Happy Tuesday! (Picture Post!)

Happy Tuesday lovely bloggers! I am 8 days post-op and I feel freaking fabulous! You would never know I just had a vital body part removed last week. I'm trying to slow down and make sure I am resting enough so I don't hurt myself but it is hard to hold still when you feel GREAT.

I have LOTS of awesome things happening in my little world lately.

1.  I finally checked my gmail (d'oh I just don't do that often enough) and had a super sweet email from a reader who read my book and said she loved my honesty. ♥ So I am going to surprise her with a big ole shout out right here on my blog. Ashley, thank you SO much for your kind words! I'm so glad you feel like you aren't alone because you definitely aren't!

2.  I also had an email asking me to share this article with my readers. It is called 50 Best Blogs for Special Ed Teachers (Updated). Of course I am not a special ed teacher persay (although we all ARE due to the vast needs we have in our mainstream classrooms) but this list touches me because my fabulous Middle Child has had so many struggles with school due to her disabilities and I think every teacher, regardless of their classroom makeup, has to be cognizant that just because a child is "weird" or "different" doesn't mean that they can't be the most amazing little soul you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting. (With few exceptions, most of my special needs students have been my favorites--they are quirky and can be frustrating when you don't know how to help them but they are also amazing people who CAN go places if they are supported.)

3. I am BEYOND stoked to let you know that as of this Friday, my 34th birthday, I will be partnering with a very huge and important organization to donate 30% of my overall sales (from 8/10-12/31/12) to help them in their fight to end abuse, rape and incest! I.CAN'T.WAIT. My goal is to generate $10,000 to give to this organization. I will make some announcements here and with links and such and would love your support in helping me to do something amazing from sharing my story!

4. On Monday, August 13 I will begin my role as a guest blogger for PlanbookEdu.com! I am so excited about it. I will be focusing on Common Core content for all grades K-12 as well as taking a look at how we can ensure we are helping our students be "College Ready". The good news is, SO many of us have Common Core on our minds because of the major roll out this year. In addition, there are EdTechRoundups posted every two weeks and a series for Tech Tips will be rolled out soon as well, each by another guest blogger. Definitely check them out and be sure to give PlanbookEdu a try. I swear it's worth it!!

5. Since working on National Board, I get a daily email called Accomplished Teacher by SmartBrief. There are lots of good things in there and they promote new (and old) books to help teachers get better at their craft. In today's email they showcased this book:

You know I had to run right to Amazon and order it (it is released tomorrow). It's from the folks at Responsive Classroom and it looks really amazing. I'm hopeful with my Prime membership that I'll get it on my birthday Friday!

6. PICTURE TIME! :) 

As your reward for getting through all of my blabbering, I shall reward you with some pictures. Who doesn't love pictures?

Awhile back the fabulous Kristen posted about making your own chair pockets. I have coveted chair pockets forever but just could not talk myself into forking over the money for them. I am not NEARLY as crafty as some people but this is what I came up with:

This was my first try. I couldn't get velcro dots to stick well enough to the fabric so I went with tape. Here I tied them to the back of my big desk chair just to check them out. I love that I can fit a composition book in one side! I tried it with a composition book and two books and with the pencil case and the composition book. At this point I am thinking the one on the left because the notebook can be used as their reading response book and it will be handy always. I'm not positive on it yet.

The super green tape was not working for me so I had The Husband pick up some white Duck Tape. (He tried to find it closer to the canvas color but I was recovering from surgery when he got it and I wasn't about to complain that it wasn't the right color after he went out just to get it!)

You know what else I love? The Prop N Parks at Really Good Stuff. They are not cheap though ($18 for 6! It would cost me nearly $100 to buy a set for my class. Sorry RGS but no way). So I was playing Words with Friends and thought about the Scrabble Tile holders and an idea was born!  I bought a set of 45 holders on eBay for $25. They are not as long as the ones at RGS but they will work just fine. I laminated a desk helper and left some laminate toward the bottom that I will just velcro or hot glue onto the back (you can just see the excess laminate on the left side at the bottom). Then I will velcro the tile holder to the desk tops and voila, they have a spot to park their pencil so they don't tap them and drive me crazy *wink* I will be spray painting the tile holders purple and will add an updated pic. (Funny that I picked purple spray-paint not even realizing that the desk helpers have a purple background. The Oldest said "wow mom, wow." *wink*)

 And to leave you with uber cuteness. Here's the little guy, Sgt. Hershey, who greets me each morning when I crawl (literally) out of bed.  The left picture is when we brought him home in December, at just 7 weeks old (oh the blue eyes!). Today is his 8 month birthday! He no longer has those beautiful blue eyes and he jumps up and down like a jumping jack but he kind of has my ♥