April 26, 2012

On the way to IRA!



Well, Gladys Knight got the boot on
Dancing with the Stars
but she was great.  
I glad she got to do Motown 
with all her friends.
Oldies but Goodies!

I didn't make anything this week during
the three hours of show time.

I am getting ready to go to IRA.
The International Reading Association 
is meeting next week in Chicago.

CTP will be in booth #1811.

I will be doing three "in the booth" presentations:
Playing and Learning with Cooties
Games for Word Work
Making a Literacy Quilt

I will post pictures when we return. 
(I just have to remember to set by DVR!)

If you are attending the conference be sure to come by to see us.





April 16, 2012

Making an Alphabet Book

I have a confession...
I am addicted to Dancing with the Stars.
I have been ever since Emmitt Smith was on the show. 
 I loved watching him dance.

I don't like Bruno though.
I have to mute that part!

How do you justify spending three hours each week
watching such a non-socially redeeming show?

My answer is to make an Alphabet Book 
while watching the dancing.

I chose to work with the new
Alphabet Mini Bulletin Board.


I looked at the pictures on the pieces 
and wrote the text on my computer.
I printed the text while Bruno was muted!


I chose a very original title for my book.
I cut it out and mounted it on a piece of blue paper.


I made the book from the Poppin' Pattern 10" cut outs
connected with ring-its.
  You need 27 pages for the alphabet and the title page.


Then I put the title on the first page of the book.


I used the letters from the kit and 
the pages I printed from the computer
 to make the book.


So, A is for alligator.
/a/a/a/

I used the star 1" cut outs to accent the pages.

I could have done D is for Donald!
But instead I did D is for dog.
    

I could have done K is for Katherine!
But instead I did K is for kangaroo.

I could have done W is for William!
But instead I did W is for whale.
   
I know it should be /wh/wh/wh/, but in Texas
whale, wagon, and William all start with the same sound.

Perhaps they should have put William on that 
piece of the bulletin board.
He is much better looking than that whale 
and he is really a /w/w/w/.

It is to see Gladys Knight keeping up with the kids.
I have always been her fan.
I really like Midnight Train to Georgia.
She isn't too bad for an "old gal"!

Guess where I will be tonight and tomorrow night.
I have another project in mind for this week.
I certainly don't want to waste 3 hours.










April 10, 2012

Lilies and Bows

What do five people do when they have
300 lilies and empty church 
and twelve hours to work?

They remember my creed...
Anything worth doing is worth over-doing.
Everything looks better with a bow.







What a beautiful day!
There were over 10,000 people
in the services Easter weekend. 

It was worth over-doing!




April 6, 2012

Tornadoes


Tornadoes and violent storms raked through North Texas on Tuesday, crumbling the wing of a nursing home, peeling roofs from dozens of homes and spiraling big-rig trailers into the air like footballs. You probably saw pictures on the national news. Preliminary estimates indicate as many as 12 tornadoes touched down in North Texas.  Many of the tornadoes were "rain wrapped" which means it was raining so hard that it was impossible to see the tornado coming.
Cleburne Tornado _20120403141242_JPG

 Hail the size of baseballs came with the rain. 


Baseball Hail in Rockwall_20120403164126_JPG

So many people were protected from injury because the sirens worked (doesn't always happen),
 people paid attention to the weather reports (doesn't always happen), 
and people responded and went to their safe places (doesn't always happen).  
Schools and businesses went to"lock down" to keep people safe.

There are so many stories about how people rode out the storm.  
One lady told me she was in Central Market buying groceries.  
The manager locked the doors and sent everyone to storage lockers.
You make friends quickly in a storage locker! 

 The schools were on "lock down" with nervous parents at home or work unable to get to their kids. 
I saw Kate's teacher yesterday at the grocery.  She said the kids were so good.  
She read a book to them while they spent more than 2 hours in their safe place.  
They had practiced "duck and cover" and the kids knew just where to go and what to do. 

 My favorite story is of a church preschool.  
The pastor of the church led 83 kids, holding hands. 
and singing Jesus Loves Me to an enclosed classroom 
in a protected area of the church.  
When they came out after the storm the church was essentially gone.  
The only thing standing was that classroom. 

Kennedale Storm Damage_20120403155156_JPG

The storms hop up and down.  Hitting one neighborhood and skipping another. 


This was my backyard after the storm. 
We got nothing but a really hard rain and some hail. 
Compare it to the picture above.

The storms came through on Tuesday. 
Wednesday was a beautiful sunny day
as if nothing had happened!

A nineteenth century nun, St. Therese wrote this simple prayer.
"May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received,
and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, 
and allow your soul the freedom to
sing, dance, praise, and love.
It is there for each and every one of us." 

May your soul have the freedom
to sing, dance, praise and love!

"Count your blessings.
Name them one by one!"
(from the old Baptist hymnal of my childhood)






April 2, 2012

Back from Baltimore

Last week we were in Baltimore, MD, 
for the NSSEA convention.
The National School Supply and Equipment Association 
is an organization that connents
manufacturers of educational materials
with retail store buyers.
We were there to show our wares!

This was our booth.
Buyers got a close-up look at our
new products for BTS.

Lots of Black and White!!
But turquoise, chocolate, and Poppin' Patterns
were there, too.

This was our crew in B/W.
Folks from marketing, product development,
and sales were there.
The tall fellow in the back is
CTP president, Jim Connelly.

 I was there!
 I had some of my stuff on display.
Surprise! Surprise!

We were most excited about our new books which
will be available this summer.


The STICK KIDS Workbooks (PreK-3)
are sure to make learning fun.


Whether students need a little extra practice with
grade-level skills or a head start on next year
these little books are perfect for home or school.

  • skill practice
  • games and puzzles
  • full color pages
  • tracking system with stickers



Watch for them coming soon to a store near you!!

Our guys in black and white!