Nashville

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Dear Jack: Your New Cross Necklace, Mustache, And 2nd Soccer Game

4 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack: Your New Cross Necklace, Mustache, And 2nd Soccer Game

Dear Jack,

Last Sunday in your Sunday School class, your teacher gave you and all the other kids a cross necklace. Needless to say, you were very serious about wearing it to preschool each day this week; nearly treating it with as much humanity as you do your stuffed animals.

Each day during your nap at school, I learned that you carefully placed your necklace in your cubby to keep it safe while you slept. You also explained to me how “the babies” in the younger class tried to take the necklace from you when they saw it.

You are seriously proud of that necklace!

Dear Jack: Your New Cross Necklace, Mustache, And 2nd Soccer Game

Apparently there was some kind of “Mustache Day” at school yesterday, because you came home with a big decorative one. Mommy insisted you try it on for a picture. You easily agreed. It fit you very well.

This morning as I was getting you dressed for school, you showed me how you stuck the mustache on the closet door so the door could have a mustache.

Dear Jack: Your New Cross Necklace, Mustache, And 2nd Soccer Game

You have now had your 2nd soccer game. You didn’t try even once to walk off the field early before the game ended.

The main goal at this point is still to get you to at least following the ball around with the rest of the kids.

This coming weekend will be a lot of fun for you as Nonna and Papa are driving up to see our new house for the first time since early February when they helped us move in.

Dear Jack: Your New Cross Necklace, Mustache, And 2nd Soccer Game

Mommy and I are going out Saturday afternoon and night for my 34th birthday; which is actually next Monday.

So you’ll get to just hang out with them while Mommy and I go to the symphony, movies, and dinner in downtown Nashville.

I won’t be surprised if you wear both your cross necklace and mustache for them!

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Jack: Cupcakes/Music Lessons/Upcoming Pensacola Road Trip

4 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack: Cupcake Party/Upcoming Trip To Pensacola, FL

Your teacher Ms. Aimee lets your class do something special every time you guys earn enough marbles to fill up the jar, on account of good behavior.

A few weeks ago, it was a pajama party. This past week, though, you all had a cupcake party. I was surprised to see the pictures… you actually made your own cupcakes, thanks to Ms. Aimee’s handy dandy cupcake maker.

Dear Jack: Cupcakes/Music Lessons/Upcoming Pensacola Road Trip

I didn’t even though that existed… we might have to get one for our house. Here’s your teacher’s note:

“Hi Nick!

Today was our cupcake party!

Jack had a blast mixing all the ingredients together to make our cupcakes.

The best part was frosting and decorating them!”

Jack had a blast today with our guest, Mr. Adam, from Firey Music!

He showed us how to play the; guitar, banjo, and mandolin! Jack got to try each instrument.

Mr. Adam also gave each student an instrument all of their own (the greatest sight you’ve seen, 14 children’s eyes lighting up, finding out they get their OWN instrument!)

Jack has also fallen in love with our magnet tiles! He is the master of building rockets!”

Aimee Cornelius

Lead Rockstar Preschool Teacher (self-titled)

Rainbow Child Care Center

Spring Hill, Tennessee

www.rainbowchildccc.com

Dear Jack: Cupcakes/Music Lessons/Upcoming Pensacola Road Trip

Coming up, we have a fun road trip/mini-vacation planning for Pensacola, Florida. We will be reviewing a 2015 Toyota Sienna, which will only add to the excitement!

On our itinerary is a fun trip to the Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park, as you are currently obsessed with sea animals since watching and reviewing Dolphin Tale 2 a few months ago. You have already decided your souvenir for our trip will be a dolphin stuffed animal.

Dear Jack: Cupcake Party/Upcoming Trip To Pensacola, FL

And it should go without saying, I will officially be reviewing the city of Pensacola from a “vegan friendly” perspective; as I’ve already done with our trips to Atlanta, Asheville, and Lake Tahoe.

I’m excited to see you play in the ocean. I have a feeling you will be looking for baby crabs there on the beach.

Pensacola is apparently only about 6 and a half hours from our new house, which is a bit closer to the ocean than our home in Nashville was.

This may turn out to be a new regular vacation spot for us, like Asheville has become.

All fun ahead, it sounds like!

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on funny, parenting, Uncategorized

Dear Jack: Our Visit To Repticon 2015 in Franklin, TN

4 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack: Our Visit To Repticon 2015 in Franklin, TN

Dear Jack,

Thanks to your teacher Ms. Aimee, you have a new found appreciation for reptiles and amphibians. She mentioned that the Repticon (a reptile convention) was coming to the Nashville area, so Mommy bought us tickets on Groupon.

So that’s where we were last Saturday morning. There were obviously all kinds of creepy crawlers to see there. You even got to pet an albino python!

Dear Jack: Our Visit To Repticon 2015 in Franklin, TN

Thanks to all 4 of your class pets at school, you weren’t afraid of any of the animals there… even if maybe you should have been!

But without a doubt, your favorite part of the Repticon was getting to buy your new friend, Snakey.

I had made you a deal earlier in the week that if you agreed to let me cut your hair that I would give you a $5 credit towards a toy at Repticon; as it would have cost nearly $15 for someone else to cut your hair.

Dear Jack: Our Visit To Repticon 2015 in Franklin, TN

You agreed. You matched that credit with $5 that already had and the rest is history.

By now, you have a pretty eclectic collection of stuffed animals. Snakey, the red snake, is definitely on the more bizarre end of the line-up; right up there with your anteater you got for Christmas.

Since last weekend, you have been asking Snakey questions throughout the day, waiting for Mommy to answer you (as Snakey) in a falsetto voice.

Dear Jack: Our Visit To Repticon 2015 in Franklin, TN

Snakey gets to sleep in your bed with you every night and is one of the few animals you have taken to school, back to back days.

I realize that one day you’ll grow out of this stage where your stuffed animals are your favorite toys and your best friends.

But for now, it’s actually a lot of fun for our family to live in the moment together… with Snakey and all his friends.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: Our Visit To Repticon 2015 in Franklin, TN

Dear Jack: Our Visit To Repticon 2015 in Franklin, TN

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Dear Jack: Do You Know The Mushroom Man? (Mel O. Mushroom)

4 years, 4 months.

Dear Jack: Do You Know The Mushroom Man?

Dear Jack,

Last Saturday we met up with some of your friends from your old preschool, at our favorite place to dine out: Mellow Mushroom.

Other than Whole Foods, it’s one of the few places near where we live that openly accommodates to my vegan lifestyle as well as you and Mommy being vegetarians. Not to mention, we’re Dave Ramsey followers so it’s hard to justify eating out every week when we’ve got a mortgage to pay off early

We rarely eat out, so when we do, it’s always a special event; like when we moved into our new house… and for Valentine’s Day.

It was a great place to catch up with your friends’ parents; meanwhile, you and your friends enjoyed hanging out underneath the table.

Right after I had just paid the bill at the end of the meal, your friend Madison’s dad mentioned to me there was something going on behind me, near the front door.

I looked over, then shouted to you:

“Jack! There’s a mushroom man! Come with me right now!”

We scurried over to the scene. There was a staff worker dressed in the restaurant’s mascot costume; as Mel O. Mushroom.

It was quite an intriguing spectacle… even for me to witness.

You were obviously fascinated. I was somewhat surprised you showed no hint of fear whatsoever.

The Mushroom Man gave you high fives; you gladly participated. You stood there in awe of his shroomy splendor.

It’s not every day you happen upon a 6 foot tall mutant mushroom in the middle of downtown Franklin, Tennessee.  I suppose he was there to participate in the St. Patrick’s Day Festival.

You tried to look up his… mushroom skirt, for lack of a better term; to try to figure out whether it was a real person- or an actual, genuine mutant mushroom person.

As we left Mellow Mushroom, you had to ask, “Daddy, was that a real man?”

I explained that it was a person in a costume, which was what you thought; but I can still see you were having a little bit of trouble digesting that truth. After all, I too would want to believe the Mushroom Man was real.

Love,

Daddy

1 Comment Posted on parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized, vegan

Dear Jack: Your Homemade Cinnamon Milk/Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

4 years, 3 months.

Dear Jack: Your Homemade Cinnamon Milk/Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

Dear Jack,

Well, hopefully last week marked the last of the snow for winter…

Dear Jack: Your Homemade Cinnamon Milk/Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

It definitely marked the week in which we watched Pee-wee’s Big Adventure two times within 24 hours.

You confidently expressed to me you liked it better than Big Top Pee-wee, which we watched twice within 24 hours two weeks ago. Even though the scary clown scene technically was inappropriate for you to see in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, only Mommy covered her eyes.

Dear Jack: Your Homemade Cinnamon Milk/Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

I have to admit, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure is a solid movie. Here’s a little bit of trivia: I was 4 years old when it came out in 1985; the same age you are now.

We also took a quick family drive to Rooster Tails, a cool retro style furniture store we’ve bought from before. You helped us look for a coffee table for our living room and a bookcase for our office.

Cinnamon

One of the highlights from this past week was when you decided you wanted to “make milk” for our family to drink over the weekend.

Over the course of two days, you would sit up on the counter with a mixing bowl, bumming spare ingredients off of Mommy and me, so you could add them into your bowl of water.

It’s all a blur, but I remember there being cranberry juice, oregano, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and chia seeds in it; among other random items we had in our kitchen. Just a pinch of each led to a big bowl of chucky, brownish gray water that you were so proud to stir up.

For dinner Sunday night, you decided it was time for all us to try your new concoction.

Cinnamon

What you didn’t realize was that Mommy poured some of your chocolate almond milk into your cup instead of what you made, just sprinkling in some cinnamon.

As predicted, you were skeptical to take the first sip. So Mommy and I gladly did. You were curious by how authentically we seemed to be enjoying your “homemade” milk.

You took a baby sip… then a bigger one.

“Mommy! Daddy! That tastes good! It tastes like cinnamon… and chocolate!” you proclaimed.

One day you’ll read this letter and realize why.

Love,

Daddy

Cinnamon