Happy Birthday Kyle

Well it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know what this post is about. Believe it or not, Kyle is going to be 5. I certainly can't believe it but it's happening whether I want it to or not. I took some time to write him a letter and I also made a video chronicling how much he has grown up over the past five years. Thanks for stopping by and I'll talk to you soon.

Hello Kyle. 

Whoever coined the phrase “Time flies” must have been a parent because it’s so true. I had to fight off a few tears (okay who are we kidding ... I cried ... a lot) while writing this letter and making your video because you are growing up so fast. It just seems impossible that you are 5 today but here we are about to have a birthday party celebrating your big day. Regardless of the fact if I want to believe it or not, happy birthday son, and I hope one day you understand how much of an honor and privilege it is to be your dad. 

I thought my life was pretty swell before I met you but then a couple of ladies a lot smarter than me convinced me that having a kid was definitely something I should consider. Your momma gets most of the credit, but I also had a wonderful talk with your great Aunt Alice who let me know in no uncertain terms that I would be an idiot if I didn’t give parenthood a shot. 

They were right. 

Where would I be without my little man? 

My Kyle Bunga? 

You have changed me in so many ways over these five years. It’s been an absolute pleasure watching you grow into the thoughtful, funny, creative, and amazing little dude that you are today. Oh and did I mention stubborn.

Which is probably why I think the Brad Paisley song in the video I made for you is appropriate because you are a lot like me. Probably too much like me which is why we butt heads sometimes. However, in the end, I know you will turn out even better than me because you also have a lot of your momma in you too. 

Another point of this letter is to let you know that I love you more than I ever thought I was capable of loving anything. When you get in trouble lately you tell me that “you don’t think I love you anymore.” It makes me laugh because it’s the furthest thing from the truth but it also hurts a little bit because I don’t want you ever to feel that way. As the great George Strait said, “Daddies don’t just love their children every now and then. It’s a love without end, amen.”

Finally I pray every single day that your mother and I are fortunate to help your dreams come true. And to do that, I think the most important gift I can give you on your 5th birthday is to know that I will I will always believe in you Kyle Matthew.

I love you son, and I thank the universe every single day that I get to be with you. 

Daddy

P.S. Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died

P.S.S. I don’t want you to grow up too fast but I can’t wait to watch “The Sandlot” with you because it’s awesome just like you!!

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

Little Miss Hayden

Since next week I'll be devoting my blog to Kyle since he will be turning 5 today's post is all about Hayden Belle.

--> We are experiencing the terrible twos with Little Miss Hayden. She has gone from a tropical storm to full-blown Hurricane Hayden recently, and we usually get the "Make me some hot chocolate now or I will pee on, in, and around your shoes" look from her these days:

--> Hayden Umizoomi story as told by Mrs. Shife in an email she sent to her mom:  So the other funny and creative thing that Hayden said to me the other day went down like this …. One of her favorite pastimes (if we let her) is to climb in the fridge. Everyday there is an attempt to meet this driving need …  On Monday, the kids had just watched this UMI ZOOMI cartoon where the car "eats" different shapes and gets different supper powers. Well, in the midst of round 789 of snorting and stomping making her demands to climb in the fridge known, I hear her say, "COME ON SHOES, SUPERPOWERS, CLIMB!" 

Do I applaud the problem solving skills or be worried that my 2 year old has seen too many cartoons? 

--> For some reason Hayden's car seat reminds me of Pearl Jam? Can you guess why?

--> Hayden Ralph. A teacher at Kyle's kindergarten registration asked Kyle what his sister's last name was and he said Ralph. We have called her Wreck-It Ralph since she started walking because she has made a habit of destroying things. Well nowadays we just call her Ralph when she powers up to destruction mode so Kyle politely explained that is why her last name is Ralph to the teacher, and Mrs. Shife and I did our best not too bust out laughing. 

--> Even though we are in the terrible twos, she is still awesome and I know it will all be okay:

Have a great weekend. How is your bracket looking? Mine got straight-up murdered. Not pretty at all.

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

RAOS

• RAOS or Random Acts of Shifeness, and not to be confused with ROUS, which are Rodents of Unusual Size from the awesomeness that is The Princess Bride.
• Kyle is officially registered for kindergarten. I was a proud poppa watching him go through the whole process. He was engaging, polite, and patient, and he even shared a funny story about Hayden to a teacher but I'm saving that for next week. 
• I also set a good example to the staff and fellow kindergarten parents by wearing my Sunday best to the registration. What do you think of my shirt? 

I don't always drink but when I do, I drink Wisconsinbly.

• Did you enjoy Daylight Savings? It took the kids about 3 days to adjust. They woke up at 7:30 on Monday, and then by Wednesday morning they were back to normal ready to start their day at 6 in the morning. Good times.
• Is there a movie that makes you stop channel surfing and lures you in? I have several but last week as I was checking out the TV it was The Last of the Mohicans that sucked me in to its end. 
• Mrs. Shife and I are going to celebrate this weekend because the anniversary of her birth is on Monday, which is St. Patrick's Day. In our younger days, we used to get after it and even flew down to Vegas a few times to celebrate the occasion. Not anymore but I kind of like the ways things are currently. 
• Speaking of Mrs. Shife, she sent me this funny text while I was at work: Guess who went poop in the potty like a big girl today??!!! (Hint, not me LOL). 
• I did LOL after reading it. 

Hayden thinks Kyle makes an excellent chair while they watch House of Cards. Oh I'm just kidding they were watching some cartoon on Disney Jr or Nick Jr or Netflix or Amazon. I have lost track but you can bet a fat basset it was a cartoon. 

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by.

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

Random Acts of Shifeness

• We had the no vacancy sign out this week as my sister-in-law and her kids visited us for a few days. She has twins - a boy and a girl - who are 16-months-old so there was a lot of activity going on at Casa de Shifley. At one point, we had 6 kids under the age of 5 over here having a good old time. And for some reason the adults were consuming more alcohol than usual at night.
• Speaking of alcohol, I'm still on my beer sabbatical. My tongue is looking better and I haven't died yet from missing my beer so that's good news.
• I have tried several different hard alcohols. First bourbon, then vodka, and then rum. I wasn't a big fan of the bourbon, the vodka was fine but the one I picked was distilled from barley and since I'm allergic to it my tongue got a little inflamed and sore a few days later. I guess I have to do a better job of reading those labels. 
• So the winner was rum. I'm liking the white or silver rum. I add some ice, a lime slice, carbonated water and it's not too shabby. 
• I can't believe March is here and we will be celebrating Mrs. Shife's birthday shortly and then Kyle will be having a birthday too as he's turning 5. Crazy how fast time flies.
• I had to go to his soon-to-be new school today and pick up his kindergarten registration packet. I really can't believe he'll be going to kindergarten next year. Did I mention it's crazy how fast time flies? 
• You may or may not remember that I mentioned I wanted to do a 1,000 miles in 2014. Well I'm still doing it. I only have 818 more to go. 
• I've been working at my new job for three weeks now and it's going really well. I like it a lot and enjoy the people I work with. One result of having to work at an office with other people is that I've never been cleaner. As a stay-at-home dad there were times when I would go European. I didn't make it to the shower as often as I would have liked. But now I have to scrub-a-dub-dub every day so I don't offend my new co-workers. 

That is all. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend. 

Kyle and Hayden enjoying some time at their bounce house. 

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