ho hum back to work!

Well we made it through Christmas and now I am back to work. Gotta admit its been tough finding something positive to write about. I was really enjoying spending time with the kids and sleeping in past 5:30am. But all good things must end. Of course, just because Christmas is over doesn't mean that it's all down hill. We still have New Years Eve and we might have visitors so that would be nice.
I did find one cool thing that makes me feel good today... Random happy pictures on my Blackberry! Here are just a few of my favs!.

Jacob and a Christmas Special in the background!
One of the kids taking pictures of me playing guitar (ultra closeup!)

Maddy and Jacob playing Wii

Me and my kids putting the Angel on the tree!

Happy Holidays

Sorry I have been a little busy with Christmas so I haven't posted in a few days. Needless to say it has been a great time. We had an excellent christmas day with all the kids tearing into their presents and Nana falling asleep halfway through the day on the couch. I have to admit it was exhausting. I have some great video from xmas day and a little idea for how to post it but that will take me a bit of time to get done, sorry. Anyway Nana went home on Friday and then my crazy niece Rachel showed up with A.L. and we had a cool visit and a nice dinner. Rachel is great and it is always fun when she is over. A.L. was quiet but seemed to be doing okay. Today we had my Brother in law Mike his girlfriend and his two boys Bradley and Andrew as well as my (ex) Sister in Law (long story) and my nieces Kristy and Victoria. Had some snacks good conversation and opened presents. Did I mention that Nancy and I are exhausted. But I still have a smile on my face so we must be doing something right. Below are some pics from today!

TTYL

Madison Lovin' Christmas^^
Kristy (Suprise!), Brad, Andrew^^

Kristy, Brad, Andrew (CA$H!)^^

Victoria, Sydney (Look What I got!), Deanna ^^

Disney On Ice

Okay, the Gods did shine down on us this Christmas, and my wife won tickets to Disney On Ice. Thanks OMNI T.V.!! So that meant that yesterday, I got to drive my Wife, her Mom, and my two daughters downtown to see the show! As I was down that way the men, namely me, my Dad and my little guy Jacob, went over to see my Aunt Lois. (We call her A.L.) Long story short she is 87 and needed to do a little shopping so we took her out and I helped her with her purchases. Then it was back downtown to pick up the "Ice Ladies" and a grueling 2 hour drive back home in the rush hour traffic. OUCH! But heck we were so late we just had to stop for dinner at Montana's and I am always up for some 4 cheese spinach dip!

All in all a great day! The ladies had a nice time at the show and A.L. loves to have visitors, on top of which I get to feel good about taking her out! Ain't life sweet?

(^^Outside the Rogers Centre^^)

SLEDDIN'

Whoo Hoo! Went sleddin' with the kids! The whole family made it's way over to a great sleddin' hill and we had a ball. Little Jake got a face full of snow on the first run but he bounced back and had a great time. Even Nana took a few runs down the smaller slope. We all got frozen faces and thouroughly enjoyed ourselves. Then it was back home for a cup of hot chocolate! 

What an excellent day!

Xmas visit with Nana

Well  my Mom-In-Law arrived today for a christmas visit. Now some people would crack a mother-in-law joke right about now but mine is really nice. It's fun to have her spend the holidays with us and the kids love it. I know my wife likes having her mom around and, as my own mom is no longer with us, it is nice for me too.  Course I could gripe about having to clean out the garage for her new car... but that would be petty LOL... just kidding!

Cheers to you Louise  :)

A Story by Sydney 2

~The Mystery of Angelina~

Once upon a time Sydney's horse disappeared. So she tried to find her but she couldn't find her. Then weeks went by and on Friday she found her.

The end...

TCB - Takin' Care o' Business

Well I consider myself kind of handy, so I tend to work around the house a bit as long as I am comfortable. Just the other day I fixed a leaky faucet in the kids bathroom and today I, slightly left my comfort zone to replace our thermostat. The reason that is outside of my usual realm is it has to do with two things that make me a bit nervous... electricity and the furnace. Both of these things give me the willies. But I must say that it was actually quite simple. Followed the instructions right down to taking a digital picture (below) of the wiring on the old unit before disconnecting it. Just another reason to be happy and feel good about myself. I gotta tell ya... sometimes its the small things people. (stop laughing at me all you home repair wizards! LOL)

Early morning, winter roads

Okay, I don't love winter. But this morning was beautiful with the clean fresh snow. Even my drive wasn't that bad just slow. I kind of like driving on the empty snow covered roads, hearing the crunch of new snow under the tires. Everything is so quiet and peaceful... at 5:30am.

Next Reason: Stupid Will Ferrell Movies

Okay this movie was crazy but I laughed my butt off! Will Ferrell is nuts! Definitely not a family movie, lots of swearing and filth, but  it was great! 

Thanks for a good laugh Will!

Dec 14/2008 - great times!

Well we had a great Friday Night! My eldest Daughter Madison got to sing the national anthem at the St. Mikes Majors hockey game. Unfortunately we didn't get the greatest seats (we had to take what the school had reserved and they turned out to be on the wrong side of the rink) but the Choir did a great job and Madison had a fantastic time. Even better... although we didn't stay for the whole game, the Majors won 7 to 3 ... LOL.

Reason : whatever # I am up to....

Writing: Okay so I love writing. I am an aspiring novelist (LOL) in fact I am about 3/4 finished a book but I have a huge case of writers block. (This has been going on for about 4 years perhaps more) Anyway, I decided to start another Blog to try and get out of my slump and enlisted the help of my long time friend Felix Roeper. If all goes as planned we are going to put together a kind of online Serial. A lot of short story's that all tie together. If your interested take a look here: http://www.allanfisher.blogspot.com/ So that is my story (pun intended) If you are a publisher or have a bunch of money to help me self publish drop me a line! LOL. Hopefully this well help both of us get writing again. Wish us luck!

Reason #8: Sleep and Seagulls

Check out my little dude:

So I came home tonight only to find my little guy asleep on his moms lap. I think he may be getting a cold. (I hope not!) Now it has been quite some time since he napped in the afternoon, but hey when is the last time you slept that good??

-----------

Now about Seagulls... okay this has nothing to do with sleeping but hey another great reason to be alive (at least for me) is a chance to sit down with friends or by myself and play guitar.

Below is my Seagull Cedar top S1 original guitar. These are made right here in Canada and you can't find a better guitar for the money. Its so sweet to play and sounds great, and I love the fact that it is made right here, employing Canadians. If you play give one a try, you won't be disappointed. (wow that sounds like a commercial, believe me they are not paying me to say any of that... LOL!)

A Story by Sydney

LET'S GO RIDING

Once upon a time there was a cow girl and she liked to go riding and she liked to ride on Angelina the horse and she had friend name Kiara. Kiara had a friend named Bronwyn and Bronwyn had a friend named Jessica. Jessica has a friend named Jocelyn and Jocelyn has a friend named Sydney and that's me.

The End.

December 8/2008 Reason number 7

Quiet mornings,

I like to come into work early and get a head start. It is very peaceful to be the only one in the office you kind of feel like you are running the whole place. (far from the truth!) Don't get me wrong I work with a great group of people and I enjoy my time with them, but having that first half hour to settle in and get a nice warm cup of tea is wonderful.

Here is my view at 6:30am.

December 7, 2008 ~ Family

Family is always one of the best reasons I have. This weekend we drove out to my mom-in-law Louise's for a great Christmas get together. We got to spend time with family and friends but best of all Santa showed up and spent time with the kids! Although the 2 1/2 hour drive home at midnight through the snow was a bit dicey it was worth it for memories like these:

Great Memories:

Sometime memories are all we have left, so I suggest you make some great ones while you can!

Here are some of mine:

^^^That's my Band..LOL^^^

Thats me^^^















Here is my cousin Nick visiting from England!
Jammin' with my kids ^^^^















Nick is a great guitar player^^^















My Brother-in-law Steve looking real serious.
He is great too ^^^^

We all had a lot of fun playing old Beatles tunes and singing (poorly)
Just one memory I will always have to look back on fondly!

Staying on the food theme, another reason for living has to be, drum roll please.... KRAFT DINNER! I have loved KD since I was a kid, running home from school for lunch to watch The Flintstones and sucking back a big bowl full of elbow noodles and chemical cheese! I know it sounds gross, but trust me, with a little grated cheddar and just the right mix of butter and milk this stuff is Fan-friggin-tastic...

and now that I am all grown up (LOL) this little afternoon delite is made even better by my KD Helper JACOB!

Today the Reason is:

PIZZA!

This is the universal food. It is impossible not to like pizza. Its just another reason to be alive.

Another Great Reason .... HOME TIME!

Three of my Reasons....

Dec 2/2008

Well here we are at the beginning.
My plan is to put a picture here everyday. I may write about it
or it may stand on its own. Each of these images will represent
at least for myself, a reason for living. A purpose for breathing
in an out every day. Sometimes life is hard, but I believe if we
look closely enough, there is always a reason why we are here.
So be happy when you can, but if your sad remember your
reasons....