Adam, Snowmen, Words of Wisdom, Basketball

I can't believe how tired I was! I worked 3 full, busy, crazy days at school testing kids, working with kids and writing reports.  It's like I was back to work full time!  I spent Wenesday and Thursday evenings evaluation tests and writing reports.  I'm still not done.  It's the week before report cards so I need to do reading testing that no one here knows how to do.  The test is something I learned while at my job in Parma.  I went to an all-day inservice. 

It's a very good test to point out weaknesses that we need to work on.  It helps us pinpoint exactly what is needed.  

Tim asked me why I was doing it.  I told him, "It's what I love, and what I do well."  I love looking at a student and see what they can't do, and work with them until the 'can' do it!

Years ago I worked with children with physical and cognitive disorders.  I had a student in a wheelchair who couldn't use his hands.  He really wanted to be like the other kids and turn the pages in his own book.

This young man used a plastic device which fit on his head like a hat.  It had a strap under his chin that velcroed to the other side of the hat.  This device had a plastic pointer added to it so he could point to things and type.

I put a strip of velcro on this and began to add velcro to things like large pencils, a paintbrush and a pencil cap eraser.  We began to work with him so he could mark an answer on his own. He learned how to use different crayons or markers to color things.  In art he could do his own painting too.  He was so happy, but kept pointing to book, on his communication board.

  After trying so many things we finally came up with putting large paper clips on each page of his book.  We then attached a heavy duty magnet to his head stylus. After a few sessions of trying, He finally turned the page of his own book! (tears!)  

That was one of the most wonderful days of teaching for me.  I also have to say that I was doing this because that year we didn't have an Occupational Therapist to do these things with kids.  That day it affirmed  that I was where I was needed most.  Thank you God for giving me the compassion and creativity to work with children with special needs.  I can say it's never been borning~ LOL

Baby Adam got to come home Wednesday!  Here is his picture on November 12, 2015.  He was 2 months premature.  He was 4 lbs.  Sorry I can't edit this photo to get rid of the black parts.  But you can see how little he is.

 Adam January 7th, when he came home!  Check out those plump cheeks!  I think the word plump is only appropriate for babies. You'd never get away with using it with kids, teens or adults!
Anyway here's this beautiful baby now home with mom and dad!  Praying for all of you!  Adam is my great-nephew.

Not a coincidence that God put this in front of me today.  Check it out.  If you are a parent, you will understand.

Isn't this one of the sweetest snowmen you've seen?  I love this little guy.  A bonus is he came from a Christian stamp company called Sweet N Sassy Stamps.  This company just came out with a die to cut the snowman out.  The challenge here was to use snow and ribbon on your card.

 This is a card I made today for an inspiration challenge.  Here was my inspiration.  I think there are so many cute snowmen stamps and stuffed creations out there.  It reminds me I have to put my snowmen out to decorate my house.  I have the box downstairs but haven't had the energy to put them out in the downstairs.

Here's the verse for today.  I love the book of Proverbs.  There is so much wisdom to be found in this book.  I'm amazed when people say there's nothing we can use in this day an age that's in the Bible. They have obviously not read the Bible.

I think that the older I get, the easier these things can be seen.  It's also so obvious that we can see the pain our words cause.  I've seen such sadness and witnessed events where dear friends make a judgement and say things that can't be taken back and just like that, they walk away from a deep, loving friendship.

I've seen how words have severed relationships in generations of a family.  My grandfather and uncle didn't speak to each other for long periods of time then somehow it would be okay.

I've seen it with my own brothers and sisters, sadly.  As a child I saw black and white.  Family is family and no matter what, you are there for each other.

As an adult I see that even if you forgive someone for a wrong they've committed against you, that doesn't mean they want to continue a relationship with you.  It's so sad that at family events we can't have everyone there due to these types of issues.  We're all human and have flaws.  God knows I struggle with this so much.

Ben is the assistant coach for PHCA's boys basketball team.  This brought back so many memories for me today.  When Ben was on the team in 5th and 6th grades, he was about the size of #2.  He was quick due to his size.

So to see Ben grown up and volunteering to coach young kids at his former school brings tears to my eyes.  He truly works well with this age student.  It's a great ministry for him.

Blessing of the Day:Watching my son coach 11 and 12 year olds at his alumni.

We had another fun/funny dinner tonight.  We get on some of the weirdest topics.  Tonight it was getting ecoli from petting animals at county fairs.(true/false)

Usually at dinner we end up with several Google Moments.  Tonight after ecoli we talked about the Adams Family and who played Cousin It.  We saw the midget that played him, then looked at other movies he was in as well.  So we're still having fun and learning too!  So much fun to have the kids here at the dinner table together.

Health Update:Today was not a good day. Even with medication, there is pain. I had to take a nap to get relief.  I've got to get back to my Physical Therapy exercises.

Thanks for stopping by.

Blessings,