The Cox Family

I Am a "Kept" Woman? You see, there were a few times when I thought I would lose my mind, But GOD kept me sane. (Isa. 26:3) There were times when I thought I could go no longer, But the LORD kept me moving. (Gen 28:15) At times, I've wanted to lash out at those whom I felt had done me wrong, But the LORD kept my mouth shut. (Psa. 13) Sometimes, I think the money just isn't enough, But GOD has helped me to keep the lights on, the water on, the car paid, the house paid, etc.., (Matt. 6:25 -34) When I thought I would fall, HE kept me up. When I thought I was weak, HE kept me strong! (I Pet. 5:7, Matt. 11:28-30) I could go on and on and on, but I'm sure you hear me! I'm blessed to be "kept."Are you...or do you know a "kept" woman (or man)? If so pass it on to let them know they are "Kept" I'm Kept by the Love and Grace of God! I got this via e mail from a dear friend of Grandma Tigger's, Jim, Thank you! I thought I would share...

So, as all of you know, I have been having a hard time sleeping. Well, last night, I was tired enough to sleep, but not so tired that I couldn't sleep. So, I fell asleep around 10. At about 1am Kenzie woke up with the storm. But she went right back to sleep with me. So I woke up around 6am. I am happy to say that I am well rested and ready for today. Now for the news: Andrew is here again today. Kenzie lost her second tooth. (pictures to come) Maddie is being the center of attention. Ryan is sleeping. We are all trying to get woke up so that we can get the day going. And that is the cox house for now!

This morning, I woke up at 2 am. I couldn't sleep. I fell asleep just before 10 pm. so that really wasn't that much sleep. It is now almost 6 am, and I am still up. I decided to make myself useful. I started packing at about 3 this morning. We are down to the nitty gritty on packing. I will probably just pack until after Andrew leaves this morning. I am watching him for Dianne until she gets off of work. At that point, I will probably get the girls some lunch and then we will take a nap, although, if I make myself stay up, I might sleep tonight. Grrr! It is so hard to keep a normal sleep schedule when you are working night shift like I am these days. Kenzie is doing good today. She is sleeping like an angel. Maddie is sleeping too. Ryan is at work. I am working on a few things here on the computer in between boxes. WE CAN'T WAIT UNTIL THE MOVE IS OVER! I am looking for mommy and me playgroups for Maddie and Kenzie, and I am also looking for a support group for ...

So, as some of you know my neice is comming to help us drive to Florida. She booked her flight today. She will be here in a about a week and a half. We can't wait. She is comming to spend time with her cousins. She hasn't seen them at all. We haven't been able to make it to Milwalkee, and she hasn't been able to make it here so it is awesome that she is going to be able to come for our move. Kenzie is getting excited because she has another cousin she didn't realize she had. LOL! Kenzie said, "Lucky go Florida?" I ofcorse said yes. Anyway, expect pics when she gets here! Love, Dawn

This morning, while trying to nap (me and Maddie) and Kenzie was even laying down. Then the doorbell rings. We ignore it. A knock on the door. We ignore it. Another knock on the door. We ignore it again. And the doorbell rings again. Finally we give up. It was the neighbor's grandson comming over to "play wii" . Keep in mind that when I am awake, I don't mind for him to come and play, but we normally have the rule that he has to come over after Ryan is home, but for some reason this week, he has decided that he wants to come over from the time he woke up until the time he goes to bed. I told him that I was still sleeping, and he went back to the house. Next thing I know Maddie is in her room screaming, "Mommy, up!" so that was the end of my sleep. So it is a good thing that I only have 4 hours tonight. I would have liked to have kept the 12, but Katrina switched it out with me for me working for her last friday. It was really nice of her, so...

just wanted to say to all of my readers who don't leave comments, please do! i love comments.... i see that i have had over 4k clicks, so i know you're comming, and reading... please leave me comments so i know what you think of our space here in blogville, usa!

After Beth gave me the website, this was what I came up with. Maddie's polaroid shot. Princess Kenzie's polaroid Our easter babes. Get ready for Football.

so today i have been hanging out with my girls. I did get an e mail from Blaine! Yay! So, we were able to finalize everthing that needed to be finalized with him. It was great. Maddie is consistently taking off her diaper these days... So the potty training is about to get really interesting... kenzie has been really good today... she can't wait to get moved and her to start kindergarten. it is comming quick... but anyway.... not much else going on... i am about to start playing with some of the pics that i have on my computer a little, and then i will put them in here just to warn you..

yesterday the girls went to mom's house... ryan went and got them from church this morning...I was sleeping since I worked last night and I go back again today. I may only have the 4 hour shift today. Pearl said something about wanting to work 10 to 6 for me today. We shall see. Anyhoo.... I am getting ready to go back to work so I will have to catch up with you all later... bye byes... dawnie

Ask and ye shall recieve! Beth hooked me up with a really cool site. It is for editing photos. It was http://www.picnik.com/ and I went on this morning, here were the results of under ten minutes on the site... I was only playing with it this morning, so i will work on it more when I have more time. Hope to have some really cute things in the future and if anyone knows any other sites i might like for photo editing or scrapbooking, please feel free to leave me a comment (I love those you know) and I am off to get some sleep now (much needed sleep that is)

Beth, I have been (as you can see) trying to edit some pictures of the girls using only my paint shop on my computer. I can't seem to get the font big enough when I put a caption on it. Do you have any suggestions? If anyone else has any ideas in editing photo's please let me know what I can do to help fix this issue.. Thanks, Dawn

A good friend of the family is in the hospital again. He lives in Florida and has been like an uncle to all of us for years. Jack went into the hospital this week. He had blood clots in both of his legs so bad that they had to remove them yesterday. It is a tragic thing to have happen, but they had to do this in order to save his life. The doctor came in yesterday and said that they were surprised that he lived through the night because he was so toxic. So I am asking for all of your prayers for his speedy recovery. I can't imagine him with no legs. But that will just have to be an adjustment for all of us to make. I guess I will have to make a trip to Plant City as soon as we get back to Florida to visit with Jack and with Beverly. Other things: Day two of six begins tonight at 10 pm... Kenzieis being a 5 year old today... She is a little defiant, but all in all, she is being a child.... Maddie has just been hanging out... doing her own thing... Ryan is working until 6p...

so, last night, although i was exhausted... i got no sleep. i couldn't sleep. so tonight i have to go to work with no sleep because as soon as i put maddie down and she got to sleep today, kenzie went ripping through thehouse waking her up so that i couldn't sleep. we have taken everything we possibly can away from her and it doesn't do a darn thing. i don't know what to do with her. so i will be going to work with no sleep for like 48 hours by the time i leave here at 4pm. i don't know how iam going to manage, but i will. i guess. now here is my schedule this week: thursday: work 12 hours friday: 8 hours saturday: 8 hours sunday: 12 hours monday: 8 hours tuesday: 12 hours as you might imagine, i am going to be completely worn out come wednesday, but there will be no rest since ryan has to work that day also.

some photos, and here are the outcomes... let me know what you think. she is always doing cute things with isabella's photo's, so i tried a few things and so far i am liking them... after uploading them here, i think i need to work on the size of the letters... will do that another time I thought they were cute for my first try

FOR SOME FOOTBALL! I was packing and found Kenzie's old Brooks jersey from when we lived in Tampa a few years ago and thought it might fit Maddie, so put it on her with some blue jean shorts and her tennie's! She loved it. We are now working on teaching her "touchdown" it will be funny when she gets it. I remember when Kenzie figured it out! Ryan is also getting excited for football season because up here we can't get all of the tampa games like we did down there and afterall he does love the Bucs. So I just realized that I have been neglecting my job as photographer this month... I will have to play catch up! LOL! Talk more later... In the mean time enjoy the pic!

so, today, instead of comming home, i stayed at work to get our checks. then i came home got the rest of the fam and headed to walmart. we did kenzie's school shopping. i only forgot one thing that was on her list. so she is all set for school now. then ryan dropped me and kenzie off at kmart while he and maddie ran to new albany to run an errand. i talked kenzie into getting some of the cutest retro print clothes that i could find. so cute. when he got back, i hopped in the car and we went to grab a bite to eat. then we came home. by this time it was 12 noon. i laid maddie down, but there was no rest for me as kenzie wouldn't lay down. ryan had to leave to go to work because someone had to be off at 2pm so he went in today for her since they kept blowing up his phone. so, needless to say, when he gets home, i am so bed bound that it isn't funny. so since i am not making any kind of sense, i am off of here...

So, Just now as I was doing my devotional here in the living room, I look up and see a 2 year old in a diaper and her tennis shoes standing in the kitchen with a full size broom going to town cleaning... LOL! Or at least what she thought was cleaning... Too funny! Just wanted to throw that in here before I forgot about it.

EL ELYON, GOD MOST HIGH He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 FROM THE FATHER'S HEART My child, when gusty winds blow around you, I'll make your foundation strong. I'll rebuild your courage and strengthen your might when everything goes wrong. I'll repair the broken places and fill the gaping holes. Your job is to live under the shelter of My wings. When you do that, I, the Most High God, will cast My shadow over you, and you will find blessed rest. Just because I love you, My child, I will do this. A GRATEFUL RESPONSE Like an eagle spreading its wings to shade her offspring, You spread Your arms and protect me. There, I rest under Your shadow, away from the scorching heat of the sun, protected from the eyes of stalking enemies. You are El Elyon, the God Most High. With You, I am safe. SIMPLE TRUTH Trust is knowing that God will allow into my life only the things that will be for my ultimate good.

as i work more days in a row, they drag by... that is what is happening to me now... i am going in tonight for a fifth shift in a row.... so by the end of tomorrow's 12 hour shift, it should be ineresting if i can function at all lol! maddie came downstairs with ryan this afternoon to wake me up and tell me she wanted "eat" too cute... kenzie is having a rough day... storms... ryan is getting more excited about moving because "bucs training camp starts on the 26th of this month" which means that football season is just around the corner... in the words of ric flair "woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!" now for the plan for the week: monday: work (dawnie) tuesday: work (dawnie) wednesday: school supply shopping trip thursday: work (both of us) friday: work (both of us) saturday: work (dawnie) sunday: work (dawnie) monday: work (both of us) so i guess that is all from the homefront since kenzie is driving me completely nuts.... dawnie

I know yesterday I blogged that it was day 2 of 6, but it was day 3 of 6, so today I am working on day 4. It is hard to do, but I am doing it. Kenzie is doing good. We are about to go and do her school supply shopping so she will have everything for school ready. She has just been a good girl today. Maddie has been trying. She got in trouble this morning for smacking mommy. I don't mean a small smack either, she put everything she had into the hit. Not much fun for me. Ryan is working and I go in at 6pm. I am glad he is off tomorrow because then I can actually get some sound sleep. I guess that is all we have going on. I dunno... exhaustion is getting me :(

so, i go back in to work tonight from 10p to 6 a. It is day 2 of 6. I know you are all thinking I am crazy, but the overtime is available, so I am taking advantage of it. I don't always have this opportunity since most of the time they give it away to the people who are always picking up. one girl averages 160 hours in 2 weeks every pay period. how she does it I don't know, but her checks must me really nice.... If I did that before taxes, I would be looking at well over 2k per pay check with the shift differentals and over time premiums factored in... wow. just don't know how she does it. so, i took kenzie's tv away from her yesterday and ryan gave it back last night. what is up with that? i am fighting a loosing battle here.. maddie sees this and she is going to start behaving the way kenzie does... grrr!

So, I get this daily devotional everyday from www.crosswalk.com . I thought I would share some of them with all of you and todays tells me that we all need respite in the serenity that is God from time to time. Here it is: SERENITY "In quietness and trust is your strength." Isaiah 30:15 FROM THE FATHER'S HEART My child, deep below the turbulent ocean's depths is a region marked by silence and serenity. Likewise, nestled deep in the eye of the "storms" you face is a place of rest. For wherever I am, there you can find serenity. No matter what is going on in your life, regardless of the confusion around you, I never change. And I will give you that peace for the asking. A GRATEFUL RESPONSE Lord, Your serenity calms my spirit daily. In the quiet moments of my life, I find the strength to persevere. In the silent spaces of my heart where You speak, faith finds a resting place. Thinking of You chases every worry and fear away and brings peace in every situ...

So, some of you know that for quite some time, we have been having the battle of Mom v/s Dad war over parenting (mostly discipline). Ryan tended to not want to face it because he doesn't like hearing Kenzie cry, but when it came to Maddie, it was ok to do whatever was needed to get her to stop the naughty thing she was doing.... Not so fair in my book, so I have decided to try to reapproach the "time out" strategy. I have been thinking on this for quite some time. I think Kenzie can finally grasp that if she does something wrong, she will be placed in time out and for every time she gets up, the timer gets restarted. So, since I have had this talk with Kenzie, it was put in place. I noticed that she had taken her clothes off and asked her to go put some clothes on because it is inappropriate for a 5 year old to go without clothing. I don't even allow Maddie to be clothesless. So after several reminders and quite a long time later, I simply said to her "Ken...

DISCIPLINE But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16 FROM THE FATHER'S HEART My child, before any major works or accomplishments, there must come discipline. The runner in the race must prepare physically and emotionally, and the soldier must train diligently for battle. Likewise, My children must discipline themselves to be fit for My kingdom’s work. I, too, knew the discipline of drawing close to My Father. Your body cannot handle the pressure of constant movement. Your mind needs to pause from fast forward, and your spirit needs quiet retreat in My presence. I’ll help you, Child. Rest in Me. A GRATEFUL RESPONSE Lord, even You needed time alone, time to commune with Your Father, time to think, time to rest. And that took discipline. I, too, need that discipline and time alone with You. Like a tree planted by the water, my roots can then grow deep into the soil of Your love. Thank You for Your discipline. SIMPLE TRUTH The road less traveled is often the roa...

what a day off felt like... I had one today! yay... so i basically did nothing... i was so exhausted from working the extra hours... now, I get to work on a 6 day stretch next week.... oh well... such is life.... maddie is such a sweetie here lately... she even talked on the phone with kenzie today... ryan had taken kenzie to mom's to drop off a chainsaw to pop and kenzie wanted to talk to maddie, so i put her on speaker, and that was totally cool for them.... other than that nothing much brewing here... i will try to upload some pics later (keyword try)...

So, as you all know we are moving to Florida. We are closing in on the moving... We have to be there for Kenzie to start school, so we are getting closer to that move. It is getting exciting. We can't wait to have it all done. Moving can be quite stressful, but, we will have it all done and be back to normal as quickly as possible. Note: I will likely not be blogging as much when I first get down there because we will be trying to find who we want to use for internet when we get there. Kenzie has been crazy today. Oh yeah, Kenzie's second tooth on the bottom in the front is loose! Maddie is trying to cuddle me now, and Kenzie doesn't want to let her be. So she is whiney. Ryan is working. He is also trying to help me pack as he can when we are both home. I am on day 4 of 11 in a row, so I am fatigued. That is all that I have for now. Will bring more as I can. Dawn

So, this morning on my way home from work, I saw the title of the blog flash on my info panel on my van. I immediately stopped at Walmart and then went to Kevin's house and woke him up to have him put it in for me. I will be having my break system checked out this week to find out what is going on with it. It could be as simple as the lines needing to be bled, or a pinhole in one of the rubber lines. I sure wish Ryan could do all of that kind of stuff for me, but that is ok. Anyway, that is what is going on here. I am off to try and rest since I am barely staying awake to do this post. dawn

i had a thought... it went away... never to come again... so there was a thought to challenge boards... but it went away when i was told by another sourse that it isn't allowed even though i was told by a reputable sorce that it is possible... oh well there went another dream

so, i couldn't think of a proper title, therefore the .......'s. ryan went to the funeral without me because candy didn't call me in time to tell me she would watch kenzie. maddie has been a goofy kid this morning... kenzie has been a great kid today... yesterday, she got grounded from all tv... she is doing much better today... i have to work tomorrow night... apparently pop talked ryan into telling him we would go up and stay with them again... i am not looking forward to that because i don't get any sleep when we are at mom's house. maddie doesn't sleep and so i don't sleeep. i really wish he would have talked it over with me first. we have a lot we could be doing at our house like : mowing the grass getting the refrig cleaned out laundry vaccuming dusting just the everyday things... so when he gets home i guess i have to go up there... anyway, talk to you all when i can

Thoughtfilled Thursday.... As we close in on the last of July, my head EXPLODES with thoughts of things needing done. I am in the heat of packing and downsizing at the same time. It is hard to go from a big house to a small one. Especially when I haven't seen the house, but we trust Roy and Carol. They have seen the place, and we will just go on their word. Last night we took a night off from the stress and just concentrated on teaching Kenzie how to play tennis and baseball on the wii. She will get good if we can just get her to concentrate on the task at hand. Oh, she is a LEFTY when it comes to batting! It was so funny to see it. I blame the LEFTY himself for instilling that on our child! Yes, Ry, that is your fault. We are also attempting to get the hang of the AMF bowling game for wii. It is really hard to controll the ball on that one. So, Maddie is just herself today. Not settling until I dressed her "pwetty mommy" she wanted one of her pretty sunday...

Hey guys. I just thought I would update you all on the services for Nana. On Thursday, Zack put me on for 8 hours instead of 12 so I could go to the visitation which is being held in New Albany from 12-8. Friday, he took Ryan off and he said Ry could make it up at a later time so that he can be a Pall Barrer (spelling is off I just know it). Pop asked Ryan if he would be one. Ryan jumped on the chance. He just wants to do anything he can for them. It is so sad that family has to come together in this type of situation. The service is at 11am in New Albany. Now on to other things: The girls helped me pack up all of the pie pans, and other dishes we don't use on a regular basis today. Things are comming together in the kitchen. It is nice to have 2 little girls who love to help Mommy as much as mine do. Maddie is feeling much better this week. Last week she had spiked a temp, and yesterday while playing with her, I noticed that she has another new tooth. She is such a c...

So, Nana went to dance with Jesus at about 6:30 this evening. She isn't suffering any longer! So, we are rejoycing for her!

This is Mom's colt. His name is Patches. He was born a month before Maddie was. They share a special bond. They were our babies! Maddie decided that since Mommy was going to shower, she would climb up in the oversized recliner at Mom's house and take a nap. She wasn't feeling very good. When I got to work that day she had a temp of 101.7. After a round of tylenol, she did just fine. This is my neighbor Dianne. She was being goofy last night right before we started fireworks. Here was one of the fireworks. and another. Look Papppaw, I can ride my trike! This is Patches' daddy. When Chief saw me at the fence he got really happy and came right over to me. This pic is for CAROL! As you can see, Kenzie's tooth is gone! Me and my Papppaw sitting on the porch! She loves him. Kenzie too loved Maddie's trike.

So, I thought I would bring everyone up to par on our events lately: Thursday, Jackie went to be with Jesus Friday, I got Nick and Bubba Saturday, I took the boys home, ryan got injured, and nana was put in the hospital related to leukemia, a dialysis treatment was done. Sunday, we went to church and then came home to pack a suitcase and went to Mom's house to help her and pop with pappy. Monday, nana had another dialysis treatment. Tuesday, the doc said that if nana didn't have chemo, she wouldn't last two weeks, so she agreed that she needed to try the chemo treatments. She had her first treatment. Wednesday, more chemo and pneumonia sets in her lungs. Thursday, arajuana delivers baby isaiah via emergency c section due to him being breech. bronchoscope to biopsy infection n nana's lungs and then she was sedated and placed on the ventelator until they could find out what the infection was to allow her body to try and fight the infection. Friday, nana went septic. ...

they are putting a tube down her throat to biopsy the infection in her lungs, when they do that, they may need to put her on life support. when they do that the family has to make a decision. the preacher is on his way to the hospital now. aunt hazel is there, mom, pop, and pappy are all going. i called work and briefed them on the situation, so I will be going to work, but mom and ryan both know that if anything happens, they have to call me and I will be leaving to go to the hospital to spend what time she has left with her. So, that is the situation as of right now. I will be back to update you when I get the next call. Dawn

Last night after Mom and Pop went to bed a lady from the church called her house. It was to report the prayer chain. So when they do this, we have to call who ever is next on the list... so, I took the call. Please be praying for: *Nana *John Kessinger's son is having trouble with his kidneys *Brenda has the flu. Now an update on Nana: they put her in the ICU she has developed pneumonia. That is all I know right now, will update you all more when I know it. Dawn

we have been up at mom's since sunday. we are taking care of pappy for them. nana is still in the hospital and it isn't looking good. i will continue to update you all as i can. pappy is napping, so i don't have much time here, but wanted to let you all know where we are since i haven't been on the blog this week. pappy is very weak, and doesn't have much interest in mobility or eating right now, so it is all we can do to get him to walk in and out of the house a couple of times a day. eating is another story, i basically have been conning him into eating. he doesn't have control of his bladder anymore, and today he stated to me "you have a patient 24 hours a day don't you?" this was after I had given him a bath. So, needless to say, i am exhausted, but we are getting by with all of the stress of jackie passing, and nana being diagnosed with leukemia... then yesterday the doctor told her that if she didn't take chemo, she only had 2 wee...