SillyDad.com!

What a great combo to be. In many of my articles I write, I try to pin-point what some of the best qualities are for being the best parent, and more specifically the outstanding and ideal dad. And now that I have been a Stay at Home Father, I have changed my outlook on many things in life.

Skinny Moose Media blogger, Jason Hendricks of The Adventurist blog is not only a dad but is an outdoor junky and reporter. With just a recent study proving that American kids are just not getting the outdoor activity they once got, Jason is already set up to become a great and active parent for his children.

For those who like to read my articles should also subscribe to Jason’s blog in attempt to follow what is going on in the outdoor world. Jason likes to cover expeditions to the top of Mt Everest. His interviews with some of the leaders in the industry make for an exciting read, and when people fall short of their goals the blog documents all those aspects as well.

If you want to plan a family adventure contact Jason for some helpful tips and ideas on how to find the best spot. I have chatted with Jason on the phone several times and his knowledge of the outdoor world is extensive and not only is a good reporter but can also give you great ideas on your next trip into the wild.

Do you remember the team who were stuck on Mt Hood not too long ago? Jason was following the events as they unfolded, and in fact was getting some inside information before Fox News reported. This essentially sent thousands of readers to Jason’s blog to get the news first. You can count on him to get to the news quickly and get a sneak peak of what’s happening on the inside.

There are also some exciting things that The Adventurist blog will be covering in the weeks and months ahead. So head over and subscribe to his blog and follow the madness. You will be glad you did.

-sillydad

Time does fly. To think I have been married for 9 years makes me feel old. Aside from all the little annoyances, we definitely have a lot to show for those 9 years… and that is mainly our 5 kids.. soon to be 6. I have now been a full time Stay at Home dad for almost 5 long years. I remember the last time I worked for someone else. It was the Friday just prior to the 4th of July weekend in 2003.

This weekend, we spent the time with our kids. We drove about 45 minutes to a place called Birdsacre, also known as Stanwod Wildlife Sanctuary. They have birds on display. The owls were a great hit for the kids. But what was the most fun about the place were many trails to hike. All the trails were perfect for the kids and we were able to walk around about 200 acres of preserved land.

To get the mood of the place you can find this quote straight from their website:

“We bring back from the woods what we carry to it – give little and we get little in return…. Nature will have all of your attention or nothing of you. If you think of yourself, or your affronts, you forget to look for the color, you lose the Cecropia’s cocoon, you fail to see the bird or hear the song, and the flowers lose their fragrance…. Intimacy with Nature is acquired slowly.” -CJS

You can learn more about the Sanctuary and the purpose behind it here.

Let’s see what else did we do? Oh, on Sunday we were going to take the kids swimming in the afternoon but first we wanted to do some more walking trails. We are trying to get the kids back into shape for the Summer ahead. Regularly we take the kids up to the Orono Bog Walk, where there is a boardwalk about a mile long you can walk along. There are many things you can see from the boardwalk like wild flowers, animals, etc.

They also have walking/biking trails you can go on aside from the mile long boardwalk. Some people bring horses up onto the trails and some walk their dogs. It is a very popular area as parking is tough to find on the weekends. Lots of trails and plenty of nature to see. Our regular routine is to go to the boardwalk first and then whatever we have time for afterwards we go and do. This time we went straight out onto the trails and walked around the woods for a couple of hours.

It was nice to get out this weekend and into the woods. The smells of the trees and the sounds of birds chirping is always nice, especially when I am normally listening to kids arguing over toys and being fully indulged in the chaotic environment of having 5 kids….

-sillydad

BARACK OBAMA:
The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE! But we won’t say what the CHANGE is!

JOHN MC CAIN:
My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side
of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON:
When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the
road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure — right from
Day One! — that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves
to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me…….

DR. PHIL:
The problem we have here is that this chicken won’t realize that he must
first deal with the problem on ‘THIS’ side of the road before it goes after
the problem on the ‘OTHER SIDE’ of the road. What we need to do is
help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his ‘CURRENT’
problems before adding ‘NEW’ problems.

OPRAH:
Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he
wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to
give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not
live his life like the rest of the chickens.

GEORGE W. BUSH:
We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL:
Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of
the chicken crossing the road…

ANDERSON COOPER - CNN:
We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been
allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

JOHN KERRY:
Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It
was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s
intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

NANCY GRACE:
That chicken crossed the road because he’s GUILTY! You can see it in his
eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN:
To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART:
No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a
standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS:
Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the
chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY:
To die in the rain. Alone.

GRANDPA:
In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us he chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS:
Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the
chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it
experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its life
long dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE:
It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON:
Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES:
I have just released eChicken2007, which will not only cross roads, but will
lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book.
Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new
platform is much more stable and will never cra…#@&&^(C% ………reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN:
Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the
chicken?

BILL CLINTON:
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of
chicken?

AL GORE:
I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS:
Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY:
Where’s my gun?

AL SHARPTON:
Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

- sillydad

For some kids its vacation. For parents such as myself it is time to go back to work full time. There are things that will be easier for me and that is the mornings. No more rushing around and getting kids dressed and fed, and making breakfast. No more finding missing folders and papers that the 16 month old decided to run off with.

“Where is my other shoe, Daddy?”

Of course the little one is always to blame for taking it and putting it in the toy box, behind the couch, or even in the trash.

Those mornings will definitely not be missed.

This Summer we have lots of things planned. Most of all of our weekends are already booked with short day trips, weddings, museums, camping trips, picnics, etc. Hopefully we can get some fishing in with all the craziness going on.

Anyone staying closer to home due to rising gas prices? Most of our trips will be close to home…

- sillydad

And just when you thought things couldn’t get any more crazier down here at the funny farm aka the Remington household… we find out that we are now expecting our 6th child due in October. As much as we love children and want to raise a nice healthy batch, this one came as a big surprise.

One of the things most people ask me is how big is the change as you tack on another rugrat to the blend? I mean does it get exponentially easier because of the experience or does it get harder because of the load. Or do they offset each other and there doesn’t seem to be much change?

I wish I could answer that but I can only say “I don’t really know”. But I do know that going from #5 to #6 changes a lot of things in our family. For instance, the minivan holds 5 kids but not 6. The amount of bedrooms in our house and the beds laid out we can fit 5 in nicely and not 6. So in a sense we have come to the point where we have outgrown the house and the minivan. Yowzas.

Going from “I will never be caught dead driving a minivan” to “honey we just outgrew the minivan” in roughly 9 years is a major accomplishment. That’s definitely moving fast up the corporate ladder of craziness with kiddos.

So the dynamics really change a lot this time around. Looking back on things I see where going from 2 kids to 3 was a struggle. I have 2 hands and 2 kids and so when the time came to cross the street I could grab each one with each of my hands. With 3 you can always grab 2 if you have to but there is one person you really have to put a lot of trust in and hope you raised them right… not to go flying off the handle, run out into the road, and immediately get run over by a semi…

I was always good at juggling 3 objects in college. Beer bottles were elongated and more difficult to get into that groove but I think the practice did pay off in the long haul. I can’t say college didn’t teach me anything constructive, practical, or completely eccentric.

But there you have it… another child soon to be terrorizing the house, the backyard, the outgrown minivan… I sure do expect some fun times…

-sillydad

Of course we fight our own demons and this list is designed for nothing less than perfection. I can admit I never ever ever ever slept on a futon, yet I still carry less than $20 in my wallet and I snag by beer bottle opener on the inside of pants pocket when pulling out my car keys in the supermarket parking lot. I have never named by “you know what” either…

Learn your weakness…

18 Things A Grown Man Should Never Have

1. A black eye.

2. A witty e-mail signature.

3. An empty refrigerator.

4. PlayStation thumb.

5. A key chain with a bottle opener.

Read the entire thing >

-sillydad

With so much happening lately I gave up writing daily on sillydad.com - I know some of you who are family or friends wished I continued this blog so that you could check in often to see what’s been going on and see some pictures.

So with the many requests I will keep this blog going and update it as often as I can. It could be a couple times per week but I will fill you in with what’s happening.

Currently in a nutshell:

* My oldest daughter turns 8 years old today
* Meghan is walking and climbing stairs
* Dad is back to 30 pounds over weight…
* Sam is now taller than Elizabeth
* Isobel can now put on her shoes or boots on the correct feet almost 100% of the time
* Emma loves the movie Flushed Away

Will keep you posted!

-sillydad

OK I have been told I don’t post enough pictures. There are friends and family who are half away across the continent so they would like more updates. So the following is a little bit about the last couple weeks and some of the things we have done.

So Aaron this is for you.

A couple weeks ago my dad came up to Bangor to visit with the kids. He had never been out to the boardwalk so we took the 4 older kids up and walked around and I shot a few photos. (Take note: Sammy’s outgrown shirt. )

We had a lot of fun walking the boardwalk. We picked blackberries and then came home. The following weekend I traveled with the 3 older kids over to my parent’s camp in Bethel where we spent time camping, sitting around the campfire, and visiting family.

Here are a few pictures I took. Enjoy!

Campfire at night

My parents did some clearing on their land and on one edge you can get a nice view of the mountains. I took these photos around sunset.

The following picture is of the view out towards New Hampshire. It was too cloudy but up behind these mountains you see here is Mt Washington, which you can see clearly on a cloudless day.

And here is Fred, “keeper of the campfire”

sillydad

I am playing around with audio podcasts and thought I would put together a presentation based on Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln is my favorite president of all time and thought I would share a little bit about him. It isn’t very polished but have fun with it.

-sillydad

Brother in-law got married this last weekend on the coast of Maine. Here are a few pics… I have been instructed not to post certain pictures to secure the identity of those who have requested it. So I will post pictures of those who don’t give a rats backside.

Groom is buttoning the cuff of younger brother in the wedding party just prior to the ceremony.

Kids right before the ceremony. Flower girls and ring bearer.

Ring bearer.

Flower girls.

Groom way off to the left. Bride and Father of Bride.

Couple scenic shots…

-sillydad

Darren Rowse from Problogger.net just announced his son’s first birthday today. His son, today’s guest blogger *wink wink*, posts 5 things we should know about his dad.

1 - My dad reads more than he writes
2 - My dad talks all day to other bloggers
3 - My dad only uses a few of the ideas he comes up with
4 - My dad works a lot - but less than he used to
5 - My dad is different, like the wiggles

This is great. Darren makes a living online as a professional blogger and teaches others how to do it. For those stay at home dads out there, Darren is someone that can teach you how to make money online, make 6 figures, and at the same time stay home with your child. A SAHD dream come true.

-sillydad

Well looks like Dadstock was a great success.

I was not able to attend but here is a group shot of all those who could make it:

Looks like a few guys there to relax:

Click here to see more photos from the event.

-sillydad

Shooter is an excellent movie and one I thoroughly enjoyed. Of course I love action movies, suspense, and nobody messes with Mark Wahlberg. These 3 factors made this movie a great hit for me and I probably will own it. I rented it on Netflix this week and have already seen it 3 times.

Check out the movie trailer:

-sillydad

My wife and I just celebrated our 8 years of marriage. Though I was sick, hacking up phlegm, and sneezing all over the house, we managed to cook up some scallops wrapped in bacon. Makes a nice ordourve.

It was not only us who celebrated a wedding anniversary on the 21st of June. The only man, at the Only Man of the House blog celebrates 10 full years.

Here they were 10 years ago:

Congrats!

-sillydad

It’s amazing how children think and formulate their thought patterns. It’s never something that struck me as fascinating until the day my wife and I started having kids. Kids are simple, but are really intuitive. They take complex things and can really simplify them for us. Though things seem chaotic at times, kids can really simplify your life and just make you stop and chuckle.

I have gotten to the point now that if I need a new slogan for my business or a website I am designing I will ask my kids and see what they come up with. It will surprise you. And who do you think would be better at thinking outside the box? Kids are less influenced by society than adults and can think more literally than us big people.

What really was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me and made me realize this fact was a few years ago when my oldest child and I were peeling a cucumber. She loves cucumbers and we ate cucumber after cucumber for a long time. Peel it up, slice it into circles on a large plate, and then sprinkle salt on them.

Well I was in the middle of peeling our cucumber for an afternoon snack when my daughter said, “Dad I don’t want a cucumber.” I was absolutely shocked as she had always loved them and actually were somewhat obsessed with eating them. What I didn’t realize at the time was she was setting me up. She was 4 years old at the time and I came back with, “Well too bad, this is what we are eating.” She persisted, “But Dad, I really don’t want a cucumber.”

I was so stunned by this. So I came back strongly, “Well too bad, you are eating a cucumber whether you like it or not. You have always liked cucumbers. There is no reason to stop liking them now.”

She then got this grin on her face and said, “But Dad (giggle), I don’t want a cucumber, I want a Y-cumber (giggle).”

I busted out laughing. That did it for me and I realized how kids are so simple and can really think outside the box. She was learning her letters and therefore the emphasis all along was on the letters. As an adult you begin to look past all that stuff. You begin to just accept things for what they are.

So if you need original ideas get your kids involved. It may surprise you. So think outside the Q-cumber and think more like a kid.

-sillydad