It has been way too long

Yea, yea, yea... it has been over a month since I have posted. I have so many pictures and videos to upload. Just be patient with me and give me a little more time to post all of those one here. In the meantime, here is a brief update...

A lot has happened in our family over the past month.

On February 13, we put our home on the market. Our home that we have had only 13 months and our home that we love... sad! BUT it is all for good! Once we sell it, our family will be back together again and living in Greenville, SC. I get to move back to South Carolina!!! Not that I don't LOVE NC because I do, but there is just something about being born and raised in SC that makes you long to go back... as my husband says "I'm a true sandlapper."

On February 15, I announced to the session of my church our decision to move. This comes with so many conflicting emotions. I am so sad to leave PPC. It is my home in many way. It is truly a church home for our family. All 3 of my kids were baptized here, my husband in a member, and the congregation is made up of people I call friends. Yes, I am sad, but also grateful for the time I have had a PPC. This congregation has reaffirmed my call to ministry and I know that I am stronger and more faithful because of their lives.

When we leave Charlotte, I will have the opportunity to stay at home with our 3 kids! I cannot believe that God has placed this opportunity in front of us because we did not know if it would ever be financially possible. But we are hopeful for the future and excited that I will have a few years of just being a mom before the kids go off to school. Time goes so quickly!

So, we have had 3 showings so far... not too bad with the economy, but we are hopeful that spring will bring more and someone will fall in love with our home like we did!

Aside from the stress of keeping the house clean with 3 kids underfoot, there hasn't been too much excitement in the Cox house.

We had our first trip to "visit Daddy" in Greenville. It was very interesting trying to explain to the kids that we were going to visit Daddy. But they loved it and we all managed to sleep in my husband's tiny one bedroom apartment!!! Poor Henry had to sleep in his pack in play in the laundry room. Wonder if I will ever share with him all the interesting places we set up his pack in play?

Ben and I also had the opportunity to go to Las Vegas for a few days last week. My parents kept the kids so it was a nice restful trip for me. Poor Ben was actually there for work and WORK they did!!! He started some days as early as 6:30 and wasn't finished until after dinner every night. We didn't get to see much of each other, but I got to relax and had no one asking me to do ANYTHING for them. We stayed at the M Resort that just opened at the beginning of the week. I was able to take in some spa time... amazing being in a spa that has only been open for 3 weeks! How spoiled was I!!!

It was good to get back, but now I am looking at my to do list grow and grow and grow and trying to find time to fit it all in while remembering those brief days of relaxation.

That's enough for now... I will post those pics and more about the kids as soon as I can!

Snow, Attic Sale, More Snow, now 70 degrees!

It has been awhile since I had time to write because I have been consumed by the attic sale at church. It is a HUGE annual event that take up all of my days for a whole week! We had it this past Saturday and as always, it was a great success. One little bump in the week was that it snowed on Wednesday causing everyone to lay low for the morning. Luckily the snow did not keep my parents from coming to pick up my kids for a few days so I could spend all of my time sorting attic sale stuff. It is fun, don't get me wrong, but oh so exhausting!
I am pleased to say that we raised about $2000 for Stop Hunger Now and over $3000 for youth missions. Hooray!!!

So that was Saturday and since then I have been resting, recuperating, cleaning, blah, blah, blah. All I want to do is sleep or go enjoy the beautiful sunshine outside. Did I mention that it has gotten to 70 degrees over the past couple of days? And yep, that is less than a week after a snow. Crazy!!!

Hope to post more later... with some pics and interested things about the kids!

Yay, Snow!

Here are some videos of the kids in the snow. Sad to say that it is melting away as they nap this afternoon, but at least we got some time in the snow! We sure wish Daddy would have been here to enjoy it with us!




If you listen closely, you can hear Emily grunting as she walks.
She kind of sounds like her Daddy... LOL.


I forgot to upload the video of the kids chasing Sasha... I will try to do that later, but hear the little man Henry waking up.

SNOW DAY!!!

What a day to remember!! I am sitting on the couch with my three kids crawling over me. It is snowing outside- the first snow in Charlotte in about 5 years! We have the TV on and are watching the 2009 presidential inauguration of Barack Obama. No matter what side of the political fence you fall, I think we can all say that this is a historical day in the life of our nation.

I just said to the kids... we have a new president. And Sara's response was "what kind of a new president?" Not sure how to answer that question to a 3 year old. Any suggestions?

I don't know where we as a nation are heading, nor do I even care to comment, but I hope and pray that my life will continue to be filled with days like this... days full of laughter, hot chocolate, kids playing in snow, and heart felt memories. I, as many others, are anxious about the days and months ahead of us, but I rest assured that God is and will continue to provide for my family.

OK- enough of my babbling... here are some great pictures of the kids playing in the snow. We enjoyed it! I hope to upload a flip video of them chasing our cat Sasha later this afternoon... it was mighty humoreous!

Here are the twins testing out their boots is the snow.

A little braver...

No fear from Henry... he ran right in!

Sara

Emily

Henry

Emily

What a sweet hug!!!

Emily hugging Henry

Sara feeling for snowfall.

Henry's first fall in the snow.

He didn't like the snow on his hands...
I think we need gloves!

Henry and Sara

Emily's shake off the snow boots dance

And Sara's dance

Playing well

Here are some sweet pictures of all three kids playing well together yesterday.

It isn't too often that all three will sit and play. Usually, Henry is buddied up with one of the girls while someone plays alone or the girls are together while Henry plays alone.
It is a sweet moment when I find all three so content and enjoying each other.

Henry

Sara

Emily pretending to be sad... she really wasn't.

Sharking it!!!

In our house, shark has become a verb referring to vacuuming with our handy dandy shark. Many thanks to my friend Frances for introducing us to the shark! My kids love it, as do I. Henry especially enjoys pretending to clean and helping Mommy.

2008 in review

Okay- so I have been slack about blogging, but I went out of town right after New Year's to a college conference at Montreat. The kids did not go with me so I haven't had any news to report from them. This week is mainly maintaining the chaos before I leave on Saturday for another retreat at Montreat! And yes, without the kids again. But my husband gets to come along for that one so I am very excited about some much needed time with him.

So... I've decided to do a year in review of all the happenings in our home during 2008.

We bought a new house in January 2008.

Here are the kiddos in the den.

Henry learned how to stand.

Emily looks a lot like me when I was young.

Sara with a not so happy face.

Henry turned one in July.

Sara learned how to play on my computer.

We hugged a lot!

Hugged some more.

We attempted potty training and they did good for awhile.
Went back to pullups during the winter and hope to try again this spring.

We played in a baby pool during the hot Charlotte summers.

Henry discovered our cat, Sasha.

And enjoyed wrestled with her!

The girls liked to sleep almost anywhere.
Even under the bed!

Silly Em... before letting go of the pacifier.
Thankfully, giving those up was a 2008 triumph!

We got messy when we ate.

Henry learned to say "more" with his hands.

We went on a hay ride at Granddaddy's farm.

We made silly faces.

We cheered for the Tar Heels!

We trick or treated in our Tar Heel pride!

We made cookies!

We celebrated Thanksgiving!

Sara and Emily turned 3 in December!

Sasha finally learned to get along with our new cat Cali.

We got a wagon for Christmas.

Not the most exciting year... well, actually it was. How could it not be with 3 kids all ages 3 and under? Life is non-stop action in our home. I am looking forward to another year, anticipating what God has in store for our family. I am sure it is more than I could ever dream of!

Here's to a new year full of good memories, smiles and laughter in our home, joy and fun, and God's constant guidance!