Hope everybody had a great Christmas

Christmas Bagels?

Mom got a new toy for Christmas. 

She's been wanting one of these forever, 

so her and dad splurged as a gift to each other. 

First project:: BAGELS!

Mom has one every morning for breakfast. 

First they mixed.

Then they shaped. They've got to work on shaping. 

These look crazy. 

On to boiling. That makes the bagel chewy, 

and the ONLY way to make bagels.

Getting ready to bake.

Arnie and I helped during the whole process. 

They wouldn't have tasted so good without our help.

Yup, those are snowmen towels on the stove.

Those suckers are everywhere.

Rotating during baking. 

Definitely gotta work on getting more consistent cranberries.

Coming out of the oven. 

Hurry up - I need a bagel!!!!

There they are, cooling off.

Finally, we can taste test.

Nom, nom, nom - the Arnie/Gracie stamp of approval.

Wordless Wednesday

Not just snowmen around here

Thanks to all my buddies that pointed out that the snowmen are watching me. I never really notice stuff like that, but now that you mention it, their eyes DO move! I'll be keeping watch, for sure.

We don't have other "eyes" at Christmas time, so I'll be watching them, too. Here's a few of them:

This guy has a place of honor in the cabinet



This guy looks a little shady. I'm not letting the cute hat fool me.



Mom's pug angel, that goes at the top of our tree every year. I think she's wishing it will mean we'll be angels next year. HA!



This is a new guy this year. Not just the eyes creeping me out on him. What's up with the hat?



This one says "Levi" at the bottom. Must be an old one, since Levi's ancient.



Another one to watch out for. Transparent = ghost, I'm thinking.



Gold plated - that's MY kind of pug.



Two for one, on this picture.



OK, this one has always given me the creeps. A dress? Really?



We've got Boxers watching us, too.



We've even got eyes on our stockings. I hope Santa doesn't get scared and go back up the chimney.

Fun Fact Friday

My mom has a thing for snowmen.

It started with a senior hospice pug named Frosty.

Now we have hanging snowmen

More hanging snowmen

Snowmen on our stockings

Snowmen that hold our cards

Cowboy snowmen that we got a long time

before we even moved to Texas

A cabinet full of snowmen.

The wine glasses go into boxes and snowmen take over

Snowmen on our tree

Snowmen on the window above the sink

Snowmen EVERYWHERE!

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Posing

Mom dragged the camera out this weekend,

so Arnie and I were the models.

I was not impressed.

Arnie on the other hand, ate it up.

Here's me, looking glamorous

Arnie, looking worried, as usual

Always ready for my closeup

This idea didn't work at all.....

Fun Fact Friday

Besides creating artwork for her CafePress Shop, mom also LOVES doing stained glass pieces. She's so excited because our new house has lots of windows to hang her stained glass in.

This is a piece she donated to help raise money for agility at the Pug Nationals in 2005.

Saving some cash at Christmas

Mom has a shop at CafePress.com/pugbox. She has some cool designs there.

Right now, there are a few sales going on,

but in order to take part in the discounts,

you have to order a certain way.

Take up to 30% off all t-shirts

(no code needed - discount is applied at checkout)

and

Save 20% on all products

(except for Flip products, SIGG bottles and bulk orders

(enter NOEL 20 at checkout)

BUT - here's how you have to order your products:

1. you must enter through www.cafepress.com

2. search for the item you want

3. checkout

The key is in #2 - you CAN'T order while in her shop (cafepress.com/pugbox). You MUST order from the marketplace. But if you enter the specific item in the search box, it will go right there. You can go to her shop, find your item, then go back out to cafepress.com, and search from there.

Mom's all about saving money, so she likes to share saving tips when she can.

If you have any questions, email her at ringwise@sbcglobal.net and she can help you out.

Turkey Day Part Two

After we got back from the dog park, the excitement wasn't over.

Mom dragged out our tunnel, set up the jumps,

and showed Suki how to do agility.

Here she is after the first jump, heading for the tunnel.

Out of the tunnel, waiting for her next instructions.

Over the jump, heading for the finish line. And a well-earned treat!

Suki's mom says she's going to find a class for Suki,

so they can start training in agility.

She would do awesome! She's fast, focused and bionic.

I love seeing other pugs competing.

I hope I see Suki there soon.

Thankful for Good Friends

We had the most wonderful guests for Thanksgiving Day. Suki and her mom came to visit. After tearing around the house for a bit, we headed to the dog park.

There weren't many dogs there, but we found these two big guys guarding the entrance. Everybody else must be home eating turkey.

We found this guy chasing things into a tree.

Suki gave the alarm - come over and see what's up there!

Hey, get back, dude. That's a kid up there.

All that excitement made us thirsty. Suki went for the water bowl in the shade.

After running around and sniffing for awhile, we were gathered together for a group shot.

Hey, Arnie, are you checking Suki out? Yup, he totally loves her.

Got the shot. Now back to the house for good eats. More pics tomorrow.

And the Winner Is...

Salinger!!!

Thank you to everyone that entered.

And to thank all of you for entering, my mom has decided to send you all a special surprise. It will go to each household, so if you email your names and addresses to mom at ringwise@sbcglobal.net, she'll get that out to you. It will be pug AND Christmas themed, so stay tuned.

Flashback Friday

A picnic at our old house. Dogs are ALWAYS welcome at our house, although there might be a fence to keep us from the barbecue.