Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy: The Online Diary of a Central Oregon Grandmother
Welcome to the online diary of a Central Oregon Grandmother (me) who is busy celebrating the positive portions of her everyday life ... along with her best friend husband (Cary). It is quite an eclectic diary and I try to do my best to incorporate a little bit of history into many of my posts. Your visit to our piece of American Pie is greatly appreciated. This chatty Kathy posts frequently, so coming back to visit often is highly encouraged.
Showing you Oregon,one post at a time. Did you know that I post the links of many of my stories and articles on the sidebar? When you have extra time, please scroll down to see more. At the bottom of this page there are links to many other blogs that I enjoy.
Hello, Friends! Thank you so much for stopping by. I really hope that you will enjoy your visit. I had to adjust my comment settings recently due to daily spam, so I am not currently accepting comments from anonymous people. Please email me at: oregongiftsofcomfortandjoy@hotmail.com if you are unable to leave a comment on here. Also, I write back through email when I can. Thank you!
My words and photographs are copyrighted, and may not be used without permission.
We woke up to this little bit of snow, and it is snowing lightly right now. Southern Oregon is in for a huge storm this weekend, but for us this should pass in a couple of days.
THIS is why I don't buy my hanging baskets and plant my flowers until after Father's Day around here.
But, really, a bit of snow is no big deal. Our hearts go out to those in Oklahoma and other parts of tornado alley for their extreme loss this week. Praying for you all, and hoping that your life gets back to normal soon.
This week seemed to fly on by. Most of my days were pretty fun, though Wednesday was quite challenging. That was the day that I only had 3 kids and thought that it would be a breeze. Of course, it wasn't a breeze at all. It all depends on the personalities who are in the group. Either they clash or they mesh.
But, Thursday was another day, and we got a lot done and had fun ... including a cool science experiment that I found online:
All you need is a tray, food coloring, baking soda and vinegar. Add a few kids and you are ready to go.
First, I had the kids taste the baking soda, explaining that it was okay to have a tiny bit of it and that some people used baking soda for toothpaste. They loved the baking soda and tried to keep eating it! Then, I had them dip their finger in the vinegar and taste it, as I explained that you use vinegar to make pickles. They were more neutral on the taste of the vinegar than they were on the baking soda.
The kids each placed drops of food coloring into the tray. I gave them a Dixie cup of baking soda each, and they poured it on top of the food coloring. Then, they each got a cup of vinegar and poured it on top of the other stuff. It was so cool! Foaming rainbow colors faded into green (much nicer than the mud color that usually happens when you mix the colors). They enjoyed the feel of the green mixture and played with that for awhile. It kind of reminded me of cornstarch clay.
Clean up was easy, I just dumped it into the sink to help freshen up the drains.
There were some other challenges that did not involve the kids this week, and as I was standing up for myself at one point I realized that I have a lot of built-up frustration over the past couple of months. All I can do is try to do my best and speak my mind when I need to and try to keep my mouth shut when that is the best option. I saw a quote on Facebook recently that said, "Follow your intuition. Be smart, be brave, tell the truth, and don't take any shit." It is my new motto, but I sure would appreciate some of your prayers going into this week.
Speaking of quotes, my friend Leon from high school wrote this to me last fall on Facebook, "You find beauty and joy in the world and you look for the best in people. Unhappy people, insecure people and those with personality defects will try to take that from you. Misery loves company." I'm just throwing that out there because it was another quote from Facebook and I was reminded of it. I found it very helpful, because I was wondering what I do to make others try and attack me. I guess that it boils down to just being myself, lol.
I really enjoy the people that I work with, and they are all nice, but we are a new group and I need to remember to set boundaries when I must, as well as to not overstep. I have a very strong personality and this whole thing of going back to work for others has not been easy for me.
Speaking of Leon, here is a new video of his and his wife Kimberly's band Taylor's Crossing, backing country singer Gretchen Owens. Leon is on lead guitar and Kimberly is on the banjo.
I promised you guys some pictures of our yard, which Cary has been working so hard on. It is looking very pretty! I'll fix up the front patio with flowers as soon as I know that it is not going to get too cold. I usually wait until Father's Day weekend.
These blooms look and smell so good. But, I guess that they lose their delicious smell after you put them in a vase and take them to school. Everybody kept coming in and saying, it smells like cat pee in here, so I threw them away. I seem to have lost my keen sense of smell, which is probably for the best now that I have to change stinky diapers again.
I got off work early on Friday, at 9:30 in the morning because there were not very many kids. I came home, cleaned house, went to Bi-Mart for cleaning supplies and to the store for food. Mom is in town finishing up the cabin, so I stopped by to visit with her.It looks like one of my new co-workers will be moving into our little cabin shortly.
Yesterday, I cleaned and organized for more than 8 hours, but I still need to finish up today. Not one room really looks very clean yet, and I have folded laundry all over the dining room table but I have to organize our closet before I put it away. That is one of my least favorite chores.
Cary and I have plans to take our Moms out to lunch this afternoon, and I will take some pictures of all of that.
I hope that you all have a wonderful Sunday and a great upcoming week! Thanks so much for stopping by to say hello.
One of the small boat landings that I visited recently in Sunriver was HarperBridge. Located on the Big Deschutes River nearly 2 miles from Sunriver on your way to Mt. Bachelor, there is a primitive launch on one side of the bridge and a slightly larger one on the other side for small trailers. There is a sign that says this boat landing is provided for those with a 97707 (Sunriver) zipcode only. Parking is limited, but no forest pass is required.
I learned that this is a great place to begin a float trip that you can take in your canoe/kayak/inner-tube/water-board(or whatever you have). You can take out at the Sunriver Marina, over by the airport. That trip takes around 1.5 hours. There is a YouTube video at the bottom of this post showing the route via airplane.
Or, you can keep going and take out at the boat landing atBenham Falls.There is alternative site in Sunriver not far from Benham Falls which I wrote about the the other day. "Just Click Here"to see more about that. That trip is 10 miles long and takes around 3 hours to complete from Harper Bridge.
I took these pictures a few weeks ago, when was a controlled burn going on across the river from the boat launch.
Mt. Bachelor still has a bit of snow on it.
To learn more about floating the Big Deschutes, here is a comprehensive 56-page report, "Deschutes River Guide".
Here is the video, it is short and sweet, and shows you how very windy the river is in this area:
To find out more about fishing in this area, exactly how to get there and some alternative boat landings in the surrounding area, just "CLICK HERE".
Yay! Things have finally settled down at work and I am able to look on the bright side and enjoy myself. How lucky am I anyway, to live and work just a few short miles away from Mt. Bachelor in beautiful Central Oregon? To spend my Friday mornings taking nature walks with great company, and to get paid for hanging out with little kids? (I know, I know, last week I was wondering how in the world I traded my life of semi-retirement for being worn ragged by it all. Somehow, my perspective has changed this week and my attitude is much better. I think a lot of it is that we now have a permanent director, and she is doing a great job. The stress of not having a leader was really getting to me.)
The kids don't seem so little in person. Cary said, "It seems so weird that they are so small and yet have such powerful personalities." But, believe me, they do indeed.
Earlier in the week, we had a few evenings involving thunderstorms. I think that I took these pictures last Sunday, inbetween storms. At one point the sky was nearly yellow, but I didn't venture outside in time to capture those shots. Both Cary and my friend Bunny mentioned looking at a bright rainbow when lightening appeared to hit the rainbow. The rainbow stayed in place and didn't explode, as we might guess from watching video games or movies.
Cary has been working hard on the yard, and it is looking very pretty. I'll take some pictures of it soon. Our trees are blooming. I want to get some chaise lounges for our front patio, so that I can read more comfortably out there.
Well, that is about it for this week. I am so happy to be back into a regular routine and have a bit more energy for cleaning house and blogging. I haven't began cooking yet though; one step at a time.
I am very behind on visiting your blogs, and am going to get as much done on that as I can today. We are going to take my MIL to church this morning, and we won't be late this time! Then, we'll go out to breakfast.
My Mom is coming over to finish up the cabin on Thursday, and we'll treat her to dinner soon.
Hi! I posted this on my Comfort and Joy Childcare blog this morning and decided to also put it on here just in case you guys might enjoy it.
"Tucker the Turtle Helps Children
with Self-Regulation of Emotions"
Now back in the classroom after eight years out of it, I have been busy learning about what is new since I left. I spent the first weekend in May attending at NAEYC convention in Bend, Oregon and received a kick-start on teaching tools and ideas. Tucker the Turtle is a big deal right now, teaching children how to stop before reacting by taking three deep breaths, going into their shell, and thinking of options other than lashing out at their friends. Once thinking of another option, the kids learn to ask themselves, "Is it kind? Is it safe? How will it make other people feel?"
I went online to find out more, made myself a notebook by printing off what I found. I also went to the local toy store and bought some turtles, and then assembled a basket that is all ready to use during circle time.
These guys are adorable, and are easy to find right now. I named the big one Tucker, the little one Teri and the one in his shell Timmy. You can also find a turtle hand-puppet to use instead, as the woman in the video below did.
Here is one example of a lesson plan that you can use if you want to:
I tried this for the first time with three kids yesterday. They were very receptive. My group consisted of a 2 1/2 year-old, a 3 1/2 year-old and a 5 year-old. First, we practiced our deep breathing technique. I used an artificial flower and an unlit candle. All you do is smell the flower and then blow out the candle. Easy-peasy, for the older two. The little one tried her best to smell the flower, but she kept blowing on it instead. Sometimes I still forget how the easiest things to me might be the hardest ones for somebody else.
We practiced three deep breaths, curling into a ball, thinking of an option that wouldn't hurt anybody, and then re-read the story. We also have a poster on our circle time board that shows a variety of options:
1. Play together
2. Share
3. Say, "Please stop."
4. Ignore
5. Get a timer.
6. Trade
7. Wait and take turns.
8. Ask nicely.
9. Say, "Please."
10. Get a teacher.
Here is a YouTube video that gives more ideas on how to teach the turtle technique:
As promised, here are some more pretty pictures of Sunviver boat landings. This one is on the Big Deschutes, on a takeout gravel road between circle 9 and circle 7 (very near circle 7). There is a small parking lot, port-a-potty, and a hiking trail that leads you to Benham Falls. It is peaceful and small.
During the summer, this is where the guided raft trips from the Sunriver Lodge take out their rafts. I would not recommended this spot for swimming or wading though.
Photo Source: Nike "The Opening Brochure" Pages 2 and 3
During the week of July 5-9, 2011, Cary and I were privileged to attend "The Opening", watching quarterback grandson Tyler Matthews (#43 the first day, and #15 on game days) play with 150 of the best high school football players in the United States. The event was held at Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. I hope that you enjoy the pictures ... some are better photos than others, but I tried to capture as many kids as I could.
There are approximately 500 photos in these slide shows. They are of the players, the fans, our family and everybody/everything that caught my eye. They are in chronological order. No names are on the pictures, even if I do know who people were.
As time permits, I will also be writing blog posts about my experience as a spectator. Since I still have a lot to learn about football and this is not a sports blog, I'll write some human interest stories as seen through my eyes. That said, Tyler Matthews, YOU ROCK!!!!
