Long-Lost Friend (Runner's Madness)

Dear Rose Rudman Trail,

Sorry it's been so long. We used to spend every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 9:00 am together, but since the kids have been out of school, my daily routine just hasn't allowed that. However, I'm so grateful for the time we got to spend together this morning. I really enjoyed it.

I'm jealous of your daily view of the sunrise! It was gorgeous today, and I'm glad we got to share that moment!

I noticed that several of your regulars greeted each other as they crossed paths. I used to be one of those, but sort of felt like the outsider today. Nonetheless, they're your friends, so your friends are my friends and so with much effort I said, "Good morning!" with a smile.

On that note, thanks for having so many friends. They made the run go by faster, as I enjoy people watching. Also, with so much traffic, the critters stay away from you. This was very nice, as it's been a long time since I went on a run and didn't see any roadkill or live critters.

Sorry that the guys who made you didn't account for the possible mud that would collect in the low spots, especially under the bridges. It made me want to just wash you down with a power hose so that you'd be nice and clean like when they first made you.

Your trees were especially welcoming this morning. Most arched over you to make a leafy green canopy under which I ran. This shielded me from the sun, which had long since risen.

So, thanks for a great morning. Hopefully I'll come visit more often. Don't forget about me!

Sincerely,

Kim, the occasional runner

Another random assosrtment of things

Our July has been so slow, and I have just relished every moment of it!

Yesterday I ran 9.34 miles. This was the longest I'd ever run in my training for the Tyler 1/2 marathon in October. I kept my pace just barely under a 10 minute mile. It gave me a boost of confidence that I really might be able to run that 1/2! Tomorrow morning I'll do a shorter run and go for a faster pace. I'm really starting to like this running thing. Kreg has hinted at coming down to run the 1/2 with me, and I really hope he can! Mom has hinted at coming down to support me (us), and I really think she should. :)

Benson is blending in beautifully with our family. It's hard to believe that we've only had him for 6 days! He's definitely a puppy still--finding everything he can to chew on--but that is good incentive for the kids to keep their toys picked up!

Johnathan continues to excel at any Wii game he plays. Since he jumps up and down the whole time he plays, it's hard for me to think that he's just "sitting around playing video games." He's played a lot recently.

But I do try to lock the children outside from time to time. Right now they are in the backyard playing in the sprinklers, on the swings and in the baby pool. They keep taking turns coming up to the door, knocking on it and saying, "I'm done!" To which I reply, "You can come in when the sprinklers go off." Mean ol' mommy!

We got Kalleigh some Dora panties to try, since the Pull-Ups did nothing to help. Whoever said girls were easier was totally wrong! (No offense.) It has to be a personality thing. We tried the "big girl panties" out today. By noon, she had gone through 3 pairs. We're putting the whole potty training gig on the shelf for another couple of weeks. I'm not even going to talk about it. She'll be 3 in October.

Tonight we're making chicken fajita pizza, one of my favorites! I'm using 2 red bell peppers that I grew right in my front yard! Of course it's the only fruit or vegetable I've ever grown in my life, so I have to make a really big deal out of it.

Jonas is still working on those teeth and running the obligatory fever that usually accompanies that. That's just another reason I'm glad we've been taking it easy these days.

Right now I'm reading Anne Lamott's Traveling Mercies. I'm just barely into it, but it's already better than her other book I read this summer, Blue Shoe. So depressing! Several people told me that Traveling Mercies would be much better, which is why I gave her another shot. The book "on deck" is Francine Rivers's The Scarlet Thread. It's just hard to go wrong with Francine Rivers!

John and I have been transcribing The Real Group's "It Don't Mean a Thing." It's probably the hardest song I've ever tried to transcribe. John's amazing, though. We're doing it so that Clearly Vocal can sing it. It's one of TRG's songs that you can't get sheet music for, and that's a real bummer! It's such a great song! It's going to be so fun!

The kids are going to spend the night with the Deans tomorrow night. We'll probably go see a movie and maybe hit Breakers, the newest, bestest, yummiest seafood place in town. Can we say fried avacados? Oh yes. We can. I haven't had anything on the menu that I didn't like. Go there. Then we'll come home and keep transcribing! We're such nerds! But we're nerds together, and that's what counts!

This coming Wednesday the kids and I will head to AR for about a week to help Mom redo her bedroom. It's going to be GREAT, and I'll be sure to take before & after pics.

And my baby will be ONE in just a couple of weeks. Bless his heart. I have one page of his first year scrapbook done. There's a third child for you. I WILL get it done ... eventually.

I've promised to help Johnathan make a Mr. Incredible mask, so I'll get to it. Then fix supper.

I really love slow months!

New Addition

We did it. Two weeks to the day after Belle died we found a new buddy for Bison. Bison has been so happy today! Much closer to normal than he had been!

In keeping with our Harding "B" names, meet Benson!


I found him on Craigslist, of all places! His previous onwner said she needed to find a new home for him because she was having to go back to work and didn't feel it was right to keep a puppy cooped up in a crate all day without a playmate. They also have an older cat who is her husband's baby, and since they had had the puppy, the cat had gone from 12 - 8 pounds and never came out. So the pup had to go. She said in her ad that she really preferred that he go to a home that was familiar with the pug breed. That would be us!

He's a 10-month-old fawn pug, AKC registered with a 4-generation pedigree documented, house-trained, microchipped, current on all vet visits/shots, etc., very clean, great with all three kids, hilarious and absolutely beautiful! Well, for a pug!

And she just GAVE him to me. I couldn't believe it. Her ad said that she wanted a small re-homing fee, but when Bison and I came over to meet the puppy, she said that she could see how happy he would be to have a playmate and that she didn't need anything but the reassurance that he would be well-loved. No problem!

I'm not sure where Kalleigh got this, but she is convinced that we got her her "very own puppy," in her words. I can't count the number of times she has said, "I love Benson, Mommy!" today. The "very own puppy" phrase came when she told John that she was so happy to have her "very own puppy!" And Benson has played along beautifully. He just follows her around and lets her love on him.

We hope Benson is a part of our family for a really long time!

Jonas & Bison

Jonas is cutting four teeth right now which makes for low grade fevers, some nasty diapers with accompanying rashes and one very fussy baby. To remind myself and everyone else how sweet the child CAN be, here are some recent pics of him:

Snuggling with Daddy

Oreo face

How most of the shots I try to take of Jonas turn out.

And poor Bison, without Belle, is just a little off these days.


With the exception of these things, well, and Kalleigh's refusal to potty train, life around the Hodges house is pretty laid-back. I've cooked a lot at home, we've had company, the laundry is mostly under control and we're doing some fun things.

Yesterday was especially fun. The kids and I went over to a friend's house to swim. She just got a new Beautiful pool, and we just really had a good time. Johnathan is trying his very best to swim without floaties, which scares this momma to bits, but he's doing pretty well. He swam the width of the pool for the first time, which was a big deal!

Then last night we had our next-door neighbors over for dinner ... finally. We've lived here for almost 3 1/2 years and we had NEVER had them over! They're such sweet people who would do anything for us. We had a great time visiting as we munched on marinated grilled chicken, carrots, green beans, salad, rolls, peach cobbler and chocolate cake! I even pulled out a tablecloth, cloth napkins and napkin rings. I don't think my children had ever seen the napkin rings before.

We'll enjoy these slow days while we have them. School will be here before we know it!

Princess Day Out

This is one of those things I said I would never do. I did not want to promote entitlement or bratiness of any kind.

And then I had a daughter.

A daughter who loves girly things.

A daughter who one day will be in junior high and struggle with self-esteem.

A daughter who one day will be in high school and choose her own friends.

A daughter who one day will marry someone and will only love him as much as she loves herself (Luke 10:27).

And I decided that she needs as much esteem-building, reassuring, princess-feeling, lovin' and hugin' from her momma that she can get!

So today Mom, Kalleigh and I had a girls' morning out. We shopped at the mall and then saw that they were having princess makeovers! Kalleigh was star-struck as she saw Cinderella, Jasmine and Aurora walk around and taking pictures with the little girls. The makeover included a princess hairdo, tiara, bracelets, a ring, makeup, and a personalized purse! Here are some of the pictures, thanks to Mom having her camera!

Kalleigh and Cinderella -- before

Fixing her hair

A look in the princess mirror.

Princess hairdo.

Putting on her makeup.

The lady kept saying, "Look at her lips! They're such pretty lips!"

Princess Kalleigh!

Cinderella and Kalleigh -- after!

Kalleigh, I pray that you will know that you are God's princess with grace, wisdom and strength as your inner beauty! May your confidence and self-worth come from Him! He adores you!

Goodbye, Sweet Belle

Lady Harding Belle Tower Hodges, 7, died July 3, 2009, at her home in Tyler. Belle was born on June 13, 2002 in Camden, AR, to Buster Lee and Bossie Mae Coke. She was the smallest of five pups.

Sold to John and Kim Hodges in late July of '02, Belle moved to Colorado Springs, CO.

In September of '02, she was registered with the Universal Kennel Club International as a fawn female pug, but her vet discovered additional information. While performing her spay, Dr. Albertson, of Colorado Springs, discovered that she had female parts on the exterior, but male on the interior. Belle had to be both spayed and neutered. We were charged double. It was the first case of a hermaphrodite at that clinic. Ever.

Belle soon learned to sit, shake, roll over and lie down. We learned that she also had skin allergies and hip dysplasia. She was particularly good with the babies and liked to bring toys to them to try to get them to play with her. She never snapped or scratched or played too rough with any of the children, even when Jonas crawled into her food dish to "share" her food.

Belle is survived by her best buddy, Bison, with whom she lived her whole life.

Slow week -- stream of consciousness

We played a gig last night for the Chamber of Commerce ... outside in 100 degree weather! Thankfully we were in the shade and had a fan, so it was better than I was afraid it would be. The band played from 5 - 7:30 or so and Clearly Vocal made an appearance in the middle and sang 4 songs. Fun times.


CV has been rehearsing in the mornings this week, so several of our nights have been open!

Gymnastics are going well. Both kids enjoy it. I haven't gotten a good picture of Johnathan yet, but here's Kalleigh in her cute little leotard.


Jonas had his first haircut and did just great. Bye-bye baby curls; hello big boy!


He also is cutting his top front two teeth. They poked through yesterday!

I love my new Asics Gel Nimbus running shoes. They're just awesome. Kreg says that they're going to be my birthday present from Mom and him ( I just haven't talked to Mom about it yet! Ha!)! I just helped them a little by going ahead and picking them out ... and trying them out. :) Thanks!!
On my runs in the mornings I usually see a lot of road kill. This morning I saw a nice sized bass out in the middle of the road ... that had been run over. Odd.

Belle turned 7 the other day. She's down to 3 front teeth on the bottom. Bless her heart.


Our weekend is completely open. How fantastic is that? I hope we're not forgetting something!

Favorite thumb.
Favorite blanket.
Straight out of the dryer.

Best Daddy!

Happy Father's Day!

(Yesterday!)

Subtly Sweet Cherry Treats

I had the urge to experiment with fresh cherries. Here's what I came up with ...

Yeild: 18 treats

Crust:
2 c flour
1 t salt
2/3 c + 2 T shortening (I use Butter Crisco)
5 T COLD water

Filling:
2 c Splenda
5 T cornstarch
Dash salt
2 c water
2 T butter
4 cups fresh, pitted cherries

Prepare crusts: Combine flour and salt in medium bowl. Thoroughly cut in shortening. Sprinkle in water and stir with fork until dough "cleans the bowl." May add up to 1T more water, if necessary. Shape 18 balls about 1 1/2 in diameter. Roll each out to 1/4 inch (should be about 5 inches in diameter). Or you could roll it all out and cut 5 in circles however you like. Press dough circles into muffin tins. Generously prick bottom and sides. Bake at 425 10 minutes, or until desired browning. Let cool until easily handled. Place each crust in a muffin liner and set on serving tray. (I suppose you could just press the dough into lined muffin tins and bake it that way, but it might be harder.) Set aside.

While crusts are baking, mix Splenda, cornstarch and salt in large saucepan or deep skillet (I use a wok skillet). Add water, butter and cherries cook on medium heat, stirring until thickened. May need to add more water if mixture gets too thick.

Spoon filing into crusts and refrigerate, covered until cooled completely. Before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional for those who want it completely sugar-free). If you are too impatient to wait until they cool completely, the powdered sugar will dissolve on top of they cherries, as demonstrated in the following photo:

Mmmmmmm......

Oh my, they were good! Yes, WERE. They're gone.

If you try these, I'd love for you to tweak, and let me know what you did and how they turned out!

Big 5 year old

Right now, 5 years ago today I had just received my epidural and that anesthesiologist was my new best friend. It was a Sunday morning in Colorado Springs -- Father's Day! What a great way for John to spend his first Father's Day! Thankfully his back-up song leader was ready to fill in at Eastside! Johnathan arrived at 2:30 that afternoon weighing 8 lbs. 5 oz. My smallest baby!

Here's a walk down memory lane ...

Birth Day, June 20, 2004

One,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five!

Love you, my sweet Johnathan! Happy Birthday!

Kalleigh Elizabeth!

Inspired and reminded by Elizabeth to write these things down, here's another round of Kalleigh-isms.

While sitting on the potty (and we have a long way to go), she says to me, "Mommy, you can take a break." Not really knowing what to say or what she meant, I just said, "Thanks."

Passing by an M&M machine: "What are those?" (knowing the answer, of course)
Me: M&Ms, of course.
Kalleigh, looking wistfully at them: "I don't need those."

At Starbucks, after finishing her steamer and then taking a sip of my mocha, "Ooohh, wat's good!"

Kalleigh trying to get my attention: "Mommy? Mommy. Mommy! Mommy Elizabeth!"

And in a weak mommy moment, I allowed this to happen:


She's so very proud of them!

Love you, little girl!

"God wants us to be sore."

Johnathan: God wants us to be sore.
Me: What? God wants us to be sore? I don't think he does.
Johnathan: He does! God wants us to be sore!
Me: Where did you hear that?
Johnathan: On "A Snoodle's Tale" (from Veggie Tales). God wants us to be sore like the eagles!

Those poor eagles! :)

Headinng into the summer

We're heading into the summer with some new and exciting things for the kids. It's already starting to pick up speed!

At church, we sort of kicked off the summer with a Ministry Fair that I got to help plan. Click here to see pictures and a good article by Donna LaRue. This was the first one for Glenwood in several years--the first since we've been here--and I really think it was a huge success. Plus, it's another thing to check off my to-do list. Whew! That was a big one!

Sorry. Kalleigh's potty training days are here, and those last two comments sent me to that world.

Getting back on track ...

Yesterday we got Johnathan all registered for kindergarten. He seemed pretty nervous about the whole thing, but I'm sure he'll do just great. Er, I'm sure I'll do just great. I'm sure.

And today I got the oldest two signed up for gymnastics for the summer. They're both VERY excited about this, so I hope it's a good experience for them. That's our big summer thing for the kids. (Who knew how expensive a 3T required leotard could be?! Good grief!)

The kids have a calendar that hangs in their bathroom that we update every month. Johnathan loves this because he really feels like he needs to know what "the plan" is several days in advance. :) He got so excited as we added each activity: gymnastics, zoo camp, VBS, Father's Day and of course, his birthday party!

He'll be the big 5 this year. Our family has decided to do big "friend parties" every five years or so (5, 10, 16), so this year is the first big one. We're heading to "Jumpin' Jacks Party Shack" on his birthday, which conveniently falls on a Saturday.

And in between all that fun, I'm sure we'll head to the pool, play in the sprinklers, go to the spray park and anything else we can think of to stay cool. We had a mild winter, so I'm guessing it's going to be a hot summer!

Happy June!

Note to self:

The problem with the mixer is

that the egg whites whipped up so beautifully

that I forgot it WASN'T meringue.

And took a big lick.

Around the house

Your know you're a good daddy when you have a sword in your pocket while shaving ... just in case. :)

My big boy pulling up to standing. Way to go, little man!

Found this little mess outside the other day.

I'm muddy, Mommy!

When in doubt, take a bath.

Daddy lovin'!

The dogs ... chillaxin'.

Westin Wayne Kell

6 lbs., 7 oz.
20 1/2 inches long
Born Thursday, May 14, 2009
6:15 p.m.

Keleigh was induced Wednesday evening and 24 hours later and NO epidural, Westin was here! I'm so proud of my sister-in-law! Yeah, and Kreg did great, too. ;)

Isn't he just beautiful? All that hair!

This one might be my all-time favorite! This just has to go in his senior slide-show!

The Kell Family

Kalleigh's most recent funnies

I'll get to my PA trip in the next post after I've stolen some pictures from the people who were smart enough to take them, and I'll also show you pictures of my newest nephew, Mr. Westin Wayne Kell, but this post is for Kalleigh and for me. A "so-I-don't-forget" post.

1. We went to P.F. Chang's after John and the kids picked me up from the airport last night, and as is our custom, ordered the Great Wall of Chocolate. Kalleigh, with her mouth full of chocolate cake, a ring of chocolate around her mouth, and another large piece on her fork, grins ear to ear and enthusiastically says as if on a commercial, "Das a bvig bvite!" (That's a big bite!) That one is a "you had to be there," one, but lucky for me, I was. :)

2. She also was especially concerned about getting to eat the blueblerry that garnished the cake.

3. Not long ago, Kalleigh held up her thumb and said, "Daddy, my scum hurts! Can you kitch it?"

4. Identifying shapes: "Dassa square, dassa trine-tangle (triangle), and dassa, uh, uh, (obviously searching for the word) dassa squirrel (circle)."

We try not to laugh at everything she says so she won't get TOO self-conscious and stop trying new words. But we certainly have to turn away to hide the smiles sometimes! This is too fun!

Lapped, among other things

This morning ... just one of those mornings.

Though I slept great, it was all I could do to drag myself out of bed. The children were more than willing to "help" with this situation. I put on my running clothes, tying Kalleigh's bandana from Rodeo Roundup around my head, and got with it.

John has the morning task of fixing breakfast for the older two kids, which he did. Of course, as soon as he got in the shower they finished their bowls of cereal and needed some more, so I did that.

I adamantly deny using bacon grease to fry my healthy egg whites. Johnathan then declared that he'd please like some eggs, too, so I fried him one, too. Then made John's scrambled, just like he likes it.

As I started to sit down to eat my healthy egg whites, Jonas woke up and was especially fussy. So, leaving the healthy egg whites I fixed his bottle and took it into his room ... which smelled AWFUL. He had pooped out of his diaper, and it was everywhere. I stripped him and put him in the tub.

I got him back to the changing table all clean and called John in to watch him while I took the sheets and put them in the washer. While I was in there, I heard the phone ring, but didn't think much of it. I grabbed a few more things from the laundry to fill the load and got it started.

When I got back to the nursery, the phone was off the hook and John said, "It's for you." I grabbed the phone, knowing it had been quite a while since the phone had rung, but they had already hung up. Nice. John said it was one of the moms in Johnathan's class. We've been playing phone tag for several days now, and I really needed to talk to her. I called back, but no answer. I'm sure that was because she was on her way to drop off her child at school because it was already time to go!

I got Jonas dressed and set up with a bottle and started getting Kalleigh dressed. Thankfully, she did not put up a fight about her outfit and was content to just wear shorts and a t-shirt rather than a "boo-ful dress." But then I had to fix her hair that had milk in it. Painful tangles, even though I tried to be gentle. One pony-tail, a bow and several tears later we were done.

We loaded up the van and were out the door. I had told my friend that I would pick up her son on the way to school. Seeing that it was already 8:50, I knew we would be late. One mile down the road, I realized that I had left the jogging stroller back home. Knowing I couldn't run while holding an infant and not having another option of where to put the child, we had to turn around.

We made it to school by ten after and I headed to the park. I felt tired even before I started the 5-mile trek, but figured I would "get into my stride" eventually and feel better. Yeah, that didn't happen. A stroller + wind + hills = bad idea. But I trudged on fighting all the negative thoughts along the way.

About 3.5 miles in, I saw a guy wearing a neon green shirt and running pants. Looked like he had just started. As we got closer, he looked at the stroller and said, "Your tougher than me!" Now I don't know if that was just a sympathy comment or geniune encouragement, but I took it as the latter, said 'thanks,' straightened my shoulders and went on.

Then the big hill came along. I have to run it or it won't be a full 5 miles. Thankfully, someone was sitting on the bench at the top of the hill so I wasn't tempted to curse out loud. He called out, "You're a glutton for punishment!" I grinned as I topped the hill and headed down the other side. "No, I just want a new wardrobe," I thought to myself.

Then the green shirt guy lapped me. This wouldn't be such a big deal ... except there's only ONE LAP. Thankfully, he looked a little more tired than when I saw him last. I, on the other hand, was nearly dead by that point.

I made it back to the car and checked my time. Slower than normal. No big surprise there. I could feel every bit of that.

When I climbed in the car and checked the rear-view mirror, I saw that all of the paint from Kalleigh's precious bandana had smeared and had started running down my face! No wonder people were looking at me strangly!! Ha! Thankfully, that did come off in the shower!

Jonas and I headed home and when I got there, I saw my healthy egg whites sitting right where I had left them, untouched. So sad. I had just forgotten to eat them! No wonder I was so tired!

And that was the morning. I anticipate a much better "rest of the day." Toinght I get to sing with my buddy Mary for the first time on the praise team, so I'm looking forward to that. And tomorrow Jonas and I fly out to Pittsburg to celebrate Kristi's graduation!

Life is good.

I need to drink more water.

HU Graduation

The kids and I had a good time in Searcy for Kreg & Keleigh's graduation. We loved spending time with everyone! And we ate and Ate and ATE! Seriously. In the few days I was there we had 4 BIG meals. Two out at the farm, one at Mom's and one at Shogun. Thankfully, I did run with Kreg on Friday, so I'm pretty sure it all balanced out. :)

Anyway, here are some pictures that I had no right stealing from Tami's (Keleigh's mom) Facebook. I was my typical self and forgot to take my camera along. Enjoy!

Kreg getting a hug from Mom after walking across the stage.

Cute little pregnant Keleigh with her Summa Cum cords!

Wait a second ...

All three children went to graduation, too. We almost made it the whole time.

Jonas was SO tired!

The Harding grads on the Hardig swing. How iconic!

Kell family

Back at Mom's house, Mamaw and Mom were fixing a feast!

The beautiful table, complete with Harding plates, Harding swing, a grad cap, a bison, a picture of Kreg & Keleigh, this year's Petit Jean and lots of black and gold!

I couldn't be more proud of Kreg and Keleigh. Keleigh is due any day now with baby Westin, so all of us are keeping our phones close! Love you guys!

Thursday Jonas and I fly out to Pittsburg to do it all over again for Kristi's graduation. She's the first of us siblings to get her Master's. Way to go, Sis! See you Thursday!