Friday, August 28, 2009

Seven Quick Takes Friday--volume 49, the Thank God It's Friday edition

One.
At the end of this day we will have survived the first week of school. There were a few moments on Monday and Tuesday when this prospect seemed tenuous at best. Yesterday was pretty good, however, and a lot had to do with the fact that Sebastian wasn't fighting me at every turn and the three youngest cooperated by all napping at the same time.

Two.
All the kids have colds. I am gearing up for winter and the cold season, even though we got through last winter with only one or two brief colds. My arsenal includes oscillococcinum (and no, I can't pronounce it), Sweet Echinacea for the kids and regular echinacea softgels for us grownups, colloidal silver, and Sambucus elderberry extract. These are used only at the first signs of illness. Otherwise, we just take vitamin C and a multiple. My "knock-out" formula for illness for myself or Bret (because the kids aren't good pill-swallowers) is a combination of vitamin C, deodorized garlic capsules, zinc and echinacea. Taken twice a day at the first sign of a cold, it nips it in the bud very well. We generally get colds only a few times a year, although some years are worse than others.

Three.
I am bummed. I have a load of diapers to wash, and all Gemma's pretty little girl things and it looks like rain again. I want to see all the little things on the clothesline blowing in the breeze...

Four.
We have had a good bit of rain this summer. In fact, this is the only August in the seven years we've been here in which the grass has not been a toasty brown . It's still green.

Five.
We seem to have a very clever mouse visiting our kitchen. He has twice evaded the spring trap, managing to take both corn and peanut butter from it without getting killed, and last night he took the peanut butter off the live trap, wisely deciding not to get the larger bit inside the trap.

Six.
Sebastian and Gabriel spent just about the whole day outside of school-time playing with the useless spring trap. They had a variety of cowboys, knights and soldiers get caught in it, and had the thing springing across the school room. They finally wore it out and they had to toss it in the trash last night. Who needs computer games?

Seven.
We signed on with Netflix after long deliberation. In order to justify the expense, I had to investigate its potential for school. They do have some excellent movies and documentaries that can be resources for history, geography and science. And then, there are the cold, wet days of winter to think about, too.

Now go on over to Jen's Conversion Diary to read other Seven Quick Takes.

4 comments:

  1. Sounds like a good week, especially with the kids' naps. We joined netflix for the same reasons.
    Cindy

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  2. I have to admit, I cringe when I think of kids playing with mouse traps. I have visions of spreading black plague or getting fingers caught. But I just HATE spring traps.

    We used to have a cat that we hoped would develop a taste for mice. The ONLY mice he ever caught were ones that had been first killed in a trap. He'd listen for the "SNAP", then open the cupboard door and carry the dead thing over beside the bed. I managed to step on one of his little "treats" once and suspect I was heard halfway around the world.

    Ugh.

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  3. I hate to say it, but we've never had any luck with the little wood and wire traps. The big old plastic rat trap looking things have only worked for us. "Good" thing about them is that I think they spring faster and harder and so the animal gets killed instead of just trapped, most of the time.

    No fun, rodents in the house. My husband always says about animals that he wishes he could just have five minutes where he could explain to them how much better life would be if they just followed a few rules. . . .

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  4. We had a mouse problem last fall and I bought every type of mouse trap I could find. The best kind turned out to be the cheap sticky pads with a dab of peanut butter in the middle. Runner-up was the D-Con covered trap with peanut butter as bait. At first I felt sorry for the mice, but finding all the droppings in the pantry and kitchen drawers ended those sentiments pretty quickly.

    We have really enjoyed our Netflix subscription We invested in a Roku box and that has been great for all their instant watch selections.

    Blessings,
    Kym

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