A New Addition to the Family!

 Meet Rudy.

Rudy is a dog. A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel to be precise.

We said we'd never get a dog. We said it repeatedly. And adamantly. A lot.

And now we have a dog.

He is a super sweet and good tempered dog. Really. Like one of the nicest dogs I've ever met. 

But, still. He's a dog. And we said we were never going to get a dog. Todd is allergic. I have enough other things to do!

And yet, we have him. And we adore him.

Caleb is like a dog whisperer. Better, probably. I've never watched that show of the same title, but he and dogs have a thing. (This is as of about 3 years ago when he finally got bigger than most dogs. Until then, he was a little shy around bigger dogs. My parents got two dogs and Caleb did everything with those cuties the whole time we would visit my parents.

Then a few months ago he asked if he could start walking dogs since we couldn't have one. He decided he could be happy just helping to take care of other people's dogs on a regular basis. This seemed like a win win for everyone. Caleb earns money and gets to hang out with dogs, and I didn't have to get one.

But he LOVES dogs, and all of a sudden on our neighborhood fb group up popped a picture of this sweet dog who needed to find a new home due to some circumstances having nothing to do with him. And even though it was crazy, I asked for more information. And called Todd. And emailed back and forth with the owner and researched the breed. And talked to Todd. And then we met the dog.

Then Rudy came over for a play date. Then we went to California. And the day after we came home, Rudy came to live with us.

All the kids are happy, but Caleb is HAPPY. Like he glows a little bit every time this sweet dog so much as looks at him.

So, even though it means I have another kid in the house, essentially, and much more vacuuming to do, and we have to do all manner of crazy things to make sure Todd's allergies stay in check, just watching a boy and his dog is maybe one of the sweetest things I've ever seen.

Seven Things Sunday

1. This is what the first week of March seems to look like in central Ohio. *sigh* We are all so ready for spring and no more snow and ice. BUT, at least the sun is beginning to emerge and the cement gray skies will go away until next late fall finally. Oh happy day!

2.  And this is what a math test looks like at our house lately. A few months ago we switched over to an online math curriculum called ALEKS. It has made math time during the day a much happier experience. When I read the reviews about the program and it talked about how motivated kids were by a pie chart, I confess I did not believe it. But it's totally true! Caleb checks his pie chart all the time to see what he needs to work on to make pieces bigger. It's bizarre to me, but I'm really glad it's working for him!

3. I made my last payment at the hippie-commie preschool this week. Sad to be done being there daily, but Lilyanna is so excited to go to Kindergarten in the fall, that it feels right.

4. On Friday, we had the wonderful pleasure of meeting up with some friends that we were young marrieds with back in our pre-kid days in the Perth Amboy Branch. Serving together in that branch forged a friendship probably stronger than it would have been otherwise (seriously, refiner's fire, people!!), but we sure are glad that we get to touch base with them every few years! Our kids are such compatible ages, that it makes visiting with them fun for the whole family! Here are the kids (except Benjabooboo who had a choir competition and couldn't make it, and Warren who has his own life.).

5. Oh, and then there was this:

 My BABY turned 15 years old! I sure do like this kid and I'm glad he's mine.


6. I'm just going to leave this picture here and say that there is more to come regarding it.

7. I can't believe how quickly spring break is coming. We have just a few short weeks before our big hike!! Appalachian Trail, here we come!

Seven Things Sunday!

1. I had my first actual massage ever this week! One of the local Moms mentioned that we was going to start doing massages again after a few years "off" to take care of her little ones. The kids are all in school now, though, so since she'd kept her license up over the years, all she had to do was get her insurance back up and running. When she asked if anyone would have any interest, I pretty much jumped up and down saying "pick me!! pick me!!!" It was one of the things the doctor had recommended I do for my shoulder (which while not completely better, is much improved) that I hadn't yet done. Anyway, it was fabulous and the morning after was the first morning I've woken up in months without my shoulder aching!

2. After weeks of homeschool sucking for everyone involved, we made two big changes that have made a world of difference. At my son's request, we adjusted his meds, and at my instinct, we switched math curriculum. I sensed he needed less of me and more instruction that was easy to understand. We signed up for ALEKS and the clean pages, and immediate feed back for everything, along with helpful instructions a mere click away are making him super happy to do math. In fact, I set a timer for him to work on math each day, and on Friday when the timer went off he growled at it and begged for 10 more minutes. It's the first time THAT's ever happened with that particular child!

3. Week 2 of healthier eating is going well and continuing to yield results. And I did actually have some Doritos to satisfy that particular craving and all is now right with the world.

4. This past week we began the high school enrollment process for Nathaniel. If you'd asked me a year ago, I would have predicted that he would have dived head first into the STEM program offered at the high school, but he's much more interested in what the alternative program has to offer. We are lucky enough to live in a town that has an alternative middle school and high school. If he's accepted, he would be one of 45 students in the Freshman class which is pulled from both of the high school's in town. The types of classes offered change every semester, the teachers are called by their first names, there are no official study halls or lunch period, and kids are expected to stay on top of everything themselves. Basically, it's the hippie-commie preschool for high school kids. ;) He would still be bused over to the regular high school for language, music, and theater, but he's really looking forward to this opportunity. I hope that if it's the right thing for him, he'll get into the program.

5. There are times when familial drama makes the 1000 plus mile distance between me and our relatives seem just right, but the last couple of weeks as we've all banded together while my grandmother has experienced several hospital stays and all that go with those, that I really wish I could be closer. That being said, most of the siblings and cousins were rocking the staying in touch with one another with any technology available! Our respective parents, not so much, but they were more on the front lines of things, so I suppose that's to be forgiven. Anyway, it just makes me realize how lucky I am to be from a big, zany, loving family.

6. My youngest son wants a dog more than words can possibly express, but Todd is super allergic to dogs, and I'm not willing to take care of one more thing in this house even if he weren't. (although, I confess that if Todd weren't so allergic, I could probably be swayed. That is how much this longing in my youngest son is tugging at my heart!) Instead, we decided that we could take advantage of the fact that he's home during the day and he could advertise his services for dog playing, walking, letting out during the day for those in our neighborhood who work. I offered this via our neighborhood fb page in September and we had no takers, but my parents just got a new puppy and have been sending pictures and it was more than Caleb could take. So, I sent out the proposition again and we had a taker! Caleb and I met the family yesterday, and he is super excited to begin going to take care of them starting this week! It's just a mid-day potty break and possible walk, with some play time thrown in, but it's as if he's been handed the world!

7. I've been listening to French language CDs in the car while I driving to and from preschool each day, and I'm pretty sure that Pimsleur just taught me how to flirt, and basically do the "your place or mine?" thing. I'm sure this would be much more useful if I weren't going to France with my husband and 4 children in tow, but I suppose it might come up. ;)