September through pictures.....

Alrighty, so here is most of September through pictures....



We went to the Chelan County Fair a few weeks ago and the girls had a blast looking at all the animals!  KaeLee said that was her favorite part! 

They had a Dora cut out..... though the girls didn't really understand to just put their face in the hole..... haha.  Granted the hole WAS a bit big....

Hannah was hilarious and I didn't even need to show her what to do.... she jsut climbed right up there and stuck her head through and that was pretty cool.... haha

We rode the carousel and both the girls loved it, of course!  KaeLee loves to ride horses!! :)

The best I could get of us two.  Certainly not the most attractive by any means, but whatever...

KaeLee and I got to ride the spinning Strawberries!  Her favorite part was when I spun it around really fast!  :)  Though I was feeling a bit dizzy!

We took the girls through the house of mirrors and it was HILARIOUS!!  They were running into the walls like crazy!  HAHA!  It was pretty difficult, even for Shawn and I, but if we let the girls try and lead, it was just too funny.... After the maze part, there were a bunch of those crazy mirrors and KaeLee had a good time with those!  Hannah looked as though she had NO idea what to think!

Too funny!  Shawn's legs look awfully long in the background too.... haha

At the end of the house of mirrors, you had to go down a slide to get out.  Here's KaeLee going down.  Apparently, though, right after she turned the next corner, she ended up upside down and head first.... oops.  Good thing Shawn was at the bottom to catch her.... needless to say the next time we went to the park, it took her a half an hour before she would go down a slide... poor girl!

Rick and Sharon ended up meeting up with us and KaeLee wanted to go see the animals again with them! haha

Grandma Sharon taking rocks out of KaeLee's shoes.  She kept complaining of this, but every time we would stop and take her shoes off, there would be nothing there!?!?!  Though it made her feel better anyway, I guess.

The girls looking at the horses

Hannah with Grandpa Rick

Hannah liked the chickens!  Especially when they Bawked (hmmm..... is that how you would spell that?)

KaeLee liked them too!

Getting up close and personal with the goats!  Much better than being in the stroller!

It's a TURKEY!

I discovered that the girls LOVE corn on the cob.... just like their mama! :) 

Hannah was really gettin into!  haha.  Neither of them wanted to stop eating it!

Going down the slide!

KaeLee has to hang on for dear life!

The girls take a break from the "fair" and play on the playground toys for a bit.  Hannah's first time on a big girls swing.... freaked me out!  Since she has no fear, this could also mean that she could let go at any moment.... uh, scary!

Just being silly at home.... :)

If I ever take Hannah's picture, KaeLee says "my turn!" so here's miss KaeLee as well ;)

Sue and Jon, along with Shawn's aunt and uncle, and some grandparents came over for Shawn and Jon's birthday..... Shawn's grandpa was holding Hannah and Christina was tickeling her arm and it was so funny!  It put Hannah in such a trance and she was literally NOT moving a muscle.... haha

It was most quiet and still I have EVER seen her!  (including while sleeping AND in the womb!) haha

Who needs hair gel when you have YOGURT! 

There were also chunks of a fruit strip stuck to her hair....!  Needless to say, she had to take a shower after breakfast (which she HATED!)  But I think it's been a couple weeks since this day and no yogurt in the hair again.... haha!  (oh, and YES!  I do watch my children while they eat, but I also do other things like clean up the kitchen, put a load of laundry in, vacuum the living room.... so I guess I am not sitting next to her staring at her, but she is always in view and somehow still manages to make a HUGE mess!!  Most of the time it happens when she is all done and I am at the kitchen sink getting the washcloth wet to clean her up..... Her hands go straight to her head and I am in the kitchen, yelling in what seems to be slow motion, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo......!!!!!!!!"  But it's too late.

Silly girl trying to fit in the toy bin

KaeLee too.  Then I wonder why I need to get new ones because they are all stretched out and not really square-shaped anymore..... haha

KaeLee went about a week or two where she was obsessed with ponytails and wanted two in her hair every day.  She hasn't asked for a while now though..... but they ARE cute! :)

Hannah vacuuming like mommy (if you look close enough, you can see the barrett I got in her hair!)  YAY!  Her hair is growing! :)

This picture cracks me up, because she just randomly starting turning over all the chairs......

and it took me back to May of 2010, when KaeLee did this as well..... HAHA!!  It must be the age or something!

It I thought it was pretty funny how they both had turned over 3 things...!  I have been starting to get pictures organized and uploaded for KaeLee's next photo book, so I had just seen this picture and thought of it immediately when I saw Hannah pulling her little trick!  haha

Well, that's all for now...! Last Sunday we went to Yakima for my nephew, Jake's, 3rd birthday party!  I completely forgot my camera at home, so I used my mom's camera and took a few on my phone as well.  We are going BACK to Yakima this Sunday for the Yakima fair (sorry to say, but it is WAY better and bigger than the Chelan fair....!)  So I will steal those pictures this weekend and get them up soon!   I am excited to to share them because KaeLee got some pretty special treatment from her Aunt Cheryl and she took her out in the arena to sit on the horse (two different times!)  Then she went and got a lead rope and held KaeLee while KaeLee got to hold the rope and walk the horse around.  THEN Cheryl took one of her horses out of the arena to the barn area and KaeLee got to BRUSH her!  (oh, my goodness was she EVER excited!) And THEN, Cheryl got out a little saddle and KaeLee got to RIDE her!  I am pretty sure KaeLee was in HEAVEN!  She did not want to get off and when it was finally time to get off, she negotiated with Cheryl and asked for "Two more minutes?"  haha.  It was pretty hilarious!  She did SO good though!  Then Hannah got a turn and absolutely loved it as well!  :)  So I am pretty excited to share those pictures!  I think KaeLee will be wanting to spend a LOT of time over there now.  Which is good, but I will NOT be buying a horse!  The 9 horses or so that Aunt Cheryl has is going to have to be satisfying enough for her..... haha.  Cheryl has so many horses because she does riding lessons for girls (and probably boys....) and I think some of her clients might board their horses with her..... I am not completely sure, but I think so.  Her mom also has a bunch of horses too and I think the horses switch it up sometimes of which place they are at.

When I told KaeLee yesterday that we are going to Yakima this weekend, she said "And ride the horsie?!?!!"  She was a bit disappointed when I said no, but perked up some when I mentioned all the animals at the fair!  :) 

Shawn is still in harvest and still has a couple of weeks left.  They have been working later lately because the weather is finally starting to feel like Fall a bit more and the pickers can pick longer in the cooler weather.  This also means that I have been having longer days with the girls by myself.... ugh!  It's not too bad on "preschool" days, but the other days can feel super long!  Today we get to go to the Y this morning and participate in "tots in motion".  So that will help.  And hopefully we can go the Y this evening and play some racquetball!  We haven't played in a few days now and I am dying to kick some racquetball butt! :) 

Have a great Friday, everyone! :) 

All Things Red

Pre-Preschool is currently underway in the Cox household!  I have been looking into preschool for so long now and looking over all the curriculum that the teachers have and what all the different preschools around town have to offer and came to one conclusion:  KaeLee needs more!  She already knows her colors, her numbers, her letters, her alphabet.... and on and on, so I needed something that would challenge her, but not be too much for her or frustrating.  So, I found a great website, abcjesuslovesme.com, and I am collaborating their lesson plans and ideas, along with coming up with my own, to customize a preschool for KaeLee.  I realize preschool is more than just learning academic things, but I feel that with going to theY everyday (or nearly every day....), going to MOPPETS, and going to Sunday School every week, as well as play dates, she is getting more than enough "social" time and learning how to share, care for others, take turns, etc. 

So we are working on things like sequencing; relationships between numbers, colors, food, our body and really just putting them all together; sounds that letters make; drawing lines, circles, squares and other basic shapes; cutting and pasting; bringing books to life by having some field trips, creative thinking, problem-solving.... and the list goes on.  I also really want to do bible reading and have her memorize verses.... (yes, you heard that right!)  This website has awesome plans as far as bible stories, activities, books, songs, poems and others relate to each other...... I just love it!!  I have had fun with planning it, but my mind often gets overwhelmed by all the great ideas and great activities, and I sometimes get stuck.

Anyway, today was all things RED!  The color for the week is obviously RED!   So here are some pictures from our RED day!

KaeLee was about done with her lunch when I thought about taking a picture; but they had spaghetti with red sauce, strawberries and red pepper strips

This was the RED box with all things red in it that they had fun exploring and playing with.  Cars, ribbion, cups, bowls, elmo, play food, playdough, red crayons, elmo slippers, red shoes, my graduation hat, red legos, a red sock monkey, a doll with a red dress.... the list goes on. 

Then KaeLee colored some RED things and we stapled them together to make her Book of Red Things.  She was pretty proud of it! :)

Hannah playing with her RED car while wearing her RED outfit! :)

Smiling big while coloring!

Hannah during her turn in the RED wagon.  The girls got to take turns in a ride around the house in their little RED wagon as we listened to and sang along with the song "My Little Red Wagon"  They loved it!  (I promise Hannah really did have fun, but I, for some reason, couldn't get that captured..... haha!

KaeLee was quick to show how much she loved it!  Oh, and that is her little book she's holding.... she wouldn't put it down!

Then they got to help put glue on apples and paste them to the apple tree!  Then we counted them (over and over again) of course! :)  They loved this and threw a minor fit when it was all done and time to put the glue away.  I think they could have spent the whole day gluing things!  (it was obviously their first time working with a glue stick....) ;)

We then read the story "Clifford the Big RED Dog" and Dora's book about searching for Boots (who wears RED boots!), played catch with a big RED ball, danced around with the RED ribbon, then took a walk to look for things that were RED!

All in all, it has been a terrific day!  But I am afraid now I had better go get dinner started.... since we are supposed to eat in 10 minutes.... haha.  oops.  I have another post of a ton of pictures to do still and will hopefully get them up tonight!  Although, Grey's starts tonight, so no promises on that one.... ;) 

A Jesus-lovin, bible-readin girl with a passion to change the world!

Yup, that's me!

Well, I have so much on my mind tonight, so I am going to try my best to clear it as best I can. 

Amazing things happen when you read the bible.  On August 31, my good friend, Lindsay, wrote a shout out on Facebook that she was going to read the New Testament in 90 days and asked if anyone wanted to join her.  I was hands down in.  What would be a better motivator than to have a reading schedule and someone to read along with and keep me accountable?  I have spent far too long away from the bible.  Sure, I've heard the bible verses and passages in church, read some online when friends post them on facebook, and looked up a few occasional verses that were no longer on the tip of my tongue so I could pass them along to others when the time was right.  But I have not sat and read the bible obediently or routinely.  Since starting my reading on September 1st, I have grown so much closer to the Lord and have began to really look back to where I started with my walk with God and what brought me there, what the Lord has brought me through and where He has put me today. 

I apologize if this blog is random; with misplaced sentences, paragraphs, thoughts and ideas.  I truly have so much on my mind that I don't know where to start, what to say next, or how to link my thoughts because they ARE so random. 

PRAYER
While I was thinking about what started my walk with the Lord and who those key people in my life were who showed me the way to Jesus, I instantly began to think of Cindy Long.  Cindy was the mother of one of my older brother's best friends.  She didn't have a child in my grade, but she had a son a year older, a daughter a year younger, and another son the same age as my younger brother, who were the best of friends from kindergarten through high school.  I am sure I had met Cindy on many occasions, but I really started to get to know her when I was invited to youth group at her church.  I really don't even know who invited me?  Was it her daughter, Rachel?  Maybe.  Probably.  Anyway, I began to go to youth group despite my parents' disapproval.  They were not keen on the idea of me hanging out at a non-catholic church.  I was a typical teenager and became super rebellious on this issue and took every opportunity to go, even if it meant lying about where I was.  (yes, I realize that most people lie to their parents about where they are going because they are headed to a party or off to do something illegal, or highly dangerous....but this was me being dangerous.... haha).  I was even able to go to a Christian church one Sunday because I spent the night at a friends house (my previously mentioned good friend, Lindsay, as a matter of fact...).  however, when I got back to Lindsay's house after church, my mom was on the porch and didn't look so happy.  Needless to say, I don't think I was ever able to spend a Saturday night there again.  And I was grounded for a month.

Anyway, getting back on track here...... as I started to think about Cindy and what she meant to me in regards to my walk with the Lord, it was almost an instant, overwhelming feeling of gratitude.  What would my life be today, if she had not been there to help guide my way?  Of course, her daughter, Rachel, gets a lot of credit as well, because she is the one who initially invited me to the Creation Festival.  It was there, on July 26, 1999, that I gave Jesus my heart and said "I'm yours".  It was there that I began my walk with the Lord.  And it was there that my life had changed for the better and the reason I am who I am today.  My parents were NOT at all convinced that I should get to go to this festival, but I think Cindy had some influence on them to allow me to go with them.

Again, getting back on track here......
While thinking about Cindy, one of my favorite things about her was that she truly cared about me.  About everyone.  She had 3 kids of her own, but she was so open to everyone and it was so easy to talk to her and share things and it just felt like I was also a part of the family.  I know there are A LOT of people that have felt that way with her.  Something that Cindy always did that touched my heart SO much, was that she prayed for me.  She didn't just tell me that she would pray for me, she would just DO IT!  If I had an issue or something that was bothering me or nervous about something coming up in my life, or whatever it was, she would just drop what she was doing, grab my hand or put her hand on me and lift me up in prayer. 

Let me tell you this:  there is nothing more powerful than the feeling of someone praying for you.  It is an immediate burden-lifter-sigh-of-relief-sweat-dried-up-weight-off-your-shoulders kind of feeling.  Absolutely amazing.  Few people in my life have had this trait.  When it happens now, I have to choke back tears, because it truly moves me enough to make me cry.  I love it when people care that much.  A lot of people say, "I will pray for you", "you are in my prayers", "I'll keep you in my prayers".... but do they really?  Or do they forget about it as quickly as they said it?  I know I have been guilty of this before.  Which is why I started to keep a prayer journal years ago and I would actually write those things down in my journal and I go through them at least once a day and lift each request up in prayer.  How much better, and how much more powerful, would it be to stop, take a moment, lay a hand on someone and PRAY for them. 

Like I said, I have only known a few people in my life that would actually do this.  I had a friend in college named Erica that I was super close to and she had this amazing trait as well.  She inspired me so much to where I became that person.  I was the one asking, "can I pray for you" to people and actually doing it there, in that moment.  It didn't matter where we were.  Erica and I could have been in the courtyard at school, the cafeteria, the mall, church, our apartment, or even over the phone.  And she would still pray for me.  It was a powerful thing.  I don't know why I stopped or why I have slowed down.  But I want to be that person again.  So, I have decided that instead of telling people I will pray for them I am just going to do it.  Why not? 

BAPTISM
I have not been baptized.  Well, I suppose I have been baptized as an infant in the Catholic church, but for me, that is not the same as getting baptized as an adult per MY choice.  In the Catholic Church, you are baptized as an infant by your parents and godparents who are making a commitment to bring this baby up in a way that pleases the Lord, and bring the child up through the church with the Catholic faith.  Later, when you are in high school, you are confirmed, which is supposed to be your choice; which is relateable to adult baptism in my opinion.  I was also confirmed in high school.  I was reluctant to get confirmed.  I didn't want to upset my parents, knowing how much they already hated the idea that I "wasn't Catholic" anymore.  I am not sure if they understood what happened to me that summer at Creation or not, but I knew they didn't like me going away from the Catholic Church and I was really trying to not upset them anymore (though I don't think they saw that at all...) so I got confirmed.  This did not happen without a long discussion with my confirmation teacher.  We had a great heart to heart conversation about this and something she said to me really stuck with me.  She said, "God knows your heart".  She went on to tell me that anyone can go through the motions of confirmation, but it doesn't mean anything to God if it's not true in your heart.  So, I went through the motions so as not to "disappoint" anyone, and got confirmed, even though I know that GOD knew where my heart was.  That was such a relief to me to hear those words from Barb, my confirmation teacher.  What a blessing and a burden lifter that I did not have to make the decision to NOT get confirmed.  I was already in too much hot water with my parents at this point. 

Bringing the subject back to baptism....... I have yet to get baptized but SO want to.  Over the years, it's been a number of circumstances and reasons for why I haven't been.  In high school, I don't believe my parents would have approved and I, quite frankly, did not want to bring up the subject.  When I moved to Bellingham for college, it was really tough for me.  I wanted to get baptized, but at the same time, I really wanted Cindy and a few other key people from back home to be there and it was unreasonable and selfish to think that they would drive 4 hours to watch my baptism.  Then when I moved back to Yakima, I really have no excuses other than I was so busy with school and work and didn't really "belong" anywhere to a church since I went when I was able (but wasn't too often) and hadn't really found a church to call home yet.  It's tough coming out of school, when you are not a "youth" anymore, you're no longer a college student, and you are not married, so you don't fit in with the couples either.  It was a tough time.  And also, by then, if I am being completely honest, I felt a bit embarrassed.  Most Christians that I know have been baptized shortly after they become a Christian.  So, the longer I waited, the more embarrassed I got and I guess I would feel weird.  Like people would think I just became a Christian.  ????  I don't know.  Maybe this sounds silly to you, but I just didn't like the thought of getting baptized right along other people who have just given their lives to Jesus. 

But I shouldn't be worried about what other people think of me.  I need to just do it.  So now, it comes down to HOW?  WHERE?  BY WHOM?  Do I invite people to come?  Hmmmm...... that would seem a bit weird now, I think?  I just don't know. 

BIG PRAYERS
The church we are going to now, Columbia Grove Covenant Church, is one that my husband and I are happy to call home and where we want to become members.  They have a baptism this Sunday, but we are coming to Yakima on Sunday for my nephew, Jake's, birthday party.  The next one isn't until January, I believe.  Boo.  So, I am anxious to get this done and have a new excitement about it, thanks to Lindsay, for kickin me in the butt and making me read the word. 

Pastor Andrew has also been inspiring to me lately and I just love his sermons!  A few weeks ago, he did a sermon about "what's your big prayer" and encouraged us to think about our big prayers and talked about how amazing God is and to not put limits on what He can do.  He asked us to share our big prayers.  I was praying, at that moment, that he didn't call on me to share!  haha.  Not that I didn't have a big prayer, but I couldn't choose one.  My mind has been (and still is!) so jammed with big prayers, that I can't choose just one.  Here are just a few of my "big prayers"

• That Shawn and I are able to bring our children up in a Christ-like way so that they turn out to be Jesus-lovin, bible-readin young ladies who have a passion to spread the word of Christ and to change the world. 
• That Sarah's charity, Holden Uganda, would be SO blessed that they will have built all the needed wells in Uganda and have to move on to another country!
• That my own walk with the Lord will flourish and I will be as connected to Him as a doorknob is to a door! 
• That my marriage will grow in the Lord and that we can come back to the place we used to be, of praying together and reading the bible together. 
• That all teachers become Christians, or that more Christians become teachers and take over the public schools, caring for their students as Christ would. 
• That all the orphans become un-orphaned and find a loving, caring home who will love on them like Jesus would.

I have so many in my head, just whirling around up there.  I truly pray for these each day and hope that the Lord blesses these requests.  I know He will answer each prayer, I just don't know to what degree He will do it in.  Or WHEN He will answer.  So, what's YOUR big prayer?  Some of the people at church had these ones:

• That all the homeless children in the valley find a home
• That the barriers of class, socialism and race be broken down in this person's life so she can learn to love EVERYONE, not just those who are like her. 
• That the cycle of poverty in another woman's life be broken
• That this person walk with the Lord will grow and they can become a light to those around them. 
• That people all around the valley will come to know the Lord as their savior. 

So, think about what YOUR big prayer is.  And keep in mind that the Lord is SO much bigger and greater than we can imagine!  He can and WILL do great things in our lives if we just believe! :) 

I believe that is all for now.  I really need to go to bed.  Shawn went to bed quite a while ago.  I had thought about watching Parenthood tonight (the new season started tonight!) but thought "there is no way I can stay up till 11!...... And here it is..... 11:37 and I am still awake.... hahaha.  I am tempted to turn it on, but I should just wait until naptime tomorrow to watch it.  MOPS starts tomorrow and I am so excited about it.  hopefully not overly excited about it!  haha.  I don't want to be disappointed just because I've built it up in my head for so long, waiting for it to start! 

I have a lot more pictures to post, but it will have to wait till next time.  hopefully I will get to post again before the weekend!  Have a great night, everyone! :)