Gah! So Few Weeks of Summer Left!

My guys, Charlie and Xander, are leaving for scout camp in the morning. They'll be gone all week. I told them there was a good school-supply sale this week and asked if they had any requests. That's when we all realized:

Holy guacamole, summer is almost over!!

When the boys get back, there will be only four weeks of summer left. Four weeks! That's hardly any time at all. And you know those weeks will fly by, too.

I hope you're having a fun summer, and making the most of every moment!

The Tickle Cure

Tonight I accidentally ticked my son, Xan, and got bonked in the nose. You know that really hurty kind of nose-bonk that makes you feel like you've broken your nose? All because I *barely* touched a tiny piece of his skin with my fingertips. This kid is beyond ticklish!

His twin brother practically begs to be tickled, so maybe he got all the tickle genes or something.

I used to be super ticklish, too, but I trained myself to ignore it. To be unticklish. Maybe it's time to teach him my mad anti-tickle ninja skillz.

1. Tell yourself you're not ticklish at all. 
2. Get all zen about it and breathe deep. Just keep breathing.
3. Don't tense up!
4. If you can't talk your brain out of being tickled, put your hand on your tickler's hand while they're tickling you. I know, sounds weird but it works!

Movie Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2

When Hiccup and Toothless discover an ice cave that is home to hundreds of new wild dragons and the mysterious Dragon Rider, the two friends find themselves at the center of a battle to protect the peace.

The boys and I took Deej to How to Train Your Dragon 2 on Friday night. It was either that or Maleficent, but since it was almost Father's Day, we let Deej choose--and he chose HTTYD2. We knew he would. ;)

We should have watched the first movie as a warm-up for the second . . . we all had fuzzy memories about the Alpha dragon that breathed fire and saved the day in the first movie. We kept expecting him to show up in this one, but he didn't.

It was totally fun. We loved it. I liked how Hiccup embraced his differences and was determined to show that he could be great--but in his own way. I loved the way that Stoic (spoilers!) just forgave his wife and loved her, sang with her and danced with her "even though" she'd abandoned them and stayed away so long. That was very touching and is just the way I think true love ought to work.

Lots of great action and dragons in this movie! I give it 4 Ninjas of Awesome. :)

Rocky ~ Cat-Dog, Except Better

I've always been a big-dog fan. Labs, Australian Sheepdogs, St. Bernards . . . you get the picture.

 Always until the last three years, anyway.

A friend gave us a little Yorkshire Terrier puppy. We named him Rockwell after a man in the 1800's who was said to be un-killable. I knew I would love him (who wouldn't love a little puppy?), knew he'd be cute and awesome and all that jazz.

What I didn't know is that he'd completely convert me to the wonders of small-dog love!

He's like the real live version of Cat-Dog, except without the weird cat head/dog head thing. Rocky is perfect in every way. He's as cute as a puppy, even though he's three years old. He's small and compact like a cat. He doesn't shed like ... uh .... like a person. He's smart like any big dog.

In short ....

He. Is. Awesome!

(And I'll be including this giveaway in every post until it ends at the end of the month.

If you've already entered, I'd love it if you'd help spread the word about my new book

by sharing the giveaway! Thank you!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

MMGM ~ Dream Keeper Take Me Away!

This is my first-ever Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (courtesy of Shannon Messenger) post! Yeah! I'm excited to be here . . . and a little nervous! I'm not very good at reviewing books. I always think someone else can summarize and postulate a lot better than me. And what the heck does "postulate" even mean, anyway? I don't know, it just seemed like a fancy way to say "talking about". :P

But when my kid says, "Hey this book is really good," I take notice and it makes me want to read the book, too. (Note: This doesn't seem to go the other way. If I say, "Hey, this book is really good, you should read it," both my sons usually say something like, "Oh, that's nice" and they DON'T read it.)

Anyway, my son Xan (Thing 2) read The Dream Keeper by Mikey Brooks, said it was really good, so I thought I'd read it too. Like I said, I can't talk fancy about books, but I can tell you . . . I LIKE THIS BOOK!

Dreams: Dorothy called it Oz, Alice called it Wonderland, but Nightmares call it HOME.When an evil shifter takes over the gateway to the realm of Dreams, it falls to 14-year-olds Parker and Kaelyn to stop him. Their only hope lies with Gladamyr, the Dream Keeper, but can they trust a Nightmare to save their world?

Add it on Goodreads!

From the first pages I wanted to keep turning the page. I liked the troubles Kaelyn faced with bullies, and as a mom of boys who play video games, I totally got the angst of gaming and wanting your friends to think you were "the man". But it was the rebellious, kind, Dream Keeper that I wanted to know most about. I turned the pages for Gladimyr, The Dream Keeper.

The author, Mikey Brooks, did not let me down. I loved this book. I loved the real friendship between Parker and Kaelyn (and really related to Kaelyn's personal troubles).

Thank goodness I have the second book, The DreamStone ready to read next! (Xan liked that one, too!)

I give The Dream Keeper by Mikey Brooks 5 Ninjas of Awesome!

Fan Friday!

A shiny new release!

Warrior of the Egyptian Kingdom by Stephanie Jefferson

Princess Kandake, youngest child of King Amani and heir to the throne of Nubia, has determined to continue her warrior training, but that is not the only thing that complicates her 14 year old life. 

When the king receives a dispatch from Pharaoh Nakhtnebef of Egypt, Kandake is sent to find out why the pharaoh would need Nubia’s warriors to remain in Egypt any longer and why he has included a secret symbol within his message—help. 

In Egypt, Kandake discovers treachery and a poisoned pharaoh, the identity of the bandits that attacked Nubia’s caravans, a Nubian orphan, and that Kandake may be Sakhmet—the Egyptian goddess of war. 

(And I'll be including this giveaway in every post until it ends at the end of the month.

If you've already entered, I'd love it if you'd help spread the word about my new book

by sharing the giveaway! Thank you!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fan Friday!

A couple treasures for you today!

The Super Spies and the Cat Lady Killer by Lisa Orchard

In a small town in Michigan, fifteen-year-old Sarah Cole is stuck spending the summer at her Aunt and Uncle’s with her sister, Lacey. She’s not happy with the situation until she befriends a girl named Jackie. The three girls stumble upon the ruthless murder of a reclusive neighborhood woman and what's worse? One of the officers investigating the crime believes the girls are responsible for her death.

Fearing that this officer will frame them for the murder, the girls organize their own detective squad. They become the Super Spies and start their own investigation. The Super Spies can’t understand why anyone would want to murder the “Cat Lady” until they start digging into her past and discover a horrible crime that happened thirty years ago. They uncover a connection between the two crimes and attempt to bring this information to the police, only to be reprimanded for meddling in the investigation. Not only are the girls upset by the admonition, but they also struggle with the fact that their exuberant investigating could provide a legal loophole allowing the killer to go free. Frustrated by this turn of events, the Super Spies realize it’s up to them to snare the Cat Lady killer.

Or die trying...

The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis by Sharon Ledwith

When Amanda Sault and her four classmates are caught in a major food fight at school, they are given the choice of suspension or yard duty. It was a no-brainer. A two-week crash course in landscaping leads the kids to discover a weathered stone arch buried in an overgrown backyard. Instead of a forgotten lawn ornament, it turns out to be an ancient time portal from the lost continent of Atlantis. Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers—legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from an evil force—the five children, along with two offbeat adults, are sent on the adventure of their lives to save the Earth from an uncertain future. The Timekeepers’ first mission lands them in England in 1214, where they must find an adolescent Robin Hood and his band of merry teens before history is turned upside-down.