THERE'S A PARTY IN MY CHECKBOOK!

It's never too late to jump on the bandwagon!
Get on over to The Un Mom and link up for a full day of RaNDoM FUN with Keely!

* Wow!  I know how to party!
I just got to pay 2 tuitions and 2 rents.
Next up - books for 2.  Yippee!


* Overheard -
Grandma - "So do you have to cook at school or do you have a meal plan?"
Garrett - "Oh, my meal plan is finding a girl who cooks!"


Nice Garrett!

* "I'm officially ready for college now that I have a light saber."

"How come these were so much bigger when we were little?"

 
* Parker is working on his Eagle Scout Project Write Up.
For those of you with Boy Scouts,
the write up is the WORST and HARDEST part of the project!
The planning is over, the project is over, the adrenaline rush is over and now your scout wants to play video games.
The LAST thing he wants to do is sit down and type up a 10 page report on what went well, what he would change, and his life's goals.
And I can't blame him.
Parker asked me if I would pull together the pictures to include in his report.
Sure!
And as I opened that picture file and started to select a few to include,
it all came rushing back............
the emotions,

how wonderful the opportunity was,

the love for those people,

the hope in their eyes.

And now.........I'm crying.

* I can stop crying now.
It's time to freak out!
We're leaving Sunday to take Garrett to college and his belongings are still strewn all over the house.
Seriously, it's time for him to pack!
Like right now!

*Oh and just a little reminder
September 3rd - this Friday - is National Lazy Mom's Day.
How do people celebrate?
All celebrations are pretty much run by moms..........
and if they are being lazy...........
who makes the cute invites, blows up the balloons and makes/gets the cake?

Have a great Tuesday!

THE LEGACY CONTINUES!

Friday was the first football game.............and we won.
But who cares?
You don't go to a high school football game to actually watch the game!
There are too many other things to watch -
the cheerleaders,
the poms,
the boys watching the cheerleaders and poms,
the security guards busting rowdy kids,
the trampy girls in totally inappropriate clothing - silky camisoles with short shorts
the parents - the moms of the trampy girls - dressed just as inappropriately in cheetah print stretch pants and black halter tops.  It's football people!


There were 8,000 people in attendance...........
so there was A LOT to see!


Anyway,
the flagboys had a ball!
Parker, the third and final Cox flagboy made his debut.

Just look at the pics on Friday's post and you can see the legacy of Cox Flagboys.
Flagboying is in our genes!

Every year, there are three flagboys- two seniors and one junior.

You have to be highly skilled and evidentally, trained.
All the flagboys gathered here Friday afternoon.
Garrett went outside to bestow the flags on them and "give them a briefing."


Huh?  You wave a flag. You get the crowd riled up.
There's training?
I was disinvited to the briefing.
But that didn't stop me.
I watched from the laundry room window.
The flagboys were paying rapt attention.
Then I snuck out to listen.
"You have to understand that you are the leaders down there!
You set the tone!  It's your job to get the crowd going and to support the cheerleaders.  You make a difference to the game!"


Rrrriiiiigggghhhhtttttttt!


Whatever!
All I know is that the flagboys thought it was awesome.
They had a blast.

I asked Garrett to take some pictures, since I can't work the camera.
The next thing I knew, he was down on the track with the cheerleaders and the flag boys taking up close pics.
I don't know how he talked his way past security.
A fun time was had by all!

QUEEN FOR THE DAY!

You don't have to bow!
I mean, you can if you want to but really, you don't have to.
Just bring cupcakes.


Thank you to Mrs. 4444 for naming me QUEEN FOR THE DAY.
Oh wait, she didn't.

But she did award me with her world famous "Favorite Friday Fragmenter" award.
Okay, even that's kind of a lie.
What won the award was a conversation with Garrett.
Without Garrett there would be no hilarity in our house.
There would also not be a pile of small appliances, clothing, school supplies and ties at the bottom of the stairs.
Pack it up and get to college already!


Anyway.......thank you Mrs. 4444s!
Go on over to Half Past Kissin' Time and you can play along.
You might even get the award next week.

Let's do this thing!


* Wow!  I am so relieved that Kanye West is making a come back <- does that sound sarcastic at all?
After his classy mic take over from Taylor Swift at the Grammy's/MTV Music award/wherever that was, I lost ALL respect for him. Not that he hadn't already lost my respect because of his trashy lyrics. 
But I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to Fridays, now that he has announced that he will "drop" a single every Friday from September to December.
So I guess this is my last Frag because I'll be busy listening to Kanye.


* Garrett says he is ready for school and totally ready to move into his apartment:
"I have a popcorn maker, rice cooker and a hot chocolate maker.  What else could I possibly need?"
Oh my!


* It's a big, big day at the Crazy Cox household!
Someone is having a birthday!

Since he already received the fountain pen he wanted and the aforementioned appliances, it's not going to be a very exciting birthday.  We'll go to dinner.  But we have to go early. 

* Tonight is the the first football game of the season.

It's a huge night for Tiny Baby.

No.  He's not the quarterback.  He's more important that the quarterback.

We have a long standing tradition in this family - and Parker is continuing it!

You can't have a football game without the flag boys!!!!  They are essential to the game!

And the real reason to be a Flag Boy?

Girls! Yes girls!  Unlimited front row access to all the poms and cheers.

These boys aren't dumb....but they COULD work on their kicks!

You can see that MY weekend is going to be fun-filled and exciting!

I hope your's is too!

I LOVE AAA..........MY NEIGHBORS, NOT SO MUCH

With the kids going off to college, I was pretty sure my life would turn into a boring lump of nothingness.
False!
My life is just one exciting adventure after the other.

I just got back from meeting the tow truck driver.
Yeah - meeting the tow truck driver two blocks from my house.
And SHE was a DOLL!
I love AAA - not AA, Alcoholics Anonymous, but AAA - the Automobile Association of America, or American Automobile Association or whatever.

I called this morning at the crack of dawn, seriously, 7 am.
I told them what my problem was (regarding the car, not MY problem, or we would still be on the phone).
I explained that I was on my way to a meeting and couldn't meet the truck until after noon.
No problem!

They took all my info (and it was easy),
told me to call when I was ready and all I had to do was give my name and they would send out a truck.
And THAT'S WHAT THEY DID!
I called.
They said they would be there is 30 minutes
and voila, they showed up!

Totally friendly, totally polite, very helpful!
I handed her the keys and she told me I could leave.
They are towing it to our mechanic's.
I didn't even have to sign anything.
Love those people!
AAA is my new best friend!
Everyone should join AAA - because in addition to battery jumps, free let-you-ins when you lock your keys in the car, and towing, you also get discounts at hotels and local attractions!

Now - the neighbors....
So Garrett and a friend were helping someone move some furniture.
They drove the house - 2 blocks away in my neighborhood,  loaded up the truck in 3 minutes, and then, it all went awry.
The truck wouldn't start.
We tried to jump the truck,
We removed the battery and had it tested.
We bought a new battery and installed it.
It still wouldn't start.

The truck went kaput at 4:00 pm yesterday.
We installed the new battery and figured out it was more than that about 7:30 pm.
The SHERIFF CALLED AT 10:00 am this morning.

THE SHERIFF!
No sooner had he identified himself, when Brian asked,
"Are you calling about a little white truck?"
The sheriff chuckled.
"Yeah, we've had a couple of calls about a suspicious vehicle."

People!  Really?
Suspicious?  How?
Did you look inside and see the car bomb just ticking away?
Or was it the guy sitting inside it with the binoculars focused on your window?
Perhaps it was the guy in the orange jumpsuit with "inmate" stenciled on the back, slinking away from the truck and through your backyard.

Oh, you didn't see any of those things?
So the fact that there was a car parked by the curb, not blocking anyone's driveway or mailbox for 12 hours got you worried?
It probably would have taken me 12 days to even realize there was a car parked in front of my house.  And I would assume it was a friend of the neighbor's.
Paranoid people!

But anyway, the coast is clear.
You can come out of your house now Gladys Kravitz*,
the truck has been towed.


* Gladys Kravitz was the nosy neighbor on "Bewitched."  She was forever spying on the rest of the street and gossiping about them.  If you don't know what "Bewitched" was, well, then, geez......you're too young!

I-DA-HO!

The other day,
a girl (who shall revel in nameless innocence) and her mother (who is the guilty party in this story)
were walking through the mall.

They saw another shopper wearing this T-shirt-

And the mom promptly responded;
"What a cute shirt!  We should get one for Grandpa"
I guess he lives in Idaho ...... or maybe he works nights.

The daughter, taken aback, "Mom!  Do you even know what that shirt means?"
Mom: "Yeah - I da ho- like I da hoe - like a rake.
Daughter: "No mom.  It's like I da ho - like a slut."

They didn't get Grandpa the t-shirt.
Poor Grandpa.

Maybe Garrett should get the shirt since he'll be going to school there.
Until June, I had never been to Idaho.
Figuring that we should see where Garrett was going to go to school,
we took a little road trip to check it out.
The scenery is gorgeous.
His campus is beautiful and about 45 minutes from Jackson Hole and Yellowstone.
The campus sits on a hill and we thought it would be surrounded by potato farms.
Close - but not quite.  It is surrounded by trees........and student housing.
It far exceeded our expectations.

The town he will live in is a total college town............ no mall, no chain stores, a small grocery store and a smaller grocery store and not very many restaurants....
but I heard a rumor that they built a Wal Mart.
I guess it's a reall town now! ;)

Oh, and Garrett is NOT getting that T-shirt either!

Skanky Salad, Furry Faces and a Patchwork Shirt

Normally, I LOVE Tuesday!
I'm all sunshiney and happy and............RaNDoM
but today is overcast and gloomy and Trammell just pulled out of the driveway for college.
Boooo!
I didn't even get a picture of the loaded down car!

I'm feeling a little like Eyeore!
I'm sure I'll feel all better after a couple of cupcakes and coke and a visit to The Un Mom.

Keely knows where it's at and she lets us get all RaNDoM and everything. (Oh and she's redone her blog!)

So.........on with the show!

* Garrett and I had lunch at Chipotle yesterday.
Listen in-
G- "How's your salad?  It doesn't look like it has very much salad dressing."
Me: "No it's fine.  It's just buried under everything else."
G: "I don't like skanky salads."
Me: "Skanky salads"
G: "Yeah - ones that don't have enough dressing. 
I like my salads like my girls - dressed from head to toe."


* What kind of family is this?

Overheard last night -
Parker: "Dad, I got a new razor today!"
Dad: "You got anew razor?  Do you even need a razor?"
P: "Not really....(laughing).......It's for in case my face gets furry."
Dad: "Well........do you know how to use it?
P: "No."
Dad: "Okay.......well...........don't cut yourself."

We do our best to make puberty EASY!

* Yesterday was the first day of school.
Today was the first day of seminary. (early morning scripture study)
Here's Parker, bright eyed and bushy tailed,
having a delicious, nutrious breakfast just prior to our 5:45 departure!

I am such a good mom!


* It has been awesome to have all three boys home the last three weeks -
except for the 20 pairs of shoes piled in the laundry room.
We've had some great family time and a lot of laughs.

Well........there was one battle.
Over a shirt.

Trammell claims it was his shirt pre-mission.
Garrett claims that it doesn't matter who owned it previously, it's his now.
After listening to some heated debate,
I said nothing.
I got on the computer to search for a new one.
I don't blame them.  It is a cool shirt - in a gay sort of way.

I'll just get another Ralph Lauren Patchwork Shirt online - like at Ebay or something.

Evidently, it's now "valuable" and "rare."
And you can't get another one............at any price.

I told them I would be happy to cut it in half and they could each have half.
Who would even notice?  How do they think it got to be patchwork to begin with?

* After replacing 1/2 of Trammell's wardrobe, taking him shopping for apartment stuff, buying him a laptop and paying his tuition, I thought it would be nice to give him a "going away" present for school.

We have a family tradition around here.
We love to make a big ole bowl of popcorn and sit around and watch movies or TV shows together.
And because I am green, politically correct and nutritionally minded...........
we threw away our air popper.
We only eat popcorn popped in buttery movie style grease with a stick of butter melted on top.
So........to enusre a heart attack carry on the tradition,
I sent him to school with this -

Oh yeah - I am even sending the bottle of buttery goodness!

Brian thought it was a little silly that I was giving Trammell a new one.  He thought I should gift the new popper to myself and have Trammell take our old one.

Well, that's it!

That's all I got!

That and one more sleeping child who needs to get up and start packing for his college departure!
Have  great Tuesday!

BACK TO SCHOOL!

I LOVE seasons and I LOVE change!
So just as I enjoy the freedom of summer, the lack of schedules, no commitments, no homework, no appointments etc, I look forward to September and Back to School!

I like to get back into a schedule and back into a routine.

I love the excitement of a year of possibilities.....
new classes, new teachers, new friends, new adventures.......
and I'm not even in school!

Today and each Monday for three weeks is the FIRST day of school for someone in my house.

Today was Tiny Baby's first day of school - junior year that is.
Can you call someone Tiny Baby when they are a junior?

We used to do "First Day of School Pictures" BEFORE school.
Now that people leave for school at 6:40, we're taking "First Day of School Pictures" AFTER school.

Next Monday is Trammell's first day of school.
And the following Monday is the first day of school for Garrett.
Let the games begin!

Plusses and Minuses of Everyone Going to School
+ Everyone will pack up their 2 million pairs of shoes and get the heck out of here.
- Everyone will pack up their 2 million pairs of shoes and not come home at the end of the day.

+ The house will be much more quiet and I won't have to wait up for people to get home.
- The house will be much more quiet.

+ There will only be one child at home and he knows how to cook.
+ There will be less laundry.
+ I can put things away and they will stay put away.
+ There will be pure silence around the house for 10 hours a day.

-There will not be complete mayhem around the house (Wait. Is that a + or -?  I can't decide.)
- I will have NOTHING to blog about.
- I will have no one to entertain me.

Hmmm.........maybe I don't like change.

I'M TRYING TO BE LIKE JESUS

A few weeks ago,
I was asked to teach a class for Relief Society - the women's organization in our church.
Besides meeting on Sundays, we meet once a month to hone our womanly skills........or perform service.  it just depends.


Anyway, I was asked if I would teach a class and mistakenly said "yes" before finding out the topic.
The topic was "Parenting."
Sweet!  I have A LOT to say!

Except that topic wasn't "Parenting according to Gina Cox, Mother of the Year."
The topic was "Parenting the Lord's Way."

Shoot!
THAT isn't an intimidating topic.
And they asked the wrong girl.
I doubt the Lord calls his children Dumb Asses or even Boneheads.
So, I was a little out of my league.


But it got me thinking......hard
And we had some awesome discussions around here both between Brian and I and the kids.

How DOES the Lord parent us?
It gave me a lot to think about and it's given me a wonderful chance to really evaluate my parenting....even though it's too late because the Boneheads are pretty much raised and I'm exhausted.


But I'll share a few things I thought about while contemplating -
1. He tells us how he expects us to behave (Commandments).  He tells us His expectations.  He is clear and doesn't leave us guessing. At least, I think "Thou shalt not kill" is pretty clear.  And he sets high expectations for us:
Matthew 5:48 -Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Pretty high standards.

2. He is Consistent.  His rules don't change.  He does what he says he is going to do.  He is always there for us.

3. UnConditional love.  He loves us.  He loves us no matter what - even when we don't meet up to His expectations.

4. Even though He loves us, there are Consequences - both good and bad, for our actions.  He doesn't take away the blessings He has promised us when we obey the commandments and likewise, He doesn't remove the consequences.  He wants us to learn and grow and earthlife isn't always a rose strewn path.  Oh, and he doesn't ask us to obey and then give us 2,350 chances before giving us the consequences.

5. Comparisons. The Lord does not compare us to each other.  He knows each of us as individuals and has given each of us gifts and blessings.  He doesn't try to get us to play the piano like our brother, or play tennis like our sister.  He has given each of us talents and gifts and He gives us opportunities to figure out what hose gifts are and develop them.

6. Communication.  The lines of communication are always open.  We can talk to Him whenever we want and tell Him whatever we want.  He will listen and He will love.  He is waiting for us to talk to Him.  He is not too busy, distracted, irritated, or tired.

These are just a few of the characteristics of our Heavenly Father and just a few examples of how He parents us.  We can use His methods as an example of how we should treat and parent our children.

One thing to remember though -
He is the PERFECT parent and yet, we are not perfect children.
You can be a great parent and still have children who make poor choices.

We are not going to be perfect parents.  AND THAT'S OKAY!
Some days will be good.  Some days will be very good.
And some days, we will make mistakes.
On days when we haven't had cupcakes,
we get tired, cranky, irritated and short tempered.
The goal is to have mostly good and excellent days.
The goal to be "perfect" is a "stretch goal."
The goal is to try to parent more like Jesus and less like.........well.........less like...........you know!

Will Work for Food!

Is it Friday?
Is it really Friday?
Because yesterday, I thought it was Friday and I was so confused!
The confusion part isn't that unusual.

If we could have FRIDAY FRAGMENTS every day, then I wouldn't be so confused.
Don't you agree?
Well get on over and see Mrs. 4444 at Half Past Kissin' Time
it's all her fault!




* My niece gets married today!
Isn't that awesome!
Congrats to Corina.  She'll be a beautiful bride.


* It's out last weekend with EVERYBODY home.
Trammell leaves for college sometime next week.
Garrett leaves for college the end of the month.
It's going to be very quiet and very boring around here.
But, I DID buy their plane tickets home for Thanksgiving!


* I have a nice rant about Dr. Laura and Jade, her listener,
but I'll save it.


* I'm lodging a complaint.
Not a single person brought a single baked item by the house this week.
What is wrong with people?
No cookies, no cupcakes, no scotcheroos, nothing.
Did no one bake?

* I gotta run.
I just went to all of the kids' bedrooms and talked to myself -
"You need to get up and be in the car by 8."

"mumble...mumble..mumble...why?"

"We're going to Dad's office and we're going to take the trash out and vacuum and then go get brakfast tacos."

What they heard -
You need to get up and be in the car by 8, blah, blah, blah, breakfast tacos."
So yeah - I gotta be in the car by 8.

Happy Friday!

School Shopping with Boneheads

I don't want school to start.
I do want school to start.
I just can't decide.
But spending time "Back to School" shopping with the Boneheads defnitely makes the decision easier.


"Okay, Garrett, what do you need for your apartment."
"I don't know."
"Well, you need things like cleaning supplies and dish towels and an iron and.............."
"Wait.  What?  I thought my apartment was furnished."
Shoot me.  Shoot me now.




"Hmmm........so do you guys have all of your bedding?"
Like a lawyer, I NEVER ask a question I don't already know the answer to.
"Umm yeah..........I do."
"No you don't.  Do you have sheets?"
"Yeah, remember you bought them.  They're in the corner of my room."
"That's a comforter."
"Oh, it didn't come with sheets?"
"No.  It's just a comforter."
"Oh then, I guess I need sheets."




"Guys - look at these pillows.  Here........you should feel them and see if any of them have the feel you are looking for."
"Oh look.  This one says it's for back and side sleepers.  Hmmm.......that's me.  But I don't like it."
Someone reading the labels under their breath - "King.....Queen.....STD...........
"Ewww.......this is an STD pillow!  Who wants a pillow that's an STD?"
He immediately picks it up and hucks it at his brother.
"I can't believe they would sell pillows with STD's."
The comments and pillow hucking go on and on.
There is general mayhem in the pillow aisle.
I walk away.
We leave without pillows.




"Do you still have the mattress pad we bought from last time?"
"Oh, I think I left it on the bed in the dorm.........so I guess I need one."
"Did you find the desk lamp we bought your freshman year?"
"Ummmm.......nope."
"Really, cuz we didn't go through your stuff when you were gone.  It should still be on the shelf.  But okay, put that lamp in the cart."
Upon arriving home...........
"Found the lamp!"
"Of course you did!"




I pick up a pack of dish clothes and a pack of dish towels.
At our house, we have three types of dish clothes.
1) White dish clothes - for wiping down counters with hot soapy water.
2) White dish towels - for drying counters. Techincally, they should never get stained because they are used to wipe already clean counters.
3) Patterned dish towels - for drying hands after washing them
We have a little problem at home distinguishing between the three, so I will use this as a futile teaching moment.
"Garrett, look at these.  Do you know what they are for?"
"Duh!  These (pointing at the white dish clothes) are to get wet and wipe down counters.  These (pointing to the white dish towels) are to wipe the rest of Cheeto stuff of my hands after I kind of wash them."
Where is the knife aisle?


We did get a few things, but I had to quit before blood was shed.  I know my limits.

FAMOUS, BUT NOT RICH & FAMOUS

I promised I'd finish the story of the "Week of Facebook Hacking."


So day after day, one of my little angels would hack into my FB account and update my status for me.
They aren't computer geniuses.
It isnt that hard to hack into when
1) I log into FB in the morning and leave it open all day
2) I have auto-fill and once I type in my username, the password automatically fills in.


So everyday, I was greeted with a status that would say
"Gina is so glad her favorite son is home."
"Gina loves Trammell the most."
"Gina loves her favorite son Parker the most."
"Gina loves Garrett the most because he doesn't hack into her Facebook."
and then a comletely random
"Gina doesn't really love her sons the most, she loves her brother Jenner the most."


Okay - Jenner doesn't even have a FB or know how to use it.
So I took care of it by killing my kids with my bare hands changing my password, getting rid of the autofill and logging off when I step away from the computer.


Meanwhile,  my friend's daughter saw how much fun my excellent examples were having and hacked into her mother's account.
A mutual friend saw the status
"Margaret is having so much fun spending time with her #1 daughter Sarah."
and commented: "You got coxed!"


Coxed!
Doesn't that sound like something you would read about in Urban Dictionary?
Why yes.  Yes it does.
And you can!
Kevin, who coined the word, submitted it to UrbanDictionary.com and it was accepted.


Here is the entry -
coxed!
1. Exclamation used to express joy at the fact that one's parent's facebook account has been hacked and utilized to denote a "favorite child via facebook status.


2. Denigratory expression directed at fellow siblings when they realize that you are in fact the favorite.


Examples:
1. Facebook Status: "Kate loves Cara more than Mady."
comment 1: "Kate, Cara is playing with your account!"
comment 2: coxed!


2. To siblings: Did you see mom's fb status?  You got coxed!"


If you don't believe me - go see for yourself -
Urban Dictionary


So we are now FAMOUS but unfortunately, we are not RICH & FAMOUS!