Musings of a Michigan Mom

Here I posted a few days ago how it was another toasty day here in west michigan.  Well, welcome to Michigan.. the state where you wait a few minutes and the weather will change.  Today it’s cold and windy outside.   Since the news was talking about why you shouldn’t go on Lake Michigan today due to the waves, I thought maybe today would be a good day to take the kids out to Grand Haven to watch the waves.   While I had a fun time out there, the kids (and Paul) was complaining it was to cold (even though they had coats on).  So we ended up coming home, but at least I got to get some pictures before we did!

Today was another toasty day in good ol’ west Michigan. Thankfully with schools starting on the 7th that means fall is on it’s way, which means cooler weather.   I just wish every night was like how last night was.. it was perfect weather for a camp fire or for your Paul to put the kids to bed so I could go for a bike ride.  I so enjoyed pedaling and hearing nothing.. listening to either cars drive past me or flat out nothing.  The sun just starting to go down where you could get some awesome pictures.  It’s then when I’m by  myself that I start looking at the houses I’ll passing by thinking about what it would be if we lived in their house.  Would I do anything different?  

One of the houses I went by I know for a fact I would be putting some blinds & shades up as their house faced west and so does ours and that afternoon sun just cooks our house.  I can’t help but think if they had some blinds or shades that they closed during the afternoons it would help on their electric bill as I have noticed a difference between keeping our blinds & shades down versus up.

So far after riding past quite a few houses, I haven’t found my dream house yet.  Of course maybe that’s because I would rather not live on that rode as it could be quite busy.  I still do dream about moving someday, unfortunately my husband doesn’t see things that way.  All he sees is the work he’s put into this house so far and doesn’t want to leave because of that.  Even though the lay out of our house is all wrong for a family whose breadwinner works second shift.  Oh well, maybe I can find his dream house and thing will start thinking twice.

This past week was a sad week for west Michigan as there were quite few drownings in Lake Michigan.  The saddest was the story of the 9 year old that got to far out (thanks to the rip current) and his Dad went out to save him.  Prise the lord that the farther did save his son.  A good Samaritan went out as well and the father handed his son to this Samaritan and the Samaritan got the son to safety.  As he turned around to see the father, the father was gone.  He was unable to make it back to shore and ended up drowning.   My thoughts and prayers go out to that family as I can’t imagine the heartache they are going through. 

Because of these drownings I thought it would be good to post the following which was found on gCaptain’s website.

So next time you are by water, keep alert!  Don’t just think you will hear someone yelling for help as that’s not how the case is all the time.

I love finding blogs of other Michigan Moms.  Of course after seeing theirs I get bummed because I never did what I had hoped to with this blog.   Maybe I can now make the effort to do what I wanted to do.   Before I do that, I want to let you know about the new blog I found. 

The new blog that I enjoy going to is called West Michigan Mommy and I actually found it thanks to Facebook!  (Just another reason to love Facebook)   What I love about reading West Michigan Mommy is that you can’t  help but save money as she will tell you where you can get either free or things cheap thanks to coupons!   Plus West Michigan Mommy not only tells you things that are happening in West Michigan, but the fun thing is she also has great giveaways!!

For example right now the giveaway is for 2 winners to each win a copy of the book Be CentsAble: How to Cut Your Household Budget in Half.  So if you would like to try and win a copy (like me) just head over to West Michigan Mommy and follow the link!  The only thing is giveaway will end tomorrow  (Thursday April 15th at 11:59pm) so you will want to head over there RIGHT NOW!    Trust  me, you will be glad you did!

I just received this flyer Thursday at my sons Karate class and thought I would share for those that would like to go compete or watch.

Great Lakes All Star Open
Martial Arts Championships
“Competition at it Finest for ALL Ages!!”

Creston High School
1720 Plainfield Ave NE
Grand Rapids, MI 49505
Mapquest

Hosted by Grand Rapids Karate Academy
Directed by Gene Wudkewych (6th Dan)

Registration: 9:00-10:00AM   
Rules:  9:45 AM
Elimination:  10:00AM

Competitors:  One event ~ $20   or $25 for 2 or 3 events.
Spectators:   Adults ~ $5.00   Childres under 12 ~ $3.00   Pre-School ~ Free~

Notice  All competitors (all ages) must register to compete at their current rank/level.  To insure good competition and a good experience tournament promoter reserves the right to split or combine divisions as needed.   Kids fighting ~ by rank, age & size!

Required Safety Equipment ~ Dipped Foam (Hand & Food Gear), Mouthpiece, Groin Protector (Males) & Headgear.

Certificates of Participation to all Competitors

For More information call (616) 447-2292 or email Genew13601@msn.com, or on the Tournament Day call (616) 520-5678

Now that Fall is upon us there is even that many more things you can do outside! Right now, a bunch of the local farms start in with their corn mazes, pumpkin patches.. ect. 

One of the local farms that has fun things to do for the whole family would be Moelker Farms. (they are located between Grandville & Standale)  Every Saturday for the month of October (from noon to 5pm)  they have horse drawn wagon rides through their apple orchard!   Adults are $4.50, Kids 12 and under are $3.00, while kids under 2 are FREE!   (They do have special activities for the kids to do!)

While you are there you can go out in the field and pick your own pumpkin, get some fresh apples,  have doughnuts & apple cider or even a caramel apple!   They also have a great farm market right there where you also could buy home made Jams (nothing like home made!) Fruit Salsa,  Syrup and they even carry such things as  Grassfield Natural Cheeses, Great Lakes Soaps & Laura’s Country Candles which are all made in MICHIGAN!

So if you’re sitting around the house on a Saturday this month and are wondering what to do, why not jump in the car and head to Moeker Farms and go for the horse drawn wagon ride and find that perfect pumpkin you can end up carving for Halloween!  Just don’t forget to bring your camera!

Now that the warm weather is finally upon us my kids want to play outside and honestly I wish they could.  The only thing is now that it’s nice out where they can play outside without getting cold, those darn mosquitoes are out in full force.    I just wish I knew how to get rid of them so we could at least walk out to get the mail without swatting away at them.  I know my Dad sprays melatonin and that does seem to help a little at their house, but I don’t know as if it would here as our back yard is all woods.   Of course it might be nice to be able to spray around the house so when we walk in 20 don’t follow us in and chew us up all night.

My heart breaks for Katie since she wants to go outside to play, but somehow is getting chewed up just being inside.  I can count 8 bites on her and now she is scratching like crazy.  I put some after bite on them so hopefully that will kick in soon.

Do you know of any way to get rid of mosquitoes or to make them not itch if you do get bit?

What cell phone carrier do you have?  Our household has 2 prepaid cell phones and they are actually with different carriers.  We have one with Tracfone and the other is a Boost Mobile.  While I do like the Boost Mobile phone as I can 2-way my parents since they have a nextel, I don’t like the fact that when I’m on the beach in Grand Haven I get no reception.

I do admit it does make me quite nervous because at the beach anything could happen and if it did I would be unable to call 911 due to no reception.  I just wish they would put some cell towers out there. Not only would most cell phones then get a reception, but maybe the city could earn some extra cash at the same time.