorrow!
4. What month was he born? December
5. Do you know his favorite color? I would guess Red because Red is in all his favorite sports teams... Buckeyes, Buccaneers, Louisville, Indians. etc...
6. Who said "I love you" first? We said it at the same time!
7. Who is taller? Ryan
8. Who sings better? Ummmm no comment! LOL
9. Who is the better driver? I am the more patient driver! He drives more though.
10. Whose temper is worse? his
11. Name something you love about your man. He loves his girls and shows it!
12. Who is more organized? me.
13. Who is more funny? he is
14. Tell a physical trait you love. his eyes
15. Who is better with the computer? me
16. Tell something you love about your man. i love how patient he can be with Kenzie when she is trying us.
17. Who cooks dinner?We both do. I cook on the stove and he does on the grill.
18. Who drives when you are together? ryan
19. Who pays when you go out? we both do
20. Who is most stubborn? i am
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? neither. we both think we are each right and that is just the way it is
22. Tell something you love about your man. He is always trying to turn me on to sports and it is so cute that he never gives up on it.
23. Who kissed who first? I kissed him first.
24. Who asked who out? ryan asked me first. To Clearwater beach!
25. Who proposed? we kind of did it spontaneous... We decided together... and you will have to ask for the story!
26. Who is more sensitive? I am
27. Who has more friends? ryan is the more outgoing friendly one.. I try to stay to myself, so I would say Ryan
28. Who has more siblings? Me!
29. Who wears the pants? If you ask me, I do, but if you ask Ryan, He does!
30. Tell something you love about your man. I love how caring he is when it counts!
31. Do you know your man's favorite holiday? Any holiday he can be with his family (they all are out of state)
32. Who is stronger? Ryan
33. Who is a better dancer? ryan is the funnier dancer!
34. Do you and your man have a favorite movie? Don't laugh, but we love watching Cyote Ugly together!
35. Tell something you love about your man? The way he loves spending time with me and the girls!

P.S. Megan, guess what Kenzie is trying to learn to sing???? Give up? Beautiful Scandolous Night. She has me turn it on on your blog so she can sing along! How funny!

Dawn

My Little Pony Memory Game

Kenzie and I have had a good day! She had her moments, but all in all it was a good day. We played Memory I don't know how many times! She loves it and does quite well at it. She has finally gotten the jest of the game. She sometimes does better than I do at it! We got a few more quotes on the car and we have one more comming tomorrow or Saturday. One of these days we will get it all figured out. Ryan had a busy day at work. Maddie refused to nap at all today! I knew this was comming, but didn't know how soon it would be. She wants to be awake and see everything along with play with her sister. I made a grocery list (basically consisting of the chili recipe Carol gave me). I plan on making it tomorrow! I can't wait. I have always loved her chili even though it does evil things to my gerd. That is what the Zantac is for though! Kenzie is on fall break, so I will go since she wants me to play Memory with her for the bizillianth time today! LOL! Check out Megan's blog via the link over there for a good laugh. The title of the post is Halloween Prank! I loved it!

The remainder of our day

We had some news come in tonight right before going to church. The problem with our car is the fuel pump they believe and the one shop quoted me over $300, so tomorrow I will be calling around and finding out what some of the other shops in the area are charging for the same job. We are a little bummed out about this, but I know that God will see us through this situation after all, if God brings you to it, He will see you through it! And He will never give us anything that we can't handle. I firmly believe these things. Kenzie had a pretty good day. She has been testing me today to see how much I will let her get away with. It didn't work. Maddie was such a good girl, at church, I took her to the nursery (she has NEVER been taken care of by anyone that I don't know) and she did great! I was so happy for this. Kenzie on the other hand kept asking me where sissy was and when we were going to go get her. You can tell that my girls are never apart. We got to see Josh, Beth, and Isabella tonight at church as well as Maria, Brian, and Brooklyn. I hadn't seen Josh or Maria for a long time. Isabella is just as cute as a button! And when Brooklyn saw that I was holding Maddie, she wanted me too! Maria said that she loves anyone holding babies! LOL! Ryan is doing ok. We are all batteling this sinus stuff. Other than that we are ok. Talk more later! By the way, Megan, thanks for the recipe!
Love,
Dawn

FAITHFUL FRIEND

A FAITHFUL FRIEND
BY MILLIE STAMM
VERSE FOR THE DAY:
DEUTERONOMY 7:9
KNOW THEREFORE THAT THE LORD YOUR GOD IS GOD; HE IS THE FAITHFUL GOD, KEEPING HIS COVENANT OF LOVE TO A THOUSAND GENERATIONS OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM AND KEEP HIS COMMANDS.
PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
DEUTERONOMY 7:7-11
FRIENDS ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR LIVES. SOME ARE CASUAL ACQUAINTANCES; OTHERS CLOSE FRIENDS; SILL OTHERS MORE INTIMATE "FAITHFUL FRIENDS," FRIENDS WHO ARE STEADFASTLY LOYAL, FRIENDS ON WHOM WE CAN DEPEND AT ALL TIMES AND FOR EVERY NEED.
YET MOST OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED THE HURT THAT COMES FROM FRIENDS WHO ARE UNFAITHFUL. EVEN MEMBERS OF OUR FAMILY MAY PROVE UNFAITHFUL.
HOW REASSURING TO KNOW THERE IS ONE WHO IS FAITHFUL-- FAITHFUL ALWAYS AND FAITHFUL IN EVERYTHING."KNOW THEREFORE THAT THE LORD YOUR GO IS GOD; HE IS THE FAITHFUL GOD" (DEUTERONOMY 7:9). BECAUSE OF HIS VERY NATURE, HE COULD NOT BE GOD AND BE UNAITHFUL. WE READ IN 2 TIMOTHY 2:13:
IF WE ARE FAITHLESS, HE WILL REMAIN FAITHFUL, FOR HE CANNOT DISOWN HIMSELF.
HE NEVER CHANGES. HE NEVER FAILS. HE NEVER GOES BACK ON ONE OF HIS PROMISES. GOD, BEING WHO HE IS, CANNOT CEASE TO BE WHAT HE IS. HE CANNOT ACT OUT OF CHARACTER WITH HIMSELF. BECAUSE HE IS FAITHFUL, HE WILL BE FAITHFUL IN HIS ACTIONS.
AT TIMES WE MAY FORGET HIS FAITHFULNESS TO US. WHEN TRIALS AND TESTINGS COME,IT MAY SEEM AS IF GOD HAS SURELY FORGOTTEN US. WHEN FRIENDS FAIL US AND OUR LIVES ARE FALLING APART, WE MAY FEEL HE HAS FORSAKEN US. THERE SEEM TO BE SO FEW PEOPLE WE CAN TRUST. MANY PEOPLE DO NOT KEP THEIR WORD. OUR FAITH IN HUMAN NATURRE BECOMES SHAKEN, ANDWE WONDER IF ANYONE IS HONEST.
YET THERE IS ONE, THE FAITHFUL GOD, ON WHOM WE CAN DEPEND. HE WILL NEVER LET US DOWN. HE HAS PROMISED:
"NEVER WILL I LEAVE YOU; NEVER WILL I FORSAKE YOU" (HEBREWS 13:5)
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE READINGS:
ISAIAH 41:9-10
1 CORINTHIANS 10:13

Tagged

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with twenty random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their twenty things) and post these rules. (**if you’re a non-blogger, you can email them!)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
20 Random facts/habits about me:
1. I have been Married for 5 years on October 20
2. I am a cake decorator on the side, but I don't like cake!
3. I am a moderator for a role playing site. (It is all good clean fun)
4. I work at Christopher East Health Care in Louisville as a CNA (that is not good clean fun!)
5. I love my new (old)house. I lived in it when I was in high school
6. Aside from Jesus my kids and husband are #1 to me
7. I love the color purple
8. I am enjoing doing some work on the house.
9. I am home 5 days a week with my kids
10. my favorite unit at work is the alzheimers unit. there I can be myself and no one will care!
11. Cooking is my favorite pass time.
12. I am starting to get into football and baseball with my hubby.
13. i like making up games to play with my kids
14. i don't go out much
15. i hate rollercoasters
16. coffe irritates my gerd
17. I like designing the landscaping we want to do here on our property
18. I enjoy crunching numbers LOL
19. I am an animal advocate
20. I AM A DIGITAL CAMERA AHOLIC!
ok, there you have it! now, I really want to hear from~angel, maria, beth, amanda, kendra, kim, sulayne, karen

Report Card Came Home Today

Kenzie's report card came home today. I am sure that all report cards went home today. I was pleased with it. I have had problems in the past with preschools not wanting to give me a sense of how she is doing at school, but since I enrolled her in the Preschool PALS Program, I have had no problem with this. Here is what she is doing now:

LITERACY/LANGUAGE FOUNDATIONS:
The following areas, skill was introduced:
Becomes farmiliar with rhymes/rhyming songs
Listens for beginning sounds
Categorizes and classifies
Follows directions
Watches and listens to a story
Describes pictures in a book
Tells a story from a book/picture
Retells a story
Matches and names basic colors
Matches letters
Recites the alphabet in sequence
Recognizes own written name
Identifies 10 or more alphabet letters by name

The following were not introduced to her yet
Identifies words/sounds as same or different
Identifies sequences of events

WRITING FOUNDATIONS
Introduced:
Holds pencil with fingers
Copies lines and shapes
Cuts lines and simple shapes
Colors within lines
Prints own name
Prints 5 or more recognizable leters
Prints 5 or more recognizable numbers
Adds writing to a picture/story
Dictates stories

Not yet introduced:
Draws a recognizable person

MATH FOUNDATIONS
Introduced:
Matches, names and describes shapes
Uses language associated with position, direction
Uses language associated with size
Sorts objects
Compares and contrasts objects
Counts by ones to ten or higher
Counts concrete objects to five or higher
Matches and recognizes numerals to 10
Matches a numeral to a set of one to five
Compares numbers of objects using language
Counts and builds sets of one to five objects

Not yet introduced:
Uses language associated with time
Identifies first, middle, last in a series
Reproduces simple patterns
Predicts what comes next in a pattern

PERSONAL/SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Introduced:
Knows first and last name and address
Knows family members
Takes turns
Initiates play situations
Uses materials appropriately and puts them away
Asks for help when needed

Progress Being Made:
Shares and cooperates with others
Takes care of her own belongings
Follows classroom rules and routines
Respects rights and property of others

Now for her ANNUAL GOALS we made with the Psychoeducational Evaluation team.
She has made progress in the following areas:
Give only one object or request
Produces sounds K and G with a model
Demonstrates comprehension of spatial concepts
Complex sentences with embedded clauses
Identifies an object that doesn't belong in a category

No/Little progress made:
Initiate simple block patterns
Initiate making a + or a v
Draw a person with 2 recognizable parts
Lacing card corect
Respond to over/under
tall/long/short
more
Recite numbers to 3
Jump from an adult chair landing on both feet
Run up and kick a moving ball
Walk backward heel to toe for 8 steps
Increase length of utterance
Plurals
Posessive nouns
Produce /k/ /g/ without a model

Not Introduced yet:
Copy letters of a simple word
Skip on one foot
Skip on alternate feet
increase length of utterance with early pronouns
auxillary verbs(I think I couldn't really read the writing here)
Produce /k/ /g/ in phrases
Produce /k/ /g/ in sentences
in connected speech
comprehension of time concepts
comprehension of multiple adjectives

So, there we have it. This is what she is doing now. And that gives me a good starting point for what I can be doing with her. I am happy to know what I can do with her now because I was feeling kind of lost as to what I could do to help her in school. Now I know. And I am happy that there has already been some progress. I know it isn't major progress yet, but in time, she will be a step ahead! My baby girl is growing up so much and I am so proud of her for not being so far behind that they can't catch her up. In speaking with the speech therapist, she said that Kenzie is not very far behind at all and that most of her sounds are age appropriate, so, she said we will have her up to par in no time. I am thinking that when she says no time she means the end of this year or sometime next year. We will see! Anyway, I will post again when I can. Kenzie is on Fall Break now, so I may not be able to post right away or maybe I will just stay up later at night to do it! Anyway, talk to you all soon!
Love,
Dawn

Lots to blog

Well, a lot has been going on here in my world. The world of the children that is!

-Speech Therapy-- I have recieved several e mail's from Mrs. Brittany today about Kenzie and her speech therapy. Basically, I am not sure what I can do to help getting Kenzie to produce the sounds that they are working on. I try, but I just don't know what to do there. I am not a speech therapist, so I don't know the techniques. I feel like the speech therapist doesn't really want me working on it at home because she said to the teacher "we have to master it at school before it can be worked on at home" that really made me feel un needed. But I know that Kenzie is my daughter and she needs me in everything she does. I really am upset about the way she is taking approach with it. She (therapist) also says that she has a hard time getting Kenzie to follow directions. I don't have much trouble out of her anymore. She used to defy everything I told her, now she doesn't. I don't know what I can tell her to do to get the obedience out of her.

-School Bus-- Kenzie hasn't been enjoying the bus as much anymore. The got a new aide on the bus and Kenzie doesn't like him. She cries everyday when I put her on the bus now and wants me to go on the bus, put her in her seat and buckle her seatbelt, but the bus driver assures me that she calms right down and plays hide and seek behind the seat with him. I am confused as to if it is the new aide or just not wanting to leave me. She will get through it! I am sure.

-Maddie-- Yesterday, Maddie cried and cried and cried. I didn't think the crying would end, but just as I was thinking this, Daddy came home bearing another jug of milk. He gave her a cup of it, and we had QUIET! I thought maybe it was her teeth, but it would appear that she was upset because I had ran out of milk and I was not about to walk to the store to get more. I refuse to walk down 403 with both kids! Now today, she has been having a great day! Go figure.

-Operation Toy Room-- We decided to steal an idea from Derrick and Amanda. We have now moved the toy room from the den to ROY AND CAROL'S room. It has a door on it and if we want, we can close the toys in! LOL! The girls love it! It has so much more room for them to play. Now, Ryan wants to close in the den and put in a dart board and pool table! He has switched from the dining room to the den to be the bar area! How funny!

-Derby Dinner-- I almost forgot that tomorrow night is the Derby Dinner night with Mom. I was looking forward to going to church, so if I can't get to Derby Dinner, we will be at CIC, but if they have the extra ticket, I will go to Derby Dinner with Mom since Sunday was her Birthday and I don't see her that much!

Anyway, I think that does it for us.
Love,
Dawn

Why?

I had a horrible weekend. It seems as if the more weekends I am at Christopher East, the worse they get. I feel like they are picking on me by the staffing coordinator putting me on one unit, then the weekend supervisor pulls me to go wherever she wants to because she doesn't want her favorite unit to have to work with less than 4 aides. So, Saturday, I was on 200 for 8 hours, pulled to be behavior tech(which I have not been trained for) then to 3/400 for another 4 hours (I never work there either) and then on Sunday, I was scheduled for 16 on 200 but I got to have 1 hour on 200, pulled for 3 hours on Arcadia and just as I got the assignment done there, the girl came in so I got sent back to 200 where they hadn 't done anything on my assignment there. Then I finally got caught up only to find out that the third aide on 200 for 2nd shift got pulled because the supervisor didn't want them to have to worry about having 3 aides. It sucked. We worked short because of favoritism. So now that that is finished, I am having a few minutes to blog while Kenzie and Devon play and Maddie has a nap. I will blog again late to fill you in on the rest of the day!
Love,
Dawn

No flowers for you....

It is funny, most children want to give their Mommies flowers they have taken from the neighbor's flowerbed, not Kenzie, she went to the pile of leaves in the front yard, picked out a few, then came in and said, "Mommy, close your eyes" so I did to appease her, when I opened them, she was holding a boquet of leaves for me! I just had to laugh! She doesn't bring flowers, she brings leaves. She had so much fun outside playing with her friends today! It is nice that she has friends here she can play with.

Maddie had a good day. She learned a new word today! She now puts her hand in front of her and says No! It isn't really loud, but she knows when she wants to say it! How cute.

Ryan's day was about the same.

I did a little more work in the yard today. Trimmed up some trees and weeded or maybe I should say de tree'd my side flowerbed. It seems like all there is in there is baby trees! Anyway, that was our day! Enjoy your weekend and I will chat on Monday!
Love,
Dawn

Yes Lord, Yes Lord, Yes Yes Lord, Amen

I was in the kitchen when I heard out of no where "Yes Lord, Yes Lord, Yes Yes Lord, Amen" being sung. When I found the source of the singing, I realized that Kenzie was the singer! She loved that song at church last night! She continued singing it all afternoon! She had a good day at school. Maddie had a good day here at home. She played and played. She is getting to where she hates taking her naps. She runs and runs and runs! She kept her shoes on today, which is a first. I even got her to keep on the hat that Nana Carolyn got her for Christmas last year! It was priceless, and yes I have a pic I will send to you! Ryan had a good day at work. Then he came home and we moved our bed finally upstairs. We decided that the downstairs would be too cold this winter to sleep there! So now, we have our bedroom up here! I think we will enjoy it. We had the "What do you want for Christmas" discussion today. He didn't really give me much of an idea, but I told him to do something to improve the house for me for my present. I think in the long run, it will be best for me to have the house improved! We still can't figure out what is wrong with our car, so we are going to be taking it to another shop to get a second opinion. I will keep you all updated as I find things out. And I think that about does it! Oh yeah, Mom okayed us using her van to go to Ohio next month! We can't wait!
Love,
Dawnie

BUDGET BLUES

BUDGET BLUES
BY: ALMA BARKMAN
Verse for the day:
1 Chronicles 4:40
Passage for the day:
1 Chronicles 4:24-40
I picked up a newspaper the other day and saw that, according to the latest statistics, our family has just pulled out of the poverty level. I had never realized our financial state of affairs was so poor.
True, the kids are wearing jeans with holes in the knees, but that’s by choice, not necessity. Contrary to popular opinion, I do own two pairs of shoes, but these bedraggled, old bedroom slippers are simply the ultimate in comfort. And that old hat my husband wears is just an excuse. He claims the new styles don’t do him justice.
In spite of what statistics say, we aren’t forced to do without clothes, we enjoy three square meals a day, and the roof over our head is paid for, even if we shingled it ourselves. After starting with less than forty dollars between us, we thought we were sitting very comfortably. Now, twenty years of marriage, four kids, three cats, two houses, and five cars later, the experts tell me we have only been subsisting. I wonder what real living is like?
I realize that for some people in this world, poverty is a stark reality. For others, it’s just a state of mind.
How disturbed should we be if our income falls below the national average, or even below the neighbor’s? there is always the possibility that I am poor because I feel poor, not because I lack necessities.
Rather than striving to obtain a better standard of living by simply making more money, perhaps I need to adjust my attitude toward spending. If we are sincerely willing to try to stay within the amounts God has allotted us, I believe he will honor our efficiency.
Now and then it is wise to go over the budget systematically, bearing in mind Solomon’s wise advice:
Give me neither poverty nor riches,
But give me only my daily bread
(Proverbs 30:8)
Additional Scripture Readings:
Psalm 37:16-17
1 Timothy 6:6-10

CIC

Well, we were debating on going to Mom's church and Maria and Brian's tonight. Maria and Brian's won because not only was it closer, but we wouldn't have been on time at Mom's and well the general consensus is: WE WILL BE BACK! Kenzie absolutely loved it! She loved the band, and the kids (at Mom's there aren't too many kids her age). Maddie had a good time entertaining everyone. I met Megan, Sulane, and Karen. I sometimes read their blogs, so now I can put a face with the names. Kenzie said when we got home "I love the Charlestown Church Mommy!" Keep Maria, Brian, and Brooklyn in your prayers, they are so sick, they didn't even come to church. It is wierd! In other news, Maddie had a good day. No falls today! LOL! Kenzie played outside, in the cold weather, with Devon and his sister Haley. They had a blast! I did a few things in the house. I am trying to get things together to start painting in a few of the rooms. Ryan worked. The usual. Until next time, take care!
Love,
Dawn

My new best friend

Kenzie has been playing with one of the little boys in the neighborhood here daily. His name is Devon, and they love playing together. So, today, Kenzie decided she wanted to be able to ride bikes with Devon, and taught herself how to ride (with training wheels). She never would do that before, but now that she has a friend to play with, she is really interested, the funny thing is though that Kenzie picked out a bike for her birtday and we bought it. However, she wouldn't ride it... Last month when Roy and Carol brought the bike that used to be Riley's to her, she thought it was so cool that Aunt Amanda and Uncle Derrick had sent her a bike that she wanted the training wheels put on "Barbie Bike" so that she could ride it. She absolutely would not ride her Princess one, so we gave in and did it for her, here are some pics of her on the bike and playing with Devon.

"This one is for you Aunt Amanda! Thank you for my bike! I love it!" Kenzie is enjoying it so much! Thanks a billion Amanda and Deke.

I call this one "Just a swingin'" they had so much fun just hanging out on the swingset. Kenzie can't wait for tomorrow after school so she can play with Devon again. "Kenzie you know even though that is fun, it isn't the way you go down the slide right?" she was enjoying it so much I had to let her learn she could get hurt doing it. "Look, I can do it too!" so Devon had to show us he could do the slide the way Kenzie did too!

So much fun! Kenzie had actually fell down the slide in this one, but it was a great pic.
Hope you all enjoyed those pics! Later in the afternoon one of the other neighborhood kids got jealous of Kenzie playing with Devon and called him to his house and asked him to come in because "you don't want to play with her" so I had a conversation with his grandmother, hopefully that won't happen anymore. We shall see. In all the excitement, before I could get to her, Maddie took a fall and busted her lip on the pavement. She cried for a few seconds but is fine. She has a small red spot on her nose from where she ate the concrete, but all is fine there.
Love,
Dawn

Stress

Well, where do we begin? How about Saturday at work. I was having a not so happy day because they had scheduled me once again for the unit that I have requested that I not be put on, so I was told that I had one assignment and the and hour later, after I had done everything that could be done before breakfast, a girl says, I decided that I want this assignment. So, being the nice person that I am, I let her have it and then played catch up all day on the second assignment that she had not done anything on. I felt like I had been taken advantage of. Then the nurses and supervisor acted like they didn't care that she had done that to me. Sunday they couldn't decide which unit they wanted me on. They kept sending me back and forth, then right about the time I get the one they want me on and get to take a break the girl from Saturday came to find me on my break to chew me out and threaten me because she is an unhappy person. I reported it to the Supervisor who had me write out a statement, called her into the office, and who knows what was said, but they were there for like 45 minutes. Then when things were getting back to smooth, a patient came home and found some things moved in their room. They blamed me because I was their aide, luckily, Polly decided it was probably the other patient who is known for going in and out of other patients rooms. So then, on the way home, the car only just made it up the hill. It was sputtering really bad. Ryan stayed home from work yesterday and we went to get mom's van, then we dropped the car off at the shop. Hopefully we will have some sort of report at some point today. Kenzie is off to school, and I think Maddie jumped on the bandwagon with Brooklyn and Isabella! Last week they had bed head, today was Maddie's turn. Here are the pics!

Why the flash so early in the morning Mom!

No more please!

Mom, you are so done with that camera!

So that is what is going on here!
Love,
Dawn

Grrr. Our Car... Again...

Well, Ryan was on his way home last night and 2 miles from the house, the car stalled. I asked him how much gas the car has and he said that it had over a quarter of a tank. I sent the neighbor with our gas can to get a little gas and take it to him. They put the gas in and it started up right away. So we have come to the conclusion that our E is 1/4 tank. It is crazy. Other than that not much going on. So I will post more later!
Love,
Dawnie

I had a time limit...

Today was a very busy day. I had a time limit. I had to put Kenzie on the bus. Go drop the dog off, we had to get rid of her due to Kenzie's growing fear of her. Stop and grab a bite to eat, go to the bank, go to the Dollar Store, make it back to Charlestown before the bus got here to drop Kenzie off from school. Whoa, I just made it! It was crazy. In addition to all of that, Santa sent one of Kenzie's presents early. It came today and I had to tell her that it was a gift for santa so that she wouldn't want to open it. Maddie has been so funny lately. She loves playing with her Sister. They ran and ran and ran around the playroom today. I got a load of clothes and things ready to send with Ryan to Once Upon A Child. The neighbor had given them to me thinking that Dustin would be bringing Joshua back to live with us, when we all figured out that it wouldn't happen, the neighbor said to give them to good will or whatever I wanted to do with them, so I decided to sell them to the Once Upon A Child. Kenzie had a sub today. She said his name was Mr. Scott. She went on to tell me that Mr. Scott read a story at circle time. Ryan is ok. A little down due to his recent loss at Fantasy Football, but I see it like this, You win some, You loose some. Amanda is hanging in there from what I hear. I haven't heard from her for a few days, so I am thinking that everything is ok. I am just doing my own thing now. I have started posting at night so that I can put what happens during that day rather than the day before. I guess that is about it... Will edit if I think of anything else.
Love,
Dawn

MMMM GOOD

You Are an Ice Cream Cake

Surprising, unique, and high maintenance.You're one of a kind, and you don't want anyone to forget it.You're fun in small doses, but it's easy for people to overdose on you!

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcakeareyouquiz/">What Kind of Cake Are You?

Kenzie's Family Tree

Today, Kenzie came home bearing a family tree that she had done at school with Mrs. Brittany. Here is a pic.
I thought it was cute. In other news, Aunt Marie (whom I didn't even know was sick) died and I got the news today. I haven't heard from Cousin Roy, but I am sure he is doing ok as he can. Ryan worked... Maddie talked all day! She is too cute. Kenzie did tons of homework. And my foot is still hurting, but not as bad. That is it and please forgive me for being so short today, but I have a few things to do yet tonight.

Blah...

I haven't been feeling very well. I have somehow hit my foot in my sleep on the wall or footboard, so it has been quite painful. In addition to that, I am on antibiotics for a minor infection. So it was all I coud do to roll out of bed this weekend to go to work, but I did it. I am not the type to call off just because I don't feel well. I have been known to go to work with thrush, an extremely painful infection that affects the inside of your mouth to the extent that you can't eat and it feels like needles when you swallow water. I will go to work sick and if they want to send me home then that is fine, if not, then I do my best. I just hate to see the old people not have proper care because I was sick. Kenzie is doing well. She came home from school today and did 5 worksheets of homework. I just can't get over how much she loves school. Maddie is turning into a really big mommy's girl. Kenzie at her age, wanted Daddy! Not this kid. She prefers her Mommy! She lets me know it too. Ryan is stressing right about now. He is neck and neck with the guy he is playing in Fantasy Football right now. It is funny to watch him get so into this stuff. Other than that, not much going on... Oh yeah, Mom picked up a costume for Maddie over the weekend. I am a huge believer in saving money, and so is Mom. She was at a yardsale and found a flower costume in Maddie's size, so picked it up. I will have a ballerina and a flower for halloween this year. I think I am taking the kids trick or treating and Ryan is going to hand out some candy. I will probably put Maddie in the stroller and let her just cruise while Kenzie walks. Anyway, Kenzie will probably be the one eating most of the candy. Maddie doesn't need it at her age. LOL! Keep Amanda in prayer, she had to have surgery on Friday. I will post updates as I get them.
Love,
Dawn