Jesse, Vivian and Xander Cox

because things were not working correctly on this blog we have switched to a new address… please check us out at www.theplanted.wordpress.com

 love,
viv

okay, so for the past couple of days we’ve been in the high 90’s… poor xander doesn’t know what to do with himself in this heat… he’s just like his mama - he does not like it! (even though mama is getting much more at liberty with being working outside and getting nasty, it creates beautiful flowers!) but today i was in charge of church and i had planned a “natural worship service” down in the woods on the wissahickon creek. it was beautiful, we all had a moment with jesus by ourselves along the creek (i was in the creek sitting on a rock to keep cool) anyway, here is some of what we did - we all had a really great time and i thought i’d pass it along to you to try yourself… it was very encouraging and uplifting, even in muggy, hot weather. we then cooked out and xander ate pineapple, homemade mac and cheese, peas, cheese stick, cheetos - good grief! we all came home and took baths and went to bed - the boys are still passed out downstairs after almost 3 hours!! got to get them up for small group soon… love and miss and enjoy these words of wisdom…

Praise Him and Listen for Him in Nature:
“I read that God created the heavens and the earth and all the green, growing things that sprawl in the alley and ll the creatures that chirp and bark and rustle in the undergrowth.” He created June and Pennsylvania and the Wissahickon Creek and the heat that warms this earth today, “He created all this and called it good. And he created you and me and called it very good (see Genesis 1:31).
I look around and see the mark of the Maker on all he has created, the signature beauty that reveals the work of his hands. I want to consider how God reveals himself to us through nature, in the artistic design of his creative genius all around us, in the creativity of us human creatures who are made in his image.
Because if we’re not listening to how God speaks to us through these created things, why should we be surprised if we can’t hear him though anything else?”
Sarah Author
INTRODUCTION
In his Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius urged that all be taught the examen, a daily examination of our deepest feelings and desires. He called these feelings our consolations (what connects us with God, others and ourselves) and desolations (what disconnects us). He believed that God would speak to us through these feelings and desires. It’s not surprising that this saint felt so strongly about the examen — this prayer practice changed him from a wild soldier to a pilgrim walking barefoot to Jerusalem.
The examen helps us:
• Acknowledge sad or painful feelings and hear how God is speaking to us through them.
• Overcome a pessimistic outlook by encouraging us notice the good in each day.
• Tell the truth about who we truly are and what we need, rather than who we think we should be.
• Become aware of seemingly insignificant moments that ultimately can give direction for our lives.
Preparation: You may wish to light a candle. Do whatever helps you to experience God’s loving presence with you. Take a few deep breaths. Breathe in God’s love, and when you breathe out, fill the space around you with it.
Ready to try it?
STEP ONE
Ask God to bring to your awareness the moment today for which you are most grateful.
• If you could relive one moment, which one would it be?
• When were you most able to give and receive love today?
• Ask yourself what was said and done in that moment that made it so good.
Breathe in the gratitude you felt and receive life again from that moment.  
STEP TWO
Ask God to bring to your awareness the moment today for which you are least grateful. When were you least able to give and receive love?
Ask yourself what was said and done in that moment that made it so difficult. Relive the feelings without trying to change or fix it in any way.
Take deep breaths and let God’s love fill you just as you are. 
STEP THREE
Give thanks for whatever you have experienced. If possible, share as much as possible of these two moments with a friend.  (When we go back for lunch)
www.upperroom.org
 

whelp - it’s opening weekend for the jersey shore. so while most would say, “no way, don’t go it will be crazy” the coxes say, “let’s do this thing!!!” here we go! tomorrow morning we’re heading down to the shore. we’ll stay at the beach for a while in the late morning/early afternoon (got our 50 sunblock for xander man and a CUTE beach hat and a wonderful uv shirt - he’s safe grandmas ) - grab dinner and then head to our FREE hotel!! because of jesse’s traveling he has two free nights at a mariott hotel. we love princeton so this is our usual routine - beach on sat head to princeton, stay there and then on sunday am walk around the precious town, market and school. we’ve tried to contact jesse’s aunt and uncle to see if they’ll be around - they live in princeton - so we might get to see them too!

anyway, we’ll have video and pics of our little guy’s second time to the beach, the first it was FREEZING (at easter - in the 40’s), tomorrow is supposed to be a beautiful and perfect 71.

hope everyone has a perfect memorial day weekend. viv

whelp,

tonight xander ate his first hands on dinner all by himself! he’s been doing some finger foods for a while now but tonight was the first “meal” and he did fantastic. he had peas and string cheese (in small pieces) and then i fed him his yogurt as the whole “feeding with a utensil” is just not happening yet of course! he was so cute and very concentrated. i could tell he was very proud of himself when he finished. i sat with him for a while and then when i realized how long this process took i moved him into the kitchen with me so i could keep talking to him while i made our dinner. an hour later, he finished!!!

earlier today we went to a fabulous “babies and books” story time at a local library. i tried to teach xander how to clap a couple of times and then just gave up. after he had dinner, we were talking to jesse on speaker phone and xander got really excited. then he did it - he started clapping!!! it was so cute, that made him even more excited so he kept doing it with the biggest smile. obviously it is “hit and then miss” but he’s done it a couple times now and it is precious… man i love this kid.

anyway, just thought i’d take a brag moment on this completely nasty, cold and rainy tuesday - viv

hey all…

thankfully today is a beautiful saturday unlike the rainy, nasty friday we endured. we are finishing up some projects around the house (our front porch) and just chilling today. i headed off to the bank and the local “glenside market” to look for some fresh produce. i did find that but it is not what i spent my money on

i wanted you guys to know the best smelling candles ever - and they’re soy wax which burns much better AND they’re not pricey b/c their soy wax like some retailers like to do. i got one and LOVE how it smells, i plan on getting one ever so often this summer so that i’m set with yummy candles for the entire year. she gave me her card and she has a pretty nice website. she also does body lotions/soaps and jams/spices… all of them from her home with all natural ingredients. i could have spent a fortune at her booth but limited myself to one small candle since it was grocery money being spent!!

anyway, here’s her website - check it out and purchase a candle… you won’t regret it!

www.christinamaser.com

love and miss…

okay, so here goes:

storing guacamole - keep the pit of the avacado and  place it in the guac. instead of putting the lid of your plastic container on, use saran wrap and place it so it is touching the guac completely - no air to it at all. this will preven it from going brown. if you don’t do this then as all you fellow guac loves know, it will turn brown within hours in the fridge - try it out… it really does work.
fun recipe for guac : avacado, roasted or grilled corn (cut off cob), a little lime juice, a little olive oil, a little cilantro and salt and pepper - amazing…

seasoned fries - walmart brand is excellent. in order to get the crispiness (they are actually pretty crispy and cheaper than the other brands) just bake as usual and then broil for like 1-2 min at the end… amazing.
fun recipe to try w/ fries : throw on top of a grilled chicken salad. you are thinking i’m crazy but jesse got the idea from a restaurant and it is amazing - ask the hofferts! we just use whatever lettuce, diced up cucumber, tomato, purple onion, cheese, grilled chick and fries on top - so good w/ ranch or honey mustard…

enjoy your night - as you can tell, i have enjoyed mine!

okay,

my goal is to keep up with this thing despite the lack of pics… if you are not currently getting the email’s i send out with updated pics of our monkey then just email me (vivianbcox@yahoo.com) and let me know you want to be on the list. however, i didn’t realize people were still checking this (sometimes twice a day…april) and i really like it so here we go again!

so this past weekend jesse and went to the big apple to celebrate the end of tax season. no lie, not even 5 minutes into our drive to the train his work called… yep, 9 a.m. on a saturday morning… argh. anyway - he had to go in today (mother’s day) to finish up something even though he is on vaca this week. getting back to our date - it was FAB… we walked all over, saw everything we possibly could walk to. saw the show phantom of the opera (thanks to a guy at jesse’s work - okay so i guess i can’t be that mad at his work) ate lunch at carmines right off broadway, had dinner at the rockafeller cafe (rockafeller doesn’t sound like such a nice word to a southern girl but whatever), saw radio city, saw the most beautiful cathedral… ahh, we’re ready to go back!! anyway, it was great.

for mother’s day, jesse let me sleep upstairs. let me explain. monkey is sick with a cold (which means that two more teeth are on their way in - i got this down now) and when he has a cold he is up periodically through the night. so, i got to sleep upstairs and jesse even got up this morning and took care of everything so i could sleep until 8:30!!! they made me the most precious card with xander’s hand print and a big breakfast. it was fab.

xander is not feeling well which makes life a little more exciting. he seemed to be doing a lot better tonight after his bath (doesn’t everyone feel better after a bath when they’re sick?!) anyway, keep him in your prayers… my shirt has become the eternal kleenex. he won’t let me wipe his nose but yet he’ll wipe it first thing on my chest when i pick him up - booger… literally.

okay, i’m going to keep cleaning. we’ve got some great friends coming tomorrow to spend the night!!! guess i should get sheets on their bed!

love and miss…

Faithful Bloggers… if any are still out there. I can’t moderate my comments b/c it jams the blog - something is still wrong with the website obviously. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t update right? So, some of your comments might not show up but it lets some through so let me know if you are still there or not!!!

 Xander is 9 months now. Holy cow has it flown by… he is crawling all over, all over, let me make this clear, all over. He has eaten a lot of grass, some rocks, almost an ant, almost a piece of concrete and a lot of things that I do NOT want to know. He is so cute, so cute. I’ll send out some more pics of him through email since the pics on this blog aren’t working. He likes to mimic noises, he loves to “scare” mommy with his growling, he loves to play chase around the coffee table or into the kitchen, he loves when daddy comes home, he still loves baths, he loves his seasame street video and especially baby bear, he loves his prayer blanket that Marmie made him and sleeps with it every night, he only wants to read the “who is hiding” book series - no others, he loves to eat our food, he loves his friends and now greets them with a kiss. My favorite thing about him is how enthralled with nature he is. He will lie on the ground with me on a blanket in the back yard and look up at the trees and just scream with excitement and talk to them. It is precious. He reminds us daily to be thankful for the little things… well, they aren’t so little!

Jesse just wrapped up another grueling tax season and we are SO HAPPY!! He actually has been home for dinner every night for the past week - that hasn’t happened since his paternity leave! We love having him around… love it. He is working on things around the house and working a lot on Fountain stuff (our church). He is also getting really interested in real estate investment so that has been a fun outlet for him to study as well.

I am still loving being mommy. I am living my dream, I love being wife and mom. I love that my boss is Jesus and no other person. I love my mom friends up here. God just recently opened a door to us to join a small group of a bunch of young couples and we are having a blast with them as well. I got a treadmill and use it faithfull 4 times a week. I’ve been training myself to run and am finally past 20 minutes!!! It feels really great physically, spiritually and emotionally… it is my prayer time. I’m down to 85 pounds (this is in here to see if anyone is actually reading)… Not really but I am half the size I was before being pregnant so that is exciting!!

Well, if anyone is reading this… we miss you guys. Hope everyone is having a happy spring. We’ve had our ups and downs but God is faithful and when we’re in our downs I am trying to see that as my cuddle time with Jesus instead of focusing on the valley. Although it can be VERY hard. All is well… viv

well, our little monkey is sick. i’m pretty sure it is the THREE teeth making their way through on the top - gosh he is so cute. all week he has had cold like symptoms but today the doctor had us bring him in because his eye was runny and crusty…. i was hoping it wasn’t pink eye… and it wasn’t! through all of the snot, vitamins, temp checks, eye drops, coughing, and sneezing our little monkey continues to smile bigger than ever and squeal with delight at his toys. he is such a good baby. thank goodness for ezzo (the parenting schedule we are doing with him). jesse said today - well, he does have two happy parents too, this is so true. we are very blessed, though times are hard, still so blessed.

right now my little monkey is scooting and moving all over the hardwood floors, he’s obssessed with them. so close to crawling, still just going backwards though. soon it will be nap time.

well, i miss everyone so much. i hope all is well for you. this weekend we are going to be pretty busy. trying to refinance the house so we have that meeting, a big consignment sale for babies tomorrow that i’m going to hit up and then sunday is church and small group. yikes! did i forget to mention that jesse is working late tonight and tomorrow too - argh, soon tax season will be over right? then we can get back to the 7-8 nights and not the 9:30-midnight and saturdays…

 v

happy april fools everybody… heck no we ain’t go no baby on the way. you crazy