The Pee Wee (or, why I am still waiting on cowboy boots)

Nate was wandering around on craigslist this summer when several ideas converged and all of the sudden we had this in the garage:



 A motor.  Old, yes, but it works!

And then - plans.  Plans for a boat.

Nate is building a Pee Wee.  It is a little wooden runabout that is about 7" long - for the kids.
But it's for the children.
This is a practice boat.  After Nate builds this one perfectly, he wants to build a bigger one.

There's no way around it.  We're going to have to move into a gigantic barn because that's the only way we'll be able to store all this stuff.

So when all of this started, Nate was at first going to buy a boat.

I saw my chance.

Housewife secret revealed:  I wait and bide my time and then strike when the iron is hot.  I can't say this is what all housewives do, but I have found that asking Nate for things when he is busy and immersed in an exciting project is the right time to ask for stuff.  Making cookies never hurts either.

I have wanted some cowboy boots for quite some time now.

I'm not a cowgirl and I'm not pretending to be one.  I just want some really cute boots.

I told Nate, "If you get a boat, can I please have some boots."

He said that was fair.

Well all of the sudden he decides to build a boat, not buy a boat.

 Back to the boat building - this was only after a couple weeks.

Please note that Nate is 100% totally amazing.

The plans arrived at our house in a huge tube while he was in Delaware for work.  I had to scan some of the paperwork and email it to him because he literally could not wait to get home in two days to see it then.

Anyway, about the boots -  Nate said since he was building a boat, I could build a pair of boots.

For heaven's sake.

But I haven't been totally left out in the cold.  I get to test-drive the Pee Wee before we let the kids use it; it is too small for a big, manly Swede like Nate.

Somebody's going to have to teach me how to turn on the motor though.

 He still got a wonderful birthday despite the boot-negating.

On his birthday, Nate had to take a break from building the boat to build a wall.

He had to build a wall so he could keep building a boat.  He needed an insulated, heated space to work in during the winter.

He gets a boat and a wall.  Nate told me he was building equity into our home . . . yeah, I know.
I am still waiting on my boots.

I love my man so much I am totally letting him get away with this.

Nate is a lean, mean building machine.  These studs were up in no time.

And then there was insulation.

And later that evening, a wall.  (This photo courtesy of Viggo.)

The wall is painted white now.  And there's a door in it.  I think The Flash built this thing - I blinked, and there it was.

Despite the fact that my shoe wardrobe (and my heart) still has a gaping cowboy-boot shaped hole in it, I am excited for Nate to have his shop fully workable during the winter.  Hopefully I can sneak in there to work on stained glass!

{Letters supporting my right to have boots may be sent on my behalf to our address.}

{To view another post about Nate's passion for building water craft, click here.}