Tag Archives: train

Sneak Peek

Posted on June 11, 2015 by funnygurl2

Sorry I haven’t posted very frequently. I have been busy with two very important projects of late. Here is a preview of both.

I am trying my hand at interior decorating…of a 4-year-old boy’s room. The transformation is still in progress.

I can tell time. The clock on the left is defective, I swear!

I can tell time. The clock on the left is defective, I swear!

I am very close to the release of my second book, When You Least Expect It. Here is the cover, and a little taste from my favorite scene.

WYLEI_med

“So, wait. You want your dad to see you as more grown up, yet you keep doing stuff like trespassing on the water tower?” Kiley asked.

“I am trying to cut down, believe me. And we didn’t come all the way up here just to trespass.”

As Kiley looked at Josh, puzzled, he produced a can of black spray paint from the backpack. He began to shake it, the ball rattling rhythmically inside with his motion.

“Vandalism! What happens if we get caught?” Kiley exclaimed.

“That’s why we come in the dark,” Wade leaned over and drawled into her ear. “You act like it is a surprise that we can climb tall things and paint graffiti. You have seen Jane’s wedding proposal.”

“Oh ya,” Kiley replied.

Excerpt from When You Least Expect It by Jennifer Friess, coming soon.

 

My first book, The Wind Could Blow a Bug, is NOW AVAILABLE!

PURCHASE as a Paperback or eBook on Amazon.com TODAY.

[Pssst…Book 2, When You Least Expect It, is COMING SOON!]

Comments Off on Sneak Peek

Posted in A day in the life, UnProfessional Photography & Artwork, Unusual Poetry & Writing and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

What I Learned This Week – 5/10/15

Posted on May 10, 2015 by funnygurl2

Last weekend my family took a day trip up to Owosso to visit the Pere Marquette 1225 steam engine at the Steam Railroad Institute museum. It is the engine that the was used as a model for the movie The Polar Express, and the actual sounds of the train are used in the movie. The railroad actually runs a Christmas train every year. I am still deciding if we should try that out.

In lieu of having time to write an actual post, here are some pictures from our adventure! Enjoy.

Pere Marquette 1225. So big that I couldn't get a proper picture of it.

Pere Marquette 1225. So big that I couldn’t get a proper picture of it.

This is my son and I next to the drive wheels.

This is my son and I next to the drive wheels.

An actual turntable!

An actual turntable!

The firebox of Pere Marquette 1225

The firebox of Pere Marquette 1225

Boiler

Boiler

Flagg Coal 75

Flagg Coal 75

Inside of a caboose

Inside of a caboose

Lantern

Lantern

Another lantern

Another lantern

My first book, The Wind Could Blow a Bug is NOW AVAILABLE!

PURCHASE as a Paperback or eBook on Amazon.com TODAY.

Comments Off on What I Learned This Week – 5/10/15

Posted in UnProfessional Photography & Artwork, What I Learned This Week and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

What I Learned This Week – 5/18/14

Posted on May 19, 2014 by funnygurl2

This week I learned that I am pretty desperate to get my son potty-trained.

I knew it would be a difficult process. It is a big part of why I didn’t want to have any kids. My mother is still shaming me to this day that it took me so long to be trained. (I think that should be on her, not me. But I digress…)

About 2 years ago, we bought my son a potty. We have casually tried to train him on and off since then. I will admit it. We are the reason he isn’t trained yet.

Here was the little potty when it was new. I have no idea what ever happened to that blue lid.

Here was the little potty when it was new. I have no idea what ever happened to that blue lid.

In the last two weeks, we bared down, and have seen some success.

Then, well, we left for a few hours on Saturday morning. When we came back, a dog (Dave? Parker? Who knows.) had eaten the foam seat and the decorative vinyl that covers it off of the potty seat. The splash guard was also badly chewed. My husband instantly deemed the potty no longer usable. I wasn’t even sure that all the pieces we needed where still there. But upon closer inspection, they were.

The little potty after the dog(s) got ahold of it.

The little potty after the dog(s) got ahold of it.

[I think it must have been Parker who chewed up the potty. Dave might chew it up, but only Parker would eat the pieces. He has some unhappy poopy-time ahead.]

I cleaned it up and reassembled it. But by this time, my son was also convinced it was unusable. I admit, it was scary looking right after the dogs were finished with it. But I fixed it! Just use it, kid!

So, last night after my son went to bed, I decided to turn it into a Thomas & Friends potty. My kid is crazy-nuts for Thomas and all things train. Let’s hope this gets us on the right “track” again with potty-training. Lol.

The new & improved "Thomas" potty!

The new & improved “Thomas” potty!

James graphic

James graphic

Percy graphic

Percy graphic

I used acrylic craft paint, if anyone is interested. I hope that it will withstand gentle sponge cleaning. I was originally going to paint the seat, but decided that would receive too much wear. I think it came out pretty good, since I free-handed it with no plan. And the #1 stands for Thomas, and a reminder of what goes in the potty!

I also learned that I need a yellow paint pen, and a working red paint pen. That is why my detail colors do not match up exactly to for the Thomas characters. My son will notice, but hopefully he will still use the potty anyway!

My son said: Mommy! There are trains on my potty!
Me: That is so cool. Do you think you will use it today?
My son: Ummmmmmm….maybe a bit.
Me: A bit later?
My son: Ya…

4 Comments

Posted in A day in the life, Entertainment Worship & Review, What I Learned This Week and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

The Whistle In The Night

Posted on April 30, 2014 by funnygurl2

My son has a Melissa & Doug train puzzle that has caused trouble since the day I picked it up at the thrift store.

TRAIN PUZZLE-toy

If you have kids, you may know that Melissa & Doug makes sturdy wooden toys, that can also be a little pricey. If you have read my blog before, you may have gathered that my son REALLY likes trains.

So, when my asbestos friend and I were shopping in December last year, I really couldn’t pass up this puzzle. I mean, my kid can tell you the anatomy of a steam engine better than he can his own body. The problem was, he was WITH ME in the store. I tried to hide it from him. It is hard to hide a wooden puzzle. My asbestos friend, TRYING to be helpful, said, “Oh, let him play with it. He won’t even remember it tomorrow.”

Famous last words. She forgot my kid is six months older than hers.

EVERY DAY until Christmas came he asked me, “Where is my puzzle train?”

I finally settled on telling him, “Santa took it to the North Pole. He will bring it for Christmas.” Which, Santa did. My son will STILL tell me, “Santa Claus took my puzzle train and brought it back for me.”

He plays with it.

He loves it.

Did I forget to mention that it is a SOUND puzzle?

I put batteries in it Christmas morning after my son opened it. I was convinced for days that it didn’t work. I finally figured out that it only makes the whistle sound when you put in all the pieces at the same time.

We discovered that it worked off of light sensors in the puzzle. When they all sense darkness, it makes the noise.

And how did we discover this?

Because, invariably, my son takes out one piece of the puzzle and leaves it lying out. 99.9% of the time, it is the coal tender. And at night, when my son has been asleep for two hours and the crotchety dog that is prone to bark at night is locked up in the laundry room, and I am trying to be oh-so-quiet, I click off the living room light…

“Whoooooh-Whoooooh!”

Oh. Crap. That stupid train puzzle. Every night one piece is missing. Every night I never think to check. Every night I have to hold my breath as it whistles in the darkness, hoping that it will not disturb any man, child, or beast already in slumber.

And yet, with all this trouble, it is still a really cute puzzle…

Comments Off on The Whistle In The Night

Posted in A day in the life and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Kiddie City: Did It Really Exist?

Posted on January 8, 2014 by funnygurl2

My husband does not believe me that there used to be a toy store called Kiddie City, very similar to Toys’R’Us. In fact, there was a Kiddie City right in nearby Sylvania, Ohio, which still has a Toys’R’Us. I had to prove it to him by Google-ing it the other day.

Kiddie City Coloring Book

Kiddie City Coloring Book

I was correct.

My recent and short-term memory might be junk, but I can remember some things from my childhood very clearly.

Plus, Kiddie City is one of those things I have clung to all these years, so I would not forget it. Like that Punky Brewster’s dog Brandon was named after head of NBC, Brandon Tartikoff.

Plus, I have kept this all these years to remind me:

Official Kiddie City semi truck, from my personal collection, circa around 1980.

Official Kiddie City semi truck, from my personal collection, circa 1980.

My mom and I always shopped at Kiddie City. I always thought of Toys’R’Us as inferior (I still do). Apparently my tiny pre-schooler brain was pretty on-track, because according to Wikipedia (where any info I site here on out in this post comes from), Kiddie City was the second-largest toy chain in the United States. They were owned by Lionel, of model railroad fame.

I asked my mom where it was located, and her memories do not seem to match mine. That doesn’t really mean anything. We could both be wrong. She thinks it was in the shopping plaza where Major Magic’s was for many years. The location would make sense. My mom never traveled very far into Sylvania/Toledo on her own. That would be an easy location for her to get to and regularly find.

I have memories of looking at toy robots in a toy store when I was a kid. I remember blue, metal shelves (kind of like Cosco). I have no idea if that would have been Toys’R’Us or Kiddie City or just my imagination. I like to think maybe that was Kiddie City.

When I got my swing set when I was a kid, I know we bought it from one of those two stores in Sylvania, but my mom doesn’t remember which one. But I think maybe that was Toys’R’Us.

Apparently Kiddie City declared Bankruptcy in 1982, reducing their store count from 150 down to 55 stores. This is most likely when the Sylvania store closed. They grew back to being the fourth-largest toy store in the country before the stores were all closed for good in 1993.

Gone, but clearly not forgotten.

I would so LOVE one of these shirts!

I would so LOVE one of these shirts!

Classic Kiddie City Commercial
(Ah, what it must have been like to be a mom in the 80’s. Awesome hair, awesome clothes…)

19 Comments

Posted in Childhood Reminiscing and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
Newer Posts →