Wrapping up 2009

With 2009 drawing to a close, it has been a hectic year to say the least. From the birth of my twin boys to family health issues to being a stay at home dad and the resurgence of doing woodworking classes again. Hectic is definitely the word to have described 2009. This year has brought different values to my life with family and health being at the top of the list because without those not much else matters. So good-bye 2009 and welcome 2010.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Family time can now begin

It is Tuesday night and the house is quiet, the boys and my wife are fast asleep. Tomorrow the first day of a week of family time as Debbi is off work and the plans are all made. We must clean the house, do some final groceries and begin preparing for the big dinner. I always look forward to Christmas but this year more so. The Chargers play on Christmas day at 8:00pm ..... maybe that's why I am excited......probably a little but being able to spend time with family and friends is what I look forward to most and with Debbi done work for the holidays.... family time can now begin. Merry Christmas everyone!

Well this week has been different to say the least. I have yet to see the shop this week as I have been been dealing with somethings I do not wish upon anyone. I do not wish to get into details out of respect but my mind is definitely elsewhere. On a brighter note Nate is getting closer to rolling onto his belly yet just spins on his butt and of course Jake is rolling all over the place and is getting to be a handful. For christmas Debbi and I do not exchange gifts but merely buy a gift for the house or family. This year with the arrival of the twins we needed to upgrade our digital camera as the old one was acting up. After much investigating I picked up the new camera today and was able to set it up and take a few practice pics. I like the new camera! On a football note this is the first week of saturday football as the NFL will be on thursday, saturday, sunday and monday. Phewwww I hope I can make it through it all .... (that was a joke)!

Snow is here

Well the snow and the cold have finally arrived. I will take snow over rain as I find snow to be uplifting as opposed to the rain. I did the presentation of how to shape wood with hand tools at the Niagara Woodworking Club this past Tuesday. I roughed out a cabriole leg in my shop with the bandsaw so as to show how to smooth the form out with a spokeshave and I also brought a oak riving to show how to use a drawknife, spoke shave and scrapers to create a windsor chair spindle. I thought the demonstration went well and club members asked questions so hopefully I may have turned a few to the hand tool side of woodworking. I said I would finish the cabriole leg and bring it for the next meeting so I must remeber to do that and I think I may even put some finish on it to show it off a bit too.

The boys are doing great and the holiday plans are falling into place. I am really looking forward to Christmas this year. The woodshop is in need of some cleaning so I should get at it.

Demonstrating at the NWWC this Tuesday

This Tuesday Dec 8th I will be demonstrating how to shape wood with hand tools at the Niagara Woodworking Club's December meeting. Using drawknives, spokeshaves, rasps, files and scrapers is something many woodworkers are either intimidated by or have just never been introduced to. You can check out the pictures from the event at the club's website http://www.niagarawoodworkingclub.blogspot.com/ on Wednesday.



This week the boys had some breakthroughs.... Jake can already roll on to his belly but just the other day was able to roll back on to his back. I am sure going to have my hands full soon. Nathan on the other hand wants nothing to do with rolling (thatta boy) yet has continued his streak of refusing to wear a sock on his right foot. I must put that right sock on 20-30 times a day.



I need to go through the links on this page as I am told that some are no longer active. I will try and make time this week. I went with my wife on a Buffalo woodworking tour and hit the Buffalo Rockler and Woodcraft stores. That was my first time at the Buffalo Woodcraft but thought the store was in stock and welcoming, Woodcraft just opened the Buffalo store a few months ago. I need to get going on the box for the woodworking club contest. I should be able to make some headway around the holidays.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well the house is all decorated. It took three days to decorate but it's done. Debbi and I took the boys Christmas shopping and believe it or not we are almost done our shopping for everyone. We bought family stockings for both the boys and ourselves. The twins also each got their own "Babies First Christmas" ornaments which are now hanging on the tree upstairs. In one of the stores we went into we found these little snow globe tree ornaments that are personalized with your name on them. Feeling nostalgic I bought ornaments that say Nathan, Jacob, Mom and Dad and hung the little snow globe ornaments on the tree downstairs, all on the same branch too.

Woodshop is full of toys right now. You would swear that the shop looks like Santa's workshop as nearly all the bench space is covered in trains and dogs and pieces about to be toys. Today is Thanksgiving in the USA and I call it Football day at my house so the boys and I will be watching the festive games and I will get back to the shop tomorrow.

Baptism and Boxes

This past Sunday the boys were baptised. The day was shared with family and friends and was just a good day all around. Oh and the Chargers beat the Eagles that day too!

The Niagara Woodworking Club met this week and I won the door prize, a King digital tilt box for measuring angles. The club is having a box building contest and I need to come up with something...... maybe a new jewellery box for Debbi? I'll have to come up with a plan. I would like to do a bandsawn box for I have never tried one and would like too but we'll have to see.

Boys Names and Needles

Well I finished and hung the letters for the twins names above each of their cribs and they look quite cute. I painted them a deep almost royal blue so that they can continue to hang on the walls when we transition from nursery to toddler room and so on. The colour I chose is also coincidentally the same as the blue of my San Diego Chargers. Go Bolts!

The twins had their second round of immunization shots yesterday and Nate cried at first but handled it like a real trooper. Jake on the other hand screamed loudly for the first needle and hit another octave for the second needle. Deb worked from home yesterday to help me keep the boys calm as they were understandably not themselves all day after the shots. I had been on the fence when it comes to the H1N1 shot as I had never had any flu shot before but after speaking with the pediatrician I decide to get one. Now like I said I had never before had a flu shot so I am not sure what to expect as a side effect but man is my arm sore.

This week I have rough cut the spoon racks and hope to make some headway there. I have really been concentrating on clearing stuff out of the house by both Kijiji and donation. I can not believe how much "stuff" is in this house. Parting with the stuff is sometimes hard but I am really looking forward to decorating for Christmas this year so I have to make some room around here.

Shop is getting some attention

Well I have been trying to establish more time in my shop as of late. With the boys napping or when my wife is home I have been able to get a few things done. First of all I have the the shop relatively clean. I was also able to finally print off the lettering for my boys names and cut them out of some scrap pine I had. I will then router the edges and paint the letters so I can hang them in their room. I still have to finish some small projects but at last it seems the "woodworking bug" is back.

Nate and Jake are 18 weeks old now and are doing awesome. Tonight I have my Grandfather and my Father coming over for dinner so we can take a photo of four generations together. One of my favourite pictures hanging in my house is one of my grandfather, my father and myself in Sturgeon Falls on Father's day when we all went fishing. I thought that a new photo should be taken now that I have twin boys and another generation was born.

Working around the boys

Well it has been very tough to establish any routine with the boys up until now but I am going to try to get the old woodshop up and running again. I have a few small projects on the go and a few more waiting to get started. I am thinking of doing a few video posts too as if I am not already busy but would like to give it a try. The boys are doing awesome and they are growing each and every day. No matter what kind of a day you are having a smile from the twins makes it all seem better!

Renovations are complete!

The renovations are complete,

we have expanded our house by four little feet!!!

Welcome Nate and Jake