Is this thing still on?

I was just looking for a link on my Mac browser and saw a tiny little square that said 'Spiffy & Random'. Man. I have not thought about this blog in ages. And in that time I have aged. About 10 years. Crazy. The hair may be grayer, the thighs thicker and the wisdom broader but so many things have stayed the same. 

I am in the same house. Married to the same guy (by the grace of god :)), have kids under the same roof (for now!), and have plenty of animals to go around (2 dogs and 2 cats). Even though life is much the same, it's in transition at the same time. I am at that age. The age where you start wondering what's next. Where will your kids land? Where will you live when you sell the house? Which body part is going to give out first? How much will my 401k be worth when I need it? How many years do I have left with my parent? There's a lot of exciting things in that uncertainty but, I'm not gonna lie, it's also pretty unsettling. 

Anyway, wanted to say hi and maybe I pick this thing up again while I wrestle through some of the above. Cheers! 

Puppy love

We have two new additions to the Allman family.

Lilli Pettibow Allman

and

Lulu Lopsielie Allman

They are 15 week old Australian Shepard/Great Dane mixes. Sisters, litter mates and absolute great pups. They have been with us now just over two weeks and the entire family is loving our lively additions.

We had been talking about getting a dog for some time now, and had been trolling shelter sites, but hadn't been ready to pull the trigger until we found these two in a rural Ohio shelter. We primarily wanted an Australian Shepard mixed with something else and that something else ended up being Great Dane. Yes, they will be big. Lilli has more Dane in her and her paws are the size of a large lab(already) and Lulu is a bit more Shepard and probably won't be such a beast. Lilli is a sweetheart and is the larger dominate dog and Lulu is more full of the devil (as my grandmother would say), softer and is a love.

The original plan was for my mother-in-law to take one pup and we would keep the other. However, we met them and that plan was shot. They are stuck together like glue. If one goes in to the living room, the other follows. If one eats, the other eats too. If one is outside, the other whines until they get outside too. They can't even nap without touching each other.

There was just no way we could break them up.

I have to say in two short weeks, they have captured all our hearts. Our family feels complete now and we love it.

Mornings

I think we're finally hitting the point where weekend mornings are, dare I say, enjoyable. Gone are the days of 6:00 am wake ups, the need to constantly have mom at their sides and breakfast demands as soon as their feet hit the first floor. The kids now wake up and come in to our room for a cuddle. Depending on how the night's sleep went, the cuddle is either short lived or it lingers (my favorite). They then either grab the iPad for a movie or go in to their rooms to "read books". This buys me a good 30 mins to 1 hour of marinating in bed (or time to write a blog post). I know that one day I'll miss it all, but right now let me savor the moment.

Finding inspiration in others

My friend DS is truly amazing. She has two children and both struggle with medical conditions that are extremely challenging. I watch her from afar as she educates herself and comes up with solutions to help both of her children (Including fundraising 10k to get her daughter a diabetic alert dog! Something this family can appreciate.). She is an inspiration in the way she never gives up. You can tell it sucks sometimes to be in her shoes. But she acknowledges that, allows herself to feel it and moves on. Her kids certainly are lucky to have a mom like that.

We have been struggling a lot with WA for the past 4 years. We are currently in the process of finding the right treatment for an ADHD diagnosis. He's had severe side effects with all the meds we've tried so far (anger and hallucinations being the worst). In the meantime the spurts in between finding the right meds are tough. But every time I get down or tired, I think of DS and her strength, and that helps me feel stronger and more inspired to keep advocating for WA. I'm not sure DS really even knows she is such an inspiration, so thanks DS, keep on kickin' ass!

Math

Our school system does student evaluations throughout the year as a means of measuring where the child is and how far they have, or have not, progressed. WA's first evaluation was sent home last week. Turns out the kids is all about math. He is exceeding his grade level across the board in math already. His reading and writing skills, on the other hand, are below average. This bias is probably typical of his gender and certainly points to him being much more like his father when it comes to learning. I SUCKED in math. Sucked. Had to get tutored to learn my times tables sucked. Yeah, it was bad. Reading, writing and history were always where I excelled. It's a good thing the hubby breezed through most math classes and ended up becoming an engineer. I can't related to WA's strong math skills, but I am proud of his achievements in that area and am ready to help where he struggles.    

Grandma love

My mother-in-law is in town. She came down to watch WA on Monday since he was off for a teacher in service day. She decided to keep IA home, as well, to spend the day with both kids. Their day began with a trip to Bob Evans and some sausage and eggs for WA and pancakes for IA. They then headed to the Columbus Zoo and saw polar bears, petted (and cleaned...eewww) goats and went to the recycling exhibit. They came back full of stories, loaded with sugar and armed with stuffed animals (3!! for WA and 1 for IA…my guess is that WA was just a tad bit better at sweet talking his grandma). When I got home last night they were ready for bed and so excited to tell me all about their day. Once I got the entire recap from WA, I said “WOW, I’m so glad you had fun! Grandma sure did spoil you!”. He immediately looked at me with a big smile and said “Yeah, I bet you wish she was YOUR grandma!”.  I’m glad my kids recognize how good they've got it :).

I think she needs more bling

What IA picked out and wore to school today...