Cox & Kin

So, today I got a chance to go over to Jessica's for some scrapping. I got some more challenges out of the way! Up first you see the 2 page layout challenge and the Dr. Suess challenge all in one :) I wanted to scrap some of Maddie's baby pictures and the quote I had chosen for the Suess challenge worked perfectly with this sketch! So I was able to use the design from the sketch to do both challenges. I loved making this layout because I so often scrap Kenzie because we have so many more pics of Kenzie for some reason... Maybe it's because Kenzie has been around for an extra 4 years... but anyway, I took the time to do a multi pic layout of Maddie instead today... Love it! The sketch had stars where the flowers are on mine, but that is the beauty of the sketch, I take a sketch and make it my own. I love using flowers, so it worked perfectly that i could just substitute them for the stars. The quote: "You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You...

For the month of March, I have entered into several challenges on a scrapbooking website I frequent. The challenges keep my creative juices flowing. The above picture is of the layout I did for the March Colour Challenge. We were to use Blue, Lime Green, and Orange as the dominant colours in the layouts. I used one of my favorite pics of Mackenzie for the pic on it. I took that pic a few weeks before her 8th birthday and it really pops off of this page! Love it. As the month progresses, you will see layouts from me for the following challenges: 2 page sketch challenge dr. suess challenge-- here we are to use a quote from dr. suess or a pic of our kids reading a dr suess book. monthly sketch challenge- for this one i have 4 sketches for the month, then a bonus sketch each week as well. the one pic layout challenge is to scrap a lo with only one pic on it. this shouldn't be too hard since i prefer showcasing 1 pic at a time. scrap your favorites-- we are to take our favorites ...

So, I have been doing some challenges here lately. This layout was inspired by a sketch challenge I joined this month. I absolutely love the way it came out. I had swapped some of my paper that i had multiples of with my friend Jessica for some of hers that she wanted to get rid of. We both came out on top and the printed paper you see in this lo is one of the papers I got from her. I love it! the butterflies were a last minute addition as jessica and i had gone to michaels, she was going to get the butterflies and then decided not to so I did. They really make the layout complete! I'll be getting a good current pic of ryan and i put on it in black and white for this one. I'll be working on a bonus layout today for this same challenge. One of the twists for the layout above was to use bling... and you know I just HAD to add stickles! They looked amazing! Now for the bonus layout the twist is to use flowers... hmmm that might be difficult NOT! i love using flowers o...

just thought i would recap a very busy weekend for us... friday, ryan worked but when he got off of work we left for deltona. we love our trips to deltona! it's only 2.5 hours away and we have so much fun visiting mandi and albert; jessa, aj, and tali too! we got there at 130 am. went to bed around 3, then spent saturday morning lounging around and playing around in the scrap room... headed to longwood at about 4. time for the surprise party came faster than you might think, but it was fun catching up with so many people and meeting some new people as well. at about 1030 we headed back to deltona and then in the am back to longwood... played some cards with riley and shelby, headed to the outlet mall on the way home. we didn't actually get home yesterday til bed time... we were beat.... then this am, i got up and went to jessicas! i guess i hadn't had enough of being busy over the weekend... we decided to scrap a little which was very nice!!! i got a lot of work do...

it's been a busy week, but that doesn't compare to the days to come... next week, i have a swap to go to so i can help my friend jessica... baby shower cake to make... camping supplies to get together... grocery shopping... running to the car lot to pick up spare keys... and the list seems to continue growing... good thing i have a car that can handle it now :) i know that was short, but i am short on time right now.. dinner is calling my name wanting me to prepare it... so i guess i'll see ya later

Here is the album I made today. I was inspired by my friend's monthly kit challenge. I used all papers from Die Cuts With a View. They had put out a paper pad called The Christmas Combo 180 Stack. It is 3 of their stacks in a combination pad. I used many of the prints in this little book I am giving to my mom. For the front page, I used fibers to tie it together and used a few of them for a little border along the edge of the binding. I got my inspiration from a Christmas Carol. The wording for this front page says: Christmastime is here Happiness and cheer fun for all that children call their favorite time of year For page one, I wanted to keep it pretty simple, so I covered the back of the title page with pp and then added the next verse to the song. It says: Snowflakes in the air Carols everywhere Olden times and ancient rhymes of love and dreams to share The next page I have in the book is where the photo's begin. The photography was taken by Angels Touch Photograp...

so, as we all know, i get all into paper crafts... well, when i post my next few projects, you may want to take me to the loony bin!!! i am using oragami in one of them (this one will post much later than the first) and the other was due to a challenge blog! I am working on a christmas themed cereal box mini album!!! yep. I am using a cereal box that was about empty and turned it into a really cute mini album... i am still working on it so pics will come this evening or tomorrow after the glue has all dried... so far i have used: 1 cheerio's box 7 printed papers all from the die cuts with a view christmas pad i got on sale a few months ago... i may pull in a few more for mats and embellishments as well.. and it wouldn't be one of my mini's without fibers, so you can expect to see some pretty green (and if i can get my hands on some red ones, i'll put them on it too :)) i am feeling better, still have a cough, but all in all the cox's are all on the road to reco...

so i feel much better today. still have an awful cough, but all in all i am feeling much better. so the agenda for the week goes like this: Monday: kids to the park day. kenzie is off of school so we are goign to enjoy a picnic lunch at the playground. Tuesday: mommy to womens at church and a scrappy few hours with jessica Wednesday: begin the scrapbook area transformation Thursday: church Friday: pack and leave for Deltona (as long as we are all healthy and not grounded) the following weekend will be fun as well. friday after kenzie gets off of the bus, i am taking the girls out to starkey park... it'll be fun and then saturday am i have planned a shopping trip for me and my friend debbie... fun times :)

finally, we were able to find a new car. new to us. not brand new, but it doesn't matter as long as it runs like a charm right. well we did and honestly, we love it! that is not our car. i got the image from the web. i am waiting to upload the actual pic of our car. the difference is that our car has a spoiler on the back and a sun roof also. (yes, our car is white) the girls love this car as well. i am sure they will miss having the tv/vcr combo that the van had, but it was time for a new vehicle. we are sure to love the toy as ryan is calling it! and what else is going on here, well not much.... scrapping a little but nothing major really..

As you all know, Kenzie just turned 8. It's amazing to me that she is so big already. Well I decided that since I am making changes, one of them is that I am beginning to blog on a regular basis again. In order to do this, I need to be sure I share with my friends more often. I am starting with the most recent event that has happened in our family. We had Mackenzie's birthday party last weekend at Yaya and Pappy's house. As normal, I made her cake for her after she decided the theme. As you can see, she decided that Tinkerbell was what she wanted for her party, so I made her a cute little cake for the party. Complete with her friends! She loved it! I have to say I was highly satisfied with how it came out! The purple and green were perfect and then adding a frame to add some spice to it from Corel was just perfect! First thing Saturday morning, the Tinkerbell jumper arrived and the kids were totally game for it. Kevin got to the party early and played in the jum...

So, I have decided it's time to get back to the basics. I have deleted all of my excess blogs... I had 2 that were private and one that was a public one for the business stuff that never took off. I have also decided this year is going to be a pivital part of my life. The para pro assessment is happening this summer, and then we will go from there. Kenzie will be in 3rd grade next year it is time for me to take charge of our lives! Maddie will be in kindergarten so she needs things taken care of prior to going into that grade. it is just time for things around here to change... for the better.. my goals are: get my para pro done get a job as an instructional assistant for the school board take human anatomy and physiology lecture and lab so i can then move on to the next set of goals pay for and take the 15 month course to get my coding degree then get a job working in a hospital as a coder. can i really do all of this in the next 2 years, i am goign to be brave and say yes i ca...

Isn't she so beautiful! Yeah, I know, my head is getting bigger! My perfect angel! In 1 week from today, my lil girl turns 8! It is so hard to believe. I thought I would start this blog out with some pics of her since I haven't shared in a while. These pics are all significant to me. Like for example, this first pic you see above, she is wearing the hat that Yaya got her for christmas. To many of you this may seem regular, but to me it isn't. See, that hat was made by hand, by a very special woman and then given to my mother in law to give to her angels. I had a hard time getting Kenzie (and Maddie) to pose in their hats! See, my girls DESPISE wearing hats. Therefore I had to share this picture with you. And in the next few pics, you will notice, we are on our back patio and Kenzie is being the cute little model we all know she is! Many of you will ask why these are so significant. Well, I decided to take it in my own hands to do the girls' yearly pics. I have never g...

while we have been away, we have been busy! we are planning kenzie's 8th birthday... how can it be? it seems as just yesterday she was born. and now we have to plan an 8th birthday party. so far the details are this: she wants: a tinkerbell jumper (reserved) party at yaya and pappy's (check) tinkerbell party supplies tinkerbell topsy turvy cake pinata (check) invitations (reets has done them and they are on the way now) i am making as many of the tinkerbell decorations as i can. so one of the tings i am doing is that i am making a banner for her party. it will probably say happy 8th birthday Kenziebell (taken from Tinkerbell) and i am making the cake. fun times!!!! on to other things: i have a cake this month. it's a 1st birthday topsy turvy cake. will be loads of fun. i just have to hope it comes together the way i want it to. ryan has been working like a crazy man.... maddie is just a growing and is starting to look forward to starting school next fall. she ke...

Well, it's simple. Christmas. I waited til last minute to get gifts taken care of this year. That is totally out of character for me. I will say that christmas was a fun time. We went to Orlando and spent it with Derrick, Amanda, Riley, Shelby, Maggie, Sam, Dan, Carolyn, Taylor, Jesse, Mia, Bella, Maggie(yes there were two dogs named Maggie), Shirl, GiGi, Yaya, and Pappy. Such fun times. When I can get the pics from Amanda, I'll upload a few so you can see the fun times we had. Christmas Morning, Shelby and Kenzie had me up at 447 am. Oh my gooness did I wanna Kill them!!! I was up til after 1 and up before 5! So they had to wait til 6 to wake the house. When they did, My girls got their santa sacks while Riley and Shelby got to see what they got from Santa. My girls got a variety of toys and games from him. Maddie got a Bike and Scooter from him. Riley and shelby got pogo sticks and a trampoline. So much fun!!! Then we did stockings... status quo... lots of good...

This year, I decided that I didn't care for the typical photo greeting card and I wanted to be able to make my own, so I fired up my paintshop and went to work. Here's what i came up with. I love it!!!!! I even may have an order for me to design a card for a friend in Texas!!!

While in Deltona, My friend Mandi gave Maddie the outfit she wore in these photos. I was going to do the black turtleneck and jean thing since we were all wearing black/charcoal and jeans, but then Mandi gave her this outfit and she loved it!!! Amanda posed us in front of her fireplace. IT WAS SOOOO HOT! yes the fireplace was on while the pics were being taken... This is one of my favorite pics of Kenzie. She looks so angellic with the lights reflecting in the perfect way off of the tree and her. Our Family photo in front of the tree. And Maddie took a turn playing with the ornaments so that we could get this photo. Again, Amanda did a great job!!! Thank you so much!

As you can see, Amanda took photo's of the girls with their grandparents. In this first pic, we have Maddie with GiGi. Maddie was quite the little sassy monster during pics. She totally didn't want to take the pics partially because she has such a short attention span and partly because she saw the slide over to the side and she wanted to play. She does love her GiGi though, so we were able to get her attention diverted again to the task at hand. And I do think it turned out nice in the end. Pappy, Grammy, GiGi, Gizmo, Shelby, Riley, Kenzie, and Maddie all ready for a wonderful picture! GiGi with Gizmo and her great grand daughters!!! love it!!! YaYa and Pappy (Aka: Grammy) taking time out for a photo of just the two of them. Nicely done Amanda! Here we have Riley and Shelby with Grammy and Pappy. We attempted to grab Maddie and Kenzie in for this one but Maddie was not having it. Hmmm that girlie!!!

This past weekend was quite the weekend.... Let me break it down for you: Friday, I got Ryan up for work at 530 am. He was off to work and I got Kenzie off to school. I did laundry and packed all day for our weekend. When he got home, he picked Kenzie up from the bus so I could do what I needed to do so we would be ready to go. We then loaded the kids into the van and were off to Trinity. We switched cars and visited with GiGi for a bit. We headed to deltona. Got to Lakeland and needed to feed the girls, so McDonalds got graced with our money. We leave and get 2 exits down the road only to pull in to another McDonalds to trade out the toy. Not fun. Finally, we arrive at our destination at 9:17 pm. Exhausted!!! Albert helped unpack our car. The kids did their thing while Mandi, Albert, Ryan and I goofed off. The boys settled into a movie while the ladies settled in to the scrap room... At around 4 am, we went to bed. I woke up around 730 and on the way to the bathroom I f...

so today, we go to the mall looking for something for kenzie to wear this weekend. and i didn't find anything, but maddie caught sight of the piercing pagoda. she declared that she was goign to get her ears pierced. and although i have the 5 year old piercing rule, i caved after all she has been begging for 6 months to do this. so, the piercing pagoda wouldn't do it because they didn't have an extra person around who could do the other ear at the same time. claires told us the same story. walmart refuses also. so we go to merle norman thinking it would be the same story. the lady said she wanted to talk with maddie and see if she thought she would cooperate with the whole process. after a discussion with maddie, we decided to try it. ryan sat down in the chair and let maddie sit on his lap. the lady marks her ears and asks maddie if she wants to really have the earrings put in. maddie says yes. so she does the first one. a few tears later, maddie says that she...

Wow! I am honored to have recieved this award!!! Now here is how you play, when you have been tagged, you tag 8 other bloggers and don't forget to tell us 8 things about yourself. About Me: 1. I am a wife to ryan and mother of 2 beautiful little girls. 2. I am a stay at home mom who just opened her own business. 3. I love playing Kingdoms of Camelot. 4. My favorite search engine to use is swagbucks 5. I want a Scotch Pink ATG gun! 6. I went to the mall with maddie today and was in shock! See the next post for why. 7. I love making cakes and baking just about anything for that matter. 8. My best friend is more than a best friend, SHE IS THE SISTER THAT GOD NEVER GAVE ME! LOVE YOU ANGELENA! Now the 8 I am tagging: 1. Maria 2. Jill 3. Megan 4. Mandi 5. Sulayne 6. Angel 7. Karen 8. Debi Can't wait to see all of your responses!