Tag: trains

Train Tracks

Memories with train tracks: little brothers, giggling elves, children 🙂

December 11, 2018

Train Tracks

One Christmas, about 10 years ago, Christina, Rebeccah, and baby Kimberly received a train track set with two little trains.  It was a tight year; Mommy had found it at a resale shop for $7 with its own storage tub!  This was the “big present” that year.  Mommy and Daddy almost woke the little sleepers up giggling and playing with it as we set it up around the Christmas tree.  Daddy put the crayons (Mommy saved those from penny sales at the start of school time) and coloring books in sets around it.  Three tins with special cookies and treats we’d made were wrapped up and set around the track too.  Other presents gathered around the tree, hiding in the circle of track.

That sturdy mix of train track and car track has been heavily played with for many years.  It was Lucas and Isaac’s favorite thing to do – “play train tracks” from as soon as they could run every car that would possibly fit down the track.

The tracks fit together like puzzles.  Jaquline likes to build the track.  Lucas likes both building and “vrooming” trains and cars on it.

They built this one together and took pictures of it!

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Lucas has become a little puzzle-fitter when it comes to making the tracks fit lately.  The latest update for him has been adding mega-blocks and duplos under the tracks to raise them up over the “water” floor.  Once Jaquline showed him this possibility, he’s been trying it by himself!

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This little run below was all Lucas.

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We heard the Christmas song that goes “…little toy trains and little toy tracks…” and Lucas shouted, “Mommy!  A song about my train tracks!”

We donate at least one bag of toys every year as Christmas gets closer, (this year Lucas chose three of his “best cars” to give away to another little boy, and Rebeccah “found” a Lego set in their Legos which she printed the instructions for and gave away) but these tracks stay.

I remember making train tracks with my brothers, and am glad to make “train track” memories with my little ones too.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you next time…

~Nancy Tart

Playtime Patterns

February 15, 2018

Playtime Patterns

Normally, Lucas’ idea of “playing trains” is to build a train track with the little tykes track and run every vehicle with wheels on the tracks in a line saying encouraging bits as they crest the one hill.  Lately, he has been making patterns. (This is great practice for colors, counting, and future math skills!)

This time, we had just left a duplo building where he’d made single color stacks of blocks and laid them out in blue, green, red, blue, green, red, blue.  He quickly built something and said, “take a picture of my rainbow man!”

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This came with a huge Lucas grin.  (I had to go get my phone with this builder trailing behind until I snapped the picture – then he raced back to the playroom.)  When I returned to the playroom, he had the train track laid out in a color pattern.

“Mom look!” he called and pointed out each color with a shout as he walked along, “red!  Yellow! Blue! Green!  Red! Yellow!”  This continued along the length of the track with all thirty or so pieces.

I told him, “good job with your pattern!”

Jaquline ran in while he was shouting to notice the pattern and hurried back to her snack.

“Mom!”  Jaquline smiled and showed me her orange slices, “look, a rose pattern!”

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Lucas clapped his hands, “I can have one-two-three-four-five!”  And he wiggled his fingers as he streamed the numbers together.  Jaquline laughed and shared her snack, saying, “it is for everyone, Lucas.”

Jillian built a puzzle we’d found to “check the pieces” (puzzle pieces get lost like socks in the washer) and discovered two missing pieces.  She checked the odds box without luck but left the puzzle on the table.  Lucas found it and gasped, “Oh NO!  MOM, we HAVE to find the lost ones!” (He really doesn’t like broken or missing items.  He is the only one who won’t do two mix-matched socks.  He knows if he doesn’t get his own, I will just grab two from the sock box that look similar: he takes pains to bring me the matched pair.)

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Kimberly was using the shape blocks for geometry and left a bright pile on the table.  She came back after gathering the rest of her papers to find Lucas had sorted them by color.

He was helping Christina and Rebeccah with the candy machine (someone – aka Lucas – stuck two pennies in at the same time so they had to do some repair) and while they took turns sorting and counting the coins for their savings goal, they guided Lucas in sorting the favorite blues into the center of the bowl!

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“Mom!  I love blues!” Lucas claps.  Rebeccah rearranges the bowl by moving a few pieces and says, “perfectly balanced.”

(Maybe we all like perfect patterns.)

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

Enjoy the Journey

Helping me to Enjoy my Journey

November 25, 2017

Enjoy the Journey

The world through the eyes of a 2 year old is amazing.

He spies Daddy cutting strawberries for a pie!  Lucas yells “yeah!  Yummy strawberries!  Red berries!   I eat?” and half of the strawberries destined for pie filling instead fill Lucas’ tummy.

On the way to Grandma’s house, 2 year old boy yells, “Mom! Look!  Big trucks!  One! Two! Three! Four-Five Big Trucks!”  (Everything from his mouth comes in two volumes: mouse-whisper or top-of-the-lungs yell )

Sometimes he helps me to slow down and enjoy the things I often take for granted… like time.  It’s easy to find fun in the chore when you share the wonder of a 2-year-old.  For instance: An attempt to transfer toddler chickens from one pen to another and they excitedly hop-fly off in all directions yelling “FREEDOM!”  Lucas giggle-screams and chases them around.  This turns the frustration into laughter and a lesson on counting as they scurry over to the day pen and wait for us to lift them in where the food is.  “One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-eight!” Lucas screams it all together as if it was a single word.

Lucas finds wonder and excitement in everything.  From washing dishes (he always wants to help) to being stopped by a train (one-two-three-four-five-six trains!), everything is fun.  Sometimes he helps remind me to enjoy life as it is presented to me.  Goals (finishing the dishes) and plans (getting to the produce market before it closes) are good, but enjoying the journey is just as important.

Stopped in slow traffic turns into “Dance Party in the Car” and the backseat is bouncing to “Pink Shoelaces” and “Rockin Robin” (two favorite oldies).  Lucas spots birds and shouts to tell everyone.  Rebeccah looks in her book and gives their names.  Taking in this special time is part of me slowing down and enjoying the journey.

I hope you join me in enjoying the journey today.

Thanks for reading!

Type at you later…

~Nancy Tart

 

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