The girls are having a good time this holiday season except for some small colds that they have and Travis’ has his allergy cough again. Today we are going to attempt to make some cookies and maybe a pizza together. Anya has really begun to like helping me cook and I love that!
Arwen turned 2 this past Friday and while her birthday was a little low key we had a good time. We took the girls to the McWane Center on Saturday and they had a ball. Arwen loved the shark tank but it was really funny because she would put her hands in the water until the shark would come by and then she would yank her arm out and shake her head “No”. Anya and I both touched a shark though so I can add that to the “done” list.
Still not sure how I feel about having touched a shark, but they were small so I guess I’m okay with that.
Arwen also loved the peg area where you can push your hand or head through and it makes the shape on the other side. She loved that and played there for a long time. Anya played in the Winter Wonderland area where they had snow! It was cute but not a very large area.
After the McWane Center we went to dinner at Davenport’s Pizza and we got there in the nick of time because it was packed with standing room only by the time we left. The pizza was good, but I liked the pizza in Homewood better. I’m not a huge fan of super thin pizza and Davenports is very thin. They cut it in squares too so you don’t really have any crust. I don’t eat crust unless I have sauce to dip it in which is one of my favorite things so this pizza just didn’t fit the bill for me. It had a great flavor and was good, I can see why a lot of people like it, but it just wasn’t my style!
In other news, if you have not read “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins I highly suggest getting it to read! It is one of those books/trilogies that stays with you a long time. I let my friend Ginger borrow the set a while back and I got them back this week and started reading them again! Yes, they are that good!
Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you all have a Happy, Safe, and Healthy Holiday!

As I am a member of the BARC coalition, I have to let you know that we have not given up the fight against the gas chamber here locally, although at times its quite daunting.
We often feel like we are “The Little Engine that Could” though and we keep going because I truly believe we can end the barbaric gas chamber.
Check out our latest article in The Huntsville Times…

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2010/12/cullman_area_animal_welfare_gr.html

Please leave a comment to show your support of ending the gas chamber!
I’m not sure what more the Commission wants from us but we will not give up, because the animals deserve a home, but when they can’t get one, they at least deserve to die in someone’s arms.

In other news, life is good around the Almand home. We have our tree up and we love our LED lights on our tree. Travis likes colored lights, but I think next year I may try some white lights just to be a little different, and I think I want to try decorating with just balls and a few ornaments next year.
My friend Ginger decorated her tree in pink, lime green, and purple and did a great job with it!
Anya and Arwen are both doing good. Arwen’s been a little under the weather here the past week, but overall she’s doing really good. Its so hard to believe she’s almost 2!
She has been talking more and more lately and is now starting to like The Wonder Pets, Mickey Mouse, and Blue’s Clues. And she loves “STOMP Live”! We don’t know why but she loves it.

We also have a new resident in our house at least through the holidays. His name is Trey and he’s a 3 legged beautiful dog from a sanctuary here. He needs some extra love this holiday season so we took him in. He’s very good, loves the girls and is just as gentle as Chance is.
He’s about 2 years old, but we don’t know how he lost his right hind leg, but the shelter he was in was going to put him down because he only had 3 legs. One of my animal rescue friends agreed to take him, Anya met him and fell in love with him, so now he’s here visiting with us over Christmas (maybe longer).

Anya is also doing great in school and otherwise. She is such a good girl, its hard to not cry sometimes at how sweet she is in pretty much everything she does, and it makes you want to cry because she’s growing up. She is reading fantastic now and is really starting to notice all kinds of words and sound them out everywhere we are and everywhere we go. We are very proud of her.

And I just have to say that my husband is just great. He does the dishes for me every night, well, almost every night and that alone proves his love for me!