Lovely Indulgence - Breville One-Touch Tea Maker

I'm not a coffee drinker. I enjoy something with a little mocha flavor, but straight coffee as a beverage is too strong for me. On the other hand I love hot tea. I enjoy the seemingly infinite varieties of types and flavors. I love the ritual of wrapping my hands around a warm teacup and taking my first sip. I find it instantly relaxing.

My husband also enjoys hot tea, yet since we became parents we rarely indulged. We make tea from loose tea leaves and with the little ones around there never seemed to be enough time. Then we discovered the Breville One-Touch Tea Maker. It is the tea equivalent to a fancy coffee maker. It is expensive, but due to the generosity of my husband's parents, we were able to get one for Christmas.

You fill the glass kettle with water and the stainless steel basket with loose tea. Then you push a button to tell the machine which type of tea you are making (black, green, oolong, herbal, white...). The machine automatically determines the best steeping temperature for the type of tea you are making. Then you push a button to tell the machine whether you like your tea mild, medium, or strong determining the length of time the tea will steep. You push the "Tea" button and walk away (or, if you're like me, you sit there and watch the magic). The water is brought to the correct temperature and the basket is lowered into the water for just the right amount of time. A quiet three beeps tells you when your tea is ready.

You can choose to have the tea kept warm at just the right drinking temperature for up to an hour (you can even customize this temperature if you like yours warmer or slightly cooler). You can also choose to have the basket oscillate up and down during the steeping to gently circulate the water through the tea leaves increasing the intensity of the flavor. There is also a timer and you can set the machine up to have hot tea ready for you first thing in the morning. All of the settings (temperature and time) can be customized).

I've been completely amazed at this machine. I love it and I always have a pot of hot tea handy now. The tea tastes wonderful. I've completely given up soda and I don't even miss it. I would definitely recommend this machine to anyone who enjoys drinking hot tea made from loose tea leaves.

The Weekly Review: Week 44

Weekly Kitties

Umm. We had a weekly kitty health event requiring a vet trip and medicating all the kitties in the household. I promise you don't want more details than that. It was interesting to note that while 3 out of 4 kitties were unusually well behaved while taking their medicine (a pill) the fourth was extremely challenging.

Attempt 1: I popped the pill in Sophie's mouth and she spit it back out before I managed to clamp her mouth shut.

Attempt 2: I picked up the now sticky pill and popped it back in her mouth. I got her mouth clamped shut and got scratched several times while she tried to push my arms away. I was about to celebrate success when I looked down and saw the pill sitting by her side. She had managed to spit the thing out again.

Attempt 3: I wrapped her in my pajama bottoms, which were handy, to try to keep her from clawing me up any further and stuck the pill back in again. Her sister came over to groom her while she growled at me with her mouth clamped shut. I waited and waited and waited for the swallow. It wasn't until I unwrapped her and was about to let her go (preparing for a fourth attempt) that I finally saw her swallow. Success.

My husband totally gets to give her the follow up pill in two weeks. I'll do the other three, but he gets Sophie.

Ava this Week

Ava has discovered that her room is a place to play. On one hand, this is a wonderful development. When she awakens an hour earlier than everyone else in the household, she can now entertain herself rather happily in her room. On the other hand, it is messing with her nap/bedtime routine.

Before this new discovery, you could put her in bed, cover her just the right way with two blankets, hand her something to snuggle, sing a song, and never hear another peep. She was asleep in minutes. Now, as soon as I leave the room she's back up. She plays for 10-15 minutes and then opens her door and creeps down the stairs to share something that seems very important to her.

The first time, she had found a thread on the chair in her room. (Really, a thread?) The second time, she had bumped her ankle and felt I needed to know. The third time she was cold. I think you get the idea. Now if I want her to go to sleep at nap time I have to sit in her room to keep her in bed long enough for the sleep to catch her. At bedtime, we're putting her bed multiple times.

I'm hoping the problem will solve itself once the shiny newness of independent play in her room wears off.

The Weekly Michael

Interesting story about Michael. This past weekend, Ava spent a day and a half with her grandparents leaving Michael here with us for some one-on-one time. He was an angel. He was thoughtful and polite. He was fun to play with and also spent long periods of time playing independently. As soon as Ava came home he went back to the somewhat wild, slightly disobedient, attention-seeking behavior. I'm not sure what to think. He likes his sister. They get along and play together amazingly well. Why would he behave worse with us when his sister is home?

Ava's Weekly Home Therapy Focus

This has not been a productive at-home therapy week. First Ava spent a night with her grandparents and then came home late the next night. Then we were getting ready for an unexpected trip out of town and the preparation and travel kept us from doing our usual nightly speech sessions. It's ok. We'll get back to it next week and perhaps the break will have done some good.

Weekly Blog Possibility

It's been a while since I've done anything new with the blog design. I'm considering making a few changes. It'll be a while before anything happens. I'm going to do some thinking, some researching, some playing around, and some more thinking before I actually change anything. But it is fun to think about.

Initial B Minimal Pairs: Free Speech Therapy Articulation Picture Cards

Description

This articulation card set is designed to be an extension of my single-syllable cards sets. The words are all still CV or CVC in syllable shape and include no blends or vocalic /r/ sounds. This is a comprehensive set of minimal pairs focusing on contrasting the initial /b/ sound with each of the other early emerging sounds. The initial /b/ is contrasted three times with each of the other early emerging sounds (p, t, d, m, n, h) using a different vowel each time. The target audience for these cards are children with severe speech delays who need exposure to a minimal pair technique to emphasize that they need to differentiate production of two different words. (Scroll down to preview set.)

Key Features

• This set includes 18 therapy cards pairs with the initial /b/ word on the left and the matching minimal pair on the right. The /b/ words are paired three times with /p, t, d, m, n, and h/ using a different vowel sound each time.
• The words are CV or CVC in syllable shape.
• The words feature early emerging consonants.
• The words are simple and are easily understood by or easily taught to young children.

Permissions

I give permission to copy, print, or distribute this card set provided that:

1. Each copy makes clear that I am the document's author.
2. No copies are altered without my express consent.
3. No one makes a profit from these copies.
4. Electronic copies contain a live link back to my original and print copies not for merely personal use contain the URL of my original.

Looking for Feedback

I would love to hear back from anyone who uses this card set. Let me know if you find errors or there is anything you would change. Comment on this page, or send me an email at testyyettrying(at)gmail(dot)com.

Where can I find more?

More sets are on my Free Speech Therapy Articulation Cards page.

Card Sets

To download click on the image to open it full size. Then right click on the image, choose "save as" and save the page to your computer.

I recommend you print on cardstock and laminate for durability.