Month in Review: May

Welcome to June. It’s the last month of school here. We go all month, though. All the way until the 29th. That means 3 more Mondays, 25 days, or 17 more school days.

On another note, we had frost last night! Frost in June! Welcome to Canada. Fortunately, I was smart enough to cover the veggie garden last night. My peas and beans are sprouting beautifully. The rest is taking their good old time. The peppers are safe inside the house. So is the maple tree.

41- The number of loses my Orioles have now. This is 15 more than April’s month in review. And they’re 23 games back from the first place team (whose name I refuse to allow grace the pages of my blog).

22 – Is not how old I’m feeling. It’s how many posts I wrote and published last month. Ahh… to be 22 again. No thanks.

52 – Of the 22 posts I wrote last month, Because Parenting is Funny was the most famous with 52 views. Which is ironic because I wrote that one back in March.

1,126 – This is how old I feel. Older than Yoda’s grandmother. It’s also the number of views I had last month. I was aiming for 1,500. I came as close as the Orioles.

628 – Visitors. I’m assuming they were all Earthlings. Wouldn’t it be cool to have intergalactic visitors? Not here on earth, just ones visiting my blog. I wonder what language they’ll speak.

349 – DW and I often ask “How much do you love me?” when we want the other to do a favor for us. “Love me enough to bring me my water?” “Love me enough to bring me a snack?” Y’all liked me 349. That’s enough to keep me writing for you.

195 – While it’s the number of questions I answer this morning before leaving for school, it’s also how many comments y’all left me last month. Since comments are worth 10 times what likes are, this means I like you 1,950. My blog, my rules.

49 – This is the number of countries my blog visited. It needs no plane, train, or automobile to get there. Or a boat. Or a Donkey. It just goes. The U.S., Canada, and U.K. were the top three most visited countries. Australia was 4th and India trailed by 3 in a close 5th place.

1,376 – This number is 45 more than last month. That’s more than 1 a day. That’s almost one a half followers a day! You half followers are an interesting bunch. Now That I’m gaining followers I need to figure out how to turn those followers into readers. My latest four followers are Liberty on the Lighter Side, Julia Jewell – The Momsomnia, What Defines Me – Mommy of 8 with Cancer and Jennifer Megson. Thanks for following and don’t be strangers. Come by anytime!

Now for the competition that’s not a competition. Drum roll, please….
Here are the top commenters for the month of May.

That Anxious Mom Leads the way with 60 comments
Elen Grey followed with 47
Dewy was a close second with 32
It’s Good To Be Crazy Sometimes came in with 31
I Didn’t Have My Glasses On chimed in with 27 comments
Ann was on her tail with 19
*This list is based on the last 1,000 comments

Do you think you have what it takes to make it onto this list? I bet you do.

Remember to find me on Twitter and Instagram for more fun and shenanigans!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find some new keto recipes to make for DW. Any suggestions? Do you have any favorites I should make? Meals and desserts are both acceptable!

 

Month in Review: April

If my blog got pregnant last August this month would be its due date. That’s how long it has been since my last Month in Review. Since then, things have been chugging along like the Little Engine That Could. 153 posts later and it’s May and about time for another review.

26 – It’s the number of losses my Orioles have collected so far. Poor things. This is also the number of posts I published in April. Which is weird because I posted every day but 2 (poor M and X didn’t get their day). Where did those 2 posts get lost? Sucked up by the abyss that is the internet.

50 – Of the 26 posts, B is for Breathe earned the most views.

1,291 – While this could be the number of socks the dryer has eaten, it is actually the total number views for the month of April. I would like have had 1,500, but I’ll take what I get. I’m just surprised anyone even comes here to read my stuff. Thank you 1,291 times.

717 – This is how many times I cleaned up someone else’s mess over the weekend. It’s also the total number of visitors to my blog. Imagine if I got that many visitors to my house!

466 – Is about the number of times the boys told me they were hungry yesterday. I’m going to need to start selling my body to pay for the grocery bill. If only my body could buy us more than a bag of Holy Crap. I don’t like Holy Crap. I do like that my blog was liked 466 times, though.
239 – This is number of times you made my day last month. I love hearing from all y’all. Especially, when it’s about something I’ve written that you made a connection with. This is what keeps the blog fun and keeps me writing more. Thanks for all your comments!

55 – If only I could be as world traveled as my blog is. I could see everywhere from the US to Mauritius (off the coast of Madagascar) to New Zealand. However, the three countries who visited most are the US, Canada, and the UK. India was a close 4th and Australia trailed by 1 for 5th place.

1,331 – This number is 275 more than the last time I reported it. I still can’t believe I have that many followers. To all 1,331 of you, thank you. You’re awesome. If you want to be awesomer, tell your friends! Thanks to Keeping It Real with, Kristi Brutally Honest Mom and Pixel Edit for being my newest three followers. Don’t be strangers. Come by this space whenever you want.

There is never competition here. Except when there is. I enjoy competition. I think it helps us rise up to be better than we thought we could be. So the reward for winning the competition that isn’t a competition is a simple shout out. Here are the top six commenters.*

That Anxious Mom Leads the way with 52 comments
Dewy was a close second with 43
Ann was on her tail with 41
Elen Grey followed with 38
It’s Good To Be Crazy Sometimes came in with 32
I Didn’t Have My Glasses On is new to this list and I’m glad to see her here. She’s here with 24 comments.

Will you find yourself on this list? I’d love to have you here!

As always you can follow me and find more of my fun on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to call Buck and find out why my Orioles have played just 34 games and are in last place, 17 games behind 1st place.

*This list is based on the last 1,000 comments

 

Month in Review: Sept – Nov

My last blog review was way back in August when the weather was still hot, school was still out, and Christmas was nearly a hundred days away.

Then I blinked and it became December. What has happened here since then? I stopped writing on Tuesdays and Saturdays and now just post my recurring things. Sundays are for sharing posts of the blogs I read. Thursdays are for asking my kids questions. Fridays are for answering their questions. Mondays and Wednesdays are like a free for all. Anything is fair game for those two days, but chances are good it’ll be about the antics of two certain boys featured here regularly.

Lets get to the good stuff, already. What have the numbers said about my blog for the last three months?

In August I had 1,056 followers. It was nice crossing that 1,000 milestone. Today, I have 1,144 followers. That’s a gain of 88 followers! Thanks to all 88 of you most recent followers. My most recent followers were Leo – Love Emotion Own, Carlo Rossi, and Moorezart. Thanks for following! Will you be next? Go ahead. I double dog dare you.

The blog had 3,184 views over the three months. That’s also the same number of times I said, “Don’t hit your brother!” That’s an average of 1,061 views/Don’t-hit-your-brothers per month. Not too shabby. It’s not making me my millions yet, but we’re having fun (usually)!

Out of the three months, The Backup Plan had the most views with 71. It’s always good keep your wife happy and it’s easiest when you have multiple plans to choose from. In second place was 10 Reasons My Kids Are A-Holes with 67 because parenting sometimes sucks. Bringing home the bronze medal in 3rd place was The Entitled Millennial with 51.

I had 1,774 visitors over the three months. Coincidentally, the boys make the exact number of messes. Subtract this number from itself to know exactly how many they cleaned up.

There were 961 likes. I like that, but that’s not what keeps this place ticking.

What keeps this place ticking? The 664 times someone wrote a comment. Like always, it’s the discussions, the stories, and the connections that make this place a fun place to come to. Thanks for talking to me. It’s means so much…

The USA, Canada, and The United Kingdom were consistently first, second, and third in the countries who visited most often category. The Netherlands and Australia took turns coming in fourth. Though, the Netherlands was fourth 2 out of the 3 months. Thumbs up to you, Netherlands!

The funnest part is looking up what search terms led to my blog. I have no idea how most of them led to my blog…

• matthew goldstein editor video
• ahdad in numbers
• lazy dad
• how to pronounce usige ban falls (side note: it’s said Ishka Ban Falls)
• lowrider low and slow
• gowildaudio word challenge daddy
• loaf around at work
• elephant and pig

To finish off the review I love to give shout outs to “The Six”. The Six are the ones who left the most comments.

6. A Momma’s View (31)
5. Welcome to the Nursery (34)
4. It’s Good To Be Crazy Sometimes (35)
3. Grubbs-n-Critters (52)
2. Dorky Mom Doodles (56)
1. Dewy’s Place (71)

Think you can beat out these regulars to make this best of the best, most of the most, list? Leave me a comment and let the race begin. Thank you to everyone for your stories and quips and quotes. I still find it amazing that you people not only read this gibberish but feel compelled to let me know you read it. You are awesome.

As always, you can also find me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Month in Review: August

What a slow month August was for my poor little blog. I didn’t lose any sleep over it, though. I hope you didn’t either.

August was full of baseball, camping trips, and reflecting back on how the past year went for us. Mostly through video.

Now we’re 11 days into September and the kids are back in school. They return home ravenous so they must be learning. Or they have tapeworm.

12 – The number of times I posted in August. See? Not much happening here. Nothing to see. Move along…

He Told Me Not To – Of the 12 posts, this one was the most viewed with 147. It was a fun story to write about striking out to win. Our three night Camping Trip was second with 47 views. Sunday Share came up third with 41 views.

883 – The number of times my blog was viewed. Coincidentally, this is how many goldfish my kids try to fit in their face at one time. However, while the amount they consume is on a sharp increase, my views are down from 1,063 in July.

564 – The number of visitors my blog recorded. This is equivalent to the number of questions the boys ask before they leave for school. Ironically, this up 15 whole visitors (as opposed to 1/2 visitors).

270 – The number of likes received. This is a superfluous stat, though. With 12 posts this comes to 22.5 likes per post. What’s that mean? It means I wrote 12 posts and got 270 likes. Ain’t no thang…

201 – The number of comments. Now this is where I look when I’m judging my blog. This is 27 comments fewer than July. But it’s all equal in my eyes. This is all you. You and you and you and all 201 of you who left a comment. As I say in every review, it’s your discussions and comments that drive this space. It’s what brings me back. Thank you for all you have said.

48 – The number of countries that visted my blog. That is 45 more countries than I have been to. US. Canada. Costa Rica. I don’t get out much. Do you?

1,056 – The number of followers my blog has collected. Slow and steady wins the race! Thanks to Karen Almedora, Sue Kays, and Changing of Tides for being my newest three followers. Don’t be strangers now. Come ’round whenever you like.

Lastly, is my shout out to the six who left the most comments. There was a tie for first!

Dewy and Dorky Mom Doodles left me 65 comments each. Thanks you two. You rock!
Grubbs-n-Critters was a very close second with 62 comments.
Batting clean-up was A Momma’s View in fourth with 50 comments.
Close behind was Welcome to the Nursery with 45 comments.
Mikealixonline finishing it off with 32 comments.

Think you’ll be on this list next month? Leave me a comment and let the race begin… Thank you to everyone for your stories and quips and quotes. I still find it amazing that you people not only read this gibberish but feel compelled to let me know you read it.

As always, you can also find me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Now I need to go yell at the TV. My O’s are down by one in the 6th.

Month in Review: July

It was a good month. I sort of took a break from all the posting. Like MLB takes a break for the All Star games. Except with blogging. And no all stars. With the boys in baseball, bonfires in the evenings, and going places, I didn’t keep up too well.  Not that I lost interest, but my muse was on vacation, too. Not sure where she went, but it must have been far away. Like Timbuktu. I continued to respond to comments. I didn’t, however, read  or comment on many others. Now that our short trip is over I’m getting back into the swing things (there’s that baseball reference again). Rejoining the world of blogging again. So what did July look like?

I posted just 17 times. Down from 21 in June. The second month in a row that had a drop in the number of times I pushed publish.

Those 17 posts (and a few older ones) brought me 1,063 views. Again, another decline. I’m certainly not losing any sleep over it, though.

There were 549 visitors. This means that almost everyone who stopped by read two posts. That’s pretty cool. Now I need to get all y’all to read 3 before yas leave.

I wrote just well enough to garner a few likes. 355 of them, to be exact. Again, another drop, but this one was more of a wheel chair ramp than roller coaster hill.

What keeps me going though is this next stat. The comments. The discussion. I love it. 288 comments were left for me last month. Thank you thank you thank you. I know I haven’t been writing my best, yet you continue to find your way here and leave me a little sign that you passed through. Lets talk more.

Besides my home page, Losing My Independence and Sunday Share: Week 29 were my top viewed posts tied at 54 apiece.

Only one search term was known. “Dad Bath” was searched. I sure hope they weren’t expecting see/read about this dad in the bath. Ew. I did write once or twice about bathing the “otters”. I hope they found what they were looking for.

I was visited by 56 countries. I wish I could visit 56 countries. The US, Canada, and Netherlands were the top three with the UK and France trailing close.

August ended with 1,013 followers! I broke the 1,000 follower mark. I think that’s pretty cool. The real trick will be to get all 1,029 of you to read, like, and comment.

I uploaded a video to YouTube, too. It’s a video of all our screaming and laughing and excitement on our trip to PEI. Roller coasters and water slides! And a ferry.

Lastly, to those of you who come back regularly, who let me know you’re reading, here’s your shout out. I love giving shout outs. That’s why I do Sunday Shares. Speaking of which, you can leave me a link to read on last Monday’s Share because it was my birthday…

This is for the 5 who left the most comments…

Grubbs n Critters
Dorky Mom Doodles
Dewy
Welcome to the Nursery
A Momma’s View

Where are the Feeders?

It was everything I hoped it would be.

And I was hoping for so much.

*Warning: There are no spoilers here…

The original Cars came out in 2006, the same year we found out DW was pregnant with the one we now call Crash. Late in ’07, or perhaps early in ’08, we bought it not knowing what it was. We bought it simply because Crash LOVED playing with cars (and trucks and pretty much anything with wheels). It instantly became a favorite. Soon after, he would refuse to eat unless Cars was playing on TV.

As new parents we allowed it because, hey, what’s a little TV while ya eat? Plus, it got him to eat. Have you ever fought with a toddler to eat? It ain’t pretty and the mess rivals that of a tornado in a trailer park . You have to chose your battles wisely.

We watched that movie more times than a toddler asks, “Why?” It was a good thing we liked it. So many times we caught a new line PIXAR sneaked in there for us adult-like folks.

Well dip me in axle grease and call me slick!

or a bumper sticker in Lizzie’s shop…

Nice butte

Needless to say we loved it and didn’t mind watching it over and over…

and over and over…

Cars 2 was released in 2011 and, like faithful Cars fans, we went to see it. It’s a big deal because we generally don’t see many movies in the theater. Perhaps just once a year. Perhaps fewer. The one we now call Bang was just a week old. He slept through the whole thing. Crash liked it, but got a bit scared when Mater had a bomb stuck to him. We weren’t all that impressed. It was too different from the original. It didn’t carry on the story line that was created in the first movie.

So you can imagine our excitement when we heard about Cars 3 and saw that it was more like the first movie. It came out the day before Bang’s 6th birthday. Unfortunately, that weekend was already jam packed. That, and he was running a fever so we didn’t make it to the movies on its opening weekend.

We went last Saturday when it was cold and raining. It was an hour and 15 minute drive and ten minutes into the drive and we hear, “Where’s the feeder?”

The what? We have several bird feeders at home.

“Where’s the feeder!? Where the movie is!”

Oh, the theater. Duh.

Not to give anything away because I hate spoilers, it was full of emotions. We were laughing at Mater and the situations Lightning found himself (trying to flee Ms. Fritter). We were crying at his longing for The Fabulous Doc Hudson (voiced by the late Paul Newman). They seamlessly combined two eras – dirt racing of yesteryear and virtual reality racing of “today”. It was flashy and new. It was down to earth and retro.

DW and I were as excited to see this one as the boys were and for good reason. Once again, PIXAR lived up to the reputation it built when it made Toy Story. Now we have to wait for it to come out on DVD…

Did you see it? What did you think?

 

Month in Review: May

May is over. Gone. Done. Fini. Now we’re into June. The June bugs are safe for 24 more days. How did the month look in the color of numbers?

First off, starting the Facebook companion site to All In A Dad’s Work was a step in the right direction. Previously, I had been getting an average of 50 views per month from Facebook. In the month of May, 148 views came from that social media mongol. Three times as many!

The month ended with 1,831 views. This is up 315 views from April and is the third consecutive month to have an increase.

Those views were spread over 32 posts posted in May. That’s one extra post than April had.

There were 861 visitors. I don’t know where I put y’all, but thanks for stopping by! This 210 more than in April. Keep visiting this much and I’ll have to call you family.

That little star called the like button was clicked 560 times. I like that. Even if was 60 fewer likes. This page doesn’t run on likes.

It runs on comments. Your discussion drives this thing. I’m just here for the ride. There were 468 comments left last month. That’s 103 comments more! I love and appreciate your comments and the discussions we have. I’ll take this over the like button any day of the month.

Prior to May, I had 843 followers. By the end of May that number has shot up to 944! That’s a gain of 101 in a single month. C’mon everyone. Follow me. I don’t know where going but we’re having a great time getting there! That means I’m only 56 shy of that big 1,000 milestone. Thanks goes out to Coffee Flavored Ink, Stuff My Toddler Says, and Robert Omwa for being my latest three followers who have a post written (I have received a few new followers who haven’t written their first post yet). Will you be next?

Besides my homepage (which always kills in the most popular category like it’s the high school football team’s quarterback) To the Boy in Walmart was the most viewed post with 141 views. In a distant second (like anyone who races Usain Bolt) was The Liebstering Liebsters with 79 views. In a lagging behind like a toddler sort of way was After the Kids Go To Bed with 41 views.

Read across the world, I made it to 55 countries. The U.S.A.  led the way. They were tailed by Canada  then  then Australia  and Netherlands .

May brought a few fun search terms.

• can i crash and bang your mom?
• i know where my loyalties lie images
• cleaning chart design
• lowrider impala 68

Now for my top commenters…

Erika – of Dorky Mom Doodles
Ann- of Grubbs n Critters
Dewy – of Dewy’s Place
Sandra- of A Momma’s View
Amber- of Life In Perspective
Katherine- of Welcome to the Nursery

Month in Review: April’s #atozchallenge

This will be the last time I mention the A to Z Challenge this year.

I promise. And since April is officially over, too, that means there are only 237 days left until Christmas!

For the first time this year the blog reached over 1,500 views. I was aiming for 2K, but fell just a bit short with a total of 1,516. I need to work on reaching out to new blogs and commenting on others. Got kinda wrapped up in my own little blog world over the last month. I hope to keep this trending upward.

Some didn’t just come, but stayed. There were 651 visitors. I try to create the same standard as a Lay’s potato chip. Betcha can’t read just one. This is down 10. I’ll take that. It’s still up from February.

Y’all really liked me. 194 more likes in April than in March for a total of 641. While it’s not the stat I base my success on, it’s comforting to know that you not only took time out of your day to read my chicken scratch, but you clicked that little like button.

The number of comments were down, but I at tribute that to me not commenting on other’s A to Z posts. I did have a bunch on my personal Facebook page which aren’t included in this number. These discussion and shared stories are what keep bringing me back doing this pro bono writing.  I seriously appreciate all your comments. Seriously.

I wrote 9 more post last month than I did in March. I wrote one more post than there are days in April (that’s 31 for those of you forgot how many days are in April). That’s because I wrote every single day for the A to Z Challenge plus an extra on for last month’s Month in Review. This brings me a total of 803 published posts. The most viewed post was D is for… (Dad) with 59 views. Sunday Share: Week 14 was a close second with 55. They were followed by Sunday Share: Week 15 with 53 views.

I went World Wide by being viewed by 34 countries. The US, Canada, and India were the top three countries to visit last month. UK, Netherlands, and Australia were bumped out!

Then only search term recorded for April was “boy tentacle wedgie”. I would love to know which post that search lead them to.

March ended with 843 followers. Just one month later and I have 884. A gain of 41 in just one month. My newest three followers (this is my favorite part of the review) Travels with Igor, Bad Mom, and Writing with A Side of Life. Thank you to ALL who have subscribed! I’m now only 116 followers short of 1,000. Who will be my 1,000th? It could be you! You’ll be amused, entertained, and occasionally you’ll thank your lucky stars none of this is happening to you.

The top 6 commentors:

Grubbs-n-Critters (69)
Kountry Mama 2012 (58)
A Momma’s View (42)
Dorky Mom Doodles (39)
That’s What Anxious Mom Said (25)
Coach Daddy (17)

Think you can make it into the top six? Leave me a comment and find out!

In an ironic twist of fate, two of the three most viewed posts during the A-Z Challenge weren’t even A-Z posts and two of the 6 commentors are the same person with two different blogs!

That was a fun month of posts. If you like challenges there is another coming up in September called the “Taboo Word Challenge” where you have to write your post without the word of the day. Sometimes it’s not as easy as it sounds. More details coming in August.

Q: If April showers bring May flowers, what do May Flowers bring?

Z is for The End

 

is for clever twist. According to Crossword Clue Solver there are 829 Z words. This post will use one of them.

I’ve been waiting for 25 letters to share this one. There’s a book we’ve checked out from the library numerous times. Mike Lester wrote a book in 2000 that invokes laughter and thought in equal measure. When you hear “A is for Salad” you know something is a bit off. Until you see the illustration, that is.

I’ve imitated this strategy in a few posts through this ABC to XYZ Challenge. V, T, and E are few example of when I told you the letter but what it was for didn’t match. Until you read the post, that is. As you can see in the photo, A is certainly not for salad, but for the alligator that is eating the salad.

It’s a clever twist on your typical alphabet book. We writers are suckers for clever twists. (That’s why Usual Suspects is one of my all time favorite movies) We also know that “The End” isn’t really “The End”. It’s just the point at which the story stops being told.

Butt, this is the alphabet. There is nothing past Z. Or Zed. Or Зэд. Or ゼッド. (Thanks Google Translate)

So here we are…

There’s nowhere to go from here…

I guess this is it…

Z is for The End…

Month in Review

Good bye March. Don’t let the door in ya on the arse on your way out. You brought too much cold and too much snow. Take it all with you. Consider yourself officially evicted from the world for one year effective immediately.

Okay, I’m done bitching about the weather now.

I have nothing to complain about in the stats department of this little blog. The numbers are climbing. Not the hights of Mt. Everest mind you. More like the climbing the stairs to use the bathroom.

March brought 1,372 views. This is up 109. Up is the right direction.I bet if you shared one of my posts the numbers would go up faster. Maybe we’ll play game one of these weeks in April – you repost one of mine and I’ll repost one of yours. I’ll let you know.

There were 661 visitors. This up 96. Up again!

Likes are nice.  467 are really nice. This is up 86. I like that.

Like always, this blog is run by you. Sure, I write the posts, but without the comments and discussions this blog is nothing more than a flashing cursor. Thank you for 338 comments in March. That’s up 58!

March saw 22 posts which is 3 more than February had. The most viewed page was Sunday Share: Week 13 with 77 views. Following in second place was 42 which not about Jackie Robinson but about my Mom and Dad. In a close third, was Sunday Share: Week 11

I was visited by 39 countries. Leading was the United States. Following was Canada. Tagging along was the UK. Joining in was the Netherlands. The fifth wheel was Austrailia.

The only search term available for me to see from March was “lush bath bombs”. Odd term to find on a dad blog but when you have two kids who love the smelly, colorful things, you’ll find them here.

I now have 843 people following this little place. I’m getting closer that 1,000 mark. Thank you to my latest three followers – Samantha Scott Author, Joe Owens, and Rhythm In Life. Will you be next? You won’t be disappointed. You’ll be amused, entertained, and occasionally you’ll thank your lucky stars none of this is happening to you.

Top 6 commentors:

GrubbsnCritters
A Momma’s View
Anxious Mom (who is writing at Dorky Mom Doodles)
Kountrymama2012
Who’s My Favorite Today
Coach Daddy

Thank you. There are no numbers to describe my gratitude.