Oh tis the season to over indulge

Oh Christmas, the time of year when we eat way too much and dread jumping on the scale after new year to face the music. We had a extra special treat last night and went for the all you can eat buffet at the local chinese place. Ugh, I was in agony on the way back to the house last night from the overstuffing that took place. Oh well it's a good thing that the season only comes once a year that's for sure.

let it snow!

This year it seems as though there is never any snow, usually we get a little by now but everytime it has snowed it has rained or warmed up right after and melted away. We are away on a mini vacation for new years and it snowed today. I was thinking ahead and packed the kids snow suits and sleds and they were excited to break those out today. We all had a great time out in the snow sleding, shoveling and just generally horseing around. What a great day, now it's evening and the snow has turned to rain so I'm guessing the snow will be gone or iced up in the morning but we made the most of it today for sure.

Christmas gifts

This year for Christmas my wife bought me a new cell phone, we were sick of our contract phones and we wanted to go with a pay as you go phone finally after washing my phone in the washer and the phone company not wanting to repair or replace it unless I extended my contract for another 2 years we got the last laugh on them when we dropped our service. I surprised my wife by also getting her a new phone so we were able to both get away from the evil contract company and be on our own.

A trip to the movies

On boxing day this year we were looking for something to do as a family outing and we decided to take in a movie at the local cinema. Our choice of the day was the new release of Alvin and the chipmunks, I was sceptical of what the movie would be like, if it would interest the kids etc. I was completely surprised as this movie was a laugh fest from the opening moments to the final credits, it truly interested everyone of us from me and my wife down through the kids 11, 7, 5, and 3. I worked for all of us and was probably one of the best movie's we have ever gone to as a family.

The family enjoyment

Well as a family we were really good this year as for a family gift we got a Nintendo Wii, WOW. I had no idea how much fun this thing would be, for me getting into my thirties the thrill of video games had faded out a long time ago but let me tell you this machine is absolutely incredible. The games feel like you are really doing them, baseball, boxing, golf, bowling and the best of all Dance Dance Revolution. This game has been a hit with everyone and we were even able to get the grandparents to play. I remember being a kid there was no hope to having Mom or Dad play a video game with me but with the interactive fun of the Wii they couldn't help themselves, what a fun time.

Christmas with the kids

Well this was our first year spent at our home instead of travelling, usually we will pack up everything and head out Christmas eve or rush through Christmas morning to make it in time for breakfast or lunch. This year we enjoyed a nice quite Christmas eve at home with a nice little supper and a movie to wind down before bed. We got up Christmas morning and were able to leisurly go through our morning with no real agenda but to just spend time together. We really enjoyed the day and got to spend time together as a family which we usually don't have time to do with work, school and activities. I really enjoyed our time together as a family and I believe everyone else did to. It was a little hard being 5 hours from family now but I think we had a really great family bonding time.

Bathroom renovation

Here is another fun reno project we recently completed, we bought a new bathroom vanity for our bathroom for $89 and the wall paper was

$3.00 and the flooring was given to us from my mother in law. Total cost to this room renovation about 120.00 after we bought some new pipe parts for the sink. I think we did a great job and I'm really happy with the end results.

Christmas story books!

I came accross a great site yesterday called www.northpole.com for the kids, we found a really cool feature on the site where you can actually create 1 of 3 Christmas stories personalized with your childs name and personal information like favorite activities, foods, friends etc and then print the story out on your computer. The kids found this was really cool and I had to create 1 for each of them. It was a fun project for the morning that's for sure with glue, and stapler in hand we each got the job done. Surprising enough one would think this would be an expensive venture but you know what all it cost is your paper, your ink, your glue, your staples and a little time ...all in all I would say it was well worth it.

Only 2 days Left?

Can you believe it? Only 2 days left until Christmas really not even that as I type this it is the evening of the 23rd and the kids are starting to get ready for bed so really once they are gone off it is 1 more sleep left. We are almost all done getting ready for the big day but I still have to load the kids mp3 players they are getting from their nana with some of their favorite songs. That should be interesting, I read the instruction manual and it didn't seem to bad but until it's actually done I guess we don't know. Wish me luck...Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Well I said we were going shopping this morning to finish up our Christmas shopping...mission completed...it took all day instead of just the morning but we are done. It is terrible we all leave our shopping to the last minute isn't it. The stores we were in today had every checkout open and lined right up. At least we didn't run into any grinches which I thought we would everyone was very polite as they bumped into you, stole your parking space in the lot or ran over you with their shopping cart. I heard lot's of excuse me and I'm sorry instead of the expected hummph, sighs etc. It was very pleasant, I'm glad at this point the town hasn't lost it's Christmas cheer...let's hope it stays that way knocking on my desk right now!

Only 5 Days Left!

I must be a big kid, here I am awake at 5:30 in the morning tossing back and forth with visions of Christmas morning in my head. I gave up trying to get back to sleep around 6:15 so I figured I might as well get a start on what will be a busy day. This is my last day off work before Christmas so we need to get the kiddies off to school and we need to be out the door to the mall for our last chance shopping. I really can't wait for Christmas morning with the kids, this is the first year we are actually going to stay in our home instead of travelling to stay with family, we will be going to visit for new year. We have had some really good fortune come our way the past little while and have been able to get some super surprises for the kids, I have no doubt they are going to be blown away with the generosity and luck that has been blessed onto our home this year.

The Retail Buzz!

Working in retail it's always interesting to see what the hottest item will be for the Christmas selling season. It's very hard to see the disappointment on parents faces when they realize they may not get the gift their kids are really wanting. I usually do whatever I can to locate items from other stores in the chain I work for and get them shipped if possible to make our customers happy. The hottest and hardest item to find this year is without a doubt the Nintendo Wii, these things sell immeadietly upon arrival and you will be lucky to get one for sure. In a few months of course they will be easier to get but that doesn't work well for the kids that are really wanting one for Christmas morning.

The Little Sneaker!

We caught him red handed finally, we noticed all our treats were disappearing and couldn't figure out where they were going, we found the little bandit eating away one day in his brother's room. He sure is smart leave the evidence in someone else's bed so they will be suspected. He's getting so bad now if we aren't checking up on him constantly he is in the cupboards hiding treats in the pockets and sneaking them away to other rooms to eat them later. Sorry buddy you are busted!

6 day countdown!

It is hard to believe there is only 6 days left until Christmas, with our move this year has just competley flown by. Tommorrow is my last day off work until after Christmas so we will be frantic to finish up all our shopping. The big catch it's also the kids last day of school tommorrow so they are finished at 12 instead of 2:30 so the pressure will be on to get everything we can wrapped up in a few hours...oh yeah and I'm sure we'll have to fit lunch in somewhere along the way too.

5 Tips to show you love!

When you are leaving the house kiss your spouse as if you may never see them again.

Hug loved ones like they are the most important person in your life

Touch can have such an incredible impact in communicating your love and should never be underestimated.

Look people in the eye when you speak to them it's hard to turn their ears off if their eyes are on.

Don't be afraid to say I love you first, someday one of you won't be here and if it's you, you'll regret not saying it every chance you had.

Don't be afraid to forgive things, if you hold a grudge for every little thing you don't agree with you'll spend the rest of your life carrying an elephant.

Author: Unknown

The countdown is coming down, only 12 shopping days until Christmas...working in the retail environment during this time of year can be very fun but it also takes a toll on you. The pace really picks up during this time of year and the demands push you harder than you have been pushed all year. Combining that with the increased demands of the personal life this time of year it can become an exhausting adventure. I find as the years go buy I am learning how to better balance my work time and my home time although there are still those moments that I can become unfocused. I am lucky to have a supportive wife and family that can forgive my off moments, usually a gentle reminder is all it takes for me to snap back to reality and get back to enjoying what this season is all about...the family fun. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

There's only 2 weeks left (14 days) until the jolly ol' elf makes his visit to all the little ones have you been naughty or nice this year? I hope your Christmas wishes come true, through this hectic 2 weeks I'll be trying very hard to drop by and leave new highlites every day.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Man vs. Woman

I found this life lesson going through my emails and I thought I'd pass it on .

HOW TO TREAT A WOMAN

Wine her.
Dine her.
Call her.
Hold her.
Surprise her.
Compliment her.
Smile at her.
Listen to her.
Laugh with her.
Cry with her.
Romance her.
Encourage her.
Believe in her.
Pray with her.
Pray for her.
Cuddle with her.
Shop with her.
Give her jewelry.
Buy her flowers.
Hold her hand.
Write love letters to her.
Go to the ends of the earth and back again for her.

HOW TO TREAT A MAN

Show up naked.
Bring chicken wings.
Don't block the TV.

My Perspective on these.

I must be a really simple man (duh!)LOL>

1: That would be enough to get my attention\
2: Greasy Chicken wings I don't think that would be my first choice, try strawberries and whipped cream.. maybe chocolate
3: TV? If that things on I don't see much happening turn it off.

I recently recieved this awesome Christmas award from (Carrie "My Christmas Elf") her blog is always full of Christmas cheer. She must know I really love snow globes, this is a great pick me up...

I'll pass this onto you if you are visiting my blog and are decorated for Christmas leave a comment and I'll come by to check out your blog.

Happiness Is?

We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married,
have a baby,
then another.

Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough
and we'll be more content when they are.
After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with.
We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.
We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car,
when we are able to go on a nice vacation or when we retire.
The truth is there's no better time to be happy than right now.
If not now, when?
Your life will always be filled with challenges.
It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.
Happiness is the way.
So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more
because you shared it with someone special,
special enough to spend your time with.....
And remember that time waits for no one.
So, stop waiting Until your car or home is paid off.
Until you get a new car or home. Until your kids leave the house.
Until you go back to school. Until you finish school. Until you lose 10 lbs. Until you gain 10 lbs. Until you get married.
Until you get a divorce.
Until you have kids.
Until you retire.
Until summer..
Until spring.
Until winter.
Until fall.
Until you die.

There is no better time than right now to be happy.
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don't need money,
love like you've never been hurt,
and dance like no one's watching.
If you want to brighten someone's day,
pass this on to someone special.

I just did!

I am going to be happy today---
want to join me?

The First Letter of your Name MEME "M"

I was tagged by Carebear with this "The First Letter of Your Name" meme, mmmm...it should be interesting to see what will be the first thing that comes to mind.
This should be easy, just use the first letter of your name to answer the questions. They have to be real answers though, nothing made up and you can't use your own name as an answer. So I won't be using Matt for any of my answers but they will all start with the "M"
1.Famous Singer: Madonna
2.Four Letter Word: move (we do it alot)
3.Street: Maple
4.Color: Maroon
5.Gifts/Presents: McDonalds Arch Card
6.Vehicles: Motor Bike
7.Things In A Souvenir Shop: Magnet
8.Boy Name: Mark
9.Girl Name: Mandi
10.Movie Title: Madagascar (Blakes current Fav!)
11.Drink: MilkShake (yumm!)
12.Occupation: Mail Person
13.Celebrity: Mike Bullard (Late night TV guy)
14.Magazine: Martha Stewart Living (That one took awhile)
15.U.S. City: Michigan
16.Pro Sports: Mud Wrestling(That was a struggle)
17.Fruit: Mango
18.Something You Throw Away: Metal ( You should recycle)
19.Something You Shout: Moron (Use nice words!)
20.Reason for being late for work: Morning Cuddle

Thanks Carrie, that was fun tag me again sometime!

Friend award!

I received this cool award from my favorite blogger Carebear at Jabber Jaws If you want to check out an awesome blog with lots of great tips and information you've got to visit this one, Thanks Bear, you're great.

New Family Fall Picture

Well we succeeded through all the challanges of getting a group photo.
We battled the sun, a couple of location changes, some extra kids playing in the background and the freezing cold.
I think all things being considered it turned out very well.

Dudley the crow makes is debut!

Friday was Kohl's first big acting break, we sat on pins and needles in anticipation.
His Kindegarten class have been working on a play and today was the grand performance.
It started with everyone telling a joke, Kohl's was
When do ghosts play tricks on one another?
On April Ghouls' Day, LOL
After the kids did there jokes they sang their favorite song "Don't Laugh At Me"
Then came the big show, here is Kohl dressed up as Dudley (left) with his crow buddies eating the farmers corn. He did a fantastic job you could feel the crow. The play was all about building the kids confidence and I can say it achieved the plan. I was shocked I expected a little 10-15 minute skit but this show needed an intermission, and was over an hour and a half, these kids did alot of work for sure. Great Job Kohl!

Blog of the Month Award

Still being new to blogging it's exciting when fellow bloggers appreciate your work and leave comments on your posts. It makes you feel good to know there are people out there that make a point of visiting your site to see what you have going on. I got an extra special surprise today when I recieved a blog of the month award from a great blogging buddy Carebear at Rantings of a Woman.

Blond Sisters

There is a blond at her office and she receives a phone call saying her father had died earlier that morning. She was very upset and her boss ran into the room saying, "That's terrible! You don't have to stay here, it's not right. Go home, comfort your family." The blond says between sniffles, "No but thank you for the offer. I'll stay here and try to keep my mind of it." After lunch the blond's boss comes in to check on her. He is most shocked when he sees her more upset that she was earlier that same day. "What's the matter?!" asked the boss in shock. "Well I just called my sister, and her dad died too!"

Bee-utiful day!

Good Day to all my 'bee'utiful Family & Friends
Bee busyDoing what You Love to do.
Bee trueTo the Dreams God's given You.
Bee sureTo taste the Sweetness of each day
Bee sillyGiggle lots...take off and play.
Bee BoldEnough to Trust Your Wings and Fly.
Bee-lieveThe Power of Prayer will get You by.
Bee HappyKeep Your Outlook Bright and Sunny.
Bee Yourself...Bee-causeYou really are a Honey!!!!!!

SANTA HAS ARRIVED!

He's big, dressed in red and can sing, dance and do Karaoke he's Santa Claus and finally after about 4 years of wanting him in our home he is here. Every year we would see this guy in the stores and every year we would say we should get one but we'd get caught up in buying all our Christmas gifts and the season would come and go and we wouldn't get singing Santa. Well this year when we were in Moncton shopping we came across the jolly 'ol fella at Kent and I decided we wouldn't let another year go by wishing we had this decoration. You know what we got a super deal on it to, it was tagged at 89.99 but we knew Walmart had them for 68.88 so we took him to the service desk at Kent and they called over to Walmart and got the competition price and just to boot gave us 10% off the price to what a steal. This guy is a ton of fun if you love Christmas decorating you definitely should go out and get one of these guys.

The Storm!

We had a tropical storm hit our area last night/this morning, Noal packed winds up to 140kmh and we thought we escaped any major damage but to my surprise when I looked out Jay's window into the back yard this morning I noticed a section of the fence was knocked down.
I thought well that's not so bad ...Than Jay said someone stole our trampoline!.\
The realization of what happened hit me and from the angle I was at I couldn't see where it went. I rushed outside and was relieved to see that it hadn't gone far and didn't do any damage. You can see how close it was to the neigbors truck and another 10' it would of hit their motorhome. Very lucky for sure, Jay and Carrie gave me an hand and we took the trampoline apart and put it in the basement for the winter. The winds were still at full strength so it wasn't easy to take apart.

The best blonde joke ever?

Two blonde girls were working for the city public works department.
One would dig a hole and the other would follow behind her and fill the hole in. They worked up one side of the street, then down the other, then moved on to the next street. Working furiously all day without rest, one girl digging a hole, the other girl filling it in again.

An onlooker was amazed at their hard work, but couldn't understand what they were doing. So he asked the hole digger, 'I'm impressed by the effort you two are putting in to your work, but I don't get it? Why do you dig a hole, only to have your partner follow behind and fill it up again?'

The hole digger wiped her brow and sighed, 'Well, I suppose it probably looks odd because we're normally a three-person team. But today the girl who plants the trees called in sick.'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE

Today is my youngest son's birthday, he is turning 3, now he has already had a party on the weekend back home in Moncton but we still need to have some fun today. He came down to work to see me this morning and we went into the restaurant for a piece of birthday ice-cream cake and some balloons and a new fur real pet (Leo the leopard), now Trin can get her bear back. LOL. After Zellers we went over to McDonalds for lunch and when he went up to the school he got a birthday gift from his friend Diane. We were planning to have a nice supper and cake for supper time but we had an emergancy flood in the house so that kind of put a damper on that end of things but we did manage to get the cake in and a gift from us a new cars table and chair set so he can work with mom in the office during the day, should be lots of fun there. This was a memerable birthday indeed, thanks buddy.

This is awesome, I'd want one for sure

Apparently, as early as 2010, Chevy will release a new car called the Volt. If you drive less than 40 miles a day, this car will never need gasoline. Additionally, they are working on a plan that could eliminate the power companies from the deal as well. If things go according to plan the car could use a solar battery charger, thus becoming nearly free to operate during the first 40 miles per day. This car looks really cool and if it works like they believe it will I think this will be the start of something spectacular for the environment. I'm sure there will be a huge price tag on it as it is new and environmentally friendly but I think that they would be worth it.

The Excellant Award

I would like to thank Carrie at Rantings of a Woman for giving me the EXCELLENT BLOG AWARD. She has single handedly inspired me to start my blog and has guided me through the whole process. Without her support I wouldn't be doing this so I definately appreciate her help.

5 Things about me!

I have been tagged by Carrie from Rantings of a Woman to do a " 5 things about me MEME!

1) With my job we move around a ton we have lived in 7 different homes in the past 8 years
I don't know why I bother learning the postal code when we move
2) I have 4 wonderful kids, 3 boys (11,5,3 almost on Nov1 and 1 girl 7
3) I love renovation projects they keep me busy and allow the creative juices flow, I usually get about half way in and think I got in over my head but with the coach on my side the project always turns out in the end.
4) I am probably the only person to almost not graduate but still graduate with honors, I took just enough credits to graduate my last term, 5 courses instead of the 7 available and my Physics 12 threw me for a loop and I barley passed with a 53% took about squeeking that one out.
5) I work as a manager of a large mass retailer called Zellers in Canada, it is actually the oldest company in Canada even older then the country itself.

THE CHESTNUT GANG!

We all decided to head out for a walk today and we had a ton of fun, one of the highlights of the journey was the chestnut trees we found along the side of the road. This brought back lots of memories from my childhood because I had a huge Chestnut Tree in my front yard. I used to love this time of year and would play under that tree for hours litterly collecting chestnuts just me and my dog(Sparky). I remember in the spring the beautiful blossoms that come on the tree and also the swing that my grandfather put up in the tree for us to use, is was an old piece of wood and a couple of ropes with used up burlap feed bags under the rope so it wouldn't damage the tree branch. It was especially fun to see the kids getting so excited about finding, opening and comparing each others nuts.

The day to Change

I was recently tagged by a fellow blogger on the age I wish I could go back to, asking if there was a time in my life I would go back and change things. I have to say with all reality there isn't a single moment I would change and here is my reasoning behind that. I have a strong belief that everything happens for a reason, many times we don't understand why until much later if we ever do but this is the truth in my opinion. Every moment of our lives no matter how simple has a huge impact on our lives. Think about all the things that have happend to you that if you had done things slightly different that day, hour or even minute they wouldn't have turned out the way they did. Think about meeting that special someone, if you didn't go through that day the exact way you did you might have missed the opportunity. The same goes with every major event in your life if you think about it. It really is scary to think where we would be if 1 day of our life went different all the things we could miss out on. I could have not met my wife, not had my 4 great little kids, I can't imagine a life without all of them. So even though some of the events in my life were hard to get through when I look at things from this point of view I would not go back to any age and change anything.

The Little Things

Well today was an exciting day, we had been waiting for the monthly open garbage day at the dump to finally clean out all the junk that was left at our new house when we moved in. Luckily my in-laws were in town for a visit this weekend and my father in law gave me a hand loading up and dropping off at the dump. On our second trip down to the dump I saw a little drum kit sitting near the edge of a heaping pile of junk, it was gleaming in the sunlight and I was suddenly overtaken by the urge to go and check it out. Now normally I am really against garbage picking but my young fella's have been asking for a drum kit for a while so I thought as my wife says"it was meant to be", here is the perfect chance to see if they actually will use the drums. Well you would think I just gave them a million bucks when they saw these drums, some of the parts were missing but we worked on it for a while and they were now usable. The litterally banged on those things all day, what a find. It's funny with our kids anyway they usually have more fun with the things that cost nothing, ie drums or an old cardboard box than all their toys. It's the simple little things that seem to make them happy...happy bangin boys...oh I better get a bigger bottle of tylenol I think I'm going to need them. LOL

All about Me

ALL ABOUT ME!
I have been tagged by CareBear at Rantings of a Woman to do this ALL ABOUT ME MEME...Let's give it a go and see what we learn

All About Me -

1. What were you doing ten years ago?
10 years ago, 1997 it seems like a lifetime ago, working for Kmart, Living in Moncton.



2. What were you doing one year ago?
Living in our van, not literally but it felt like it, I drove 1/2 hour to and from work everyday and running from one end of the city to the other everynight/weekend for the kids sports and activities it was common for me to be in the van 2-3 hours a day easy.

3. What are five snacks that you enjoy?
1: Chocolate, any kind but dark...it's a darn shame that the dark is the healthy one
2: Cheese and crackers... one of my favorite evening snacks, when I was a kid I would sit down and eat literaly a whole block of cheese at one sitting
3: Cashews...these are absolutely deadly around my house, hense I only have them around Christmas for a treat I would eat 1/2 a can a sitting easily.
4: Carrots with dip, too bad they are so much better with a few mozza sticks on the side
5: Fruit trays, I love snacking on fruits, strawberries, grapes, melons etc.

4. What are five songs that you know the lyrics to?
I would never compete on one of those singing challange shows that's for sure but
1: The gambler : Kenny Rogers, he was my mom's favorite growing up and was always playing in our house... You got to know when to hold em...know when to show them...know when to walk away and know when to run, you never count your money when your sitting at the table there'll be time enough for counting when the dealings done.
2: Amazed : Lone star, our wedding song Baby when our eyes meet, something inside me, whispers in the dark baby I'm amazed by you.
3: I'm ready : Bryan adams, I'm ready to love you, I'm ready to hold you
4: Numerous kids songs that I don't even dare get into

5 things that you would do if you were a millionaire?
1:Build a house on the beach
2:Buy a motor home and do a tour of the Nascar races for the summer months when the kids were out of school
3:I would probably hesitantly resign my positition at work...yeah right if they would even hear from me again.
4:Take a honeymoon with my over deserving wife
5:Take a family trip or 3 or 4 to where ever the kids would like to go

6. Five bad habits?
1: Procrastination
2: Take out restaurants
3: Staying up too late at nights
4: Eating late at nights...see #2
5: Not taking enough time to enjoy the good things in life

7. Five things you like to do?
1: Take out
2: Renovation projects, usually I regret them about 1/2 way through but in reality I always end up having fun and usually being pleased with the results.
3: Relaxing with a good movie on a big couch with someone special(wife only)
4: Cutting stuff with the power saw....Tim the tool man stuff...more power
5: Playing with the kids on those odd moments when they aren't fighting with each other


8. Five things you would never wear?
1: Speedo, if you know me I'm sorry for that visual image I just burned into your head
2: High Heels, well that would depend on how much money we were talking
3: Skater Jeans you know the ones that hang down on your thigh and all you see is underwear
4: Fur, I can't imagine wearing anything like that brings back bad memories of child hood when dad would trap and do his skining in our basement
5: Thong underwear, I'm grasping here but I was running out of idea's, I really don't understand peoples fasination with that type of undergarment


9. Five favorite toys?
I don't really have any toys, I guess man toys would be
1: Drill, I have 3 of them
2: Power Saws, I have 3 of them, table saw, skill saw, jig saw all very well used thanks to the project manager in the house
3: Lawn Mower, I really enjoy running that around the house
4: My digital cable box, I love the remote
5: I have a few Nascar die casts the closest thing to a toy, they are going to go on display in my new workshop when it is finished.


10. Five things you hate to do?
1: Get out of bed in the morning
2: Cook meals
3: Spend money
4: Argue
5: Drive in the rain/snow at night, I get very tense

I recently had a very nice surprise posted on my blog, I recieved a Fabulous award from an awesome blogger I know. I believe her to be a fabulous person too but I might be biased because she happens to be my wife. If you want to see a great blog check her blog out at www.rantingsofawoman@blogspot.com.

It's Beginning 2 Look Alot Like Christmas!

Well working in retail I get to be on the front line when it comes to Christmas, it's October 1st and at my store we are starting to set up the Christmas decoration department. It brings home the reality that Christmas is right around the corner and it is coming fast.
It is fun to be the first to see all the new decorations and crafts for the season. I especially like the noise making animated characters and the wooden crafts. Of course the early selling stuff, like outdoor lights and garland is a must have and gets set up early. I'm thinking I might be putting up some garland this weekend outside kind of a thanksgiving/Halloween look that will switch to Christmas but we will see.
Merry Christmas

This Is Me

Missing the Family

Although I may be far away

Thoughts of you are close to me

Counting down the moments until I see you all again.

Your smiling faces and warm embraces

I miss you all terribly

Be good and have fun

Love Daddy

Race to the Chase

Week 2 in the race to the championship has now come to an end. The race today at Dover was probably one of the most interesting races I have watched in the last couple of years, mind you I only watched parts of it as I was busy with other things around the house. Carl Edwards won the race but I hear that his car failed post race inspection. After the race there was only a few points seperating the top 6 drivers, if this continues it will be a very tense race in Miami in only 8 short weeks. I'm still hoping that Kevin Harvick will pull off the miracle come back but after two sub standard races I am thinking he won't be wearing the championship ring this year as the other drivers are too strong. One thing I know though is in racing anything can happen.

Lunch time visits

Well with back to school now in full swing, my youngest son Blake gets Mommy all to himself during the days. Over the past few weeks they have surprised me at work almost everyday at lunch. It's a good hour and 1/2 walk from the house to my store but they make the journey day after day while the weather is good to enjoy it. On friday I got a phone call from Blake to ask me if I would come and play at the park with him at lunch. He's got his own language on the cell phone but I am starting to understand his phone speech. Anyway I went down to find him at the park and after watching the ferry boat, and playing at the wood park, Blake said he was very hungry and needed to have McDonald's for lunch, he can be cute at times so how could I refuse.

...Bring it on...Outlast...Outwit...OutPlay

Being new in my store the other night while I was working I was talking to my associate council member on what we could do for an activity that would be fun. We were talking about survivor coming up with a new season and decided why not do a contest where we would enter 16 people from the store and have them matched up with the 16 players via random draw. The entry fee was $5 so it wouldn't break anyone who wanted to play. We set up a wall in the lounge where we are going to set up 16 pictures of the players and put up our names on them and watch the fun every Thursday night. We are also working on some other fun interactive things we could do in the store, ie if your character loses a challange you have to perform some task for the other team, anyway we are still working on those details, should be fun. I drew the player named Amanada and she survived week 1 so now I have a 1 in 15 chance of wining the whoping Zellers jackpot of $80...Good luck to the other players...yeah right... I hope my girl gets things going and gets herself in with a group to have some power... she seemed a little under the radar the first night but we will see.

The awkward age

I have to say the last year or two with my oldest son have been a challange, our communication has been at best probably poor. We just couldn't get on the same page, I couldn't relate to his position and he couldn't understand my point of view. I was trying desperatly to work with him so he could understand the impacts he was having on his younger siblings with his actions. To say I was frustrated with him alot would be an understatement...there were times I really didn't like who he was...let me clearify I love all the kids unconditionally but I know there are going to be lots of trials over the growing years that will make me grey. Having just moved I was really concerned about what impact it would have on him being 11 it's getting to that awkward age when boys are trying so desperatly to rebel against their parents and be cool infront of their friends. I am glad to say that after a few weeks of school he seems to be fitting in so well and his attitude around the house is tremendously improved. It really hit me the other night when he went up to a youth group up the street, knowing it was going to be dark when he was done we planned to go up to get him afterwards. I walked up to meet him and took him a sweater as it was getting cold, he was actually glad to see me waiting for him and we got a few minutes to walk home together and talk about how things were going. It was one of those times that I have been hoping for with him for a long time now, we just talked like two friends with a little fatherly advise thrown it. I hope we will have many more moments like that in the future, it was really great.

The Cookie Monster has arrived!

When I was home for lunch today we decided we needed something sweet for desert so Blake got busy making some oooeeeyyy Goey chocolate chip cookies. He had lots of fun getting them ready for us. Boy oh Boy there isn't much better than a warm cookie right out of the oven, especially one made by my favorite almost 3 year old boy. Check out the video attached and you will see what I mean.

The Attack

It started out innocently enough we were out in the back yard picking up the hundreds of apples that had fallen out of the tree. We were working away racking them into piles and Kohl and Trinity were picking them up and throughing them in the compost bin. All of a sudden Trinity began dancing around the yard and screaming, I turned around to see what the matter was and it wasn't long before I figured it out as the wasps were stinging my knee. I looked to see that they were swarming out of a hole in the ground by an apple that Trin had tried to pick up. Needless to say that was the end of apple picking for today. After we got Trin calmed down and fixed up she turned vengeful and off to Canadian Tire we went to get some Wasp Killer. She sure was intent on extracting revenge on these flying terrors, as the sales clerk talked about the different options Trin was taking it all in and picked the best one for us to use. Home we came and when it started to get dark we fixed those little pests but good.

THE BLOGGING STAR!

I recently recieved this prestigous award from my blogging wife whom got me started on this site. I certainly thank her for encouraging me to start up my own blog to fill everyone in on my thougths from the day. If you like my blog you really have to check out the expert at Rantings of a woman.

The Hip Hoppers are here

The excitement in my house was incredible tonight when I got home from work, after a long summer off the kids were returning to dance classes. As we moved this summer it was the first night at the new dance school and also this year Kohl and Trinity get to go to the same class for the first time. For extra fun this year we are letting them take a Hip Hop class along with their regular tap/jazz classes . They have been planning for this since last spring so I certainly hope they have a blast. Good Luck

The Excitement Begins

Well race fans it's time to get going...8 months and 43 drivers have been widdled down to just 12 and now the race is really on. If you are a nascar fan like me you know that this weekend is the start of the playoffs of Nascars top racing division the Nextel Cup Series. The final spots were secured after last weeks race at Richmond and now there are 12 hungry racers frothing over the Championship. This year is shaping up to one of the most interesting chases we have had in years with many questions yet to be answered. Can Jimmie Johnson repeat as champion, will Jeff Gordon win his long awaited 5th championship, could Tony Stewart win his third and cement his reputation as one of the best racers of all time? Don't forget about Kurt Busch or Matt Kenseth who are still looking for their second championship as well. Let's not take away from the other drivers but they have yet to proven themselves as champions at this level, could one of them break through this year and make their mark. The competition is tough with drivers like Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Martin Truex, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards all looking for the elusive championship. All I can say is let's get ready to go racing it should be an exciting 10 weeks.

Just call me Mr. Fix it

Well I have offically spent my weekend learning a new trade...plumbing... mind you I had the most awesome coach in the world...my wife Carebear. Yesterday I spent the day installing a new vanity in our upstairs bathroom. This bathroom is very cramped for space and my wife really didn't like the look of the old sink...me being brilliant at times suggested we put a vanity in the space...space well if you call a space 22" by 14" space. We were shopping one day and we found a vanity 22" by 12" well home it came. It was certainly a challange to get it in place because of the pipe for the heater invades my 22" by 14" space so I had to make some cuts in the new vanity. All was going very well until I got the vanity in place to find out Oops it is 2" higher than the old sink so out to Home Hardware we went to get new pipes. It's probably a good thing because as I learnt through Joe at the store I really needed a trap in the pipe anyway he showed me what I would need sold me all the supplies... accept some plumbing tape... which I found out I needed later and off home we went. At this point I'm thinking I'm getting in over my head but there really wasn't any turning back so I just soldiered on...thinking well our projects always work out in the end so it'll be o.k. I got into the pipe cutting and glueing and by the end of the night my project was done. It really is exciting to know with a little patience and a good coach us men can tackle just about any project. Today we moved onto the kitchen taps after all my experience yesterday this job was a breeze and it only took about an hour start to finish.

Before Vanity...

...After Vanity

A Helping Hand

I recently had some much needed assistance with my home renovation projects when my Father/Mother in law came for a visit. It was fun to have another male perspective to bat ideas off of when we were working on things. I also found it very relaxing when I was able to mess up enough that he took over one of my jobs and I got to sit back and watch the seasoned repair man work. I learned one very important tip... have real screwdrivers... I usually only use screw driver bits but my Father in law being a bit more traditional was asking me for a red handled screwdriver etc etc... I was lost when it came to that... I will add a set of traditional screw drivers to my Santa list and see what happens. We sure got lots of work done and I am certainly getting another to do list ready for his next visit to keep him busy.