Hallways, Hungarians, and Halloween

So my Dad's visit came to an end last Sunday. Tank boy still can't stop talking about taking Grampa to the airport to go on the big airplane. But the true icing on the cake of Dad's visit was the gorgeous flooring we got installed last Friday and Saturday. So the master bedroom has gone from this...


to this...


Furniture gets moved in this weekend! Whoo hoo! (Mind you this is only for two bedrooms and one bathroom, the rest of the house is still completely uninhabitable. Seriously. Like no back walls, and no subfloor. Yeah, really.

Anywhoo, to accomplish this there was much cleaning, taping, and painting by my tireless dad (even the stinky dog pee subfloor got painted!). And then a day and a half Pergo push by Pops and I. To start we had to carry all of this...


Up these...


Good thing they build us Hungarians hardy! So wish us luck in setting up a temporary kitchen in the hallway and making due at the new place for a few days next week! (We even have hot water now!)

Looking forward to tonight, I was getting Tank in the mood for some costume wearing...


He bids y'all a Happy Halloween!

In The Words of Dory the Fish...

Grampa has been here for more than a week now, and we've been working him to the bone on the new/old house remodel. (And utilizing his skills as a toddler book reader.) But before we wore him down too badly we took him into the park for a look see and a short hike around. Here is Tankster showing us the way to go...


Honestly the last week has been rather a blur of work (both in and out of the home), toddler care, laundry for four, meal preparation, driving, shopping for food and home remodel supplies, and coordination phone calls between all the various and sundry folks putting different pieces of our house together. I had a bit of a hissy fit on Friday and the Hub graciously granted me a whole day to myself on Sunday. One luxurious obligation free day! So I finally got out to see the fire damaged area, attended a yoga class, hiked by the river with a friend and her dogs, and stayed up late for a girlie craft night. All in one day! I feel much better today.



But alas, each member of my immediate family had a hit of bad news today, so I think we're all reeling a bit. Lets hope that things like this come in threes, meaning that we're all done with bad news for now! Just keep swimming...

Jeepers Creepers!

Seeing as our "new" (old) house is no where ready for us to move into yet, I am still doing the 1 hour + work commute each way, three days a week. Which is okay if the Hub is on the same schedule, because then he drives halfway and I can knit or nap as I please. But sometimes he has meetings elsewhere and I drive the whole way my self, bleah.

Enter the podcast. Whoever invented these things is a genius! (For those of us who live in the middle of nowhere and don't get ANY radio reception.) Even after an hour of driving, sometimes I want to sit in my car and finish the current 'cast...

So anywhoo, last week I was listening to NPR's "This American Life", and this segment came on about parenting. It was engagingly told and wonderfully inspiring and also the perfect reminder about what our job is, as parents. I HIGHLY recommend popping over and giving it a listen if you have a few minutes.

And on a semi-related note I'd like to share some of the irresistibly cute words Tank Boy uses these days:
He is getting very good at remembering his "Pweeses and Tank You's"
He loves to watch the "bummy bees" in the garden.
Whenever we slow down in the car he says "Is dat a deer?"
He hopelessly mangles the words "grocery store".
We stopped the car on our dirt road the other day to watch a tarantula creep slowly across, so he is now very into "stiders".
He really wants to add tons of "stalt" to all of his food.
And I nearly die every time he says "Bye bye, wuvs you!"

So thanks Dad, for reading to my sister and I every single darn night. Little did I know what a huge gift you were really giving us! So, while I may not want to correct all of Tank's cute mispronunciations right now, I am rededicated to daily, nightly, and nigh-on constant book reading to my kid. It really is that simple!