Cox & Kin

Another cold snap hit our area, and I'm not a fan of it!  I just wish the weather would decide if it wants to stay warm or cold.  This back and forth stuff is for the birds!  So other than that not a lot going on. We are continuing our house search.  We've wanted to find a nice house at a good price, and well, we are still on that search.  We aren't sure where in the area we will find our house, but it's a continuing process.  Keeping the budget in mind while we look is really the deciding factor there. I'm continuing my job search.  It's been a tough market for a couple years so I'm hoping that I will find something soon.  I don't HAVE to go back to work but it just would make it so much easier as far as our budget goes. Kenzie is doing great!  She was in a mainstream class for the first time since Kindergarten on Friday and LOVED it!  I'll be e-mailing the teacher she spent the day with to see how it went from a teacher's perspec...

Last week was just that.  ONE CRAZY WEEK!  It's been that kind of year so far! The week started out normal.  School was out on Monday, but other than that it was status quo.  Until Thursday that is.  I had made arrangements with our friend Kevin for him to come pick me up to go after the Camry.  It was about an hour away each way, so he was taking me on his day off.  On the way home, I had a blow out just before our exit.  He was about 1/2 mile behind me I guess.  But due to the laws here in Florida and my spare being flat, I had no choice but to tow the car.  It was a lesson learned that looking back was a good one. So since then I've been doing TONS of shopping around for the best tire prices and alignment prices too!  Who knew how expensive tires were getting these days!  I'm finding the average price PER tire to be around $100!  Crazyness!  I remember buying tires for the Contur and the prices were around $40 ...

So far this year, we have had a bunch of crazyness followed by some forgetfullness on my part.  I do apologize for not updating you sooner, but I'm gonna try and hit the highlights for the month and then I think I am going to make a goal to get 1 post a week in here.  Keep you updated on our lives. Update for 2013 so far: January Happenings Week 1:  We had a great week 1.  We started the year off by going to our annual New Year's Party with our friends Scott and Juanita.  This year, it was lower key than last year and that's good!  Ryan had to leave on New Years Day, so we didn't make a big to do about it.  We took some games over and had a nice family game night with them and Scott's brother Patrick! It was nice!  Then New Years Day, the girls and I dropped Ryan off and he spent the week in either Georgia or South Carolina (I honestly can't remember which.  He's been so many places lately I get confused!).  And we had a low key fi...

This week, I am telling you, I've been having flashbacks to my childhood through my own daughter's eyes!!! Not only is she loving saturday morning cartoons on CW, but she's in LOVE with Wrestling!  She can't wait to see Saturday Morning Slam!  Loved Smackdown last night and is sitting on the edge of her seat while watching POWER RANGERS right now!  Love this!  Transformers is next!  She's such a cutie!  I am so happy that we are able to give them some clean fun that they can look forward to each day wether it's watching wrestling or crafting with mommy! Ryan is out of town again and while we don't like him being gone so long, it's what has to happen if we are to get a pay check.  I just can't wait until he gets through his goal for the new year!  Once he does that, we will totally be happy campers! So my goals for this weekend:  Cuddle time, tidy the house, cuddle time.  Get the kids ready to go back to school next week.  And la...

many of us think that handwashing our clothes went out of style way back in the 50's when the first ringer washers came into  the picture, but I have to say that for my family, we were forced back into this when we moved the last time, and it is quite fun!  i just did 2 loads in my bath tub for the family.  we have been doing this for about a month now and it's refreshing to know that my hard work is paying off for my family to have clean clothes and not have the dirty ones stinking up our rooms because we don't have a washer and can't afford to go to the laundry mat.  At almost $4 a load at our local laundry mat, it's just not possible.  While we do have to hang them out to dry, that's ok.  we are using solar power to dry our clothes, we are on a well, so we are only using minimal energy to have the hot water with our whites.  it's a great feeling to know that i don't have to use all those machines, but i do miss washing my comfortors in the washer....

So, as many in my family can tell you, I've always said I wanted to go back to college, but never ACTED on it.  Well, I am here to say, I AM DOING THIS!  What proof do you have?  Well, none, but the government does!  I just finished my fafsa application and it's looking GOOD!  I can't wait.  So here's how it works: Apply for Aide-- this takes longer, so if you want to go back to school, do yourself a favor and apply for aide before you apply for your college! Order transcripts-- they will be ordered tomorrow come what may!  The copy is only $10, so that won't be a biggie.  They should be to me within 10 days, so I can run those in to the school.  Apply for college-- I'll need to pay a $25 application fee, but for me, it's worth it.  This will also be happening tomorrow!  WooHoo!  Things are getting done.  According to Pasco-Hernando Community College, I should be able to have it all done and start my classes come J...

The things my kiddies say CRACK ME UP!!!  I am sure all mom's say this, but today, I busted out laughing when Maddie came in the livingroom... Here's the story: I had a friend who was supposed to be stopping by, so since we haven't seen her for a while, I got Maddie into a really cute little outfit.  Something special so she could see her "aunt".  Well, she's sick and didn't get to come, but right after I got her ready, down to hair and all, I'm sweeping the living room and she comes in and declares, with hand on the hip and the whole bit, "I HAVE A HOTT DATE TONIGHT!"  LOL  Where she hears these things I have no clue!  She warms my heart when she does things like that.  Now I have the two of them over in the living room teaching each other how to play the Soprano Recorder, also known as the flute.  Mackenzie got it last year because she had to have one for music class.  I bought the book too so they could learn a little of how to read mu...

My girls are go getters!  Every year at least 1 time, they are named student of the month!  To celebrate, I decided to let Mackenzie help make dinner.  She LOVES cooking!  So I picked something she's been asking me to make and let her make it!  Super easy and FUN! Meatball Subs: Ingredients: 1 Jar Pasta Sauce Meatballs Hoagie rolls (they need to be connected on one side but open on the other side) Aluminum Foil Mozzerella Cheese Process: Put Meatballs in large pot.  Turn on to Medium heat.  Cover in pasta sauce and gently stir around.  When they are heated through, Place them in the rolls.  4 meatballs per sandwich.  Then COVER in Mozzerella Cheese!  Bake at 400 on a cookie sheet until cheese is melted, golden and bubbly!  We are gonna really LOVE these in a few minutes :)

Many of you know, that I don't really do anything for myself, and over the years I have battled with going back to school or not.  Well in the last year, I have really been feeling the pull to do it.  After much consideration, I am going to go back!  This summer I'll have to get my pre req's done.  After that it's the RN program for me!  WooHoo!!!  You might be wondering what has sparked this right?  Well, I have a passion for helping others.  I have experience as a Certified Nursing Assistant.  And it offers a great advancement opportunity!  Basically, my background is medical so why change that right?  The girls are getting old enough that I can enroll them in PLACE in order for me to do this. And I have the support of my husband.  So I really feel like this is the time!  I think that over the last 3 years, God  has been preparing me for this.  Again you may be asking how I know this, well try applying fo...

After the parent teacher conference today, I have a much better understanding of this whole PMP thing with Madison.  Here's more on it.... and more on why I now know more about it... Rewind to when Kenzie was 4.... We were in Indiana and the school system there did a wonderful job of getting the evaluation done before kindergarten, so I didn't have to understand all of the way this would work... When we got to Florida when she started kindergarten, we already had an IEP in place.  So we only had minor changes to that... Fast Forward to Present... Madison is in 1st grade and has to go through some testing that they do with all 1st graders (Kindergarten too)... It's called FAIR. This is in order to help with her reading and math.  So, here's what the results are: As it stands now, Madison is predicted (by FAIR) to have a moderate probability of scoring at or above grade level on the end of year comp task. She is below grade level in Reading Comprehension, however,...

Many times, we forget that love is kind.  We take for granted the way that we come across to our spouses.  For yesterday's dare, I was to do something unexpected for my spouse.  While this journey will be hard because sometimes he's out of town, I am doing everything I can to followthrough with this dare.  I wasn't able to do this for him yesterday, so I did combine it with today's dare.  How did I do this?  Well, not only did I do whatever he wanted to do today, but I didn't say anything negative to him while doing it.  Again, I stress, It's hard with him out of town, since he's home today, we had a morning of going where he wanted to and doing things he wanted to do.  He was shocked that I was willing to do all of this.  More on this tomorrow.  Yesterday's verse:  Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.  Ephesians 4:32

I have been busy at work today working on getting a few things set up.  Here's what I have learned so far: Madison has a Progress Monitoring Plan in Reading, Writing, and Math to help monitor her so that should the teacher think she needs more help in one area or another, they can easily address that!  Woo Hoo!  Love that her teacher is proactive like that!  She is getting Speech Therapy 2 times a week with Mrs. Mix.  I just got off of the phone with her and she has told me that she definately sees the improvements with her speech!  We are working with /sh/ and /ch/ now.  So, starting next week, we will have speech homework to do in addition to our spelling and math that we already have.  I have a conference with her homeroom teacher tomorrow.  We are going to be going over this PMP as well as any questions that might arise while we are there.  I'll be bringing a few things to her attention and then going from there.  So, th...

So, I wanna share my thoughts on a subject that is thrown out there all the time.  JUDGEMENT. From a worldy standpoint, we are all judged on a daily basis wether we know it or not.  People judge people anymore without even thinking.  She looks fat in that shirt, yep that's a judgement.  He's not parenting like I would.  That one too is a judgement.  We do it without realizing it most of the time anymore, but I want to challenge all of us. For One day, pass NO judgement.  Why?  well because I am tired of those who I thought were close to me judging me because of many reasons.  I may not have as much money as they do. I may not have all the material posessions that they have.  I may not have the newer vehicles that they have.  I may not do things they way they would do them.  I may have beliefs that they don't have.  This doesn't mean that anyone should judge me.  Here's a passage from the BIBLE to shed some lig...

So, I'm doing this dare.  I decided to do it just to see if I could get through it.  While it's been a trying year with Ryan being gone so much, I decided I would do the 40 day love dare.  This is an activity that will strengthen all marriages, so I wanted to do this for a while now.  I finally got around to starting it.  So with that said, every day there's a bible verse that goes with the dare.  Yesterday was the first day and here's the verse for it: Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Epehesians 4:2 And the dare for the day was to say nothing negative to my spouse for the day.  Then I had a list of 3 things to do and they were to pray for my spouse and myself, perform the dare, and write my thoughts or feelings, so I decided that I would do some blog entries as a journal to keep my thoughts on.  It is my hope that through my journey it will inspire someone else to also take this journey ...

My Thirty-One Journey as and Independent Consultant has been an amazing one!  And the journey is continuing!  It's going to be a great month!  Not only have we launched the fall catalog, but we have the best sale this month!  Who doesn't love a MAKE YOUR OWN sale!!!! So, how does it work?  Well it's quite simple, when you spend $31 this month, you get to choose ANY item from our catalog for 31% off!  And that's not any item of equal or lesser value like most stores do!  You could choose the most expensive item in the catalog and still get that 31% off! Here's an example: I purchase an Organizing Utility Tote in Black Parisian Pop and Personalize it with my Initials in style 30 with Hot Pink thread, I have spent $37 therefore qualifying me for the special, I then decide to buy my mom the 5th Avenue bag for a gift.  Normally this bag would cost me $125 (at full price), but I only have to pay $86.25 for that bag!  Wow!  That's a savin...

many of us many times in our lives start the journey of getting into shape.  most of us fall off of that wagon after just a few short weeks.  i have done that myself, but in january, i made it a goal to start loosing weight.  see, where we go wrong is that we set huge goals that we can't meet.  i set a small goal of loosing just 15 pounds this year.  I did that by the end of May, actually, I had lost 25 pounds.  But then I reverted back to old eating habits and put 10 of it back on.  I am back in the game and have lost 2 pounds again... I will not go back to the old eating habits and will increase exercise and this will be a lifelong journey for me.  I will be fit and that's that.  I may not loose 100 pounds in 7 months like they do on the biggest looser, but I will loos it and keep it off!  I have placed a ticker at the top of my page so that you can see my progress as I go through this journey.  I have started weighing in on Monda...

So, we had an impromptu date night on friday night.  And, let me tell you, this will be happening again!  We went on down to Sunset at Pier 60!  It was so much fun!  Dinner at Frenchy's South Beach and that was amazing!  I've never had Buffalo Grouper, and while it was quite the messy thing, it was so very yummy!  As the sun set we had our dinner out on the patio there.  Then walked back down to the pier, to see what vendors were there.  They had some great ideas for gifts.  We were able to see a houdini act, break dancers, acrobatic act, as well as a bucket drummer.  We saw some really pretty dolphin statues around the lawn where they were showing Dolphin Tale on the big screen!   You know, for 9 and a half years now, my kids have been in my every thought.  Making sure they are taken care of etc.  But for one evening knowing they were with their Yaya and being taken care of, we were able to have adult time and not feel...

so, you prolly know we are getting a pretty nasty storm named isaac here in florida today and the weather will be pretty bad through most of the week probably... so we decided since the girls can't go outside to play today, we would make dessert together... somethign we have started doing once a week. this week, we wanted ice cream cake, so i found a recipe on kraftfoods and it's really yummy! http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/oreo-ice-cream-sandwich-133036.aspx# this think is really rich, so small servings will be plenty!  it's a great alternative for those who don't care for regular cake and not near as expensive as buying an icecream cake from dairy queen or baskin robbins.  not to mention the fun we had making it!  Mackenzie (9) helped me while Madison (6) played computer.  the hardest part was unwrapping the ice cream sandwiches! it was a very yummy dessert after our homemade chinese pork and veggie stir fry!  i love cooking for my family, and here...

this week has been crazy.... and mommies think the crazyness ends when they go back to school!  ha!  i've had a crazy bus time thing going on... here's just a glimpse into our week: daily, get up and get kids showered 7 am.  have them ready to walk out the door by 830.  kenzie's bus is SUPPOSED to come at 848, i say supposed because, that's not the case.  Madison's is SUPPOSED to be here at 908.  Again, not the case.  So, for the most part, we are good up until bus time.  we walk kenzie almost 1/4 mile down the road for her stop, then while waiting with mackenzie, the little girl next door gets on her bus, so we have to leave kenzie at her stop and take maddie to hers because it's normally within minutes of alexa getting on the bus that maddie gets on... (this was one morning so far, but still, it's stress on the mommma) then my day goes like this:  work, e mails, chores.  and at 4pm, I head out to the bus stop. here's what that on...

as you are aware, my kids started back to school today.  it's one of them days.  it's always hard because the first day of school, so many emotions are going strong... there's the emotions of the kids and then there's the emotions of the mommy's.  today i'm sad.  why sad?  i have all this time to myself, which in motherhood is not normal any mom can tell you that.  but with all of this time, comes time to reflect on the fact that my babies aren't babies anymore.  madison is in 1st grade!  it's the big girl grades for her now... and mackenzie is in 3rd grade.  it's really hard to accept for me because i know that soon i will have high schoolers!  when maddie's a freshman, kenzie will be a senior, and well, let's not go there just yet. so what's my plan for the day, well i want to do a hi five for my business, then i'll attack some of the housework.  laundry.  the spare room.  kenzie's room.  the spare bathroom, our r...