Great Grandma Cox

My grandma passed away last week. She was just a few days past 94.  She's my mothers mother, and I've always been closer to my mom's side of the family.  It probably has something to do with the fact that my dad's mom passed when I was only 15.  It's hard to keep an extended family strong when the mom is gone.  It also probably has to do with the fact that I see so much of my self in my mother and in her mother.  I probably would see much of myself in my mother's mother's mother.

   We Cox ladies are a fairly particular set.  We like things to be how we like them to be and we get pretty upset when it doesn't go the way we hope.  We work hard and we play hard.  Beware of playing cards with us.  You might end up with the deck in your lap  Although I think that trait may have skipped my mom. 

My grandma was the wife of a farmer.  Life was hard.  She canned, she baked bread, she gardened, and she sewed.  She also was a teacher, working at the local elementary school for many years. She served a mission for our church with my grandpa. She also traveled, seeing much of the world, with or without my grandpa.  If the farm wouldn't let him go, she planned trips without him.

I love my grandma.  She did so many things that are just dreams to me right now. I was named after her oldest child who died at birth.  My daughter was named for her mother.  I hope to live up to the legacy she left me and pass it on to my daughter too.  

G-man Flag Football

G-man has found that his favorite sport is flag football. We enrolled him in the YMCA Flag Football, and he has been having a great time. The coach is great at getting all the boys in the game, as they get in and play a set of plays, and then rotate. It works out really well, as they are running constantly and the other teams seem to get worn out fast.

G-Man's Pinewood Derby, Year 2 of 3

I failed to post this last month. But, G-man finished his second Pinewood Derby race. He did much better, as I figured out how to get the wheels to work a bit better and purchased a few more supplies to make it all work better. Still, only tied for second in his den, with only three of them. Better than last, I say.

I took horrible pictures this year too, so this is the best shot of him I have.

Here's hoping that next year is the best yet.

Garbagemen

Mr S and JW are total fanatics when it comes to garbage. They love taking out the trash and recycling (and yes, they know the difference!), taking out the blue and green garbage cans (Mr S won't take out the stinky one), and taking them in again. The ultimate experience is of course watching the garbage truck pick up the cans. Of course, that might be topped by the required reenactment of the morning's coolness. So, here is a picture of Mr S and JW helping Mom with the garbage can:

Chickens and Eggs

It is amazing how quickly chickens mature.  If you don't remember, this is what our chicks looked like at the beginning of September.  This is what they looked like by the middle of September: 

From left to right we have Pepper, Belina, and Snowball, with Paprika's rump in the background.

 Within two weeks they've lost most of their fluff and are starting to get a lot of feathers.


Here we have the end of October: 

From left to right, Pepper, Snowball, and Belina

 They now have all their feathers and are working on some nice combs up top. 
  By the end of November, we were having a bit too much fun.  Here are six chickens roosting (not by choice) on top of the climbing dome. 

Nutmeg on top with Pepper, Belina, and Paprika fromleft to right.  Snowball and Buffy are in the background. 

Just last week, we found the first chicky egg.  I love how small they are :)

Belina's egg with the store bought ones.

  Here it is all cooked up.  Our chicken's egg has a darker yoke than the store bought one.

 We love having chickens as pets. Some are more skittish than others, they don't mind stealing food from the kids if they can reach it, and they poop everywhere. On the plus side, we give us eggs, they never peck the kids and they're just plain funny.

Gorky

In our home, 2011 may be known as the year we finally became pet owners.  Up until this past year, we had one pet, a goldfish, whom we've had since Seth was born. 

Then in March we bought this little guy for G-man.

Gorky

 I should say little girl.  She doesn't croak, so that makes her a girl.  She's a White's tree frog.  Her name came from the book Gorky Rises by William Steig (G did an author study about him last year). She eats crickets and mealworms, so we've had to grow accustomed to handle insects that I used to be pretty squeamish about.  Now every time we find and catch a cricket in the house, it's exciting because that's one less cricket I have to buy from the pet store.

J-dub loves to hold Gorky and whenever she is out of the cage, holds his arm out so someone will put her there.  Here's a little video of them playing.
 

Christmas at Home

2011 turned out to be a very interesting Christmas for us.  Two days before Thanksgiving I was in a car accident.  Thankfully nothing but the car was damaged, a rental car was procured, and we made it up to be with family for the feasting.

Things didn't turn out quite so well for Christmas.  Money for the rental ran out a day before the van was due to be returned to us, so we returned it in anticipation of acquiring the family vehicle the next day.  Unfortunately, more damage was discovered and three days before Christmas we were informed that we would not have our car in time for Christmas.  In fact, we wouldn't have it for New Years either. 

We were truly stuck at home this Christmas without a car big enough to drive us anywhere all together.  We've been threatening to do this for years, and at last it happened.  We did a lot of trips to the park on bikes and scooters, a few trips to Circle K, one ride around the neighborhood smooshed into one car to see Christmas lights, and lots of time at home playing games and driving each other crazy.

We've really been trying to keep Christmas simple for the kids, choosing to spend more money at birthday times and to reward the kid's hard work. But they each got a few things they loved and I don't think anyone left disappointed.

Books, boots, beds, balloons, and a brush and bulky tractor.  Games for the Wii, garbage cans, and lots and lots of goodies.  We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas too!