Monday, November 29, 2010

thankgiving

i guess since i had a stomach bug and was sick on thanksgiving day
is the reason i have no pictures of our turkey day this year. :-(
i started throwing up weds night and felt awful most of thursday,
but thankfully by evening i was able to eat a little turkey.
NOT the way i wanted to spend my holiday.
oh well.

we had a great week anyways...went to the zoo, went to the parade of lights,
put up christmas decorations.
jason and i had a couple of dates with my mom here.
did i mention jason and i got to go on a couple of dates by ourselves???
that was awesome. harry potter was awesome too. thanks mom.

we also started a new tradition that i will post about later this week with pictures.
i'm really excited about it...thanks lori!!!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

duck attack

while elijah was at camp with my mom this past weekend,
jason and i took judah to the duck pond while were out christmas shopping.
we brought bread with us to feed them.
he had a lot of fun and it was obvious the ducks were VERY hungry.



they were SO hungry, that the geese (not pictured) started getting a little too close and aggressive. judah started crying, one started biting at my leg and when i couldn't get it to leave me alone, i kicked it in the head and it finally backed off.

that's right folks, i kicked it in the head, to the amusement of several onlookers.
we moved away and had a picnic in the park right down the path.
all in all, it was very fun except for that little mishap. :-)



we are enjoying a very relaxing week off from school for the holiday.
my mom is in town, we may venture to the zoo tomorrow, headed to gainesville on thursday.
this morning, the boys thoroughly enjoyed raking leaves and playing with amos in the backyard.





judah cooperates for the camera these days better than his brother.
love those big blue eyes of his!



we have so much to be thankful for this year.
these two boys are at the top of the list.
praying that next thanksgiving, our little princess will be with us to celebrate.
everyone have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

"You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."
-Psalm 118: 28-29

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

random

i was going to sit down and write a post about something tonight.
then judah started throwing up.
so now i am in the hall with my laptop while he rests on the floor with a pillow.
until he needs to "fro up" again, as he says. poor little guy.
my husband is going to stay home with him tomorrow so i can teach my last day of preschool before thanksgiving break.
hopefully this bug will not pass around our entire family...ugh.

i just got an email about a new holiday coffee from Just Love Coffee.
it's called Fa La La La La Holiday Blend.
i thought that was cute.
here is a picture. check out our coffee website to order some. ----->


and now you'll be subjected to random thoughts and things going on right now.

i had coffee with two new ethiopia adoption friends last night.
one just started the process and one brought her daughter home in january.
we had a great time and i learned so much from both of them.
it's great to have friends who know exactly how all of this feels.
i sure am enjoying a lot of new friends lately.

tomorrow night i am going out to celebrate one of my best friend's turning 30.
on sunday night, we're going to a "root beer social" for ethiopia adoptive families through our agency.

elijah is going to have to have an occupational therapist help him with his handwriting.
he is left-handed and is having some trouble holding his pencil correctly.
of course no one in our family being left-handed makes it hard for us to help him.
he is so smart and works so hard in school.

i think we have the baby's name narrowed down to 4 or 5.
sorry, we're not announcing them and won't pick one until after we've seen her picture.
we'll tell you what her name is then...oh the suspense. :-)
our plan is to keep her african name as her middle name.
can't wait to know who she is...waiting is hard.

i REALLY need to sell this beautiful antique table and chairs that were donated to our garage sale. they are sitting on my front porch under a tarp. anyone interested? i've had it on craig's list for a couple of weeks now and only one person has emailed. it has two leaves that aren't pictured.


jason and i have been thinking a lot about what ministry God would have us to do right here where we are living. we would love it if you would join us in praying for direction.

well, that's all i've got.
told you this was random.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Last Winner

Way to go Christy!!!!
You won the $20 credit to Kara's etsy store and the $25 credit to Lindsey's personalization business, Drew That!!!!

You can still buy coffee and seasoning throughout the holiday season, so get in touch with me if you are interested in buying some seasoning. Everyone that has bought some so far has LOVED it!

A new post to come soon...thanks again to everyone for making the giveaways so much fun!

Made over $1,000 on t-shirt sales, so a total of over $4,000 in the month of October...simply amazing.

Friday, November 12, 2010

two year old mischief


I love staying at home with my sweet 2 year old.
I got almost 4 years with his older brother before he was born.
When E started kindergarten last year, I was sad that he was getting so big but thrilled to get to spend more one on one time with Mr. J.
He is at such a precious age.
In case you're wondering, above he was being a "bad guy".
And below I caught him "asleep" in our antique pie safe.

I love boys. Especially my own two sweet boys.
Hope the underwear does not offend you (we're still not completely potty trained yet).

On another note, if you are looking to Christmas shop for a cause, check out this button below.
It's a list of links where you can buy merchandise to help support others' callings.
We plan to buy some things from this list for our friends/family this year.

Photobucket


And don't forget...below is our LAST giveaway of the year so be sure to get your name in the drawing before Sunday at 6pm!!! It's just sitting there waiting for people to enter and it's a great giveaway with the holidays coming up!

Monday, November 08, 2010

Winner & Last Giveaway!!!

The winner of the $25 credit to Van Grow Art Studio and the music package is...

Melissa!!!!! Congratulations!

Remember that we are promoting our coffee website and homemade seasoning for the giveaway this week! Both make great Christmas/teacher gifts!

Our coffee "button" has been on the right side of our blog for months now ---->
If you click there you will find fair trade coffee from all over the world, and $5 from every bag you buy goes straight to our adoption fund.





My in-laws make the homemade seasoning & sell them for $5 per 4.5oz jar. It is yummy! We use it on everything...meats, veggies and eggs are our favorite ways to use it.






I had two sweet people offer me these great giveaways a couple of weeks ago. I think they will be great with the holidays coming up...either gifts for your family or someone you know.

Kara has donated $20 credit toward a custom made item...her online etsy store is at http://www.etsy.com/shop/karatrimble . Really cute stuff!!! She said her etsy store is just a small sample of what she can do. She makes hairbows, custom tutu sets, outfits, baby blankets, etc. She is willing to work with you if you win to get a custom-made item that you are excited about!

Lindsey has donated a $25 credit toward an item from their business, Drew That. They are an embroidery, direct to garment printer and bling business (for example, on t-shirts)...custom printers that do whatever someone wants, also with blankets & burp cloths to embroider. She is still working on their website and is hoping to get it up this week at www.drewthat.com. I have seen some of their work and it's very very cute! (I'll add her website as a way to enter your name in the drawing if they get it up and running)


Ways to get your name in the drawing for the giveaway:


1. Become a follower of my blog
2. Post about my giveaway/coffee sales/seasoning sales on facebook
3. Post about my giveaway/coffee sales/seasoning sales on your own blog
4. Check out Kara's online etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/karatrimble
5. and 6. Buying a bag of coffee gets you TWO entries (tell me how many bags you bought)
7. and 8. Committing to buy one jar of seasoning gets you TWO entries (tell me how many you plan to buy)

You can either give me or mail me cash or a check for the seasoning. If you'd like your seasoning shipped to you, please add $3.00 for 1 jar or $5.00 for 2-4 jars. (If you buy more than that, we can figure the shipping)
Email me at jlandskcox@yahoo.com to order seasoning and I will tell you where to mail your money...when the money is received, we will ship your seasoning.

Have your entries in by 6:00pm on Sunday, November 14th. I will post the last winner on Monday, November 15th. Happy entering!

p.s. I have a beautiful antique table with 6 chairs left over from the garage sale that we need to sell. If you or someone you know is interested, let me know!

Saturday, November 06, 2010

Halloween Weekend



We had a very fun and busy Halloween weekend.
There's A LOT of pictures...so not a lot of words.
Don't forget to check out the giveaway a couple of posts down - the drawing for the winner is Sunday night after 6:00 pm. Good luck!

The Thursday before Halloween, Judah got to wear his Buzz Lightyear costume to school. Here he is with one of his new buddies.


The whole week before Halloween, Elijah's school had spirit week. On Friday, it was dress like a rock star day. He sported a mohawk, his Green Day shirt, torn jeans and fake tattoos. :)


Elijah had his last soccer game of the season on Saturday morning, complete with trunk or treat and a fall festival afterwards.




Jason and I attended a pumpkin carving party at Ashley & Brandon's house, without kids. We had a really fun time!


Here are some of the pumpkins...the one on the bottom is Ron Washington...lol.


Saturday evening our neighborhood had a Halloween festival in the park.


Buzz Lightyear and a Ninja




Elijah won the "cutest costume" in his age group. The boys were happy that my mom was in town.


Jason and I carved a Buzz and Woody pumpkin at the pumpkin carving party. Judah aka "Buzz" wanted his picture with the Buzz pumpkin.


Halloween night, we went trick or treating with a group of friends in the Beck's neighborhood and had dinner afterwards while we watched the Ranger's game.



A few days later, Elijah had his soccer awards ceremony...way to go Elijah!


And that was the past week for us. Sorry it took so long to get it on here (Lauren :-).

Friday, November 05, 2010

National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month. The goal is to raise awareness about adoption throughout the world. For a while now, I have been reading the blog of this amazing young single girl that lives & works in Uganda. She has adopted 14 orphan girls...FOURTEEN! She is single. Which means (if I spell it out for you) that she is taking care of them BY HERSELF. Whenever the fear starts creeping in about adding ONE adopted child to our family, I think about her, her hardships and her heart, and I know that God will enable us to do this. Here is the button to her blog...please consider giving to her organization for Christmas this year.

In her own words...

"And every single day, it is worth it. Because ADOPTION IS GOD’S HEART. He sets the lonely in families. Adoption is the reason that I can come before God’s throne and beg Him for mercy, because He predestined me to be adopted as His child through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

My family, adopting these children, it is not optional. It is not my good deed for the day, it is not what I am doing to “help these poor kids out.” I adopt because God commands me to care for the orphans and the widows in their distress. I adopt because to whom much has been given, much will be demanded. I adopt because whoever finds his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for HIS sake will find it."

This is not a fad or something we are doing for fun. Because let me tell you, we are excited about this baby girl, but this process is hard. The paperwork is hard, the waiting is hard, the fundraising is hard, leaving my boys here when we go to Ethiopia twice is going to be VERY hard, leaving our daughter to come back here after the first trip will be VERY hard, seeing the poverty & desolation in Africa is going to be hard, seeing all of the other children at the orphanages that don't have a forever home is going to be hard....but the fact of the matter is that we can't take all of them home. Thinking that if we hadn't said "yes" to adoption, that our precious daughter might have stayed in an orphanage for her entire life or worse yet, might have died, is unfathomable to me. I think sometimes we wait for the neon sign to tell us what God wants us to do, and I'm learning more and more that the neon signs are all in the Bible already. As our hearts become more and more like Jesus, those neon signs start to light up. Caring for the poor and the orphans is a command...it's not an option as to whether or not you are "called" to that, it's a matter of what you're going to do about it. Maybe you are not called specifically to bring a child into your home, but you need to decide what it is you ARE going to do because the way that so many people live in the world is unacceptable, and that some people are never shown love their entire lives is unacceptable and I am quite sure that it is unacceptable to God when we turn a deaf ear.

In saying all of this I don't want you to think that we, the Cox family, have our acts together because we don't. I don't want to paint a perfect picture on here of our family or of this adoption. I fight the urge to "pat myself on the back"...this is not something that WE are doing, this is something that God is doing THROUGH us. At 30 years old, I am just beginning to really "get it"...what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The fact is that it took years for God to open my heart to the poor and to the possibility of adoption, even when during those years it was in my face and I continued to push it away because of fear and inadequacy. We certainly don't think that because we're adopting one child we have met our "quota" of helping the poor and orphans. I pray every day that God will keep opening up my heart to more and more of His heart, to more and more uncomfortable situations. My flesh wants to stay comfortable but my heart does not, and I know there is so much more that He can accomplish through our family. We are not content to just stop with this adoption...there has to be more because the adoption of our daughter does not end world poverty or mean that all other orphans have a home.

I just have a long way to go. I apologize if this was too preachy for some of you...it's what was on my heart.

Changing the subject, the post below this has a GREAT giveaway that has had ZERO response so far. I have one more giveaway to put on this month but may not do it if this one does not do well. I must have worn you guys out with giveaways in October and I have REALLY generous friends too. :-) PLEASE scroll down and check it out...it's really easy to enter and the deadline is Sunday at 6:00 pm.

(I will get a Halloween post up soon for those that are interested :-)

Monday, November 01, 2010

Some November Fun & 4 Months

I am so blessed that the giveaways have just continued to come to me.
Thank you everyone for your generosity!!!
Our t-shirt sales ended yesterday...I am anxious to hear a total in the next week.
So I'm sure you're thinking, "If your t-shirt sales are over, what in the world are you doing giveaways for now?" :-)
Well, the good news is that we have a Just Love Coffee website and some fabulous homemade seasoning that we think will make absolutely wonderful Christmas/teacher presents!
We are hoping you'll think that too!
At the same time, I promise after the next two weeks of giveaways, we will stop before the holidays get too close and stop shamelessly asking for your money...lol. :-)

Our coffee "button" has been on the right side of our blog for months now ---->
If you click there you will find fair trade coffee from all over the world, and $5 from every bag you buy goes straight to our adoption fund.



I added a picture of the homemade seasoning over there as well a few weeks ago.
<----- Here they are again, aren't they cute? My in-laws make & sell them for $5 per 4.5oz jar. It is yummy! We use it on everything...meats, veggies and eggs are our favorite ways to use it.



I just don't know anyone who doesn't at least know someone who loves a good cup of coffee and yummy seasoning for their favorite foods! You can make someone REALLY happy this holiday season and help us get a little closer to bringing our baby girl home! And today marks 4 MONTHS that we've been on the wait list!!! On the 1st of every month, we buy baby girl something...today Elijah picked her out a pink fork & spoon, and a pink sippy cup. :-)

SO WHAT IS THE GIVEAWAY THIS WEEK???

I'm so glad you asked!!!

Remember my new friend in the neighborhood who came to our garage sale with her baby girl from Ethiopia??? Well, she owns a fantastic art studio for kids in Fort Worth. You can check out the Van Grow Art Studio at www.vangrowstudio.com. She offered me a $25 credit to their art studio toward whatever you want! They offer all kinds of great classes for kids...weekly fall classes, pottery painting, Saturday workshops, holiday workshops, birthday parties, etc. Check out their website...it looks like FUN! With the $25 credit, you could enjoy a 2 hour Saturday workshop with your child. Thank you Hanna!

I also received some music from some new up-and-coming bands in North Texas. I have to admit that I don't know much about their music, but you can visit their websites for more information. I love finding new music artists to listen to!

I have a CD and t-shirt from country singer Ben Smith
+
I have a CD from the pop rock band, Sleeperstar, and I understand the members of the band are believers.
Plus I threw in a jar of the makings for Almond Brickle Sugar Cookies...yum!



So, here is how this is going to work for the next two weeks.
Similar to the last month, but I'm going to lay it out for you again.
Ways to get your name in the drawing for the giveaway:

1. Become a follower of my blog
2. Post about my giveaway/coffee sales/seasoning sales on facebook
3. Post about my giveaway/coffee sales/seasoning sales on your own blog
4. Check out Van Grow Art Studio at http://www.vangrowstudio.com/
5. Check out Ben Smith's music HERE
6. Check out Sleeperstar's music HERE
7. and 8. Buying a bag of coffee gets you TWO entries (tell me how many bags you bought)
9. and 10. Committing to buy one jar of seasoning gets you TWO entries (tell me how many you plan to buy)

You could have your name in the drawing at least 10 times just by doing these things!

You can either give me or mail me cash or a check for the seasoning. If you'd like your seasoning shipped to you, please add $3.00 for 1 jar or $5.00 for 2-4 jars. (If you buy more than that, we can figure the shipping)
Email me at jlandskcox@yahoo.com to order seasoning and I will tell you where to mail your money...when the money is received, we will ship your seasoning.

Have your entries in by 6:00pm on Sunday, November 7th. I will post the winner and the last giveaway on Monday, November 8th. Happy entering!

Thanks in advance for your support of us yet again! We hope you enjoy the coffee and seasoning this holiday season!