A Very Exciting Wednesday

Dad came home from the Transplant games on Wednesday! Mom picked him up at the aireport right before lunch. We had asked her if we could please go too and she told us that it was very hot outside and that we'd be much more comfortable at home in the house and that she'd be home in 2 hours with dad and she was!


Look what dad brought home for us! They're John Deere M&M's! I have dibs on all the yellow ones and Mitch wants all the green ones! Mom says, not on your life, guys! At least he thought of us! It's the thought that counts, right?!When mom and dad drove in there were 2 packages on our back porch and they had BOTH of our names on them! Mom and dad had lunch and then dad and Mitch went out to the workshop briefly! Mom and I took this opportunity to open the box from Kirby! It's so nice to have peace and quiet once in awhile! Bless you, dad, for getting rid of the little monster!

We discovered that there were 2 bags inside the box - one was for me and the other one was for Mitch! Mine was obviously the pink one! What a cute pillow! I've already slept with it and I love it, Kirby!And I got a birdie! Mom says that you play badminton with it! Okay, mom you bat it to us and we'll catch it! But for now, I look pretty stoopid with it on my head, don't ya think?!I love my card, Kirby and I can't wait to try the salmon treats! They smell delicious right through the bag! Thank you so very, very much!

Mitch walked though the door as if he knew it was his turn! OMG! A rope toy! How did you know these were one of my most favorite toys in the whole wide world! I'm psyched! Thanks so much, Kirby!

An Orbee football!!!! Dad and I are going to have a blast playing hup hup with this! I can't wait! And thank you so much for the blueberry treats! Mom says these actually sound good enough for her to try!

What awesome gifts, Kirby! Thank you so very much! That was very generous of you to send gifts for me too! I really appreciate it!

We also got a goody birthday bag from Scruffy, Lacie, Baby Stan and Gilbert! Check out the dead rat card! Isn't this just the perfect card choice from them?! hehehehe

They sent me a cookbook called "For the Love of Scruffy"! I had no idea you were a master chef, Scruffy!

There are lots of cookie recipes in here for doggies and even an oonie recipe and meatloaf too! There are also recipes for birds, that's you, CC-Man, cats, ferrets, Hammies (OMG, Girl girl too!) Also, horses, kittens and puppies! What an awesome gift! Thank you so much! I can see that mom and I are going to be very busy in the kitchen when the weather cools down!

And check out the fur samples! All three Terriers donated to the cause! OMG, it smells so Heavenly! Mom had to hide the bag so we'd lose interest in it! Look how possessed Mitch is!I love my green tuggie toy, guys! I can't wait to whip Maggie in the butt and irritate her enough so that she'll play with me! Hey, if it doesn't work, I know mom will tug with me! Our favorite tug time is when she's trying to get dindin on the table! I love slapping her on the leg to get her attention! Gilbert also sent Autumn a pretty gardening bandana but Autumn says that she wants to wait and model it on Wheelie Wednesday! Gilbert also confided in Autumn that he'd asked Myrna to marry him and she said yes! We were all whoopin' and hollerin' to hear the good news! We can't wait to go to another wedding!

Thank you Kirby and Scruffy and Lacie and Stan and Gilbert so very much for all the totally awesome gifts! You guys rock!

So until next time..............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

I Hit The Jackpot

I got 3 birthday pressie in the mail the other day! whoooooohoooooooooooo The birthday celebration continues!

First of all I have to show you my pretty card from my new friends, Essex and Deacon! Deacon just had his 2nd birthday and he's still in his pawty hat! Thank you so much for the pretty card! I love it!

The first package mom helped me open was from Faya! Mom always helps me open when Mitch is around because he totally takes over and pushes me aside! Sometimes he's not very nice!

You look so pretty on your card, Faya! I'm hiding this so Mitch doesn't rip it up!

Yes, BAD BOY, Mitch! You have guilt written all over your face! You know who that pretty pink piggie belongs too! Hand her over!

Excuse me but is that MY Rooster squeakie from Faya under your armpit?! Could you maybe share MY pressies with ME?!

Faya sent yummy chicken treats too! Please open a package, mom! I'm starving! Thank you so very much, Faya! Mom says that the first few times she heard the piggie oink she thought one of us was barfing! hehehehe

The next package was from Boy and Baby. It's a pretty pink lady fire hydrant and no, you can't have it, Mitch! It makes the coolest wiggly giggly noise! She's talking to me and she's mine all mine!


Can you see my card? There's a Hammie on the front and he's holding the most lucious looking cake! I got chicken treats from Boy and Baby too! Thank you so very much! We're going to be eating very well in the next few days!

The third package was from Girl girl, my Hammie friend! Girl girl sent me a stuffie moomoo with a pretty pink flower barrette in her hair!

She also sent me this very beautiful blingee charm! There's a letter M for Maggie and a small ice cream cone charm for my collar! Mom and I are thinking that we should save it for dressing up until Mitch is older and stops chewing on the tags on my collar! We don't want him to ruin it! It's too cute and just PERFECT!

Girl girl also sent treats -yummmmmmmmmmmm and a sunshine rope toy that I'm sure Mitch will confiscate ASAP! Mom and I both love your handmade card, GG! We especially love your paw prints!

Thank you so much Faya and Boy and Baby and Girl girl for my birthday pressies! You were all so generous and I really, really appreciate it! I love you all!

This has been one heck of a 10th birthday - I can tell you that for sure!

So until next time.......................

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Wheelie Wednesday - Fresh Tomatoes

Hi everyone! It's me, Autumn!

My friend, Kipper and I were strolling through the vege garden gathering tomatoes and cucs for our salad that we are having for lunch today. We spotted 2 heirloom Fourth of July customers and snatched them off the vine and hurried inside! Kipper wanted to know why these Fourth of July tomatoes were late, seeing as today is the 16th! I told her they probably couldn't read the calendar!

I told Kipper all about the three herb vinegars that I made and that she needed to decide which one she wanted on her salad. I told her she had a choice of Lavender vinegar (which as you can see has aged to a nice lavender color), dill vinegar and the chive vinegar which is a really pretty color pink! Kipper chose the chive and I chose the dill! Mom says the lavender vinegar smells good but she's not sure she'd want to eat it and I have to agree!

Our salad was delicious! How come fresh veges always taste better when you know they're from your own garden?!

As I was saying good-by to Kipper, we passed by the nasturtiums just coming into bloom! Next time she comes, we can put some of these on our salad! The leaf lends a spicy peppery taste and the blossom add so much color!

The balloon flower is blooming too! Check out this very cool flower as a bud! Isn't it so neat looking?

Now check it out opened up! It doesn't even look like the same flower, does it?

The Mallows are in bloom now too!

We all know that last Thursday was Maggie's birthday. Well it was mom's birthday too and lots of you asked what mom got! She got a beautiful bouquet of flowers from our sissy, Melissa and her hubby, Jim! Aren't they beautiful?! There are 5 lilies in the bouquet and our family room smells Heavenly!


She also got a sweet dolly named Senji from HER mom, our gram! Isn't he cute? We had a nice chat and really got to know each other.


See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

Transplant Olympic Games - Track and Field

First of all we have to apologize for the delay. My sissy's flight was delayed and she and her hubby didn't get home until 4AM this morning and she had to get up for a business meeting at 8AM! UGH!

Here's sissy:

Discus was the first event today. Dad was full of excitement. He was full of energy and confidence giving new comers George and Roger from Team CT lots of pointers. It appears that Davey’s coaching did pay off. Dad’s results were:

1st throw – 63’

2nd throw – It was his best throw but a foul :-(

3rd throw – 72.5’

Dad also coached a new comer, Ann, from Team Rocky Mtn. Dad, Jim and I quickly became friends with her. She was supposed to run the 1500m today but there was a mix up with the registration so she signed up for discus instead. Mind you she has never thrown a discus before. But with a little coaching from Dad she managed to pull off a 36’ foot throw which won her a silver metal!

Right after the discus, the men threw shot-put. It was hard keeping track because we were excited cheering on Ann and cheering on the Shot-put athletes. Dad’s results were:

First throw 27’

Second throw 27.11 ¼

Third throw 27.81/4

After the discus event, Jim and I left for the airport to head home. I was all set with this posting when there was a little hiccup in our travel plans. I’m sorry for my delay with the post but I hope you’ve enjoyed sharing our experience at the 2008 Transplant Olympics. It’s about 7:30 pm on Tuesday. Dad is attending the closing ceremonies. He didn’t have any events today so hopefully he was able to relax a bit and enjoy Pittsburgh and cheer on the rest of Team CT.

The Transplant Games truly are an experience. It is rare these days that we are amongst a group of people who are simply just happy to be alive! We get so bogged down with life’s day to day stresses, hustles and bustles that I think we forget at times that life is a gift and for most of us it only comes once. I am proud to have been able to share the Transplant Olympic experience twice with Dad. And I am proud to have a husband who supported me and encouraged us to make the trip to share the experience together. It meant the world to me to be able to be there to cheer on my hero, my Dad. I know that it was tough road to follow to get to the Transplant Games not only for Dad but for all of the athletes, their families and the donor families. There were probably a lot of days where you wanted to throw in the towel and say the heck with this! I’m proud of you all for never giving up and being who you are today…enjoying the gift of life.Thank you all for sharing this experience with us, your kind words and support.

We are just so darned proud of our dad and we are so excited about him coming home tomorrow! We sure have missed him - LOTS!!!

So until next time.............

Love ya lots,

Maggie & Mitch

Cold Box Tag

Salinger tagged us to the do the cold box tag!

The rules are:
Show us a photo of the front of your Cold Box. Tell us about at least one thing on it and
one thing you keep inside of it
Tag your friends and remember to stay COOL! And no fair cleaning it up first!!!

We didn't cheat! This is just how it always looks - the towels change but that's about it! It's pretty much Airedale related. There are pictures of us that Putter's mom took the many times she's been to our house for a visit, a Stanley button, our DWB Christmas card photo, an Airedale made out of fimo or sculpey that one of mom's artist friends made, an Airedale head from Boy and Baby that we got awhile back and the Airedale wearing the hat that Falcon's mom painted. That's our pumpkin doggie cookie jar up on top where we can't reach it!

Inside the frig is pretty boring except for this! Wallymelon! It's left over from my birthday cake pawty! I sure hope we get more! We have yellow squash growing in our garden and we're beginning to get overwhelmed with it! Does anybody need any?! The bottle with the writing on it is my Liquid Health Level 5000! This is my secret to staying young and as you can see - it works!

Salinger gave us this awesome award too!

The rules for accepting the award are as follows:

1. Add the logo of the award to our blog

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog

5. Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs!

We nominate: Rudy the Bedlington, Isis, Petra the Boston, Penny, Poppy and Patches the AireGirls, Lorenza, Girl girl the Hammie, and Blue.

You all have brilliant blogs! So what's on and in your frig? We wanna see!

We know you all are waiting to hear the latest news on the Games and so are we! Our sissy's flight out of Pittsburgh left around 6PM yesterday so we can only imagine that she was racing to catch her plane! We're sure she wanted to spend as much time as she could with dad! And we also know that she most probably didn't get home until about 1AM this morning! As soon as we have an update, we'll post it - we promise! Thank you so very much for all of the wonderful comments and support about our dad! He's our hero and we're so fortunate to be with him every day of our lives!

So until next time..............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

A Bronze!

This is our sissy reporting:


So Jim and I got to the Carnegie Mellon University about 11 this morning. Dad was a bundle of anxious nerves. His first event was the 50 meter breast stroke. He looked strong and had nice form .

His second event was the 50 meter freestyle. Unfortunately I didn’t realize it was so soon after his first event. We had stepped away to eat some lunch and missed all the excitement! Apparently after his 50 meter freestyle (which he said he felt really good doing) he made friends with a woman named Kimberly from team Illinois. She had a heart transplant 14 months ago and was bound and determined to compete in this year’s games. After her transplant she suffered a stroke which affected her vision and she was a little unsteady. Dad talked quickly made friends with her and when it came time for her event she asked if he would help her. He helped her to her lane (oddly enough lane 6. Still the number 6 keeps popping up!) and she handed him her glasses. I guess after she took her glasses off she really couldn’t see and kindly asked where the water was. Dad got her in position and when she began to have doubts about her event he encouraged her by saying that her donor was here watching. That gave her all the encouragement she needed to dive right in. She made it all the way down to one end of the pool, she made the turn and about ½ way back she kind of stopped. She had run out of breath and she was beginning to sink. Now the pool area is congested and loud. There are hundreds of people watching and cheering. At that moment Dad said it was surreal. All he could do focus on was her. Without even a thought he dove in and swam like heck to her. He helped her back to the surface. Apparently she caught her breath and said I’m fine but would you stay with me? He swam next to her all the way to the finish line encouraging her that she could do it. And she made it! He said that moment made the whole day and was one of the best experiences he has had since he’s been transplanted.

The third event was the 200m swim relay. Geo, Sandy, Pete and Matt made up the Team CT swim relay team. All four swam their hearts out and it paid off. They won a bronze!

We are sooooooooooooooo very, very proud of our dad! Today is track and field day and day and dad will throw the shot put and the discus! Paws are crossed, dad! Toss that baby right out of the field! whooooooooohoooooooooooo!

So until next time................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Name Meme Tag, Transplant Olympics and Putter

Hi everyone! It's me - Mitch! Excuse me while I finish my ice cream cone!


Is your birthday over yet so I can post once in awhile too, Maggie?!


Willow tagged me to play the name meme tag.

What is your name? Mitch

If you could change your name what would it be? I don't want to change it! Mom has been saying for years that if she ever had an AireBoy that his name would be Mitch! She got her wish!

What is your pet's name (it can be a webkinz or a real pet)? Does Maggie count? She might not like my answer!

If you could change your pet's name what would it be?! That's going a bit too far, don't you think?! haha hummmmmmmm lemme see! hummmmmmmmmm naaaaaaaaaaaaaa that's not a nice thought and Maggie really is sweet to me and quite generous! I better leave Maggie's name the way it is!

What is your brother or sisters name? If this means hoomans - Melissa/Missy is our sissy!

If you could change their name what would it be? Oh no! She can be as bitchy as Maggie can! shhhhhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell either one of them I said that!

Now tag as many people as letters in your new name for yourself. Well, I didn't change my name - but I will tag my friends - Velcro, Stan, Patches, Reilly and Jagger!


Mom just heard from our sissy, Missy! She and her hubby are in Pittsburgh with dad and his buddy, Frank at the Transplant Olympic games! It was a total shocker to dad! He had no clue that they were coming! We love surprises! Missy said that dad swims his first race at 11am so if we hear anything, we'll let you know! Our sissy is an expert reporter!

And we have to ask you all to stop by my goodest and bestest friend, Putter's blog and wish her well! She snatched a corn cob off of a dinner plate last night and ate it! Thank doG her mom caught the whole thing and rushed Putter to the ER or this story might not have a happy ending! Putter did have surgery and she's still at the hospital recovering. Her mom will be visiting her and hopefully she'll update us! So please send Putter lots of healing thoughts!

So until next time.............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

The USA Transplant Olympic Games

The Transplant Olympic games are in Pittsburgh, PA this year and our dad is going! This will be the second time he has attended the games. Two years ago they were in Louisville, Kentucky! Hoomans who have had transplants (kidney, heart, lung, bone marrow, liver, etc) and donor families attend these games. Mom has never been to them and the last time in 2006 our sissy went with dad and she said that it was AWESOME!!! Two years ago our dad won the bronze medal in the discus event!

Mitch has dad's medal on and I'm modeling this years t-shirt with the logo for Team Connecticut on it! It's a lighthouse!

Our dad is participating in 3 swimming events, the discus and the shot put! This is the discus! We're not sure how much it weighs but 2 years ago dad threw it 75.3 feet so we're hoping that he tosses it even farther this year! Maybe dad can give Mitch a few pointers and he can throw it for Lenny's paw-limpics!

Dad would have never won this medal if it wasn't for Coach DaveyDo! He made the hour trip down to train with dad every single week! Dad's coach is a true friend and a great trainer! Dad's gonna make you proud, Coach DaveyDo! We wish you could have gone to the games with him but we know you'll be with him in spirit!

This is the shot put. I think dad said that it weighs 12 pounds! Doesn't it look like a fun ball to play with? It's VERY heavy! Can we add this event too, Lenny?!

The transplant games have an opening and closing ceremony just like the olympic games that we're all familiar with! The opening ceremony is today and then it's - let the games begin!

One of the fun things that the team members do is exchange pins. The object is to try and get as many pins as you can from each state that's represented at the transplant games! This years' pin is the blue one right over where it says Team Connecticut on the cap. It's a blinkie pin and when you turn it on the lighthouse flashes like the real thing! It's very cool! Last years pin is under the Team Connecticut. It's a long covered bridge that's located in the town of Cornwall (about an hour from us).

Wednesday morning we dropped dad off at the Aireport. He left a bit early to visit with friends in the area. The Games start today and dad has swimming events on Sunday and his field events on Monday. He wasn't home for my birthday but he had already taken us out to the Glenwood for burgers and hotdogs and fries and onion rings and we had ice cream a couple of times before he left so dad has already treated us pretty darn good for our birthday, right, mom?!

Dad called last night to let us know that his hotel overlooks the football field where the Pittsburgh Steelers play! Too bad football season is still a couple of months away!

If we get any updates from Pittsburgh, we'll let you all know how dad is doing at his events!

So until next time..........

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

My birthday continues..............

My birthday is still in full swing!!

Check out the cards that I got! This one is from Kirby! I look like such a porkchop stuffing my mouth with pizza! hehehe

This one is from Butchy and Snickers! It's making us sooo anxious to go on our vacation to Nantucket at the end of August!

This one is from Rocky and his mom, Claudette! I'm very proud that I'm a Red Hatter! It doesn't bother me one bit that I'm 10! Mom says I get sweeter and sweeter as I get older! Thanks mom!
And this card is from my WFT buddy, Jackson! I'll share dindin with you anytime! The table looks lovely!

Thank you so much for my birthday cards, guys! I love them all!

Mom didn't disappoint us last night! We had birthday ice cream cones! yummmmmm

Don't sit back and be polite, Mitch! I'm goin' in again!

Told ya! Down the hatch!

Our friend, Blue tagged us for this game. She's a radio fan & BBC Radio 4, has a looooooooooooong standing programme called 'Dessert Island Discs'. To those of you, not familiar with this long running programme, says Blue, the concept's simple. The presenter has a fresh celebrity guest each week, who's given the scenario of being stranded on a desert island & then asked to choose the 8 records they would have to take with them. He/She then has to save just one from being swept away by the waves, select a book to take - the Bible & Complete Works of Shakespeare are a given; & a luxury item, which must be inanimate. We get to hear the music & their reasons for choosing the tracks.

Seeing as we don't really have records that we listen to in particular, we listen to mom's choices and they're just fine with us! Her EIGHT record choices are:-

1. Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake - you're on an island - why not!

2. Bach's Orchestral Suites - we find classical music very soothing. We might need this after a hard day of hut building, don't you think?!

3. Gustave Mahler's Resurrection Symphony - we need to attend mass on Sunday, right?!

4. Saint Saen's Symphony #3 (Organ Symphony) - if we're stuck on this Island for longer than a week, we'll need choices!

5. Dire Straits Alchemy - we've got to have some fun after all that classical music! It stimulates the blood!

6. Phil Collins But Seriously - mom needs an album to hug tight. Phil is her dream man!

7. Soundtrack from Dirty Dancing - after working hard all day we'll need to dance and let our hair down!

8. Garth Brooks Greatest Hits - The Dance -sweet memories to dream about at night!


My Book - The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans - it only takes about 2-3 hours to read this entire book! It's a winner and a must-read!

My Luxury - Mom says no way could she forget to pack our beds - one for each of us! Thanks, mom!

NOW, who do we tag?

Gussie and his mom, Putter and her mom, and Lenny and his mom! We realize that you are the birthday boy, Lenny so we'll be most patient! Have fun with it!

So until next time................

Love ya lots,

Maggie & Mitch