Dresser scarf

Yesterday when I checked the mail there was a package waiting for me :) It was a package from G-ma (Jason's grandma). Inside was this letter "Love the dresser. It really needs a scarf. This one is old, Norwegian. It's called "Hardinger" and is home made by my Aunt Elsa (my mother's sister-in-law). Hope it looks good. Love you, G-ma"

Inside the package was the most beautiful dresser scarf I have ever seen. I can't believe it was hand made, Aunt Elsa was VERY talented! I ran upstairs and put it on the dresser. It's a match made in heaven :) They look so good together. Thank you G-ma for the amazing gift! We will treasure it always!

Jason's trip down to New York

Jason's boat the USCGC Abbie Burgess made a trip down to New York to help another USCGC maintenance their seasonal buoys. It was a week and a half trip and Jason finally remembered to take the camera. The boat went down the East Coast to New York and then traveled down the Hudson river. Here are some of the pictures that he took. The pictures include the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and random things along the way. When Jason gets home (yes, the boat is gone AGAIN!) I will try to get him to write a blog about his trip. You can click on the pictures to enlarge.

Operation Homefront

Ivan was so excited :)

Waiting to go on the Easter Egg hunt

The Space Shuttle

Jason and Ivan were on cloud nine, look at all those buttons! If you know these two you know they love to push buttons :)

Inside the fire truck

Farmer Ivan!

Farmer Ivan milking the cow

Ivan in the 50's diner

Trying to get a family photo

Firefighter Ivan

He didn't like the hat

Ivan working in the grocery store

Recently an organization called Operation Homefront (like the USO) put on an Easter party for all the local military branches. It was held at the Children's museum of Maine. The event started with an Easter egg hunt and then the kids were able to explore the three floors of hands on exhibits. Then they enjoyed snacks and were given a filled Easter basket to take home. Ivan had such a good time. It was very overwhelming for me because there were so many kids, many of them older then Ivan who wouldn't look out for the smaller kids. I spent most of my time asking the kids to please not push my child out of the way and slow down. I got the impression that most parents wanted to sit back and chat while their children ran crazy. I would love to visit the children's museum again but when it's not so busy :)

Staining fun!

We bought this old dresser last year with hopes of fixing it up and using it in the guest bedroom. The original owner had it for over 30 years and had resently stripped the dresser. It sat in our garage for a few months while we waited for the weather to warm up so we weren't freezing our butts off while we stained it. Now that Spring is on it's way..........THANK GOD!...........and it's warming up we decided to finally tackle the dresser. We tried our best to match it to the original stain on the mirror and after two coats we got it as close as it's going to get. I'm so happy with the way it turned out! So now when we have family and friends come visit us (hint, hint) there is a lovely little dresser to put your clothes in :) Here are a few pictures of the dresser before we stained it, getting ready to stain and the finished product.

Jason let me use his coveralls.