Dreaming Good Things

Ever since watching Jalon play football, Isaaiah has been wanting to play football. I have taught her about the secret power of visualization and she has always been good at making things happen.
She also loves the Voetburg family, making friends with lots of good hearted people and enjoying music. So it wasn't until I was home again in Portland that I realized that Isaaiah and Gabriel created 2 days of magnificent football with the Voetburg family in the beautiful fall weather underneath the magnificent oak trees.

Gabriel seems to be visualizing amazing things as well. His musicality has improved so much over the last year that many people can hardly believe that this is the same kid. Gabriel is putting alot of excellence and heart into his music..and seems to be willing to make it all his own. He has been practicing completely on his own for more than a year now and is really maturing in his discipline and willingness to take responsibility for his music and his studies....and it is showing.
His fiddle scores were so high at this Red Bluff contest that even though he had a 20 point deduction for time...he still won the Jr. Jr. division at this competitive and well attended contest. There were 27 9-12 year olds who were very respectable musicians in this division this year.
I hope that the astounding musicality of the music he and Isaaiah played is apparent in the videos that I will eventually post...

here is a video and photo montage that I made tonight...This includes pictures of friends, Teacher Eileen and Jeff...award pictures...and pictures from stopping to look at Castle Crags and Mount Shasta on the way home...





Here are some videos....my camcorder is getting older and sometimes it doesn't record...it seems that I missed Isaaiah's first round...oops...This is Gabriel's first round...after all of the excitement of the falling microphone etc...the round restarted and this is where that video starts..but you can see Jeff Walters break a string on the guitar on the last tune and back away. Gabriel played solid as a rock...

Here he is playing Shuckin the Bush, Crying Waltz (you really have to commit to those high harmonics..it takes skill to land them sweetly and in tune), Runaway Fiddle



Here is a short compilation of the green room practice just before going on stage...and the slow start by the accompaniests, and the slow attack of the microphone...kind of funny..





Here is a short clip of Isaaiah in the Green room before her Round 2. This is Isaaiah first time in the Jr. Jr. division ages 9-12. She has been 9 for 6 and 7 days.....so she is barely old enough for this division. Pretty cute and she did a great job.






Here is Isaaiah's second round! YEAH Zayah!
Here she is playing Shuckin the Bush, Blue Valley Waltz (boy this is hard waltz people), Runaway Fiddle




Isaaiah's first round was great too...She played Soppin the Gravy, Velvet's Waltz and Crafton's Blues

Here is another Green Room video of Gabriel's second round. The Green room is the bathroom next to the stage (great acoustics)...The second round of the Jr. Jr.s was later in the day Friday...one day after a 9 hour drive...and then the kids were on stage earlier that day in Round 1...they spent most of the day playing football and catching frogs. Then about an hour before round 2 (We were excited that we even made the second round)....Gabriel forgets how to play Fidudulin..

This is where Mommy is the stage and kid manager and realizes that this has nothing to do with music and everything to do with chocolate chip mint ice cream cones and half a cup of chai tea. So we put the violins away and got ice cream QUICK!...a half an hour later....it was time to go on stage..and Gabriel remembered Fiddudulin again...

In the green room Gabriel is assuring himself he remembers this tune and the Guitarists are working out where and when they are going to play and stop...all very last minute..




And here is Round 2 for Gabriel...the magnificent Gabriel Man.



A little later after this round...Eileen (one of the 5 judges) told me that Gabriel played great but that she thought that he went over time....she just heard a snippet of talk. So I decided to tell GAbriel so he would have enough time to digest it before the awards. (Which I thought that I filmed)....arrrg.....He was alright with the news, he knew that he played his best was happy with whatever was going to happen. Isaaiah was very happy with third, and by then Gabriel knew that the time deduction didn't knock him below Isaaiah....He was very straight faced as Eliot got second...and the MC asked him why he didn't have a medal yet,....and he said...."I must have won first." ...and he did win first. I was so happy for him....and so was Isaaiah....Eileen and Jeff were so happy for him too...

The next days was mostly free, just round one Twin in the morning...again we didn't expect to make the second round of twin...so I let them play football and frogs all day. The Voetburg Mom after watching me trying to nap in the grass, invited to take the kids under her care for a few hours while I got to go to the hotel and take a nap...I went back to the hotel and was hard asleep for two hours....it was great. The kids loved pretending that they were part of giant functional family.







Spaghetti Rag and Princess of Wales has been good to the kids...they won Oregon State Twin Fiddle (all ages ) with it, played it on the Weiser Stage, and the tunes were still solid for this contest as well.




So it seems that I also didn't film Isaaiah's Jukebox performance ( more therapy for her when she is older I suppose)....She dressed up as an old time servant girl and sang and played the fiddle breaks to MockingBird...it was cute...You can find a video of Isaaiah and Summer singing this together at the Cider Squeeze on the first Cider Squeeze post.... Isaaiah got a nice second place medal for this trophy and some of the adorable older crowd fell into great consternation and controversy about how she should have had first....Isaaiah didn't care...this way she got a medal of each color.

Hey Waddya know....I found the missing videos.....
Technology is great....mysterious....but wonderful....So my camcorder when I load the pictures onto my computer...will put large chunks of video...more or less in chronologically order...I notice that if I load the videos into my extra sketchy, crash phillic, software that came with the camera...that the software will "find" videos for me...it puts them in actual complete chronological order (then after 3 or 4 seconds...the computer goes black and unresponsive). So this time the computer resurrected itself bravely after this insult and I was able to see the missing videos. ..............I just had to share all that...........thanks for listening.

So here is Isaaiah's first round!



and here she is singing and playing in the Jukebox division:





and here are the Jr. Jr. awards.....I was to excited to hold the camera still and in focus to get a close up of Gabriel's face when he won...but it is still priceless to see him win first place.

The Grandparents visit and the kids LOVED it!

Here is a movie maker video I made with the pictures and video from the Grandparent Birthday Party for Isaaiah yesterday. My adorable nephews also came. Zion and Gabriel enjoyed playing MonsterPocalypse for most of the time. Zion sure is a fine young man. Zeke played with Isaaiah and had a lot of fun scaring Grandpa John with the ribbon on Isaaiah's present. Higgens rode around in a puppy sling for part of the party to ensure that he had a successful party experience...and then later in the party Higgens fell in love with Grandpa John... Later when Grandpa John sat in a different chair, Higgens was unsure whether he was friendly or not again. Gabriel and Isaaiah were so excited to show Grandma Janet their Italian lessons and they learned a new word from her in their dictionary. Later the kids showed Grandpa John and Grandma Shelly their laptop studying and even signed up to play Chess with Grandpa. Thankyou everyone for fun time!

That's Cuz Your Awesome!

It was our first girl sleepover at our house, there was pizza and a movie. We watched Annie! In the morning the girls had croissants and yogurt with granola and sparkling cider. They played dolls and we did a fabric painting craft. The girls painted pillowcases...and I painted their jeans (and mine with white flowers)...so we all matched. Thankyou Summer and Isaaiah for being awesome!

More great Cider Squeeze Moments

I took so many cute pictures at the Cider Squeeze and the music was great so I am going mix the pictures and video....The first one is Gabriel, Bryce and Isaaiah playing Cousin's Reel together ...with pictures spliced in.

Here is a video mix of most of the kids, sorry if I missed anybody....everyone sounded great!



Here is a video of Isaaiah playing Crafton's Blues...spliced with many cool pictures...taken by MOI....and then Gabriel playing Crying Waltz....again with great pics.

Zebra Danio Reports

So it sounds so simple, heck I'll just throw up a few of these photos on the blog and....well....it just took much longer than I thought...I'll stop complaining now.

We have been setting up our aquarium to support a small tropical community...and have been getting the water tested...to see when the water was healthy enough to take fish home. I used old gravel hoping that the bacteria that digest ammonia and nitrites would still be there and would rehydrate and flourish....and I guess I learned that 8 years in various hot attics might be to much for those bacteria to survive. At the first water test....we had high nitrites...which meant that the bacteria weren't thriving enough to absorb the impact of the plant that died in the tank the week before (our photosynthesis plant...died of stress and high expectations)... So we did a partial water change and added supportive bacteria.

On the second water test, our ammonia levels were high....this is a mystery...something was urinating in the tank....no plants, no fish....science just doesn't behave itself with explainable outcomes sometimes...

But the pet store did send us home with some optimistic looking zebra danio fish who are reportedly very hardy. So we added more friendly bacteria...and the fish were freed after a temperature equalizing stage. One of the fish promptly died...and had decomposed at least 2 days worth in two hours. Again...difficult to explain....

Four hours later another Danio had kicked the bucket and volunteered himself for dissection.

The kids began work immediately collecting information on this type of fish and creating outlines...Then today they wrote their first draft report...I posted their first drafts here. Dead Danio Dude spent the night uncovered in the fridge and thus was easy to handle, but he was a little too dry. It was still fun to cut him open, but his organs must have dessicated into oblivion...or else he was a robot fish posing as an organic being. So if we have any more dissection volunteers we will dissect them wet....stay tuned.

Below is Gabriel's report...read gently dear reader...Gabriel has a great flow of ideas and enjoys writing....grammer and spelling are usually not part of the creative process for him...but hopefully this is improving.





































































Here is Isaaiah's report....again, I have not corrected these...and I am working with their Allprep teacher to have him correct their writing, because I think they will work more diligently if they think he is reading the report , rather ...than if it is me...


Below are the oral reports that the children gave after writing and reading their reports on camera

I had to answer the phone...the rest of his report is below...



and here is the dissection report:

Moments from the Cider Squeeze

The fall Cider Squeeze is at Foster Phillip Farm 5 miles north of Estacada. This farm (640 acres then) was purchased in 1847 by Phillip Foster, one of Oregon's earliest settlers. Phillip developed this farm for the arrival of immigrants traveling the Barlow road...click HERE for a link to more fascinating history.

The Cider Squeeze is a festival that includes the making of alot of cider, there are many historical exhibits, crafters.....and yes .....kids playing old time music and fiddle.

Eileen's fiddle kids have a concert here each year...I have alot of great videos which I will be posting. I thought I would edit the videos together, but there are to many great ones to edit anything out...so we'll just get started with Summer and Isaaiah playing the Flat Mountain Girl version of "Say Darlin' Say" which they learned by ear from the recording...and practiced together with friends and family in front of the fireplace at Summer's House.

Gabriel the Magnificent Gabriel Man

I was using that phrase, because I noticed that he wrote something like that on his essay book ...that he writes his writing assignments in. Here is Gabriel in Fencing class.

Some of the pictures are from the foam saber free for all at the end...in which the kids have black foam sabers...and fully gear on...and they go to town on eachother mob style...the kids love this.

In the fencing video, the kids are fencing to 5 touches...with certain moves like 4th Parry and some other ones .....made illegal...to lessen their dependence on them and to increase their creativity with other defensive and offensive techniques.

More Fun At OMSI

I still can't believe how cool this class is....I have so many folders full of unpublished coolness (pictures and video)....I don't know how I am going to catch up. Just yesterday I got great photos of Gabriel fencing...so hopefully that will be here soon. We had a great day at the Cider Squeeze performing and playing with friends....so hopefully that will show up here soon. The kids are learning Italian, and every day is filled with more Italian words. Todays word is Peche...fish....we are setting up our aquarium again and are hoping that the water will soon pass the nitrate test.

So ....so many cool things going on...Chess Club started up again...Mr. Malone has dynamic new developments in the organization of the 40 or more kids that we are teaching to play great chess. The kids are excited to be a part of the advanced chess team which is allowed to participate as Captains in helping the younger kids learn. Developing more of a team effort as a club, and building confidence and new leadership skills in all of the Captains.

Gabriel's In the Wild Class is learning outdoor survival skills, there will be a planetarium exihibit for him and Isaaiah through this class. Isaaiah is enjoying international dance...her teacher requires alot of writing in this class which Isaaiah feels delightfully adept at completing with satisfaction.

Isaaiah is starting Tae Kwon Do with a new instructor...and I am joining in as a beginner...I am feeling stiff and sore right now, but excited to be trying something new!!!Yeah for me!

Isaaiah's Birthday is coming up and she is hosting a sleepover with two friends...Summer and Charlotte combining different social circles...we have some crafts and a movie planned with some pizza. My friend Angie has served as my consultant in undertaking this activity....thankyou Angie!!!

So!.....so many things are going on!!!!

We are getting ready to travel to Red Bluff California, so the kids can compete in the Western Open. This is Isaaiah's first time in Jr. Jr. . Last year...(we didn't go) and fabulous fiddler Matthew placed 14th out of 30....So I am hoping that each kids will have a great time and not worry about making the next round...enjoy the fall leaves and the drive...and jamming... Oh the new thing in this contest is that GAbriel and Isaaiah will be joining in the junior picking division...each have a fiddle tune that they can flat pick on the guitar....and it is nice to approach this with no expectation of anything except stage experience...

So.....things are wild and crazy...and I better get my makeup on....

But before you go...check out my video of OMSI....and the cool people that work and play there...

A Walking Tour of Portland with AllPrep and Early College Academy

I love Portland and I know that its history is incredibly interesting...So I was excited to be able to go on this walking tour offered with the kids' online charter school.

I took notes as quickly as I could...as the guide was very amiable, informative...and a fast walker.

The kids knew that Pioneer Courthouse Square is known as Portland's Living Room...and so Gabriel was able to proudly raise his hand and offer the knowledge when the guide asked for other names for the Square. But we didn't know that the history of the Square included Portland's Central School principled by Principle Terwilliger, the school opened in 1858. Above is a picture of the school. Later a fancy hotel was built on the square and I was delighted when the guide told us that during the 61 years that the hotel was there, every sitting president stayed in that hotel and passed through its entrance gate, which still stands in the Square! That hotel cost 1 million dollars to build in 1888!




You can click on the picture of the schoolhouse (at the top of page) to go a historical site about the square.

Click HERE to go to a site that has many old photos of Portland Schools including Central School.

We also learned that on the S.E. corner in front of the Hotel as it faced the river. Was a mansion belonging to Mrs. Corbett...who kept a cow on site for daily fresh milk. So you can picture the contrast between the 8 story presidential hotel and the waiting limosine...and the cow in the front yard of Mrs. Corbett's mansion.

Then the square was a parking lot ( I can remember this)...and then in 1984 the Pioneer Courthouse Square was built.

Here is a slide show of the pictures that I took as we walked, and talked about art and sculpture, Portland's philosophy of "clean vistas", our street and building design and our recognition of many types of transportation.



We also learned that the Portlandia statue is the second largest hammered copper statue in the world. The largest is the Statue of Liberty. Portlandia is not green because the artist wants her to be waxed regularly. Portland officials learned that this has a benefit in making the statue to slippery for bird to roost on, thus now many of Portland's statues are also waxed. Above is the City Seal, on which the Portlandia Statue is based artistically. Click on the photo to go a wikipedia file about the City Seal.




The "Elk" Statue was a popular tourist destination for many years because of the uproar that it caused in that it looks very little like an elk. The Elk's club for whom it was commissioned was not pleased to say the least and this statue became and still is Portland's most controversial statue.

Some of the titles of my photos didn't fit in the final product of the slideshow so there are some incomplete sentences there.

Another fascinating fact that I didn't know...is that until 1967 the grassy riverfront of the Willamette was covered by a freeway...

There are too many interesting things to summarize them here...I would like to find some more old photos and facts. I think that Gabriel and Isaaiah had a great time taking photographs on the tour and making friends. They did store some interesting facts away and will look at Portland with more interest from this point on...

The kids were on the News!

Marilyn Deutsch called me and asked me if Fox 12 could film the kids on Sunday morning. It worked out perfect to film outside (though I had stayed up late the night before cleaning the house with my beloved bleary eyed husband). Oh Well...now we have a clean house. The kids had a great time talking with Marilyn about music and popular culture, and watching the camera lady. I love the editing job they ended up with!!! Yeah !!!!

Here are some pictures that I took while they were at our house...here is Isaaiah getting mic'd. Marilyn Deutsch is sitting on the ground there chatting with them. Here is the link to the news video:Fox 12 link

And here is the camera lady's Analog camera....its still analog...I had to ask...