Vacation time!

Finally, the last day of the summer session ended at 4:10. I am so glad to have a week off before it's back to the regular grind. Zoe and I are headed up the Big Horn Mountains with my parents and sisters to spend a little time at the family cabin and scope out the beauty around us. I am so looking forward to coffee on the porch with mom, fishing with dad and 4-wheeling with Zoe. No phones, no Internet, no television! (Thankful for the indoor plumbing, though!)

I will be geocaching this entire trip to let you all see where I go and what we encounter. Stay tuned. It's going to be great!

Last year's mama and baby moose.

Ahhhh, the family cabin. I can't wait to be there!

I am stepping away from cakes for a little while and embracing my other passion: photography. I will finally have a little bit of a break before the start of the school year and I have some wonderful new equipment to play with before journalism starts. I will be going to the Big Horn Mountains and our family cabin to spend some much needed time with my parents. I have been told that the moose are hanging around and I look forward to some wonderful photo ops.

Last night's storm gave me some good opportunities to spend time with my daughter as well as get some cool storm shots. When it got too close, we went inside!

Diigo Connection 07/30/2013

• We All Have Special Needs: Using Technology to Break Down Barriers

  Tags: Edutopia, technologies, potential, iPad, education, assistive_technology

  • - By Hailey Bechtol
  • - By Hailey Bechtol

Posted from Diigo. The rest of Summer13T2 Web 2.0 Access Barriers group favorite links are here.

Oops! I mixed up my dates!

Apparently, I have way too much going on and mixed up the dates for the birthday cake. I thought she needed it on Saturday but she needed it today at 2pm. I feel absolutely horrible so I promised her a free "back to school" cake to share with her friends. For some reason I thought the 26th was a Saturday. I really need to take a break from everything that I am doing, I guess. Summer school gets over on July 31 and I will have a whole 8 days off before school starts!! Rather than building a cake, I just may do some other arts and crafts this weekend.

Digging through some old pictures, I found some other cake designs that were fun to do. Most of these were for family members and I get asked all the time for their birthdays.

Diigo Connection 07/26/2013

• Free NaturalReader

  Tags: natural_reader, TTS, assistive_technology, freeware, summer13accessibility

  • - By Jennifer Kennedy

• Digital Media Access Group - How to uncover accessibility problems

  This article gives good advice on how to test a website for accessibility. 

  Tags: digital media, access, accessibility, disabilities

  • - By Lisa Gray

• Web 2.0 & Accessibility for Disabled Users

  Tags: summer13accessibility, accessibility, webdesign, web2.0

  • - By Katie Strey

• Twurdy Search - Search for Readable Results

  Tags: Twurdy, search_engine, assistive_technology, toolkit, freeware, summer13accessibility

  • - By Jennifer Kennedy

• FizzBrain Apps

  Tags: interactive, ipad, autism, assistive_technology, summer13accessibility, education, resources, disabilities

  • - By Jennifer Kennedy

• Will Web 2.0 = More Accessibility?

  Tags: summer13accessibility, accessibility, Web2.0

  • - By Katie Strey

• People with Disabilities and the Web - Web Accessibility Guide

  This shares a variety of accessibility options for those with visual, auditory, physical, speech and cognitive disabilities.  

  Tags: disabilities, accessibility, browsers

  • - By Lisa Gray

• Techno Bytes

  Tags: summer13accessibility, learning, inclusion, UDL, education, accessibility, disabilities, Maine, resources, special_needs

  • - By Audrey O'Clair

• Issues in Science and Technology, Winter 2011, Reducing Barriers to Online Access for People with Disabilities

  I chose this article primarily because it talks about how important it is that inclusion is so necessary especially on the world wide web. This is indeed the place that EVERYONE has access to what is available. It was a bit discouraging to find this statement: "Despite the fact that the United States has the world’s most comprehensive policy for Internet accessibility and that clear guidance for creating accessible technologies already exists, designers and developers of Web software and hardware technologies in industry, academia, and government often exploit holes in existing policy to ignore the needs of people with disabilities. As a result, most Internet-related technologies are born inaccessible, cutting out some or all users with disabilities."  Do creators do this because it's easier? Possibly, but shortcuts leave too many people without access. 

  Tags: summer13accessibility, accessibility, disabilities

  • - By Lisa Gray

• ADA National Network: Resources, Training and Guidance on the Americans with Disabilities Act - Accessibility & Usability in Website Design

  This provides a variety of links to methods that help with accessibility and usability from the ADA National Network. It shares keyboard shortcuts for accessibility as well. 

  Tags: ada, disabilities, summer13accessibility, resources

  • - By Lisa Gray

• Apps for Dyslexia and Learning Differences

  Tags: summer13accessibility, apps, iPad, accessibility, resources

  • - By Amy Franklin
  • - By Amy Franklin

• Assistive Technology for Kids with Learning Disabilities: An Overview | Reading Topics A-Z | Reading Rockets

  This article explains what assistive technology is, breaks it down into the specific problems that are addressed and what tools are available for parents, students and teachers.

  Tags: summer13accessibility, assistive technology, resources

  • - By Kim J

• Blogs, Wikis, and Text Messaging: What are the Implications for Students with Learning Disabilities

  Tags: summer13accessibility, accessibility, education, learning

  • - By Ali Berman

• How to make your Mac read text for you

  Tags: education, resources, accessibility, disabilities, inclusion

  • - By Lisa Gray

• At School | Students with Learning Disabilities - NCLD

  This site is a great resource for teachers or parents that are unfamiliar with disabilities. It gives background knowledge about learning disabilities as well as, suggestions for schoolwork, homework, accommodations and assistive technology. The assistive technology section has a variety of suggestions, videos, books and apps that are helpful for teachers and parents alike.

  Tags: summer13accessibility, special_needs, resources, disabilities

  • - By Kim J

• UDL Placemat- Core Apps serving learning for all

  Tags: summer13accessibility, learning, inclusion, UDL, education, accessibility, disabilities, Maine, resources

  • - By Audrey O'Clair

• Free Technology for Teachers: Web2.0 & Students with Disabilities

  Tags: summer13accessibility, education, resources, freetech

  • - By Amy Franklin

• Teaching All Students

  Tags: summer13accessibility, education, resources, blog

  • - By Amy Franklin

• Web4AllLearners - ELL Barriers to Web 2.0

  Tags: Ell, summer13accessibility, education, accessibility, wiki

  • - By Amy Franklin

• Google ChromeVox

  Tags: summer13accessibility, education, google, chrome, ell, voiceprogram

  • - By Amy Franklin

Posted from Diigo. The rest of Summer13T2 Web 2.0 Access Barriers group favorite links are here.

The birthday cake for this weekend is going to be a double layer 8" round (Vanilla - because she's boring according to her mom) pool themed cake. I think I will use Kit Kats to encase the outside of the pool and then come up with fondant life preservers, beach balls and swimmers. It's a small party, so it won't be quite on the scale of the wedding cake, but I am looking forward to creative process. I did a beach cake about a year ago and it was a lot of fun.

Well, here it is all put together. I was so surprised that it traveled so well. The road was BEYOND bumpy and I was afraid they would be in pieces by the time I got there. Everyone LOVED the cake and didn't want to cut it. It was worth all the extra time and effort and the bride and groom were very happy. Now I just have a small birthday cake to do for this weekend for a dear friend's little girl. She's having a pool party. Time to put on the thinking cap!

Cake Progress

I have been a busy girl and perhaps the busiest I have been all summer. With two graduate classes, teaching summer school nine hours a day and baking this wedding cake, I have met myself somewhere in the middle! Anyway, here are some of the decorations that will be going on the cake. The base layer is a 14" double layer camo cake made with white and chocolate cake. Some of the white was tinted green for the camo color. The base is a hunting theme as the bride and groom share that passion. The middle layer, a 10" double layer strawberry cake is in the western theme and the top is a 6" three layer cake, one white, one camo and one strawberry with her firefighter coming to rescue her. I hope the pieces all stay intact as I travel over bumpy roads for a couple of hours to get to the lodge where the wedding will be on Sunday. Stay tuned for more pictures!

Okay, starting Monday I will begin preparing a three tier wedding cake. I am going to need to bake 7 cakes, a double for the bottom, a double for the middle, and a triple for the top. The decorations are going to be different: they want a representation of the army, some hunting and a fire department. I have brainstormed ideas and have to make final preparations with the bride. All I know is there will be a lot of camouflage and fondant!

Cake examples

Lisa's Cakes - Who would have thought?

What started out as just a simple lesson in making frosting roses in 7th grade, Lisa's Cakes has certainly gained momentum. I have made so many cakes throughout the years but face my toughest challenge yet. A unique wedding cake coming up VERY soon. I have a variety of Wilton cake pans, from dinosaurs, dolls and Batman, to the basic shapes used daily. I find a kind of solitude when I am decorating and can tap into my creative side.