Adventures in Woodworking

Since building the outdoor furniture set a couple weeks ago I've had the woodworking "bug".  I was absolutely floored by how much I enjoyed building, and all I can think of is what I'll build next!  I built a picnic table in two afternoons:

I was a little worried my hubby Kevin would get jealous that I like his hobby now since he works all day and I get to play in the shop all day, but he's pretty excited!  He feels that I'm the motivator he needs to increase his shop time and improve his skills, and he's been so kind and patient with me.  He has stopped working sooo many times to show me a trick or to help me.  For instance:

I had been trying so hard to be independent and build things "all by myself" but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to position the brace for the picnic table with only two hands!  He has now given me a full education on how to use clamps as third, fourth, and fifth hands, so now I can do alot more by myself than I could before.  Love it!

I started building some beds for my two youngest boys late Saturday afternoon.  Here's my progress so far:

Two headboards (one in front of the other)

Side view of the headboards and footboards (footboards are upside down)

I need to add the top piece to the footboards, sand, and stain and the main parts of the beds will be done.  I then need to build the rails and assemble once they're in the bedroom.  I'm pretty excited to see what it's going to look like!

I've been spending so much time in the shop that my kids have started building too.  I bought them a box of nails and small (real) hammers and I give them lots of scrap wood.  My youngest boy Matthew is the one who's in the shop building every day:

A skatepark for his toy cars

A "sword"

He's also been collecting all the sawdust to "bury" his projects:

The skatepark is buried under that pile!

He's also been helping his daddy make a chair:

I've decided to really have the kids help - my oldest three will be building their own nightstands (with my help of course!)!  I'm gathering my scrap pile to see how many I can make without buying more wood...

Anyhow, sorry for the long-winded post, but I figured it was time to update everyone on my whereabouts!