birthday

Leave a comment Posted on November 5, 2015November 5, 2015 parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Your 5th Birthday is So Close!

4 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack,

You will turn 5 on Monday, November 16^th. That’s about a week and a half from now!

For the past couple of months, you’ve been “nearly 5 months” in my head anyway. Soon, we’ll make it official.

For your whole life, you have been receiving a new book from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, each month. Today’s book apparently is the final one; as the program ends when you turn 5.

The book is called Look Out, Kindergarten, Here I Come! Granted, you won’t be starting Kindergarten until August 2016; around the time Mommy returns to work from being on maternity leave.

This week you also received your first birthday gift, in the mail. Tuesday afternoon as I was taking out the garbage, I noticed a box on our front step.

I assumed Mommy had ordered some maternity clothes from online. But we quickly figured out it was for you instead.

Someone sent you a really nice backpack with your name embroidered on it. You love it!

We all liked it so much that Mommy and I are considering getting another one and using it for Holly or Logan’s diaper bag.

This weekend you and I have a very special event coming up. We’ve been invited to attend the Nashville Auto Show this weekend!

I have a feeling we’re going to have a lot of fun there; possibly getting to see cars so new they’re not even out yet.

I wonder if we’ll see anyone there that we know. Sounds like a perfect father-and-son activity for us to attend. We’ll have to take some pictures there to help expand my Instagram network: @nickshellwrites

And for your actual 5th birthday, we have something super duper special planned. With it being your last birthday as an only child, we decided to do more than just a birthday party this year…

Love,

Daddy

3 Comments Posted on November 1, 2015 food reviews, Health, Uncategorized, vegan

I Invented the Vegan Frosted Chocolate Coffee Cake at the Whole Foods in Franklin, Tennessee

If you ever visit the Whole Foods in Cool Springs (Franklin, Tennessee), just turn to the right as soon as you walk in, and go all the way to the back of the store, where you’ll discover their bakery department; which is where I ordered my son’s vegan birthday cake a year ago when he turned 4.

Once you are standing there in front of their bakery display, you’ll notice a few containers of chocolate coffee cake, marked “VEGAN”.

That’s because of me. You’re welcome.

I invented the vegan frosted chocolate coffee cake about a year ago.

After we had bought my son’s birthday cake last year, I then specifically looked in the Whole Foods bakery to see if they already make some kind of vegan cake on a daily basis for my wife and I to casually enjoy.

Turns out, they did: For about 2 bucks, I could get a small vegan chocolate coffee cake; which serves about 4 people.

But there was no icing.

So I asked the baker if they had any vegan icing they could put on there for me, being familiar with the fact they indeed make vegan icing because of my son’s birthday cake.

The baker went to the back, and returned with my piece of vegan chocolate coffee cake; this time with icing.

To get the icing, it does cost around a dollar more, since they charge you by weight; but it’s worth it.

I made a habit of having them frost it for me and it wasn’t before long that they just began including the icing on those cakes anyway; keeping them in stock not only for me, but for the general public.

Therefore, I take credit for making it possible for vegans in to walk in to the Cool Springs Whole Foods and pick up a vegan treat.

My name shall go down in history.

Leave a comment Posted on April 20, 2015April 20, 2015 parenting, People

Dear Jack: To You On My 34th Birthday

4 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack,

Turning 34 years-old means I’m now officially in my “mid-thirties.” It only makes sense that Mommy and I finalized getting set up with a life insurance policy for ourselves this week. Because that’s what you do when you’re 34; you buy a new house and you set up a life insurance policy. Sounds fun, right?

Well, in all serious, we definitely had plenty of fun this weekend as a family for my birthday. Nonna and Papa drove up from Alabama to see your soccer game Saturday morning; then they took care of you while Mommy and I got to go out on an awesome date to the movies, the Nashville Symphony, and out for dinner in downtown at Bakersfield.

It couldn’t have been any better!

Then on Sunday, you helped make my vegan chocolate birthday cake. Mommy used 3 squiggly candles for the “3” and 4 regular candles for the “4”, to make the “34”. (My actual birthday is on April 20th.)

Of course, you blew out my candles for me. Plus, you took it upon yourself to open my presents for me as well; all while accidentally wearing your t-shirt backwards.

You and Mommy had slipped by Old Navy at some point and bought me some new clothes, including some “thunder socks” you specifically picked out for me. I shall wear them with pride!

After removing all the decorative paper in my gift bag, you decided you wanted to make “paper pants.” So you tried them on for everyone.

Then you tried on my size 31 shorts Mommy bought me for our upcoming Pensacola road trip. They fit you about as well as the paper pants.

My 34th birthday weekend was perfect. It definitely felt like a real birthday. And I’m excited to buy Magix Movie Edit Pro 2015 with some of my birthday money, as I begin the process of teaching myself how to edit videos; to enhance Family Friendly Daddy Blog.

Let’s see if I end up being any good at it. I’ll make you a star, kid!

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on November 23, 2014 parenting, Storytelling, toy reviews, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Dressing Yourself As A Super Hero To Open Your Gifts From Family

4 years.

Dear Jack,

A week ago was your actual 4^th birthday, though your birthday party with your friends was the day before on Saturday.

That meant you had already opened your presents from your friends by the time Mommy and I let you open your gifts from us the next morning at our house.

Sort of half-jokingly, I suggested that before you got started opening our gifts to you, that you should dress up in the super hero costume that your friend Madison had given you. (We actually let you open your gifts in front of your friends at your party; even though that’s nearly considered weird these days!)

You didn’t hesitate.

To make things even better, you happened to already be wearing your Batman pajamas, which had served as your Halloween costume just a few weeks ago.

So by the time you put on your costume, it apparently made you Super Captain Batman Jack!

It’s like you honestly believed that the red cape made you fun faster, because you were trying it out right, getting into super hero character before you sat down to open your presents.

I want to be clear, you did not remove one item of the costume the entire time, including the mask.

Even if you never wear the costume again, which after seeing this, I’m pretty sure you will, it was worth Madison picking out this outfit for you just for this event alone.

It was a relevant gift for more than one reason. Turns out, one of the gifts Mommy and I got for you was a Spiderman sleeping bag.

Not only have you been using it to sleep on this week, given that everything is moved out of our house now since we’re moving out to live with some friends as our new house is being built, but I also envision your new Spiderman sleeping bag to be what you sleep on when we “go camping” in our backyard of our new house next summer.

And fortunately, your mechanically-minded Uncle Andew was there to help put together a Techno Gears Marble Mania Quest maze; it took him only 2 hours, whereas the box warned it would take 3 to 4!

You provided great entertainment for our family as you opened your “Mommy and Daddy” presents. You really did make the best Super Captain Batman Jack that I have ever seen!

Love,

Daddy

6 Comments Posted on November 20, 2014November 22, 2014 Health, Storytelling, Uncategorized, vegan

Dear Jack: Your “No Artificial Anything” Lego Themed 4th Birthday Party

4 years old.

Dear Jack,

It is true, you are now a 4 year-old! And I can absolutely without a doubt tell you that you had an awesome 4^th birthday and birthday party.

Knowing the relevance of Legos, given the fact you will spend hours at a time building Optimus Prime and Dinobots, we booked your party months ago at a place called Bricks 4 Kidz.

That was the best decision for your party. Not only did you and your friends have a great time playing with Legos, but the parents felt at ease, yet still involved, with all the action.

There were also optional peripheral activities going on for any of your friends who wanted to mix things up; like making a cool spiral design on a paper plate using a Lego-operated device.

This made the first birthday party you’ve had outside of our home; I quickly realized how stress-free it truly is when you don’t have to worry about anything.

Your birthday party was on autopilot; it flowed so well.

The only thing we were really responsible for was bringing the food, which, you know me… that’s a big deal.

I made sure that in addition to your party having a Lego theme, that it also had a “no artificial anything” theme as well.

These days, you really have to go out of your way to find “birthday food” that doesn’t have garbage ingredients in it, like artificial food dyes, animal bi-products, or mysterious chemicals.

Of course, for me, your vegan dad, I knew just where to look…

I reached out to Annie’s and GoGo Squeez and they helped donate the majority of the snacks for your party. They are just as passionate as I am about spreading the word about the importance of eating real food.

Obviously, your friends loved our Annie’s crackers & cookies and Go Go Squeez pouch buffet!

And that was in addition to your vegan birthday cake that I special ordered from Whole Foods. You said you wanted it to be chocolate with blue icing, so that’s exactly what you got.

It was so good…

No eggs, no dairy, no artificial dyes or flavors… no problem! We liked it so much that Mommy and I (jokingly?) talked about ordering another cake from Whole Foods to celebrate when we move into our new house in January.

So not only was there plenty of fun to be had at your 4^th birthday party, but I was able to feel confident that I was serving you and your friends the best “birthday food” out there: Annie’s, Go Go Squeez, and Whole Foods vegan birthday cake.

Of course, there is that whole part about you opening the presents, but more on that in the next letter…

Love,

Daddy

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