Going Gluten Free . . . AGAIN!

About four years ago, Mommy seemed to be constantly sick.  She'd go to the doctor, get medicine, get better, get sick again with the same issues.  The doctor finally sent her for allergy testing, and we discovered Mommy had suddenly developed all sorts of food allergies.  When we moved to our current location, Mommy decided to relax her wheat and dairy free diet for reasons unknown to her.  She didn't seem to have any problems here, so she's been eating whatever she wanted for two and a half years. 

This past fall, she started noticing that she couldn't seem to get rid of her cough and congestion.  She finally decided after the Christmas holidays that she needed to go wheat and dairy free again to see if her issues would go away.  (This seems to be working, although she hasn't resorted to the nasty dairy free cheese yet!)

A few Saturdays ago, Mommy made gluten free pancakes.  If you have a Trader Joe's near you, this mix is amazing!  We don't have a TJ near us, so this mix is compliments of our Aunt Holly.  Pancakes are Mommy's FAVORITE breakfast food and we don't disagree!

We waited patiently as Mommy made these yummy treats!

Mommy always saves the last ones for us (or the ones that get a little darker than she likes them!).

It's too bad we don't get the butter and syrup that Mommy loads onto hers!

This GF diet seems to be helping Mommy's congestion.  That's too bad . . . she likes eating normal foods!  We're enjoying this new, no bread routine . . . that hamburger bun has our names written all over it!

Waiting for the cookie to crumble our way,
Dixie, Jenna & Ruger

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy

Valentine's

Day!

We hope you have a pawsome day!

Be sure to give someone you love a big, sloppy, wet kiss!

9We really are happier than we look here!  Concentrating on those treats in Mommy's hands!)

Wags & Kisses!

Dixie, Jenna and Ruger

Update on Jenna

As we told you last week, Jenna had surgery on her left knee on Wednesday.  The poor girl is such a foodie.  It was ruff for her to go without a meal the morning of surgery.  I felt bad for her, but Dixie didn't!

Jenna is a good car rider, but she wasn't sure about the destination until Mommy pulled into the parking lot.  She got a bit whiny at that point. 

She stayed two nights in the hospital.  The first time she had this surgery, the vet kept her a whole week!  Don't tell Jenna, but Mommy was hoping for the same thing this time.  It's less stressful for Mommy when someone else is taking care of the patient! 

The night before Jenna came home, Mommy moved Jenna's crate into the main part of the living room so Jenna would have prime viewing of all the activity going on around her.  I decided to check it out and make sure Jenna would approve.

This new location is lab tested and lab approved! 

When Jenna came home, we both gave her a whole lotta love!  Sniffs all around!  

Lucky for us, Mommy picked up Valentine's treats for all three of us at the Barkery while picking up Jenna.  Jenna says these cookies are good, but they don't make up for the pain and suffering she's going through!

Jenna got to wear her own Valentine's bandana once she was back home.  She said she felt like she was in her very own kissing booth!  She has to stay in her crate for most of the the next few weeks, especially when our parents aren't home.  It's going to be tuff!

Jenna will probably kill me for showing you this, but here's how she looks half naked!  Poor girl looks pitiful with her leg shaved.  Mommy keeps reminding Jenna (and herself) that this too shall pass.  It's only hair; it will grow back!

We'll keep you updated on Jenna's progress.  She returns on the 25th to have her stitches removed.  

Please keep your paws crossed that there are no issues before then!

Dutiful Little Brother, 

Ruger

Prayer Request Please

Our Jenna is having surgery tomorrow.  She needs her left hind leg operated on.  It's her knee again.  Two years ago in May, she had her right knee operated on.  This is the equivalent of a person having his ACL repaired.  In dawgs, once a knee has had this operation, there's a fifty percent chance the other knee will be operated on too!  At our house, this percentage climbs to 100!  Our big brother, Hunter, had both legs operated on; the second was almost a year to the day exactly! 

We'd appreciate you keeping our vet, Dr. Clary, in your prayers as his skilled hands perform this needed surgery.  We think he's a fabulous man and he's the same vet who performed Jenna's first surgery.  Please keep Jenna in your prayers that she does well and is patient in her recovery while at the vet (about a week).  Pray that Mommy and Daddy are calm during this time period too.  The recovery period is about eight weeks!  That's a LOOOOOOOONG time in dawg years!!

Mommy's mantra "This too shall pass" is about to make a comeback!  On the bright side, this surgery is taking place in the winter instead of the kick off week to summer.  Trying to look for a silver lining here . . .

Crossing our paws for our sister,
Dixie and Ruger

Revenge of the Smoke Detectors

A couple years ago we posted about our smoke detectors going NUTS!  It happened again during the holidays.  Mommy came home to chaos as Daddy tried to determine which smoke detector's batteries were going dead.  She found me and my sister in the laundry room.  Dixie was desperately trying to make her escape.  I was just keeping Dixie company until Mommy could provide the comforting Dixie needed. 

We stayed in there until Daddy made the terrible noise stop.  The next day when Mommy got out of the shower, she couldn't find us and started looking around the house.  Once again, she found us in the laundry room! 

Another smoke detector was beeping to let us know it wasn't long for this world.  As Mommy started trying to figure out its location, Ruger disappeared.  Can you spot him??

Ruger didn't seem to be bothered by the noise the night before, but he sure was this time.  Maybe because Daddy wasn't home??  He tried to hide out in the bathroom behind the door. 

It took Mommy several tries before the noises stopped.  Actually, they'd stop for a minute or five . . . long enough for Mommy to contemplate putting the ladder away and then they'd start again!

Thankfully, we haven't had any issues with the annoying beeping life saving machines since January.  Crossing our paws we don't have to hear them again any time soon!

Jenna

Mad for Plaid

This may or  may not be our last throwback to the holiday season of 2018 . . . .

While enjoying the snow we had at the start of December, we had not only one photo session, but TWO!?!?! (Are you rolling your eyes?  You should be!)   We looked terrific in our flannel snowman bandanas and then Mommy switched them out to this plaid pattern.  She just knew it would look fabulous against the white snow.  She was right, of course, but that didn't make this photo session any more exciting.

The red plaid looks stunning against the white snow . . . 

Jenna's sugar face also coordinates quite well, don't ya think?

By the time Mommy switched these bandanas out, Dixie had had enough fashion fun!

She wasn't ready to cooperate.

And Ruger, our sweet milk chocolate, looked especially labradorable with the snow on (and in) his nose!

We hope you're mad for plaid too!
Dixie, Jenna & Ruger

Which List Were You On?

Which list were you on?  You know which list we're talking about.  Santa keeps that list all year long and probably makes frequent changes throughout the year.  Naturally, we made the Good List.  Mommy ordered these bandanas from Charley Southern to show everyone how good we are!

Really?  Was there any doubt as to Dixie's goodness????  Labsolutely not!

Jenna is definitely Santa's little helper . . . Santa delivers the presents and Jenna eats the cookies!

And the baby of the family is definitely one dapper dude just like his bandana proclaims!

We know Christmas is long over, but we're still living large from our wonderful holiday!  We hope you are too!

Dixie, Jenna & Ruger

A Little Elf Help

Do you have an Elf on the Shelf?  Our nieces and nephews do, but we don't.  We guess Santa doesn't need to keep an eye on us because we're so pawfect!  But Santa did contact us this past December to see if we'd help him out.  He asked that we dress like elves and help spy on some of the neighborhood kiddos.  We were happy to do this small deed for him.  You can see it on our faces!  Hopefully, no one recognized us in these disguises . . . .

Ruger 

 Jenna

 Dixie

Although considered to be a good girl by most, Dixie had the hardest time keeping her disguise on!

We can't wait to be of service to Santa Claus again next year!
Dixie, Jenna & Ruger

Snow Much Fun

In the three winters we've lived where we are now, we've only seen snow flurries a couple times and only once did they stick . . . for about thirty minutes.  This is a BIG difference from where we lived prior to this location.  Being a teacher, Mommy is a HUGE fan of snow days, but fears she'll never experience another one!

Late on Friday, December 7th, the snow started falling in huge flakes!  Ruger had only seen tee tiny snowflakes up until this point in his young life, so naturally he did what any snow newbie would do: he BARKED at it!  He wasn't sure what that white stuff was falling from the sky.  We northern natives knew exactly what to do . . . wait to see if it was going to stick!  And boy, did it stick!  Mommy was totally surprised when we went out the next morning at 6AM and we had several inches already.  It continued to snow most of Saturday morning and we wound up with almost EIGHT inches of snow!  Usually, Mommy thinks snow on a Saturday is a waste of a snow day, but she's so desperate for snow, she'll take it anytime!  And it did result in a two hour delay Monday morning!  Yippee!

Naturally, Mommy saw this snow day as a photo opportunity!  We had recently ordered flannel bandanas from one of our favorite Etsy shops L and E Boutique, but thought for sure we wouldn't need to wear them until the new year.  Mommy broke out the new bandanas because they have snowflakes on one side and snowmen on the other.  We looked great in them!

 Jenna

 Dixie

Ruger

We had snoooooow much fun playing outside!  Ruger especially since this was his first big snow!  He ran around like a mad man while we just stood and watched him.

You can see how excited he was by the grin on his face below!

Mommy enjoyed playing in the snow too!  She said she thought she might cry from the excitement of breaking out her snow boots again!

Once we came inside, we all crashed!

We're hoping this won't be our last snow of  the winter, but chances are it is!

Dixie & Jenna