Knox Family

Judah's 1st Birthday

2012-01-31T20:09:00.005-06:00

Today we celebrated baby Judah's 1st ever birthday. We had so much fun and are grateful for his life. We never imagined that we would learn so much and our family would be strengthened by Judah's life. He is a true blessing to everyone.

Nathan is 7

2012-01-12T19:38:00.002-06:00

Sweet Nathan turned 7! He had his whole day planned out what he wanted to do for his birthday. We woke up and opened presents. Went to McDonald's for breakfast. Stopped by Target to buy his new scooter from his grandparents. Went to a movie at the movie theater and had Chili's for lunch. He ended the day at church with his small group. It was such a neat day. Nathan is a huge blessing to our family and so many others. I sure do love this kid and love being his mommy.

How can we Pray for you?

2012-01-01T21:27:00.006-06:00

I'm so looking forward to starting our 21 day fast tomorrow. We as a family have chosen things that we will be giving up for 21 days so that we can focus more of our time with God. We would love to pray for you and your family during this time. What can we pray for? (One of the things we will be fasting from is facebook and twitter so please email us knox1215@sbcglobal.net and let us know how to pray.)

I love what Jentezen Franklin writes about Fasting.

Fasting is one of the most powerful weapons God has ever given us for our daily lives. We all go through times when we feel like we are not living up to our full potential. Sometimes we lose our energy and our spiritual sharpness . . . this causes us to lose our edge.

What does it really mean to lose your edge?

When a lumberjack keeps swinging away at the tree without sharpening his ax, the ax will soon become dull and ineffective. In much the same way, that can happen to us.

Going through our daily routines in our own strength wears us down. Little by little, we lose our closeness to God. Without that closeness, we become ineffective for the purposes His has for us.

Fasting can help you get back your passion! It can recharge you!

Although fasting lasts for a short season, it brings long-term results, which sharpens us, enabling us to face the challenges of life in His strength. Through fasting, you can experience spiritual renewal and direction for your life . . . restoration of relationship . . . healing . . . release from bondages . . . and so much more!

We begin each year with 21 days of fasting. Fasting in January is much like praying in the morning to establish the will of God for your entire day. I believe that if we will pray and seek God and give Him our first and best at the beginning of the year, He will honor that sacrifice and bless our ENTIRE year! “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Mathew 6:33).

But when you make fasting a way of life, you get even closer to God and grow in your spiritual walk like never before. Making fasting a lifestyle is like a lumberjack who takes time to rest and sharpen his ax periodically to be able to effectively finish the job set before him.

Fasting can help you Recover Your Passion, Recapture Your Dream and Restore Your Joy!

Fasting is a principle that God intended for everyone to practice. It is not a punishment; it is a privilege!

Miracle

2011-12-28T19:29:00.014-06:00

If you go to church much or watch Christian television or listen to Christian radio you hear about miracle's happening in people's lives. I've always loved hearing about the amazing things that change people's lives that start with tragedy or something unexpected. I've also wondered how I would respond if I were in their situation and if it happened to me. This week our family had the opportunity to experience our own miracle.

Our youngest son Judah (11 months) was diagnosed with Strep on Tuesday. This was a big relief because now we knew how to treat his illness. Judah was loaded up with some medicine and we were given directions on how to care for him. Things improved immediately for Judah. He began to eat, poop, and pee which were all great signs of his health improving. Wednesday came and he continued to eat, poop, and pee but his energy level was declining and he began to favor his left side and did not like to be touched. We let this go on for a day and then called the Dr's office and got some oral antibiotics. Judah's health continued to decline and eventually we contacted our pediatrician directly. He came to the house on Saturday, Christmas Eve, and suggested we go to the ER.

Fortunately we were just about the only people at the ER at 11am on Christmas Eve and they were able to see Judah quickly. After blood samples, urine samples, saliva samples, and a spinal tap the Dr's decided that Judah had Bacterial Meningitis. We had no idea what Bacterial Meningitis was but by the response of the number of nurses and Dr's that came to the room we knew it was serious. It's not the same Bacterial Meningitis that you see on the news where whole schools and towns are on lock down. This Bacterial Meningitis is NOT contagious and came from the bacteria that was already in Judah. Because of his high temperature and meningitis, Judah had a seizure during the spinal tap. Fortunately, God placed the right people in our lives to explain to us in terms that we understand what it is and what impact it will have on Judah and our family. They did a CAT scan on Judah and moved him to the PICU by 3pm.

I have to pause and let you know that we woke up that morning thinking we would be serving and worshiping at our Christmas Eve services at church. Instead we ended up in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit with a son that had a high chance of dying. It wasn't the plans we had for Christmas Eve.

We had to wait in the PICU waiting room until a second IV line was put in. This process took about 30 minutes. As we are sitting there wondering what is happening and what our future looks like God continued to bring people to encourage us and pray for us. Finally the nurse came to get us and we were able to see Judah. A friend and church leader walked with us and spent time helping us process the situation and praying for us. We only got to stay for a short time before we had to leave the room again. This gave us a chance to move our car from temporary parking and get some clothes. As we were walking to the car we stopped in the hallway and realized that the spirit of God was with us. We were reminded of what God told Moses in Exodus 14 "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." We could physically feel the spiritual encouragement from all the people praying.

That night was when we saw the first sign of improvement in Judah. Nicole was laying next to him with her latex gloves, germ free suit, and face mask. Judah raised his hand and tried to pull the mask away from Nicole's face. This was the most movement we had seen in several days.

The next day we learned that our PICU Dr would be a lady that attends our church. We were so excited because we had heard great things about her. She came to our room by 9am and gave us the medical plan, that included at least a week in the hospital and then she told us what she would be praying for. Then we held hands and laid hands on Judah and prayed for a supernatural healing. Judah continued to improve and midway through the day he was trying to crawl out of the crib. By that evening they decided he could be moved to the general floor which was a great step in knowing that he was improving. We found out that a part of Judah's recovery there would need to be antibiotics given at home through a PICC line. A PICC line is like an IV but the tube goes from his arm to right above the heart and is intended for longer use. They inserted the PICC line on Monday morning which paved the way for us to talk about going home. Judah was crawling around his crib and would laugh and respond to us. Several Dr's that had seen Judah in the ER and PICU would come visit him and couldn't believe how he had recovered. One Dr made the statement that Judah was a true Christmas miracle and another Dr later said that the only way they were able to explain Judah getting better is by calling it miracle. We stayed one more night and then early Tuesday they let us know we would be going home that day.

Judah's name means "to praise" because in the Old Testament, Genesis 29:35, when Leah gave birth to Judah she said "this time I will praise the Lord." We can't talk about Judah's health and not give God the credit, honor, and glory for what he's doing.

Tim

Merry Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T20:43:00.004-06:00

Merry Christmas!!!
We hope 2011 was a great year for your family. It was an incredible year for us. We experienced so many great things and were reminded of God’s faithfulness time after time. Our family has grown in many ways this year and it’s been a constant reminder to trust God in every circumstance. 2011 marks 10 years of our family being together with our wedding anniversary being on December 15th. As our family gets older we are reminded of how precious and short our time is. We are very grateful for the time we have and fully believe that every moment we have with our kids is a moment that we are to intentionally show them God’s character and love. Here’s a glimpse of what’s happened in each family member’s life this past year.

Judah is our youngest son. He was born January 31st and will be 1 very soon. Judah has been a delight to have. He’ll eat anything we put close to his mouth or whatever he can grab. He is crawling around and very close to pulling up. He loves to laugh and the older kids enjoy helping with him.

Abigail is our daughter and she just turned 2 years old. Abigail is all girl. She loves to have a purse and her accessories everywhere we go. She brings so much joy to our lives. She graduated to a new class at church and enjoys singing songs and loves the hand motions that go with them. She loves to color and will try almost anything her older brothers are doing. Abigail also thinks baby Judah is her baby and likes to feed and hold him.

Micah is our 2nd child and he turned 5 in September. God gave Micah the gift and passion to serve. He is always asking how he can help and often gets upset if someone does a chore that he wanted to do. He’s a funny kid and very creative. Micah loves music and makes up songs for whatever he’s thinking about.

Nathan is our oldest child and will turn 7 in January. He loves numbers, time, keeping track of dates, and countdowns to everything. God has given Nathan athletic ability. He played T-ball in the spring and had a great time. This winter he will play basketball for the 1st time. Nathan is growing spiritually too. It’s fun to watch him connect a Bible verse he’s learned to a situation that he’s in.

Nicole continues to grow as a woman of God, wife, and mom. She is teaching P.E. in our homeschool Co-op and focuses a lot of her energy in training and homeschooling our kids. She has picked up some new hobbies. She loves to read and has recently began cooking a variety of new home cooked meals.

Tim continues to serve in full time ministry at LifeChurch.tv but his role and location have changed. He is now the Children’s Pastor at the new Midwest City Campus and has enjoyed being a part of starting that campus and meeting so many amazing people. God continues to prove that His timing and plans are much better than what we can come up with on our own. This year Tim went camping a few times with Nathan and Micah and a group of awesome dads and their sons. He is valuing the importance of other godly men speaking into our kid’s lives. He also spends a lot of time reading to Abigail and building that bond between a dad and his daughter.

This year our family has learned to trust God in every season of our life and to believe that our lives are seasonal. What our family is facing today might be something different tomorrow.

We hope that 2012 is a great year for you and your family.
Love,
The Knox Family

Serving at The Tapestry Project

2011-11-19T19:22:00.012-06:00

Today we got to serve as a family at The Tapestry Project and help give families Thanksgiving dinner.
Before we served today Tim read to our family. Matthew 25:35 -For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.

It is such a neat thing getting to serve as a family.

Baby Judah did great hanging with mommy.

Love me some Abigail and daddy.

We even got to serve hot dogs to families.
As we were leaving Nathan said "mommy that was fun I think we should come back!" I am so thankful that Tim leads our family in serving others.

Bricktown Ballpark

2011-11-18T20:10:00.005-06:00

Today we went on a tour of the Bricktown Ballpark with our homeschool co-op Ignite.

We visited the dugout, the press box, the clubhouse, and the suits.

It was such a neat day for our family.

Baby Abigail is 2

2011-11-12T19:56:00.004-06:00

Baby Abigail turned 2 today. While I was putting her to bed last night I just cried holding my sweet baby girl. She truly is what her name means JOY. I am so thankful that the Father lets me be her mommy. I pray that we will always be close.

Abigail had a blast in her big girl class at church. She was all about bringing her new purse the boys got her=)

Abigail we sure do love you!!!!

First 5K

2011-10-02T21:35:00.005-05:00

Tim and I ran our first 5K and had a blast!

We are looking forward to running together soon.

I sure love this man.

One size does NOT fit all.

2011-09-16T20:14:00.011-05:00

I love when people email me asking what we do for homeschooling. At the same time it's hard for me to answer sometimes. We truly believe every family is different and every family is going to educate their children different. We desire for our children to have a love for learning. So we do "school" all the time. We believe that life is learning too.

The other day we had the privilege of going into the Oklahoma Governor's Manson. It was so neat the conversations we had with the kids during and after. (and yes my forth child, baby Judah, is in a pink stroller ha)

We read all the time!!! We love "living books."

The kids love going to the Zoo and building dams in the children's zoo.

We climb lots of tress!!!

We take lots of nature walks and talk about all the amazing things God has made.

We even do Phonics outside.

All this to say learning is all around us and is so fun!!!

My sweet friend Deleise sent this post to me from FIAR and I thought it was amazing! It is so freeing to know that we will have different seasons in our life and the Lord will show us what that looks like.

Have you found the Lord's rhythm for your homeschool this year?

"Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." Mt. 11:28-30 (The Message)

Finding the right rhythm for your homeschool is different each year. Your children are all a year older this year. Maybe you've added a new baby since last year, or maybe you're pregnant this year. Maybe your mother-in-law lives with you now. Maybe your oldest (and best helper!) has graduated and gone away to college this year. Maybe your husband is home more because of work hours being cut back during the recession. Or maybe he's home less this year because he's working a 2nd part-time job. Each year is different. Each family is unique.

As you discover the Lord's "unforced rhythms of grace" you'll find that His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Being out of rhythm in your homeschool is like trying to push a chain up hill.

• When do you begin your day?
• Which days do you homeschool?
• How often do you take breaks during the day?
• How long do you spend with each child today?
• When do you take a day off to recharge?
• When do you begin this school year?
• When do you wrap up this school year?
• How long do you spend on phonics each day?
• How long do you spend on fractions each day?
• Which child needs the most attention this year?

The list of choices is endless and your options vary from year to year, from season to season.

One size does NOT fit all!

One size fits NO ONE!!

• It doesn't matter what your co-op leader is doing this year.
• It doesn't matter how your sister-in-law does it.
• It doesn't matter when the public schools do it.
• It doesn't matter how you did it when you were in school.
• It doesn't matter how you did it last year.
• It doesn't matter how you did it when your oldest was age 8.
• It doesn't matter...

What matter is finding HIS rhythm and stepping into HIS grace for this unique season of your life.
If you're already "pushing a chain uphill" on most days take time to ASK HIM about what HE wants you to do this year- and HOW He wants you to do it.

You just might be surprised at His answers.

First Day of Co-op/What should a 4 year old know?

2011-09-09T21:33:00.004-05:00

We had our first day of co-op this week and it was AMAZING!!! We're so blessed to be apart of an amazing homeschool group.

My friend sent me this blog today and I wanted to share it.

What should a 4 year old know?

I was on a parenting bulletin board recently and read a post by a mother who was worried that her 4 1/2 year old did not know enough. “What should a 4 year old know?” she asked.

Most of the answers left me not only saddened but pretty soundly annoyed. One mom posted a laundry list of all of the things her son knew. Counting to 100, planets, how to write his first and last name, and on and on. Others chimed in with how much more their children already knew, some who were only 3. A few posted URL’s to lists of what each age should know. The fewest yet said that each child develops at his own pace and not to worry.

It bothered me greatly to see these mothers responding to a worried mom by adding to her concern, with lists of all the things their children could do that hers couldn’t. We are such a competitive culture that even our preschoolers have become trophies and bragging rights. Childhood shouldn’t be a race.

So here, I offer my list of what a 4 year old should know.

1.She should know that she is loved wholly and unconditionally, all of the time.

2.He should know that he is safe and he should know how to keep himself safe in public, with others, and in varied situations. He should know that he can trust his instincts about people and that he never has to do something that doesn’t feel right, no matter who is asking. He should know his personal rights and that his family will back them up.

3.She should know how to laugh, act silly, be goofy and use her imagination. She should know that it is always okay to paint the sky orange and give cats 6 legs.

4.He should know his own interests and be encouraged to follow them. If he could care less about learning his numbers, his parents should realize he’ll learn them accidentally soon enough and let him immerse himself instead in rocket ships, drawing, dinosaurs or playing in the mud.

5.She should know that the world is magical and that so is she. She should know that she’s wonderful, brilliant, creative, compassionate and marvelous. She should know that it’s just as worthy to spend the day outside making daisy chains, mud pies and fairy houses as it is to practice phonics. Scratch that– way more worthy.

But more important, here’s what parents need to know.

1.That every child learns to walk, talk, read and do algebra at his own pace and that it will have no bearing on how well he walks, talks, reads or does algebra.

2.That the single biggest predictor of high academic achievement and high ACT scores is reading to children. Not flash cards, not workbooks, not fancy preschools, not blinking toys or computers, but mom or dad taking the time every day or night (or both!) to sit and read them wonderful books.

3.That being the smartest or most accomplished kid in class has never had any bearing on being the happiest. We are so caught up in trying to give our children “advantages” that we’re giving them lives as multi-tasked and stressful as ours. One of the biggest advantages we can give our children is a simple, carefree childhood.

4.That our children deserve to be surrounded by books, nature, art supplies and the freedom to explore them. Most of us could get rid of 90% of our children’s toys and they wouldn’t be missed, but some things are important– building toys like legos and blocks, creative toys like all types of art materials (good stuff), musical instruments (real ones and multicultural ones), dress up clothes and books, books, books. (Incidentally, much of this can be picked up quite cheaply at thrift shops.) They need to have the freedom to explore with these things too– to play with scoops of dried beans in the high chair (supervised, of course), to knead bread and make messes, to use paint and play dough and glitter at the kitchen table while we make supper even though it gets everywhere, to have a spot in the yard where it’s absolutely fine to dig up all the grass and make a mud pit.

5.That our children need more of us. We have become so good at saying that we need to take care of ourselves that some of us have used it as an excuse to have the rest of the world take care of our kids. Yes, we all need undisturbed baths, time with friends, sanity breaks and an occasional life outside of parenthood. But we live in a time when parenting magazines recommend trying to commit to 10 minutes a day with each child and scheduling one Saturday a month as family day. That’s not okay! Our children don’t need Nintendos, computers, after school activities, ballet lessons, play groups and soccer practice nearly as much as they need US. They need fathers who sit and listen to their days, mothers who join in and make crafts with them, parents who take the time to read them stories and act like idiots with them. They need us to take walks with them and not mind the .1 MPH pace of a toddler on a spring night. They deserve to help us make supper even though it takes twice as long and makes it twice as much work. They deserve to know that they’re a priority for us and that we truly love to be with them.

And now back to those 4 year old skills lists…..

I know it’s human nature to want to know how our children compare to others and to want to make sure we’re doing all we can for them. Here is a list of what children are typically taught or should know by the end of each year of school, starting with preschool.

Since we homeschool, I occasionally print out the lists and check to see if there’s anything glaringly absent in what my kids know. So far there hasn’t been, but I get ideas sometimes for subjects to think up games about or books to check out from the library. Whether you homeschool or not, the lists can be useful to see what kids typically learn each year and can be reassuring that they really are doing fine.

If there are areas where it seems your child is lacking, realize that it’s not an indication of failure for either you or your child. You just haven’t happened to cover that. Kids will learn whatever they’re exposed to, and the idea that they all need to know these 15 things at this precise age is rather silly. Still, if you want him to have those subjects covered then just work it into life and play with the subject and he’ll naturally pick it up. Count to 60 when you’re mixing a cake and he’ll pick up his numbers. Get fun books from the library about space or the alphabet. Experiment with everything from backyard snow to celery stalks in food coloring. It’ll all happen naturally, with much more fun and much less pressure.

My favorite advice about preschoolers is on this site though.

What does a 4 year old need?

Much less than we realize, and much more.

Baseball Game

2011-09-05T13:51:00.008-05:00

It was amazing outside!

Family walking to the game.

The boys caught t-shirts.

Watching the game.

We had great seats.

The kids LOVED the baseball food.

Nathan loves some baby Judah.

Baby Judah's first baseball game.

Nathan and Micah had so much fun.

Love me some Knox boys!

Watching the game.

Baby Abigail had a blast and wore herself out=)

My parents blessed us with RedHawks Baseball tickets today. We had such a wonderful family day.

First Day of School 2011

2011-09-03T20:08:00.005-05:00

Nathan 1st Grade

Micah Kindergarten

The kids loved looking at all their new school stuff.

We made grandmas homemade banana bread.

We did the Diet Coke and Mentos science experiment.

We did it 4 times. It was a blast!!!

We love to dance

and play games.

First day of school was amazing! I am so thankful I get to do this with my kids.

Lovin' Learning

2011-08-26T20:12:00.009-05:00

We are starting school on Monday! I can't believe I get to do this with my kids. Some things we will be doing for "school" is Reading, Five In A Row, Reading, Math-U-See, Reading, Explode The Code, did I mention Reading? We also start co-op on Thursday September 8th. The boys each get to take 3 classes and I get to teach PE again this year.

Nathan- 1st Grade

Zoology: Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day
Explore the wonders of the swimming creatures created by God on the fifth day. We’ll dive right in to learning about whales, dolphins, seals, manatees and all kinds of fish and sharks. We’ll also uncover a world of crabby crustaceans, sea snails, octopus, coral, sand dollars and so much more. Come join us as we splash in wonder at God’s designs in the amazing aquatic animals he formed.

PE
PE will be centered around having fun with a variety of games and athletic activities. The kids will enjoy learning new games and skills in a team atmosphere. Kids will be expected to wear appropriate shoes and clothing for indoor and outdoor athletic activities. We are excited to spend another year with your kids!

Jesus Storybook Bible
Join me as we journey through the Jesus Storybook Bible. We will discover that Jesus is at the center of God’s great story and at the center of your story too! There will be fun crafts and activities to help us remember all we will learn

Micah- Kindergarten

Jesus Storybook Bible
Join me as we journey through the Jesus Storybook Bible. We will discover that Jesus is at the center of God’s great story and at the center of your story too! There will be fun crafts and activities to help us remember all we will learn.

To the Bus! (The Magic School Bus, that is!)
Calling all curious young scientists! Let’s take chances, get messy and make mistakes as we join Ms. Frizzle and her class on a new adventure each week and learn about God’s wonderful creation! In addition to a book/video we’ll do activities and experiments related to the week’s topic.

Games Games Games!
Come play with us! We’ll play with toys, do puzzles, and do indoor and outdoor games. Some indoor games will include Uno, Bingo, War, and Go Fish. Some outdoor games will be soccer, Red Light Green Light, Follow the Leader and Tag.

Here are somethings we will be doing during the day.

8:00am- Breakfast, Mommy Responsibilities, Play

8:30am- Learnin' How to Be Like Jesus

9:00am- Fun with Math; Fun with Letters

9:30am- Play, Responsibilities

10:00am- Snack

10:15am- Lovin' Learning~unit study, Five In A Row, art, Science, or cooking

11:15am- Play

12:00pm- Lunch

12:30pm- Read with mommy, Puzzles with mommy, cooking with mommy, or games with mommy

1:00pm- Naps; Quiet time~ books, coloring, movie

2:30pm- Snack; Play

5:00pm- Dinner

6:00pm- Play; Read; Bath

7:30pm-Bed

Fun New Menu

2011-08-26T19:45:00.003-05:00

I found this fun new way to plan our meals on Women Living Well. Thought it might be fun to try for a fews weeks.

Mexican Monday

Tomato-ey Tuesday

Wild-Card Wednesday

Thrifty & Thankful Thursday

Fancy Friday

Soupy Saturday

Sandwich Sunday

Mexican is anything from tacos to Mexican casserole, burrito, etc.

Tomato-ey is anything tomato based, from the obvious like pizza and spaghetti, to baked ravioli.

Wild-Card freedom day. Leftovers or another Fancy.

Thankful is something ALL my kids enjoy like hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc.

Fancy is our night to go out or try something new.

Soup and Sandwich speak for themselves.

My Simple Woman's Daybook 8/15/2011

2011-08-15T21:13:00.007-05:00

My Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window... it's sunny!

I am thankful... for our LifeGroup and all they have done for us over the years.

From the learning room... the boys started writing a chapter book. We are pumped to start "school" next Monday.

In the Kitchen...
Monday- Pizza
Tuesday- Chicken Salad
Wednesday- Church
Thursday- Going out
Friday- Mexican
Saturday- Pancakes
Sunday- Church

I am going...
Monday- Getting school supplies and Date with Micah
Tuesday- Swimming
Wednesday- Bible Study/ Church
Thursday- Taking kids to in-laws and going out with my love.
Friday- Spending time with my love and preparing for "school" to start.
Saturday- LifeKIDS conference
Sunday- Church

I am reading... The Scarlet Thread by Francine Rivers

Around the house... hope to clean out a closet

One of my favorite things... going on dates with my love

Here is a picture... of Tim throwing baby Abigail down the slip-n-slide

My Simple Woman's Daybook 8/6/2011

2011-08-08T20:19:00.006-05:00

My Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window... it is raining!!!

I am thankful... that Tim and I get to serve at Lifechurch.tv Midwest City

From the learning room... we just finished Pinocchio and started Treasure Island

In the Kitchen...

Monday- Spaghetti

Tuesday- Enchiladas

Wednesday- Rotisserie Chicken

Thursday- Baked Ravioli

Friday- Go out

Saturday- Buffalo Wings/ Hot dogs

Sunday- Sandwiches

I am going...

Monday- Library

Tuesday- Science Museum

Wednesday- Getting my hair done/ Church

Thursday- Swimming with co-op/Movie "The Help"

Friday- Going to The Knox's for cousins birthday party

Saturday- Latham birthday Party

Sunday- Church/LifeGroup

I am reading... The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Around the house... we have been cleaning and getting ready for "school" to start

One of my favorite things... is reading as a family

Here is a picture of us at the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum

Knox Update

2011-08-02T23:18:00.004-05:00

Update on the Knox Family.

Tim- is a LifeKIDS pastor at the new Lifechurch.tv/MidWest City campus. We both feel so privileged to serve there.

Nicole- I am having a blast this summer with the kids. We have enjoyed going to the library, parks, museums, swimming, and being at a new church.

Nathan- Loves playing catch with daddy, playing with his brothers and sister, learning to read, and swimming with out a life jacket.

Micah- Loves to help me cook, build anything with daddy, coloring, and swimming with his life jacket=)

Abigail- Loves being a girl, playing dress up, playing with babies, "helping" with baby Judah, and will eat anything I make.

Judah- Loves everyone and everything (he is 6 months and such a JOY)

Baby Judah 6 weeks old

2011-03-14T20:55:00.005-05:00

It seems like yesterday we found out we were going to be blessed with our 4th child. Judah William Knox was born 5 weeks early on January 31, 2011. This is Tim and I right before we went to the OR.

This is me after I heard baby Judah cry (he did not come out crying at first)
Baby Judah 5 lb 6 oz They had to take baby Judah to NICU because he could not breath on his own. This is the first time I got to see my baby.

and touch him=)

They told us he would be in NICU for 3 weeks,

Tim and I would go on dates to the hospital cafeteria in my wheel chair=)

We got to leave NICU after 4 nights!!!! God is GOOD.

The kids first time to see baby Judah.

first bath

I sure love his little feet

Picture with great grandma Janzen

baby Judah is so cool

my baby doll

6 weeks old today!!!! I feel so blessed that I get to be baby Judah's mommy.

Fully in the Moment

2011-03-10T15:37:00.006-06:00

I am reading a wonderful book called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. In the book she starts to see all the things she is grateful for and writes them down. We as a family have started doing this and love it!!! It can be things like holding baby Judah at night, baby Abigail laughing, Micah putting my hair behind my ears, Nathan talking to me about God, hot showers, date nights with Tim, a cold dr pepper. We have had a blast doing this. One thing that I have realized is we are always in a hurry to get to the next thing and not truly living in the moment. I love how Ann said it in her book

Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I've ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, ten of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing... Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away.

I want to always live fully in the moment with my sweet husband and children!

Enjoying our Family of 6

2011-02-14T19:39:00.008-06:00

We are having a wonderful time as a family of 6!!!

Nathan loves to help with baby Judah.

I took the kids to the zoo

We love having baby Judah sleep on us=)

Baby Abigail has started to walk. (she is up to 8 steps)

Playing UNO and eating cookies

Baby Abigail is all girl with her neckless and phone

We went bowling with our homeschool co-op

Baby Judah got his first bath

We had a picnic inside

The boys helping me with baby Judah

They even help with laundry

and the floors=)

Judah William Knox

2011-02-04T22:28:00.003-06:00

Judah William Knox

1/31/2011

5 lbs 6 oz 18 inch long

Nathan is 6

2011-01-20T21:23:00.004-06:00

Sweet Nathan Turned 6 on January 11th. I was telling Tim it seems like just yesterday we found out that we were having our first child. Nathan is a huge blessing to our family. We got him his first "real" bible with his name on it. He is so in love with it and learning about Jesus.

We had a little party with a few friends at the bowling alley.
We went to the Science Museum and had a blast as a family.

Nathan loves to go to basketball games with his daddy.

He started his first weekend in children's church and loves everything about it!

I am so in love with sweet Nathan.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T20:15:00.005-06:00

Merry Christmas!!!

We hope 2010 was a great year for your family. It was an incredible year for our family. So many great things happened and we have learned a ton. God taught us so many important biblical principles and the one that has impacted our family the most is for our whole lives to reflect the passions, gifting, and calling that God has given us. We’re excited to live each day focused on our family becoming stronger and more unified and seeing other families do the same. We are a family of 5 now and will add another boy in February 2011. Here’s a glimpse of what’s happened in each family member’s life this past year.

Abigail is our youngest daughter and she is 13 months old. Her name means “her father’s joy” and she has definitely lived up to it. She sleeps, eats, and poops well. She has started standing and becoming mobile. She has a lot of teeth and she’ll eat anything we put in front of her. She has graduated to the 2^nd age group at church but regularly gets to go back to the younger age group because the teachers love her so much.

Micah is our middle child and he turned 4 in September. We love to listen to Micah talk. He has the most sincere voice and puts a lot of thought into each sentence. Micah loves music and has started making up songs for whatever he’s thinking about. We spent a lot of time looking at Christmas lights and Micah sits on the edge of his seat excited about each one. Micah is the most generous and servant child we have. He always thinks of others and how he can help them.

Nathan is our oldest child and this year has been a turning point in his life. He loves calendars and counts down the days till he turns 6 in January. He started playing T-ball. He had a much better time than we anticipated. Nathan is naturally athletic and loves competitions. He’s nickname is Speedy and proves it every time he runs. Recently he has taken an interest in reading and spends a lot of time coloring and looking at books. Nathan has started asking spiritual questions and it’s humbling to see God working in his life.

Nicole has grown tremendously this past year. She’s loving staying at home with the kids and teaching them. She’s gained a lot of influence with other mom’s and families and is able to speak truth into so many people’s lives. She’s involved in several different women’s groups and does an incredible job of blending family, ministry, and teaching the kids. Nicole and the kids are involved in a home school co-op where she teaches P.E.

Tim went through a transition in his job this year. He is still a Youth Pastor at LifeChurch.tv but changed from the Edmond Campus to the OKC Campus just 6 miles down the road. This transition has given him the opportunity to focus more on families and parents. Tim took a counseling class this year and much of what he’s known his whole life became a reality and not a principle that was passed down. Tim ventured into construction and converted half of our garage into a play room and it’s been a great space for our growing family.

There have been some small changes that we’ve made that have made a huge difference in our family. We eliminated cable TV and that showed us how much time we have as a family. We began reading more to the kids and learned that they really can sit still and listen. We began serving others with our kids and found out that they can do more than we expected. God gave us boldness with our family vision and that has opened the door to teach and inspire others.

To keep up with our family throughout the year you can check out these blogs.
www.nicoleknox.blogspot.com
www.growingalegacy.com

We hope that 2011 is a great year for you and your family.

Love,

The Knox Family

9 Years Ago Today....

2010-12-15T08:48:00.003-06:00

It was the best day of my life when I became Mrs. Tim Knox.

Tacky Christmas sweater

2010-12-12T20:34:00.003-06:00

At LifeGroup tonight we had our Christmas party and had a contest who could wear the tackiest Christmas sweaters. Tim and I won!!!! We are so blessed to be in our LifeGroup. We have been meeting for 6 years and they have become family to us.

Fun in December

2010-12-09T20:41:00.005-06:00

We have really enjoyed our time as a family this month. We started the month serving at the church putting up Christmas stuff. I love that the boys are learning to serve at a young age.

We made a Christmas count down calender. The boys get to take off a chocolate every day till Christmas morning.

Christmas BINGO is huge in the Knox house.

We made Peppermint Bark.

Abigail loves to watch.

We love reading The Legend of the Candy Cane.

The boys had a blast making a gingerbread house.

One of our favorite things to do is look at Christmas Lights in our PJ's.

Menu Planning 12/5-12/11

2010-12-05T16:08:00.005-06:00

I started Menu Planning for our family a few months ago and it has been a wonderful thing for the Knox house. Every Saturday I sit down and write out what we will be eating for the week. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks) I also write down what I need from the store off of my Menu that I just made. We are saving $100's by not going out to eat all the time and not buying things we don't need at the store.

Every week we have the same thing for Breakfast (this helps with not coming up with something new) Also, every day for snack they have 3 choices yogurt, fruit, or crackers. For lunch we eat a lot of what I made for dinner the night before. The boys LOVE the Menu because they like to know whats going on=)

Sunday-
B-Homemade Bread
L-Eat at church
D-Sandwich
S-Yogurt

Monday-
B-Oatmeal
L-Hot dogs
D-Chicken Noddle Soup
S-Fruit

Tuesday-
B-French Toast
L-Chicken Noddle Soup
D- Chicken Broccoli Casserole
S- Crackers

Wednesday-
B-Biscuits/Gravy/Eggs
L-Chicken Broccoli Casserole
D- Eat at the church
S-Yogurt

Thursday-
B-Cinnamon Rolls
L-Lunchables
D-Chicken Fettucini
S-Fruit

Friday-
B-Bacon, Egg, Cheese Sandwich or Pancakes
L-Go Out
D-Shepherds Pie
S-Crackers

Saturday-
B-Go Out
L-Shepherds Pie
D-Pizza
S-Yogurt

What are things you do to save your family money?

Growing a Legacy

2010-11-30T22:56:00.005-06:00

My sweet husband Tim is starting a blog called growingalegacy.com

Family Vacation November 2010

2010-11-28T09:19:00.010-06:00

We had a wonderful family vacation at our friends lake house and Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. We love to get away and spend time as a family. These are a few of the things we did.

Skipped rocks on the lake
Made yummy food

Played card games

Great Wolf Lodge is so much fun!

Story Time

Eating out

Play games

Indoor Water Park!!!!!!!!

Abigail was getting tired

Nathan 5, Micah 4, Abigail 1, Mommy 27 weeks pregnant with baby #4. So blessed!!!

Bowling was a lot of fun.

T-REX was a fun place to eat

Ending our time with wonderful dessert.

Abigail is ONE!!!

2010-11-28T08:27:00.003-06:00

Abigail turned ONE on November 12th. The whole family made her a tutu and her first cake. We are all so in love with sweet Abigail.

My Little Lady

2010-11-01T14:15:00.004-05:00

Today sweet Nathan said "mommy my little lady looks so cute today" Nathan calls Abigail his little lady and he is so in love with her. I can't believe our little lady is going to be ONE in two weeks!!!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-16T21:43:00.007-05:00

We went to the Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch with our homeschool co-op and had an amazing time.

The boys loved jumping on the hay.
So did daddy!!!

My sweet friend Deleise that started our co-op.

Roasting hot dogs by the fire with daddy and friends.

and marshmallows

They loved climbing on this tree.

The swing was so fun!

We stopped by Pops after to get drinks.

Micah is 4!!!!

2010-10-04T20:14:00.005-05:00

Micah turned 4 on September 24th! We went to the Express Clydesdale's Ranch with our homeschool co-op in the morning.

We even watch a cow give birth to her baby.
We had an amazing time looking at everything.

Micah had a few friends over that night for a birthday party. He was on cloud 9 opening gifts.

Daddy would help him read all his cards.

Micah wanted me to make pink cupcakes=)

I sure love my sweet Micah.

Baby # 4 is a...........

2010-09-25T21:24:00.004-05:00

BOY

Abigail is 10 months old

2010-09-12T20:30:00.004-05:00

Baby Abigail is 10 months old today! Abigail is such a joy in all of our lives.

1st day of co-op 2010/2011

2010-09-09T20:02:00.006-05:00

Family breakfast at ihop for our first day of co-op!

Nathan 5 1/2 Micah 4 in two weeks.
I love that I get to hang out with these sweet kids all day.

The whole family!

Morning announcements at co-op

We went and had some awesome dessert to celebrate our first day of co-op!!!

Our homeschool co-op is going to be so fun this year! The boys are getting to take a lot of fun classes. We had a wonderful first day.

Micah is in PreK-Kindergarten classes

Ignite Recreation with Jessica
This is the place to get all those wiggles and giggles out. We will be playing a lot of fun games, indoor and outdoor. We’ll also enjoy the playground when the weather is beautiful. Come join us, you’re bound to have a great time!

Music Exploration with Donna
Join us as we discover a variety of aspects of music! We will learn about pitch and different types of songs, play musical games and learn rhythm basics. We will explore movement and expression using objects such as bean bags, rhythm sticks and scarfs. We will learn how instruments work and even make several of our own throughout the year! You won’t want to miss it!

Science Through the Year with Jemma
Inquiry-based and easy-to-follow activities to help students develop positive attitudes toward science. We will cover the areas of physical, earth, and life science as well as health with science questions & facts as well as experiments.

Nathan is in 1st-2nd grade classes

Globe Trotters with Jennifer
Wanted: 1st and 2nd grade explorers to join a 28 week around-the-world geography adventure. Through books, maps, crafts, activities and more we’ll learn about distant lands and the people who live there.

PE with Nicole and Kelsey
We will focus on hand-eye coordination, gross motor skills, and following instructions. Every learning time will require athletic shoes.

Gardening with Jenny
Join us as we learn all about the fun of gardening and the joy of making something grow! We will spend time learning about different types of plants and bugs.We’ll learn about planning and planting gardens (vegetable, herbs, and flowers). We’ll do fun gardening projects such as planting seeds, building miniature greenhouses and possibly a little landscaping

I get to teach 3 PE classes again this year to 1st-2nd graders, 3rd-5th graders, and middle school/high school students.

Sweet baby Abigail gets to hang out with all her sweet baby friends.

Vacation August 2010

2010-08-29T21:22:00.007-05:00

We went to Branson, Mo and stayed at Still Waters Resort for 4 nights and had an amazing time! This place was wonderful. It has 3 pools, its on the lake with free paddle boats, free kayaks, basketball, volleyball courts and so much more. We stayed there for $59 a night!!!!

We love getting to go out to eat for breakfast.
We went to a Magic Show.

Played on the lake.

Skipped rocks on the lake.

Played in the pool.

Went down the slid a 1000 times.

Played with water guns.

Played with daddy.

Played under the waterfall.

I loved this pool!!!!This hot tub was so nice.

Baby Abigail is so cute.

Laid by the pool.

Played in the arcade.

PlaygroundBasketball

Going on walks and riding bikes.

Wow we are so blessed to get to spend such a sweet time as a family.

Learning is Fun!

2010-08-24T22:07:00.006-05:00

We started our first day of "Learning is Fun" aka school. The boys and I had such a beautiful day. I feel so blessed that I get to hang out with these sweet kids and learn with them. This is a picture of our new school/playroom.

Nathan is so happy to be in Kindergarten.
Micah loves being in Pre-K

We went to the library and played on the computers.

Read a lot of books.

They even got to check out their own books.

We made some awesome brownies.

We started our Five In A Row book.

This was the best part of the day. We did a science experiment with Diet Coke and Mentos.

Wow Learning really is Fun!!!!!!

Science Museum

2010-08-15T19:57:00.006-05:00

The kids and I got to go to the Science Museum the other day with some of our friends from LifeGroup. We had a wonderful time exploring together. While we were there I kept thanking Jesus for blessing me with wonderful ladies in my life that truly cherish their sweet children each day. I learn so much from them how to love my sweet blessings that the Lord has blessed me with.

Micah and his sweet friend.

This is a picture of all the kids.

Abigail was in heaven.

Flying to the moon.

Some of the moms I am blessed to have are Charity, pregnant with #5, Me, pregnant with #4, Michelle, not pregnant but blessed with 4, and Vanessa, pregnant with #4!

Eating lunch.

He loves to have his picture taking (where does he get that ha ha)

Abigail is 9 months old now!!!!

I love that they always play together.

This was fun!!!

Moms

Nathan asks me to clean his baseball shirt every day so his friends will see it.

She was out.

Time to go home=)

Serving as a Family

2010-08-10T12:21:00.010-05:00

Today our sweet family had an amazing opportunity to go serve at The Tapestry Project for their Back To School Party.

Tim and the boys were in charge of the water slide and had a blast.
I am so blessed to be married to man that leads our family.
Baby Abigail was a big hit for all the kids.

Tim got right in the water with all these sweet kids.

The kids are getting to pick out new shoes for school.

They also got new backpacks with lots of fun school stuff in them.

Serving them lunch.

The boys had so much fun playing games with all their new friends. It's awesome how kids don't see socio economic class when they are having fun.

Today was a huge blessing for our family to get to serve others.

Taming the Media Monster

2010-08-09T19:49:00.003-05:00

by Dennis and Barbara Rainey

Would you be upset to learn that someone was competing for your mate's heart, subtly sending negative messages about you, and seeking to horn in on your marriage by robbing the two of you of time alone for talk and intimacy?

Upset? You probably would explode with anger and hurt. No marriage has room for another lover.

But each day assorted voices lure you and your spouse away from each other: television, internet, radio, magazines, newspapers, music, movies, and video games.

When it comes to marriage, the media present at least three significant threats:

The media will take time away from your relationship. Take TV, for example. Many people consider renting a movie or watching TV together to be a family evening. We've done this often ... but we've also found that these extremely passive activities do little in building relationships. Families must do something other than stare at the screen to acquire special identities.

The media can twist your sense of reality, creating unreasonable expectations for your spouse. The media usually present a distorted picture of real life. How often in a movie or on a television program do you see ordinary-looking people fall in love, get married, and remain committed through good times and bad for life? More often, the norm is two extremely attractive people--groomed beautifully and photographed in the best possible light--becoming infatuated and jumping into the sack without much thought about moral issues. If you constantly feed these images into your head, doesn't your spouse stand to lose in the long run? Competing with fantasy is difficult.

Through pornography and internet liaisons, the media can facilitate emotional adultery. Pornography fosters a lust for images of other people, which can be as damaging to the mental and emotional health of a marriage as a physically realized affair. Anyone with internet access can download pornographic materials anytime at home or on a smartphone.

Just as bad are the liaisons people create through social networking sites or through chat rooms. In some cases spouses have left a marriage to rendezvous with a chat-room buddy, and divorce resulted. Although the benefits of using the internet are obvious, its costs and risks are not always so clear. We must carefully guard our eyes, hearts, and minds against the possible temptations that can come through it into our homes.

Here are some steps we've taken to tame the media monster:

1. Be aggressive--not passive--about the media. A media monster will enter our eyes, ears, minds, hearts, and houses like a flooding river washing over a dike if we allow it. Set some standards! For example, with TV, watch on purpose. Decide in advance what you will view; don't just turn it on and surf. And when something offensive catches you by surprise--turn it off!

2. Control the flow. Watch what comes into your house. Someone needs to stand sentry at the media entrance to the family, carefully and prayerfully deciding what will be allowed in. And don't depend on the movie rating system and movie reviews. The movie rating system can be highly inconsistent. Find out about movies from friends who share your values. Look online to determine the level of sex, language, and violence in the programs or films that interest you. (The excellent website www.screenit.com describes the quality, morality, and specific language of any film being released.)

3. Control internet access. Set limits on how long you will spend on the internet--and how long you will spend on social networking sites like Facebook. Also, consider placing any computer with internet access in a very public, heavily traveled place in your home, such as the kitchen or family room. Men, in particular, will benefit from accountability to another man--someone who asks, "Are you clean in what you're viewing?"

4. Use technology to your advantage. Use the media to strengthen your marriage and family. (For instance, www.familylife.com contains downloadable resources for your marriage and family.) Make the media serve your needs.

5. Consider cutting back on or even fasting from media use. Have you ever tried going a whole day or week without watching television? What might happen in your marriage if you did?

The words of Psalm 101:2-3 apply well to media use:

I will give heed to the blameless way.
When wilt thou come to me?
I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart.
I will set no worthless thing before my eyes.

The bottom line is that much of what can be found in the media is of little worth. And controlling the media monster means controlling what you allow yourself to see (or hear or read) and how much time you devote to it. These decisions could be among the most important in your marriage.

Adapted by permission from Starting Your Marriage Right, by Dennis and Barbara Rainey, Thomas Nelson Publisher, 2000.

© Copyright 2010 by FamilyLife. All rights reserved.

Spray Park

2010-08-08T13:12:00.009-05:00

The other day Tim got his kidney stent taking out and it went great. The doctor said we could leave for an hour while he was in surgery. We went to this spray park and had so much fun. I had one extra pair of shorts and one of Abigail's swim diapers in the car. It was so fun watching them play. When it was time to go they dried off with a jacket I had in the car=) I love days like this.

Twitter and Facebook

2010-08-08T12:58:00.005-05:00

Church was so awesome this weekend. We talked about what is Toxic in our lives. If you know me I love people and I love to be on twitter and facebook. I have been feeling lately that I am focusing more on twitter and facebook and what everyone else is doing and not giving my family 100%. So I am going to take some time off from twitter and facebook and love on my sweet husband and kids.

Do not become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops a well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:2 Message

"Everything is permissible for me"-but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"-but I will not be mastered by anything. 1 Corinthians 6:12

Pulling Up

2010-08-05T12:16:00.004-05:00

Last night after church we were talking to the boys about what the learned at church and we looked at baby Abigail (8 1/2 months old) pulling up for the first time. The whole family was cheering for her.

Summer Reading=Summer Baseball Game

2010-08-02T20:52:00.006-05:00

The boys did the summer reading program at the Edmond Public Library this summer. We had a blast reading a lot of new books. One of the rewards they received was tickets to The RedHawks game. I am so proud of my sweet boys.

All 5 1/2 of us=)

Nathan wanted to catch a ball.
So did sweet Micah.

Sitting with my love.

I sure do love these kids.

We have the best daddy ever!!!

Baby Abigail always being cute=)

They are getting so big.

Climbing Trees and Swings

2010-07-28T21:53:00.005-05:00

Today the kids and I went to the park and had a blast. The boys love to climb trees and see how high they can go.

Abigail is so cute watching her big brothers.

They could play in the dirt for hours too.

Abigail's first time on a swing. Nathan loved pushing her.

The boys are so cute!!!

I sure do love being a mom.

Driving in Mud

2010-07-28T21:20:00.005-05:00

One of our favorite things to do as a family is go get Happy Hour Sonic drinks and go for a drive in the country. We love to look for land and dream about the day we will live on it. The other day we went the wrong way and got very stuck in mud for 3 hours.

Tim even looks cute with mud all over him=)
I asked him to take my phone and take a picture. (he is so awesome to me)

Our sweet friends Jacob and Jenn Masters helped us get out of the mud!

Knox Baby #4

2010-07-23T15:50:00.005-05:00

Knox baby #4 is due February 19, 2011!!!!

Tim had Lithotripsy

2010-07-21T14:58:00.005-05:00

This morning the Knox family was up and out of the door at 6:20am. We stopped by McDonald's for some breakfast before heading to the hospital. When we got out of the car Nathan said" Micah hurry up we want the doctor to get the stones out of daddy so he can wrestle again!"

Tim read them a book before he went back for surgery.

I brought a bag full of stuff for the boys to do and they had a blast since everything I brought was new. They loved doing this puzzle.
Baby Abigail was cute the whole time.

We went outside for about 30min and ran!!!!

We played "Go Fish" and "Crazy 8"

The boys made daddy cards.

I am so proud of the kids, we were at the hospital for 4 hours and they never once said can we leave. Tim is doing great and thankful to have the kidney stones broke up. He will have the stent taking out in about 2 weeks.

Galatians 6:4-5

2010-07-20T08:49:00.003-05:00

My sweet friend Deleise sent this to me the other day and said "kinda seems like one of those verses every mom should have taped on her mirror=) " I love the truth it speaks and I pray that I can't stop thinking about it.

“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.” -Galatians 6:4-5

Kidney Stones

2010-07-16T20:17:00.006-05:00

My sweet love has been in so much pain this past week due to kidney stones. We went to the doctor yesterday and had a CT Scan and one of his 20+ kidney stones were lodge and that's why he was in so much pain. We went to the hospital today to have that one removed. When the doctor was removing the kidney stone it went back up into his kidney. Which is ok since now he will not be in pain. He will have a 2nd sugary in a week where they will do lithotripsy to help brake up the 20+ kidney stones. In 3 weeks he will have a 3rd surgery to have the stent taken out.

This is my love filling out paper work at 5:30am.

Right before he went back.
The kids loving on daddy after.

My sweet friend Ali made us homemade cinnamon rolls.

My sweet friend Deleise brought us dinner and cookie dough=)

Swim Lessons

2010-07-16T20:12:00.004-05:00

The boys took swim lessons for 8 days and had a blast. This is their teacher and their class.

They got to play on the slid the last day of swim lessons.
This is after swim lessons. I sure love moments like this.

Having a Blast

2010-07-10T21:57:00.003-05:00

We have had a blast the past couple of weeks as a family. We got to serve for At The Movies series at our church as a family.

I sure love this guy!!!
We love to play games.

We went to the Sam Noble Science Museum. (its free the first Monday of the month)

The Boys brought me flowers from the backyard=)

We were blessed with lots of books. We LOVE to read.

Went to the 4th of July parade in Edmond.

My baby girl started crawling.

The Knox Family is Growing

2010-06-29T08:28:00.007-05:00

We are so happy to announce that the Knox family will be having our 4th baby in February 2011!!

Knox Family Reunion 2010

2010-06-05T14:15:00.011-05:00

We went to Fin and Feather for the Knox Family Reunion and celebrated Tim's parents 40th Anniversary. We are so blessed to have such a sweet family. With most families you hear about all the changes younger generations want to do that are different than their parents and grandparents. Our heritage is so amazing and godly that we can't imagine doing anything different than to continue the legacy that has been happening for generations.

Baby Abigail is 6 months

2010-05-12T14:11:00.002-05:00

Nathan and Micah Talent Show

2010-04-29T20:24:00.004-05:00

Nathan and Micah did their first Talent Show at our homeschool co-op today. We are so proud of them for getting in front of everyone. We sure do love our sweet boys.

Fashion Disaster Day at co-op

2010-04-22T13:48:00.001-05:00

Happy 31st Birthday Tim

2010-04-17T20:48:00.004-05:00

My sweet Love Tim turned 31 today. We are so blessed to have a man that loves the Lord.

Tim and I went on a date to get coffee and hot chocolate at a new place in Edmond called All About Cha Stylish Coffee and Tea.

We had breakfast as a family at Tim's favorite place Jimmy's Egg.

We went to our first 3D movie How to Train a Dragon.

We went to church as a family.

We also went to dinner at Shiki.

Happy Birthday Tim we love you!!!

Great Wolf Lodge 2010

2010-04-09T18:59:00.006-05:00

We had a wonderful time a Great Wolf Lodge.

All 3 of my boys are under 1000 gallons of water.

Making ourselves at home.

My sweet family watching TV.

Baby Abigail's first time in the water.They loved the slides.

Swimming for hours.

Cousin Chloe, Micah, and Nathan.

Arcade

Waiting for story time=)

All 5 of us!

We went with Tim's brother Matt and family. We are so blessed to have them.

Happy Easter

2010-04-05T13:15:00.002-05:00

Bowling

2010-02-20T14:06:00.005-06:00

We had an amazing time bowling with our homeschool co-op last night.

The boys could have bowled for hours.

We all loved using this to bowl.

My 3 boys!

Daddy and our sweet baby girl.

My love.

My sweet friends Natalie, Deleise and Janna.

I married a youth pastor

2010-02-11T22:13:00.003-06:00

Last night at SWITCH we had 80's night

Yes this is the back of my husbands head he put a SWITCH symbol in his hair.

We had a blast dressing up.

2010 Winter Storm

2010-02-07T20:43:00.006-06:00

Boys need superhero capes and girls need bows.

2010-01-28T14:52:00.005-06:00

If you were to come to the Knox house during the day you would see my boys dressed like this,

and my baby girl like this=)

Happy 5th Birthday Nathan

2010-01-11T05:00:00.002-06:00

Nathan had his first BIG boy birthday party on Saturday. He woke up at 4am and told me "mom I am just so excited about today!" His friends got dropped off for a cowboy birthday party around 11:30am. We had 13 boys for 2 hours of fun!!! We played lots of cowboy games, danced, ate pizza and ice cream, opened gifts, and played cowboys.

Abigail had fun hanging out with me.

Tim did a great job of coming up with fun cowboy games.

Tim made this awesome cake!

The kids loved dancing.

Our Trip to the ER

2010-01-10T20:38:00.004-06:00

Friday January 8, 2010 started off to be a great day. I, Nicole, was off to get my hair done and Tim was off to take all 3 kids to the church to ride their new scooters they got for Christmas. Around 11:30am my friend Ali had just taken the foil off my hair when Tim calls to say that Micah hit his head and that we were going to the hospital. Tim picks me up from the hair salon (my hair not fixed) and we run to the ER where we meet our LifeGroup friend Dr. Brett. Micah was a little sad but he did awesome and wanted me to take pictures so he could see it.

Dr. Brett put this medicine on for 45 minutes and we watched a movie in the waiting room. Micah could not feel a thing=)

4 stitches later and he was ready to go eat. I love having boys because you never know what the next day will hold. We have only been to the ER 3 times in 5 years.

New Years Eve Party

2010-01-02T20:44:00.003-06:00

Our LifeGroup did a Murder Mystery Dinner Party for New Years Eve. I was Mimi Martini a cocktail waitress and Tim was Ace High a man with a lot of money! We had a wonderful time with our sweet friends.

Knox Family 2009

2009-12-22T21:14:00.004-06:00

My sweet sister-in-law Megan took pictures of our family over Thanksgiving she did an awesome job!

21 day fast

2009-12-19T21:02:00.005-06:00

Tim and I are joining others who will be doing a 21 day fast starting January 1st. During our fast we will be eating "God Foods" (food that only God made) . Check out their facebook or blog and consider being a part of this opportunity.

Here is a list of some of the foods that we will eat during the 21 day fast:

All fruits
All veggies, (raw and cooked and canned)
Chicken prepared any way (except fried)
Tuna
Fish
Yogurt
Cheese
Eggs
Salads
Brown rice dishes
Whole Wheat pasta dishes
Kashi cereal
Oatmeal
Nuts

Kendra works with Tim at the church will be will be posting some daily devotionals and answering any questions that people have during the 21 day fast. On her blog she writes "The point is, to do something that causes a physical hardship that reminds you to devote time each day to fueling and feeding your spiritual hunger and thirst for God."

Abigail's Dedication

2009-12-13T13:57:00.006-06:00

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

Abigail's Dedication from Tim Knox on Vimeo.

Nathan Sleeping in the Bathroom

2009-12-02T19:59:00.003-06:00

Last night at 6:00pm we asked Nathan to go to the bathroom before bedtime. At 6:15pm I went to see what was taking so long and this is what I found=)

Weight Watchers Online

2009-12-01T15:11:00.003-06:00

I have to say I sure love having babies. I have loved being pregnant with all 3 of my kids. (I know I am weird) I have always gained the amount of weight the doctor says is good for me. This time with Abigail I gained 40 lbs!!!! Which would not be that bad but I was on steroids the month before I got pregnant and gained 10 lbs.

So you might ask why am I telling you all this? I need to write this out so I can keep myself accountable. I have started doing Weight Watches Online this week and signed up for 3 months. I have lost 25 lbs of the pounds I gained (from given birth) so I have 25 lbs to go!

1 Corinthians 6:18-19 Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T09:16:00.003-06:00

I think they are in LOVE

2009-11-21T21:22:00.003-06:00

Nathan LOVES to hold Abigail.
The boys LOVE to read books to her.

Micah LOVES to kiss Abigail.

The boys LOVE to look at her.

I think they are in LOVE.

Abigail is Here!!!!

2009-11-14T21:01:00.004-06:00

Last Thursday was quite the eventful day. Nicole woke up having contractions that were harder and closer together than she had ever experienced. The dr. told us to come in so we dropped the boys off at our friends house.

Went to the hospital.

And had Abigail Nicole Knox at 7:14pm.

She was 6 lbs 11 oz and 19 inches long.

We are so blessed!!!

Bible Study Baby Shower

2009-11-02T20:14:00.004-06:00

My Bible Study girls (aka B.S. girls) threw me a baby shower the other day and they got me a new stroller! I was so surprised and excited. They also spent time praying over me, Abigail, Tim, and the boys. These women are a huge blessing in my life. Thank you girls for all you do for me and my family I love you!!!

Baby Abigail Ultrasound

2009-10-30T22:03:00.005-05:00

We went to have an ultrasound on baby Abigail. They said she is big, baby Abigail is 6.9 lbs as of Oct 29th. We will be having a c-section on Nov 27th as long as she stays. I have really enjoyed baby Abigail moving around in me. We are all looking forward to holding her soon. Thank you for praying for our sweet family.

Field Trip to Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-23T20:34:00.004-05:00

We went on a field trip with our co-op to the Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch. We enjoyed spending the evening with family and friends.

In A Year

2009-10-20T20:41:00.012-05:00

Treat your children as if you won't have them next year. Train them as if they won't have you next year.

___________________

A week with our family

2009-10-18T21:20:00.008-05:00

We had a wonderful time off. The marriage conference was everything we had hoped it would be. Our sweet friends Will and Charity blessed us with tickets to it.

After the marriage conference we went to the lake house that our friends, the Walther's, have blessed us with over the years. We get to go up to their lake house about 2-3 times a year. These are a few of the things we like to do there: play games.

Play with all their toys...

Play outside...

Drive the golf cart...

Go fishing...

Take baths in the jacuzzi tub...

Make carmel apples...

EAT...

Boxing...

After the lake we went to Mounds, Ok (Tim's hometown) to the Knox Family Reunion. There were 23 of us staying at Tim's parents house. The girls slept in the house and the boys camped out in tents. Tim and Nathan had a wonderful time doing this.

We played lots of games outside as a family.

The grand kids loved playing at the park with grandma.

We are one blessed family!!!!

A Pair of Red Clogs

2009-10-18T20:53:00.005-05:00

This week for Five In a Row we did the book A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno. Mako (the little girl in the book) receives a new pair of shoes and learns the importance of honesty. Which turned out to be great for us because the boys are learning about lying and telling the truth.

For math we got out different types of shoes and put them in pairs and counted them. We also put them from biggest to smallest.

Nathan and Micah enjoyed counting how many blue pairs, brown pairs, black pairs, and so on.

Tim did a great job on teaching them the different types of shapes a shoe can have.

We learned about the Japanese culture and what their flag looks like. It was fun looking up where Japan was on the map.

We had a wonderful week learning together as a family.

All in a week!

2009-10-10T21:11:00.008-05:00

Tim and I were blessed to go to a Family Life Marriage Conference this weekend. We are sad to say we have never been to a marriage conference in almost 8 years of marriage. The boys went to Tim's parents and had a blast! Something that I learned this weekend is I need to always put God first, Tim second, and the kids third. Also, we should never stop dating each other. We are looking forward to going to more marriage conferences and getting away for a few days to spend together.

Now we are off to our friends lake house that we go to a few times a year to get away as a family. When we go to the lake house we get to spend lots of time together (there is no cable TV or Internet). We play games, read books, go on walks, fish, eat at fun little restaurants, and laugh a lot.

After we leave the lake house we are going to Mounds, Ok where Tim grew up, for the Knox Family Reunion. The boys have looked forward to this for a long time. The plan is for all the boys to sleep outside in tents and the girls to sleep in the house=)

(This is a picture of the boys practicing putting up the tent before we go)

As you can tell this is going to be a wonderful week for the Knox family. Tim and I spent alone time together, we will have family time at the lake house, and extended family time in Mounds, Ok, all in a week.

When was the last time you got away and what are things you like doing with your family?

My Simple Woman's Daybook 10/5/2009

2009-10-04T20:20:00.008-05:00

Outside my window... its cold and I love it!

I am thinking... I can't believe I am having Abigail in 7 1/2 weeks.

I am thankful for... the white dresser our friends Mark and Amy blessed us with for baby Abigail and for the time we went bowling last week as a family.

From our lesson plans... we will be doing the book A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno for Five In A Row. Also, we will be going to co-op on Thursday morning.

From the Kitchen...

Mexican Casserole

Shepherds Pie
Pizza
Hawaiian Chicken Pasta

Lots of cereal (I want it for every meal right now, ha ha)

I am going...

Monday- MOMS Group

Tuesday- Staying home

Wednesday- Bible Study, Church, Youth Leader baby shower.

Thursday- Co-op

Friday- Taking the boys to mounds, Marriage Conference

Saturday- Marriage Conference

Sunday- Marriage Conference, Going to the lake for vacation!!!!

I am reading... Remember by Karen Kingsbury, Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend.

I am hearing... nothing the boys are sleeping.

Around the house... getting reading for vacation to the lake.

Join us every Monday here.

That was a good one

2009-09-30T21:52:00.004-05:00

Sometimes after Nathan prays he will say "that was a good one."

The other day Nathan was wrestling with Tim like they do everyday and stopped in the middle of it and said this:

Nathan: Wait dad, does your back still have the stones in it and hurt?
Tim: No buddy, I am doing a lot better.
Nathan: Ok dad hold on (Nathan stood over Tim with his hands folded and prayed) Dear Jesus thank you for making my daddy's back all better and that he can wrestle with me. Amen. Ok dad lets wrestle!!!

I love that Nathan loves Jesus and KNOWS that He can make us all better=)

Shower

2009-09-27T22:02:00.003-05:00

Some sweet friends had a beautiful shower for me and Abigail. We were blessed to spend the morning with friends and get lots of stuff for Abigail. We had a great time!

Field Trip with co-op

2009-09-27T21:23:00.005-05:00

We went on a Field Trip with IGNITE (that's the name of our co-op). IGNITE has a motto that is a quote by William Butler Yeats. It says "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." Watching our boys enjoy learning is testament that this quote is true.

On our field trip we went to the Martin Park Nature Center in OKC.

We started by eating lunch together.

As soon as we started walking there were huge fish and turtles. We could have stayed there all day.

Inside the park there is an information center that has shells, fish, and information specific to nature in Oklahoma.

At the beginning of the walk each student received books to document the animals and other things they saw.

Micah and Nathan really enjoyed drawing the different things.

The adventure of day was getting a pregnant woman and two young boys across the creek with out getting wet.

There was a tree house that over looked a pond and the creek.

On our way out, we found a snake in a tree. We stayed long enough to take a picture.

We had a great time exploring and learning as a family.

Pictures of Baby Abigail

2009-09-25T15:37:00.004-05:00

We had an ultrasound yesterday to check on Abigail and see how she is doing. Abigail is still a GIRL!!! She is 3 lbs 9 oz. The doctor said I have big babies so he is having us come back in 5 weeks to see how she is doing=)

Micah Paul Knox is 3

2009-09-25T13:36:00.004-05:00

My baby boy Micah turned 3 yesterday. We spent the day as a family with donuts, co-op, and playing. At night we went to LifeGroup and had cupcakes with our LifeGroup family.

My Simple Woman's Daybook 9/21/2009

2009-09-21T14:15:00.004-05:00

Outside my window... the sun is out and its 85.

I am thinking... I can't believe my baby boy Micah will be 3 on Thursday.

I am thankful for... my husband that called us today to have lunch at the park and fly a kite.

From our lesson plans... we will be doing the book The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills for Five In A Row. We will also be going to co-op on Thursday morning.

From the kitchen...
Monday- Hawaiian Chicken Pasta
Tuesday- State Fair Food
Wednesday- Chicken and Rice
Thursday- Mexican night at LifeGroup
Friday-
Saturday-
Sunday-

I am going...
Monday- MOMS Group
Tuesday- Gym, State Fair, Parenting Q&A
Wednesday- Bible Study, Doctor, Church
Thursday- Co-op, Lunch with my mom, Ultrasound, LifeGroup
Friday-Family day!!!
Saturday- My shower
Sunday- Church

I am reading... Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend

I am hearing... Nathan talking to himself in bed=)

Around the house... cleaning out Abigail's room.

Join us every Monday here.

Lentil

2009-09-19T11:08:00.012-05:00

This week for Five In a Row we did the book Lentil by Robert McCloskey. The boys and I went to my in-laws for the first part of the week and learned about the book. That's what's so fun about learning, you can do it everywhere!

In the book Lentil played a harmonica. We learned about music and the sounds that a harmonica can make. My mother-in-law had old harmonicas that were her dads. She gave one to us.

Lentil lived in a small town in Ohio which worked out great because Tims' family lives in a small town in Oklahoma where we talked about the difference in small vs big towns.

Lentil had a Hardware Store in the small town of Ohio, we went to the hardware store in the small town of Mounds, OK and learned all about the Hardware Store.Lentil saved all his pennies to buy a harmonica. With pennies we did addition and subtraction.

Nathan and his Grandpa built a train like the one in the book.

Ohio is in the United States of America. We made American flags with are hands and feet.

We found where Ohio is on the map. Lemons are a big part of the book and we had a lot of fun with lemons and tasting them. We also talked about our taste buds.

This was a perfect week for us to know that we can learn anywhere we go.

1st day of co-op

2009-09-17T18:24:00.005-05:00

Today was the boys 1st day of co-op. We get to go to co-op on Thursdays from 9:30-1:00. We had a wonderful time learning together and with other families.

Micah gets to hang out with other 3 year olds and he will explore art and nature, participate in fun storyboard presentations, play, sing songs and experience lots of exciting 3-year-old fun.

Nathan is with 4 and 5 year olds and he is taking three classes.
Science-Each month he will investigate an exciting new topic in science. He will cover insects, rainbows, dinosaurs, and many other interesting creations! Lots of fun, hands-on experiments and activities!

Creative Play-Some days he will play inside games like Duck-Duck-Goose, Hot Potato, Green Light-Red Light, etc. They will also play games outside.

Art- He will be messy and creative as he explores art with different mediums together.

Tim and I get to teach 3 PE classes.

My Simple Woman's Daybook 9/14/2009

2009-09-14T12:40:00.005-05:00

Outside my window...it is 67!

I am thinking...the boys and I are going to miss Tim this week.

I am thankful for...my in-laws, the boys and I are going to spend a few days with them while Tim is out of town.

From our lesson plans...we are doing the book Lentil by Robert McCloskey for Five In A Row. We also start co-op on Thursday and I am teaching a PE class.

From the kitchen... We will not be at the house a lot this week so we will be eating at different places=)

I am going...
Monday- MOMS Group, my in-laws
Tuesday- In-laws
Wednesday- Bible Study, making dinner for a friend, church.
Thursday- Tim is having surgery to take out the stent, the boys and I start co-op.
Friday- Wedding rehearsal
Saturday- Nothing
Sunday- Church, wedding, SWITCH leader party.

I am reading...Redemption by Karen Kingsbury and Boundaries by Cloud and Townsend

I am hearing...nothing (the boys are taking a nap)

Around the house...I will be taking care of my love (aka Tim) after surgery and teaching my sweet boys!

Join us every Monday here.