March Madness - Day 31

Happy Birthday Kyle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well we had a pretty good day. I just want to thank each and everyone one of you who has taken the time to stop by this month to say hello. I really appreciate it and I am especially thankful to be sharing my life with such wonderful people. It is joy to be Kyle's Dad and I am glad you don't mind me talking about him all the time. Below is video of everyone singing Happy Birthday to Kyle, and I apologize for the quality. I think our Flip is dying. More pictures and videos to come soon, but in the mean time, take care and thanks once again for stopping by the Dumb, White Guy blog.









I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 30

Mrs. Shife and I are getting the house in order tonight because I drugged, errrrr, talked her into having a birthday party for Kyle tomorrow. We invited over 2 of his friends and their parents, and his Aunt, Uncle, and their little girl. It should be interesting. And I by interesting I mean insane.

After posting this blog, I get to spend a majority of the night putting together his presents for tomorrow. I really did not think that through. If I win that Mega Millions I am hiring a guy to put together toys.
I should have some nice video and pictures from tomorrow that I will share so it will be like all of you got to share the special day with us.
I think I am more excited about his party tomorrow than he is, and I can't believe it has been 3 years. I still remember just like yesterday the doctor saying "It's a boy" and feeling like the luckiest man in the world to have that beautiful little baby as my son. My little Bunga growing up so fast. Have a good evening, and thanks for stopping by.

Same chair, same dude just 3 years later. My oh my, how time flies.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 29

Holy Zamboni. I can't believe the countdown is almost over.

Only a 2 more days until I am living with a 3-year-old.

So how has your day been? Mine has been not too shabby. Thanks for asking.

I just got done getting the babies ready for bed, and I just paused to look at myself in the bathroom mirror. And I laughed because I look awesome.

Totally ready to rock a GQ cover.

My sweatshirt has milk stains on both shoulders, there are two mustard stains right in the middle, I have muddy paw prints on my pants, and my hair looks it just got manhandled by a pair of horny squirrels.

So you might understand why I was fantasizing about winning the $500 million Mega Millions jackpot tomorrow? I mean there is a lot of stuff I would do but one of the things I definitely would do is rent out this floating movie theater. I mean check it out. How cool is this place?

It would be amazing to pop in "The Big Lebowski" or "Casablanca" or "Star Wars" and just enjoy the heck out of the experience. Of course you would all receive an all-expenses paid invitation to Mr. Shife's Movie Fest.

Well I gotta go the phone is ringing. Probably GQ.

Talk to you tomorrow.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 28

A short but sweet video of Kyle at the fire station. My friend Meghan provided the commentary and sound effects, and it was her awesome fire fighter husband who gave Kyle a tour of the fire house.












I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 27

Iditarod here we come. If Tank and Kyle do not meet the requirements for the regular race maybe they can compete in "The Midgetarod" - an Iditarod for the little dudes and their smaller dogs. Anyway, Day 1 of sled dog training went well. Watch out you huskies.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 26

I didn't realize a Cleveland Steamer was so cheap? And if you are not sure what a Cleveland Steamer might be, well then I would suggest the Google machine. However, please be warned you may never be the same after you receive your enlightenment. And for the love of the huskiest hounds, do not do an image search. Maybe a Haiku can give you some insight without giving you hysterical blindness from looking it up.

Wake up sleepy head
Rise and shine bright morning day
Hey! who crapped on me?

So as you can see from the image above, Cleveland's finest, non-sexually suggestive carpet cleaners offering their services for an amazing, non-sexually suggestive price! Seriously? 69 bucks? Come on, but as far as I can tell, this is real. All of it. Just look up LivingSocial Cleveland Steamer.

Have a lovely evening.

Talk to you tomorrow.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 25

I am going to join Kyle and curl up in a little ball too. Yes I take sports way too seriously so I am little crestfallen that the Tar Heels lost to Kansas in the NCAA tournament. And my soccer team lost last night as well. Good thing I have awesome kids and an awesome wife to remind me of what really matters. Hope your Sunday is going well, and thanks for stopping by.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 24

Kyle is enjoying his last days of being a 2-year-old. He got to spend all day and most of the morning with his 5-year-0ld cousin, who Kyle thinks can walk on water. They got dirty, played at the park, made chalk drawings on the drive way, and got rid of all the monsters in the house with their swords and guns. Tonight he gets to play with his Uncle Chad, who is just a big kid himself, so the little man is enjoying himself on his Spring Break. Me and Mrs. Shife get a break from Kyle Mania this evening as we are going out tonight and watch some soccer. It will be Little Miss Hayden's first sporting event, and hopefully she brings my team good luck.

Hope your weekend is going well, and I will talk to you later.

With a kiss and a wink,

Little Miss Hayden is pretty in pink.

She is such a sweet little lady

That she is ready for her first soccer match with Daddy.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 23

Hello there.

Just a quick update.

We made it to our first destination with only 1 incident.

Poor Kyle got a bloody nose while he was taking a nap and he blew out his diaper.

A soon to be 3-year-old does not like waking up with a shredded diaper and blood gushing out of his nose. All is well now and we will be making our way down the road tomorrow.

Have a good one, and thanks for visiting.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will keep moving forward.

March Madness - Day 22

Hi there. It is me Little Miss Hayden. How's it going? I am fine. Thanks for asking. So why do I look so serious? Well my Daddy is a little stressed out right now because he is going on a road trip tomorrow and it will be his first one in a long, long time without his faithful companion, Mountain Dew. I hope he can make it. I might just get visited by the mud butt fairy a few times so he has other things on his mind. It is a favorite game of mine. I say, "Hey, Father! I come bearing a gift. I’ll give you a hint: it’s in my diaper, and it’s not a toaster." Nothing like poop and me screaming to help get his mind right. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I need to go to bed so I can wake up my Mommy and Daddy at 3 in the morning. Being 4-months-old is awesome except for the pancakes thing. I want pancakes! I think they understand every language except English? Yo quiero pancakes! Donnez moi pancakes! Click click bloody click pancakes!

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 21

How about some Random Acts of Shifeness?

• For the love of fat bassets, the last thing you probably want or need is me, Mr. Shife, getting all political. However, after the state in which I reside, Idaho, approved an abortion ultrasound mandate I have had enough. I honestly believe this is being fueled by religious views and that has me worried and concerned. Religious ideology is no foundation for any law. Freedom of religion is guaranteed to any citizen in the United States; so why would the beliefs and values of one religion mandate actual laws for all citizens? It would be unfair, unjust and immoral. We do not have laws against eating fish, nor do we have laws that declare it is legal to sell one’s daughter, rape someone, or keep a person as a slave—all things that are promoted in religious text.
• I would also like to ask a lot of these politicians if the fetus they save is gay, will they still fight for its rights?
• And as The Dude said in "The Big Lebowski," "Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man." That is all it is, my opinion. If you agree or disagree, that is your opinion, but we can still be friends.
• Let's get back to being positive and talk about something else. Little Miss Hayden turned 4-months-old today.
• A thank you to Vernal for not being a dick today and giving us some Spring weather. 65 degrees and sunshine. I will take it.
• "The Walking Dead" finale was great and so was the finale of "Southland." Looking forward to their triumphant returns.
• Only 10 more days until Kyle turns 3. Really blows my mind that he is going to be that old.
• Well that is all for today, folks. Thank you for visiting, and hope to see you again real soon.

I had this picture up briefly yesterday on the blog but then I remembered I needed it for today since I had to promote Hayden and her being 4-months-old.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 20

How do you say blah in other languages?

Portuguese: blá blá blá
Spanish: bla bla bla
French: ble ble ble
Japanese: pera pera
Mandarin: děng děng děng děng
Korean: eojjeogu jeojjeogu

This is an extremely non-exhausting Google search so if you try to impress your Mandarin friend with děng děng děng děng during a conversation, please be warned there is no guarantee of accuracy. You might be telling him or her that they look like a three-legged cat trying to bury a turd on a frozen pond.

I was hoping if blah sounded a little more exotic then I would not mind that Spring has not yet sprung in Idaho. The arrival of the Vernal Equinox brought blowing rain, snow, and a high of 45 degrees today. Come on Vernal get it together. We need sunshine and 70 degrees pronto.

Thanks for stopping by, and I apologize for not stopping by your blogs in the past few days but I will get there soon. Take care.

Kyle playing fetch with the great Kirbowski, Grandma and Grandpa's dog. He is sporting the sandals but he still has to wear his winter coat, and yes I am talking about Kyle.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 19

Guess what? I am going to talk about my kids again.

Sorry but I don't think you want to hear about how I didn't shower today or I didn't brush my teeth until 2:30 pm or I have worn the same sweat pants 3 days in a row. Yes if you must know being this sexy is a curse but we all have our crosses to bear.

I was adding some entries in my journal, and I ran across a date in Shifley family history that I wanted to share with everyone that is still reading.

"We are down to our final two weeks and I am starting to get a little excited that a little one will be joining us soon. Actually feeling all sorts of emotions because I have so many questions, fears, hopes, and all kinds of stuff running through my mind. I just hope I can look back at this entry and say to myself that I am a pretty good Dad and Sarah and I have an awesome kid that we love dearly."

I wrote that 15 days before I met the little man in 2009, and I most certainly think that I love Kyle more than I could have ever imagined. Being his Dad completes me.

Thank you for stopping by.

My little left-handed slugger getting ready to hit the ball.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 18

Well hello there. How are you? I am fine. Thank you for asking.

It was a pretty busy weekend for us and we are just wrapping it up by getting ready for Kyle's Grandma and Grandpa to stop by. It will be a surprise to him because we love surprising him with cool stuff. They are coming back through town and the little man gets so excited and happy when they are here. He just lights up when he sees them, and I am so glad he gets to spend a lot of time with them. Kyle also got another surprise this weekend when he went on a tour of a fire station. A good friend of ours is a fire fighter, and he showed Kyle around. He got to pretend he was driving a fire truck, play with the hoses, and see the flashing sirens. Pictures of the fire house adventure coming soon. Anyway, the kid had a pretty good weekend.

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you had a lovely weekend too. Take care.

Hayden was not so impressed with the fire house.

She was wandering when she gets to go to a place she chooses.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 17

Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Birthday to my lovely wife.

She has the good fortune of having a birthday on a pretty good day to have a birthday. We did a lot more celebrating before we were domesticated by the kids but we are both happy to be at this stage of our lives.

Dearest Mrs. Shife,

You know I love you
And you must know too
That my happiest moments
Are those spent with you
For when we're together
Or when we're apart
You're first in my thoughts
And first in my heart.

You are my wife, my life, my best friend, and I am humbled and grateful every day I get to spend with you and our beautiful family.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Shife.

All of this because two people fell in love.

And an Irish blessing for everyone else:

Whenever there is happiness
Hope you'll be there too,
Wherever there are friendly smiles
Hope they'll smile on you,
Whenever there is sunshine,
Hope it shine especially for you to make each day
for you as bright as it can be.

Have a great day, and thank you for stopping by.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 16

Well the well is still empty so I am resorting to video.

We were doing a little Spring cleaning in the dojo a.k.a the garage, and Kyle got to play the guitar. I hope the soothing sounds will help set the tone for you and a magnificent weekend. He was also wondering who was sitting on his train table, and that little character is Frank the Fertility God. Frank is a wooden African statue that sports about a 6-inch boner so he certainly gets your attention. Friends of ours paid Frank forward to us and about a week later we learned that Mrs. Shife was preggers. We have thanked Frank for his awesome blessings, and now we are sending Frank off to another couple to see if he can work some magic for them.

Thanks for stopping by, and talk to you soon.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 15

I got nothing to share but pictures of my kids.

The brain is fried. College basketball, daddy daycare, and five of Kyle's cousins in town have left me with little to offer today.

Hope all is well with you, and a good night's sleep should help recharge the batteries.

Take care, and thank you stopping by.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 14

For some people March 14 is Pi Day or Steak and BJ Day or just another day in the week. Well for me it is Purple Vibrator Liberation Day. A day that I started celebrating back in 2006. Please read on to see why this 74th day of the year (73rd when it is not a Leap Year) is being observed in the Shifley household.

As kids, we were taught some basic rules to keep us on the straight and narrow. Don't chew gum in class. Don't put the cat in the dryer. And, of course, don't leave your purple vibrator in the middle of the road.
That’s right folks. Somebody evidently forgot the ever-important rule about never leaving your battery-operated boyfriend just laying around the city streets.

So what triggered this public service announcement?
Well Mrs. Shife was walking down the road from our house getting ready for an evening jog when she heard a buzzing sound. Her initial reaction was to look around in people’s yards because everyone knows that is where you keep your mechanical device that is designed to generate vibrations. Well the buzzing got louder and she still could not see where it was coming from … then she looked down. Smack dab in the middle of the street was a purple vibrator gyrating along the gravel for no other reason than to make my wife giggle for 10 minutes. After she composed herself and bid farewell to Deep Purple, Mrs. Shife went for a run and upon her return the device was longer calling our street its home.

After my lovely wife shared this lovely anecdote with me, my first reaction was “Bull Shit” but then I thought there is no way she makes up something like this and I just started laughing as I imagined her making this shocking discovery.

I am not sure if March 14 was Purple Vibrator Liberation Day or if it was sent from the future by a group of individuals spreading love through sexual aides or maybe some kids were just playing a practical joke.

We may never know why a purple vibrator made its way into our lives but we will never forget the joy it brought us.
Good luck wherever you are purple vibrator.
P.S. If you have not done so already, please tell me which story you like the best.





I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 13

Today is definitely a better day. Something is in the works, and once I have all the details I will let you know. Until then, I need your help. If you could take a moment to read some of my older blog posts below, and then let me know which one you like the most I would really appreciate it. If you just stalk me and never comment, you can send me an email at mrshife@yahoo.com to let me know what you think. Thank you so much for your help.
For your consideration:

http://matthewshifley.blogspot.com/2006/10/this-thongs-for-you.html

http://matthewshifley.blogspot.com/2006/07/danger-of-pleated-pants-and-other.html

http://matthewshifley.blogspot.com/2006/03/i-am-dork.html

http://matthewshifley.blogspot.com/2005/10/mexican-anecdotes.html

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 12

I don't know if it was the Daylight Savings or the episode of "The Walking Dead" or the solar storm or maybe it is just me, but I have not felt like myself today. Just feeling out of sorts, mentally unrestricted, angry, and bonkers with my emotions. My day has been going from one extreme to the other, and I think I might just plant myself on the couch to avoid any further surprises. Here are the most recent examples of my day, and these events happened within 30 minutes of each other: I was sitting on the toilet bawling my eyes out after reading this story about Rhiannon Hull, and then I was out for a run when I tripped over a concrete step skinning my palms and knees pretty good. Sweet Lincoln's Mullet, I need a Tuesday.

I hope you are doing a better job with your Monday.

Have a good one, and thanks for stopping by.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 11

Just feeling like pictures can do a lot better than my words can today. I came across a few images that I thought would provide some comic relief. Hope you like them. May the Force be with you. Thanks for stopping by.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 10

Today was one of those days. One of those days that gets a big ol' smiley face because it was a good one. Nothing particularly astonishing but a little bit of this and a little bit of that added up to awesomeness. I was reminded of 2 quotes today:

If you have wonderful moments, don't second-guess them, just enjoy them. - Martin Short
Make each day your masterpiece. - John Wooden

Hope you have a great rest of your day, and thanks for stopping by.

Little Miss Hayden rocking her new hat. I think she looks pretty good in it.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 9

Well what kind of Dad would I be if I did not share some video of Hayden after serving up some Kyle yesterday. So here she is chatting away and if I understand baby talk correctly she is wishing everyone a lovely weekend. Or she might be explaining what actually happened in the "Lost" finale.












I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 8

Mrs. Shife got one of her birthday presents early - a Kindle Fire - and a certain little boy that I am especially fond of thinks it is pretty cool. He was enjoying some cake and a book this morning and I thought I would share the future technologist in action. And I can't remember the last time I posted this early in the morning. Sweet sassy molassey it is not even 11 in the morning yet. Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your day, and talk at you tomorrow.











I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 7

A picture is worth 194 words. That was my initial guess as to how long this post might be. Kyle and I are enjoying a Chicago Bulls basketball game. We like the Bulls and Kyle likes basketball, which is fine as long as he doesn't want to do it professionally. Not a lot of power forwards on my side of the family as we are vertically challenged but we do look good in head bands. Also, if you look at the bottom left you will notice Tank is in lockdown. He got a technical foul (I am taking full advantage of this basketball theme). And for the people who came here wanting to hear a joke: Arnold Schwarzenegger has a long one, Bruce Lee has a small one, and Madonna doesn't have one. What is it? A last name, silly.

Thanks for stopping by, and I will blog at you tomorrow.

And that was 151 words for those of you keeping score at home.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 6

Highlights from the Rookie Dad Journal:

January 8 - 7-weeks-old today and she is already wearing 6-month-old clothes and sleeping through the night ... whose kid is this?

January 9 - Kyle can now toot on command. He is proud of this fact and the giggles that it produces when he does it.

January 12 - Kyle might have a little music in his bones as he likes playing the harmonica. He discovered it over at Aunt Kacey’s house and I picked him up one at the toy store so now he just drives around in his truck playing the harmonica.

January 13 - Kyle can count to 10, knows his colors, and a majority of the alphabet. Not too shabby for a 2 1/2-year-old.

January 14 - Just amazed sometimes as I watch Kyle talk and play because he is transitioning from a toddler to a little boy. Glad I get to spend so much time with him and see all of this happen.

January 20 - Starting to write down ideas for what to get Kyle for this 3rd birthday and right now it is hockey sticks, a Bulls jersey, and a new desk. I am pretty sure this list will change by the time his birthday rolls around.

January 26 - Bought Kyle some detangling conditioner for his hair. We put it in and boy, oh, boy, does someone have a lot of curls. Don’t know if he will keep them but right now he has head full of curly hair.

February 7 - If I had to pick today what Kyle is going to grow up to be then I would pick a chef. He loves making stuff. He doesn’t want to eat it but he likes making it.

February 8 - Hayden has mastered the art of smiling. She just knows when she does it she can get whatever she wants.

February 10 - Both of the kids slept in until after 8 in morning. It was awesome.

February 16 - Serious potty training has begun. We are motivating Kyle with the “Cars” movies. When he goes potty he gets a sticker, and when he gets 5 stickers then he gets to watch “Cars.” He got four stickers today.

February 18 - Sarah finally got tired of Kyle’s wild hair so he got it all chopped off this morning and looks like he is ready for military school. It does look a lot better.

February 22 - We welcomed to Diego to the cartoon rotation as Kyle is a big fan of “Go Diego Go.”

February 23 - We have decided we are going to live to fight another day with Kyle’s potty training. He just doesn’t seem to be ready so we will try again in a few weeks.

March 1 - Hayden thought she would start out March by rolling over. It is just the beginning.

March 2 - Now Hayden is starting to laugh and I think next on her to-do list is crawling. I am not ready for that. Nope. No way.

March 5 - Hayden’s 6-month-old clothes are starting to get a little tight. I can’t believe this is my kid.

Thanks for stopping by. Talk to you tomorrow.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 5

I like to call this picture the Smuggler's Blues as I imagine Kyle was preparing a kilo of Monkey Butt powder (yes that is the actual name of the product) for delivery and then he ran into some problems at the processing plant. I told him he might have to pay his stuffed animal workers of Elmo, Fredbird, Rupert, Dexter, Carl, Blue, and Frank a little more if he wants the job done right.

Sometimes you would think it was my first time on the job being a parent. Kyle was back in his room playing, and it had been really, really quiet for a long time so I decided to check it out. And what do I find? Kyle being a perfect little angel just quietly looking at one of his books on his bed? Right. *said and typed in the most sarcastic of tones*

Bunga got a hold of the baby powder again and decided that his toys, floor, stuffed animals, and walls needed powdering. I guess the little man was just getting a jump on Spring cleaning. I reminded him that there are simpler ways to get his floor swept and mopped.

Have a great rest of your day, and thank you for stopping by.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 4

My mother-in-law got me a gift in 2005 that initially did not have me doing the happy dance. It was a daily journal with room for 10 years of entries. I reluctantly started doing it and now 7 years later I view it as one of the best gifts ever. I can open up a page and just relive and remember so many wonderful moments, and it is also a nice reminder of the journey I have been on with Mrs. Shife. Anyway I just wanted to share this day in Shifley family history:

March 4, 2009 - One of the downfalls of Quincy only eating canned dog food is that he is getting some killer doggie breath. It might also have something to do with him no longer getting Greenies either, but whatever the case might be, the fattest basset (and technically the skinniest too since he is the only basset on the block) on Greenbrier Drive has some stank breath. I need to find something to give him to help this out because the odor is not very friendly to the nose.

That's it. Nothing too amazing but I like to look back and see stuff like that because then I think about the days with Quincy dog and the really good times Sarah and I had with our first roommate.

Have a great evening and talk to you tomorrow.

Little Miss Hayden all pretty in pink.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 3

About a month ago a friend on Facebook invited me to a group where the goal was to create daily habits that would lead to positive and permanent change. Each day you were supposed to share 3 gratitudes, a daily positive experience, and a random act of kindness. I decided to give it a try on February 8, and I am still going strong. At first it was difficult coming up with all that stuff but after a few days, I found myself actively looking for reasons to be grateful and ways I can send positiveness into the world with my acts of kindness. I don't think by any stretch of the imagination I am going to need plastic surgery to remove the grin from my face, but I do feel myself feeling better and looking at the world differently. I hope to be still be doing the daily habits thing a month from now and eventually I would like it to be a part of my existence just like breathing. So here is a sample in case you are curious:

1) Re-connecting with my little brother on the phone. It has been awhile since we talked and it was nice to catch up with him.
2) Being a hero to my 2-year-old. He was playing in a box, and he saw a tiny spider which got him pretty scared. So Da-Da took care of it and my little man was eternally grateful.
3) Holding my little baby girl on the couch while she fell asleep.

My positiveness of the day: Those who believe something can't be done shouldn't interfere with those who are doing it. ~ Carter Heyward.
And my random act of kindness was trying to help some people find their dog while I was on a walk with my dog.

Well that is all for today. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday, and thank you for stopping by.

It has been awhile so I thought it would be nice if I featured the Tankster. As you can see he is pretty excited about it.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 2

My parenting thought of the week. Some days you feel like you are in control of the chaos and other days you feel like you are just thrust into the middle of a swirling vortex of madness.

The best analogy I could think of is football. Sometimes a player comes into the game from the sideline, gets into the huddle, hears the play, gets into formation, and then runs the play. Sounds great, right? It would be pretty hard to run the play if you run onto the field when they have already hiked the ball. Well that is how I felt today. I woke up and as soon as I went into the living room the play was already happening. Kyle was playing with his cousin, who is 1 1/2, and by playing I mean running through the house like their pants were on fire. Tank was contributing to the atmosphere by actually believing that everyone under 3 feet tall had their pants on fire and had to knock them down so they could stop, drop, and roll. Then my wife had company over so there was a lively discussion going on in the dining room about lamps or throw rugs or something like that.=) But I beat my consecutive days alive streak so I can't complain about too much. Happy Friday everyone. Hope you are finding the positive.

My favorite little cook in the whole wide world.

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.

March Madness - Day 1

Drum roll please.

Well my big blogging surprise is that I have taken up squirrel taxidermy and I am going to share my work with you. Are you going to be able handle 31 days of stuffed squirrels?

Me either.

The surprise is you do get 31 days of me but I will just be blogging about stuff besides a rodent flashing his nuts. You don't know how long I have been wanting to write those words.

Two years ago I had the countdown to my 40th birthday.

Last year I had the countdown to Miss Hayden's birth.

So this year I am counting down until the end of March

It is March Madness around the Shifley household because we have 2 birthdays, 1 spring break, and whatever else that shows up.

That is it. My blogging plan for March.

What do you think?

I will persevere. I will keep moving forward. I will be the stream.