Legos

1 Comment Posted on November 2, 2014 Nostalgia, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Making Cool Party Favors By Baking Crayons In Lego Man Molds

3 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack,

In addition to making you feel special by taking you to go get tater tots at Burger Republic back in September for the “The Great Food Truck Festival”, you also had a lot of fun that same weekend by helping Mommy and me make some of the party favors for your upcoming birthday party in just two weeks.

For your appropriately themed Lego party at Bricks 4 Kids (A Lego-themed party place), we are giving out homemade Lego Man crayons as part of your party favor bags.

Mommy found the Lego Man mold on Amazon. From there, we found a few boxes of old crayons; some of them having been baking in our cars for the past couple of years!

My main job was to take the knife and cut off the paper wrappers. Your job was to organize the crayons by color (which you did with great pride) and throw away the wrappers for me after I cut them off the crayons, which was actually very helpful for me.

From there, Mommy crushed them and fit them into the molds, baking them for a little while. After that they went into the freezer to cool off.

Too bad we only had one mold tray, which yields 8 Lego Man crayons at a time. Mommy was basically baking batches for about 6 hours straight in order to produce a total of about 64.

So as you can see, as long as you use as least 2 different colors of crayons, each Lego Man crayon is guaranteed to look unique, like a snowflake or a fingerprint.

My favorite one looked like the Earth. I named him Captain Planet.

Without surprise, you immediately chose your favorites to put in your own goody bag.

Making those Lego Man crayons was definitely a fun family activity for us. Granted, Mommy’s role was the most tedious.

But we all a great time. It was such a unique and “Pinteresty” thing for us to do.

I guess we get cool points now or something…

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on August 30, 2014 Uncategorized

Dear Jack: My Son’s 1st Science Project

3 years, 9 months.

Dear Jack,

This week at school as the theme has been “The Future,” you and your friends were given an assignment: to create a future-themed science project.

I don’t ever see myself as the kind of dad who simply will do the work for you, attempting to lead fellow parents and teachers to believe that you actually did the work instead of me.

Instead, I want it to be your ideas and your handiwork; simply with my input as you ask for it.

However, I will admit, I did build the basic frame of your “tow truck,” but only for you to break it apart then rebuild it with festive lights and what constitutes as “a tow on the back.”

Each day this week when we came home from school, you ran straight over to your Legos and my job was to help you find “all the weird Legos” for your tow truck.

Your project was entitled “Parking Lot Of The Future.”

Apparently, in the future a robotic snake, an old man in a gown riding a robotic bird, and a low-rider fire truck will park next to a well-lit tow truck.

I just wanted you to have fun. The thought of winning never crossed my mind; though it definitely crossed yours. I’m not sure there was a winner, but I do know you came home with a Ninja Turtles activity pack and a “well done” award.

In fact, this week set a record for you: “Least Number Of Snacks Eaten In The Car.”

That’s because you were busy in the back seat modifying your tow truck, having me remove trick Lego pieces that you decided you didn’t like after all… in between us sitting at red lights.

So yeah, you were very proud this morning to see your work on display, alongside your friends’ projects.

It was never about winning. It was about the experience and the passion of creating something enjoyable.

I have really enjoyed being a part of your first science project.

Now that it’s over, though- you are very relieved: You finally got to take your Legos back home now.

Love,

Daddy

Leave a comment Posted on July 20, 2014 funny, parenting

My 3 Year-Old Son’s R-Rated Version Of A Lego Set

January 26, 2014 at 10:37 pm , by Nick Shell

3 years, 2 months.

Dear Jack,

This weekend Mommy and I let you spend some of your Christmas money, given that it was during “the best time of the month to buy stuff cheap.”

You bought an orange Corvette for 50% off, as well as a new Lego set calledPolice Pursuit; featuring a classic thief driving a circa 1975 Ford Bronco and a mustachioed policeman chasing him in… of all things… an ATV.

As I read the instructions to build the set, you were eager for me to make the Bronco.

So even though I was supposed to build the policeman and his ATV first, you easily talked me into building the robber and his Bronco instead.

The first thing you noticed once I built it was that the Bronco featured a trunk that lifts up.

Therefore, you immediately began deciding which items the bad guy should keep locked in his trunk; along with the $100 bill and gold bar that came with the set.

You found a big Lego wrench from the farm set Mommy and I got you for Christmas.

Perfect. As well as appropriate.

But there was still more room in the trunk… So as I opened the small plastic baggie containing the parts for the ATV and the cop, you nonchalantly snatched the cop’s head and placed it in the truck of the Bronco.

[Insert sound of a record scratching here to imply ironic, comedic confusion like they do in movie trailers.]

The thing I love most about this story is that by no means were you trying to be funny or weird.

Somehow, you thought it was completely normal to place a human head in the trunk of an SUV.

(I’ve been catching up onDexter now that it’s back on Netflix, so this seemed a little too familiar to me.)

After you drove the Bronco around for a little while, you decided to throw the human Lego head out onto the ground.

I don’t know if that made the situation better or worse…

Fortunately, within just a few minutes, I had the policeman’s ATV ready.

I made a father and son moment out of letting you place the policeman’s head on his body, like how just a few minutes before, I let you fasten the tires onto the wheels, and the wheels onto the axles.

The more I watched you play with your new Lego set, the more civilized the storyline got: The policeman helped the man in the Bronco and this time around he wasn’t a bad guy at all; just a man who was stuck in the mud.

By the way, you don’t yet fully understand the concept of policemen doing anything other than helping people.

They don’t pull people over for speeding or even chase down criminals…

Instead, they mainly just help people whose cars have a flat tire or are stuck in the mud.

What a sweet, innocent little boy you are, after all!

Love,

Daddy

4 Comments Posted on June 15, 2014June 16, 2014 Uncategorized

Unboxing Of “Everything Is Awesome” Edition Of The Lego Movie: Family Friendly Review

I’ve probably earned a reputation on Parents.com by now, as their daddy blogger, of being quite the fan of The Lego Movie. That suits me well though, because I was asked by Lego to review the Everything Is Awesome Edition of The Lego Movie.

With that being said, check out the unboxing video that I did, along with my 3 and a half year-old son who helped me out:

The Everything Is Awesome Edition of The Lego Movie includes the Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital Ultraviolet (enabling you to watch it on your TV, computer, tablet and smartphone. Plus, the Bonus 3D movie is included as well.

Special featuers on the 2D Blu-Ray include a “brick’s eye view” of Emmet’s adventures, showing you how bricks were born in Bringing Lego To Life. Not to mention, there is are director/star commentary, outtakes, Dream Job: Meet The Lego Builders, and the “Everything Is Awesome” Sing-Along.

Goodies inside the Everything Is Awesome Edition of The Lego Movie include Vitruvius and President Business minifigures; which are the “Lego Man” versions of those two movie characters.

There is also a fun 14-page Meet The Characters book which contains 13 stickers, as well as games and puzzles.

As the unboxing video demonstrates, a 3D Emmet Photo is inside is well. If I was a little boy, I’d want that displayed proudly on my dresser in my room!

So there is my overview of what all you get with the Everything Is Awesome Edition of The Lego Movie. The official release date is Tuesday, June 17th. (Just in time for family vacation!)

But as for my son, he was able to enjoy it a few days sooner, as you can see him in a “Lego Movie trance” during dinner; in the photo collage above.

And the 2000 piece Lego box provided some good quotes from my son, like, “Daddy, make a Trans-grasshopper-former.”

As well as, “I like my new Legos because it’s a big block. Daddy, the big block is the garage.”

Thanks for visiting the Family Friendly Daddy Blog. I wonder what I will review next?

Leave a comment Posted on November 10, 2009March 4, 2024 People, Uncategorized

Long Sleeved, Button Downs are the Shirt

In 8th grade, I saved my parents plenty of money because instead of hoping for new cool clothes for the 1994-1995 school year, I just used my dad’s closet as my wardrobe. At the time, I was around 5’ 6”, compared to my dad who is 5’ 11”. Obviously there was a notable size difference at the time, but it didn’t matter.

Because I didn’t need Tommy Hilfiger to be cool. I needed my dad’s long sleeved, button down shirts (AKA “casual dress shirts”). Worn unbuttoned over any random t-shirt pulled out of the drawer. And it didn’t really matter if the shirts matched each other either.

Fifteen years later, I now wear long-sleeved, button down shirts every day to work. Uncomfortably tucked into dress pants to look professional. And when I get home, I change into jeans. But the shirt stays.

Why are casual dress shirts so awesome? A few simple reasons.

Most importantly, they are made from thin, yet quality material. I am a man, therefore I get hot easily. That being said, casual dress shirts are designed so that the sleeves can easily be rolled up, and because of the turbulence of the buttons on the sleeves, they actually stay up, unlike a sweater or hoodie. And people think that rolled up sleeves on these shirts look good. It’s professional/hip.

And with a casual dress shirt, no one really has to know how little money I spend on them. There are no obvious logos to notice. I buy most of mine from the Unclaimed Baggage Center near my hometown for around $6.

These shirts link back to boyhood. Transformers, Go-Bots, and even Legos. Boys love things that change into different things. I can go from a professional working man to a casual dude (but not a slouch).

Hoodies are great, but they do have a sloppy connotation attached. And sweaters are okay, but sometimes when I wear them, I feel like I’m wearing a sweatshirt, which makes me think of Hanz and Franz from early 1990’s Saturday Night Live.

Long sleeved, button downs are the jam. And best of all, when my wife and I are out somewhere and she gets cold, which is indeed a constant occurrence, I can sacrifice my casual dress shirt to keep her warm. Only to reveal the dorky Transformers t-shirt I happen to be wearing underneath. Double win.

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