Been busy

ETA: This is an old post that I never got around to putting up in a timely manner. It's just been a really busy time for us. I'll try to get caught up this week. Hope you're enjoying this last chunk of summer!

We're not as busy as when we're in school, but busy enough. Here's what we've been up to of late:

-Eating. We seem to be living on pasta salads, hot dogs, BLT's and Morning Star Farms stuff out of the freezer. We're not doing much by way of cooking, though. I'm no chef, and it's just too hot. That's part of why I'm so in love with what we call our Easy Bake Oven. No, not the one made by Hasbro that cooks with a light bulb, but our Black & Decker Infrawave Speed Oven...that also cooks with light. We got a killer deal on it last winter when our good old toaster oven bit it (RIP) and although it seemed like a little too much oven for our counter top, it's so much better than firing up the big oven and making the house hot(ter). We didn't realize it was one of those "As Seen On TV" appliances, but it really does live up to its claims--it cooks faster, and perfectly everytime.

- Staying home. Not really by choice, but because our formerly beloved car has turned against us. We're heading in for repairs this Friday (thank goodness) but the bill will eat up a sizable chunk of our monthly budget. It hurts. It hurts bad. It will be wonderful to have a car that can drive over 30 MPH again, but then there's the gas. It's gotta be premium, you know. So, we've been spending a lot more time at home these days. We're very much looking forward to our beach vacation next month, and to spending time with family. We are really, really going to be ready to get out of town by then!

- Not sewing. My machine has been in the shop, and is now repaired and ready to be picked up. However, I can't make the trek to Beaver-town til I get my car fixed! I've gotta get crackin' on Kira's dress for her baptism. Yikes.

- Yard work. Lots of it. We spent all day Saturday in the back yard. I moved around a LOT of rock. Adam and I were both so sore yesterday, and there was a good deal of bellyaching going on. We have finally reached the blank slate point. It's kind of depressing, as we have no color in the beds at all, but they're ready for planting and bark. I've been working on building a flagstone path around our raised garden beds. Kira's turned one of them into her fairy garden, but I think we may need to move it. Because we've been...

- Thinking about chickens. I know, we're kinda lame jumping on the Portland chicken raising bandwagon, but I've been doing a lot of research. My family raised chickens when I was a kid, and I thoroughly enjoyed feeding them and collecting their eggs. (I did not however enjoy it when our rooster, Mack, jumped on my shoulders and pecked my head while I ran around the yard screaming for help!) Our neighbors across the street are raising some, and a family from my school has some too. I'm hoping to chat with them and would like to attend the Portland Tour de Coops this weekend. (In Portland you can have up to three hens in the city without a permit--no roosters, of course!) I think I've found a coop design that will work well for us, but it would involve the removal of Kira's fairy garden. We'll certainly hook her up with a new spot though. This may be a project for next spring....

We've been doing other stuff too, of course.

We've made a couple of trips to Kruger's Farm to pick berries. Adam and Kira made some awesome marionberry cobbler (in our little oven). SO YUMMY. They've also been making banana bread on a semi-regular basis. It's a very tasty recipe with sour cream--I'll have to track it down to share.

Kira and I are both reading a bunch. She of course burns through books while I do boring stuff like laundry and dishes. I mostly read at night before I zonk out. I've just about finished the Kit American Girl books in preparation to take Kira to see the movie. I'm also reading Twilight thanks so Sarah's recommendation (and also that of my 16 year old niece). SO GOOD. Hoping to burn through the next two before the forth one is released August 2nd. I guess I've been living under a rock, since I had no idea these books were so popular. I was particularly intrigued when I got my issue of Entertainment Weekly featuring the author, Stephenie Meyer, who happens to be an LDS mom of three from Arizona. I never would have guessed.

Kira's been playing lots of soccer. She attended a camp last week with her friend Avery and her brother, and is attending yet another soccer camp this week with several girls from her team. When I picked her up today, she told me that some of the girls from the head coach's team are going to the Olympics in Bejing. I think she likes that idea--though I don't know how accurate the info is.

Rachel, Jeff, and Baby Bay safely made the trek from Eagle to Salem, thanks in part to Adam's dad who flew to Boise to help them pack their moving truck and make the trip. Jeff flew back on Saturday and worked his last shift in Nampa on Sunday. Then he's driving here again with his dad to bring out his truck. He'll be sworn in at the academy this Thursday, and then life as they know it will be over. (I guess technically, it already is, with the new baby, the move, and all.) I wish we had a guest room for him to crash in. I worry that driving back and forth from Salem to Portland five days a week is going to wear him out. There's always our couch, though! We're sure excited to have them close, and to see our little nephew grow up. I'm still waiting for my chance to hold him for the first time!

That's about it for us. Hope your summer is going well and you're keeping cool. Ciao for now!