Sportsman #1: Show the signals used by officials in one of these sports: football, basketball, baseball, soccer, or hockey

(From Mom) I took pictures of Rory demonstrating the signals his Little League umpires use during their baseball games. He realized that his championship game is tomorrow while we were taking the photos and you can see how nervous he is in the shots. :-)

Here they are:

You're Out!

Safe!

Time Out!

Strike!

Sportsman Badge #2: Explain what good sportsmanship means.

Good sportsmanship means that you play by the rules, it means that you try your hardest when you're playing, you treat the other team well and cheer in a way that's FOR your team and not AGAINST the other team. You don't boo the other team and you don't put them down or insult them. You can try and distract them by going "hey batter, batter, batter" though. Good sports listen to their coaches and the umpires and they always play fair.

Weather Pin #2: Describe a potentially dangerous weather condition in your community. Discuss safety precautions and procedures for dealing with it.

Some of our lakes sometimes flood, which can cause flash floods. In order to stay safe, you need to get up to the highest area. Or, if you're in a car, quickly shut all of your car doors and windows. Unless you're in a convertible, because then you're dead meat. You need to stay out of flood waters unless you have the right equipment. If you're a really good swimmer, you might think it's okay to go out but there are very dangerous things in flood waters like aggressive fish, sticks and rocks and debris from things that were broken in the floodwater. If you live near an ocean, there might be coral in the water too, which can cut you badly. If you know that a flash flood is possible, you should have a supply of food and water handy and a lifeboat and life jackets if you can get them. If you hear warnings about flash floods, stay away from the lakes. But if there are no warnings at all and the weather is okay, you can play in it. And if you're already in a boat when the flash flood happens, you might be safe then, because the water should just carry you up. But it's still safest to get away from the water and up as high as you can when you hear the flash flood warnings.

PS- If you live near Mt. St. Helens, stay away from it, because it might errupt again. But if you live near the Gulf of Mexico, don't worry about the oil. Worry about the hurricane that might come and throw it all up onto the land.

Weather Pin #5: 4. Make a report to your den or family on a book about weather.

I read a book from the Discovery Channel called Super Storms that Rocked the World. I got it from my school book order. I learned about volcanoes that have errupted, like Mount St. Helens, where pilots got fried from the erruption. I read about tsumanis, like the one that happened in Asia. I think that anyone who would try to surf a tsunami is idiotic! Reading about Mount St. Helens was my favorite part, but it also had parts about avalanches, floods and tornadoes too. Even a dust bowl that happened in America in the 1930's, which was a bad thing that happened because there wasn't enough weather- which is it's own kind of natural disaster! Here's a picture of Mount St. Helens when it errupted:

Weather Pin #1: 1. Explain to your den or an adult family member the meaning of these terms: weather, humidity, precipitation, temperature, and wind.

weather: It's evaporation, temperature, heat, humidity, big, fluffy fog that I wish was cotton candy all mixed together into a climate.

humidity: the water that's in the air.

precipitation: It's when the water in the air falls out of the air, as mist, or rain, or snow.

temperature: It's how hot or cold something or somewhere is.

wind: Is when the air moves.

Fitness #7: Tell an adult member of your family what drugs could do to your body and how they would affect your ability to think clearly.

Drugs hurt your body by damaging your heart, your mind and your bladder (if it's a liquid). Drugs can kill you really fast. And they can make you do things like murder, which eventually get's you ten or twenty years in prison. This is because drugs make you not think clearly. Drugs hurt your brain so much, that it becomes really hard to think and you make bad choices. Drugs can make you change a lot.

Fitness #6: Tell an adult member of your family four reasons why you should not use alcohol and how it could affect you.

1) Because it makes your drunk and idiotic, like in the show the Simpsons, when Barney and Homer get drunk they get arrested a lot for drunk driving and that stuff.

2) When you drink too much alcohol, you make poor choices and end up doing things that embarass you later.

3) Alcohol is not good for your body. It can kill you if you drink too much of it.

4) If you drive after drinking too much alcohol, you can crash and wreck your car or hurt someone.

Fitness Badge #5: Tell an adult member of your family about the bad effects smoking or chewing tobacco would have on your body.

Smoking makes your lungs look all burned up and gross. They give you a whole bunch of different types of cancers. Also, smoking makes your breath and clothes and hair really stinky!!Sometimes, if you're even that idiotic, some idiots will actually smoke more than one cigarette at a time!

Chewing tabacco is okay for lumberjacks, because they're used to that stuff because they sleep with bedbugs and mosquitoes and mice and swine. But if you're not a lumberjack, that means that if you're chewing tobacco, you're just plain idiotic because it can ruin your teeth SOOO much that eventually the minute that you put it into your mouth, they'll turn your teeth black or green or yellow.

Smoking smells can knock someone out, because it's smoke. The smoke is very toxic to everyone- not just the smoker. Have you ever heard that "Don't Pass Gas" commercial, where they're really just talking about cigarettes? That's true!

If you haven't seen them, here are the commercials: http://www.dontpassgas.com/psa.swf

Fitness Badge #1: With your parent, guardian, or Webelos den leader, complete the Health and Fitness Character Connection.

Know: Tell why it is important to be healthy, clean, and fit.

It's important to be healthy because it feels bad to be sick. When you're sick, your body feels like you're about to puke out your intestines. And when you stay healthy, you are able to do anything like baseball, skateboard, and playing with your friends (unless they're sick too).

It's important to be clean because being dirty can make you sick.

It's important to be fit because you'd get lazy if you don't exercise, which can make you fat. If you have too much fat on your body, you can get sick and it makes your body harder to keep up. Your heart has to work harder to keep you alive.

Commit: Tell when it is difficult for you to stick with good health habits. Tell where you can go to be with others who encourage you to be healthy, clean, and fit.
When you're dirty you feel so free, that it's not always fun to take a bath. But my parents, cub scout friends and my doctors and nurses encourage me to stay clean and that makes me healthy.

Practice: Practice good health habits while doing the requirements for this

activity badge.

Communications Pin #4: 1. With an adult, use the Internet to search for information on a topic of interest to you.

I wanted to look up tornados in Michigan because I like the weather and tornados. It turns out that there are some tornados where I live, but it's been 16 years since there was a tornado in our county and even then it was a F0. So what I learned is that the only type of tornados that happen near my house are barely tornados- just powerful windstorms- and even then, they don't happen often enough to be scared about.

Here is the website I used: http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/mitorn.htm

Communications Pin #1: Keep a journal of daily activities for at least seven days.

As of today, I have kept this blog for seven days. Which means, I did it!

Video Game Pin #5: 5. Choose a game you might like to purchase. Compare the price for this game at three stores. Decide which has the best deal.

I looked at GameStop, Toys R Us and Target for the new Harry Potter Lego video game. At Gamestop it cost $29.99, and if you win the game they'll buy it back from you. At Toys R Us it costs $29.99 also. You can get an extended warranty on your games, but that costs extra money. Toys R Us will only let me return it if it is not opened. At Target, it is also $29.99 and you can pre-order it. But like Toys R Us, they won't let you return it if there's a problem once it's opened. You can exchange it for another copy of the same game though. But only GameStop will buy it back from you once you're done with it.

Video Games Pin #1: 1. With your parents, create a plan to buy a video game that is right for your age group.

I saw the commercial for the new Harry Potter Lego game that is coming out very soon. My mom and I looked it up and it comes out on June 29th. So, our plan to buy this game is that:

1) We will go to GameStop and pre-order the game, so that will hold it for us.

2) I will pay for half of the cost of the game with money from my savings.

3) I will pay for the other half of the cost by scooping the kitty litter for one week.

4) Then, when the game comes out, I know that they will hold a copy for me because we pre-ordered it.

I know that Harry Potter Lego is a good game for my age group because it's rated E 10+.

Bicycling Belt Loop #1-3 (All Requirements!)

1. Explain the rules of safe bicycling to your den leader or adult partner.

Always wear a helmet. If you are so good that you can do tricks, do as many as you can because it will help you do better and eventually you'd become a pro. Always ride your bike on the sidewalk, unless you're 11. Always look out for cars or trains and if you're riding your bike in an airport street because you can get carsick, watch out for giant airplane tires. (Mom's note: I totally disavow the utter randomness of that last sentence) Ring your bell to alert people that you are there, so you don't get hit. Use proper hand signals to show other people which way you are turning and always look stop at corners and look both ways before you go across a street.

2. Demonstrate how to wear the proper safety equipment for bicycling.

If you are going to be riding your bike around your neighborhood, you need to wear a helmet. If you are going to be doing stunts like 360's, you need to also wear kneepads and elbow pads.

3. Show how to ride a bike safely. Ride for at least half an hour with an adult partner, your family, or den.

(Biked to Schoenherr Grocery and back with parents, 6/19/10)

Weather Belt Loop #3: Watch the weather forecast on a local television station. Discuss what you saw. Follow up by discussing the forecast's accuracy.

Two nights ago, I saw on the "Local on the 8's" on the Weather Channel that it was mostly all red. Red means very, very, very severe weather. The darker the red, the more dangerous. We had a severe thunderstorm in our area and it almost knocked out the lights. And then the next day, the cable went out because they were trying to fix the other cables. I saw a whole, whole, whole bunch of rain it made me feel very, very scared and it interrupted a lot of shows with the severe thunderstorm alert, when the screen turns all blue with the red stripe in the middle and all those sounds coming. We also saw a lot of lightnight that was very close- it made my whole window turn white. The next day I saw a whole bunch of tree branches and in Ann Arbor there were two deaths reported. The forecast was definitely accurate!

Weather Belt Loop #1: Make a Poster of the Water Cycle

I made a picture of the water cycle, because it involves weather which I really like. Water goes from the seas and lakes to the clouds through evaporation. Then in the clouds, it gets cooled down and once the water starts to get too heavy, it will rain. Then the rain falls downs and runs from mountains and hills into the rivers and lakes again and it starts all over.

Disabilities Awareness #2: Visit with a friend with disabilities. Find out what this person enjoys and what they find difficult.

I sent an email to Miss Cindy, who is the wife of my coach. They have a little boy who has Down Syndrome. He has an extra chromosome that makes him special. He has a hard time learning new things, but it doesn't affect his life. He can learn everything- it just takes longer. He likes to play with his siblings and his best friend and to sing and dance. I've heard him sing the ABC's before. I think he is a nice kid and everytime his brother's in the dugout, he will run inside and keep us entertained.

Heritages Belt Loop #3: Draw a family tree showing members of your family for three generations.

My mom helped me make a family tree. It shows three generations of my family: my mom and dad, their parents and me and my sister. You can see it here:


http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AUlUjmduY5agZGc4emh2ZDVfMWhmY2Z2NGht&hl=en

Weather Pin #5: Explain the differences between tornadoes and hurricanes.

One of things about tornados is that they can happen almost anywhere. And hurricanes, they mostly happen in tropical areas like Hawaii, Mexico and Australia. Like the hurricane that's still forming (and has been forming for 2 weeks now) called Hurricane Alex. Personally, I think that's going to be one of the biggest because it's been forming for two weeks now. Tornado's don't happen on water, but hurricanes take up a whole lot of water. Plus you need to be either the ocean or the sea in order to have a hurricane but tornados can happen anywhere. The place with the fewest tornado's is Atlanta, which I learned from the show "Tornados" which is on channel 62, which is the Weather Channel. By the way, they said that in some places, they said it is going to be +10 (extremely hot), so gather up all of your sunscreen and swimsuits and go to the beach. But watch out for tornados because it's tornado and hurricane season.

Tornado's and hurricanes both start out as a simple cloud, but when hot and cold air meet, they form a giant vortex that will pick up anything in it's path and throw up. And did you know that a simple F1 vortex can jump a mile?? And that's the weakest kind of vortex.

Hurricane

F4 Tornado

Artist Badge #5: Using a computer, make 6 designs (2 of 2)

Ahtaski Battle

The Ahtaski never rests

My Famly

Disabilities Awareness Pin #2: Explain how your school helps students with disabilities

Today I visited my new elementary school and met the principal. He is a nice guy and he took us on a tour of the school. They have a big, BIG library- it even had computers to help you find the book your are looking for and to help you with your homework. I asked him about kids with disabilities and he said that they school has cushions for their desk chairs, special teachers to help with their work, special buttons to open the doors for them and things to make it easier for them to write and use the computer. I asked if the school had elevators and ramps and he said they didn't need those because they didn't have any stairs. It's just one story high, with an east wing and a west wing.

I think that this school is the best school in the world because it got rated 8 out of 10 in the ratings website and because they do a lot to help their students with disabilities.

Artist #7: Use clay to sculpt a simple subject

Here is the inspiration:

And here is the finished product:

Artist Requirement #4: Draw or paint a picture outdoors, frame it for your bedroom.

This is a picture of a snake in a tree and a giraffe that are friends. And there's a bird over them that's thinking "what the heck's going on over there?"

Video Games Pin #2: List at least five tips that would help someone who was learning how to play your favorite video game.

My favorite game to play right now is called Naruto Clash of the Ninja Revolution . It's about trying to unlock all of the characters and kicking your opponants butt. But it's mostly all about the specials, the jutsu and having good battle strategy. Here is some good advice for new players:

1. Here's my special combo for Kisame: Triple A, and then go for the atomic shark bomb jutsu.

2. Here's one for Naruto: If your life is lower and you have your chakra all the way up to the third flame, you can use the nine-tailed fox. It makes your character really, really powerful and basically can kick anyones butt, even Itachi's.

3. Now, if you are playing Itachi (if you have earned him yet) always use a special if your opponant is really ticking you off. It takes out over half of your opponants life points. His jutsu is called the Ichu fiomi sharingon. It can only be used in the Uchiha clan, like Saske. Saske's is a little less powerful, only he uses a powerful lighting strike, but if you're going to use it you have to hold the X button down and he say "SHARINGON" and the sharingon eye will appear over your guy.

4. One of me and my best friend's favorite team mate thing that you can make is Guy Sensei with Kakashi Sensei. If you know how to use them right, they can create a powerful double attack.

5. Kakashi can also use the Sharingon, because he's a copy ninja. This silverheaded soldier (because he has silver hair). Itachi is one of his most arch-nemesis's. And yes, I know that I'm obsessed with this show. I have a crush on one of the characters!

This game is rated T, because you can throw knives and there is a lot of fighting, but no blood.

Skateboarding Pin #4: View a skateboarding video.

My mom and I watched this video on Netflix:

It had guys in Germany and France and England talking about skateboarding. But then I found this one on Youtube and we put it on my blog because I think it's a lot more exciting than the other one.

Citizenship Pin #1: 1. Write a letter to your newspaper about an issue that concerns you. Send your letter by mail or e-mail.

This is the letter that I just sent to the editor of the Macomb Daily. It is the first letter I've sent from my new email account.



June 15, 2010

Dear Editor,

My name is Rory and I am 10 years old and I really love the weather, which the fire from the oil explosion caused to pollute and I also love marine life, so this is basically the worst thing that has ever happened in my life. I really want to kick the trash out of who caused the oil spill because they killed thousands of fish and now dead dolphins are washing up on the shore and thousands of pelicans are getting poisoned and they act like they don’t care. They have created, I’d say, the worst oil spill in history and people should stop using BP’s gas stations because of what they did.

In all my years of having low kidney function and a bladder condition, it’s gonna be even worse than that for all of the fish, dolphins and pelicans in the Gulf of Mexico.
We need to build a big wall around it and take hay and anything else that absorbs oil and throw it into the inside of the wall. It will absorb all the oil and then we can pick it up. While we do this we should use all the other gas stations, except for BP’s gas stations.

Sincerely,

Rory

Video Game Belt Loop: Explain the Rating System

The Video Game Rating System is because like, let's say that your kid wanted a video game that the title was "Call of Duty." How would you know if it was appropriate for him? I mean, first you think it's like a math game and the next thing you know your kids character is shooting some dude with an assault rifle! So they invented the Video Game Rating System that way you know that your kid is not doing that. Here's how it works:

The first level is E for Everyone. Things like Mario and if they make them, an Americas Funniest Home Videos fame.

Games for little bitty kids are games that are rated EC for Early Childhood.

E 10+ which are games for ages 10 and up. I'm 10, btu sometimes I like to play games like Tony Hawk's American Wasteland which is rated T because it has swears in it. Plus sometimes there's a little bit of bleeding because it's about skateboarding....even when your guy is wearing kneepads, elbow pads, helmet and handpads.

T games are for Teens, and these games are very cool mostly because there's a lot of action and excitement. My mom only lets me play T games that are sports and Naruto.

M games are for mature, which means a lot a violence. Which makes me want to play them but my mom says NO. NO. NO. Mature games are for adults only.

Family Member #13: Explain Why Garbage and Trash Must Be Disposed of Properly

Trash must be disposed of properly because if you don't take it out at the right time your house starts smelling like garbage. Also, if you put it outside but don't have it taken away, you can get mice and bugs around your house and that's gross. You can put the garbage out anytime you want as long as it's not late for the garbage man. But if you do forget to put it out in time, you can use some stuff in your firepit like paper, cardboard and stuff like that. But you don't want to burn plastic and glue and other chemicals...especially TNT. Ha ha. Also, you have to make sure your recycling is not in your garbage, because we have to take care of our planet Earth.

Family Member #2: Make a Chart Showing the Jobs You and Other Family Members Can Do at Home.

This is the chart I made with my mom. I did NOT like loading the dirty dishes at all today so I decided that I can be in charge of unloading the clean ones and my sister can be in charge of loading up the gross, dirty dishes. But I have to put dirty clothes in the washer, so it's fair. Besides, that means that I get to use the washing machine and put in the soap which is way more fun.

ME:
- Swiffer the Living Room
- Unload the Dishwasher
- Load the Washing Machine
- Pick up 10 Things and Put them Away

MY SISTER:
- Swiffer/Mop the Kitchen
- Wipe Down Bathroom Surfaces
- Load the Dishwasher
- Pick up 10 Things and Put them Away

MY MOM:
- Wipe Down Kitchen Surfaces
- Dry, Unload and Fold Laundry
- Vacuum Bedroom
- Dust
- Pick up 10 Things and Put them Away

MY DAD:
- Mow the Grass
- Take Out the Garbage
- Set up Dialysis
- Put Away Folded Laundry
- Pick up 10 Things and Put them Away

Artist #5: Using a Computer, Make 6 Original Designs (1 of 2)

I made these pictures using Microsoft Paint which is really fun and which I did not know even existed until my mom and dad showed it to me today. I made three pictures but then I got bored and wanted to play Pirates of the Caribbean online.

This one is called Abstract #1. My dad said it kind of looked like a Thunderbird to him but I said that it wasn't really a picture of anything and my mom said that art about nothing is called abstract.

This is my favorite picture that I made today. It is NOT abstract. It is a picture of the planets and stars. The sun, the moon, three stars, the earth, Jupiter (the blue one), Saturn (the brown one with rings), Pluto (the little gray one), Venus (the little green one), Mars (the little pink one) and that orange thing with the red dot is a black hole, which no one has ever seen before and which isn't actually orange but black wouldn't show up in space.

This is another abstract picture that I made because my mom told me to experiment with using the shapes buttons. It is called Red Hope, because I thought that was a really cool name.

PS- My mom typed this for me because my fingers are tired from making all this art. But that's not important to the story.

Outdoorsman #4: With a Parent, Camp Overnight with a Boy Scout Toop. Sleep in a Tent You Helped Pitch.

This is the tent that my dad and I did at the 100th anniversary of camp scouting. It was a 6-people tent but it was freezing and we accidentally brought 40 degree sleeping bags. Turned out they didn't really work at all, because it wasn't 40 degrees.

These are two animals that I got to touch. I think my favorite was the snake, because it always smiled for the camera. And I like the alligator a lot because I think he likes me.

ANd there was also a remote controlled truck derby. I kept crashing into other cars and once I hooked up onto one of hte other cars and then when they didn't let go, mine flew right over it and theirs flipped over. THen I hit another one and it flipped over and fell out of the stadium. Mine is the red one there.

THis is me with the bopper I bought. Kicking butt. They had them on sale for five dollars and if you weren't able to buy one, they had ones you could borrow.

That's me going to climb the wall. And it was being run by people in the Marine Corp. I got halfway there, until I ran out of rocks. Then I let go, but I kept on slamming into the rock on the way down.

I don't know what cannon this is.

This is everyone getting ready for the big Scout parade.

This is me riding in the parade. My dad and I rode on the trolley. It was COLD!!

Traveler #4: Take a Trip with a Parent to a Place That Interests You

My Dad and I drove to Muskegon to spend the night on a real World War 2 submarine, named the Silversides!



That's the war room. Somebody got an emergency surgery on this table during the middle of an attack on the sub. Only one person died on this whole sub. And it wasn't the guy who had hte surgery!



This is a picture of the one person who died. This plaque was put on the place exactly where he was shot by a machine gun. He was a lookout.

This is the whole entire deck but not really the whole thing. It was big.

This is a view of Lake Michigan. But it's not really important to the story.

This is a picture of me and my fellow cub scout looking at the lake, thinking about when those sea gulls will poop.

This is a picture of a GIANT gun on a coast guard submarine. And WOW it was big.

That was a tiny back up ship on land disarmed, of course. It was the smallest kind there. The others were SOOO big they were bigger than the submarine.

I do not know what this is. My dad just took a picture of it.

This is where they made their food. Where they ate was right next door and they had videos.

This is the main operating room. The big wheel is one of the hatches for the boat, I think. And the tube-shaped thing on the left is a compass.

This is where the injured people slept. That's what that big cross box is. We did not sleep in here though.