Halloween

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Dear Jack: Our “Practice Halloween” Night as a Family/We Watched Gremlins

4 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack: Our "Practice Halloween" Night as a Family

Dear Jack,

Tonight we were able to “practice Halloween” at your preschool with all your friends. You got to be the coolest person possible: Captain America.

It was funny because all your friends who were boys were also dressed up as super heroes; but there were conveniently no duplicates: Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman…

As for Mommy and me, we took a more minimalist approach:

Mommy wore a zebra mask and I wore my cave man hat which I’ve owned for years.

(At Target, your costume only cost us $10 and Mommy’s mask was only $3.)

I like the fact you wanted to make sure your stuffed animal, Kitty, was dressed in costume too; as a baby in a onesie.

And by the way, you got a whole lot of candy! The proportion of candy-to-kids was definitely in your favor.

However, there’s a decent chance it’s going to rain on Saturday, which is Halloween.

So even though we are finally moved in to a nice suburban neighborhood where we can truly just walk door to door, instead of driving to a decent place, we may get rained out! Therefore, tonight served as our back-up plan to that happening to us.

And to set the mood for Halloween, I let you watch the 1984 Steven Spielberg movie, Gremlins; which is currently free on Amazon Prime right now.

gremlins_gizmo Dear Jack: Our "Practice Halloween" Night as a Family/We Watched Gremlins

I admit to having a few reservations in that it, along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Jones, were the very first movies to be released under the PG-13 rating; as opposed to PG.

Granted, you watched Ant-Man and it was no issue for you.

I don’t regret my decision. You didn’t recognize the bad words, since to you, “stupid” is the one that concerns you the most right now.

And though parts of it are obviously creepy and violent, it was nothing you hadn’t seen on Goosebumps. I’m not saying I recommend showing Gremlins to all 5 year-olds, but I feel confident in us being able to enjoy it together.

You were on the edge on your seat the whole time, and you loved Gizmo. Not to mention, you’ve already proclaimed that when we go to Nonna and Papa’s house next time, you’ll be bringing home my old Gizmo doll.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: Our First Time to Carve Pumpkins Together

4 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack: Our First Time to Carve Pumpkins

Dear Jack,

At the age of 34, I have finally carved a pumpkin for the first time. It’s just something I had never gotten around to until now. Of course, I needed your help.

I had you draw on the faces of the pumpkins with a marker (practicing on a sheet of paper first), then I carved them with a knife, after gutting the pumpkin. These are of course the pumpkins you picked at Gentry’s Farm last weekend.

Dear Jack: Our First Time to Carve Pumpkins

You and I set up shop in the driveway, sitting at your Thomas the Train table.

I think we did a pretty good job for our first time carving pumpkins.

It brought so much more meaning to the act of going to pick out own pumpkins when we ourselves were the ones to “make them come to life.”

Now that I know how to carve pumpkins, I’m almost eager to do more of them. Since it’s just a once a year event, it’s not something we’ll have a lot of constant experience doing.

But maybe we should. Maybe we should regularly carve pumpkins together. I think we make a great team.

Dear Jack: Our First Time to Carve Pumpkins

After all, you are a very crafty boy.

When I was doing the dishes on Sunday, I grabbed a Fiji bottle of water that was next to all the other dirty dishes. As I grabbed it to remove the lid to wash it, I realized there were several google eyes floating around, looking back at me.

The funny thing is, I didn’t even question it. I just set it aside; assuming it was just some random project you came up with when you were hanging out with me.

Dear Jack: Our First Time to Carve Pumpkins

I know that often while Mommy is cooking, you set up your work station at the kitchen table and throw stuff together in a sort of artistic science experiment.

So whether you’re designing pumpkin faces, or making eyeball-filled water bottles, you’re using your talents and having fun in the process.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: Our First Time to Carve Pumpkins

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Dear Jack: Webisode 21 of Jack-Man, “Vegan Bear Scare”

4 years, 10 months.

Dear Jack: Webisode 21 of Jack-Man, “Vegan Bear Scare”

Dear Jack,

We attempted to film webisodes 21 and 22 of Jack-Man on Saturday morning… but the cold, the light rain, and the realized need for a 3rd person to serve as cameraman and props holder got in the way of that.

Fortunately, your Pre-K teacher Ms. Aimee heard about what was going on and saved the day.

She came over on Sunday, when the weather was slightly better, and we filmed both webisodes back to back. There’s no way we could have done this without Ms. Aimee’s help:

In “Vegan Bear Scare”, we introduced the new character, Vegan Bear. Originally, I intended for him to be a gorilla, but the suit was too expensive.

By default, this is our Halloween episode, as I admit: Vegan Bear is by far the creepiest villain Jack-Man has ever encountered.

The theme song to Jack-Man states this about the series:

“Jack-Man knows just where to hit ‘em, when it comes to creepy villains.

He packs a punch and eats a healthy lunch.”

Perhaps this webisode capitalizes on that concept more than ever, with such a creepy villain and such a focus on healthy eating.

Vegan Bear explains where vegans get their protein and nutrients, from 6 sources:

Veggies, fruits, beans, grains, nuts, and seeds.

Ultimately, “Vegan Bear Scare” is technically the 1st half of the story; as Webisode 22, “Tin Roof Rusted,” will immediately pick up where Webisode 21 left off.

But I decided to release them as 2 separate webisodes because of their unique content.

Also, both of these webisodes feature Vegan Bear driving Jack-Man in the 2015 Toyota Corolla!

Here’s a piece of trivia about “Vegan Bear Scare”: it’s the only other webisode, besides Webisode 2, that doesn’t feature Green Meanie.

That’s in part because I wanted all the “villain focus” to be on Vegan Bear, not Green Meanie. The other reason is because Green Meanie shows up on the 2nd half of the story line, in Webisode 22.

I think “Vegan Bear Scare” turned out to be very exciting. However, the next one coming up, “Tin Roof Rusted” is… simply epic.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: What I Bought Instead of an $70 Gorilla Costume

4 years, 8 months.

Dear Jack: What I Bought Instead of an $80 Gorilla Costume

Dear Jack,

It all started last weekend when our family was at Target getting your Halloween costume. We amazingly found a Captain America costume for just 10 bucks!

In the next aisle, I found a gorilla costume for $30. The thing is, I’ve always wanted one. My way of thinking is, you never know when one might come in handy…

I tried it on, but fortunately, it was a “XL” size for boys; the body of it fit a little tight, but I could have made it work. However, the head mask itself was too small to even fit past my forehead.

Since then, I have checked in every store comparable to Target, as well as those seasonal Halloween stores.

The going rate for a men’s gorilla costume is $80.

So it’s $30 for an XL boy size, but $80 for the next size up; a men’s.

I have great plans for a new character for our Jack-Man series; a mutant beast that would be a reoccurring character.

And the thing is, gorilla costumes really aren’t that common, but they are recognizable. I think a gorilla would make a very fascinating and dynamic character for our videos.

As for now, the story ends with our family going yesterday morning to Super Target, near our house. I did find a men’s gorilla costume there for $70…

However, I also found a $25 Chewbacca men’s onesie and a $15 Target brand “Angry Teddy Mask.”

(I’ll still check the morning after Halloween to see if I can get the gorilla costume half off at Super Target.)

When I got home yesterday, I decided I could cover up the Chewbacca’s sash with a green puffy vest I already had, to make the costume original for our videos.

So for nearly half the price of the best deal I could find on a gorilla costume, I made my own beastly creature costume.

If things go as planned, everyone will be able to catch a glimpse of my new beastly character after we film a new webisode of Jack-Man next weekend…

Love,

Daddy

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Trick Or Treating 2014: Halloween As Batman

3 years, 11 months.

Trick Or Treating 2014: Halloween As Batman

Dear Jack,

I don’t know who as enjoyed this Halloween more… you or me.

This is the most excited about “trick or treating” I’ve been since I can remember. I have been telling my coworkers all week how excited I have been for this day.

You were Batman, of course; dressed in $8 WalMart pajamas and a $4 Kroger mask.

I want to compliment you on the fact you actually said “trick or treat” before accepting candy from the dozen or so random households we accepted candy from tonight.

Trick Or Treating 2014: Halloween As Batman

Mommy and I threw on random costume hats we had lying around the house so that our whole family could technically be dressed in costume for the night.

Going “trick or treating” really is so much fun… and so random.

I really like your choice of Batman. Your costume was very well respected among the houses we visited; as well as among other trick or treaters.

Trick Or Treating 2014: Halloween As Batman

Today was also special in that I came to visit you at your school during your lunch. I enjoyed hanging out with you and seeing your friends dressed up. I truly appreciated the fact that your (girl) friend Eiley was dressed as a Power Ranger.

Trick Or Treating 2014: Halloween As Batman

You even drew a special “Batman SUV monster truck” today for the occasion; which you insisted I cut out for you, to serve as a form of a toy.

Trick Or Treating 2014: Halloween As Batman

Not to mention, you also have been making Play-Doh pumpkins, which you’ve been moving around with Lego bulldozers.

I was telling Mommy how much I enjoyed tonight and look forward to the Halloweens to come in the next several years. We had such a fun time together as a family.

Most of all, I loved seeing how excited you were to “be Batman.”

 

Love,

Daddy

P.S. Below is an inforgraph on the history of pumpkins; as I see relevant on Halloween.

 
pumpkins infographic