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. 

7 Quick Takes (4th Edition)

Our 7 quick takes will be of our adventures to Coney Island. We had so much fun and I think we will be going back in the future. We made sure to go after 4pm to save big $$. 


--- 1 ---



Aletheia was d.y.i.n.g. to go and start riding the rides. She was on her best behavior so she wouldn't have to be benched. Ambrose couldn't keep his excitement in either. His head was swinging every which way looking at everything except the camera. 

--- 2 ---



I took the boys out on a paddle boat out on Lake Como. Since little man's legs were too short, I had to paddle the whole time. Ummm I need some cardio in my life. My legs were wobbly at the end of this adventure. Ambrose loved every second and since I let him steer the vessel, we went in a lot of circles and crashed every few seconds into other people or rocks. Let's just say at the end I took over so I could dock us and give myself a break. 

--- 3 ---


Ry took the girls out on a canoe. He has been dreaming of doing this for quite a long time so I'm glad he finally had a chance to do it. Petra listened and didn't fall into the water...which surprised me a bit. 

I think Ryan is scanning Craigslist for a used canoe in good shape to do this more often on the numerous lakes that surround us. 

--- 4 ---


Headshot of me. If I didn't do this, you would never see my face. My husband doesn't take pictures so it's up to me. See Ambrose's little hand? Yup about 2 seconds later we crash into a nice young couple paddle boating next to us. Thanks little dude. 

--- 5 ---


Here's a shot of the three of them. They declared me the princess who is in need of help and were trying to chase me...sure I need help - help folding my dang laundry that is as high as Mt. Fuji...any takers?? They sure weren't lending a hand when I needed them. 

--- 6 ---


Of all the kids, Petra is my daredevil. Ryan took Aletheia on this huge ride that swings back and forth like a pendulum. She screamed bloody murder and never wants back on. My heart melted hearing her scream so hard. Yikes. Ambrose didn't even want on but Petra wanted to ride every scary ride she could. She laughs and giggles the whole time. You can almost see her face in this shot. She is LAUGHING and wants to ride it again and again. 

--- 7 ---
As much fun as we had we didn't make it home until 9:45pm. Melt down central. Holy diapers batman it was not fun. Ambrose threw a fit and started screaming at me so I yelled back that he needed to be quiet (I don't like to yell and try really hard not to but I'm Chinese - it's what we do). He burst into tears and said "You emptied my bucket Mama." Look here to find out what that means. So I got him in the house and all he could say was that he was "so, so, so sad" and cry some more. Arg! Guilt trip! So then we fed them (they ate at Coney Island but wanted "real food") and I had a heart to heart with my little man who told me he shouldn't have yelled at me and asked me to forgive him. That little guy breaks my heart daily. LOVE him.

That's all folks. Hope you had a good one. 



For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes (3rd Edition)

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We have started the big Lovett Stay-Vacation! This is the first time we have actually taken a vacation and not had to do something like move! We have planned quite a few activities to keep from falling into the rut of staying at home. Ok wait...out of the 10 days that we are "on vacation" 3 of those will be in Lexington, Ky. Soooo partial stay-cation? The great city of Lexington is calling our name and we are going to visit The Kentucky Horse Park while there for our horse loving kiddies! Then I get to tinker around the antique stores to hopefully find some treasures. I've been able to find some great icons and religious items at the antique stores for super super cheap. Just say a Ave Maria and something will show up - like this little number that I then broke when a large horse fly was attacking me and I swung my arm around to catch it...heart broken. 



--- 2 ---




The weather broke of its rainy cycle just long enough for us to run through and see the sights at the Cincinnati zoo. The lions were a bit shy and wouldn't come out but the giraffes were happy to munch alongside us. The new baby gorilla wasn't out yet either but we'll be sure the hop on by again before the end of month to visit and see all the new animals. They have a wonderful train and carousel ride that the kids always love. Pretty nice zoo overall and the munchkins were pretty darn tired after so I call it a success!

--- 3 ---



The next item on our list was to make it to the Cincinnati Children's Museum. Having a membership at this place and the zoo really help cut the costs and I make sure to get more than my memberships worth by going so frequently. The museum was a mad house. Usually I try to get there right when it opens and since we were having a lazy morning we decided to go after naps and boy was that a mistake. There were sooooo many kids and parents who were not taking care of or watching their kids and letting them run amok. I'm a little over paranoid when it comes to my kids so when I couldn't hear or see them I would start to panic. Now I remember why I go so early in the morning...


--- 4 ---



My husband won't take normal photos. Here we are at the bowling alley having some  fun with the kids. We barely lasted to the last game of one round before the munchkins were giving up and trying to go play some arcades. We found the only smoke free bowling alley in northern Kentucky and it has a total of 7 lanes! I guess bowling is a coastal thing...not so mid west because it was truly unimpressive. Not to sure we'll be going back due to $$$ of the whole deal. 


--- 5 ---



What? You don't bowl with a baby on your back? Well then the parents out number the babies - this is how you do it (queue music).


--- 6 ---

On a side note - we put in an offer on a house! Let's see what happens. The family that owns the home currently lives in China so it will be a few days before we hear back. I would be happy to live in the house and I would be just fine without. Is that a sign of something? I'm just currently feeling at peace with the whole deal...currently. Tomorrow I might be a wreck about living in such a small apartment with no yard but today I am ok. 


--- 7 ---

I just finished North and South. Loved it! I like a good British drama that beings some tears to my eyes. I don't want to say too much but in a nutshell it's about a privileged upper middle class lady, Margaret Hale, who moves North to a dingy noisy town and takes a disliking to Mr. Thornton, who epitomises everything she dislikes about the North. But then her heart softens and she learns to see the beauty in the relationships and struggles of the townspeople.  Events keep pushing Margaret and the handsome Mr. Thornton together but they must overcome their own issues  of prejudice and circumstance before they can be together. Terribly synopsis? Yeah I thought so too. Go watch it and have some tissues. 

We will be pretty busy this week and we're off to Lexington tomorrow! I'll post when I can to keep you updated. 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

We are living it up in the sun here! The weather is blazing hot and our little PAC Northwester chitlins are not used to the heat. Swimming almost daily with the kids has been really great for their swimming abilities and as an added bonus the kids are zonked out asleep by 8pm! Petra is ready all day every day and she usually sports her swimsuit and rain boots everywhere we go just incase we decide to stop by a swimming pool.

--- 2 ---

On a whim I put together a old fashioned circle skirt for Aletheia. I didn't take pictures of my sewing journey or take notes because I forgot and wanted to finish the skirt before I got distracted by the kids.
Aletheia likes how twirly it is - I like the length. So many of the skirts for little girls are sooooo short. Next time, I might make one that is a little shorter because the heat is killing us but not too much. The website in this link will do all the math for you so all you have to do is cut!

Poor Petra didn't get anything this time. Next time little one....maybe.

--- 3 ---

I just finish my own maxi skirt and again I didn't take pictures or document anything. I am in the process of writing these patterns out and when I get the bug to make something I feel like Doc. Frankenstein and get into a zone and just have to make it at this very second or I'll explode! Now that I know what I'm doing - I'll write all the directions out and post them with pictures. Oh and please mind the bag of trash in the background and my 3 month postpartum baby gut!

--- 4 ---

Another book came in the mail yesterday! The Omnipotent Child by Thomas P. Millar, MD. I have a running selection of books along this same mind set and I like to read a few different authors to see what points really apply to our children. I have only made it through the first chapter and it is a bit long winded but the ratings were pretty high on Amazon.com. I wouldn't go to Amazon to get the book. Go straight to the website and get it there. They are pretty fast with shipping and you can resell the book on Amazon for your moneys worth if you don't like it!

--- 5 ---

Glad my new shades came in! The sun was killing my eyes. I can't wear contacts so I had to get prescription sunglasses. So far so good. Let's hope I don't make the usual Lizz Lovett mistake and sit on the sunglasses that I left in the driver's seat of my van! These seem pretty sturdy and are a poly composite so they're supposed to be more durable. If I break them - then I'll have to break out the duct tape and go ghetto stylin' because these my friends were not cheap! Oh doesn't Aletheia look lovely here? She just got a pool noodle thingy. The little things that can make a kid happy :)

--- 6 ---

I don't think I'll get to finish this! Virgil just woke from his nap and needs to nurse. Ummmm....
Just a sec.

--- 7 ---

Ok! I'm back and typing with one hand so this is going to take forever! I'm going to wean my little one from night feedings this next week. He's a whopping 20.5 lbs at just 4 months so he doesn't need the food but I need my rest! This Mama is so much happier if she can sleep through the night!

See you next week!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

7 Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

My son officially likes to eat bugs. If you look into the bowl you can see something that looks like broken spaghetti. Nope. That, my friends, is a bowl full of larva. Oh, and crickets - lightly salted. He thought they were wonderful. Watch this if you need more convincing why bugs should be on your menu. Ryan thinks he is prepping Ambrose for harder times that m.i.g.h.t. just come around the corner. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? At least my son will survive if there is a food shortage. Off to the asian market I go to stock up on freeze dried bugs! 

--- 2 ---

Searching for a house still....ugh. I think I might just hire someone to find a house for me. It is exhausting to load all 4 munchkins in the car and look at house after house and I'm one of those uber paranoid mamas who thinks someone will break into my car with all my babies inside and steal them away so they always go with me. We went to this one house last week that made my skin crawl. I felt as if I had creepy crawlies all over me and so what does a paranoid Asian chick do? She quickly drives home and strips her children naked before we get into the house and gives them a hot sterilizing bath. Then throws all the dirty clothes into her washing machine to sterilize the clothes. St. Joseph help find me a clean home!

--- 3 ---

I'm was trying to potty train my 2 year old. I officially have given up! I think we need to wait. After cleaning poop nukes out of her pants 3 times yesterday, I think she is just not getting the point. Petra just doesn't really care like her two older siblings did. I did do a long stint of cloth diapers with the older two and I haven't the energy or time to do it now. Plus all my cloth diapers are stored in my storage facility where ALL my other goods are being held until when? Until we find a house. Going on almost a year with more than half of my household goods in storage. It's getting pretty O.L.D.

--- 4 ---

In-Laws are leaving. My in-laws were here for about 10 days and it was so nice to have a few extra hands to take care of the kids and have the small stuff taken care of. The dishes were done after every meal, the trash was taken out daily, the kids were bathed and fed quickly and it was nice to take naps e.v.e.r.y day. I loved it. Sleep is such a gift. Thank God for loving in-laws. My house looked and functioned like I would like for it to on a daily basis. When I'm home alone with the kids - I just can't get things the small things done that make a house look put together. Other things like sitting on the toilet until my legs tingle gets in the way of actual housework. Somedays I just want a little extra time to myself and when I'm sitting on the toilet I don't get the nagging feeling that I should be doing something else. Does anyone else do that?

--- 5-----

I keep rereading my Soul Gardening Journal. I think I am going to implement polishing rocks to the time out area so the kids are actively doing something while fulfilling their punishment needs. Soul Gardening has quick little articles, crafts, and recipes that I really enjoy. There is something organic and raw about the journal that really connects with me in a way regular magazines don't. I have to say that I personally know some of these amazing women who put this journal together and they are a wonderful bunch so I might be a little bias but please give them a look and sign up. It's free! You have nothing to lose and so much to gain. They only print when they get enough donations to pay the printer so I'm not sure when the next journal will come out but they try to get them out 4 times a year. If you are still unsure check out these sample articles. 

--- 6 ---

My tea kettle is percolating non-stop. I am dying in this heat and in need of constant refreshments and because water can get pretty darn boring when you're chugging it all day - I decided making my own ice cold green tea was better. Northern Kentucky is seriously lacking any decent coffee joints that can quickly whip up an ice tea for you so its up to you to refresh yourself. Just an FYI. What they do have here are gallon sized soda cups in styrofoam and being a reformed coke addict (as in the soda not the narcotic...) it's tempting to just swing by a drive thru and pick one of them bad boys up so I have to keep something with me at all times.

--- 7 ---

This post has taken me 7 days to complete!! There was nothing quick about this. I started this post last Friday. Ummm I'm not sure how the other ladies do it but I think I will start on next weeks '7 quick takes' today! Haha otherwise I'll never make it.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!