It's the beginning of a new year of Service Sunday!  Here's the problem, church is now from 12:30-3:30pm which makes it slightly more difficult since we don't have as much time after church.  So...we may have to make some changes for 2012.

A few weeks ago as I was asking Abby what we should do she said, "Why do we always have to do service for people?  Why can't we do it for dogs?"

So, yesterday we went to our local animal shelter to give service to some dogs by taking them for a walk or just by loving on them.

Here is the puppy room - Abby's favorite!   The puppies couldn't be walked outside or be put on the ground so we just had to hold them and snuggle them.

Here is Abby holding one of the MANY pit bull puppies that have been dropped off at the shelter.

    

 

Todd and Abby walked a cute little dachshund for a walk.  His owner dropped him off.

 

Sam & I chose to walk this little Pomeranian dog.  Not sure what his story was.  He was very busy!

We walked through the main part of the shelter and there was a Doberman just dying for some attention.  He would stick his paws under the gate just trying to get me to pet him.  I decided I would take him for a walk and it was crazy!  He pulled me around like I was nothing and it was difficult to put him back.  Poor guy.

This dog, "Jeremy," nearly came home with us and I'm still struggling with him being in that cage.  He was such a sweetheart and would not let us go.  He just loved on Sam and didn't want him to get up.  He just wanted to be loved so badly.

I can hardly stand it!  I kept thinking all day...Ok, could I handle another dog?  The food, the shedding, the poop?  Just look at that face!!  He was literally hugging Sam and didn't want him to leave.  Ugh!

It was a fun little service project other than Abby losing one of her opal earrings in the grass.  

And as a public service message:

Please spay and neuter your pets!!

16 and counting...

 So...what to do for our 16th Anniversary?

Do what any normal Southern couple would do...

Go shooting guns!

Todd took the morning off and we went to Stoddard's Gun Range and shot the Glock and the shotgun.  Now, I've never shot a shotgun before and once was certainly enough for me.

We are hopeful that our NRA membership card arrives in the mail soon.

 

After we exhausted all our ammo, we went to the bagel place for a quick lunch then I was off to Sam's school for a parent meeting.  We got a sitter, got Thai food for dinner and went to see the movie "Extremely Close and Incredibly Loud" and it was really great.

Happy Anniversary!

How did we survive....

pan·ic

   [pan-ik] noun, adjective, verb, -icked, -ick·ing.

noun

1. a sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior, and that often spreads quickly through a group of persons or animals.

2. an instance, outbreak, or period of such fear.

Last night I had to take Abby to choir practice.   I left at 6:15pm to get to the church by 6:30pm and am to pick her up at 7:10pm.  So overall, I was gone for a little over an hour.

I forgot my phone.

What?  What will I do?  What if someone needs to call me or email me or text me or "hey tell" me?  Will the world end in the next hour?  I have no idea because I DON'T HAVE MY PHONE!

How is it that we've become so dependent on a phone, albeit a Smart Phone?  I remember in the olden days where I would send Sam (you know, the one with special needs!) off to school and run errands and there was no way to get a hold of me.  If someone called, I'd have to wait til I got home to check caller ID.  If someone had left me a message, I would just have to wait til I checked the answering machine.  GASP!  I remember being stuck in the ER for 15 hours with 3 year old Sam and 3 week old Abby and I had to use a wall phone!  

How did we ever get along without our cell phones?  Did our life have less purpose back then?  Why are we so consumed with being "available" 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year?  

I'd kind of like to have a balance between "the good old days" and "nowadays".  I'm actually the type who turns off the cell phone at night.  Crazy, I know!  I know some people who sleep with their iphones (I will not name and names, you know who you are).

I just don't want to be so connected all the time.  

I still like to tell my kids...."I remember when we didn't have cell phones"  or the classic line, "I didn't get a cell phone til I was 30!"

That was only just last year you know...

 

Newest members of the NRA

 Todd has wanted a handgun for awhile and managed to find someone who would sell him a gun for a couple of hundred dollars less than normal if it's sold to a police officer or a paramedic.  So, Todd called his friend Kevin, who is a paramedic, and got himself a gun at a discount.

He got a Glock 26.  Whatever that means.

Todd wants me to be familiar with the gun and learn to shoot it in case someone were to break in.  The only problem is that the gun is up so high, I can't even reach it!

We went to our local indoor gun range and practiced.  It was scary to me to be handling so much power!  I can't believe that there are punk kids running around with guns in their pockets!

I was very methodical slow in my loading, aiming & shooting.  Just a note to the burglar who tries to enter my house....don't worry, just grab stuff and go...I've got to make sure I am totally ready.

 

Not too shabby for my first time shooting a gun.

I'm still trying to figure out which Charlie's Angel I want to be.

It was a good experience but I've got a long way to go before I'm ready for the "kill shot"!

New Year...new niece!

2012 is the "year of the baby" in my family...3 babies are due in the next few months!

First up..coming in at 7 lbs. 9oz. & 19.5"

Julianna Mae Duguid!

Julianna was born on Thursday, January 5th at 10:06am

We are so thrilled that she arrived healthy and happy!

Congrats to Jeremy, Annie & Jonathan!

 

Christmas & New Year's 2011 re-cap

Man, Christmas was busy and fun this year....I am still trying to recover.

Once Thanksgiving was over, we got the house decorated for Christmas. It usually takes me the majority of the day but once it's up, I really enjoy having it. It was also fun to start listening to Christmas music. I typically need to wait until December 1st to play Christmas music because I feel we need to give November a break.

Here are a few photos of the decor:









We had planned on doing a smaller Christmas and spend most of our money on a trip. I secretly had been planning/reserving a trip to Disney World. I got a good deal..free dining plan! This will be the first time we've stayed on the property. I was mentally preparing and thinking of ways to tell the kids...a scavenger hunt sounded like the most fun.

I was able to get most of my shopping done early and online which was so convenient and easy. I really didn't want to be shopping after Thanksgiving. Now it was just a matter of time. We made it through the school parties and finally made it to Christmas break! We had a pretty quiet break but enjoyed the lack of driving and homework.

We did have one friend birthday party and they had a lot of fun activities...









We had a few "elf events," the biggest one being they moved our piano out of the piano room and into the office! What in the world were they up to? This is what we came home to one afternoon:



On Christmas Eve we had a family dinner & white elephant gift exchange at Greg & Kattia's house. We had turkey, stuffing, salad, sweet potato casserole and desserts. It was fun except for the fact that I wasn't feeling too good. The kids had fun playing together and were excited for the next day!





I still wasn't feeling great but we had a really fun Christmas morning. We had the kids do a scavenger hunt to figure out where we were going on our special trip. It took them a little while to figure it out but finally Abby got it. It was fun.



Santa left a very special gift for the family!!







After all the excitement here, we drove up to Todd's parent's house and had a wonderful day there. All the kids had fun opening gifts, eating and playing together. It truly was a great day.

This is the one photo I managed to take that day...what is wrong with me?!



The next morning I packed up the van and headed to the beach. Last year, I put my name down on the list of those who get to go to the beach with Gma & Gpa. As it turned out, Annie was due any minute and Gma & Gpa needed to stay in Atlanta and no one else wanted to go down. I had already planned for it and was going down either way. Like I say, a bad day at the beach is better than a good day in Douglasville. I really shouldn't have been driving since I was dizzy & had a headache but we made it and the kids were really good.




















We spent a fun, albeit sick, week at the beach. The kids pretty much did what they wanted to do. We watched a lot of TLC and Food Network! The pool was not heating so we did go to the indoor pool a couple of times, enjoyed eating at the Club, walked the beach, found a Great White shark tooth, rented a golf cart, got a massage, walked downtown & just enjoyed being away. I think we spent over a month's worth of my in-laws Club dues in that week..oops!


We decided to come home on New Year's Eve day so we could spend New Year's at home. After 6 hours of driving, I unloaded the car and spent the next few hours "de-Christmasing" our house. I was tired of looking at it! We did stay up til midnight, toasted with some sparking apple cider then went straight to bed. Luckily church didn't start until 12:30pm the next day so we were able to sleep in.

We all met up at Todd's parent's place again for a New Year's Day celebration. It is a southern custom to eat black-eyed peas and greens for good luck & prosperity so that's just what we did. The kids had fun playing and the adults had fun eating and chatting.








It was a wonderful Christmas and New Year and here's to a great 2012!

And the winner is...

2011 marks the second year of

The Weinreb's Present...

This year we had a tie for our favorite Christmas card of 2011. This year it's not so much about the actual card but the story behind the card.

Our first winner is the Blatter Family from Midvale, Utah. We were in the same ward as the Blatter's when we lived in Utah. Tim recently returned from a tour Iraq where he works as an Army Chaplin. He's awesome! We also like to recognize his lovely wife, Julie, who stayed behind to handle things at home and showed her continuous support.






Our second winner is the Stephani Family from Panama City Beach, Florida. Carrie is my cousin and last year during a routine hernia repair surgery, her husband Gabe was diagnosed with lymphoma. This past year has been a battle for them in many ways. While Gabe fought cancer and the treatments, Carrie handled everything else! They fought a good fight and have won!





Congrats to our 2011 Christmas card winners!
Your major award is this awesome certificate and a Cold Stone gift card...it's in the mail!

Is there an orthodonist in the house?

Abby is the only one in the family who currently has braces. When we were researching orthodontists, we got two consultations and decided to go with Dr. Oleg Eisenstein (aka Dr. E.). I just felt he was more thorough and more friendly. Abby has been seeing him for about 16 months and typically I have Sam with me when we go to her appointments. Sam seems to work his charming magic and make friends with everyone in the office.

The office ladies always let him go back and give them hugs, he takes off into the back to find Dr. E. and on our most recent visit, this is what I went back to find:

I supposed Sam's got a good career ahead. Dr. E. is really great. He adores Sam and last time we were there, he came into the waiting room, sat down next to me and asked how Sam was doing. I proceeded to tell him about Sam's most recent dental appointment and how he had a loose tooth. He then turns to me and says, "How is Sam doing and I don't mean his teeth." He is so kind and is truly interested & concerned about Sam and what he's got going on in his life.

So...if you need a great orthodonist, Sam is taking new patients, and I'm sure Dr. E. is as well.