Look what I bought

I found this wicker chest at a garage sale last weekend. The lady said it is an antique German sewing chest. I am not sure that is correct. There are not labels or markings on it. I just think it is really cool and I am going to put my sewing stuff in there, too. I have it all over the house. It would be nice to have it all together in one place. The lady I bought it from also told me that she had the top reupholstered a few years ago.
Oh! And I got it for $20!

Brooksville Raid

The boys had this camping trip to the Brooksville Raid scheduled for a long time. Little did they know that it would be on the coldest nights of the winter so far this year. Their troop was one of the service units to help the Raid run smoothly. Bill and Daniel were really cold at night, but during the day, it was beautiful. They served the actors and the public. Daniel was taken by the sasparilla. He drank 7 bottles!

Woodcarving Show

Sarah and I went to my dad's annual woodcarving show. A lot of the folks that he has weekly wood carving meeting with show their work, have a contest and also teach beginners techniques. There are also woodcarvers from all over the United States and Canada that show their stuff and some vendors are usually there with supplies.

This year we saw Kathy and the girls there. They had fun painting the little wood shapes that Grandpa always brings for kids to paint. They let him set up right at the door and he asks any child that comes to the show if they would like to paint. He takes care of all the kids and they seem to look forward to it each year. He doesn't charge them anything, just paint and have fun. He is so sweet with the kids. He doesn't try to tell them how to paint their item.

Here are some photos of the girls with Grandpa AND Dad won the Best in Show Award this year!!

He got a John Deere

Bill has been looking and looking for a riding mower. We just could not justify buying anything new. It is really unnecessary because the first time you use a mower, it's all dirty and well, not new. Bill found this on Craig's List and went and picked it up last night. It needs a little bit of cleaning. We bought a new battery for it today and we need to clean up the garage enough that it AND my car will fit in the garage. He is so excited about this as his push mower's self propel feature has broken yet again. Heck, this John Deere even has a cup holder!

Order of the Arrow

We are so proud of Daniel! He participated in his Order of the Arrow Ordeal this past weekend. He did a great job and is well on his way to being a fine young man. He is a great scout and is having fun in the process. Daniel's troop is getting ready to go to an out of state camp this next summer and Bill and Daniel have tried out for the National Jamboree in 2010!

Happy New Year!

I got the new Canon Rebel xsi for Christmas and gave a shot at taking New Year's Eve photos. We went outside early to let the kids do sparklers. I played with the camera. Not sure I have it figured out yet, but I did get a few cool photos. Bill had to work on New Year's Day, so it was early to bed for some of us.

I have been remiss

I have been remiss with my blogging. Christmas came. Christmas went. New Year's Day came. New Year's Day went. Wow! It is now 2009!

Here are a few photos of Daniel's great idea of how to decorate a gingerbread man.




Then we got together with Karen's side of the family for a Christmas celebration.

Chelsea even got a present from Aunt Kathy. A new Gator shirt!

Sarah and Karen sang at the midnight Mass. It was beautiful. Daniel also served, but he changed back into regular clothes too quick to jump into this photo.
The kids got their new cell phones for Christmas and Chelsea was adorned with a bow. Not sure she really liked this, though.




We celebrated Christmas with Bill's family on Christmas Day. Preston had to work, but Chantal and the kids did make it to dinner.