Greetings

Baxter here!  well, it took mom a year to do it, but she finally made my envelope on the Christmas door hanger.

she said it was just so hard letting go of Butterz, and i understand that.  but she said, it wasn't fair to handsome boy like me & it was time to let Santa know i was in the house!

she made a new "cover" & sewed it over Butterz original "envelope" so she still has a little piece of all of us at Christmas time!

A very Boxer Christmas

we wanted to do a quick post instead of a tweet to show you what we got for Christmas this year.  we were very good indeed!  Baxter even pretended to be an Elf & watched over paw while he slept on Christmas Day.

guess they never did catch Santa in the act.  anywho, we got a brand new Screaming Monkey from Santa

and here we are sharing it like good boxers do

mom is so proud of our manners you know.  and Sarvers (that's the nice people that house & dog sit when ma & paw are adventuring) gave us 2 new toys

that's Screaming Monkey in the middle after Baxter had chewed the tail off!  and in case you're wondering what a Sceaming Monkey is, check this out

we got some other cool stuff like treats & kongs filled with goodies. we were spoiled rotten. hope all our boxers friends were just as spoiled!

Santa's Helpers

yes, it's a bit early to post anything Christmas related. i mean we haven't even gotten to Turkey day yet!  but mom was asked to photog a fundraiser for The A.R.K. Animal Shelter yesterday & we had sit in for the warm-up!  you know how self-critical mom can be so she wants you to know, she doesn't think some of these are very good, but she got better as the day went on.  most importantly, she learned a lot just in 3+ hours of shooting so she's looking forward to more practice!
Here we are making Santa look good

And here is miss Donna who organized the event.  that's Jordan on the left who we baby sit when ma & paw are gone & his dad Barry

the Westies were a crowd favorite. they came straight from the groomers to get their picture taken

mom loved this yellow lab & his friend. she said it only took 1 shot to get their photo. not everyone was so easy.

and then there was Hank (we called him Hank the Tank).  a 2 year old chocolate lab that weighs 120lbs & still growing.

The Ark had some of their own kids who are up for adoption at the event & this Yorkie pair was pretty popular too!

mom wanted to make sure everyone remembers that The A.R.K. has more than just us woof-types.  here is 1 of 2 cats that came to see if they could find a furever home too!

and we couldn't leave out a success story!  here is Sally who was adopted from The A.R.K. a few years ago by a wonderful hooman!  Miss Sally was just the sweetest little thing!

big thanks to Miss Tisha for helping ma keep everything moving, but not too fast!  and TONS of wags & wiggles to Donna & all the girls at Hair Masters Unlimited in Chillicothe for holding this event. they raised a bunch of money for all our furry friends to find their furever home one day!  woof woof!

i can haz ur pc

computer genius

Cookie says hello

a typical greeting from Cookie when you walk in the door (press play)

Waiting

for paw to come back from his kayak ride this morning so i can have mine!

Happy Fall!

Baxter here!  Cookie decided to take the day off & rest that back leg a little more. it's still giving her a little trouble so she said i could step in for her especially since this post really is all about me! last Friday mom decided after Cookie's weekly Therapy Dog visit to the nursing home, to treat me with a outing of my own. we went to check out the Fall colors at Robinson Park.  boy did we have fun. mom actually wore me out...i let her think that.
here i am checking out the colors at my level

and here's mom checking them out at her level & above.

Happy 10th Miss Cookie!

Happy 10th Birthday BigBusiness!  still lookin good!

Cookie's Cookies

well, they are really for me & Baxter but look what mom made us last night!

yep! that's right! mom baked! i don't think she's ever even baked anything for paw. and no these are not funny cookies. they are oat bran flour, brown rice flour & peanut butter.  topped with melted white chocolate chips.  did you know that white chocolate is safe for dogs? we didn't either.  anywho, she baked them in hopes that Baxter will like them enough to pay attention during tonight's class.  yep, mom is going to give it another try & hope this week is better than last - it's not Baxter she is worried about btw! so thanks for the baking mom!

boxer therapy

mom is an idiot! if boxer's used foul language, now would be the time. back in June, me & maw headed up to Naperville so i could take my Therapy Dog International exam.  and looky here

we have our first official visit this Friday to a local nursing home. So excited.  now all the Advanced degrees are held by the chicks in this house!  paw & Baxter have some catching up to do.

a boy & his boxer

Custom Made

well isn't mom crafty!  she had been planning this one for some time, but like always, her execution takes a while. so Baxter decided, like the lamp shades, he didn't care for the chaise cushions too much.  he decided to do a little alteration job on one of them.  mom said no biggie cuz they were super old & really needed replacing anyway.  but mom hates to waste anything that can be re-purposed.  now she's not a Crafty Cathy, but she has read enough to teach herself some basic sewing skillz.  and here's her latest effort!

not bad huh?  she cut away the larger, middle section of the chaise cushion.  you know how they have about 4 sections to them?  well, she figured we could use the bigger section for our own outdoor cushions.  and what fabric would be perfect for outdoors?  what fabric could you wash time and time again?  yep! TOWELS!  truth be told, the cover is yet another old project re-purposed.  it was supposed to be 4 towels sewn together for one side, then an old bed sheet sewn on the other side to make a big blanket for the beach.  well, she never really liked the way the 4 towels sewn together turned out so she never bothered with the sheet - she has confidence issues people!  but she held on to the 4 towel creation.  out of nowhere, today, she decided to do something about it!  she taught herself how to sew in a zipper and BAM!  we have a new cover for our cushion.  she likes it so much, she's gonna make another one....one day!
and since it is Baxter's "birthday" guess he gets the first one!  and what a model huh?

Bike Hacks!

courtesy of Bike Hacks:



we want one too!

Certifiable

i did it! ma took me up to Naperville, & i got myself Therapy Dog Certified. we'll post a pic when i get my badge & goodies. so check me out with my advanced degree!

Buoy Hunters

Baxters first time out helping me & paw collect buoys.

going with the flow

me & ma took Baxter out for his first romp in the tall grasses last week. we think he enjoyed it. what do you think?

and of course, i had to show him the ropes!

you have to excuse the fuzzies. mom took the pics with her phone & it's hard to get us boxers to sit still.

Ultimate Dog Tease

Noodley Appendage

long over due

mom has been meaning to post these since they arrived shortly after the first of the year. with Miss Marley's passing, she finally got the guts to do it. losing Butterz has been awfully hard on us all.

we can't thank Kristen at Dog House Pet Portraits enough for them. she captured Butterz perfectly.  it was the perfect way to remember him!  originally mom was going to put them in the bedroom, but we've decided they will look better when the kitchen/dining remodel is done.  our builder is gonna change the design of a particular wall just for these. and people say we're spoiled. woof!

oh, for those that haven't met us in person, that's me (Cookie) on the left & Butterz on the right. mom says she'll be ordering one of Baxter some time this year too!

Devine Design

i took it upon myself to do a little redecorating while ma & paw were in Crested Butte.

there, that's much better!

Vittles

Ma gets everything ready for us before they leave

Chillin

Taking it easy after our morning workout in the snow. Cookie slipped on some ice so I'm helping her relax & recoup.

much belated holiday wishes

as always, mom meant to post this much sooner.  well, better late than never we guess!