Musings of a Michigan Mom

We have actually have had quite a bit of rain this summer, but usually when it rained we had lighting & thunder so the kids couldn’t go out in play.  Yesterday though was a different story.  Even though it didn’t last long, yesterday we ended up having the perfect rain for Katie to run out and get wet with!   Unfortunately it didn’t rain long enough where Katie could of put on her rain boots and splashed in some big puddles, but she still had fun!   I just wish the pictures showed the rain more.

Can I just say it’s nice having someone it the medical field in your extended family when you are a first time parent you have little ones.  I can’t tell you the number of times my sister-in-law has saved us from taking our kids into the doctor by having some of the medical equipment on hand so she could look in their ears to let us know that no, they dont’ have an ear infection or by listening to their breathing to let us know that it doesn’t sound like bronchitis or pneumonia.   It makes me think maybe I should of done gone in the medical field like that too, but since I have a hard time with the sight of blood I still don’t think that would of been the perfect fit of a job for me.   I still am glad I chose the route I did as staying home, watching the kids grow up brings me so much joy!  (Unless they are in their crabby moods and are fighting)

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 can’t believe it’s about time to start the back to school shopping! I guess parts of me can when I look at the calendar and see there is just over a month before school starts. I just am not looking forward to going through the kids closets and drawers to see what fits and what we need to buy. I know without a doubt I will have to buy new gym shoes for both kids are they were starting to get snug at the end of the school year last year, but I didn’t want to buy new ones for the summer since they wear crocs all summer long.

All I know is I’ll be looking for sears coupons as I like to get the kids clothes there since they have their KidVantage Club. In case you never heard of it before it’s FREE to sign up, but every time you buy kids clothes or shoes make sure they put those items under your kidvantage account and then in case they ever get worn out all you have to do is bring the receipt back and they will replace them for a new pair. (Has to be the same size) Of course I only found out about it last summer and Kevin didn’t wear through any clothes yet, but I’m still keeping the receipts just in case. What’s great is even if you buy clothes on clearance (like the pants I bought last year) still have the guarantee!  

So now you know where I’ll be doing my clothes shopping for the kids.   What store do you like shopping for kids back to school clothes?

My family thinks I know everything when it comes to electronics, but between you & me, I really don’t know anything and truly wish I did.   Just this week my laptop starting acting a little on the crazy side.  The screen started flickering and then would end up going black without me touching anything and I had it plugged in so I know it wasn’t the battery.  I ended up having to hold the power button down so it would shut down and then I turned it back on to have the same thing happen.

I ended up calling my father in law and he gave me the idea to plug in our monitor from the desktop to the laptop and found out when I did that everything would come up on the monitor even though my laptop was black.   At least we then knew it wasn’t the memory that was going back, but the back lighting.  So I ended up calling one of the mom & pop computer stores in Hudsonville and explained the situation and they agreed it sounded like that inverter and got one on order for me.   Go figure, once I get one on order my laptop decides to act normal again!   Not once have I had any issues with it since talking to the computer guy.   It’s not different than a car that makes noise… you ask your husband about it and then it doesn’t do it anymore. 

Oh well… at least everything seems to be going good now.  I just wish I knew why.

I just looked at the calendar and realized that it’s just about August and you know what that means… only a little over a month and my baby boy will be going to school FULL TIME!  Oh how different that will be for me.  I know I will miss him dearly as he is my big helper around the house, but then again, I won’t be missing the fighting between the two all day long.   I just can’t imagine how busy our life will start being.  Having to be up and to the bus stop at 8:20, Katie to preschool Tues & Thursday afternoons and then taking Kevin to karate up to 4 times a week. (I will try to have him go at least twice, but if he doesn’t have homework and feels up to going more.. I’ll let him)

I can’t imagine what it will be like when they are older and will start doing sports or Katie starting Dance or Karate.  Karate would be nice as they would be the same time, same place.. .but I know her heart is more into Dance right now.  I did end up finding a dance class that is during the day on Katie’s days off of school so I really think that would be our better option at least this year if I decide to start her in that.

So are you ready for school to start?  Or are you wishing this summer would last a little longer?

If you’ve never seen Aloha Friday then here is the run down from Island Life….

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought on Fridays I would take it easy on posting too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you would like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave the link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participates! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

Now on to my question of the week:

How has the weather been in your neck of the woods this summer?   Hot, cold, stormy, dry?

To me our summer has been quite toasty & humid with quite a few nasty storms going through where we had Tornado watches & even warnings north or south of us.   I really wish we could have last summer back where we didn’t need to run the AC 24 hrs a day and could enjoy being outside.  I’m really dreading getting the electric bill this month.

If you would like to read some more Aloha Friday questions or even participate, just visit An Island Life!

Even though Kevin’s birthday isn’t for 4 more months, I’m already trying to figure out what to buy him.  I’m just clueless as I can’t think of anything he needs and I hate buying any ol’ thing just to buy him something.   Since he is loving his karate I am trying to think of something that might go with that. 

So here are some things I’m thinking and w0ndered what you thought.   For his big gift, I’m thinking of getting him one of those stand alone punching/kicking bag.  But I’m also thinking maybe I could look at some custom water bottles that might have his name or a karate person on them, or a new kwon bag to put all his sparring gear in, plus his weapons as it sounds like this fall he will start doing single sticks and let me tell you, he can’t wait to start learning those!  

Besides those things, can you think of anything else to get a 7 year old?   We started building things with K’nex this week, but I bought a bunch off of Craigslist last year so I really don’t know how many more of those we really would need.   He is getting into science a little bit.  With all the tornado watches and warnings this year he is really wanting to learn more about the weather.  I wonder if there is anything like that he would like and learn from at the same time?