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Showing posts from 2011

a few fun photos

Firstly, MERRY CHRISTMAS! You know we Cox's like to have a good time and mommy captured this one quickly!!! Love the way it turned out! Decided it must be our Christmas Photo for the year! The girls will probably not be a big fan of mine when they get older and still see this photo hanging around the house, but oh well! Its the fun we had making the memories that matters! My beautiful Maddie decided she would model for me on one of Kenzie's off days and I got some great photos of her! I can't believe that she's already almost 1/2 way through her kindergarten year! My how time flies!!! My girl what can I say! She's such a silly one! I was able to talk kenzie into one photo. I have blurred out the edges in order to create some focus on her! She's such a great sport at it!!!

...........

Maddie was a sickly lil girl yesterday. Well it started Saturday in Orlando, but got bad enough Monday evening we took her to the er. She has a double middle ear infection. Not good, but she's on antibiotics and should be good to go very soon. I have finally figured out 2 backdrops I can use for the Santa photos! Woo Hoo! I was really trying to come up with something that wouldn't look too bad, and well, I think I have done it. Now I just have to decide on the one I am going to end up using!!! Ryan's doing well. Still loving his job. Kenzie is still doing well in 3rd grade. She's gotten in the habit of reading to Maddie on a regular basis! Awesome! And that's really all that's going on here other than next week maddie gets to wear her sock monkey jammies to school! she's totally excited! it's a fun christmas thing they are doing with her class!

time for a check in....

i will admit this year i haven't been the best blogger... life just kind of took over... during november right before thanksgiving, i got really sick... i didn't do anything as far as social media during that time and took a while to get back to it... now we are approaching christmas and ryan has maddie at the er now... kenzie's laying on my bed behind me just coughing her head off... yep... sickness has struck once again... maddie is a little sicker than kenzie and so, i told him to take her on in. that way we get her on meds asap! i'll update when i know what she has... but i think it may be strep (don't quote me because i am no dr but that's just a momma's gut feeling). kenzie just has the symptoms of a cold... so this week, we have two sickies, ryan working like mad, and i am working on a backdrop for friday... i have photo's with santa for my mommy group friday, tina's kiddies saturday morning, and then ashley's kiddies that afternoon, an

what have the cox's done lately???

over the weekend, we decided to take the girls camping in honor of our 9th wedding anniversary. tons of fun. we got there about 6pm friday and got the tent set up dinner cooked (over the bon fire) and smores too:) just a nice relaxing evening under the stars. saturday-- we woke up early, as is normal because the sun peeping in the tent just wakes us all up early, had yummy egg sandwiches via mommy using Big Kevin's tripod to cook over the fire once again, and went for a 3 mile hike (walk) to the day use playground. after we got back, the kids had hotdogs, and we walked from the tent loop to the cabin loop so the kids could pick out the cabin they wanted to have for christmas, then over to the playground on that side. back to tent loop and i laid down for about 10 minutes until pappy got there to see all of us. he brought us great news! but i'm not sharing just yet... then a little later our friends christine, rich and julia came to join us for the night. somehow we go

plans...

we have finally begun planning some fun times for us... here we go... last sunday, i went with my bestie, christine, to see the help as you know, so i started looking at the movies that are either out or coming out and got an e mail from focus on the family about a movie that is coming out friday. i was able to talk ryan into going (even though he really doesn't like the movie thing) and his mom is going to babysit for us. so, our 1st date night is dinner and Courageous!!! i can't wait to see the movie! i sure hope that this will inspire him to want to do date night on a regular basis. then in november, kenzie and i have been invited to go to jacksonville for a weekend! that's going to be tons of fun! we get to go with our besties and have fun on jacksonville beach! more to come on that.. maddie isn't making many plans yet other than "i wanna be lemon meringue for halloween mommy!" and kenzie has decided she wants to be a vampire (which i am totally o

Shoes In Chruch

I got this via e mail and wanted to share it with you all : It has such a great little message and I pray that it touches your hearts in the same way it has touched mine ;) SHOES IN CHURCH I showered and shaved............... I adjusted my tie. I got there and sat............... In a pew just in time. Bowing my head in prayer......... As I closed my eyes.. I saw the shoe of the man next to me..... Touching my own. I sighed. With plenty of room on either side..... I thought, 'Why must our soles touch?' It bothered me, his shoe touching mine... But it didn't bother him much. A prayer began : 'Our Father'............. I thought, 'This man with the shoes, has no pride. They're dusty, worn, and scratched. Even worse, there are holes on the side!' 'Thank You for blessings,' the prayer went on. The shoe man said............... A quiet 'Amen.' I tried to focus on the prayer....... But my thoughts were on his shoes again. Aren't we supposed t

Holiday 2011 Photo Special

As a gift to my customers, I decided to revamp my holiday special! Here it is: From now until 12/15/2011 I am offering: On Site Full Sessions With all images on cd for you for just $50.00 e mail Dawn @ rdmmcox67@gmail.com to schedule

wowzer!

it's been a busy weekend. recap: saturday: kenzie was surprised with a sleepover that she thought she wasn't going to get, but we allowed her best friend to surprise her at her yaya's and take her home with her. they did the movie and playing school thing. they were great! sunday: maddie and i met christine, kenzie, julia, and yaya at target for some shopping then went to great clips, maddie got her hair all shaped up and kenzie got a cut! i'll try and get a photo of her later for the blog, but she got an inverted/stacked bob. she looks so adorable with it. and it made our school routine much easier this am!!! then we went to the grand opening at tcby for free icecream, face painting, and stilted balloon twister. very fun. christine and i then went to see the help! love that movie! want that movie. want to read the book too. anyway, that's about that more to come later :)

your thoughts

i need some feedback. i've seen that juicing is on the rise again... first, i want to know what you think of juicing. and where i might find some information on juicing to begin with. maybe a site that has some recipes i could try??? now for today: the girls and ryan went to do laundry and i am redesigning some flyers. work work work. other than that, kenzie is being surprised with a sleep over she knows nothing about. her friend julia should be getting to where she is right now and telling her that she's staying the night. love having friends who actually beg to keep my kids! and what a joy it is to know that my kids are SO WELL BEHAVED that people ask me if they can have them over!!! it's great! on to other things: this morning i had a friend send me a message on facebook. she wanted to "book" me!!! i was very excited! not only did she book a fall sesssion, but a christmas one, and a spring one (working on that special right now too) so that's

feeling much better

thank you Jesus! i am feeling much better. and while some may make fun of me for praising my Saviour, it doesn't matter! look at how many times he was ridiculed, yet HE REIGNS! Can I get an AMEN??? and if my sister were here she would be yelling "AMEN SISTA" it really makes me laugh that people are so unhappy with their own lives that they have to berate me and make fun of me because they think it will make them happier. this has been going on for almost a year, and i am done with it. best to part ways than to continue having these spats. i am going to be called names and made fun of sure, but for it to go public on networks, it is not acceptable, neither is it ok for it to envolve my business. so if these people decide to envolve that, there will be law enforcement involved at all costs. other than that kenzie got her progress report today and is doing great. maddie is maddie is maddie...

under the weather

so the three cox girls have spent 1 day each under the weather... today's my turn... saturday/sunday was maddie, monday was mackenzie and tuesday is mommy... so until i feel better, check out my business site": Dawn Cox Photography

this week

has flown by.  i can't believe it's thursday already. so far i've been really busy with getting models for my portfolio together, after the next few shoots, i will only need a maternity shoot and a senior to round it out really nicely. i have a few shoots coming this weekend and since it's been nice, they are a for sure go. i'll be posting pics to my business blog .  i'll tag here so you can all see them, but in the mean time if you want to see my stuff, find me on facebook @Dawn Cox Photography gotta run :)

quick update

not much to report here other than that i am getting a few more calls/emails about some photo shoots and madison is now getting speech therapy. so first the speech therapy, yesterday, ryan got a call while he was at work about madison. it was the speech therapist saying that she needs about 1/2 the speech therapy that kenzie gets. i am actually pretty happy that she is getting it because although she has great speech, this will help her just a little more. now the photo's, i am slowly getting more and more people inquiring about having me do their photography and while some may think that i am offering prices that are too low, i am doing what i feel is needed because there are SO many in my area who don't have the chance to do great photography with their family because the prices are WAY out of their budget. while you have the right to think that i should charge more, i would challenge you to think about the lower class working americans who cannot afford to pay 3-500 ever

rambling

so, as we all know, i'm not working outside of the home. some people don't agree with this, however this is what ME AND MY HUSBAND have decided is best for us right now because of a few reasons: * we have 2 children and need one of us to be available for them before and after school * it's been my dream for a VERY long time to be able to work from home and while I am not where I want to be with that it is a work in progress * we have but 1 car. enough said on that now, while I did put in applications and go to interviews, no one is hiring me and i believe it is because of my LIMITED availability. See, I don't believe in allowing my children to be raised by anyone OTHER THAN ME OR MY HUSBAND. Therefore, I am available to work either 10 am to 3 pm or 6 pm to 8 pm. now, with that said, no one is going to hire for those hours, therefore I am working on getting a photography business going. Why photography? well, it's one of the things I love. There is no start u

a fun weekend

this weekend was a blast! something i haven't been able to say for a while so i am happy that things are turning around!!! here's a recap: friday night we went to citrus park mall with our friends julia and christine and while madison decided it was a good time to disobey, all in all we had a good time... we ended up ending the evening short because of madison's bad behaviour, but we did not allow that to hinder our weekend. saturday since it was wet out, we decided to go to clearwater. i couldn't do photo's on the beach or at the park and ask my clients to sit on wet ground. soooo un comfy that would have been, therefore we are rescheduling for better weather and hoping for this saturday for our friends james and stacey... so we went to salvation army, old navy, and the westfield mall @ countryside. it was so much fun (maddie stayed with daddy this time) and on the way home we went to steak n shake. something we don't normally do so it was a real treat.

Surprise!!!

So I made you go an extra day, but let me tell ya, this week has been strange for me... Busy with lots of stuff, but without further ado, here's what Kenzie got to do. The day after the playdate, we had been invited to go (FREE) to a Soccer "Practice" or so we thought at the University of South Florida. We thought it was really cool! So we went with Christine and Julia. When we got there we found out that it was really a double header! There was a game going on when we got there after church, so we watched the 2nd half of that and then came the fun part. Kenzie got to wear a retired Lady Bulls Jersey and go on the field during the line up but that wasn't all!!! See the photos I captured as she was on the field and other moments of our day! First, you have to know that Mackenzie has finally found her BEST friend! Yeah Baby! They at first thought they would be wearing these Blue Pasco Pirahana's t shirts and that was cool, but when Coach asked them to both put on th

Lacy/Cox Playdate

Fun times were had Saturday as we met Christine and Julia at the playground for a spontaneous play date. Mackenzie and Juilia are a perfect set of BFF's! They had so much fun together and didn't want to leave that night, but all is well! Julia isn't used to the camera so much, so she did a great job! See, she has a touch of Autism, but all in all she's a great kid! She just doesn't have the camera pointed at her all the time like my kids do, so she's not used to it. But we all know that if you hang out with the Cox's there will be photos taken LOL! "Hey, Julia, lets play peek a boo!" and that's just what we did! We had fun playing peek a boo around the tree! She really didn't care for this monkey bar thing, but she was a great sport and climbed up there for me! Love this child! These girls will do anything I ask! they didn't like that I was asking them to pose in the grass for me, but hey, they were great sports!!! Love the wa

A Word (or a bunch i should say)

This morning, I woke up and we got the kids off to school, then felt a tugging, so went to my bible. Here's what the Lord had for me today: Psalm 34 Verse 10 The lions may grow weak and hungry;, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Why is this significant to me? Just the other day I was having a discussion with a friend of mine and she said that when we begin to seek the Lord he will provide a way for us to do what we need to do according to his will. Now, this is really cool to me because I really believe the Lord was preparing me for this verse! And my take on it is that even though I am going through a rough patch (yes, a rough patch is all it is) SEEK HIM and HE will see us through it! Philippians 4 Verse 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. And for this verse it really hits home because as the economy struggles so do we and God will provide all that we need, we just have to ask and be thankful for

First Graded Homework of the Year!!!

So, with the 2nd week of school, Kenzie starts getting homework!! We love homework! She has always loved school, and we are praying that her love for school will continue as she grows older, although for some reason, I am fearing the teenage years with this child! Anyway, it was math, her worst subject thus far, and when she brought it home yesterday, Ryan checked her backpack not me. So I just happened to find it this am after she went to school and was pleasantly surprised to see an A+ sticker on it!!! That's my girl!!! Last night we had Open House at Madison's school, it didn't amount to much as I said school's just now in the 2nd week of school, but we went to support her. She loved showing us around her class and I think it really did her good to see that Mommy and Daddy are just as excited about her going to school as her sister is! This morning, she woke up all smiles and got ready with no tears!!! She's doing great this week with no crying! She pr

and the first week is over

we are starting week two of school\ kenzie is adapting very well as always to going to school. i never have had trouble with getting her to go to school, it's her sister that i have issues with. maddie just does not want to go. we are making her ride the bus now because ryan needs the car some mornings, so i can't just take her. she doesn't like that and replies, "mommy i wanna hang out with you" it's hard, but it is what is best for her. she'll adapt to it soon enough (i hope) and hopefully she will start to love school the same way kenzie does... sunday we took the kids swimming and they had a blast!!! was soo much fun! they love being in a pool... and that's about the update for now.. more to come when i am happier... maddie had another morning of crying from the time she got up and she was still crying when she got on the bus... even made me promise to wait at the bus stop all day!!! wow she's a momma and daddy's girl!

Maddie meet Dr. Small...

I know I haven't been good at posting on a regular basis. So much has been going on, so I am going to try and post a little at a time til I get you all caught up. First things first, Madison (aka Maddie) had an appointment with the eye doctor on Saturday. She was very excited to go. When we got there they did all of the normal tests (and let me tell ya, they can now take digital pictures of your retina!!!) That was sooo cool! Anyway, after the initial exam the doc said she would need glasses because she is far sighted. He decided to dialate her just to confirm that the script would be the correct one, so after 4 eyedrops, we were in the waiting room for 15 minutes. He confirmed and we were off to go pick out PURPLE glasses! She got them that afternoon and has had them on since!!! dare I say she is beautiful? LOL Anyway, more to come later :)

What a Week!!!

this week has been insane to say the least!!! Monday: Both girls had their back to school physicals... Let me just say this: holy, KENZIE has to have a shotttt??? We weren't expecting Kenzie to have to have any shots, but we got through it... Maddie had 4 shots. They both are healthy! Maddie has to go back and have some warts frozen, which is not one of those days I will be looking forward to, but it's all in a day's Mothering right! Tuesday: Preparing the girls for Meet the Teacher day took more out of me than I thought it would. I sort of took the day off of doing my long list of to do's to get Maddie mentally ready for what she was going to do on Wednesday. Wednesday: Meet the teacher day at 2 schools. So, since the website said 830, we got at Maddie's school at 8am. No problem right? Wrong! They decided to wait until 9 to start and where they had the sign for the registration wasn't where the line was supposed to be so all of the ones

is today over yet?

today has been a very busy day... home made sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast... mmmm a family favorite here :) put a roast and veggies in the crock pot while i was cooking this am... grocery store... walgreens... target... marshalls... walmart.... back to school fashion show with the girls... dinner with ya ya and pappy.... and now i have two sleeping angels... it's a great thing... tired but wanted to sent in a quick update... it's been a crazy busy day but a good kind of crazy

Praise You In This Storm w/ Lyrics!!

What in the world was that person thinking?

First, I want to say that I am so very happy to be back to blogging on a regular basis! It was quite a not so fun time of my life when I stopped blogging. I feel like by blogging, I can get a few things out of my mind that otherwise would just sit there. So, anyway, most of you know by now that we got a new to us car in February. I love my little camry and I love it so much that I do not love the rear bumper right now! Ryan stopped in at publix on the way home and picked up a gallon of milk. Well, when he came out, he noticed that someone had rear ended our car AND JUST LEFT! So, now we get to replace the bumper to our car. It is still drivable, but it's just the point that when they nudged it, they didn't stop. They kept going and the dent in the bumper tells us that. Not to mention we have what looks like copper color paint and something black from their vehicle as well. So my question is this, what has this world come to that you have to hit someone elses car backi

Does Couponing Really work????

So, I've been thinking a lot lately. Not to worry, I know this is a real danger for me LOL! But seriously, I have been doing a lot of that and here's my thoughts. Many of you have probably heard of the tv show TLC's Extreme Couponing right? Well, I thought I would share some of our story as far as that goes. While we do not live in a state that allows coupon doubling, we do get some great deals here in Florida. So great that I have been asked by my mom and her friend Bev to mentor them in couponing, therefore I am up for the challenge :) Now, basically, I want to share how I got involved and why. Then I will share some of my successes and how couponing really has helped us in the last few months. First, I was one of those ladies who casually clipped coupons for years and never cashed in on ANY of the deals. Ring a bell? Well, I am hoping that at the end of this post I will have you interested in learning how to do it and do it well for your family. So, our backgro

busy momma

the last few days, i have been super busy! it seems like it never ends... quick update: kenzie's school didn't accept any children school choice applications. therefore maddie doesn't get to go to school with her sister. ryan's schedule got changed YET AGAIN! maddie is doing great! she loves that she has one tooth out! she is such a cutie mom came in last week and we had friday to go shopping: here's what our day consisted of: ihop hospice thrift store salvation army thrift store usa flea market mc donalds photos new shirts school clothes fun times with nana it was a very busy day and we were all exhausted by the time it was done. i'll be editing and posting the pictures when i get a chance... saturday and sunday have been equally busy. kenzie decided yesterday that she wants to tell me "mommy, for my birthday can we have a carnival?" really child.... good thing you are telling me in july and your birthday isn't til FEB!!! so i am holding

your attitude stinks

interesting title isn't it? well that's what i feel like saying to kenzie. sure, mommy was great when she let me go to orlando to see riley and shelby... but now that i have been home for a few days, mommy is the meanest person on earth and i don't like her so i am going to give her a really bad attitude from the time i wake up to well past my bedtime... it is getting old really quick, so guess what? KENZIE IS GROUNDED! from now until i find that she has started to regret being mean. no computer, no wii, no phone calls, no visiting friends, no visiting relatives, no surprises, no tv. all she is allowed to do is read her books and work on her math using our chalk board. (oh, and i forgot to add, NO DS!) she will learn one way or another that the way she has been acting lately is not something that she can get by with. i would ground her from her bicycle, but it wouldn't do any good since the tire is flat LOL i will be making her go outside and run laps about on

sweetpea beauty-- veggietales

the girls and i watch veggie tales a lot, but it wasn't until Beth posted a video to facebook that I really connected with the one movie... and yes, i am still sobbing like a baby... here's the song: Nichole Nordeman-- Beautiful for me. you can find it on youtube... it is a great message to all of us women... and just in the nick of time... as you read in my previous posts... i have been very down on myself, but i am trying to turn that around... once you hear the song, you will understand... see, growing up, i was made fun of and talked bad to all of my life, and it seems here lately, i can't find one good thing to say about me... this video really hit home... and i can't stop listening to it!!!

you make beautiful things out of dust

so, i have been struggling here lately with some internal issues of my own.... it always helps a little to blog about things when i am feeling this way, so i decided i would do just that... so anyway, i have been being very negative on myself because of several reasons, and then today, i just decided that it was time to come out of this funk, and turned on my favorite radio station JOYFM when I did, the song you make beautiful things out of dust was playing... This song really spoke revelations to me... Here are the words and then I will explain what I mean by it spoke to me... All this pain I wonder if I’ll ever find my way I wonder if my life could really change at all All this earth Could all that is lost ever be found Could a garden come up from this ground at all You make beautiful things You make beautiful things out of the dust You make beautiful things You make beautiful things out of us All around Hope is springing up from this old ground Out of chaos life is being found in

Pappy's Angels

For Father's Day, Amanda did photo's of the girls with their Pappy! They turned out great! I thought as a way to share with you, I would make them into a Collage for the blog. Really nice I think. It is hard to believe looking at these how big the girls have all gotten! And even harder to believe that come next month they ALL will be going to school! Wow.

giddy girls

so it's been a while since i have posted, but i have good reason. my laptop isn't doing so well. i am waiting to get it fixed, so i use the computer when i can. the girls are getting so giddy! they are excited for a few reasons. * they get to go see aunt amanda, uncle derrick, aunt taylor, riley, shleby, maggie and sam tomorrow. * they both are getting giddy for school to start! Madison is excited that she will be starting kindergarten in the fall. Kenzie is growing so fast! I can't believe she is going into 3rd grade already. * they both are doing a little practice math over the summer. they love it. No, maddie doesnt' quite get it but I am introducing her into the addition she will be introduced to in kindergarten. it will be good for her to practice and get familiar with some of the problems she will see in the coming year. kenzie however is doing good. she is great with her addition so far and although her subtraction is needing work, this is why we are doing this p

a quiet day

today is a quiet day. it's wierd really. not used to the house being so quiet. but with the girls on a mini vacation with yaya and pappy, it's nice! ryan is sleeping and i am putting around here getting a few things accomplished... gotta do what i can before the girls get back on thursday because we are goign to have max and cathy in town thursday and friday.... so i gotta get things done. kenzie is doing well. she's getting so big! i can't believe how much she has grown... looking through old pictures really jogs the memory... maddie is getting excited about going to kindergarten this year... and ryan is snoozing as he has to work tonight... so things are just about the same... i'm hoping to get some more couponing info together for you all in a little bit so i can post that..

Couponin' Cox's

So, with the economy being what it is, and me not working, I decided it was my job to try and save us as much money as I can, so couponing has become a major part of my job! It's amazing some of the deals I can get with doing this. For example, I am going to the store tomorrow for a few things and one of them is Crystal Light. We go through that stuff like crazy! Not only is it great tasting, but it also is a healthier alternative to koolaid. So, it's on sale BOGO (Buy one, Get one) and I have coupons, so I will buy 4. Here's the breakdown: (4) Crystal Light-- 5.98 (4) $1 off 1 Crystal Light Manufacturer Coupon (1) $1 off 4 Crystal Light Target Coupons Total price out of pocket will be: 98 Cents~!!! That makes them 24 cents a piece. Not bad for a product that is normally 2.99 each! So that's a savings of 84% on one item we use all the time. Now, with the TLC show Extreme Couponing, there have been issues of people going and buying the stores out of everything on sale. I