SillyDad.com!

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

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

Well we had a real busy weekend. We all headed up to the lake today and did some playing by the water. The kids were excited to start catching fish again. This was the 2nd time this year they have been. We caught lots of sunfish. I caught a pickerel. There were some white perch that were caught too. But I snapped some photos and thought I would share.

Here is a picture of that pickerel I caught. It was actually about 17 inches long. I lost my hat on the catch. Also Emma is caught wearing a diaper as she went swimming earlier and got completely soaked. We weren’t planning on swimming until after we got there so we tossed her in a diaper and called it good.

Here is Sammy showing off his big catch of the day.

The following is Elizabeth checking out her line… making sure it isn’t all tangled up in the hook.

Emma watching the fish we caught swimming around in the pail.

Isobel having a good ol’ time as usual.

The fishing was a lot of fun but we actually realized the water was real nice and we were getting hot. So we took a break and swam. Snapped a few pictures of the kids playing in the water:

-sillydad

You are not gonna believe this. I took the 3 older kids to the annual Free Fishing Festival and didn’t snap one photo. I brought my camera, I had charged batteries, and everything was working fine but I spent all day untangling fishing lines, showing the kids how to cast, and putting new worms on the end of the hooks.

95 kids showed up and registered for the day and 45 parents. It was a better turn out than last year due to torrential downpours. See last years pictures and story here.

Even though I didn’t get any pictures, my dad shot a few. Here is one of Sam who is the closest casting. Elizabeth is behind him sitting on the rock waiting for a fish to bite. And you can barely see Isobel behind her watching.

Check out full story and photos of the event here.

Normally what we do is drive 3 hours to my parent’s camp where we meet them, pitch a tent, roast marshmallows, and attend the Family Fish Day only 2 miles down the road. Then we come back after the event and cook hot dogs, marshmallows, and catch up on old times and get some good visiting in while the kids run around.

The weather held off and was great up through the event and into Saturday night and then the rains came. It rained so hard it drove the kids from the tent. They were perfectly dry just the sound of the rain hitting the tent and the nearby tarps created a real loud noise it was hard to hear people just next to you. They all wanted to come in and sleep in the loft in my parent’s camp. So that’s where we all slept.

More pictures coming soon.

-sillydad

-sillydad

Well my 5th child was born at 7am on February 4th, 2007.

Read more and see more pictures here.

-sillydad

Well I finally bought me a new camera so I can start taking pictures again. Here are some I took as soon as I came home.

Emma eating her lunch:

Isobel smiling:

Emma close up:

Here is a group photo of me, sam, isobel, and emma:

If you want to see more pics of our snow day check them out here!

sillydad

Well we have been having some fun so far this Fall. We have been apple picking twice. The first time I went my batteries in my camera died on us so we weren’t able to get any photos. But the second time we were prepared. We also took a trip over to Fort Knox, army fort… I took some photos, take a look…

First off Fort Knox….

Isobel

Isobel with Bucksport in the background. This is what you see from the fort.

Elizabeth, Sam, and Isobel posing in front of the old cannon.

Emma sitting on a pile of cannon balls.

Apple picking pics…

Sam crunching into his Cortland apple.

Yummy… Isobel eating her apple…

Crunch…

Elizabeth getting right into it… getting her hands dirty…

Mommy having some fun in the orchard…

-sillydad

Elizabeth and Sam are happy to ride the bus to school together. I did happen to get a ‘frist day of school’ picture and here they are…

Hey if you got first day of school pics you want to share you can comment and link to them..

-sillydad

My 2 oldest kids ages 6 and (almost) 5 caught a bucket full of sunfish this past weekend. Elizabeth caught the largest one of the day and Sam came in at a close second. Here are a couple pictures I took of them this afternoon.

Summers around here are nothing but fun in the sun…

-sillydad

Here is my hunting rifle. Can anybody tell me what it is? It is a classic. My father and grandfather both owned it before me. A lot of game have been killed with this puppy. I plan to get me a bear with it. I grew up shooting this rifle and am a good shot with it.

-sillydad

Despite the torrential downpours all weekend the Family Fish Day that took place this last Saturday over in Bethel was quite fun for the family. Most people stayed in where it was warm and dry but there were still a lot of children who came out and faced the rain and wind.

I first arrived at my parent’s camp the night before with my 2 older children, Elizabeth and Sam. The following shows them roasting marshmallows over the campfire. This picture was taken about 10pm.

The next morning we woke up to rain coming down in buckets. As you can see from the next picture we were all dressed from head to toe in rain gear.

Not too long after standing around the stocked pond Kiley Walker from the Bethel Area reeled in one of the only 2 fish (trout) caught all day. The following are the 3 pictures I took.

After an hour or two of fishing we all sat under the outdoor tent trying to remain warm and dry. The following is a picture of my 2 kids sitting at one of the picnic tables.

Then it was time to do our give aways. There were a ton of prizes to be given out and many kids walked away with a smile. My daughter Elizabeth walked away with a nice fishing pole:

Though it rained all weekend, we had a great time and it was a great experience for those kids who came out and made it happen. Next year let’s hope the sun is shining and more kids come out and have fun. Maybe I can bring Isobel next time.

-sillydad

Wow, what a nice couple of days it has been around here. Unfortunately the rain is coming again but I was able to get the kids out, clean up the back yard, do some repairs, and believe it or not take a few pictures. I would like to share them with you.

Here is Sam kneeling by his soccer ball

Caught a great shot of Isobel flinging the frisbee.

Emma here is trying to fit in and stole Sam’s ball away so I could snap a picture of her.

Last and of course not least I snapped a picture of my canoe sitting on the canoe rack I just built so I can raise it up off the lawn. Poor grass was dying. Now I can get in there and mow under it.

-sillydad

So how are you guys liking the idea of me answering this questionaire? I haven’t had too many comments since I started doing this. This is the second to last one and I will finish it up but thought I could get some feedback from you guys. I have no idea if you are completely bored with it or really like it. So please drop me a comment and let me know if you like what I am doing here. If so, maybe we can do more questionaires in the future. Anyway here is number 12…

Question #12
How has becoming a stay-at-home parent changed your relationship with members of your family and your outlook on family life?

Out of all of the questions this has to be the best one, and most sincere. All the other questions are already set up to answer almost defensively. On the other hand, confrontational questions make good questionaires. But, let’s break this down into two parts as there are really two questions here.

How has being a stay at home dad changed my relationship with family members?
With extended family, once they got over the intitial shock it has actually been more of a pleasant change than a bad one. Unfortunately there are probably people reading this right now who are not so lucky to have family support. Most of family is supportive of what I do, though I am sure there is quite a bit of talk behind my back on how crazy I am, but when it is all said and done… my family is quite supportive.

But how has that changed? Conversations tend to coincide with family projects or discussion about my kids. I am not sure if that is simply because I am a parent or a stay at home father or both. I would assume if I were working outside of my home I would talk more about my job as I used to do. That would have to be the number one difference. I remember talking about how work was going. I still do the same but my work is with my children.

Within my immediate family I would say it hasn’t changed much at all as we were preparing for this day from the “get go”. We knew my wife would soon be off working for a nice business and at the same time we wanted children. We knew it was coming but we weren’t sure exactly when.

How has being a stay at home dad changed my outlook on family life?
This is a great question. Being a stay at home dad has really impacted me and how I view not only family life but the world. Little things like walking your kids to the bus stop and a speedy car drives by. You get an unsettling feeling that you never would have gotten before just knowing your kids are near by and are vulnerable. I know that I become more protective around my children. Before having children of my own I heard parents who said they would take a bullet for their own kids, or jump out in front of a moving vehicle to save their own children. I sort of understood and I was probably sure I would do the same. But now having children of my own there is no “probably”. There is no doubt I would do anything to protect them.

But that is parenting. How about now that I am actually a full time stay at home dad? I know when my kids have eaten last. I know what they are up to 24/7. Since I have stayed at home I have been more in tune with their needs and wants. I understand children more now than I ever did and can almost see what is going on in their little minds. Prior to having a family of my own I just didn’t understand kids. Now I do, and staying home as helped me really know my own children.

I also get to see my kids take their first step, say their first word, and discover the world right in front of you and it is amazing. It is something you would never understand until you have children of your own some day. So being a stay at home dad has really impacted me even more than just being a working parent.

I am more in tune with local and state government “going-ons” than just federal. I listen more on educational issues as my children will be greatly affected my them. I actually know when the library is open and when it closes at night and on the weekends. Being more in tune to what could possibly affect your kids is something that being at home has forced me to do.

And I am sure there are a ton more things I am not even aware of that has changed me and influenced my outlook on family life and the world.

sillydad

Well we are more than half-way through our questionaire. Let’s move on to number eight.

Question #8
Primary childcare has been known to be the “woman’s job,” how do you feel about taking on the responsibilities as a man?

How many ways can you skin a cat? Yes, primary childcare has been known to be the woman’s job since the beginning of mankind. How do I feel about it taking over those roles as a man? hmm… Well, I believe over time man can hopefully overcome slavery, oppression, racism, and descrimination, and eventually evolve into a better way of life. That may seem a bit harsh, but overcoming gender stereotypes is on the rise. I do believe men should act like men and women like women no matter what they choose to do. I think the problem is how people can be misled by switching spousal roles such as the man staying home and the woman working. Some think the woman is not womanly enough and the man is not being a man.

I think whatever roles we choose to do for the best interest of the family unit, the man can still be a man. It isn’t what he chooses to do but how he goes about it. Right? In other words, the man has his own parenting techniques and styles. I notice in myself those differences and it makes a huge impact on my children’s upbringing. It is an important role and I think the man as head of the household should be able to decide what is best for his family.

I think both men and women should have equal opportunity in life. Women are now out in the workplace and I think that is great. On the other side of the spectrum, I also think men should be able to stay home with their children. What’s the difference? Is it women can take on the roles of men but not vice versa?

So how do I feel about taking on a woman’s job? I don’t think it is solely a woman’s job anymore. Imagine me going up to a women who is in the middle of her day job and asking her how she felt about taking on the responsibilities of a man. After I got smacked across the face I would soon realize it is simply no longer just a man’s job. Both men and women are in the workplace even though since the beginning of time until a few decades ago it was unheard of for women to be the primary breadwinner.

For a man to stay home is not that unique anymore, but the stereotypes are still quite old. We need to break the mold and show others the realities of it. But, I think it goes deeper than just gender roles. What do I mean? I think that certain families want the best for their children and will do anything to make them happy and keep them thriving. A man who is passionate and cares for his family will not hesitate to do what is best. And if staying home while the wife rakes in the dough is what is best for the family then why should I lose out on that opportunity…. and for what? So I can feel like a man from the stone ages??

sillydad