MY Obedience Class

Hi everyone.  It's me, Mitch!
Guess where mom and dad were yesterday morning? 
At MY obedience class without ME!  Can you even believe it?  Mom and dad already know how to sit and do a down stay. 
I'm the one who needs the training so why wasn't I invited to go?

Mom explained to me that the first session was only for the hoomans because they had lots of paperwork to fill out and it was a whole lot of information to take in. 
They came back with homework!

And we've been doing our homework!

Mom has been training me to focus on her and to have eye contact with her.  She puts me in a sit and grabs a treat.  She extends her right arm out to the side with the treat in her hand.  Naturally, I focus on the treat just willing it to come to my drooling black lips.    But it never does because the object of this game is for me to have eye contact with mom and once I do, I get a "yessssssssssss" and the treat is mine all mine!  We do this trick 10 times in one session and I'm getting better about not taking so long before I focus on mom's eyes!

Mom says we have to do homework every single day until my class, which starts for me on the 27th of this month.  I want to ace this class!

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

Yer friend,
Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - A New Purse Project

Hi everyone.  It's me, Autumn!
Mom has to have a project going every single night or she'll fall asleep before 7 PM and seeing as she loves to knit, she decided that another purse might be fun.
She decided on this pattern.  Mom has a whole trunk-full of wool that she really wants to use up so she doesn't feel guilty when she goes out and buys more.

 It's coming along nicely. 
What do you think, Maggie?

 We'll make sure we post a picture when it's all done!

The spring flowers are finally blooming! 

See you all next Wednesday.

Love,
Autumn

Guess Who's Home

We gave our dad the best welcome home ever!

All of dad's tests came back negative so the doctors gave him his walking papers. 
Our paws are crossed that he gets stronger and stronger each day and never has to go back to the hospital ever again!
We are sooooooooooooo happy that you're home, dad!
We sure did miss you!

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers and crossed paws. It worked!

Life is good~~~

Love ya lots and lots,
Maggie and Mitch

How We Got Our Names

Our friend, Reilly is having a contest on his blog.  His mom makes the most beautiful cards and her cards are a part of the give-away!
If you want to be entered in his contest, all you have to do is to tell him and everyone else the story of how you got your name. 

My dad named me.  He likes the name Maggie. Me too! 
Mom wanted to name me Winnie and dad didn't really like that name very much.  And of course when we got registration papers from the AKC, they ask you to think of unique names and dad is very good at coming up with made-up names!  

So my registered name is Maggapee BriddleBritt!

Mom had Mitch's name picked out for him years before we ever got him.  When I was seeing a groomer, way back when I was a very young girl,  one of the groomers told mom that they clip another Airedale and that his name was Mitch.  Mom instantly thought - what a perfect name for an Aireboy!  It's was the goatee thingie.

Mitch came to us with the name Ruger.  ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Mom instantly knew that this name would never work. He was going to be a Mitch no matter what!

Mitch wears his name and his goatee proudly, just as Mitch Miller did!

 Dad update~~~
Our dad has had more blood stolen from him than you can possibly imagine and so far all his tests are coming back negative.    Yesterday, he had this crazy test where he swallowed a camera.  HUH?  I wonder how that tasted!  
This is got us thinkin'........what a clever way to get rid of that PIA flashie beast that's always in our faces at the most inconvenient times, right?  Our hoomans will never suspect what happened to it! 

Thank you so much again and again for keeping your paws crossed and for keeping our dad in your thoughts and prayers.  You can't imagine how much better mom and dad feel knowing that you are all behind us and rooting for us!  Thank you!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - Pressies from Aunt Lydia

Hi everyone!  It's us, Autumn and Francesca!

Maggie and Mitch weren't the only ones that received pressies from Aunt Lydia and Dave and angel Alice.
We did too!

 Check out my new bandana!  Beautiful hankies make the softest most beautiful scarves~~

Aunt Lydia is one of the members of the Airedale quilting bee - the same quilting bee that our mom is a part of.   Mom has just started to read this wonderful book and can't wait to get to the next chapter.  What a sweet gift!

 And check out my new scarf that I'm pretty sure Aunt Lydia made!  Does it remind you of a vanilla and chocolate and strawberry swirl ice cream cone?  It matches my Easter bunny ears perfectly.  I love it!
And can you see this awesome wheelie card?  It's an Ann Curran creation!
This card is a keeper!

Thank you so very much for our wonderful gifts, Aunt Lydia and Dave and angel Alice.  You guys are the sweetest friends ever!

We want to thank you all so very much for all of your thoughts and prayers and well wishes and crossed paws for our dad.  It means so much to us!  Thank you!

Se you all next Wednesday.

Love,

Autumn and Francesca

Our Dad

Remember a couple of months ago when we posted about picking our dad up at the hospital?  We were so happy to have him home with us!

Our dad has still not recovered from that stay and he is not even close to being 100% - he's actually very far from it.    To make a long story much shorter,  he has fluid retention and it's not going away.  He's had test after test after test and the tests are still ongoing.  One of his immunosuppressant drugs is thought to be the cause.  Dad has been off this drug for 6 weeks already but the effects of it in his system are long-lasting - like MONTHS! 

His body is also not absorbing protein and this is a huge concern to everyone, most of all to mom and dad who have been trying so very hard to right this wrong and the doctors are working very hard to discover the cause. 

Our dad is once again in the hospital and he is not coming home until answers are found so that he can be back on his road to recovery.    Could you all please keep our dad in your thoughts and prayers?  We know just how incredibly powerful the Power of the Paw is!

We sure do miss our dad. 

Thank you so much, guys.

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

A Pressie from Aunt Lydia

We got a suprise package in the mail from Aunt Lydia, who is also known as the Airedale cookie lady!  Aunt Lydia is owned by Airedale Dave and his sweet sissy was Alice, who crossed the Rainbow Bridge just recently.  She was a VERY special and beautiful girl.

That's Dave drooling all over the cookies and Alice is to his left. 
Aunt Lydia sent mom and dad a chocolate bottle of champagne to celebrate their anniversary. Wasn't that super sweet!

 OMG, this box is LOADED, Maggie!  I think we hit the jackpot!

 Mom's favorite color combination - purple and orange!  Can we open it?

 How does the orange bow look on me, Mitch?

You're going to share these yummies with us, mom, right?

 Dave sent toys for both of us.
Mom gave me mine first and she repeatedly told Mitch that, "This one is for Maggie!"
You can see how determined he is to swipe it and run with it!

 Dave sent Mitch a crocodile!     You couldn't have made a more perfect choice, Dave!  hehehe

 OMG, the FAMOUS cookies that only Aunt Lydia makes!

 These are cheesey pizza cookies!  Are you serious?  Hurry up and open them up, mom!

 And these are bacon and potato bones!

 Bless you, mom!  We thought we were going to keel over from the wonderful smells coming out of these baggies~~

Thank you so much Lydia, Dave and angel Alice!  How very thoughtful!
You sure did make our day!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

This Is No Joke

Look what our mom posted on facebook!

OMG, we are mortified!
What will everyone think?

Happy April Fools Day!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - Baked Macaroni

Hi everyone. It's me, Autumn!
Did you know that our buddy, Oskar is looking for doggie treat recipes or soup recipes or casserole recipes for a cookbook that will be a fundraiser for pets in need. 

Mom and I made baked macaroni for company this past weekend so that we could snap pictures of the finished product and submit our recipe.   Our names get mentioned in the cookbook and a link to our blog will be posted too!

This is the cheese sauce warming up.

 It goes over pasta~~

 And gets baked in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes.    It's ready for the oven, mom!

 And this is the end result.  yummmmmm
Everyone who eats this at our house wants the recipe. 

We don't want to give the recipe away.  You'll have to read it in Oskar's cookbook!

See you all next Wednesday.

Love,
Autumn

Tacit Tuesday

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

The Bestest Helper Ever

I'm helping mom make rice pie!  Rice pie is a traditional Italian dessert served at Easter but our Nonna used to make it all the time and mom wanted to make it seeing as we had company for dindin.

It's the most simple recipe ever.  It doesn't have a crust.  You just stir everything together in a bowl and pour it into a greased pan, bake it and you have the most wonderful dessert!

The first thing you do is place 1 pound of ricotta into a bowl and stir in 3/4 cup of sugar.  Ricotta is on my kidney diet so I get to have some!

You forgot to flip my ear back for me, mom!

 Next you stir in 4 eggs until this mixture is well blended. 

Add just under 1 cup of milk.

Then add 1 cup of rice that has already been cooked.  We use the long-grained rice that takes 20 minutes to cook on top of the stove. 

 Now it's time to spice it up a bit. 
Mom added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1/4 teaspoon of rum extract, a couple of shakes of cinnamon, a shake of orange peel and a shake of cardamom.

 Mix well and pour into a greased 8" pyrex dish or a 9" pie dish.
Now it's time to taste-test and make sure it's perfect!
Yup, perfect every time. It's impossible to mess up on this dessert.  It just doesn't happen!

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

Enjoy it if you make it!

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

Love ya lots,
Maggie