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!