Oh, how we love birthdays! This marked the 5th week in a row that we have celebrated at least one friend's birthday. It was Thomas this week, who is our youngest member at 25. We partied with him on Thursday, and we worked in National Nacho Day, too! Earlier in the week we kicked off November with bowling and pizza for lunch on Tuesday, and completed our service work on Wednesday. By Friday, we were ready to wrap up the week with an Eaton work day and a beautiful afternoon at the park. Check out our first week of November!
Tuesday
It was nice to see sunshine as we began the first week of November with bowling! We were thrilled that our favorite lanes 1-4 were up and running, and ready for us when we arrived.
We forgot to bring the camera, so we just took a few pictures with Lisa's phone. We couldn't overlook a photo with Thomas, Alexis, and Devin who bowled today's highest scores. They each hit 138 in one of their games! Wow! Great job to "The 138 Club." 🎳🎳🎳
Cameron joined us today, but Michelle and Abraham weren't able to be here. We missed them!
We changed up our usual pizza spot and tried Papa John's today, which is conveniently just across the street from Bowlero. We liked the pizzas, of course, but thought Domino's has a tastier crust.
We took the pizzas to Freedom Park since it was such a nice day and we wanted to check the garden. Huge thank you to Cameron's parents, Brian and Stacey, for treating us to pizza for today's lunch! Cameron loves pizza, and so do his friends!
Some of us wore jackets, but in the sun, it was very mild. We couldn't complain about the view, either. The trees are changing colors and are beautiful!
Due to rain, we had our last two master gardener sessions at our place, so we were happy to be in the area and able to check the garden today. We had planted many fall veggies, and they all looked to be growing well except for spinach (it was missing!) and beets, which looked kind of small. We harvested mustard greens and collards. We'll cook them for Thursday's lunch...how will they go with nachos?!
In the collard bed, we also noticed the cabbage, brussels sprouts (we think) and kohlrabi were growing well. We weren't sure if the broccoli we planted was growing or not. We couldn't tell that there was another plant that could have been broccoli. We'll have to send Krafty Karen a message and inquire! We enjoyed our afternoon at the park and garden.
Wednesday
We got right into our Wednesday routine this morning! First up, the group that stayed at AFCC completed a variety of tasks. Erik, Kate, Alexis, Gail, and Nan arranged flowers for our friends at Commonwealth Senior Living.
Patrick, Drew, and Thomas took down Tracy's Halloween decorations in the hall that had been up since the Disability Awareness Trick or Treat event.
Next, this group completed a "Happy Birthday" banner for tomorrow's party!
We also had time to cook the nacho filling ahead of time for tomorrow's birthday party for Thomas! Erik and Drew handled this task!
Next, our guys helped carry trays of food to the tables and remove the shrink wrap to set up the assembly line. Then, they got to work filling food distribution bags with our favorite volunteers, Peggy, Ursula, Joel, and Thom! What a great team we all make!
We volunteer because we want to serve in our community, but we sure do love the treats we receive in return. This week, we enjoyed gluten free chocolate cookies baked by Ursula. Joel said they were as light as a cloud. They were sooo good! Thanks, Ursula. How thoughtful to find a gluten-free recipe so Xavier could enjoy the cookies, too! (Note: We always have gluten-free cookies or snacks on hand for Xavier, so he never misses out on a treat!)
Before lunch, after everyone was back together, we were seriously working on creating a few turkeys so we could replace some of the jack-o-lanterns on our walls and windows. We are leaving most of the other fall decor in place for the month of November, but we felt we definitely needed some turkeys! Thanks, Allison, for preparing the materials and guiding us as we crafted these fun turkeys!
Aren't they terrific?!
After lunch, we were caught seriously working on updating our November calendar, removing Halloween decorations, and getting the room ready for a Thanksgiving look!
Bryan removed our spider web art gallery; Cameron glued the event labels on our calendar squares; Devin and Thomas took jack-o-lantern stickers off of the gourds so we could use them for November; Annmarie and Cameron colored fall pictures while Patrick searched for pictures for the calendar squares.
November will be a short, but busy month! (Not sure what happened to the 12th?! We'll be here doing something!) 🦃🦃🦃 Also, remember...we only come on ONE Monday a year, and it's during the week of Thanksgiving. We will be here on Monday, the 24th and Tuesday, the 25th. We will be closed for the holiday Wednesday-Friday. 🦃🦃🦃
Thursday
Fall Birthday Season rolled on as we celebrated Thomas turning 25 today! We began with a dance warm-up, where Thomas got to pick the tunes. We already knew he liked country, but today we found out he likes it all the way back to before he was born! And most of his friends do, too! Yee-haw!
After our dance warm up, we had a visit from someone on the waitlist for our day program. Her name is Sara and she's very nice. We showed her around and invited her for a trial visit next week. After that, we had time for indoor recess. We worked out to a GoNoodle video and also took a 10 minute hallway hustle. It was getting close to lunch time and we needed to burn a few calories!
Before we celebrated Thomas's birthday, we wanted to show off our latest collaborative banner creation. It's a great time to say we are feeling thankful for our master gardeners who helped us grow collard and mustard greens (which we harvested Tuesday) AND for Nan who took the greens home on Wednesday night and cooked them for us...the old fashioned southern way! Most of us who tried them today agreed that they were good!!
We're also thankful that Thomas's mom, Lori, and sister, Allison, could join us for his birthday lunch! Today is National Nacho Day, and our lunch was very tasty, even if we didn't get a picture! What a great day to have a birthday party!
Lori and Allison hung around after lunch and enjoyed watching Thomas and his friends play UNO during Choice Time. Lori and Allison, we loved hanging out with you today! Thank you very much for the cake and ice cream. It was the perfect ending to our nacho lunch!!
Thomas, we loved your Washington Commanders-themed cake! You're such a loyal fan! We hope all your birthday wishes come true, too!
Our party (and the day) ended with Birthday Corn Hole! It was Thomas and the Commanders vs. Devin and the Eagles, and the Eagles won, 23-21. Such a close game, but everyone had a great time cheering for each other...no matter which team they were on! Devin and the Eagles even invited Thomas to be in their victory photo since he was the Birthday Boy!! How cool is that?!
Friday
Everyone was recovered from yesterday's party and ready to work this morning as we headed to Eaton! When we arrived, we found out that there wasn't as much work to do as usual, so Lisa took a group back to AFCC to work on some thank you cards, and Carol and Nan stayed at Eaton with a group to get that work done. At lunch time, we all reconnected at New Quarter Park for a really nice afternoon outside!
Devin and Patrick teamed up to unload this large bin.
Bryan prepped gaskets and Liz applied them to lids.
Erik, Nan, and Lexi applied gaskets to rectangle parts.
Great job today from our "mini" Eaton team!
Here is the rest of our team, trying to show "sad faces" because they weren't needed at Eaton. They were heading back to the van!
Erik found a book by James Patterson in the Free Little Library box and decided to take it home for his father. How thoughtful, Erik!
A few of us headed for a brisk walk.
Others enjoyed the slides on the playground!
It's always nice when we can spend time outside for fresh air and exercise. The weather looks to be turning chillier in the coming days, but as long as the sun shines and it's not freezing, we can zip up our jackets and continue to enjoy the fall season. Here's a look at our plans for next week:
Tuesday: We'll wrap up Fall Birthday Season today with a double celebration for birthday twins Patrick and Elizabeth! Many thanks to their families for providing Baked Ziti, Salad, and Cupcakes for lunch! We'll also have a lesson to commemorate Veterans' Day and if it's not too chilly, we'll take an afternoon walk at Newport News Park!
Wednesday: It's Service Work Wednesday so please wear Arc shirts. We're having a special luncheon tomorrow so we will spend the morning on preparations. We'll also vote on a movie to watch after lunch. Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is offering Asian Chicken w/Rice or Flatbread Sandwich.
Thursday: Today we're welcoming Mike from the Watermen's Museum for a Thanksgiving lunch. He's providing pumpkin pie and we're cooking turkey/dressing casserole, roasted sweet potatoes, corn pudding, and cranberry relish. We'll also do research for tomorrow's shopping trip.
Friday: It's PSP Work Day so please wear PSP shirts. Our group that remains at the center will catch up on cleaning tasks! After lunch, we are going shopping for our Fall Food Drive. We were given a generous donation which we will turn it into a lesson on planning and budgeting. Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is serving Corn Dog Nuggets or "Special" of the Day!
Families, don't forget we will be in session on Monday and Tuesday, November 24 and 25, and then closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday Wednesday-Friday. Carol has notified WATA, but please follow up for those who use that service. Thanks!
Please support our Fall Food Drive! We're collecting donations which we will take to Grove Christian Outreach each week when we volunteer. Thank you for the donations we have received so far! Our donation box has lots of room!
Have a good weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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