The Cox Family

Here lately, I have been getting into music again :) This song is one that got me through a very depressed childhood! I can't begin to tell you the number of times I cried myself to sleep listening to this song. I hope you enjoy the words. For the music to accompany it, go to you tube and look for Mariah Carey Hero. There's a hero If you look inside your heart You don't have to be afraid Of what you are There's an answer If you reach into your soul And the sorrow that you know Will melt away And then a hero comes along With the strength to carry on And you cast your fears aside And you know you can survive So when you feel like hope is gone Look inside you and be strong And you'll finally see the truth That a hero lies in you It's a long road When you face the world alone No one reaches out a hand For you to hold You can find love If you search within yourself And the emptiness you felt Will disappear And then a hero comes along With the strength to c...

I love that my girls are so very photogenic! And they are usually pretty good when I ask them to pose. Maddie even put up with me adjusting her!!! Here, I have adjusted the light as it wasn't the best photo, but when I adjusted the light and removed ALL saturation, it turned out pretty good. The girls love yaya's Magnolia tree, so I took advantage of it. I didn't like it in color, but it looks really nice in black and white! I can't wait to get these printed! And now for the regular check in. Ryan is working 12 hours today. It's nice for him to get the long hours! Maddie is not really doing anything different... Just hanging out. Skye is being very quiet today.... Kenzie wasn't having a very happy morning but I am hoping that will change by the time she gets off of the bus. And I am running around this Condo like a chicken with my head cut off! I have company coming over this weekend, so wanted to get some regular chores out of the way so we can just ...

Today, I received, by e mail, the easter pictures I took of the girls. Below, you will see them. I have edited them to reflect my personal taste. I am also including a small caption below each of them as is my favorite thing to do. This first photo is of my lil Madison. She had a blast finding eggs that were hidden. They found eggs in bushes, on garden hangers, in trees, under bushes, on the fence, under the hot tub steps... you name it... that's where they were hidden! The had a blast and I was able to just barely capture the moment of Madison finding her first egg. So priceless! But, before we went out to find eggs, I had the girls pose up for some modeling. Honestly, Maddie wasn't into it, but Mackenzie was. She is such a ham! Here she is laying on the couch in the front room at my mother in law's house. I have applied some spot light to this photo and walah! Here, I took that same picture of Kenzie and turned it black and white while adding a black vignette ...

so, one of the gifts kenzie and maddie got for easter from yaya and pappy was to get little "greenhouses" maddie got sunflowers and kenzie got tomatoes... so guess what's in our kitchen window! can't wait for them to start sprouting and then get big enough to transplant to the patio! maddie is doing great here lately! she know's that she is about to be five and that she will be going to kindergarten this fall. she is getting really good with her colors and has even started recognizing some letters! i can't wait for her to really get it when she starts school. there has been a lot of contreversy as to why i did not put her in preschool. let me clear this up: the main reason, we didn't have enough money to pay for it. and you will argue that we could have gotten prek for free here in the state of florida. and my rebuttal is this: IF I CANNOT FIND A SCHOOL I LIKE THAN I WILL NOT BE FORCING HER TO GO TO IT. afterall prek is VOLUNTARY not mandatory!...

after that last post, we had our spring break. we took the kids camping for the first time in a tent. they loved it! the only downfall was that my camera got knocked off of the picnic table and covered in sand... it is ruined! i called the camera shop and asked about getting it fixed... it will cost more to fix it than it would to just buy a new camera... so what is momma going to do? UPGRADE! it may take me a little extra time to get my new camera because I have decided to upgrade to a digital slr camera. some may ask why I feel this necessary... well see below: * my other camera was good, but i want to be able to start doing the manual settings on the slr type cameras. * i want to be able to switch the lenses out as desired. no this isn't a necessity, but i really want this! * i have been asked by some friends over several occasions to do their childrens pictures for them. a slr will make that much more enjoyable for everyone involved. (due to the camera breaking i had to call an...