Writing Wednesday: The inspiration behind SANTA'S DOG #HolidayBooks

Like dogs? Read books? 

Want to help shelter dogs with every purchase?

Here’s a great Christmas gift that does just that!

About SANTA’S DOG:

Sometimes the best gifts choose YOU! Follow the adventures of Santa’s best dog, Lance, when he falls out of the sleigh one Christmas Eve. He’s taken in by the animal shelter and then brought home by a military family who needs some help as Dad is called to serve his country. When Christmas Eve comes ‘round the next year, Lance must decide whether to return to the North Pole with his friend Santa or stay with his new family. If you love dogs, if you have family in the military, or if you believe in Santa, you will be touched by SANTA'S DOG.

And best of all, SANTA’S DOG is based on a true story! 

Author JoAnn Sky explains: 

Early in our marriage when my husband was deployed to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, I didn’t like being at home myself and adopted Sampson, an older mixed-breed dog (part husky, part angel), from a kill-shelter in Las Vegas. Sampson became my best friend and kept me safe.

One day after my husband had returned home from deployment, I brought Sampson to the veterinarian to get his ears checked because he didn't seem to be able to hear me (why else wouldn't a dog come immediately when called, right?) The vet assured me that Sampson was fine and explained that his behavior was typical of northern-breed dogs: they do things on their own time. I went home and told my husband what the vet said, and he declared, "Northern dog? Maybe he's Santa's dog and got lost from the North Pole!" It took me over a decade, but I finally wrote that story…and SANTA’S DOG is the result!

How to Order:

SANTA’S DOG is available on Amazon. But if you order directly from the Dogs & Books website,  https://www.dogsandbooks.com/shop, you’ll get a little freebie with each book purchased—there are specials every month (and free media mail shipping--US/APO addresses only)!

About the Publisher: Dogs & Books is a specialty publisher based in Reno, Nevada. A portion of their sales go to animal rescue causes. Current partners include: Nevada Humane Society (Reno), Sir’s Rescue Rangers (Las Vegas), and Blue Star Families (organization that supports military families).

Graduation Season! Where does the time go??

It seems like yesterday - well, maybe the day before yesterday - when I snapped this photo of my oldest son and his dog. Where does the time go?

And now he's all grown up. And graduating.
And going on to pilot training. Like, totally adulting right out of the gate.

I'm so proud, but at the same time I feel the tears burning the backs of my eyeballs.
I keep telling myself this is normal. This unwillingness to let go. Like I have a choice in the matter.

I keep telling him that he'll always be my baby, but really, I have to admit that he's all grown up.

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2018, not just at the Air Force Academy, but everywhere.

You guys and gals are the future. And it's filled with opportunity and possibilities.

Go for it.

Friday Feature: His Last Day of High School

Today is my middle child's last day of high school.

It's hard to imagine it when I still picture him as this little kid - not the oldest, not the youngest, but my middle one. Kind, thoughtful, smiling, and Always there. Except now he'll be headed off to college in Chicago.

Senior year has been a rollercoaster ride of emotional upheaval, so much to process and so many bittersweet endings. Today is another in that journey, but I'm hoping it's a positive one for him. So now I'm going to share some of my favorite pics from this past year...and try to get over the fact that next school year there will only be one little birdie left in the nest...

Congrats to my middle child, and the Valedictorian of his graduating class. May your college days hold even more smiles than High School!

Writing Wednesday: What are our Kids Learning?

It's Spring Vacation in our area, so local area schools are shuttered for the week. Which means I'm not accomplishing a whole lot of writing (or "real" work, for that matter.) That doesn't mean my kids don't have homework and projects to finish.

In fact, one of my kids had a rather involved science project, making a model, a diagram and a written explanation. Ah ha, you're thinking, she's going to talk about high school writing projects.

Um, no.

Actually, I'm going to talk about making models, and how letting kids figure it out on their own helps them engage more of their creative skills as well as their oral communication skills (which will in turn help their written communication skills, but that's for another blog post.)

So the assignment was to create a model of a DNA molecule.

The students were explicitly forbidden from using a model kit, and told not to use Styrofoam balls. Extra points are being given for being creative, and thinking outside the box, although the models have to be sturdy enough to travel to and from school and be handled. They can lay flat, sit up or hang. Go.

I let my child figure it out. I asked them to go through our craft supplies to see if there was anything they could use, or to make a list for the craft store since we were going into town today. They got all excited about it yesterday afternoon when they came up with an idea, contingent upon me giving up part of an older brother's collection...

...of PEZ dispensers. What you see here are the ones left standing. Another thirty plus were sacrificed, losing their heads to the science gods...

Golf balls proved a bit heavy for the endeavor, but they came up with the idea of ping pong balls. Luckily, the local 7Eleven keeps them in stock for the bar across the street where they hold weekly beer pong tournaments. (No, I wish I were making that up.)

Add hot glue and we're good to go. Except when I say "We" I don't mean me. I didn't help, except to give my permission to use the PEZ dispensers. I didn't even express an opinion about the weight of the golf balls. I let it all get puzzled out naturally. I helped passively, by holding pieces while the glue dried, but I did not even touch the glue gun. Not once.

The result? A very cool model that my child is proud of. That they did all on their own. Thought through, worked out the kinks, solved the issues, found a ride to 7Eleven on own (I was working) and - most importantly - understands what each part of the model represents, including the color coding in a very specific order. So the write up should be easy, because they get it. They built it.

Some ask what the point of these kind of projects is. It looks like more fun than work. They should be busy learning vocabulary, practicing spelling, doing sheets of math problems, learning the order of the periodic table, learning to write cursive... and any host of other rote learning skills we learned as young teens.

But planning and problem solving are critical. Learning to think and solve complex problems on your own and in groups is ever more important in our complex world. We have computers that spell check for us, calculators that solve equations for us, and search engines to look up facts and dates. What students really need to learn is critical thinking. Open ended projects like this are invaluable to helping them push the boundaries of their creativity.

And making cool looking models is fun.

What do you think? If you were the superintendent, what would your priorities be?

Happy Easter... and oops, forgot to schedule posts last week!

Happy Easter Sunday to all, and a big apology for disappearing for an entire week without excuse.

Well, I had an excuse. My oldest was home for Spring Break, my second child is in teh midst of college acceptance angst... and I forgot to schedule a week of posts in advance.

Took son #1 back to the airport this morning and plan to get back on track today for the coming week and month... but it also shows me I'm not prepared to participate in A to Z this year. Nope. Not until I'm a wee bit more organized. (yeah, right, in this lifetime? ha!)

As my mea culpa, I'm including a few of my favorite shots from the week - including my son's brand new tattoo, and the command uniform appearance at his grandmother's retirement community (with all the cousins, too.)

Happy Easter!

Writing Wednesday: Time Out for the Birthday Boy

I'm not getting any writing done today. Sometimes, life is more important.

My middle child turns 17 today.

It may be a cliche, but sometimes it seems as if time actually, literally flies. Hard to even imagine he's old enough to drive himself and sibling to school, and now we're looking at colleges. Today we visit M.I.T.  It doesn't seem so long ago he was learning to talk... now he's at the top of his class and has all kinds of opportunities available to him.

 Then...

...and Now.

Happy Birthday, Brian!

Counting Down the Days of Summer

Mid-August can be bittersweet to some - summer is almost over and school looms on the horizon. For some, classes have already started this week. For my oldest child, the new school year began just a week after high school graduation, back in June.

He's attending college at the United States Air Force Academy, and has spent the summer undergoing Basic Training, getting prepared for the Academy lifestyle.

Last week, Basic ended and the new cadets earned their first shoulder boards. Yesterday, academic classes began for the fall semester. His summer is over.

I'm still counting down the last days of August until Parents Weekend, when we will fly out and see him. Looking forward to hearing all his stories and seeing his smiling face in person.

Until then, I'll be busy enjoying the last days of summer vacation with my other kids - and getting them ready for back-to-school.

Summertime on Cape Cod

After a long, cold, hard winter, Summer has officially hit Cape Cod. The dogs are waking me up even earlier than during the school year so they can greet the sun on the beach - before it gets crowded with sunbathers and (oh yeah) the summertime "No Dogs" rules kick in. Similar to the characters in my books, I tend to thumb my nose at that rule, as long as we're off the beach before anyone else shows up. (Unlike my character Shea, I've never had a run-in with a police officer about it!)

Two of my kids celebrated the last day of school at the new Frozen Yogurt place on Main Street - make your own FroYo sundaes for 59 cents per pound. They swirled flavors and added toppings... Yum! My wallet is a little afraid they will want to visit every day all summer long!

My oldest child graduated from high school this year, and if you haven't seen my posts on Facebook, he's already off to college. Not just any college, but the U.S. Air Force Academy, joining the long, blue line as part of the Class of 2018, the 60th class to enter the Academy. A great achievement, a huge milestone, and I'm still adjusting to his absence.

He won't be home again until Christmas, but we will get to visit for Parents Weekend at the end of the summer. Until then, we rely on photos posted to the parent portal the Academy sets up to assuage parental anxiety. 

When we see him next, he will have completed Basic Training and have already started classes. And will be required to wear a uniform at all times. Good luck to all these young men and women who have chosen this much more challenging college experience! Go Air Force!

Happy Birthday, 18-Year-Old!

Sometimes it seems like just yesterday that he was a little boy. Today he's 18. Happy Birthday to my oldest child, who brings me joy and dandelions, and alternately fills me with happiness and anxiety, but usually with an infectious smile on his face. I'm so proud of the young man you've become!

Happy Birthday, Sean!