It's a Hobbit Christmas

     This past Saturday I was able to to see "The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug" at the IMAX. I got scared by a bee because it looked like it was an inch from my eye! Movie description: 10 times better than amazing. If you don't realize this by now, I really enjoyed the movie. There was a good plot and cliff hanger and the last line: "What have we done?" It also got me pumped for another movie, Godzilla! There was a preview that did not show much of Godzilla but it was enough to get excited about. I've been bouncing off the walls and thinking of the big giant. Some examples are that we play Godzilla jeopardy in the car. I always win. Mum said she is sending me to Lora's house to stay if I don't stop the game. Lora feeds my Godzilla excitement. I've also been creating different Godzilla monsters with Lego's. I've been a huge Godzilla fan for a few years.
     The "Cozy Corner" was rebuilt for winter break and seemingly has avoided the wrath and licks of "Hurricane Hoover." I believe Hoover has quieted down since the snow melted.
     I have gotten the dogs a few presents. Hoover gets a Bumble while Lizzie gets a squeaking elf bear. Nikita has long since matured. I hope Lizzie and Hoover don't read this post and Nikita doesn't let the cat out of the bag. Don't worry, Nikita gets some dog cookies.
     I hope everyone has a happy holiday and does better than the Elf on the Shelf in this photo.    

    
    

The Sled Dogs Prepare for the Holidays

     Last  Friday, I was able to compete in the school Geography Bee. It was exciting and I got to learn new things about geography. I got third place which is an accomplishment to me.  
     On Saturday we made chocolate pretzels. I ate several but mum told me to save a few. We also made cookies. They turned out to be delicious. Decorating is not my best activity but we all have to learn at some point. 
    Hoover has gotten into the Christmas spirit. He became my good old reindeer with Lizzie. He had his antlers and let us put them on more than once. He would run around and play with the antlers on. It was nice he tolerated the antlers even when we took him on a walk. We got a few looks! Lizzie, on the other hand, could not stand the antlers. She just does not like things on her head, I'm guessing. 
    Yet Lizzie is not a Scrooge. She helped decorate Christmas cookies. Of course she is not a very good worker. She attempted to steal a cookie. Luckily, mum was on the case and stopped her.            
     When we got our Fraser Fir, Nikita and Lizzie were interested in decorating and observed our work. They may be ready to help out next year. But we still need to put a bell at the bottom of our tree. We need an alarm system since Hoover bowled the tree over last year playing with his toy. 
   The sled dogs were a little depressed when the snow was ruined by the rain. It was turned into slush and that is no fun at all.
     If you like my blog, you can stay tuned to learn about the last week of school before holiday break, the Hobbit and a birthday.

 

   

Snow Days

     At school I was able to have a great a accomplishment. I got into our school Geography Bee. I'm excited to compete, yet I'm very nervous to go up in front of three whole grades. 

     The sled dogs, fortunately, got to have an exciting weekend. School was cancelled because of snow and I was able to play with the dogs. We were able to run around and play. Of course, we learned Lizzie may not be much of a snow dog. She really preferred to watch from inside on her perch. She did enjoy the walk. Maybe she doesn't like the snow because she needs to add some body weight to give her warmth. Even Nikita went on a short walk. She had a jolly good time. She stuck her nose in the snow and even ate some snow. She seemed to move better in the cold weather.  Meanwhile, Hoover dove and ran through snow, thoroughly enjoying it. We could never get him out of the snow. He even enjoyed Lizzie chasing him. However, it didn't last long because Lizzie was ready to go inside. 

     I was able to go sledding with a good friend. We had a great time, yet we found out races are not the best activity to do. I crashed once and my friend almost ran me over, luckily he just hit me. There was a good sense of humor throughout the entire day. Next time we'll bring Hoover and he can pull the sled.    
     I hope you all had a good snowy weekend. Stay tuned if you want to hear about the Geography Bee. And here's a heads up for the next post. We have sled dog holiday cards!  

 

Naughty or Nice

     I felt as if our Thanksgiving might became the  "Cheers" Thanksgiving episode my mum showed me. It seemed like the turkey was taking forever to cook and I was chowing down on cheese and crackers and nuts. We were at the table with no turkey on the verge of a food fight. Fortunately, mum was able to save the turkey and no one was left with gravy on their face. I want to thank mum for the Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey was delicious and the green beans were exceptional. I discovered I prefer my pumpkin pie without whip cream. The sled dogs enjoyed their dinner, too.  
     With the week off I was able to build a fort. I have good and bad news. "Hurricane Hoover" was held at bay. But "Dad the Destroyer" came and wrecked the fort in a fight during a Nerf war. Oh well, it would have to be done anyway. I'm glad I got the job partially done. 
     Rascal the husky at the shelter now could get adopted! When we were there Saturday, there were two people who completed an adoption form. I'm glad about that. I'm sure he'll find a good home.  When I was at the shelter I also met the cats. I have not learned my lesson about shoes. The kittens never left my shoe strings alone. At least they got a good workout. They perfected their pounce. Yet my shoe strings got even more gnarled from the first encounter.

     While I was away at soccer practice today, Lizzie got in trouble. She tried to escape by digging under the fence but mum came out and roared, "Stop!" Hoover thought he was in trouble so he sat by the hole and sulked. Lizzie will be watched closely until the fence is fixed or our backup plan is to have her gain 25 pounds so she can't fit under the fence.

    Hoover was in long enough tonight to play. It started with Lizzie chasing Hoover across the family room until he got trapped on the stairs. Nikita was at the top of the stairs and she is top dog after all. And Hoover does not like Lizzie's bark. He was sandwiched. He decided to make a run for the office to hide from Lizzie but she chased him out. Secretly, we think he kind of likes to be chased. Then Lizzie settled down to rest and then it was time for Hoover to play fetch with me. Hoover bounded across the floor after his alligator. He was very excited and would shake his toy from our grasp. One time he got a little overzealous and I thought he might take my arm along with his gator. Mum captured a funny photo of Hoover and me in the middle of our play. I look scared but it was quite enjoyable. 

     To all you readers, this is a year old blog now. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you stay around to read more.  

Too Cute!

     This weekend I was able to visit my friends at the animal shelter. I met the cats and their kittens. They found a certain interest in my shoe strings. They would pounce on them and make sure my shoes did not leave the room. Mum says I need to tie my shoes better. I guess she's right since my shoe strings got mauled.   

    I met a husky at the shelter named Rascal. He was a nice old... well, rascal. The only thing was Rascal looked so sad. You could easily tell Rascal did not enjoy life at the shelter. I tried to cheer him up with a dog biscuit. He took it and put it on his dog bed. I felt better when he did eat another treat I gave him. He would be a great addition to a family to live where it is much more quiet. I hope a good family adopts him, someone has already paid his adoption fee.
     Speaking of sled dogs, mum found an old video of Hoover when he was a young pup. If you watch the video, you will have a hard time figuring out who he is because he has 11 siblings. I'm glad there were lots of volunteers to help the pups grow up to be big strong healthy dogs. Once again, we got Hoover from the  Illinois Alaskan Malamute Rescue Association . Don't forget, Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue has some great dogs looking for a home, too.
    In the first video you will see the pups getting very messy eating a meal from a large pan. We think we spotted Hoover, he had milk on his head. He was a big eater then and he is an even bigger eater now. 

    In the second video, the puppies are a little older and curious about the world. I'm glad I got to see Hoover in his sausage stage. 

    I'm happy to report my fort is still standing from Friday. Hoover has been too busy outside to come destroy it. I'd like to wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots of good turkey!
  

     

The Aztec Religion

      I am doing a project at school. We had the choice of choosing a Native American tribe of North America to do a topic on. I picked the Aztecs and focused on religion. I made a Codex, a symbol, and a Lego temple about the Aztecs. I hope this project will be as successful as my other projects.
 

      In Indiana, today our tornado sirens went off a couple of times. The weather was very stormy and some towns were deeply affected. Fortunately, the storms didn't hit us hard. They say dogs can sense storms, yet our sled dogs slept through it all. Hoover wanted to stay outside but we made him come in when the sirens started. At least they were weren't yowling and panicking.   

    Speaking of yowling, that's what my new recorder does. I received my recorder and the dogs don't like it. The second they heard it, all of them fled to other rooms. However, the dogs are getting used to the screaching.     
     We shouldn't forget about the other sled dogs at Northern Lights. Visit Northern Lights and learn about some sweet adoptable dogs. If you especially love sled dogs, then you can help support them by buying a calendar. I know I will. Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue

The Last Weekend

     This week was ruled by soccer and the "West Side Story." I had a tournament in Evansville with my ODP team. The ODP team is made up of kids from all over the state. We had a game at 11:30 in the morning. On the drive down my dad put in the "West Side Story" to get motivated. It did not work. Our team lost 1-3. The team did well for never playing with each other.      
     The next game we were successful and won. We won 9 - 0.That was the end of soccer for the day. So, Mum and I spent the night in Evansville and Dad went home to check on the dogs. They had a lot of time to themselves on Saturday. Fortunately, there were no surprises when dad got home.
     On Sunday, we had a game at 7:30 in the morning! I'm glad we spent the night or we would have had to get up aroung 4:00, if we were to going to make our next game. Our last game was a lost to a team called King's Hammer from Kentucky. It was a shutout, 10-0. They were a year older but we still have a lot of work to do. Because we weren't playing in the championship, I got to go for a BIG breakfast.

      Hoover is now working on getting his winter coat to grow. It seems like the only time we see him is at dinner and bedtime. He loves being outside now. His coat is feeling nice and soft. I'll keep you updated on how big he gets.

    

A Big Haul

    

    I had a blast trick-or-treating or should I say, "E=mc2." I had an enjoyable time getting candy with my friends. I was the glorious Albert Einstein, the man who won a Nobel Prize. I had to shave when my mustache started flopping everywhere. We walked in my friend's neighborhood and got loads of candy. I'm glad to announce no one gave us a toothbrush this year. I already have two.       The dogs had a good experience greeting their first trick-or-treaters. We use to live in the country and never had anyone come to our house. Hoover loved going to the door to see the kids. He got lots of attention. Lizzie waited at the door but always shied away when someone came. Nikita even lumbered over to the door a couple of times. Hoover was exhausted at the end of the night.
     The next day (which was Saturday) we had a game against Westside. This was the team we lost 9-0. I must say, we did considerably better than the last game. Cutters lost the game, 5-4. The good thing is it was exciting. I had a goal and two other shots on goal. The whole team did well, yet I need to work on blocking balls. On a free kick I ducked instead of letting the ball hit me. Of course I was the only person in the wall trying to block the shot. 
     Hoover and Lizzie got to test their stake out skills this weekend. They've been looking up a lot lately. They would really like to get to know the squirrels in our trees. Yet, they were foiled again.
     This was the end of the soccer season which makes me sad. Yet, an even more exciting event will come if you stay tuned. 

Trophies were Earned

     Most of my weekend was dominated by the Nightmare at the Rock soccer tournament. I lost some "shut-eye". We had to get up at 6:00 for one game but that was the least of it. I hope the dogs slept better than us.
     Our first game on Saturday was successful. We won 3-2 with a nail-biting end. The next game taught us a lesson. Never eat with the team. We ate too much and no one was focused.  We were shut out, 6-0. We played Lexington F.C, an amazing team. They could pass well and dribble around everyone. All their players were well conditioned.

     The weather was the only thing to complain about on Sunday. The wind bit at uncovered fingers. Even the grass was chilled. The fields were frozen Sunday. Our cleats collected frost on them thus making saturated socks.
      Our early morning game was a tie and that got us into the championship and we played Lexington again in the afternoon. This time we made sure not to eat too much before the game. The weather was much better, no stocking caps were needed. We scored two goals, which was a victory. Yet,  we lost by the same amount. At least we were the first to score on Lexington the whole weekend. 
     Because we were second, we got a big team trophy and everyone received their own smaller trophy. They are neat little things. 
     The dogs had lots of time to themselves. We were glad to see they were all good doggies when we came home. They were happy to see us and Hoover had to checkout the trophy. 

 

Best Experience Ever!

During the Nerf gun battle

    On Friday, I had a good time. I got to spend time with some friends and play laser tag. I went to a friend's birthday party. And I also got to have another friend at the party come to spend the night. The dogs, fortunately, controlled themselves when we arrived home, except maybe Hoover. They were nowhere near us when we had a Nerf Gun battle.

We also had time to build the "Cozy Corner!" We made a slight change in design, yet it was fun!

    On Saturday we went to the Kohls cup. My parents were volunteering and this gave me a very cool opportunity. I got to drive a golf cart! I got in and had an instructor. I accidently floored the cart though. I almost hit a picnic table. Then I was all over the road and clipped a ditch. Mum says I overcorrect. I finally parked in front of a tree. At least I didn't hit it.   
   On Sunday, Cutters had a rematch with Columbus. The game went well. At first it was downhill, 1-2 was the score. Then I had my second goal of the season and that made it 2-3, because the other team scored again. Then down to the last seconds we tied it, 3-3 was the final score. We had many chances  to score yet all but the three the goals went in.                

Getting ready for Bradford Woods

    Monday was a great day. We went to Bradford Woods! It was amazing! There was one thing that I did not like though, we had to leave!
    We were split into two groups: cabins and trail groups. I was in the Agape cabin and Gopher trail group. Agape was one of the better cabins. It had two restrooms and different rooms and bunks. Even a flatscreen TV, fireplace and kitchen. We didn’t use any of them but you get the point.         
   The Gopher trail group went on a history walk and learned about the Bradfords and their land. At night we had a Night Experience. There was a campfire where we watched skits and sang songs. We then walked in the night and listened to the woods.
   The next day was the Dutch Auction. We brought random items and listened to categories that were read out. Then we would have to make a skit for that category in 30 seconds.  Some ideas were hilarious. For best camp cheer, we had someone say, "I didn’t choose the woods life, the woods life chose me." And then we chanted Bradford Woods.
    I know I'm definitely going back to Bradford Woods in the summer and as a high school senior to help with the 5th graders. I don’t know what the sled dogs did while I was away but I know they were excited to see me, at least two of them were.

    

Fall Break Fun

     This weekend I got a four day Fall Break. We got to rebuild the "Cozy Corner" blanket fort. I am glad to announce that the fort was not destroyed by "Hurricane Hoover". I don't know why he didn't attack but it was possibly because Nikita stood guard at the fort. She is worse than "Hurricane Hoover" when she is in the mood. With Nikita as guard, we slept like kings.

      I'm glad I slept well for the next day we practiced soccer. We have a created a new exciting drill. Mum hurls the ball at the goal and I have to block it without hands. I have to tell you, Mum can really throw some hard balls. Yet the drill has side effects. Mum got a sore arm and shoulder. And I gained a few bruises. It really is a lot of fun!
     On Sunday we had ODP. I enjoy practicing with kids throughout the state. We practice in the morning and scrimmage in the afternoon. It is kind of like IU soccer camp.        

    Jilly is a sweet fluffy Malamute at Northern Lights. She is not the friendliest with other dogs and you need to be experienced with other Malamutes. You will need a six foot fence because she is a very crafty escape artist. However, she is a very sweet girl. Jilly is affectionate and warm, winter is coming. Here is link for more on Jilly: Jilly 

   In other sled dog news, Lizzie and Hoover can dig long and large trenches. They dug along the whole side of our garage. We're not sure what their motivation was for digging, maybe a mouse or rabbit. They continue their squirrel hunting. They came close to a success. A squirrel visited our yard, yet it escaped up a tree with sled dogs in close pursuit.
    I should probably end this post, Lizzie is wanting some belly rubs.

Rain Out and Hoover's New Hobby

     This weekend it turned out to be very wet. We would've played 2 games but ended up with 3/4 of a game and one was cancelled. I think the team did well even though we lost 3 to 5. I wish the rain had held back. I belive we could've come back and beaten Terre Haute.

     The game was cancelled when a storm came. This storm continued on to Bloomington and lingered for the night and morning then left. The Cutters fields were saturated. So, we had no soccer on Sunday. I was hoping to get back at Westside. I guess that won't happen for a while.

     Hoover has found a new hobby. Staring at rocks. We found him in a stalking stance last night. We thought maybe there was an animal down in the rocks but didn't see anything. He looks at the rocks and just stands there. Lizzie and Nikita are dumbfounded at what he does and stare at him. They soon get bored and leave Hoover to his rock collection. 
   Hoover is also finding new activities to do. He gets his red ball and plays a dog version of Lacrosse. Of course Lizzie must play as well. Watch this video and see what happens. I hope you enjoyed this latest post. Hope to see you next time.

The Gentle Giant Passes On

      I have sad news today. If you have been following my blog from the beginning, you would know who Pulaski is. He was the one who stole my doughnut. He passed away September 30. He died of the same ailment as my parent's dog, Dakota. He had bone cancer.
     Pulaski shared some great memories with us. Here are just a few of them.  
     We got Pulaski in October. We called him the "Gentle Giant" for he was so huge, larger than Hoover! Yet like all of our fosters, Nikita bossed him around. But he had some of his own moments. I let my guard down once, and my doughnut was snatched!  Pulaski gobbled it down.
     Once when the roof was being changed at our old house, there was a lot of banging. When dad came home, he couldn't find Pulaski. He finally checked my room and the jolly good fellow was fast asleep on my bed. It was not easy for Pulaski to get up on furniture.
     We taught Pulaski how to play. He didn't know what to do with toys before. When we showed him the toys, he learned and developed his own play: ripping off tags. Pulaski would woof, a lot,  when he was in a playful mood. Of course this scared Hoover who would stop playing. 
     When Pulaski was adopted in January, we took him to Petsmart to meet his new family. He started doing the Malamute's classic howl. Many people took interest in him and some even snapped photos of him. Pulaski met his perfect owners and journeyed to his new home and new name, Montana. I'm glad I was able to be apart of Pulaski's life and get to know and help him find a home. He was sweet big boy.            

 

Rain or Shine

     This week had a great amount of soccer to it. We had a game on Wednesday at 6:00. It was a poorly scheduled game in my opinion. I say that because kids do have homework at night. Yet at least I had a game to remember. I finally scored! I read a pass, stole the ball, and shot! The ball went flying into the other team's goal. It stuck right in the upper corner.

     The game ended 4-3. Columbus almost tied us but the defense survived. Yet on Sunday our team was crushed by Zionsville. We played in a drizzle that day. I found it enjoyable but I'm not sure our fans had fun. The game ended 7-2. At least the burger and shake were good after the game.
     The Lotus Festival came to Bloomington. My mother and I went to see the parade Saturday night. We waited patiently for a glimpse of the parade. Then it came. There was an assortment of flags, colors and even a giant hand waving in the air. The bands played music as the parade moved along. I enjoyed the parade as did mum. I also believe I got a few great ideas for writing. 
     At the animal shelter on Saturday, I finally got the chance to straighten those cats out. There were a few cats in the same area. I had a toy and waved it around. The cats became interested and soon they were all waiting for the chance to get a bat at the toy. Unfortunatly, all good things must come to an end, it was time for us to play with some of the other animals.
     I found my own new hobby, I like marbles. These are old marbles. They are my great uncle's marbles he had when he was a young boy. Did anyone else play with marbles or collect them when they were growing up?
      And to end my blog, Hoover has an interest in my room now. He came in Thursday night and decided to lay under the bed, his bottom sticking out from under the bed. After awhile, he got out and left but returned early in the morning to be petted. At least I can avoid licks by pulling the blanket over my head. It's always a fun time with sled dogs around.
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