I finally did it!  I made my own wheat flour!  I got a grain mill a week ago and used it for the first time this weekend.  John's step sister sells them, well actually her husband does.  They own a few coffee shops and he is a distibutor for the blender that they use in their shops.  It turns out that the same people that make the blender also make a grain mill.  So... long story short I bought a grain mill from them and made flour with it for the first time this weekend. The girls thought it was great, we made bread right away with it and they said it was the best bread ever!  Today I am going to make some pastry flour to make granola bars with!  Very exciting stuff is happening over here!

We do not get our new kitty for two more days but we went to visit her at the animal shelter Saturday.  We wanted to take some pictures to show Daddy. I thought I would share them here.  So, here are some pictures of "Lucy" and the girls.

I thought I would share some fun pictures I just downloaded on the computer from my camera.  These are a few of my hubby and my girls.  They have so much fun playing together.  It is even more fun for me to watch!

We had a rough weekend last weekend.  We lost our kitty Sewart.  He had been seeming out of sorts for a week and about two days before we took him to the vet he stopped eating and just looked horrible.  We took him to the emergency vet and it seems as though his kidneys were the problem.  We made the hard decision to put him to sleep.  It was so hard and the worst part was coming home to tell my five year old daughter!  She took it very hard.  We were able to bury him at home and we planted a tree by him to remember him by.  We had a little funeral and it was really sweet.  Two days later Ellie began asking for a new kitty.  I did not know what to say as I did not know if we should have more time to grieve or what.  I knew that I was not really ready but we wanted to do what was best for her.  Well, today she and I happened to be by the animal shelter so we stopped in and lo and behold there was a kitty just calling our name.  She is a fluffy white and black kitty!  She is one year old and she just belongs with us so of course I had to have her!  I asked my hubby and he said go for it!  We adopted her but do not get her until Wed because they have to spay her.  I thought that it was kind of great that they take care of that before you even take them home.  The cost was only $40 which includes the spay.  I thought that was very reasonable!  Our vet charges more than that for spaying a kitty. 

I had something else very exciting happen today!  I have been so excited about home birth and natural child birth since my firnd Emily's home birth.  I have decided to try to get my Bradley Birth Educator certificate.  I was telling Emily's midwife this when I saw her at Emily's for a check up and she let me know that she was needed a new assistant and she told me to pray about it and she would to.  Well, today I called her and asked if she was still looking and willing to consider me and she said yes.  I asked what I would need to do and she "read, read, read."  She gave me the name of some books and told me to get them and said that she had a few I could borrow.  She also said that some type of doula training would be good but not totally necessary.  She will also meet with me and let me know what to do and expect and those sorts of things and do training.  I am so excited!  She does not have any births until June so she has a little lull right now.  She is a great christian gal. 

John and I are going to our county's orientation for foster adoption Thurs.  Another very exciting thing!  We are hoping to adopt a baby this next year.  I am nervous but happy about it.  I am hoping the process moves a long quickly.  We will see how it goes.  I hear the orientation is not that great but you have to go to get started on the paper work.

Well, I need to go buy some milk so that I can make some friendship bread that my friend Rossie shared with me.  I am looking forward to trying it out and then passing on the starter to a few friends. 

I had the most amazing experience of being at my best freinds home birth yesterday.  She had a 10 lb 2 oz baby boy.  She did so well and the baby is doing great.  I have been at several births as a medic in the air force and have attended the birth of a family member.  I have also had 2 babies of my own.  They have all been hospital births and I have to say that being there for this home birth was awesome.  Everything was so relaxed, Emily was left to labor as she chose.  There were no IV's or monitors stuck to her.  She had a wonderful midwife.  I am telling you that if God should choose to bless us with another baby we will be following in Emily's foot steps and having a home birth!  I feel so grateful and honored to have been there with her and her family as she had her baby. 

The baby is absolutely beautiful, or should I say handsome because he is a boy.  I can't believe how big he is.  He has huge hands and feet!  Even though he is big for a newborn he still feels little in my arms.  I got to go visit them today and it was fun watching baby and mommy together!  I can't tell you his name as he does not have one yet! 

Well, my little one is waking up from nap so I have to go.  I just wanted to share this great experience.

I just got my girls down for quiet time, well one of them anyways, my older daughter is outside helping Daddy wire our new garage for electricity.  He got the doors on this weekend and after today I will be able to park in it and use my new garage door opener.  YAY!!

We had MOPs this morning and I had such a good time.  I am lucky to have Rossie (happymama in my friends listd in my MOPs group and we sit at the same table.  We got to talk a bit and of course I got to chat with all the other great ladies there.  I started attending that MOPs group, three or maybe four years ago when we first moved to Bakersfield and I have been so blessed by it and the friendships I have formed there.

I got a new sewing machine.  My old machine was my moms when I was little and it was a very inexpensive Singer but it has lasted wonderfully.  It quit last year though and I have been without one since.  I am no great seamstress but I can whip up a pillow or curtains just fine.  My friend Emily is trying to teach me to sew and follow patterns and I am excited about that.  My sister gave me the sewing machine because she never uses it, she only has used it one time. Now, I can work on my sewing skills.  I am so excited.  I have been wanting to make curtains for my living room for sometime, now I can keep my eye out for the perfect fabric!

Well, I finally have time to blog.  This holiday season has been a busy one.  It has been a wonderful one to.  We spent lots of time with all of our family and it was wonderful.  Things have slowed down this week and it is nice though.  Next week all of our normal stuff kicks back in. 

I think that today we will head to our little "zoo" in town.  It is called CALM and they have all sorts of animals that are from around here and that have been injured and can never be released to the wild.  It is a fun place my kids love it. 

I can't believe that a new year is upon us, they seem to go by so quickly these days. I do have some resolutioins but nothing crazy, they all sort of deal with having more self control.  I am praying diligently for that fruit of the spirit.  As I was thinking of the things that I might want to change this year I realized that they all came from a lack of self control in myself.  It was quite eye opening.  So, I will be working on it this year, with the Lords help of course for I know that I do nothing by my might but only through His spirit.  Thank you Lord for not leaving us alone!!!                            

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY ELLIE

Five years ago this morning I was holding my very first baby girl.  We were all alone, John was in Afghanistan as Ellie was born 2 1/2 months after 9/11.  She came very quickly so my mom did not make it in time.  It was just she and I.  I remember when I first went in to labor and then went to the hospital and realized she was coming and thinking that there was no way that I could do this on my own.  (I did have a neighbor there)  I was so scared and lonely for John, I began praying for peace and Jesus brought it to me and really I did not do it on my own, He was there and Ellie was doing her part to be born too.  I pushed very little and she came out just 26 minutes after I got to the hospital and only 3.5 hours after my water broke.  As I sat with her the first morning after she was born, I asked myself, how can I do this alone, I have no idea when John will be home, I am all alone with this new baby, I asked Jesus for peace and He gave it to me, we made it through those first four months alone just fine until John came home.  I had to daily ask for peace as Ellie was not the easiest baby, but Jesus was faithful to give it to me each day.  I was not alone, He was there and so was Ellie, teaching me about herself and her needs.  Life is like that, even with John home now, there are times as a mom I feel so alone, like I carry the burdens of parenting this little person alone and it is at those times that I know that I need to go to the feet of my father and give him my precious Ellie, he gives me peace, he tells me I am not alone.  He is there, he has given me a wonderful partner in my husband and he has given me a wonderful little girl who is with me and teaches me more about herself and life in general than just about anyone.  Ellie is not easy.  If you look at the definition of strong willed in the dictionary you will see her beautiful face!  She is a challenge to raise but she also brings me an incredible amount of joy.  I am so thankfull to be her mommy!!  I am honored to be her mommy!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!  I love it!  We are going to be spending the day with my husbands family but they have graciously accepted my mom and sister and her family along too.

We actually had my familys thanksgiving 2 weeks ago and it was a wonderful day!  I am sure that today will be too.  My husband has worked most Thanksgivings since we have had children but I feel so blessed to have him home with us today, well, he will be home, at about 9:30 this morning. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful day! 

Well, I am lucky enough to be in a MOPs group with Rossie (happymama) and was blessed to be there when she spoke on menu planning at our last meeting.  I have always menu planned but she gave some great ideas to make it even better.  She gave the idea of putting together about 7 or 8 index cards with a weeks worth of menus on one side and the grocery items that are needed for them on the back.  Well, I did this, I put 6 dinners on 8 different cards and today when I went grocery shopping, the prep work took just a few minutes.  I took out my cards and then I marked what I needed on my list.  It was so easy!!  Thanks Rossie.  Rossie also mentioned shopping at WinCo and I tried out that store today.  My mom came with me and we were both so impressed with the prices and the selection!  I will definately be returning. 

Last night my neighbor and John made some tri tip in the smoker and they made so much.  We ate last night and still have a whole tri tip left over for tonight.  I am so glad because I don't feel well.  It will be nice to reheat some and make a salad to go with it.  Tri tip is one of my favorite meals!! 

I am taking the most wonderful class at my church's women's Bible study.  It is called Share Jesus without fear.  I leave each class feeling so convicted and encouraged, if that makes sense.  The authur of the book we are reading, William Fay, sets out this very easy plan to follow to share the good news about Jesus.  It is not pushy, you simply ask a few questions and share 5 verses from the Bible.  It is straight forward and I think that even I could do it.  I love Jesus and for some reason have a hard time truly sharing the gospel.  I happily tell people that I go to church and am a christian but I leave it at that far too often.  William Fay says that Jesus commanded us to share the gospel and when we don't it is sin, he calls it the sin of silence.  That was really powerful to me.  I had never really looked at it that way before.  So, anyway, I leave class convicted to share my faith but encouraged because I have a plan to do it. 

All is well here.  My husband is home from his month long training.  YAY!!!!  He is busy at works getting sod laid in our backyard.  Poor guy!  He got to work the day after he got home.  He goes back to work Monday for a 3day shift, we are so enjoying him home right now! 

We are having a Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family Sun.  My sister works odd shifts and so does my husband and this was the only day that both had off and that was a weekend so that people with normal schedules could come to.  (My sister works thanksgiving day).  Soo... it is here and I am excited.  We are having a pretty simple dinner and I am hoping that the weather stays nice, we might even eat outside! My middle sister does not do much with our family so we do not see her often, she works a lot.  I can't wait to spend some time with her.  Her youngest son is joining the army and leaves next week so it will be a send off for him too.  Perfect for the veterans day holiday. 

My husband and I were both in the Air Force and  he left for Uzbekastan (sp) right after 911 and did not meeting our oldest daughter until she was 4 months old.  I just wanted to say that I appreciate all that our veterans have done and all of you who are military families, I  appreciate the sacrifices you make!  I  thank you!

 I finally did it!  I made bread!  From scratch!  I have been so scared to do it.  I was afraid it would not rise, I was afraid it would be a brick, I was afraid it would taste awful.  Luckily none of those things happened and it tasted great.  My husband is still gone for his training but he will be home next week and I can't wait to have a warm loaf of homemade bread waiting for him!!

I also finally went back to the doctor to talk to her about getting pregnant.  She gave me another prescription of comid because based on my charts it is definately working, I am ovulating.  YAY!  So I start tomorrow.  I am so nervous!  I would appreciate any prayers.   I am hoping that it works this time.  I am trying to stay peaceful about it and realize that it may not be Gods will for us to have any more children.  I can't help hoping that it is his will and that the clomid works fast.

Ellie with the bread. 

Well, the lovely Rossie (happymomma in my friends list) has fridge tagged me and boy do I have  fridge for you!  She said that I  had to take a picture of my fridge with out cleaning it off or anything.  Luckily the muddy handprints that the girls put on the freezer door yesterday (that I have still not wiped off) did not show up too well!!!

I have pictures of my girls on the fridge, their latest artwork, our menu, Jessica's report card (which was great), a couple phone numbers that I need to add to my book, a picture postcard thingy of the missionary family we are praying for, and our "Cox Family Code Of Conduct".  As you can see, it is not too organized.  Maybe I should go straighten that up!!!

O.k.  Now that I can add pictures, I am sort of addicted!  I thought I should post one of my husband.  This one is actually a year old but I really like it.  He and my daughter are working on the back hoe.  My daughter loves to ride it with my husband and can even opperate it quite well. 

While I am at it I better add a picture of my niece and that will round out our family. This is so much fun!!!

That is  my niece Jessica and my Emma after Emma decided to dump her food over her head!  Sometimes you just have to laugh and then take a picture!

Here is a picture of the girls and I at a Pumkin Patch.  We have this really cool little farm right outside of town that has great produce and fun things for the kids to do.  We went with our homeschooling group.  We got to go on a hay ride and pick pumkins and we also got to pick apples.  The apples were wonderful, I bought some extras to take home.  We had a great time.  I feel so blessed to have found this homeschooling group.  It is a christian group and I really only know one person, my best friend is in it too.  All the other families are so welcoming though; so I think we will be able to make some fun new friends! 

I am still new at adding pictures and this one is sort of big.  Oh well!

Well, I think that I have figured out how to post pictures.  My niece helped me.   I just finished putting up my fall decorations on my mantel, I know... I am a little late.  I just picked up some things on sale at Michaels though and they were all half price.   If this works then I will post a few pics of my family.  I love pictures!

Well, things are busy here as usual.  It is a good busy though.  John is gone for 4 weeks of training at the Air Force's Fire Academy.  It is nice to stay busy while he is gone.  We have been going to our MOPs group, bible study and have been getting together with friends, not to mention getting our school done.  I don't think I realized that it would be hard to get school work done a long with the all the curves life throws at us.  This is our first official year of homeschooling and it sure  can be a challenge.  I love it though.  I am so grateful that my husband feels that it is important for me to be home with our children.

I am going to be making an appointment with a new Dr. this week to see about getting pregnant again.  I used comid to conceive both my girls and it worked the first month both times.  We tried it again this summer and it did not work.  Hopefully we can firgure something out.  I would love atleast one more baby but I know that God has a plan for our family and if he thinks we are complete I know he will give me peace with that.

Well, I have to go pick Ellie up from Awanas.  I am typing this with my two year old in my lap, it is quite a challenge!  

Well, It has been quite a while since I have had a chance to get on my blog.  I have missed it.

Things have been busy and exciting around here.  Two weeks ago I got to go to my church's women's retreat.  It was awesome.  I had a wonderful time and I learned so much about the Lord, he really revealed himself to me in some new ways and it was wonderful.  The weekend was so needed and I came home feeling so refreshed. 

Last week my 16 year old niece moved in with us.  She lived with us for a year and then moved back home at the beginning of summer but decided to come back to us.  Its great having her here.  My girls adore her and she is great with them.  She came at the perfect time because John, my husband, is leaving for a month to Texas for training for his job.  It will be nice to have the company.  She is a great girl!

We are enjoying cooler weather here, although it will warm up again before it truly cools down, I am ready for it to stay cool!  I went to put my youngest, Emma, in some jeans on one of our cooler days and I realized that everything I had pulled out for her was too small.  She is going to be wearing what her big sister wore when she was three and Emma is barely two.  It is so amazing how different Ellie and Emma are, ever their little bodies are totally different!

Well, I am going to get going, I have to make dinner.  My niece is a vegetarian and we are definately not so it makes for some fun menu planning!

We are in the midst of a big remodeling and re-landscaping project and it sure is dirty.  My husband rented a bobcat for the weekend to take out a driveway and grade our front yard.  We do not have any land or anything but we do have a fairly big corner lot so he has a fair amount of work.   He took out a driveway, removed a fence (block wall) and is preparing the area for the new driveway.  Our front yard and part of our back yard are quite a mess but my husband says that in the next three weeks we will have the yard seeded for grass and my flower beds formed.  YAY! 

The kids love to watch my husband on the bobcat and he takes them for little rides.  He likes to show off for them and was doing wheelies with it (not while they were on!) John loves to drive it although he is quite tired as he has been on it for several days almost solid. 

Well, I just thought I would share my exciteing news that I will have a front yard soon!