More Thomas Trains Recalled

You might have heard that more Thomas trains and accessories have been recalled. This is such a bummer. We have two of the accessories and I have no idea where they are. My goal for the evening is to dig through all the baskets of toy parts until I find them. I've been cursing that smarmy Sir Topham Hatt all day.

We received Fergus as a replacement train, but I'm also told that one of the trains that is now being recalled (Toad) was actually sent as a replacement train to many other customers.

Thomas Train Recall: Update

Last month I (and everyone else on the Internet) warned you about the Thomas Train recall. We only had a handful of those trains and I took them all away as soon as I heard about the recall. They're beloved toys, so I was pretty surprised when a week went by and none of my kids noticed.

Something must have jogged their memory, because last week there began in our house a rising chorus of "Where's my trains?" that turned into a steady roar that no amount of "They had lead in them," "They were poison," or "Congress and the Consumer Products Safety Commission don't make testing kids toys for toxic chemicals a priority," seemed to appease them.

So, I found out which trains were part of the recall and boxed them up and sent them back to the company. The kids got the lead-free trains and they were so much cooler since they hadn't seen them in several weeks.

I don't suppose anyone else has received replacement trains yet?

An iPhone and a 3 Year Old

This is the son of one of my best friends from high school. It's a pretty good advertisement for how easy the iPhone is to use.

Thomas Train Recall

The US Consumer Product Safety Corporation reported today that several Thomas Trains and related products sold between 2005 and 2007 could cause lead poisoning. They recommend that you take the toys away from your children and contact RC2 for a replacement.

Click the image to see a larger version.

Read the details in the CPSC press release.

I know absolutely nothing about lead poisoning, but this scares the monkey out of me since we have 6 of these trains, several of which have flaking paint, and all of which have been in every one one of my children's mouths, probably in the last 24 hours. I didn't get a chance to call the company, but leave a comment if you did and let me know what response you got.

Update: If you're as upset as I am about lead in our children's toys, sign this petition to tell Congress to make testing our kids' toys for toxic chemicals a priority.

Via Moms Rising.

Gadget Review: Nike + iPod Sport Kit

I might have told you that I'm a runner. Last Fall I ran the Nike Half Marathon and this summer I'm running the Napa Half Marathon. I recently got the Nike + iPod Sport Kid, a little gadget that you put in your shoe to track your speed, distance, and pace and send the information through your headphones to be announced by a pleasant male or female voice.

I don't really like Nike shoes (I'm a New Balance girl, myself), so I wasn't psyched about buying the special Nike + iPod shoes that fit the sensor. But with a quick Google search I learned that there are several shoe hacks that will allow you to use the sensor with any pair of shoes. I chose the Grantwood Shoe Pouch because it was the first one I found and because at $5.99 (the price has since gone up to $7.99) I didn't have much to lose. The product arrived right away, the customer service was excellent, and it works like a charm.

I wish I could say I'm as happy with the Sport Kit. But let's start with the good parts about it:

• I love being able to track my distance, speed, and pace. Before that I was using the USATF site to plan routes and that took a lot of time. 
• I love being able to track my workouts at Nike Plus.
• I love it when Lance Armstrong comes on to tell me that I've beat my personal best for the mile. I think he has a crush on me.

What I don't like is:

• I don't like having to plug the receiver into my iPod because then my iPod no longer fits in my armband. (This can easily be solved by buying an armband from Nike, but I don't feel like it. Instead my kludge is to leave my armband unfastened and turn my Nano upside down.)
• I'm not very good at keeping track of the receiver. (This could easily be solved by putting it in the same place everytime I take it out, but since I don't do that with my keys, cell phone, or wallet what makes me think I'm going to do it with the receiver?)
• My Nano never froze before I started using the Nike + iPod kit. Now it freezes once a week.
• If you're doing a time workout your iPod will automatically announce your time at certain intervals and if you're doing a distance workout it will automatically announce the amount of miles you've run, but I can't figure out how to make it automatically announce my pace. I don't like having to press the center button to find out. Does anyone know how to make it do this?

Price: $29