Perhaps my longest post ever?

I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted, but this little blog is not the only thing that has been neglected in my life! These past months have been seemingly busier than ever. Adam has had an unprecedented workload, and we've barely seen him. I honestly don't know how he has kept his head above water. He's been working at least sixty hours a week, which has left me with most of the parenting duties and all of the housekeeping. (Our house is certainly showing signs of neglect!) Finally, this past week, Adam announced that he can see the light at the end of the tunnel. As I near the end of my school year, I too can envision a time when things feel 'sane' again. Our whole family is so ready for things to be normal (whatever that is)! For the most part, Kira has been a trooper. Adam's absence has been hard for her--she's so connected to her daddy. There have been many, many days where she didn't see him because he left before she woke up and didn't come home 'til after bedtime. She always calls him to report on her day and say goodnight, but a phone call is no substitute for bedtime stories, hugs and kisses.

Kira has been busy reading, reading, reading (as always), working on her piano pieces (her first little recital is in June) and has started a drama class. She's so dramatic in real life, that we thought perhaps she'd enjoy acting, and so far she loves it. She's playing spring soccer too, which she loves a little less, but it's so good for her to get outside and exercise and she loves being part of a team. She's such a big girl now. It's kind of freaking us out a bit.

Another of Kira's favorite pastimes has been playing string games. She found a loop of string that I'd been playing with, and I taught her the ones I remembered: Cat's Whiskers, Grandpa's Overalls, and Witch's Broom. She purchased this Klutz Cat's Cradle book and quickly mastered all the designs illustrated. She and a bunch of girls in her class have been teaching each other various tricks. I found this great website with string games and am hoping to learn some new tricks as well. She loves playing with them so much that Adam actually grounded her from strings after some particularly undesirable behavior last night. (If we could ground her from reading, we just might.) Kira has also learned to finger knit (from this book) and she made a cat's cradle string. Now that's crafty.

When my school year ends, I'll be heading to beautiful Eagle, Idaho to visit my sister-in-law Rachel and her husband Jeff. They're expecting their first baby in mid June, and I'm so excited to go spend time with Rachel and her bump (and Jeff too, of course!) Maybe I can help her nest a bit? That was one of my favorite parts of pregnancy. This little trip will be a milestone for me...I've only been away from Kira for one night (ever!), and I'll be gone for three nights on this trip. Yes, I realize this is a little ridiculous, but I rarely have a reason to go anywhere without her. She and Adam will have to fend for themselves for a few days while I go and play. (Lookout, Archivers! Here I come!) Thanks to Adam and his parents for sending me. (My plane ticket was my birthday present.) I'm really looking forward to it!

Since this post is already getting rather long, here's an attempt at a brief rundown of what we've been up to these past couple of months:

- We didn't do much over spring break since Adam worked all week. I actually started a post about what we did do, but never finished it. Perhaps I'll put it up anyway.

- We spent Easter with Adam's parents, his aunt, uncle and cousin. It was rainy and crummy, but the food and games were great!

- I finally managed to get the first half of our 2007 photos printed. Yep, I'm that far behind. I'm hoping to get some serious scrapbooking done this summer!

- I turned 29 (again)!

- My school had it's annual auction fund raiser. It went very well, despite being scaled back from years past. I think I may even be able to purchase a new set of dramatic play furniture. Very exciting!

- I got tubes in my ears (yes, like a toddler) to relieve stuffiness and pressure. (This is someone else's eardrum. My tubes are blue.) I got one over spring break, and one just last week. It's amazing to be able to hear again! I feel like I have a new superhero power or something, and my family is happy that I don’t have the TV blaring. (Boy, my classroom is a heck of a lot louder though!)

-We got Kira all signed up for summer camps (one week of art & one week of soccer). With swimming lessons and some mini family vacations, our summer calendar is filling up quickly. That's a good thing. A busy summer is a happy summer where Kira and I are concerned.

- Kira ran for Run for the Arts at her school. She beat her record from last year (8 laps) by doing 10 laps this year. Ka-ching! I didn't get to watch this year, since I was at work. Bummer.

- We went to see a play, The Ghosts of Treasure Island last night. It featured our favorite local pirate rock band, Captain Bogg and Salty, but the play itself was a little on the scary side for Kira, although her friend who went with us didn't seem to think so. In the end, it was a late night (which we paid for dearly when we got home--yikes) and Kira rated it a 5.5 on a scale of 1-10. Sarah--if you're reading this, I'm really sorry I sniped this tickets from you at the auction!

- I've finally scheduled my (second) sinus surgery for early June. I'm looking forward to this about as much as a root canal or child birth. I had the left side operated on in 2002, and the recovery was H-E-double toothpicks. This time it will be even more extensive, repairing my deviated septum, roto-rooting the right side (like they should have in '02) and touching up the left side. The good thing is my new ENT doesn't use the old-school packing, but some new fangled gel stuff. That should make a big difference post-op. Having that packing removed was like having one's brains pulled out of one's nose. Sorry, but it was.

- It's a little early, but we've been planning Kira's birthday party for mid-June. She's going to have a "Pioneer" birthday at an historic location at the end of the Oregon Trail. (It is way off the beaten path...I hope this spot will work out for us!) I think I'm probably more excited about it than she is. Kira is still really into the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, as well as other historical fiction. Most Sunday evenings our family watches an episode of Little House on the Prairie, just like when I was little and lived on Howell Prairie. Sometime we even eat "pioneer food": baked beans or chili with cornbread (minus the salted pork). We vegetarian girls never would have made it as pioneers!

- Oh yes, and there's Henry. Well, he's just been as sweet and lazy as can be. A little S.A.D. for sure, since the sun has only been out a few days these past couple of months, and the animal runs on sunbeams. Fortunately, he doesn't seem to mind hibernating a little longer.

- On the food front, I have pretty much given up cooking. (Not that I was ever a master chef.) With Adam gone so much, there hasn't been much point. We've been living off of Trader Joe's frozen & deli foods for so long, I've pretty much forgotten how to cook. (I do, however, make pretty awesome cold lunches for Kira--thanks in part to her laptop lunchbox.) I'm looking forward to picking up this book soon. (The author has a great blog.) Oh, how I love lunch boxes with compartments! (Check out I Love Obento!) Check out their gallery of AMAZING lunch art!!! Kira thinks she'd like making lunches like these, but I think they're too pretty to eat! This box is on my wish list. This one is also super awesome. Okay, enough about lunch boxes....

I think I'll also pick up this cookbook and see if I can teach myself how to cook real food again. I'm hoping that Adam will get the grill cleaned up and refueled so we can start grilling again (perhaps on the front porch, as not to upset Mama Robin--see below.) In totally unrelated food news, for some reason, I'm addicted to ginger right now. My current favorite beverage is Hansen's Diet Ginger Ale. YUM.

- I think our most exciting news at the moment is that a pair of American Robins has built a nest on our back porch light. Adam and Kira discovered it last Thursday, and there are three eggs. (They are the prettiest blue color ever!) Mama Robin has been quick to fly away if we peek out the window at her, so we've been trying to be quiet and avoid using the back door. It the eggs aren't sterile, they should hatch in about a week and a half. I'm planning to attach a mirror under the eves so we can spy on them. We've loved checking out this website where a man in Louisville has posted video diaries of various nests around his home. (Check out last year's Robins!) We're so hoping we'll hear some peeping soon. (Note to self: Let our neighbor Kathryn know that her kitty Rudy needs to stay inside while the babies fledge!) I'll try to get a photo of our nest when Mama Robin's away.

Hope spring is going well for everyone. We'll try to crawl out from under our rock a little more often here.