Another busy week, but things have calmed down ...

Last Sunday,  Cary and I went to lunch in Sunriver.   Oh, my gosh, I think that we have found our latest favorite spot.  The Sunriver Brewing Company has been open since last July, but we didn't even know that it was there.  The Sunriver Mall has been undergoing major reconstruction, and this was a newer addition.  It is located right next to the Country Store, and if you get the chance go in and take a look.  It is family friendly, and they even have a play area inside for the kids.

 

I ordered the crab and artichoke sandwich with sweet potato fries, and Cary had the fish and chips.  Yes, those fish pieces are huge.  The service was great too.  Here is the link to their menu:  Sunriver Brewing Company.  I also had one of their own pale ales, and it was very tasty.

Things are going well at work.  I almost have our classroom the way that I want it now; I just have a bit more work to do on it.  I have sorted through all the items that were on top of the shelves and gave what I don't need to the other classrooms.  

I am feeling so very lucky to be working where I am, and that we have such a nice school.  The school has gone through a shake-up during my short time there; many of the previous long-time teachers have quit and they took a bunch of the kids with them.  We now have a new director, who begins work on Monday, and the board of directors is working hard on increasing enrollment.

I am working full-time now, but the hours fly by.  I like working with the kids and also working with women again.  (I have spent the past eight years managing an office in a construction company and being surrounded by guys.)

My co-worker and new friend, Julie, brought in her big dog to share with the kids.

We were blessed with beautiful weather last week, especially on Friday.  Julie and I took the kids on a walk along the bike path at Caldera Springs Resort.  

It was nice to have a big boy there to help with the wagon.

This was all the kids that we had in the whole school during the morning.  See what I mean about having openings?  Friday is our lightest day anyway, but dang.  Oh well, we had a blast.

My new friends.

Happy people!

Julie knows a lot about the Sunriver area.  She told me some of the history as we walked along.  The old homestead cabin below is a leftover from a community called Harper.  First that I have heard of it, and I have lived down the road for twelve years.

Harper cabin near Caldera Golf Course

The kids were checking things out.  I told them that I wondered where they put the bed, table and couch.  (I'm always thinking about room design, lol.)  I told them that I doubted if they had a fridge.

After our walk, we came back and played outside.  I wanted to show you our playground, which is really like a park.  It is beautiful and it is huge.  It was designed by the little blond girl's father and our previous director.
 

The playground is divided into two sections.  The infant/toddler section has all of the colorful Little Tykes equipment.  Because there were not any big kids at school on Friday, it was a treat to be able to use their side of the play-yard.

 

I think that it is going to be a wonderful summer! 

Yesterday, I had to go to a two-hour training in Redmond on Child Abuse and Neglect.  I met some nice people, and learned about other centers in Central Oregon. 

While there, I peaked through the windows of the Head Start classrooms at NeighborImpact, and they looked so worn and bare and their playground was tiny and boring.

I came away with the feeling that I am where I am supposed to be, and that I am very lucky.  The people that worked so hard to make this school what it is over the years have left a legacy and a top notch facility.  It might be funky, but that is the kind of atmosphere that I enjoy.  

Quote of the week, from a 3-year-old which kind of hurt my feelings:  "You yell so loud that I can hear you from my house!"  What is so funny is that I am barely yelling anymore.  I was at first though.  Being tested by a bunch of little kids all at once is not easy.

Most memorable moment of the week (this is gross): one little guy had a huge diaper blow-out and for the first time since I have been there, I started gagging and throwing up. (Luckily there was a sink right there!)  It was pretty bad.  That made quite an impression on everybody.  He said, "Are you going to have to go home to your house because you are throwing up?"  I said, "No, after this project is complete I will be fine."  A few days later, I was changing a poopy diaper of one little girl and she said, "Are you going to start throwing up again now?"  I said, "Nope! This does not even compare!"  They are so funny, the things that they say.

This coming week, I have two more training days at the college, and should learn a lot of great stuff.  On one hand, my weekends are revolving around school, but I need all the help that I can get.

Another thing that I am going to work on is to set up a private Facebook page for the center so that the parents can upload all pictures of their kids that I am taking.

Hope that you all have a wonderful week! Thanks so much for stopping by to see me.  Leave me a comment, and I will return the visit.

Kathy M.

At Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy, if you miss a day, you miss a lot!  All material on this post is copyrighted and not for use without my permission ...Please click here to go to my home page and see what is happening in Mayberry today.