Crafting

I had a great day yesterday!  Finally some mama time. A god friend hosted a ladies lunch and crafting day. The lunch was a delicious mixed green salad with roasted pecans, cranberries and Gorgonzola cheese. She is going to send me the recipe for the yummy dressing. Dessert was a light lemon cake with with frosting made from a can of frosting and cool whip. Yum!

The crafts were these cute projects that could be given away. First we made cards that could be taped to a gift...happy birthday, thinking of you...etc. they were small and fit right inside a mason jar- 8 cards total. The top of the mason jar was decorated with a circle of fun paper then the handle was tied with a pretty bow. My thought is to make more of these and give them to teacher during teacher appreciation week. The second craft was this adorable K cup holder. A perfect teacher gift for Valentines Day. 

A great day with a great bunch of ladies. I can't wait to do it again. 

Planning

We plan/prep for just about everything around here. Some months don't require as much planning as others. January is a big planning month. We can't figure out why, but CJ struggles a lot this time of year. So there is planning and preparing for EVERYTHING....birthday parties, day trips, even a night at home. Planning is both visual and verbal. Recently we have started modeling as well. I read a great article about the effects of modeling. It was a god reminder that talking too much at CJ isn't helpful to him. He needs to see what a behavior or situation will look like. We have been trying this in regards to his stranger fear. Having him practice saying hi to the crossing guard or friends of ours that we may run into. Birthday parties typically take about 2 weeks to get CJ ready. First by contacting the place where the celebration is being held to ask questions, showing pictures, watching videos, and if we can going to the party place ahead of time to check it out. Then there is the planning for what is going to happen with reminders to be flexible if something happens that wasn't planned for. A few days leading up to the celebration is talking. CJ has become good about asking good questions to help calm his fears. 

So now I better stop blogging and continue to prep for tomorrow's outing. 

Brrr

It is so cold...not just outside but 45 degrees in my classroom today. I was hearing gloves and a jacket to teach...not an easy task. My poor kids put their jackets and hats on. It was a long day trying to stay warm and learn something today. Hoping tomorrow is warmer. 

Lesson

I read a great article today about the importance of showing ASD kids vs telling them. I do it every day as a good teacher in my classroom....model what I want my kids to do. It's so important as I have many different types of learners. Modeling ensures everyone knows exactly what you expect. The article really hit home. Not sure why I do so much talking at CJ instead of showing him. So hanging on my kitchen cabinet....be a model!!!  

Snow Day

Today was not the kind of snow day this teacher likes. With CS still injured, I had to get out there and shovel. Next house we buy needs to not be on a corner!!!!  It took me about three hours...it was hard work. But I'm trying to look at it as exercise for the day...and perhaps even tomorrow. Once inside, I took a hot shower then fell asleep sitting in the chair. So nothing I normally like to do on a snow day was done today. Hopefully the next snow day will be a teacher kind of snow day. 

Starting off

We are starting the year off on the right note. After weeks of injury and illness we finally got out of the house yesterday. First we headed to the Sports Center for a little bowling and arcade fun. After, we had lunch at the mall food court then did some window shopping. It was nice to be out and about. We have committed to getting out more and trying some new places.