Robert's Dream Job

I had a revelation this morning. After listening to Robert's off-the-wall stories for the past several weeks, it occured to me that Robert wants to be the Mayor of Whoville.

Why do I think this? I'll sum it up for you...

- After watching Jim Carrey's Grinch, Robert decided he wants to be the "Holiday Cheermeister"

- Robert wants two houses, one red, one green

- Robert announced that his house will have a purple toilet with lights inside

Hmmm... I wonder what he'll come up with next?

Robert is Spreading Rumors...

Dear Family and Friends,

Despite what cute little 3-Year-Old Robert may have told you, Mike and I are NOT expecting a baby. (As I type this, Mike is standing in the kitchen saying "Don't jinx us!")

Upon arriving in Robert's Preschool classroom this afternoon to pick the boys up from daycare, one of the teachers asked about owing Mike and I congratulations about our upcoming arrival.

Yea.... No...

Until later,
The un-pregnant Kim

Robert's Jump Start On the Terrible Threes

This has been a difficult week for Mike and I as far as keeping our patience with Robert. He's turning three tomorrow and is testing the Cox "Terrible Threes" as much as he can.



Some of his favorite rebellious actions are...

• Taking off ALL his clothes when he gets upset at us
• Telling us "Get out of my face!"
• Drawing ALL over his bedroom wall (see picture below)

• Telling us "NO!" whenever we tell him to do or not to do something
• Taking his socks and shoes off in the car and throwing them at us when we're driving (last Sunday one of his socks met it's death when it flew out the window on the way home from Walmart)
• Climbing and jumping off of whatever he can

I can hardly believe it has been three years since he was born already. For those of you who didn't know or don't remember, Jacob was 39 Pounds and 39 Inches at TWO years! Robert is 34 Pounds and 37 Inches at THREE years!

Yesterday both boys had soccer games so we will be posting a couple more entries later this afternoon with the videos. Enjoy!

Jacob's Dancing During Soccer Practice

In case you want to see more of Jacob's dancing...

Jacob's First Soccer Practice

Mike and I are relieved that this weekend's soccer practices are over. Thankfully both boys got through their practices without any serious injuries. Robert took a nice fall on the bleachers during Jacob's practice while trying to be a monkey but his mood improved after the coach gave him a juice box at the end of practice.

Jacob seemed to do more dancing during practice than he did refining his soccer skills. Take a look at the video above and watch his moves as he heads to the back of the line. The parent acting as goalie had some moves of his own as well.

The boys are supposed to be napping right now (they were up by 6am!!) and we are hoping to go to the pumpkin farm this afternoon. I'm sure we'll have some videos or pictures to share when we get home from there.

Robert's First Soccer Practice

Robert's first soccer practice at the Y was this morning and we have Jacob's this afternoon. For a kid who never seems to run out of energy at home, we couldn't get him to participate at the beginning. He stood on the sidelines with his fingers in his mouth and wouldn't talk to the coaches or the other kids on his team. His team, by the way, is called the Green Goblins and next week they will be given their dark green tee-shirts.

Here he is, almost at the end of class, trying to maintain control of his ball and score a goal. He's in a group of three and four year olds... despite the fact that he won't be 3 for a few more weeks. SHHHHH!

Enjoy!

Kim's Change

For those of you who often contacted Kim at Fanning Howey Associates, please know that Kim is no longer working for FHAI. While this leaves a little bit of uncertainty for the immediate future, it also means...

• No more driving 120 miles a day!
• No more spending $100+ a week on gas!
• No more taking off work when the boys are sick!
• Time to use the YMCA membership!
• Time to sign the boys up for classes at the YMCA!
• Time to meet other moms in the area!

So... am I, Kim, scared? A little... But in the end I am FAR happier as life stands now!

We will keep you informed as to where the wind blows me.

Jacob's First Day at Kindergarten

Our little (or big, depending on how you want to look at it) boy started Kindergarten this week! I was so worried I would leave the school in tears but Mike and I walked away smiling.

Of course we took pictures of Jacob before he left the house...

And Robert insisted that he was going to Kindergarten as well...

We dropped the boys off at their daycare as normal on Wednesday morning so that Jake could take the bus from the daycare to his school as he will everyday. Unfortunately the bus got to his school before we did so Jacob was already there when we got there.

Jacob was first in the "K" line waiting to be admitted to the building.

Here's Jacob with his friend, Nick, who's entering the First Grade.

And here's Jacob's teacher, Mrs. Beane.

Mrs. Beane let in grades 4, 3, 2, 1 and 5 (yes, in that order) and got ready to take the Kindergarteners in. She called out "Kindergartener's! Are you ready?" Jacob wasn't only the only child to say "yes!", but he ran up to Mrs. Beane and practically ran her over to get inside.

At the Open House the night before, Jacob's only question was "Mrs. Beane? Where do I put my bookbag?" to which she responded that she would tell the students that the next day. Immediately after entering the classroom on the first day, Jacob started yelling across the classroom, "Mrs. Beane! Mrs. Beane! Where do I put my bookbag?"

"On the back of your chair, please." And here he is...

After the Pledge, the children were taken outside to see the playground, while the parents were informed of how the classroom is run. When the students returned, Mrs. Beane asked them to draw a picture of their families and label each person.

After 15 minutes, most children had stick people with big heads and lines sticking out of the circles representing arms and legs. Jacob, however, had a picture of Mike...

Jacob LOVED his first day of Kindergarten and was very upset that he couldn't go again on Wednesday, when the second half of the alphabet went. (Try explaining that to a 5-year-old!) Friday went well as well and he has already told me that he thought a girl in the class was pretty (oh boy).

We will keep you updated with more stories from Jacob's year in Kindergarten!

Robert's Rough Week

As I sit here, the boys are both napping (HALLELUJAH!!!) and Mike and I are watching the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics (FABULOUS, by the way) which we recorded last night and I will be saving for a while to come.

For those of you who who don't know, Robert paid two trips to the E.R. this week, on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Both nights he had fevers of over 106 degrees and we are still waiting to hear from the pediatrician for results of all the tests. At this point he has been given two doses of an antibiotic shot (the first via I.V. in the E.R. on Thursday night) and we are giving him Tylonel or Motrin every 4 hours to fight his ongoing fever.

The poor boy has been waking at least once an hour every night, for water, to go pee, or to have his blanket "itty" adjusted, so our family is laying low this weekend. And yes, I did say to go pee... Robbie is now potty trained, well, as far as #1 is concerned!

Please keep Robert in your thoughts that this infection and fever leave him very soon.

My best,
Kim

The Boys' New Pool

To celebrate being able to work my (Kim's) first summer hour Friday (out of the office at 11am - woo hoo!), I bought the boys a small pool for our yard. Lucky Mike didn't have to blow any of the pool up, but then again, he doesn't get summer hours like I do.

Robert SUCCESSFULLY Using The Slide

Dunk Shot

Setting Up The Shot!

Jacob Took The Slide A Little Fast

Robert Assisting Jacob on the Slide

Jacob Enjoying the Cool Water

Jacob Taking The Slide Backwards

The Products of Two Stubborn Parents

Wow... So I (Kim) know I'm stubborn, and those of you who know Mike know he's... STUBBORN... but watch out world! Here come our boys!

While dating Mike I heard stories of him screaming on the highway for miles because everyone else had seen a (live) deer and he hadn't. Robert is now doing the same thing. But it's not only about animals. If I don't leave the daycare going the right way he'll throw a fit because he didn't get to see the tractor parked on the other side of the street. The tractor has been parked in the same spot for over a month and he still needs to see it. We're in Ohio for goodness sake! You can see a tractor no matter where you look!

And Jacob. Jacob is stubborn about eating anything green. When we went to Rochester for the Fourth of July we met my mom at McGregors in Webster for dinner. Jacob wanted macaroni and cheese and we obliged. You have to laugh when you get Kraft Mac and Cheese on a piece of lettuce for $4.00. Because it was on lettuce though, he didn't want to eat it. "Mommy, can you get some more without the green stuff?" Robert might as well be a rabbit with all the "green stuff" he eats!

The boys are finally in bed... Well, at least in their rooms... And Mike is reheating the leftovers from last night's garbage plates. YUMMY!

Someone will post more tomorrow.

US

Out of Towners Guide to the Garbage Plate!

We moved to Ohio just before Thanksgiving 2004. In March 2005, we found out Robert was on his way. Once again I realized that my #1 craving, the Rochester favorite named a "garbage plate", could not be satisfied.


Shortly after Robert was born, the Cincinnati newspaper had a story about Rochester transplant, Matt, who started a restaurant featuring his own version of the garbage plate. Unfortunately Matteau's Charbroil has since closed, leaving us without his "Open Faced Platters."

On a very positive note, the closure forced us to learn how to make our own!

Here's what you need:

• 2 Pounds ground beef
• Package of sliced pepperjack cheese
• Package of Ore-Ida crinkle cut french fries
• Container of store bought macaroni salad
• Ketchup
• Mustard
• 1 Large Onion
• 1 Pint Skyline Chili (this is local for us)

And to make them...

1. Grill 1/4 pound burgers on grill.
2. Bake french fries per directions.
3. Dice onion and place in bowl.
4. Warm up chili in saucepan on stove.

Then comes the fun part...

5. Start with a CLEAN bowl.

6. Put a layer of french fries and macaroni salad in the bowl.



7. Follow with a nice amount of onions.

8. Add two cheese burgers.

9. Apply ketchup and mustard.

10. Add a nice amount of Skyline Chili

11. EAT!!!
12. Hide your face when your wife comes into the room with her dinner and your bowl is already empty!

We'd love to hear your comments and see your pictures if you make your own version of Nick Tahoe's Garbage Plate!

The Cox Family is blogging now!

Kim, Jacob (5 Years), Robert (2 Years) and Mike

July 4, 2008

Rochester, NY

Yesterday I (Kim) sent out a link so that all our friends and family can see our pictures on Kodak's Picture Gallery. Today I thought I would start a blog so you can all keep track of the goings on of Mike, Jacob, Robert and I.

As I sit here the three boys are playing Madagascar on Playstation 2. It's a beautiful day outside, but for lack of a better word, our little family is POOPED!!! Jacob had his adnoids taken out on Friday morning and the poor guy didn't take to the anethesia too well. Thank goodness I have a small garbage can in my car, and he's reached the age where he realizes when he's about to be sick.

Yesterday morning Mike had to be at work at 1am, was home by 4am and had to be back there at 8am. By 2pm the four of us were all taking naps, trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. (Oh, I forgot to mention that Mike and I went to see Tom Petty on Tuesday night and didn't get home until 2:30am on Wednesday. It was an AWESOME show, but we realize that if we are going to go to a concert at Riverbend in Cincinnati again we definitely want to have tickets in the Pavilion.)

Shortly I am headed up to work as I have a busy week of work ahead of me. I have Interior Finishes meetings at two school districts on Monday and Wednesday and on Thursday I have furniture bids coming in for a PK-12 school that's wrapping up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the bids come in below the estimate!

Here's some pictures to wrap up this first post... Our house...

Robert (on left) and Jacob (on right)...