Let Me Count The Ways!

Oh county fair, how I love thee...





Way to go Hubsand! First place Children's Portrait and some other crazy rainbow Special Award thingy too!

That there is that wacky sweater that I done-did knit, with all kinds-a crazy rainbow colored ribbons on it too! You could have knocked me over with a feather! And the Tarnay's clean up at this year's county fair! I ask you, what is not to love?

Bounceapalooza!

What's good clean fun for the whole family, rain or shine?

A basket full of superballs and a flight of stairs!

Hey Shel, I Think I'm a Housewife...

Thanks to my dad, I did finally locate the camera, and now will proceed to update you with pictures that are perhaps a month old! Long live the internet for the up-to-date... uh... updates!

Here is Tank Boy competing in his first official ski race! He was a bit unclear on the concept, but I'm super proud regardless! (Blue flags, we're trying to go around the blue flags!)

Here he is after the race, super happy and snuggly!

And here he is about four minutes later, completely konked out (for almost 2 hours!) in the noisiest restaurant/hallway imaginable!


Now moving on to slightly more recent events, The Tank has rediscovered the joy of interlocking blocks. I know I'm his mom, but this thing was cool!


And as far as the house goes, we haven't completed any of those pesky little remaining tasks (towel racks, we don't need no stinkin' towel racks!) but we did gather up all the remaining (live) houseplants and style ourselves a little atrium. It is a wee slice of heaven indoors...


May the sun shine into your garden a little this week as well!

Look Out 2024!

Guess who has a ski coach for a Daddy...



Attempt number two! Did it work?!

All Tank, All The Time

Sweet Jebus, how time has flown! Have you guys seen how big Tank Boy has gotten?

From the feet he looks like he could be a college student...

We've had some setbacks here at CasaHoop, that had me feelin' kinda crummy. The above tankster has decided to un-pottie train himself. We had been fighting it tooth and nail, causing all sorts of domestic strife and despair. But then upon the recommendation of our favorite medical professional, we decided to back off for a bit. We've been looking at any possible medical causes, but so far he seems healthy as a wee stubborn horse. So we might just be buying stock in Pull-ups.

On happier fronts we've been getting out to do lots of stuff. Tankster comes ice skating with me once every week or two, he's getting to be an old pro...



His skiing skills are also improving, necessitating the purchase of the official new goggles... I keep forgetting the camera on the actual hill.

Tune in next time for more toddler trials and tribulations!

Happy Halloween!!

Roar!





Cute yet fierce! I could just eat him up!

Tasty Autumn With A Hint Of Spring

Due to an unusually forceful and prolonged rainstorm here a week or so ago things have, again, taken on the rosy tones of Shangri-La. The fall colors are coloring, but the air is clean, crisp, and dust free. The waterfalls are flowing again and the grass is growing. The past two weekend have been painfully pleasant, that aching sweetness that only fall can conjure.










If you're wondering why this entry is filled with so many fantastic pics, its because they were all taken by the Hubsand. He got a new camera, and is up to his old (and fabulous) tricks!

I'm still working away on the dinosaur/dragon costume, here's the latest addition, scary claw fingerless mitts! (Note the lack of flair in the pic, it was taken by me...)


The Women's Thursday Evening Climbing Club has come to a halt for the season, that pesky darkness just kept interfering. It has, however been moved to the Friday Day Women's Climbing Club for all those who are interested! Last week a gal and I did the (CLASSIC) Nutcracker. I led all 5 pitches (yay me!) and was WORKED by the end of the day! Today is the first day I got out of bed without creaking!

And yet again the world reminds me why I love the savoriest of the seasons. I keep reminding my self to breathe, absorb, and enjoy.

Kill 'Em With Cuteness!

So Halloween is coming, and I have a newly set up craft room at my disposal. Therefore I have challenged myself to take this pile of ingredients...

And make it into a SCAWWWY DINOSAUR for the Tank!

Day one got me here...


Day two of laboring got me here...



Poor Tankboy, so far its just dang adorable, but not very scary at all! Claws, he's gonna need some claws!

Home Improvement, Schmome Improvement!

So this past weekend was much more relaxing than last weekend's evacuapalooza. And to top it off the County Fair was in town. Now Tankster loves himself some fair, but I hate to admit that I might love it even more! The farm animals, the snack foods, the knitting on display! The live bands, and cowboy stuff! Balloon animals! Juggling! Eeeegads! Too much good clean family fun to resist!

Did I mention the $3 giant slide?



The impossible to win ping pong ball games, set up for toddlers so that you get a prize just for playing?


And tired loopy toddlers boogying down in the dark?


Ack! I can't stand it, I LOVE THE FAIR! (Despite the fact that I entered the knitting contest and came in dead last! That is how much I love the fair!)

Oh, and speaking of knitting, I did finish that sock I started last week...

Tadaa! One more to go and I can actually wear them! (Yes, that is a super lazy picture of the sock sitting in my lap. It is dark, artsy does not happen here after dark.) G'night!

And a Weekend With the Cousins, of Course!

Tankboy has had a summer full of:

Long Daddy spiders
Fighter Fighters (aka fire fighters)
Mister Squitos
Bite-amins (the gummy bear vareity)
and twice daily brushing with his Brush Toof.

And really, who could ask for anything more?

You Gotta Have The Right Tool For Every Job

And this, my friends, is my newest and rightest tool! (Aside from the fact that when looked through, it makes you look like an alien.)

For those of you who have not met these before, it is a spring loaded camming device (SLCD) that is as big as my head. With this little puppy, or more specifically, big dog, I was able to safely wrestle my way to the top of that climb that thwarted me last week! Yay!

Previously my largest piece of "protection" (stuff you put in the crack to secure your rope through) was a size three. This Mammajamma is a size FIVE! Yep, that's right, I skipped right over poor number four in favor of the purple people eater! I'm crazy that way.

And in other news that is not AAM (all about me!), I would like to present all the things that are wonderful about little boys.

He's not afraid to rough and tumble football and snuggle his teddy bear all at the same time. Gawd I love him.

Progress!

This weekend was rather fruitful here at Casa Remodel. I finally got the Pergo flooring going! Here's Tank Boy doing the "Halfway Done Red Underpants Boogie."



Then we quick cleaned up, hopped in the car and unfortunately found the battery completely dead. The Hub performed the quickest jump ever (innuendo aside) and we were on the road in 3.5 minutes flat! See, we were in a bit of a rush to get up to Groveland to go to their Movies in the Park night. They were showing the Tale of Despereaux, which none of us had seen yet. The town is about an hour away, so we were trying to head out early to explore and hang out a bit before the movie. The best laid plans...

Now that Tank Boy is a Big Boy and Wearing Big Boy Underpants (see above) we travel with this everywhere we go. Forty minutes from our destination the warning call went out. We were not going to make it to any civilized facilities. So we deployed the on hand facilities on the side of the road. Unfortunately sometimes Tank likes to take his time. A half an hour later The Hub was off in the woods digging a cat hole to deposit Tank Boy's... um... deposit.

So at this point it was already past the Tankster's bedtime, and we were neither fed, nor at our destination. Which made me a bit antsy. But as luck would have it, we pulled up into the parking lot and made our way to the cool grassy expanse of the park just as the announcements were starting. And it was the best evening ever! Tank Boy had so much fun snuggling on the blanket, eating hot dogs and popcorn, and occasionally even watching the movie! Amazing starry skies, perfect temperature, and the world's cutest animated mouse! I can't recommend the Toddler trip to the movies in the park any more highly, despite the 11 pm bedtime!

Then Sunday, it was back to the old miter saw...

Tank Boy Time

We are still here, in a mad rush to get the house finished for the family visit that happens in two weeks, ack! I have a million and one things going on between now and then too, aside from a date with a 2 ton stack of Pergo...

In the mean time:
Jackson somehow whacked his front right tooth and broke it up above the gum line, and it has turned a lovely shade of grey. I tried to take a pic, but as you can see below, the gray does not translate.

So Tankster had his first visit to the dentist! He did great, ah'ed and grinned so the doc could get a good look. Our local doc wants us to see a pediatric doc to possibly do a pediatric root canal-ish. But then again, it isn't showing signs of swelling or infection, so it might be nothing... Keep yer fingers crossed for the nothing!

Jackson has had a myriad of kiddo get togethers. A couple of Friday's ago we went to preschool and I volunteered to set up the craft activity. We read the book The Rainbow Fish and made Rainbow Fish costumes.

If I do say so myself the kids are a-freakin-dorable.

Then we went to a bunch of birthday parties, which was pretty much seventh heaven for Tank. He got to play with a different set of toys at each house! And the goodie bags! And the candy! Eeeek! One family tried to take it easy on the candy prizes (thank gosh!) so they were heavy on balloon favors. But they got these odd balloons that I think were supposed to be "tye dyed" but really ended up looking sort of medical, and birth related...


We also were lucky enough to find a conjoined pair in our goodies, that really look rather unmentionable. So of course I had to mention them...


Anybody free to come out this weekend and lay pergo, install baseboard, build kitchen cabinets, do some patch painting, storage space diving or perhaps even a little light landscaping? We'll provide a room and the boards, ha ha ha!

Savoring...

Fall has always been my season of preference, but our new location is incredible this time of year. Sort of a combination of Shangri-La and The Shire. The weather can be amazing, the waterfalls are going off, and of course there are the wildflowers. But don't take my word for it, take a gander instead...