7 Quick Takes (5th Edition)

1.

The monsters are sick! Well...three out of four are and they are not a happy bunch. Virgil has the unfortunate combination of teething and a fierce cold and that my friends does not a happy baby make. Last night I had to break out the Vicks, humidifiers, and socks for the three wee ones. Aletheia is fortunate enough to have a strong immune system due to the many many colds she had when she was younger.

The arsenal of goods: 

Sambucus - to boost immunity

Hyland's Nighttime Cold&Cough - sleepy time enhancer

Honey - tea and throat

Lemons - tea

Salt - for the humidifier

Tylenol - to cut the fever

Vicky's Vapor Rub - for feet and chest

Eucalyptus - for the humidifier 

Warm steam humidifier 

2. 

We've looked at 4 more houses this week and boy do I appreciate how "clean" our apartment is. Boy is it me or has the standard of living really gone down? The houses we looked at were in three different price ranges and 1 of the 4 was nice and clean. It was the first house we went to...the other three gave us headaches because of the stench. One house had mold and termites, another had serious animal problems - the ammonia from the urine burned my eyeballs, and the last had a super bad chemical smell that I couldn't get out of my nose for about two hours after we left the house - sucking on a gas pipe would've been better. Holy mackerel. God willing we will find a house soon. When you first start to look for homes you get happy and dream but now it's a freaking chore. Hauling 4 kids in and out of car seats, only to have them whine about being hungry, thirsty, or tired. It's a full time job yo. Why can't I just find something like this...

3.

Has anyone out there tried to buy any ammo recently? Ummm there is none. Every store I stop into is out out out. I'm looking for some ammo because this chick needs to go to the range more often. My skillz are out of whack and I need to stop by more frequently to shoot off a couple rounds to hone in and get my breathing right. I would love to compete but I can't do that if I can't shoot. I can't shoot if I don't have any ammo.

But lucky for me I have a smart husband who found this website and we can get it online. I love online shopping. Amazon.com is practically my best friend. Lucky Gunner posts what they have in stock and you can shop. It's unbelievable what the price for a box of ammo is but you better get it while you can.

4. 

We had a lovely visit from the Crosby family. I have no pictures of the weekend because I'm lame. We have been longtime friends with John Henry and Robin and it was so great to see them again. They are the wonderful godparents to two of our children and they were here for Virgil's baptism. It only took us 4 months to coordinate with a church. Being new in town we haven't settled on a parish that really feels like home. I feel like that topic can be a future post...Catholic orphans who wander from church to church looking for a place to call home.

John Henry  if you ever read this, which I doubt you ever will, I stole this image off the web.

5. 

I got this idea off of Pinterest and I thought why not put it together for Aletheia? I pin sooo many things and then don't do anything with it. She had a great time making outfits for the paper dolls. If you check out the site make sure you download and print the free Cute paper dolls that she has available for you. I have so many scraps just hanging out and now they will be well used. I also have a designated area for my scraps so it's a win win.

6. 

I need some female friends. I found myself longing to have a cup of tea and good female conversation. I was just starting to make solid friendships with ladies back home and then I leave. When we do get a house I will be more proactive in trying to form friendships. I do have to say that this summer has been totally busy but come fall - I think I'm just going to start asking people at church randomly. I can just see it now...oh she has cute shoes and kids the same age "Want to get some coffee sometime?" I know it might sound stalker/weird girl-ish but cut this girl a break.

7.

My Mama-San sent me 75lbs of fresh Alaskan salmon. I can't believe she sent so much. We are forever grateful. Mama-San sent almost whole fish - only the heads and guts were taken out so it was up to me to filet those bad boys. I haven't filleted a fish since oh...about 2005 so it was up to YouTube to teach me how.
I watched that video about a thousand times and went at it.

The kids were so unbelievably excited to have salmon for dinner they were like this the whole time I was filleting it. Not only that - they were grabbing at the raw meat that I had left over and eating it like sashimi. 

Look at that. I've got my game face on and everything. I didn't do too bad the first time. I have quite a few more to practice on. I wish my mom would've kept a few heads on because my Aletheia loves to eat fish eyeballs...or at least that's what she told me. It's been awhile since she has had fish-head soup and she did eat the eye balls last time she had fish head soup so it's totally plausible that she does. I want to provide her all the eyeballs she can eat and tell her things like my mom told me. "Eat Fish eye ball make your boob grow bigger". 

That's all folks!

Check out Jen at Conversion Diary and other mama's out there.