We Interrupt This Blog...

...for an important weather p-update.

Amber here, resident Meteorologist here at Army of Four Headquarters.  After a terribly long period of horrible 60-70 degree weather, it is my pleasure to report that my prediction from yesterday was right on target.  At this writing, our temps are a lovely 10 degrees Fahrenheit, wind-chill is 4 below, and we have about an inch of snow on the ground.  Ah!  Sweet bliss!

It's still coming down a little bit; isn't that great!?  While Zim and I were out there trying to get a few photos to show you, I thought I smelled something else!

   Hmm... Zim, do you smell that?

Zim smelled the same thing I did.  Mom thought I was picking up the scent of more snow - but that wasn't it!  Do you know what it was?  Or should I ask who it was?!?

OSWALD!

He's hunkering down under the Mugho.  Mom made us leave him alone.  Spoil sport!   :)

Love,

Ammy

PS:  Storm and Dave were tagged by our lovely friend Ransom.  We haven't forgotten - they'll get to it next week - promise!

Photo Finish Friday

Ha roo, pups and kit-cats! It's me - Zim! Before I show you the latest PhotoShop Elements thing Mom has done, I wanted to thank my pal Mango for hosting Mango Minster 2009! It was a blast to compete; if you missed it, he posted highlights at this link. Mango already presented those of us who participated with a very cool ribbon that I've posted over in the sidebar ... but he also sent me this!

How cool is that? I won Reader's Choice for the Working Group and Mango made this cool certificate for me!!  Thanks, everyone!  And congrats again to all who participated!

On to Photo Finish Friday!  This week's photo features... ME!

Notice it takes a Sibe to liven things up.  Ha roo roo roo!

Play bows,

Zim

How Fetching! ...or not...

Ha roo, pups and kitty-cats!  It's me - Zim!  As Ammy mentioned, we all got to play out in the yard the other day.  It was great!  We go back there one at a time for some special playtime with Mom.  We LOVE doing that!  When it was my turn, I chose my very cool blue Wubba!  I played tug-tug with it for a while, then Mom wanted to see how I'd do with that "fetching" thing.  I mean... sometimes I'll do it.  If I feel like it.  Just to throw her off.  Ha roo roo roo!  Anyway, here's a little video for you; it's very short:

Oh, sure.  I chased after it.  I even ran back to Mom with it!  And then... I flew right past her with it.  Ha roo roo roo!  Always keep them guessing.  Stormy taught me that.

As I was exploring the yard,  I saw Oswald and those future condo renters he was showing around!  (For those of you who aren't familiar with Os, please click this link.)  It was pretty cool.  I wanted to say "ha roo" to them but they ran off.  See... I love to make friends with everyone I meet - from bipeds to other pups to kit-cats (fellow kit-cats, I should say, since my best friend Huffle decreed that I'm an honorary kitty cat!) and yes, bunnies, too!  By the end of last Summer, I had it to where Oswald would come running over when he'd see me!  Anyway, I think maybe he mistook me for another redhead around here who isn't quite as easy-going as I am and that's why he took off.  

Here I am, striking a rather cool pose, trying to see if I could see them.

"Come on back, little bun-buns!

It's just me, Zim!"

Maybe I'll see them next time.  I hope so.

Play bows to all,

Zim

Wordless Wednesday

Tail wags,

Storms

My Day To Play

Hi everypuppy and everykitty!  It's me - Amber!  Dave isn't the only one who got some backyard playtime in - we all got to play!  I chose the cool football - it's one of my favorite things to play with!  I ran and ran and ran and chased it and Mom threw it and it was just so much fun!  I don't bring it back like Davy does, but I will get it, then wait for Mom to come get it so she can throw it again.  It's very fun and both of us get a good bit of exercise that way!

The pix of me playing didn't come out very well, but here are some poses I did afterwards!  I sat on the lower retaining wall and Mom asked me to look at her.  I chose to look to my left instead.

She asked again, so I looked to my right.

Hee hee hee!  It was very fun.

Mom gave up on that and we explored the yard a little.  I tried to strike a serious pose up on the second tier...

...but couldn't hold it very long and started giggling.  I couldn't help it.

I was having too much fun to look serious!

We finished up our photo shoot up in the south-east corner.  Here's the best of that bunch:

I have my long leash on up there because there were a LOT of distractions.  Distractions with cotton tails.  I think Oswald was holding an Open House for the condos he rents out back there.  Harrumph!

Hopefully next time Mom will have some action shots I can share with you!

Love,

Ammy

A Day To Play

Woo, everypup and everycat!  It's me, Dave!  Look at what I got to do yesterday!

From Army of Four Digest

Woo!

Luv,

Dave

Serene Scenery Sunday

Tail wags, readers!  It's me, Stormy.  Before I get to the peaceful pictures we're sharing with you today, I wanted to thank you, on behalf of the Ao4, for all the kind comments on yesterday's post - and to address a couple points!   To start, we use Petrodex poultry flavored toothpaste.  We all have to put up with having our teeth brushed; with the possible exception of the LabraDave, none of us are that into the brushing, we just want to eat the toothpaste.  And yes, Huffle, a certain sweet, innocent little redheaded girl wears down the brush mighty fast!  Ha roo roo roo!  Zim was being cooperative because he felt like it.  And because he thought it would make a cool post.  Mom has to catch us in the right frame of mind.

On to the soothing Sunday post!  This first one is our sunset from two nights ago - a panorama Mom put together.

Gorgeous sky, isn't it?  (You can click that for a larger view!)

Our other photo may not seem like "serene scenery" to you, but it melts all of Mom's cares away, so I thought I'd throw it in.  It's a family portrait of sorts from a few nights ago:

From Army of Four Digest

Back row, Ammy and Zim (in a Cinnamon Bun pose)

Front row, me (doing a double Hail Storm pose), Dave, and Mom's foot under Dave

We all love moments like those!

Have a serene Sunday!

Tail wags,

Storm

Dental Health Month

Hey everypup and kit-cat!  It's me, Zim!  

Did you know that February is National Pet Dental Health Month?  Seriously.  Make sure you spend extra time on your toothies so you can stay healthy and have a great smile.

Mfft ddd wufff...

...unn dnn toofff....

und dnn fnnngs...

...mff dnn!

I hope you caught all that!

Play bows,

Zim

PS:  Ammy wants to know... if bipeds have canine teeth, do we have people teeth?  Ha roo roo roo!

Photo Finish Friday

Photo Finish Friday coming at you, featuring me - Dave!

Luv,

Dave

The Sled Dog Game, Part Two!

Hi everypuppy and everycat!  It's me - Ammy!  Didn't Davy do a really nice job telling you about our fun game yesterday!?!?  We had such a good time!  We love to pull really, really hard and start pumping those back legs and everything!  You should all try it!

So... where were we?  Oh, right!  Dave and I agreed to stop and eat cookies - umm... I mean pose for a couple pictures by the Kansas Ocean.  Here I am, giving my "serious look".

My "serious look"

What do you think?

Anyway, once the cookies were gone... err... once we had posed for Mom, we got back to pulling.  Here we are pulling up a long hill.

Me and Davy

Some of you mentioned that you like to do a back and forth weave as you walk.  Oh, trust me - we do that, too!  Zim and I are the best at that.  Mom said there are days we act like two certain little chipmunks running around a tree.  I have no idea what she means by that.  Stormy does a little leash macramé action, too. Dave is more of a straight-line walker, but we did mix it up a bit.  You can see him laughing about it in this next picture!

Davy and me

Mom wanted to take some pictures of us near the top of the hill, but we said we'd rather not.

Dave said I should post this picture anyway, so you can see how closely my fur matches the amber-colored grass.  He's such a good Guide Dog for the Color Blind, isn't he?  Always thinking!

We pulled a bit more ...

... and headed on down the home stretch.  We walked on a different side of the big road than what we normally walk on, which was very exciting.  There are all kinds of different smells there.  When we got to the bridge over Little Kitten Creek, I thought I should stop to take a look.

No... no kittens over on this side, either!

It was worth checking out.  Because really... you never know!

Thanks for letting us tell you about our fun round of The Sled Dog Game!  I hope you enjoyed coming along!

Love,

Ammy

The Sled Dog Game

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me - Dave.  I'm here to tell you about the cool adventure I got to go on with Mom and one of my siblings the other day.  I think it was Sunday.  It's all still a blur - lots of pulling, lots of walking, lots of pulling, lots of cool smells, more pulling, a photo shoot by the Kansas Ocean, even more pulling... it was great.  Here I am:

Me, Dave.  Heading down the trail.

I usually get paired up with Storms (we're the oldest and don't need the amount of exercise the redheads do, plus we walk really nicely together) - but sometimes I walk with my kid brother (so we can have guy-time).  I am a very strong guy, but don't pull too hard if I walk with either of them.  Or at least they don't pull too hard, so it's OK for Mom.  But sometimes...  sometimes Mom forgets why I usually walk with Storm or Zim... and guess who I got to go with?

Hey, Davy!  Let's pretend we're sled puppies and Mom is the sled and let's pull her really, really hard!  OK?

Ammy!  It was so cool.  She came up with that fun game of pulling Mom as hard as we could; it was great fun!  For us, anyway.  We pulled all the way to the Kansas Ocean, then stopped to do a few poses.  We did this one for Storm:

She really liked it.  Then we got a tad more cooperative:

Not on purpose.  Actually, a lady ran by with a Border Collie mix, and we were looking at them.  Then... we decided to look at Mom.

Hi Mom.  You have my full attention.

Do you know why?  Thanks to a suggestion from some of you pups, our mom had a stash of cookies in her Hold the iPod/iPhone Pod!  Way to go, you guys!  Even Ammy looked at the camera!

Are those Happy Hearts cookies?  

After the cookies ran out, umm, I mean after we were done posing, we played the sled dog game a bunch more.  Ammy will show you more pix tomorrow!

Thanks for letting me tell you about our cool game!

Luv,

Dave

Tagged by the Corgis!

Tail wags, pups and kit-cats!  It's me, Stormy!  We were tagged by those two lovely Corgi girls, Moxie and Izzie last week in an alphabet-type game!  They gave us the letter "U"... so without further ado, here are some of the "U" things that we like!

University - Kansas State University, to be more precise.  It's where we go for our vet care.  Here's a picture from Ammy's recent trip:

Ams at the University

Ukraine - Our dad's family immigrated here to the US from Ukraine.  My middle name, Zoluschka, is Ukrainian, as is Ammy's nickname, Zichick.  Here's Dave with a little quilted Ukrainian flag Mom made.

See... the azure blue is for the sky and the yellow is for the grain in the fields...

USA! - We love our country!  Here's a picture of me out of the Ao4 archives, showing how proud we all are to be Americans!

God bless the USA!

Uniforms - We also love those who serve or served our nation in uniform!  A big Ao4 HOOAH to all members of our military out there!

Ammy

Ukuleles - Not really, but I saw this upstairs in the closet and thought it fit our theme.

Anypuppy know how to work this thing?

Undercoat - Not really on this one, either.  But with the temperature ups and downs we've had here, all four of us are blowing coat like crazy.  We've all had a lot of brush time lately.

Who's next?

And lastly... doing the unexpected, unusual thing.  Here's another favorite picture from the archives to illustrate:

Bunk-beds for the redheads

Got to keep the bipeds guessing!

Thanks for the tag, Moxie and Izzie!  It was a lot of fun!

Tail wags,

Storms

This Calls For Tuna!

Ha roo and purrs, pups and kit-cats! It's me -Zim! Have you seen the big news over on my best friend Huffle's blog?!?  It's huge --  I've been made an Honorary Kitty Cat!

Huffs sent me this very special logo; it's modeled after her great-brother Salvador!

I told Huffs just a few of my qualifications: 

 

"I can act aloof if I feel like it, 

can be affectionate if I feel like it, 

only come when I'm called if I feel like it [in that link, I obviously felt like it], 

and I'm known to walk like the Pink Panther [sort of doing the Pink Panther walk in the second vid at that link...]. 

Then there's the laying in the sun thing..."  

I went on to tell her that I've got lots of other catributes - but that all seemed to do it for her.  Besides, Huffle knows me very well; we have tons in common.  I think a few other kit-cats put in a good word for me - many thanks to all of you!

I think this calls for a celebration.  Tuna for everyone!  Or HAM, if your diet allows.  Then some cat stretches and a nice nap in the sunshine.

Mmmrrrrow!  Oh, that feels so good!

I might curl up with this movie later.  Our New Zealand pals Team Husky sent it to us at Christmas.  I'm hoping it's about Huffle Mawson, Explorer Cat and Honorary Husky.

Oooh!  It must be about Huffle Mawson!  I never knew she went to the Antarctic!

Huffle, my best friend, thank you SO MUCH for making me an honorary kitty cat!  I'll do my best to live up to it!

Play bows and purrs,

Zim - Honorary Kitty Cat  (Please click here, especially if you're our Aunt Janet)

Serene Scenery Sunday

Happy Sunday, readers!  It's me, Zim, here to show you some serene pictures we've taken over the past week or so.  You can click each of them to enlarge, if you'd like.

First up is from a long walk Ammy and I took Mom on.  We go past this area a lot; it's just a Wubba's throw away from the house.  Well... if your biped had a really good throwing arm.  It's Little Kitten Creek:

It looks very peaceful, doesn't it?  We've never seen any little kittens down there, for the record.

Next up is one of the entrances to the Hudson Trail:

There wasn't any snow or anything, but it still looks inviting, doesn't it?  And like you could have a tranquil time in there.  (And do a lot of snoofing!)

And last, with a paws up to my good friend, Mochi, here I am, looking mighty mellow:

Going  "holoholo!"  (as Mochi says)

I am a very serene Sibe when it comes to riding in the car.  And will jump at any chance I get to go "holoholo"!

Have a wonderfully relaxed Sunday, everypup and everykitty!

Play bows,

Zim

Reenactment and Valentine's Day Poem

Woo, everypup and everycat.  It's me, Dave.  Up here.

You didn't think Zim was the only one who came up here to do cute poses, did you?  Woo!

Anyway, so Zim and I were talking about that reenactment he mentioned yesterday - you know, where he got on the ledge up here on the cat-walk and it freaked Mom out and so we don't have a picture of it.  I thought a reenactment was a great idea, so I grabbed the camera, so he could get up there and I could take his picture.  Well, Zim gets distracted pretty easily... and by the time I got the camera, he had moved on to trying to come up with a Valentine's Day poem.  

I was already up there - up here...

...and wanted to get on with it.  Stormy said she had an idea and that she'd help me out.  She's not only smart, she's really nice.  She got her little squ... uh, puppy to help, too.  OK, here goes.

Storm balanced her ...puppy up on the railing.

See how narrow it is?  The ...puppy could barely balance up there.  And this particular kind of ...puppy can balance pretty easily.  Trust me - I've seen them on power lines and stuff.

Oh, and hey.  There's Zim down there!  You can see how hard he's working on his poem.  (There he is, down there on screen right!)

Whatcha got so far, little bro?

Kongs are red,

Dino bones are blue...

Hmm... not there yet, huh?  You'll get it!

Stormy’s collar is red, 

My left eye is blue... 

Dave’s eyes are blue.

Ammy is sweet,

Ha roo roo roo!

Nah, I don't have it yet, Dave!

You'll get it, Zim!  Stick with it!

Now... where were we?  Oh, yeah.  Stormy's ...puppy was balancing on the railing.

As you can tell, there's no way one of us could balance up there.  But there's another ledge just below that; it starts as sort of part of the railing, then is like a plant shelf.  Here's a look at that:

See?  A Sibe could easily balance up there.  Even though it's real high and all.  But we could do it if we wanted to. 

Storm left her ...puppy there for a minute to go see how Zim was doing with his Valentine's poem.  I thought that might not have been the best decision she's ever made, and I seized the opportunity to go get acquainted with that furry little fiend ...

You're mine, you little squ...

...but then Storm came up out of nowhere, snapped the picture real fast, and grabbed her ...puppy before I could get to it.  Woo.  Storm said that's what she had planned all along, so she could capture the "sneaky Sibe look".  She really IS soooo smart!

By the way, congrats to Zim for winning the Working Group Reader's Choice Award over at Mango-Minster.  He tied with Waldo, so a big congrats to Waldo, too!  And to everypuppy!

And... I think Zim has wrapped up his poem.  Let's see what he's got!

Stormy's collar is red,

Mine is blue.

Ammy is sweet.

Dave says, "Wooooo!"

I think he's really got a winner there.  I especially like the last line.

Happy Valentine's Day to all of our wonderful readers; may your hearts be filled with love today and all days.

Luv,

Dave