Author: Family Friendly Daddy Blog

1 Comment Posted on February 19, 2015 Nostalgia, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

4 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack,

Last Friday, you celebrated Valentine’s Day with your new friends at Rainbow Child Care Center.

You gave Transformers Valentines to your friends this year. I have to laugh at the thought of one alien robot expressing affection to another alien robot…

Your teacher Ms. Aimee set up a very special Valentine’s photo booth for you and your friends. From what I can see in these pictures you took with Mommy, it looks like you had a lot of fun.

Then on Saturday, which actually was Valentine’s Day, our family went back to Mellow Mushroom for a special family dinner.

When we first arrived there in downtown Franklin, you wanted to check out the animals in the toy crane machines. Amazingly, we found a honey badger! (Just earlier I had introduced you to honey badgers, thanks to a PBS documentary on Netflix.)

While we waited for our food, you enjoyed figuring out how to use your new Spiderman binoculars which you received from a new friend at your new school.

It also was a pretty big deal to you once you realized that you got to keep your Mellow Mushroom cup that your water came in with your kids’ meal.

You’ve proudly been drinking out of it every night for dinner since then.

We finished off the weekend with some fun pastas we found while buying our new sofa at World Market. By combining Valentine pasta and Space pasta, we accidentally ate a lunch that compliments one of our new signs for our house:

Love you to the moon and back!

It was a very fun, family Valentine’s Day weekend for us. Mommy and I even got you a new animal, Slush; as well as a little Lego train which you quickly built without any of my help.

Love,

Daddy

3 Comments Posted on February 19, 2015February 20, 2015 finance, new house, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: We Sold Our Townhouse… It’s Official! Thank The Lord!

4 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack,

The pictures you see here are not totally recent… they are from December 1st, 2014; more than 2 and a half months ago.

I’ve been hinting that we sold our townhouse. But for me, there just wasn’t closure with the story:

We were waiting on a reimbursement from taxes that we accidentally double paid, which ultimately was the profit we made from selling our townhouse.

Well, that check arrived in the mail last week; about three weeks after moving into our new home. Closure has now arrived.

I don’t want to portray this story lightly. I consider it a miracle of God that it happened the way it did:

After just 3 days on the market, our real estate agent, Dave Stanley with Reliant Realty, informed us that a nice young couple bought our townhouse from us. And we didn’t have to simply break even to sell it.

We had been praying that God would bring the right people to our townhouse. I believe God prepared them in their lives to see our townhouse when they did. (And it turns out, all the little upgrades we had been working on, like repainting the walls, and adding the backsplash, actually impressed them. They also liked our clean we kept it.)

To me, this is miraculous because it was mostly wishful thinking on our part that we would actually be able to sell it (especially for a profit) before we moved into our new house.

I was miserably prepared to become a landlord for the next couple of years.

Instead, we don’t have to worry about it anymore!

Our townhouse was great for what we needed it for when Mommy and I first got married. It was our brand new starter home.

And now, I am so grateful to know it went to a good home.

No, wait… that doesn’t make sense. What I meant to say was, I am grateful to know that our good home went to such good new owners.

I am so happy to be where we are in life. As I’ve said it before, we worked very hard to get where we are today.

It’s not that things are just handed to Mommy and me. But every once in a while, people like us get a break.

And our townhouse selling (for a profit) in 3 days to happy new owners is definitely one of those breaks for us. Thank the Lord!

The townhouse chapter in our life is now complete. Right on time.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on February 12, 2015 new house, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Your 1st Week At Your New Preschool- Rainbow Child Care Center

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

Before Christmas, I wrote to you about how we were deciding between Primrose Schools and Rainbow Child Care Center as the top two contenders for the new school to put you in; for our move from Nashville to Spring Hill.

While both preschools are magnificent and I would personally highly recommend either one, the preschool we went with was…

Rainbow Child Care Center!

When Mommy took you there to visit the first time back in December, you were eager to explore the classroom and get involved right away.

I was personally impressed that they have their very own gym in the middle of the school where you get to play twice each day; except for when it’s nice enough to play outside on the playground.

And of course, I appreciate how accommodating they are to you being a vegetarian. While you are the only vegetarian student in the whole school, both your teacher and the school director are vegetarians.

Something we are not used to is that we now are handed a personalized meal schedule for each week. I like that.

I am happy to see that you haven’t been nervous at all this week as we’ve been walking into Rainbow Child Care Center each morning.

So I can tell you enjoy being there, even though it’s a completely new environment for you.

On Monday, your very first day, your teacher let you feed two crickets to the pet frog. That was a cool new experience for you!

And last weekend we officially realized something else about your new school: It’s literally directly behind our new house! We can look out our dining room window, or the upstairs bedrooms, and see the roof of your school!

Granted, until the neighborhood behind our backyard is built, there won’t be a road directly connecting our house to your school.

Still, it’s a cool thought that your new school is visible from our house; and it’s just a 5 minute drive.

Not to mention, I love the fact that we now have a garage to pull out of in the mornings. No more having to worry about frost on the windows or it being cold in the car.

We love our new house! And moving in is what it took to get you all set up with your new school.

Of course, you’re going to like Rainbow Child Care Center and I imagine lots of fun stories taking place there in months to come.

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on February 12, 2015February 12, 2015 infographic, new house, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: The 2nd Week Of Living In Our New House

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

This past week was very special because not only did Nonna and Papa (my parents) come back in town to help us move in, but so did Grandma (Mommy’s mother)… she flew in from Sacramento!

You helped Papa and I build a 2 person desk for our office. (I’m sitting on it now as I write this.) Something we are learning about things we bought for our house (like the Roman Shades and your bed we finished last week, as well as this desk) is that they look awesome once you work your way to the finished product…

But getting there is quite a task. That’s what happens when you buy stuff cheap from China. It’s basically the equivalent of a Lego set.

Yes, we bought a desk; in theory. But in reality, we purchased all the pieces necessary to build it completely ourselves. Over two days, it took us a total of about 4 and a half hours.

You celebrated the finished product buy karate chopping the Styrofoam packaging, then “taking a bath” in the aftermath.

We also had a lot of fun seeing you flying a kite for the first time… in our cul-de-sac.

I love it that we live in a cul-de-sac. I know this may sound weird, but I always liked the idea of living in one- and now we do.

And it was awesome being able to play in our very own backyard for the first time as well. I felt so… American.

I helped you find dirt to put in your dump truck, so that you could them “wash the animals in dirt shampoo.”

Our moving in process still continues, but it’s very rewarding to see certain rooms coming together now.

I’m really enjoying our new home and there is no doubt you are too!

We have every reason to celebrate our new home. After all, we’ve earned it. Our family has paid our dues to get where we are.

Love,

Daddy

Courtesy of: SpareFoot Storage Finder

1 Comment Posted on February 12, 2015February 12, 2015 food reviews, parenting, Uncategorized, vegan

Dear Jack: Our Visit To Mellow Mushroom In Downtown Franklin, TN

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

Last Friday after work, I drove straight to Mellow Mushroom in downtown Franklin; which is only about 20 minutes from our new house.

Grandma wanted to take our family out to dinner to help celebrate us moving in our new home.

I suggested Mellow Mushroom, already familiar with the idea that it was “vegan friendly,” though we hadn’t eaten there since I became a vegan nearly 2 years ago.

Turns out, it was one of the best meals I’ve had eating out at in a long time. I was pleasantly delighted to be there; and so were you!

You enjoyed getting to see “the Mushroom Man,” who was made completely out of spare car parts.

I liked their kids’ menu. You ordered a cheese pizza with a side order of steamed broccoli… which you ate all of.

As for me, I had a delectable vegan pizza which came with vegan cheese, tofu, and plenty of veggies.

Plus, I’ve never been to a Mellow Mushroom when the service wasn’t perfect. The staff is always so helpful, yet laid back.

I almost forgot… Mellow Mushroom is where Mommy and I went to dinner the night I proposed to her!

Back in January 2008, I had planned to propose at Saffire restaurant at the Franklin Factory, where we had first met. However, the day of, I found out that restaurant was closed on Monday’s.

So we had dinner at that same Mellow Mushroom there in downtown Franklin, then we drove to the Franklin Factory, where Mommy said yes when I proposed.

While we’re obviously not new to Mellow Mushroom, now that we are a plant-based family I feel that we have now discovered our official go-to eat-out restaurant closest to our new home.

Obviously, you know we don’t go out often, but when we do on special occasions, I’d be fine with going to Mellow Mushroom every time. We’re actually going back this Saturday night for a fun, family Valentine’s dinner!

Love,

Daddy

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