The Cox Family

I am trying to make menu's for the next two weeks for dinner's. It is so hard to please everyone. Ryan is so picky. I mean, he won't eat: *beans and cornbread *chili *spanish rice *tomato soup (grilled cheese night) *grumbled at hot chicken salad *jalepeno cornbread *chicken pot pie so what am I to do? I mean this guy is like, if you fix that, you have to cook something different for me! so not fair! I think he should learn that if he doesn't like something he can make a sandwich. otherwise he can eat what we eat. this really isn't teaching the girls good habits... so if you have any ideas for a picky eater, comment them up baby!

Ok, so I have decided with the state of the economy, it is time to get back to basics. I have begun the task of making as many of the convenience foods that we typically buy myself. This means crackers too! Although they aren't that expensive, they are even cheaper to make myself and don't take that long! I think that is awesome! I have found this website sometime ago. It is called budget101. It has so many great ideas! I love it. So anyway, you know what I am doing.. Oh and, I am about to try some green products as well to assist with the problem of global warming! What is happening to me????

so today we had an all in all good day. we got up... did some work... got showered, dressed and went to surprise pappy and the guys at the club. we hadn't seen tommy since kenzie was born and when she was born, all the guys were just great! anyway, we had lunch at the club with pappy.. went home... tommy called, ryan and pappy went to get the pressure washer from him and then gas and a sprayer.... the pressure washed the back porch after clearing all of pappy and ya ya's furniture and plants off of it... then pappy was off to the store... we then had panfried fresh snapper and hotdogs.. we ate outside at the patio furniture which is temporarily in the yard... it was so nice... then a quick clean up and off to the park with all of us.. i helped a lady find her way around the subdivision on the way home and then put the dishes away from the dishwasher while charlie and judy's cat scared the life out of me and kenzie... she had gotten on top of the refrigerator and jumped d...

so, we are busy like always. ryan goes to work in the morning. i get the girls ready and take kenzie to school (via a 10 minute walk each way). maddie and come home, have breakfast, i work on anything that needs done including school work. by the time i get just a bout settled and everything in order, it is time to feed maddie lunch. then she naps (allows for some mommy time), followed by another trip to the school to pick kenzie up from school. we come home, have what i call homework time which consists of writing, reading, etc. I am also trying to get her speech in there somehow. then by that time, i start cooking dinner. ryan comes home, we eat, do dishes, bathe/shower the kids, get them ready for bed and it is off to bed with them. i then have time to finish up any unfinished business like the homework i started earlier in the day, put a load in the washer, and tidy up the living room. i make it to bed around midnight and begin again. what will i do when i finally get t...

So, I have a phone appoint with the advisor on Weds. I can't wait. I am also excited because I only have 2.5 years left on the degree! Whoot! By the time I get my degree, Maddie will be heading to Kindergarten and Ryan and I can start working the same hours! It will be wierd, but worth it! Also, I am in the just past the 1/2 way point for my current class. It isn't really as bad as I thought it would be. I am taking in a lot of information and finding that I already knew a lot about this class and didn't even realize it. I will be taking Business Math next term. Candy already took it and if the book is still the same, she is letting me borrow it so there won't be an extra cost of a book. That is great. To top it off, she says it is a pretty easy class. I can't wait. After I get done with this term, I only have 7 classes remaining for my core classes, then all that is left is electives. I chose to take the core classes first so that I wasn't waitin...

Ryan worked almost 30 hours last week between wednesday and staurday. kenzie is loving school and did her homework very well tonight. maddie is learning how to sing twinkle twinkle little star heather asked me to come to work in the evenings to do reception until the facility opens fully so i can go in to the nursing department. the research paper this term isn't getting any funner. my class for next term isn't going to be one of my favorites.... BUSINESS MATHEMATICS ummm.... making christmas lists.... ideas that is.... and then trying to figure out some other things as well.... and that about sums it up for me. i am tired, so i am off for bed.

So, Kenzie had a blast. From roasting hot dogs over the fire pit, the water fight with Uncle Derrick, Swimming with Riley and Shelby, Going to Target with Grammy, Riley, and Shelby, The movie with Grammy, Riley, and Shelby... Her weekend was action packed! She loved it. Roy and Carol have pictures on their new camera and when I get them e mailed to me, I will be sure to post them. She says that she can't wait to see Shelby again! I did a surprise for her this weekend as well. I went on to her webkinz account and got her gem for yesterday. It happened to be the last one she needed for the Crown of Wonder! I immediately called to tell her and Riley. Riley was very excited about it. Kenzie wouldn't talk to me, but wanted to know all about it when she got home today. We went over and cooked dinner for Roy today since he had his surgery on Thursday. He is doing well. Maddie has been such a joy! She even fell asleep standing up today! I wish I could have gotten a pic of...

So, Carol, Amanda, and I had this idea that since Carol was going to watch Riley and Shelby this weekend, she could take Kenzie with her. I didn't tell Kenzie she was going to see her cousins in Orlando. Amanda didn't tell Riley and Shelby that Kenzie was comming. It was all good... Or so I thought. After I had told Kenzie that Ryan was taking her to meet Yaya at her office, then she would take her to dinner before going home, Kenzie was ok when she left here. She was cool with it for a while in the car. Then when they got to McDonalds, Carol broke down. She said she couldn't get Kenzie to leave the play place there at the Mickey D's. So she said some thing like "Kenzie come on. We gotta go. We are going to Riley and Shelby's house for the weekend". I guess that got her attention because when I talked to her last, she was about 20 minutes from Amanda and Deke's house and Kenzie was sound asleep in the Explorer. I am sure she will have a gre...

On her way to school the first week. Cast and all. The cast is long gone, but I haven't posted pics up in quite some time. Maddie and I met some friends for a lunch date at chuck e cheese. She loved bob the builder! The girls got these really cool flip flops. They have crocheted around the plastic that makes the thong! They love them. Kenzie's are pink. Maddie is such a shoe person. She will take any shoes she can get her feet on. Holding Daddy's hand on the way home from school one day. Singing High School Musical Songs with Yaya. Notice the shoe queen was at it again. She found these in carol's room somewhere! And to top it off, the microphones were musical instruments!

So Maddie is now 27 Months old. It is hard to believe. Here are some of her favorite things to do right now. *Clean. I don't just mean pretend clean either. She wants to vacuum, Sweep, Swiffer, and today I caught her at the sink trying to wash the dishes with a dry sponge! *Play with Daddy. *Dance *Walk Sissy to school. *Talk *Iron! *read books *cuddle Baby and Barney *take a shower with mommy *water the plants outside (mainly annoy mommy so she will spray me) She also talks to herself all the time. We don't do a lot of TV time with her because Kenzie is addicted to that appliance, so we keep the tv off and just listen to the radio. She dances and tries to sing along.

Last night, Ryan went to the open house at school with Kenzie. I didn't go because I had a conference this morning with her teacher, so I skipped the Open House. I know slakker! But, I didn't see any sense in going last night only to be told the same general stuff as what I would get today and not be able to have question time. So, Mrs. Phipps said that we can continue doing the same stuff with Kenzie that we have been doing. She will be getting language help as well as reading and speech! It is great! Kenzie is doing a great job at school, but the teacher did say that as we all know it will be a struggle for Mackenzie for this year, so she is happy that we are being proactive about her education. I will post more when I have more time! g2gfn!

Fantastic Adventurous Mellow Interesting Lovable Young This is what family is. No matter what the age is, you are still YOUNG AT HEART! I have one of the most awesome families and I wanted to let everyone know it! Mom- although you didn't give birth to me and we have had our battles, we are still some of the closest friends. I hope we can carry that for the rest of our lives! Pop- I haven't known you for very long, but you mean the world to me. You have done things for us that a step dad normally wouldn't. You have taken on two of the worlds most precious little girls as your own grand daughters and they love you for it! They always ask me "When can I see Papa again?" Ok, so Maddie just hollars "PaPaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa". Ryan- I couldn't even begin to describe everything I love about you. You are a wonderful dad. You are trying so hard with the girls and that I can love forever! You take time out to spend a few minutes with me even tho...

Ok, so I know I have you trying to figure out what the title means right? Well, Amanda and Derrick have sent Maddie tons of clothes that their girls out grew. I have been reminding Maddie that Aunt Amanda and Uncle Derrick were the ones that sent them, so she runs around the house screaming "TANK OOO MANNA" and she is trying to say, "Thank You Amanda" it is just toooooo cute. She has really loved going through all of the clothes. Oh and "SOOOOOOOOOS! MOMMY, SOOOOOOOOS!" She really got a kick out of the bag of "ocks" that you sent her. She loves crocs! They are her favorite shoes right now. I think because they are really easy for her to get on. So, I am going through and trying to seperate according to size, but the hard thing is getting all of the 4's in one container since what Amanda sent took up my largest rubbermaid container and I haven't even gotten to my 4's that Kenzie had from when she was younger. I know I will f...

FREECYCLE IT! You heard me, I believe in helping others, so the stuff you have around the house that you no longer want/need, give it a good home. If you know a friend or family member who could use it, give it to them, otherwise list it on www.freecycle.org and see who needs it. It is a great way to help others out while clearing out space that is needed for your stuff you do use on a regular basis. Also, I found a really cool cottage bed for Maddie on there. Ryan went and got it tonight! AWESOME! Billy said if it wasn't picked up it was going to the trash! It was a great pick up because we needed a bed for Maddie, and now we have one. Real budget saver too! Also, I have a friend who is putting together a frame for a twin size mattress that I have for Kenzie! I have a twin size headboard with storage in the garage! Awesome! I just love it! Anything anyone needs can be found pretty simply on the website! Kenzie is so excited to go back to school on Monday. Why can...

I have joined up with a group of my friends and we are planning some get togethers. We will be doing play dates at each other's houses. We are hoping to be able to do a christmas party in december. i am also hoping that in the future we can have some mdo activities (mom's day out). in addition to this we are working on a recipe book to share our favorite recipes. we are also doing a babysitting swap starting soon so that we can just swap with one of the girls. I would watch April's two kids so she can have mommy time, and she would swap another night with me to watch my two kids. I think it will really work out well for all of us. Kenzie is starting to learn some sight words. She can already recognize the words I, A, and Can. I know it is only three words, but she is learning that is what matters most at this moment. I can't wait for her to learn more words as she progresses in Kindergarten. Maddie came up to me today and said, "MOMMY BATHROOM!" so ...

A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?" "Because I'm a woman," she told him."I don't understand," he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will." Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?" "All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could say. The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry. Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?" God said:"When I made the woman she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times comes from her children. I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without ...

As some of you know, I tend to try and shop very early for Christmas. I have been trying to get some ideas going for this year. I asked Kenzie what she wanted Santa to bring her this year and her reply was, "Mommy, I want you to bring me a scooter and Daddy buy me a MOTORCYCLE. A pink one. Not like Pappys. I want a little one." I just thought it was tooooooo cute since she can't stand to hear a motorcycle running near us in the car. So, I am kicking up some thoughts for everyone else also. If you know that you are on our list and have any ideas please e mail me so I can adjust the list accordingly. I know that some of you are going to be wanting a list from me. *Ryan has a list of fiesta that I want (e mail him if you need it) *The new fiesta color this year is ivory *Ryan has a list of cake decorating supplies I need (he is thinking about getting some for our anniversary next month so get with him if you wanna contribute to my obsession of cake decorating). *thi...

Uncle So, Ryan, Carol and Roy went to a memorial service for Uncle Buck today. Afterwards, they came home and we all walked to the school to get Kenzie.... She didn't know that we were comming, so she got so excited and started running to the fence... HER PANTS FELL TO HER ANKLES! And she struggled to run and pull them up at the same time... it was totally embarrassing I am sure... Then on the way home, Carol, Kenzie, Maddie and I were holding hands and Kenzie hollars, "Pappy hold Daddy's hand!" so we have had one of the most interestingly priceless afternoons... Ryan was rolling a ball around him as he sat in the living room and the girls chased it as if they were dogs chasing their tails... Too funny!

Yesterday, Ryan took Kenzie to have her cast removed and get an x ray to make sure things were ok. They were. Kenzie was upset that her cast had to be taken off. Here is a quick pic before the internet kicks me off again... I have been having trouble with it and so I do as much as I can at once and then have to either go to Yaya and Pappy's or wait it out for the net to stop being so tempremental. This was taken on my cell phone. I always send them to my e mail, so I am able to share when they are cute pics. We were all walking home from picking Kenzie up from school and I couldn't resist the sisterly love. Hope all is well. The Cox Family

This past weekend was interesting.... On saturday, we went and picked Kenzie up from "Yaya" and "Pappy" 's house. Sunday, Carol called asking for my carpet cleaning machine, so we were on our way back to their house. Carol and I painted baskets. The girls helped her clean the upholstry on her sectional. Ryan tried to contain the kids at times.... It was interesting. We made plans to go to the Hindmans for Labor Day. Come Monday, I was having trouble with some of my homework, so I stayed home and Ryan, Kenzie, Maddie, Yaya, and Pappy went to the Hindman's house. The girls played in the pool and had a great time. I haven't got much more to report, but I seem to be getting a handle on this homework. I should have a better week next week. Hopefully there won't be any more issues with it this week. Maddie is getting upset now though so I better go.