Randomness

Nothing super exciting going on here.  Living life, which keeps us busy enough.  Here's some random things you might see/hear if you were a fly on our wall:

• Bethany is my mini me.  Her hair was mostly straight this morning... until she got outside where it was foggy.  
• I canned 50-something quarts of tomatoes this summer.  I'm slowly starting to use them up.  Last night I made spanish rice using  and not-so-fresh salsa using some garden things I'd frozen: cilantro, lemon juice (not garden, but hand squeezed and frozen), and green onions.  Tonight I made meatloaf. Pretty much anything that calls for some sort of tomato gets adjusted to use the jars of tomato in my pantry.
• Scott has a bit of a gap in his front teeth currently.  He whistles through his teeth ALL the time.  It drives me crazy.  I feel bad asking him to stop but the constant noise drives me bonkers.  He loves to whistle.  It's a hard balance.  But, we have constant noise all the time so balance is tough.

• I used to feel like the "crazy cat lady".  We had seven cats.  Around Christmas, I hit and killed our beloved Rum.  The cats love the garage door and apparently think it's fun to run in and out each time the door is opened or closed.  It's annoying.  My kids are constantly begging me to not hit the cats as they're running in while I try to drive in.  I might have been the mom who, in frustration, made some comment about running over a cat two seconds before actually doing so.  I am no longer feeling like the crazy cat lady.  Now I feel like cat killer.  While I don't think that being married to a vet gives me permission to hit my cats, I sure am thankful that it lessens my veterinary expenses.  P.S., cat #2, aka Tank, survived the run over for now.  He only uses 3 legs, much like his momma, Pepsi.
• Sometimes my kids play so nicely together, for about 5 minutes at a time.  They are good guys and bad guys and utilizing super hero capes, buzz light year gear, and a captain America shield.  Scott is currently in his boxer briefs playing "captain underpants" and I had to stop typing to talk to Bethany about keeping her shirt on since she's a girl.  Alas, I'll share the picture where they're all fully clothed.

• I've been trying to eat healthy.  Some days I could care less.  And some days I'm very serious about it.  Eating smaller portions has been a good habit to get into.  Especially as I prepare for Ethiopian food which I now appreciate but isn't something I would over-eat on like fajitas.  I've also let myself have a snack sized candy each day.  Because I'm about keeping it real, some days that becomes 6 different snacks in an hour.  
• There are lots of mommas pregnant in my church.  We've had several baby booms in our church where 8 women at a time are pregnant.  I have not been in either baby boom.  Which is okay.  I'm excited for my friends who are expecting.  Now if I could only keep straight who is pregnant and who isn't...
• In less than 7 weeks we'll be in Ethiopia.  We are excited.  Still fundraising.  Still working on a few details (like who will keep our kids for 2 weeks) but EXCITED.  
• Sweetheart Supper plans are happening.  The invitations should get mailed out tomorrow, and should have been printed Sunday.  Since Sunday was 1/4" of ice, there was no going anywhere, no invites printed and none ready to send out tomorrow.  I'm telling myself to not get anxioius.  Hosting that many ladies is a lot of work but worth every bit of it!
• This morning when I checked the weather it was 46 here (way warmer than normal), 34 in the town I was raised (way colder than normal) and 75 in Ethiopia.  Yay Ethiopia!!!
• My kids learn several verses a week.  As Bethany is quoting "Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right", she is outright disobeying and climbing on the counter I told her to stay off of.  Clearly we need to work more on the application than the memory part.  Scott speeds through verses and they're way easy for him.  Judah is a champ and has to try.  Way to go boys.  Now, let's work on the personal application of it.
• I sometimes get an email from a specific airline at my work email.  It is annoying.  Today, I actually saw what it said and it was tempting to want to see if a few friends wanted to join me for a cheap weekend away...

Kids are arguing.  They've had a time out, some time alone and at least 3 chats from momma... do you think they would volunteer to go to bed????

constant noise. I don't know what I'd do without it.  So thankful to be a mom.