Dear Jack: The 1st Month Of Living In Our New House

4 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack: Our 1st Month In Our New House

Dear Jack,

It was January 29th, more than 5 weeks ago, that we closed on our new house and began moving our stuff in. The next day, we slept in our new house for the first time.

Dear Jack: The 1st Month Of Living In Our New House

I didn’t plan to start chronicling each week in our new house the way I’ve done with my letters to you for the past (nearly) 5 years, but it’s just turned out that way (since these posts about our new house have proven to remain very popular among readers).

Dear Jack: Our 1st Month In Our New House

At this point, we’re obviously settled in our new life, in our new house. Other than finishing up hanging some wall decorations, and waiting on our new sofa to arrive next Saturday, we’re pretty much past the moving in stage.

Dear Jack: Our 1st Month In Our New House

This past Saturday, it was finally warm enough outside for you and me to go out and play together for the first time in our cul-de-sac. For the past couple of weeks since the big freeze, you had been asking to go play where the neighbors’ remaining snowman is on the sidewalk.

Dear Jack: Our 1st Month In Our New House

You have collected a decent number of Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars that served as great snowplows. In fact, one of them even buried St. Peter in the snow! Fortunately, a dinosaur helped save him, as the shark from Finding Nemo watched from above.

Dear Jack: Our 1st Month In Our New House

From there, we finally got to walk along the sidewalk trail along the woods, which circles around to our cul-de-sac.

We were able to walk along a treacherous board where the sidewalk ended…

Dear Jack: Our 1st Month In Our New House

Sit on a broken tree, throw huge rocks…

We were able to walk along a treacherous board where the sidewalk ended...

And even go “fishing”…

Before we headed back to our house, you made a “Mintacinno” out of some things you found on the ground as we walked together.

We were able to walk along a treacherous board where the sidewalk ended...

It’s still currently melting on our front porch right now.

I should also point out this was the week in history in which you obtained “Blueberry”, a new stuffed animal that Mommy and I let you get after your marble set we got you for Christmas got broken in the move.

We were able to walk along a treacherous board where the sidewalk ended...

Blueberry means a lot to you; it’s quite evident. I was surprised you actually let me name your new bear.

It’s funny because actually Blueberry it’s one of those “My First Bears,” designed for newborns.

Hi Nick!  Here are some photos of Jack working on his wood working!   He was so proud of himself being able to use a real hammer and nails. He was very adamant about building a house. Even though he hit his finger with the hammer, he was brave and kept going (with a little help from myself) He used paint to decorate his building. He also made an "octopus monster" with styrofoam.    -Aimee

You don’t see it that way.

As for your new school, Rainbow Child Care Center, things couldn’t be better. Here’s a note I got from your teacher this week:

Hi Nick!

Here are some photos of Jack working on his wood working! He was so proud of himself being able to use a real hammer and nails. He was very adamant about building a house. Even though he hit his finger with the hammer, he was brave and kept going (with a little help from myself). He used paint to decorate his building.He also made an “octopus monster” with Styrofoam.
-Ms. Aimee

Hi Nick!  Here are some photos of Jack working on his wood working!   He was so proud of himself being able to use a real hammer and nails. He was very adamant about building a house. Even though he hit his finger with the hammer, he was brave and kept going (with a little help from myself) He used paint to decorate his building. He also made an "octopus monster" with styrofoam.    -Aimee

It’s been a great first month! This move has been a great thing for us. New house, new school, and a new version of life.

And, thanks to your teacher Ms. Aimee letting us know about it, we ended up buying tickets for the Repticon (reptile exhibition) in Franklin, TN next weekend!

Oh yes, pictures will follow…

Love,

Daddy

Hi Nick!  Here are some photos of Jack working on his wood working!   He was so proud of himself being able to use a real hammer and nails. He was very adamant about building a house. Even though he hit his finger with the hammer, he was brave and kept going (with a little help from myself) He used paint to decorate his building. He also made an "octopus monster" with styrofoam.    -Aimee

Now Introducing Flashbacks (Reruns) On Family Friendly Daddy Blog

Now Introducing Flashbacks (Reruns) On Family Friendly Daddy Blog

Next month makes 5 whole years that I’ve been “daddy blogging” here on my website. At this point, I’ve published nearly 2,000 posts on Family Friendly Daddy Blog.

My readership has obviously grown over the years; I didn’t even have a Facebook page for my blog for the first couple years.

Therefore, I’m sure there are many of my posts that flew under the radar. And with me posting 3 to 6 new ones every week for the past 5 years, it’s only natural that there are plenty of “lost episodes” that went unseen or forgotten.

I’m sticking to my policy about only regularly posting new stuff on Thursdays. However, from Friday to Wednesday is fair game for me quickly tossing up some links on Facebook and Twitter; to advertise some reruns, or as I plan to refer to them, flashbacks.

Sometimes it will be a “3 years ago today on Family Friendly Daddy Blog…” retro sort of rerun.

But I predict most of the time it will just be me reposting things I’ve written that my now larger audience (nearly 1,000 followers of Facebook at this point) missed the first time around.

So in review, I will continue to post new material on Thursdays, but for the rest of the week, you can expect syndication.

Thanks for being a part of Family Friendly Daddy Blog with me. I am always encouraged to see how many people are reading every day, as I am able to see how many people read each post, using my administration screen.

And still, I’m surprised by how interested readers are in learning about life in our new house. That’s why I try to do a “house post” every Thursday.

I think my inspiration to incorporate reruns happened because my wife and I have been catching up on old episodes of Friends on Netflix; meanwhile, I’m been listening to my old CD collection from high school.

Perhaps I’m just in the mood to feel nostalgic.

Seriously, Sister Hazel’s Somewhere More Familiar really is one of the best albums ever recorded…

Sister_Hazel_-_Somewhere_More_Familiar

Dear Jack: Why Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Is So Relevant For You Right Now

4 years, 3 months.

Pee-wees-Playhouse

Dear Jack,

During the blizzard last week, in which we were snowed in for 3 days, I decided to introduce you to a “new” (but actually, classic) show on Netflix: Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.

I didn’t realize at the time just how relevant a show like this would be for you: a 4 year-old boy.

The show came out in 1986, when I was about your age. But apparently, it must have always been on while a show I liked better came on- because until last week, I had never seen a full episode of it. (Though I did see his circus movie multiple times: I even had the poster on my bedroom door!)

You are officially obsessed.

To an adult like me, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse is trippy, to say the least. But to you, it’s a marvelous display of absurd fantasy that is undeniably… very relatable to you.

PEEWEEPLAYHOUSE

There are Claymation dinosaurs that live inside the wall. Yes, dinosaurs– all 4 year-old boys love dinosaurs!

And there is a talking cow. And a talking chair, named Chairy.

That’s the same way you name your stuffed animals: Pandy the panda bear, Ellie the elephant, Annie the anteater…

la_ca_1020_pee_wee

Not to mention, Pee-Wee also has a barking dog chair.

You have to appreciate Laurence Fishburne playing a cowboy, with an appropriate mid-Eighties mullet.

There is of course the very strange routine of having the mail lady arrive to announce the king of cartoons arriving.

Once the king walks in, he always seems confused by why he’s there; only to show a random clip of an old 1950’s cartoon.

Perhaps one of your favorite parts of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse is when the door-to-door salesman arrives; in which an instantly annoyed Pee-Wee shuts the door in his face.

la_ca_1020_pee_wee

The whole show is ultimately a predictable/unpredictable routine of random characters showing up.

We even sat down together and watched the 1988 movie Big Top Pee-Wee, that I just referenced a second ago. I have to admit, it was just as good as I remember it from when I was a kid.

I predict it’s only a matter of time before you start repeating, “I know you are but what am I?”

Love,

Daddy

la_ca_1020_pee_wee

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

4 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

Dear Jack,

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

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

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…

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

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.

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

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

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

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.)

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

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.

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

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.

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

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

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

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

Dear Jack: Our Valentine’s Day Weekend 2015

Dear Jack: Our 1st Time To The Circus- Ringling Bros. Presents LEGENDS! (In Nashville)

4 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack: Our 1st Time To The Circus- Ringling Bros. Presents LEGENDS! (In Nashville)

Dear Jack,

Your first time to the circus was my first time to the circus too! Our family was able to go see Ringling Bros. Presents LEGENDS! last night, where we live in Nashville, Tennessee.

 

We went Friday, opening night, but there are still Saturday and Sunday shows as well…

Show Times:

Friday, Jan. 23 – 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 24 – 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 25 – 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Show Times:  Friday, Jan. 23 – 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m.  Saturday, Jan. 24 – 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.  Sunday, Jan. 25 – 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

There is no denying that in this 2+ hour show, the entertainment is non-stop. Let’s see if I can remember some highlights of what we saw… thanks to some help from the pictures I took.

Granted, you kept a pretty much baffled look on your face the whole time; having never seen anything like we saw last night at the Ringling Bros. Presents LEGENDS! show.

We saw many kinds of animals, including kangaroos, pigs, and elephants; but you told me that the lions and tigers were your very favorite part of the whole thing. It was pretty fascinating to see one man controlling all those big cats!

Dear Jack: Our 1st Time To The Circus- Ringling Bros. Presents LEGENDS! (In Nashville)

There were also the motorcycles that all drove into that sphere and somehow never crashed into each other. We saw the extremely talented acrobats as well. I imagine all they ever do is just practice!

It was like the whole time we were there it was hard to imagine what we were seeing was real.

I think you’re still wondering whether the Chinese dragons where real or not… you really didn’t know what to think of them!

Dear Jack: Our 1st Time To The Circus- Ringling Bros. Presents LEGENDS! (In Nashville)

While we were there, we got to hang out with our friends, the Hendricks, who won my ticket giveaway earlier this week.

Our family geniunely had a purely entertaining experience at the circus. I totally would be up for going again. There’s really just nothing else like it.

Dear Jack: Our 1st Time To The Circus- Ringling Bros. Presents LEGENDS! (In Nashville)

You even got to stay up past your bedtime! You’re one lucky kid…

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: Our 1st Time To The Circus- Ringling Bros. Presents LEGENDS! (In Nashville)

Dear Jack: Our 1st Time To The Circus- Ringling Bros. Presents LEGENDS! (In Nashville)