Free Stuff is ALWAYS great!

I can't believe it! On Thursday night I found out I won a radio contest.  What...Me?!? No Way!
VIP passes to Bunbury Music Festival and a new digital camera!  I could not believe it.  So the next day...we went and we took our two girls.

 Now I am not use to VIP treatment.  I had no idea what this meant.  Well...it means private bathrooms (my favorite), free massages, hammocks, gated front row spots, gated grassy area, air conditioned tent, cheaper drinks, and private concerts.  WHAT!  How did I win this!?!

On top of an amazing music festival, we also headed up north to Cleveland this weekend.  While picking up some Target goodies for our trip, I found these...

I've got some ideas for these cool speech bubbles...but we'll save that for later :)

In honor of my amazing free concert and free camera, I wanted to pass on some FREEBIE love.

 A few years back I went to a workshop that had suggested giving a spelling "pretest" during the middle of the week.  We have always done the "pretest" on Monday as a way to introduce the words and Reading Street skill for the week.  But I tried this instead.  After working with the words and skills for a few days.  I would ask the students to write the spelling word "their way."  Then I would write it the dictionary way on the board and they would copy it.  Then they would compare the two words.  If they got in correct, they did not write it on the "words to study" column.  We continued through the list of the words in this manner.  I did this activity in a small group setting.  We were able to go back and analyze their mistakes.  Maybe they always forgot the e at the end or always wrote ra instead of ar.  This led to some good conversations!
If you would like it...just click on the image to download!

On a final RANDOM note:
My husband asked me to start this His/Her workout routine with him on gabbyandlaird.com.

So I jumped up and down with excitement agreed to do it.  If you know me...I am NNNOOOTTT into exercising.  I enjoy walking but beyond this...  I don't like to sweat. I get SUPER bored. And I give up very quickly.  B..U..T...I just completed my 11th day of the workout!  This means I have officially completed the beginner's level.  What!!?? Me??!!  It is fast paced and varied.  We will see how long it can keep my interest :)