Owen's Nursery

So I wanted to post pictures of Owen's nursery a long time ago, but was hoping to wait until I got my new camera to take the pics, but oh well. These pics will do.

Although his room was kind of pieced together, but I really do love how it came out. We found his furniture, except for the crib, on Craiglist and were blessed with a really good deal. The set didn't come with a mirror and I found this one at Goodwill (also a really good deal). I was so excited at how well it matched!

The sport Normal Rockwell pictures were in Gabe's room and his Dad's room when they were little, that means they're over 50 years old. When I found out we were having a boy Gabe mentioned he wanted to put these pictures up in the nursery, but we could not find them anywhere. We turned our house and Gabe's parents house upside down looking for these pictures and they were no where to be found. Right before I was about to order some prints off line Gabe's dad found them! They really go perfect with the rest of his room!

The curtains and bedskirt I made, which also saved us a ton of money. I was really happy with how they turend out!

The canvas on his dresser (second pic) was painted by a friend from church. It says "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart" which is a scripture found in Jeremiah. Now I just need to put some pics in the frames. It will happen . . . sometime.

Jimmy Buffet and Michael Buble??

What do Jimmy Buffet and Michael Buble have in common? Not much... except for the fact that I went to both concerts in one week. After our week of vacation, Gabe came back home from work and I stayed to go to the Michael Buble concert with Lauren and Cindy that following Tuesday night. That weekend before Cindy got a call from someone who had four extra tickets to see Jimmy Buffet on the beach that Sunday night. The only problem was what to do with Owen (Addie Kate could stay with Gabe's youngest sister Olivia, but I didn't have any bottles for Owen). So, I did what any responsible parent would do and brought him with me. Needless to say he was the only infant there. I guess I really hadn't thought through the whole 35,000 really drunk Jimmy Buffet fans in the hot sun all day. But, it was really a fun concert despite it all! Owen did great and can now say he has seen a Jimmy Buffet concert on the beach!

The Michael Buble concert was a totally different experience and I loved him! I was really surprised at how good of a concert he put on and would definitely go back to see him again. Owen did not make the this concert (he stayed at home with Gabe's dad).

Busy, Busy, Busy

Have I mentioned that our summer has been crazy busy so far?? Well, it has been and I am loving it. Currently we have my younger brother and Gabe's younger sister and her friend staying with us. (They are fifteen and sixteen years old). This means our house has become the hangout for the youth group even more than it usually is. Addie Kate is loving it because she honestly thinks she is fifteen too. She just can't understand why she doesn't get to do everything they get to do. I think we will both be really sad when they all leave and the house gets quiet again, well as quiet as it can with a 22 and a 3 month old. I have always said that I wanted our house to be the hangout with our kids and their friends, so I guess I'm getting really good practice!!

P.S. I just wanted to add a few more pics from the beach!

Summer Lovin' 2010

Life has been extremely busy for the Cox family this summer! We had camp with the youth group for a week which was amazing but exhausting! Gabe was at camp the entire week and me and the kids drove up everyday, and got a hotel for the end of the week. Right after camp we left for vacation, which was much needed! We went to Gulf Shores with Gabe's family. The beach was amazing, even despite the oil spill. Addie Kate loves, loves the pool (she wakes up every morning asking if she can go to the 'pool' ).

After the beach, Gabe came back home to get back to work and me and the kids stayed with his family for the rest of the week.

We are back home now and looking forward to the rest of the summer! It is hard to believe we are already half-way through July.

Pepper Relish

Let me begin this by saying that canning is not for the faint of heart. Last summer Lauren and I got it in our heads that we wanted to learn how to can Nannie's pepper relish. We knew that we better learn how to do it from the source or else it would be a lost family recipe. Thank God we had Nannie and Papa helping us our first time or else we might have given up half way through.
Our first mistake was way over guessing how many peppers it would take to double the recipe. We ended up not only doubling the recipe, but doubling the recipe three times over. That means we had 24 cups of chopped hot peppers, 24 cups of chopped sweet peppers, 24 cups of chopped celery, 24 cups of chopped onions. You can kind of get the point. We had quit a job on our hands!

Although it did take us 51/2 hours from start to finish. We were so glad we learned how to make Nannie's pepper relish and learned how to can. It was such a fun memory to have and we now have pepper relish to last us many years to come, 45 jars to be exact. Nannie was so proud of us and even cried because she was so happy to pass this recipe along.

Fourth of July

This year we celebrated the fourth of July at Gabe's mom and dads in Alabama. It seems every time we are here we find some reason to have a big cookout and to eat really good food. This time we have fried pork-chops, okra, corn-bread, squash casserole, and zipper peas (all from the local farmers market). For dessert we had banana pudding and blueberry cobbler made by me and Lauren. (Lauren and I actually picked the blueberries the last time she came to visit). Got to love southern cooking, even if it does leave you feeling full for the entire next week!