Choo choo! A Really Useful Engine

You might've guessed it...Soren was a TRAIN ENGINEER for Halloween! And the driver of not just any engine, but James the splendid red steam engine from the Thomas the Tank Engine stories. Note the little brass bell, with a cord for Soren to pull. He rang it all through the downtown parade, and at every road crossing.

Dad was James' fireman (with one of those choo-choo wooden whistles in his pocket) and yours truly was a character named Sir Topham Hatt, the director of the railway. (In early editions, his name was the Fat Controller.) With a pillow for stuffing, I had the warmest costume for sure.

Thanks to our community theatre for the loan of the top hat, to Jeff for putting his woodshop skills to such creative use, to our neighbor Steve for taking these family shots, and to the Rev. W. Awdry for getting his railway stories into print in England in 1945. He was the inspiration for all this.

If our son has to be sucked into a branded toy line, we are grateful it is Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, which has a long and distinguished history. There's so much to learn about trains, and he is in love.

And if I had a nickel for every time we heard, "Oh, how cute/adorable!" on our trek downtown, we'd have enough change in our pockets for ice cream cones for everyone.

Better yet, Soren skipped his afternoon nap in all the excitement and now Jeff and I are all alone after he crashed at 6 p.m. (a very rare occurrence). We just opened a bottle of locally produced Finnriver hard cider and are about to watch a Canadian zombie humor-love story movie called Fido.

Again, Happy Halloween to all!

Bang, bang! Halloween project in the making

Soren's wearing his eye and ear protection in early October as he helps his dad with his Halloween project. What's he going to be? Can you guess by the end?

The acquisition of a little red wagon this summer led to the idea of pulling Soren in it for our annual downtown Halloween parade. But how to decorate the wagon?

Jeff, crafty fellow that he is, came up with the idea for a steam locomotive superstructure that could be bolted (and unbolted) to the wagon.

It's made of plywood, scrap wood, and milk cartons for the bendy bits (e.g., boiler), and painted with spray paint. It's taken many evenings and weekends this month to assemble, bit by bit. It even has a brass bell with a cord that Soren can pull and make it ring!

As a finishing touch, this locomotive will have a face--a la James, from Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. Here I am painting the wooden disk, which has a bulbous nose just like in the animated cartoon. The project has been a family affair.

So what is Soren's costume going to be? You'll have to wait until tomorrow (or the next day or so, whenever I get the photos downloaded) to see.

Hint: I borrowed a pair of overalls and a red bandanna for the special occasion.

Happy Halloween to all our fans!

Check-in from the potty

Hooray! Soren peed in the potty today for the first time in months. Don't know why, but we've been having a major "potty pause." Perhaps because our summer was CRAZY-BUSY. That's why this blog has languished. Apologies. Whenever I thought of updating it, something else took priority.

We did find lots of time to spend with friends over the summer. Soren knows sitting on the potty is more fun with company -- in this case, his friend Tayla (who is recently potty-trained; yay, Mama Shannon!). These pix were shot back in June, and as soon as Tayla noticed my camera she started to pose. Her sweet smile turned into a big grin for just the camera (below). Soren has fortunately not been conditioned to camera grins or grimaces. I prefer to "catch him in the act." Hee, hee.
I've been volunteering tons of my time and professional services on a new resource guide for families with young children in our county, as a project of and fundraiser for the cooperative playschool Soren attends. It's been quite the management and editing challenge, and of course it demanded much more time than I ever imagined it would. It is now in the proof and review stage, so I will soon be thrilled to see it go to print. We have dubbed it The Little Guide for Little People (and their Families). I'll tell you more when it's finally DONE.

We are looking forward to a visit from Soren's Grandpa Jim & Grandma Gloria this coming weekend. Sometime I will post pictures from our fabulous trip to visit them in Eastern Washington in September. Soon, I hope.