Greenfield Village

We went to Greenfield Village on Saturday.  It closes for the season today and since it wasn't raining and not too too cold we took Kyper for one last train ride.  The biggest reason though was that Joel had the day off--that has not happened a lot in October.  For those of you who don't live in the Detroit area, which I think is most of you here is what Greenfield Village is about from the their website:

"Entering Greenfield Village is like stepping into an 80-acre time machine. It takes you back to the sights, sounds and sensations of America’s past. There are 83 authentic, historic structures, from Noah Webster’s home, where he wrote the first American dictionary, to Thomas Edison’s Menlo Park laboratory, to the courthouse where Abraham Lincoln practiced law. The buildings and the things to see are only the beginning. There’s the fun stuff, too. In Greenfield Village, you can ride in a genuine Model T or “pull” glass with world-class artisans; you can watch 1867 baseball or ride a train with a 19th-century steam engine. It’s a place where you can choose your lunch from an 1850s menu or spend a quiet moment pondering the home and workshop where the Wright brothers invented the airplane. Greenfield Village is a celebration of people — people whose unbridled optimism came to define modern-day America."


We live about 5 minutes away.  When Aren and Leah visited us in early October, we took them there and had a great time walking around.  Joel had never been there and it only took one visit and he was hooked.  We ended up getting a annual membership plus ride pass.  The ride pass means you can ride the train, the carousel and other fun things at the village without paying extra each trip.  The nice thing is the annual membership also gets you into the Henry Ford Musuem, which is right next door to the village and the museum is open year round.   Here are pictures from that visit:

Tia Leah and Kyper by the round house

Glass blowing

Earning "grandparent points"

Turkey

Aren and Leah

Joel and I

The train

A horse-drawn carriage

Kyper loves the train.  When we went earlier in October, we didn't want to pay for the extra ride passes, so we didn't take the train.  (Side note, but related note: Kyper and I have gone with a friend numerous times this summer and they get us in for free plus have a ride pass, so he knows the train is there.)  The whole time we were there with his aunt and uncle, he kept saying "ride the train momma?"  So, I decided we needed to go one last time before it closes for the season and take the train.  Here are pictures from that visit:

The baby calf (18 weeks old.)  Kyper loves to visit the calf.

Baby lambs

Happy to be on the train

Saw a deer and buck while on the train. (Although you can't see both in this pic)

The train letting out steam--making sure its engine stays clean.

Pretty fall foliage

They have special events during Halloween and Christmas.  We didn't go to the Halloween event, because it just didn't work.  But, we hope to go to Christmas at the Village this year and see all the lights and festivities.

Pumpkin Craving

We went to a fun farmers' market to pick out a few pumpkins. 

We carved one last week Sunday with Kyper.  He had fun this year helping scoop the guts out and was very fascinated by the face we carved in it.   He liked to try to put the pieces back in after Joel cut them out.

Before carving

Scooping guts

Drawing the face

Trying to get the eye back in

Oooohh, Aaaahh, pretty pumpkin

Joel wanted to carve a lighthouse into it, and that would have been a little too tedious for Kyper.  So, we carved that one this past Friday after Ky's bedtime.

Here are pictures of the final products.

House Tour: 3rd bedroom

I am airing some dirty laundry on this blog--our third bedroom.  Yikes!  This room is being used as a catch all room currently.  It hosts Joel's OMM table, bins of clothes that Kyper has outgrown, a few extra pieces of furniture that have not found a home anywhere else, and other miscellaneous items.  So, here is a picture of the our dirty laundry:

But, this is only a before picture.  Hopefully throughout the months of November and March a transformation will occur.  Those are Joel's elective months, so his schedule will be a little lighter.  What kind of transformation you ask?

Well, at the moment the walls are purple and the windows have butterfly curtains.  Not that these are necessarily bad things, but purple and butterflies don't match the decor we plan on putting in that room.  So, the first things to go will be the wall color and curtains.  Also, we need to get the random furniture out of there so we can put the furniture we want to house in there.  This probably means we will need to re-organize our basement to get some extra storage down there to fit our misc. items and furniture.  Also, some of the furniture may be finding a home in another person's home.  Also by renovating this room, we plan on changing a few things around in Kyper's room.  I want to find a little chair for him to create a little reading nook for him to use and take out the rocker from his room.  He also refuses to use the changing table when I change his diaper, so I want to get that out of his room.  Good thing too, because the changing table will be moving to the third bedroom.

Besides the changing table, we plan on furnishing this room with a crib, a dresser, and the rocking chair.  you may have been wondering what color we plan on painting the walls: the answer is most likely a green color that matches our jungle nursery stuff that we got when we were pregnant with Kyper.

Have you made any assumptions yet?  If so, your assumptions are correct.  Joel, Kyper and I will be welcoming the fourth member of our family sometime in early May (unless little Tator Tot wants to come a few days early then it will be late April).  I am due May 2.  So, hopefully there will be after pictures of our 3rd bedroom before May! 

Here is a fun video of Kyper telling you what we heard today.

(Apparently, Kyper thinks it is going to be a baby sister.  We won't find out until May if he is right. ;))

Some Thoughts

I want to tell you about some amazing friends I have.  There are six women who I call my best friends.  Some of us met in preschool and have been friends since we were born.  We all came together in high school.  I love these women.  They are all strong, beautiful and Christian women.  I couldn't ask for better friends.  Everybody should be so blessed to be friends with them!  4 of us went to college together, 3 went to different schools.  However, the year after our freshman year, we all came home to Holland and we had a weekly Bible study that summer.  It was amazing.  I think it may have been the point that really cemented our relationships to continue well after high school, after college and into the real world.  That was 9 years ago.  Since that Bible study, we have sent out weekly emails.  I love that I hear from these women every week.  We share thanksgivings, prayer requests, and stories from our week. 

I love that we do both thanksgivings and prayer requests.  Because even on weeks when I feel over-run by prayer requests, I have to take time to think of things I am thankful for.  I have my tried and true blessings I write every week--my little family of three!  Fortunately, my little family of three is very blessed and we are doing very well.  However, I feel like I am getting many prayer requests from friends and other family members.  I know many people who are struggling with some major issues.  I won't go into many details about the struggles.  They range from a young mother battling breast cancer, to friends with anxiety attacks, people making destructive/unwise choices and hurting themselves as well as others around them, to friends struggling with infertility, to people who have lost a child, to people who are lost and have turned away from God, and I could go on.  These things all really suck.  Sorry for the language.  But, "suck" is actually a pretty tame word when I think of what these struggles really want to make me say to these struggles.  Sometimes, while thinking of all these struggles I feel like I lose hope.  I lose hope that things or people will change.  I know in my heart and head, that God can perform miracles and can work in people's hearts.  But, Satan still works on me and I sometimes lose hope and I wonder where is God in all of these struggles.

Which brings me to this song we have been singing in church as well as my weekly thanksgivings.  By coming up with my thanksgivings to tell my girlfriends each week: I find God.  I find hope.  I find peace. I find joy.    My prayer is that those who are in the midst of these struggles also find God, find hope, find peace, and find joy.  I wanted to share the aforementioned song that also reminds me of where and who God is.  It is good for me to sing these lyrics over and over reminding myself where my hope is and what God does for us.  The song is called "Forever Reign" by Hillsong United

You are good, you are good

When there’s nothing good in me

You are love, you are love

On display for all to see

You are light, you are light

When the darkness closes in

You are hope, you are hope

You have covered all my sin

You are peace, you are peace

When my fear is crippling

You are true, you are true

Even in my wandering

You are joy, you are joy

You’re the reason that I sing

You are life, you are life

In You death has lost its sting

Oh, I’m running to your arms, I’m running to your arms

The riches of your love will always be enough.

Nothing compares to your embrace, Light of the world forever reign

You are more, you are more

Than my words will ever say

You are Lord, you are Lord

All creation will proclaim

You are here, you are here

In your presence I’m made whole

You are God, you are God

Of all else I’m letting go

Hallelujah, forever

All the glory, forever

All the praise to You

My heart will sing no other name, Jesus, Jesus

In the midst of struggles I pray that I and others run into His arms and feel His goodness, His love, His light, His hope, His peace, His truth, His joy, His life, and His presence.

Random Stories

The other day we went to the park.  We being all three of us.  The weather was beautiful.  Joel and Kyper ran all over chasing each other and doing cartwheels.  We laid in the grass and watched the clouds and the airplanes.

Then we got home.  We got ready for bed and Joel started prepping for the next day.  The thing was, he couldn't find his wallet.  He searched all over the house.  At this point it was dark and we were ready to go to sleep.  But, he needed his wallet.  He decided that there was a chance that it fell out of his pocket while running around the park.  So, he grabbed our flashlight and headed out.  Good thing the park is half a block away from our house.  He didn't spend much time there that night and unfortunately he didn't find it.  He decided to wake up even earlier and try again the next morning.  The next morning he kissed me good-bye and told me he was headed to the park before he went to work.  I prayed that he would find it.  While I was still praying, Joel called saying he found it!  Yay God!  You think wallets are pretty good size, but Joel said he walked over it once or twice thinking it was a leaf before he realized it was his wallet.

We also went Labor Day Camping with church.  The company was great.  The weather and mosquitoes not so great.
We had a hot dog roast/potluck for supper on Saturday with the other church campers.

We also lost Kyper's shoes at the beach one day.  So, he went barefoot for most of the day on Saturday and Sunday.  (Fortunately other friends had them and we got them back.)

That's his happy face.

Since it rained quite a bit, we set up the tent in our backyard when we got home.  Kyper helped Daddy sweep it and packed it up.