Tasty Treats

Good morning!

I wanted to take a second to share what I "made" my students this year as their annual holiday treat.  Sometimes I go over the top, and other times I keep it pretty simple.  This was a simple kind of year, obviously. :)


Here it is!  What do you think?

Time's flying!

Hey everyone, hope you all are enjoying your week!  It's been pretty frigid here in southwestern PA.

I am so excited to get a small break soon (6 days, but who's counting?!) because I have so many little projects I am working on.  I also have been trying out a few different things that are new to me (but that some of you might use already) to try to free up some of my time and increase my productivity. 

Google Drive is one of the new tools that I have been trialing in my workplace... so far it has been helping me share files between my computers (laptop and work computer), iPad and yes, iPhone!  AND via instructions I stumbled upon at the blog Cooking Up Gallon Size Fun for Quart Size Communicators, I've been learning how to create a paperless schedule and data collection system!

Check it out here!  It was so, so easy.  Thank you so much to Heather!  I look forward to seeing more of your blog!  I used the system today with the 'go-ahead' from my supervisor and it really is awesome.  Not ALL of my students are in my Google Drive yet, but I can assure you that they will be soon!  Using it today gave me excitement I needed to add 20 more.  It takes some time, yes... but so worth it in the end.

Basically, you create a "form" for every student that looks kind of like this:

Then you copy the form, and change the student-specific information (goals, IEP date), and voila! 

Also- I have to add- make sure you are HIPPA compliant by not putting any full names on the forms, even though it only goes to your personal account.  Better safe than sorry! :)  I am not going to give a full tutorial because Heather's is pretty amazing.  So if you have more questions, ask and I will definitely try to help.

I hope you found this somewhat helpful, I am so excited to go "paperless" because I feel like I use so much in a given school year.   What do you use for data collection?

Picture Tuesday :)

I finally have some pictures for you!

My new theme is based off of my new favorite print from Thirty One, Party Punch! :) I love the mint, gray, lime green and pink.

 

I bought this file folder organizer in the print from a Thirty One party, and I cannot live without it. 

...So much so that I bought another one!  I love their products and they are so useful and durable.

Notice my EOS lip balm never leaves my desk! :) Addicting!

 Here is my new "waiting area" :)  If you were familiar with the make-up of my previous room, you'll know I like to keep some chairs and comfy pillows handy for the students or others who are waiting!

 

Did you notice my little table got an upgrade?  So bright, I love it.  My pillows from left-to-right are from: handmade, Michaels, HomeGoods and Wal-Mart!

 

 I did go out and buy some new fabric to match my theme, most of it is from Hobby Lobby.  I probably will never shop anywhere else for fabric since theirs is always on sale!

 

Calendar and weather wall!  Love this bright chevron.

 My "Articulation Station" wall.  Where I can quickly grab artic materials.  Complete with tissue paper flowers... which are soo easy to make.  I found step by step directions from Pinterest here.

My behavior and rewards wall!  The "wooden" wall is actually fadeless paper that my wonderful sister introduced me to.  I had to buy additional paper because my wall is so wide & tall, but make sure you take a coupon if you grab some!  It's about $9 a roll (depending on where you go), mine was from Michael's.

 

About the behavior clip chart portion: our school is adopting the School Wide Positive Behavior Support (SWPBS) system and I have my own clip chart in the Speech Room so that students realize their behavior matters everywhere in school, even in Specials and therapy.  You can grab the one I made here.

 The top of the behavior and reward wall... reinforcing our "clips" :)

And new this year... reward punch cards!  I got the idea when I was at Giant Eagle, not kidding.  Kind of like when you use your "Advantage Card" at the store and earn perks-  students earn a hole punch for bringing their folder, and a hole punch for participating in Speech class that day.  Once a student has his or her card filled up, a prize is earned!  It took some students a little too long to earn prizes in my room with the sticker chart and occasional birthdays, so I added this in.  So far it's been a really great motivator!

 

And another new addition: our weekly "To-Do" list.  It helps the students and I keep track of what's going on this week, birthdays, assemblies, and other goings on for our school.  With my wide scope of grades (K-12) it is easy to lose track of what is going on and when! 

This was my room all ready for Open House at the end of September.  Open House went really well and I think it's going to be a great year (as always)! I will post more pictures soon.  I hope you enjoyed them!

-The Speechie :)

Long lost blogger

Well, I am ashamed it has been FIVE months since I have been at it, but I promise... I've had good reason!  And whether or not you believe me- I'm back for good.  You can't get rid of me now!

Why was I gone?
1) I got married! :)
2) We are renovating a WHOLE house
3) It was summer?? Okay, okay,... horrible excuse.

I know I could have done a much better job at least of posting some things here and there (especially since I DID work on Speechie things over the summer... promise) but then I wouldn't have all kinds of good things saved up to share with you for the beginning of the year, would I?

To make up for it, if you comment on the blog I will send you my new back to school APPLES game for FREE!  It's a little game you can use as an ice-breaker for the beginning of the year, or tag it onto your therapy session for a little extra fun.  Who doesn't love something super easy you can just print, cut and go with? I know I do!

It's currently in my TpT store for back to school along with my version of the clip chart we are adopting for our schools new positive behavior support system.  Being my OCD-self, I needed a "modern" patterned clipchart to go with the theme of my room for this year.  Pictures to come :)

For now, it's midnight and I have in service tomorrow! TGIF ;)

All Caught Up

So I thought maybe I’d get caught up on my blog over Spring Break… wrong!

So here I am, it’s April and I'm wondering how time flies by so quickly.  On one hand I have been wishing the days to go by, because I can't wait to be my Mr.'s "Mrs." :) but on the other hand, I feel like I don't have time for the fun stuff I usually do :)

 

I haven’t gotten much done in the realm of new materials or trying new recipes or anything Pinterest-worthy, but I did have a great time over break with my family. :) I hope all of you did, too!  Here's a little look at what took up my time over "break"!

PS My family had the most hilarious discussion about Twitter and we were literally cracking up (and my fiance was even reading some of my tweets out loud which make me laugh really hard and of course, my family, too)

One of the stories I have to share with you from the last couple of weeks:

The week before break, my staff held a jean day.  This isn't unusual in the fact that it's a jean day- which we all have come to love because it means one less "work" outfit a week- but in that my principal agreed that we could donate to AutismSpeaks.org in honor of World Autism Awareness Day, by wearing blue; via the Light It Up Blue! campaign.  If you haven't heard of it, check it out here.  Anyways this was really fantastic and generous of our school, and I cannot wait to donate our first check from my school to Autism Speaks, which is definitely a deserving organization.  We held our awareness day early, as my principal asked if this was okay.  Totally fine by me, of course.

Well, as a result of our school supporting the Light It Up Blue! campaign, our school announcements (which are shown every morning on the SmartBoard podcast through iTunes) featured an short clip throughout the week telling the students that they were invited to wear blue in honor of Autism Awareness Month.  And through the week, I had a few students ask me, "What is autism?"

"...Is it a disease??" "Does that mean you're sick?"

::pause::

"Oh wait," said one of my students, "I know someone with autism!"

"It means you REALLY like something, right!?"

I was very humbled to be able to explain the meaning of autism (of course in terms that were age-appropriate to whomever was asking) to my students that week.  Knowing that because of this fundraiser, not only did staff-awareness of autism increase, but student awareness as well.

I know MANY special people.  As a speech-language pathologist, I know many special people who have autism, too.  But just because you know one person with autism, doesn't mean you know them all.  We're all different.  This was the message I made sure my students took home that week.

Happy Wednesday friends,

 

Happy Saturday!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you :) I know tomorrow is officially St. Patty's Day, but most of Pittsburgh is out celebrating (or maybe tired out from all the day partying by now).

Today, I worked a PRN (part time, as needed hourly) shift at a local skilled nursing facility (SNF) first thing this morning, and I was there throughout breakfast and lunchtime for the wonderful residents on SLP caseload there.  My caseload consisted of some really sweet people, but a lot of them were kind of bummed out in particular today- I think because today was such a gloomy day.  Rainy, chilly, and just plain 'ick' out.

At the end of the day though, I saw a few smiles, just from solving simple problems such as lack of heating (or turning it up!), oral-care, getting a favorite juice for them, etc.  Especially with our work in the skilled nursing facilities, SLP isn't JUST about what "treat" and what we "don't treat".  I especially try to live by the Golden Rule: "treat others how you want to be treated".  You never know when you'll find yourself in a position where you have to rely on others.  That's my soapbox about SNF's for the day :)

Anyway, I had a great day working there, and afterwards I had to get my "long" run in for the week.  My long run was 6.1 miles today, and I tried out some new shoes I found at a local running store.  I can't believe I'm half-way through training for May!  I have to start breaking in my shoes for the half marathon already...Wow!

After that long run, my body was in need of some serious healthy-food loving, so after I ran to Market District and grabbed a fresh peach-nectarine-whey smoothie (my new favorite, yum!)...then my fiance and I decided to whip up a healthy version of P.F. Chang's chicken lettuce wraps (without the sodium-packed 'special sauce').

Here's what you need:

• 1 lb. (or more) of finely chopped chicken breast (uncooked)
• 1 small onion (we didn't use the whole thing because we don't love onion), minced
• 1/2 container of mushrooms, chopped finely
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 can of sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped finely
• lite soy sauce, for flavoring
• 1 head of iceberg or bibb lettuce
• Cooking oil spray (we used Spectrum's new coconut oil spray- I was so excited to try this out!)
• Optional* Green scallions (we did not use them)
• Also optional* Mung bean thread noodles AKA cellophane noodles and canola oil for frying

 To do:

1. Cook chicken in a wok or skillet that has been lightly sprayed with cooking oil, until no longer pink and no juice remains
2. Heat about 2" of canola oil -make sure you have enough in your pan! we didn't and I almost burned down the kitchen!- and throw the mung bean thread noodles in carefully until they pop and become fluffy white- you will know when they are done, they look like those "packing peanuts" when done.  Watch them carefully, and when they are done, carefully remove with tongs or slotted metal spoon and place on a paper towel to drain.
3. To the cooked chicken, add chopped/minced mushroom, onion, garlic, and water chestnuts until cooked through (I like to test a piece of water chestnut as they take the longest to cook).  At this point, add your soy sauce to your liking.
4. While waiting for your chicken mixture to finish cooking, cut iceberg lettuce into quarters (if large) or half (if small) to make it easy to "peel" the cups off of the head of lettuce
5. Clean lettuce cups by rinsing under cold water and draining on a paper towel
6. Plate the noodles on a large platter, and add your chicken mixture to the top!
7. Scoop noodle and chicken mixture into lettuce cups and enjoy!  Add additional soy sauce if you need more! We used soy sauce sparingly, so ours was slightly less moist than the traditional version.  Add as much as you'd like.

Thanks for stopping by! :) I hope you like the recipe!

Tuesday Musings

Today started off as usual… and then I got a visit from our wonderful Superintendent.  And when I say wonderful, I mean it!  We are lucky here at my school, to have been blessed with such a kind, thoughtful, and compassionate administrator.    

She informed me that I have been selected as Employee of the Month March 2013 AND that she nominated me for a local award, The Scott E. Folmer Memorial Student, Teacher and Exemplary Practice or Partnering Award (STEPP) for those involved in Special Education in Allegheny County here in PA.  I am honored!!!  She showed me the submission letter she wrote, and I am just completely in awe.  She puts into words the kinds of things you want to hear from your employer!  It was special to hear all of the great things she had to say.

Last night, I did some “design work” to my blog thanks to Projects Around the House (who I found through Pinterest! My obsession).  These tutorials were so easy, I was able to create social media icons and blog buttons thanks to her!  Also I used picmonkey and pixeden (for the social media silhouettes, mine were 32x32) to create the social media icons.  

I was intimidated at first, but with the tutorials, it was a breeze!  I hope you like them :)

All in all, today was a great day.  I finished some projects around the room, one of those being my "Artic Organizer" (see below) I hope your Tuesday was just as great! 

Check out my TpT Store- Here! :) 

TGIF!

Happy Friday! You’ll notice a new look to The Speechie.  What do you think? I found my chevron background for free at tinysea.  Thank you for this adorable fabric chevron pattern! I'm in love! Go visit their other patterns :)

Also you’ll notice that The Speechie should be a little easier to navigate, and read :) I'm still in the process of getting rid of some of the labels you see in the cloud to make categories more specific and less all-over-the-place.  But it takes time, people. :)

PS I have to thank to my friends on twitter @lessonpix and @azspeechguy for your suggestions!  Keep them coming! (Check out @azspeechguy’s blog the-speechguy.com)

I promised I would tell you what the "surprise" was for my special group of kiddos today... and here it is... "Pampering Day!"  Our Life Skills classroom had to earn this day of pampering presented to you by their resident SLP (that'd be me) and their wonderful Life Skills teacher, and classroom aides.  Our kids need a break every once in a while to relax and take care of their bodies, too!  We filed nails, applied lotion, painted nails and chatted about hygiene.  Each kiddo took home a Bath & Body Works treat bag with a mini hand sanitizer, mini loofah, and chapstick!

They were so excited all day leading up to our afternoon of primping.  The boys looked less than enthusiastic but they TOTALLY loved the cookie-scented sanitizer and the sugary smelling lotion.  Who doesn't love those smells? What a happy way to end the day! Their teacher did a great job of keeping it a surprise, too! Thanks Mrs. B!

Also the late nights of staying up to accomplish the things on my "To-Do" list are paying off... I am proud to announce I am now an official registered user of the ASHA NOMS system!

ASHA NOMS?  What's that you ask?

It's ASHA's National Outcomes Measurement System (NOMS), a voluntary data collection system developed to illustrate the value of speech-language pathology services provided to adults and children with communication and swallowing disorders (ASHA.org).  NOMS uses a 7-point rating scale to rate each functional area.  To read more go to ASHA NOMS website.  I was really proud to pass on the first try, and don't know why I was so nervous!  I know currently only 2 of my places of employment use this system, but it's great to have this in my toolkit!

And some info I think you may find useful, while I was at my second job yesterday, one of the clinicians I know was nice enough to tell me that PassyMuir has FREE CEU'S!!!  Whoop.  Always down for those.  Especially when they directly relate to my newest part-time job pickup (hospital setting, trachs & vents).

My TpT Store! :) Click here!

Sleepin' In

Well, we had a 2-hour delay today!  That meant sleeping in... and home-made breakfast crepes! And enjoying my coffee at home...ah what? :)

So, I took a basic crepe recipe and modified it to try to make it a tad healthier and tastier- or so I think :)

My recipe is NOT exact by any means.  So I'm very sorry if you're truly interested in exact measurements.  Don't be scared though, crepes are pretty easy going as long as you make them thin enough! Give them a try... if you do, please tell me how yours turned out!

The Speechie's Whole Wheat Crepes:

• 2 eggs
• A little less than 1 cup whole wheat flour
• About a tablespoon of milled flax seed, I just added this to the flour cup
• 1/2 cup almond milk (use any, mine was vanilla) with another splash (probably a tbsp. more) to thin it out
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons liquid coconut oil (it comes in a thickened state, you need to use warm water in a bowl to liquify it)

(The original recipe calls for eggs, regular flour, milk, water, and butter- I made substitutions as I saw "fit") :)

1. First, whisk the eggs with the milk and water, add in the coconut oil.  Slowly whisk in the flour & flax.
2. Pour batter using a 1/4 cup measure into a skillet or on a griddle that has been "greased" with coconut oil (use sparingly! I only had to add about a tsp. one time and it kept my pan nice and stick-free for the whole round of crepes!)  Use about a little less-than-medium heat.
3. Tilt and turn pan clockwise until you have a nice even layer of crepe batter (this is why I use a skillet not a griddle, easier to pick up and swirl!)
4. Flip with a nice flexible spatula once you see that the underside has cooked through.  You will be able to tell because the edges turn nice and solid and are a give away that it's ready to flip!
5. Sprinkle finished crepes with cinnamon if you wish!

And that's it! Yum.

Though, I have to admit, they are a little plainer than I was hoping... I was hoping for some more coconut/almond-y flavor... but it's nice that you can add whatever toppings you'd like and it won't clash! I used lite syrup to top mine, but you could totally try them dry or add fruit or whatever!

Other than that, the Speechie's day was cut a little short by the delay.  But I am loving my new organizational system for my loose papers... it's called a Fold 'N File (by Thirty One of course) and I love this chevron stripe pattern. It makes me so happy, and happy to stay organized.  I have coordinating colored file folders (of course,... Hello OCD!) to organize my papers into what needs to go to "where".  I keep Post-its, "Please Sign and Return" stickers, pen, and highlighter handy in the front pockets, and of course, the ever-present bottle of Vanilla Bean Noel- my favorite!

My folders:

• Office
• Copy
• To File
• Rosters (yes, plural. I have K-12 I need multiple class rosters!)
• Sub Information
• Emergency Information
• Read Later

And my Speechie kids got a kick out of using Look Who's Listening for multiple "kinds" of therapy today!  This game is super versatile and can be used as the board alone with the smiley's for reinforcement, or used with the cards that come with it for therapy.

Notice we used our large dice, too :)
The cards included are:
Auditory Discrimination (minimal pairs, word parts, sounds in words)
Auditory Memory (numbers, words, sentences, facts/details in a paragraph)
Auditory Integration (interpretation of directions, listening for key words, following multi-level commands)

Very, very useful and the kiddos love rolling the dice to see how many smiley's go on the board!

So all in all, it's been a good week!  As always, keep checking back for more fun :)

Dedicated...

This is dedicated to my First Grade Teacher friends... you know who you are! Thanks for reminding me that someone (or somebodies) are reading along :)

And you'll be REALLY proud I'm not slacking tonight!  :) I had an awesome day for it being a Monday... come on, you all get the Monday blues.  When you're pulling in to your parking spot thinking, "Where did my weekend go?"  Anyway I'm super excited about this week.

First...because the week started off great.  You guys, I got my run in at 5 am today.  Thank my fiancé for that one.

Second because I thought of the cutest idea for a reward at the end of the week for a special group of Speechie friends.  I can't spoil it and tell you though, sorry! ;) You'll find out Friday, promise.

Third, because I was productive this evening, woo hoo! Take a look below...

I can't wait to share this with you.  It started off like any other mini-lesson, blank and waiting for some cute clipart... and it hit me.  Add some cotton candy!  So, Regular and Irregular Verb Cotton Candy was born. Here's a preview :)

And I think it's pretty sweet- haha- get it?  Well cotton candy reminds me of all things "springy", it's bright, and sweet, and I usually indulge in some when I am watching hanging out at the Pirate game at PNC Park, or at Kennywood.

So in light of the massive snow storm we are supposed to get Tuesday night in through Wednesday, here is my cheery new mini-lesson.  Enjoy!

Goodnight friends!

Winding Down

Wow, it's been seriously a whole week since I last hopped on here.

It's been a crazy one, for sure! Lots of transfer-students coming in, and IEP's due, new referrals galore and my SLP friends out there, you know what I'm talking about!  It sometimes comes in all at once, even when you are super prepared and ahead of schedule :)  Sometimes I will go a stretch for about a few weeks where I think -phew- all is calm at work, and then BAM! It seems like I have lots going on.  And by "calm" I mean the usual flow of work, but just at a steady pace.

I was so busy I really didn't even have time to grab any cool pictures of my students hard at work (which they were!).  Here's my collection of school bags gathered on the therapy table though! ;) No wonder some of my colleagues laugh as I walk in the door!

 I really have to give a shout out to my Speechie kids though, because I know in the dreary middle of winter, it is SO hard to focus.  It's like your brain and body are begging for sunlight and warmer temperatures.  But they have been at it.  They have even been entertaining my crazy antics in the Speechie's Room, too.  You know it's great to take your job seriously, but sometimes kiddos just really "tune in" more when you throw a funny joke or a silly face in there (which I feel like I make all the time, especially in artic & apraxia therapy)!

I seriously LOVE my job.  I feel like sometimes I don't say that enough.  I feel so so blessed to have found my school, and also to have chosen Speech-Language Pathology as my field of work.  And what I love even more is that the teachers I work with are realizing the impact that communication has on learning.  They are celebrating the "baby steps" even when others don't view the successes as that great.  They are appreciating more, understanding more, and collaborating more.  I know lots of people who gripe about their workplace and I feel really great to be in the position I'm in.  If you are one of my colleagues, THANK YOU! :)

All in all, this has been a great weekend.  I have started some new projects, and finished a few others.  Due to the popularity of my mini-lesson, "Synonym and Antonym Clouds" which you can view in my TpT store here, I am working on creating a few more mini-lessons.  'Cause let's face it, therapy is basically little "mini-lessons" all day long!  We wear many hats as SLP's, and I think these mini-lessons are great to have in your pocket (or...PC, Mac, whatever) for those days where you don't have a lot of time!

In other news, here's a cute picture to brighten your day.  This is my adorable niece, on my laptop, dancing along to SuperWhy songs on PBS kids jukebox.  That's her favorite show and I think it's so neat that instead of watching re-runs on YouTube when she's over visiting, that we can play the music from the show and dance along!

Enjoy your Sunday night and keep checking back for more!
PS... please let me know what you think! :)

Weekend!

Happy Weekend!

This weekend has been productive *I think* so far!  I love sleeping in and taking my good old time getting up, because the week can be so hectic.  Plus in a few weeks I will be helping part-time to cover a maternity leave for 12 weeks (yes, in addition to my full time job) so I am taking alllll the extra minutes I can get.

I can foresee March-April-May being the busiest months of my life in 2013.  In those 12 weeks that I will be covering the leave as part of PRN (as needed hourly) staff, I will also be training for the half-marathon in Pittsburgh, as well as getting ready for our wedding in July!

The weekends usually leave me with a little bit of extra time, so I'll doodle some clipart, think up activities/therapy ideas, look on Pinterest and Etsy, run some wedding errands, work out, etc.

And this weekend was no different.  My Nutribullet led me to try something I wanted to make for a long time... "the green monster detox smoothie".  I had my doubts because I have had many Pinterest successes, but just about as many Pinterest "fails".  You know, the things you try out as easy as the DIY instructions sound, but they just don't come out right.  Anyway, the "green monster" came out AWESOME.  With a few tweaks.  the original pin can be found here.

Here's my picture of my smoothie.  I know it doesn't look fantastic.  But it tastes really good.  I promise.

In "Speech" news, looking back to Friday, we had some fun!  Some of my students worked on my new Activity Pack that I created for my Sam: The Dog Who Likes Carrots story and the results were great.  I used my story and the Pack for 1/2/3rd grade therapy as well as with an older student whose goals include writing.  Of course I only used the parts that were applicable to each student and his/her therapy/goals, but it was nice to have the pack as a resource.

Here's a pic of one of my students working at the SmartBoard:

 And our St. Patrick's Day themed door is finally done, too! Here's what it looks like!

I hope you enjoyed looking around :)
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Thursday Night

Another day, another post!  Check out what I've been working on these evening:

 My visual First-Then boards! Available at my TpT store here!

 

Just a few of the PCS symbols included in the set!

 

And a little preview of the whole thing!
Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek :)

Today was a good day.  My friend Deanna and I made our half-marathon shirts- yay! I had a great run (a trend this week that I'm happy about) and my student who uses an AAC device (hers is an iPad with Tobii SonoFlex communication app) was absolutely loving the personalized "People" page I was working on late last night.

It makes all the "extra" minutes you put into work so worth it.  I love love love what I do.  I feel bad sometimes calling it my "job" because it is a lot more than that.  Yes, sometimes I run around crazy trying to create/adapt materials, prepare for sessions, collaborate on-the-go, document progress, write IEP's and ER's, oh yes, and provide therapy... but my students every single day make me so happy.  They make me laugh, they challenge me, make me a better clinician, question methods, ask important questions, act silly and sometimes even make me cry... in both the ups and downs of life.  But that's why I'm here.

This is the feeling that brought me to Speech-Language Pathology as a profession,... that feeling you get when "it" clicks and your student accomplishes a goal- one that others may think is a "baby step" progress wise- but you know makes the biggest difference in their entire communication world.

'Night friends!

Blustery Wednesday

I am SO ready for summer!

I, for one, am sick of dragging my big fluffy coat around (you southwestern Pennsylvanians know what I'm talking about) and plus... I need a little sun!  I think maybe I need one of those lamps that simulates sunlight in my room :)

And I have to look at this face every morning before I leave.  Just look at it. Like the pic says he does this to me every.single.morning.  This was Sam's most recent "snuggle me" face while I was making my lunches for the week.

 

Very distracting!

Anyway this morning I woke up so, so cold.  Like I do every morning in the winter.  I was rolling around in bed, and I had the phrase "snug as a bug in a rug" stuck in my head, trying to squeeze 5 more warm minutes out of my bed before I had to hop to it.  {As a side note, I have decided that slippers are now a must in the winter- I know that sounds so silly but really they are wayyy better than socks.}

So I had this whole snug-as-a-bug thought going around in my head I thought, "Hey, what a cute idea for an activity..." so there's now that to work on. ;)

Then I had quite a few exciting things happen today at school.  One was a major "fail" for my half-marathon clean-eating regimen.  Yep, Girl Scout Cookies.  Why, oh why, did I even order ONE box?  I mean, I checked out the nutritional info, eh, whatever... not worth talking about.  Life's too short to not enjoy a thin mint now and again. Or four.

AND I used my new materials in therapy today! My kids loved Sam's story, and they did well with the Comprehension Questions- just the right amount of challenge.  At the end, I got questions like "Does your dog really talk?" and "Does he ACTUALLY like carrots?" ha ha. Very cute.  My new large dice were a hit as well! Look at these puppies! Huge. About as big as the palm of my hand, and so much fun.  I found them at Pat Catan's.

And my day ended with a chuckle.  While in-servicing my teacher colleagues on a student's new iPad device, another student interrupted and said, "Is (student) getting a new dinosaur box?" Of course, she meant DynaVox... like the little girls previous AAC device. Figured that'd give you a laugh, too.

Happy Wednesday friends!

Tuesday Fun!

Well the long weekend was fun!  I got a lot accomplished over the past 3 days and I'm very proud of myself! :) It always feels great to get things done that are on the top of your "to do" list.


Yesterday it felt like one of those days where I had good luck ALL day.  It was awesome.
I got my car back, even though it was supposed to be ready Saturday. Oh well :)
But that was a great feeling... she looks as beautiful as ever!

And I had an amazing run yesterday.  I am so excited for the half marathon! Under 12 weeks to go!  And... there was a sale on grapefruit at Market District! Ha! Go Monday! If every Monday was like yesterday I would be so so happy.

Well, even though I thought it would be ready yesterday, my book and activity pack are finally done!  I am so proud of it because it is the first very large book and pack I've created all on my own (well OK, minus KevinandAmanda.com's amazing free fonts).  It includes a 27 page book in PDF format, and a 13-page activity pack.  Check it out here in my TpT store for more details on what's included.  I am so happy that I could sing!

Here's a preview of the Activity Pack :)

 

Here's a preview of the book (cover and 3 random pages) :)

I hope you enjoy looking! Please let me know what you think! :)

Goodnight all,