More From Last Year - Meteorology 101

Hi everypuppy! It's me - Amber! You've heard my sister and brothers and me mention that I always know if we're going to get snow - or not. My great-sister Jesse had the same gift! Apparently, I'm like her in MANY ways! :)

Stormy asked me to teach Meteorology 101 at the Stormy Zoluschka Kryschtal School of Siberian Studies, so I took Zim under my paw starting a couple years ago and have been trying to teach him.

Here we are at a training session from last year. This is me on the right - with Zim's leash on. (Have I mentioned lately that Mom's color-blind?) See the look on my face? That's my "I smell SNOW" look. See the look on Zimmie's face? That's his "OOhhh, I smell something in the pine tree" look. Hee hee hee!

I had to get his attention.

Zimmie! Get your nose out of the pine tree and pay attention!

That's better. Now... hold your nose just like this ....

Can you smell that? Concentrate! Yes, Zimmie! Yes! That's SNOW!!!!!

He was tired from our lesson ... and a wee bit damp from me having to throw him around from time to time, but he's really catching on! I think I'll make him into a good meteorologist yet!

For the record - and here's the BIG news of the day - when Mom took me out this morning, I told her there's a chance of snow today. Guess what? It's FLURRYING right now!!!! :) I'll try to take a picture and post it soon! I'm so excited!!! Maybe this is the snow C-K-C had!

Have a safe and happy New Year, everypup!

Love,
Amber

PUP-date! Mom just took these pix of me out in the flurries! Can you see it coming down? Or maybe you can kind of see it on the grass? Maybe if you click on a picture, it'll get bigger! But it's flurrying! :) Just like I said it would! Oh, I hope we get tons and tons and tons and goes to Holly's house... and Tubey's and the D'Azuls' and over to Ivy's ... and I hope everypuppy who wants snow gets some this time!!!

Still No Snow

Hi everypuppy! It's me, Amber! Have you seen our very dear friend Holly's blog today? Yep, things have gotten so sad in the Weather Department for Holly that she has resorted to posting a cool video of her and her siblings playing in LAST YEAR'S snow. *sigh* Last year's snow! Where is this year's?!?!?

We don't have any EITHER and I find it all very sad. It's going to be in the 50s here again today, with rain. Just as a comparison, in Archangelsk, Siberia, it's 13 degrees and it's SNOWING. :(

Here's a picture of the four of us from last year - left to right, me, Davy, Storm and Zim. THAT'S what I wish we were doing right NOW!

Here's one of just me. I look very happy and "at home", don't I?

Maybe if enough of us who WANTED snow for Christmas post snowy pictures, Santa will realize he forgot to deliver it (or realize he accidentally sent it to Charlie Kelley Church!) and he'll bring us some late!

Think snow, everypuppy! Think SNOW!

Love,
Amber

Who's Been Here?

Ha roo, pups! Storm here!

Amber told you about our very cool walk we took the other day - up where the Giant's laying out his track and all. We were SURE we were the very first Siberians EVER to walk there! We just HAD to have been - that's how fresh everything is and we really didn't smell anypuppy up there or anything!

Do you know about the legend of "Kilroy" from WWII? There's some cool info at that hyperlink, even if you already know the story. Basically, wherever GIs went, Kilroy always got there first. The cartoon (at right) and words showed up everywhere! As Zim explains it, "this Kilroy left his mark everywhere." Ha roo!

Well... we think we've discovered a modern-day Kilroy! Yep! Up on our walk that Ammy told you about - I saw something VERY interesting and went over to check it out!

Hey roo guys ... check this out! Look who's been here!

Tubey's been here! Ha roo roo roo!

He's the new Kilroy! How did he get to where the Giant lives? He must have borrowed his human's Huskymobile and driven out here. That's pretty amazing!

Hey, Turbo! Next time you're in the area, stop by our house! Ha rooo!

Tail wags,
Stormy

Going Down a New Road

Hi everypuppy! It's me - Amber! Did you see the wonderful toys that Santa brought us? They're so fun and wonderful and really nice to play with and I just LOVE chewing on them!

We also got to go on some wonderful walks on Christmas, which is a GREAT present for Siberian Huskies! We LOVE to walk and walk and walk! And to RUN! We also love SNOW, but Santa didn't bring us any of that.

On one of our walks, we went up by where the Giant left his Tonka Toys and some candy corn laying around. I think he's laying down some track for some Matchbox cars or something.

Here is a picture of me standing in the middle of the track. Mom and Dad seemed all excited, saying it's a new road. Then Stormy said that was cool because we were the very first Siberians in the entire world to walk on it! Ha roooooo!

Me ... boldly going where no Siberian has gone before!

There was a covering on part of the road. Here's Dave checking it out. He said it was a blanket keeping part of the new road warm. That's kinda nice, isn't it?

Tune in tomorrow to see what ELSE we discovered up there! :) I think Tubey might be especially interested!

Have a happy day, everypuppy!
Love,
Amber

Christmas Gifts!

Tail wags, pups! It's me - Stormy!

As you know, the boys tried to wait up for Santa again this year ... and couldn't quite make it. They just wanted to meet him and say "thank roo" and Dave no doubt would have hugged him. Santa's a great guy - and he did leave presents for us!

I found this "package" on Christmas morning - it looked remarkably like a "PetsMart" bag (you'd think Santa would have his elves wrap stuff...), and I knew it would have stuff inside for us! Here I am, checking it out!

Hey! Cool! There's toys in here for all of us!

Thank roo, Santa!

I found a green one and knew it would be for Amber! Here she is (above) posing with it, after a good chew! These are real dinosaur bones, I just know it, or they'd never stand up to Amber's Jaws of Steel!
Then I found a blue one, and asked mom to hand it to Zim.

Oh, COOL! It's blue, like my collar! Thanks, Santa!

Then I saw a really big one! It wasn't purple, Dave's color, but I figured it was for him. It's kind of "Texas-sized", like him!

Wow! That's huge! Thanx, Santa!

Pretty cool, huh!? And guess what else was in there?

Thanks, Santa! Hey mom, let's play!

Yep! A red one - just for ME! That Santa - what a GREAT GUY!

We hope Santa brought you wonderful toys, too! Remember to be good this year - starting now! Ha roo!

Tail wags and a thank roo to Santa from all of us!

Stormy

We Tried!

Play bows, everypup! It's me, Zim! I hope everyone had a wonderful, happy and safe Christmas.

Me and Dave tried real hard to stay up and wait for Santa to arrive at midnight. As we have confessed, in past years, we haven't made it much past 2100 hours.

Here's a picture of me just as I was really starting to fade.

Mom let me borrow her watch so I could keep track of time. Amber called me a "watch dog". Ha roo! Good one, Am!

I thought for sure it was almost time for Santa! I was SO tired! Dave came over to check on the time.

Whatcha think, little guy? It's really late, isn't it? I'm so sleepy .... it's gotta be almost midnight - and that's Santa Time! What's the watch say?

Hmm... in case you can't read it -- it was 2100 hours. A couple minutes past, actually.

We tried. We really wanted to meet Santa ... but we couldn't make it! Maybe next year?

Play bows,
Zim

Merry Christmas 2006

From all of us, to all of you - a very Merry Christmas!

Tail wags, love, play bows and luv,
Stormy, Amber, Zim and Dave

Sunday Salute - Everypuppy!

It's Christmas Eve, and in keeping with the special time of year, our Sunday Salute goes out to everypuppy!

We know you've all been trying your hardest to behave - especially since Santa is watching! Have you been naughty... or nice?

Naughty or nice? Naughty or nice? Ha roo!

We ALL know the answer to that is that pups can't be anything BUT nice! You've been SO good ALL year..... and our wish is that Santa will leave JUST the right presents for you under your tree! To all of our friends out there in Cyberland (and especially Siberland) - may Santa treat you well!

A lot of you know Zim and Dave are going to try to wait up for Santa again this year. They'll be following his travels through the NORAD site doing their best to stay awake. Here's a picture of Dave from yesterday. Mom was trying to get a shot of one of the pillows she made:

Hmm. Maybe he's front-loading some Z-time again. Here's a better picture of the pillow with Stormy:It reads,

"God bless our soldiers night and day,
keep them safe while they're away."

Remember to say a prayer of thanks for those who serve in the military tonight - whether you're fellow Americans, our closest allies from Austrailia or the UK, Canadians, ETC! ..... wherever you live, there is someone out there serving to guard your freedom!

For being good ALL YEAR, we salute all of our fellow pups!

Merry Christmas!
The Army of Four

PS: We hope Santa reads this.... so he knows how GOOD everypuppy's been all year! ...Especially Tubey and Meeshka and the Dachsies and Holly and Marvin and FuFu and Chelsea and T-man (thanks for the paws up about the cappuccino!) and Joe Stains and Ivy and Zach and Pippin and Indy and everypup at D'Azul Siberians and the CyberSibes and Magnum and Opy & Charlie and Maddie & Frankie and Macie & Malechai and Althea and Poseidon and Tin Tin and Butchy & Snickers and Buster and Dakota and ... well, Santa, please just click on our DWB button and see the list of bloggers. We've ALL been good! Honest!

Tracking Santa Claus!

Depending on when you're reading this - and where! - Santa is getting ready to head out on his rounds! You can follow him with this cool link to the good folks at NORAD. Check back in with them as Christmas Eve nears - and you'll be able to follow Santa and see when he'll arrive at your place!

Dave and I are going to try to wait up for him again this year. I hope we make it this time. We haven't made it past 2100 hours yet, as Dave has said.

Our friend FuFu is going to try to find Santa in his FuFuMOBILE. I told him I'm a great navigator and he should take me with him! This Summer, they had road detours to get to the vet hospital and mom had me man the map. She didn't listen to me, though - and we ended up by some horse farms. HA roo! I told her to turn BEFORE the stadium! Mom means well, but she could get lost in a paper bag. A lunch-sized paper bag! Here I am, navigating! (See photo below.)

Mom... you should have turned back there...

I think between my navigating skills and the info from NORAD, we'll find Santa in no time! I just have to beat it back to Kansas before he gets to our house!

Merry Christmas, everypup! Play bows,
Zim

White Christmas

"I'mmmmmmmmmmm dreaming of a whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite Christmas......." Woo, it's me, Dave. One of Mom and Dad's biped friends said, after meeting me and getting to know me a little bit, that I remind her of Dean Martin. She said I'm so laid back like he was and she could just picture me singing my low "woo" with a martini in my hand. Hmm. I'm not sure about what a martini is, but my very sweet friend Frankie has been known to sip Sibe-tinins! Maybe they're like that! And I could picture myself with one of the pretty girls like Frankie or Holly (sigh....) or Chelsea or ... (I better stop before I accidentally leave somepuppy out and hurt somepuppy's feelings!) singing this song! ALL of the DWB girls are so bee-woo-tiful, aren't they, guys?

I do love to sing. Here's one of Mom's favorite pix of me singing. You can almost hear me, can't you? She says I have a very nice singing voice.This next picture (below) is Zim singing. He sings a little higher than I do - and actually before he started his classes at the Stormy Zoluschka Kryschtal School of Siberian Studies, he sounded like a coyote. He still does sometimes. Poor kid - he learned to sing from them while he was out chained to his tree, no doubt. He still sings like that sometimes; other times, he immitates Storms. Woo. I'm pretty sure he was singing "Angels We Have Heard on High" here... but I'm not sure. He does look mighty angelic!

Merry Christmas and luv,
Dave

"Oh, there's no place like Nome for the holidays...."

More DWB Cards, More Christmas Decor

Ha roo, everypup, it's me - Zim! Check out this artsy picture of me and my new friend:
Is he cute or what? The wife of one of Dad's golf buddies saw this little stuffed fella at a store and thought we should have it. How nice is THAT?!!? We aren't really allowed to play with him, or he would end up shredded ... but Mom let me pose for a couple pix with him. This is the best one - Mom did some of her photo magic with it then printed it on a card and wrote a "thank you" note to the nice lady who gave it to us! He's up HIGH on a shelf now. I don't know why.

Speaking of "thank yous"... we'd like to thank the follow pups for the cards they sent at part of the DWB Christmas Card Exchange:

Scuba
Huskee
The Dachsies! (Roxie, Sammy and
Andy)
Boo Boo and Bond
Baby & Boy
Jaffe Boy and Kaylie Girl

Thanks, roo guys!

Here I am by a little gingerbreadman quilt Mom made. It should be mine, don't you think? I posed by it, to drop a hint.

Stormy came in to see what was going on. That's her "My puppy isn't in any trouble, is he?" look. Or maybe more like, "You aren't messing with my puppy, are you?" She watches over us so closely! Pup, I love her!

Here's Dave, by the fireplace.There's another tiny Christmas tree up on the mantle, a tiny pottery Nativity creche Mom and Dad bought in Belgium, and a little wooden thing that goes 'round and 'round when the candles are lit that they bought in Germany. They don't seem to light them much. Something about a much bigger one and Mom catching a palm tree on fire. That sounds pretty COOL to me! Ha roo!

Thanks again to our DWB pals!

Play bows and Merry Christmas!
Zim

The Bunnies Are Gone!

Hi everypuppy, it's me - Amber! Some bipeds thought we might get snow overnight and today, but I lifted my little nose up to the sky yesterday and said, "No. I can smell it and it's going to get close... but none for us!" I'm very disappointed, but yes, I was right. We did get rain, though, which we need very badly! It's 39 degrees and rising out there. In Siberia, it's 25, with a wind-chill of 13. It's not snowing there right now, but it was last time I looked. Just thought you should know.

This doesn't really merit being called a HULA mission, but Mom was trying to take pictures of me the other day and I really don't like to have my picture taken in the house and so I didn't cooperate.

See the picture of me on the right? See how I pinned my ears back? That's me looking as sad as a little girl can look! Mom kept saying, "Please, Ammy! Just let me take your picture by the Santas!" But no! She kept asking and asking, but I wouldn't do it! :)

Stormy caught wind of what was going on and came over to help me. She is really great at taking charge of every situation and being in control. She's GREAT! Here she is, helping me be uncooperative.

OOooh, say, Mom, what's that up there behind you?

As Stormy told Meeshka in our application to the HULA Hoop, she loves to play this game of staring at our mom, then at "something" on the wall behind her. Hee hee hee. Stormy cracks me up!

Here I am, laughing!

So... yes, I guess Mom did get the picture she wanted, but we made her work at it.

And Meeshka ... check out the sitzbank behind me. The stuffed bunnies are gone! :)


Merry Christmas, everypuppy! Love,
Amber

Drill SGT Zim's First HULA Mission

Editor's note: An Audio Codes box playing Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" has been removed for ease of up-loading the page. It was fun when Zim had it up, though. :) If you're reading this for the first time, pretend you can hear it. SZK

Make sure your speakers are on, pups! It's me, Drill SGT Zim, and I have just successfully completed my first mission as a HULA member. Meeshka didn't exactly call the four of us "goody four shoeses", but she seemed skeptical about whether or not we're really as devious, mischievous and destructive as members of the HULA Hoop should be! Well..... Meeshka! Check this out!

You all know how I love cappuccino - though it's sadly on the "Forbidden Foods" list. Yesterday I used my cunning skills to snag myself a taste! First, I camouflaged one of the coffee mugs. It seems that many members of the military have mugs with their names on them - then their unit or a bank logo or something. I found one for the CFC Campaign and figured that would work! Then I added my name while the bipeds were being distracted by the rest of the Ao4 ... and set it by the cappuccino machine.

Sure enough, Dad made some cappuccino in MY cup! And since it's MY cup and has MY name on it........... well.... a couple pix are worth a million licks.

Yeah, Dad... hold it right there!

YEAH! That's what I'M talking about! A successful mission, if ever there was one!

Grab THAT by the neck and shake it around, Meeshka! Ha ROO!

Play bows,
Drill SGT Zim

(Note from the pup's biped: He was only allowed to lick remnants of the milky foam. Shh! Don't tell him!)

We're in the HULA Hoop!

We're in! Tail wags, puppers, it's Stormy!

We're in the HULA Hoop! We got our certificates from Meeshka yesterday - one for each of us! Even Dave. (ha roo roo roo!)


For details on our qualifications, please visit Meeshka's blog from yesterday.

We have proudly added a small representation of our certificate in our sidebar area; we hope our fellow HULA Hoopers will follow suit.
In an email, Meeshka told us,

"Congratulations (although I have higher expectations of you four of doing MUCH MORE), you have been inducted in the HULA Hoop. Please print out 4 copies, one for each of you, and I better see a picture of Dave ripping his certificate apart... he still makes me wonder."

Meeshka, I've been wondering about Dave since he GOT here! :) But I like him. I can't help it. I'll see what I can do about pix of him destroying something!

As I told Meeshka about Dave's rather unusual-for-a-Sibe personality, "...he's a LABRADOR wearing a Siberian costume!" During his last Senior Care Exam, Mom actually ran that theory by the new vet Dave had - while he was falling asleep as they took his blood pressure. (eye roll) He's SO laid back! As I told Meeshka, "She (the vet) said he was more like a Great Dane. Dave got all excited, thinking she said he was a 'Great Dave'." Puh-lease! He is a heck of a nice guy, though.

In the spirit of our induction into the HULA, I thought I'd treat you to one of my favoritie pictures of me - it's from a couple years ago.

Ha roo!

THANK ROO, Meeshka! We hope to make you proud!

Tail wags and Merry Christmas!
Stormy

Sunday Salute - Bryn and Maui!

This week's Sunday Salute goes out to our friends Bryn and Maui!

Bryn (above) and Maui (below). Stop staring at the kitty, roo guys!

Bryn and Maui live in Florida, near Orlando and were both recently adopted from the SPCA!
Bryn (above) on Adoption Day - with her new mom!

Bryn is a Yellow Labrador and told us, “I was born April 14, 2005 and my birthstone is a diamond which Mom says makes me a gem. My long red eyelashes make my Mom smile and I can turn on the puppy eyes to make Dad reach for the cooky jar anytime I want.” See? Someone else who knows how to do The Sad Eyes! Ha roo! She went on to tell us, “The man who grew me up was older and needed to have an operation and there was no one to take care of me so he took me to these great people at the SPCA and they found me a family! I've got a Mom and a Dad and they have these smaller people they call ‘Treasures’.”

Here she is (above) with one of those Treasures, Nick! She said, “Can you imagine - a boy of my very own! … we just love each other so much. He takes me for walks and plays in the yard with me (it's all fenced in so I'm safe) and I sleep next to his bed and take care of him all night long whenever he visits.” Note to Captain Maverick, the Pirate: Harr! There seems to be some great treasure in Florida!

About Nick, Bryn told us, “A dog just couldn't ask for more.......the perfect size to play with, never gets tired of giving tummy-rubs.” Woooo!

Bryn sent us this picture (at left), with the note, “You know how they say some people and pets look alike? This is my Dad. He makes me smile.” Yes! We can see the resemblance!

The day after Bryn was adopted, they went back to the SPCA and brought Maui home! Bryn said, “She had to stay the extra day to be 'spayed' which isn't something fun but definitely gives us a better life.” Amen to that! Spaying and neutering is good for our health!

Maui is part Siamese (stop staring at the kitty, Dave, Am and Zim!) with what Bryn described as Caribbean aqua blue eyes. Sounds almost Siberian! Bryn said she makes this little sound called purring that “just makes me so sleepy when we curl up for a nap together.” She was born in May 2006.

Maui (above) checking out the Disney web site

Bryn said Maui’s favorite thing to do is watch the cardinals in the feeders (looks like she's computer-savvy, too!) and added, “She can't go out or catch them ‘cause last week Mom took her to the doctor and had her claws lasered. I don't know what that means except she can't scratch me anymore.” Bryn, Storm here. I think it means she had a paw-dicure. Anyroo, Bryn really missed Maui while she was gone overnight. She said, “…when she came home I checked her out really good.....my friend Dave told me to do a Lab analysis and CAT scan so we knew everything was in good condition.” Ha roo roo roo. I think someone’s been hanging around Amber a lot lately… or has been reading Fargo’s blog!

Cat scan in progress, above

Of Florida, Bryn said, “It's always nice outside so as soon as I wake up there's yard work to be done. My job is to keep squirrels from the birdfeeders and check out all the neighboring yards to make sure everything's OK. My parents are really proud of me ‘cause I don't bark like all the other dogs around here. I only bark when I have to make someone know I'm gonna keep my Mom safe.” Way to GO, Bryn! She also said that when their mom is dressed, she sits next to her leash to let her know it's time for a walk. (Good biped training!) She said, “We make our regular rounds and then down the road to see the new houses being built and then across the road to check on the cows in the pasture. I tried playing Marco Polo with them one foggy morning but they didn't answer. Silly cows.......don't they know woofing when they hear it? Oh well.......maybe only California cows play Marco Polo.” Ha roo roo roo! We like those Airborne cows who parachute into the football stadium! (For our international readers, we've provided hyper-links to help explain!)

Bryn also noted that Christmas is coming and said they are working hard to get all the decorations up. She gets to be official cookie taster! She said, “It's a hard job but somedoggy has to do it.” Woo! We’d be happy to help you out with that!

She and Maui wished all of the Ao4 Digest readers a “Woofy Christmas and Meowy New Year.”
Bryn and Maui, for all you do – being rescuees, doing the Sad Eyes look, having your new parents and the Treasures wrapped around your paws, keeping the evil squirrels at bay, AND helping decorate for Christmas … we salute you!

Merry Christmas!
The Army of Four

PS: Stop staring at the kitty!