A Beautiful Spring Week!

 

As we said good-bye to March, we enjoyed another beautiful week of spring weather!  We spent the day outside on Tuesday, visiting the Youth Art Show and Waller Mill Park.  On Wednesday we volunteered at GCOC, began our egg stuffing job, and welcomed visitors from the Arc Board of Directors.  Thursday was the highlight of our week as we welcomed our master gardener friends for our annual spring luncheon!  By Friday, we had to report to work at Pet Supplies Plus, but we didn't mind since it's a fun job!  Here's a peek at our week: 

Tuesday, March 25

Today we visited the Youth Art Show which is taking place at the Stryker Building through Friday and features the art of local students in grades 6-12.  We were totally impressed with their creative talents!  We also welcomed Gail for a weeklong visit to see what our Arc of Abilities program is all about.  Gail is a longtime member of The Arc, so she knows a lot of our guys!  Welcome, Gail!  

Gail, Alexis, and Patrick admired a watercolor painting of a mother polar bear and her two cubs.

Thomas thought a sculpture of an instrument made from cardboard was interesting.  Devin and Sam found Abraham and pointed out a watercolor of an elephant, since they know he likes elephants!  Michelle liked a drawing of a house with a front porch, as it reminded her of her grandparents' home, and Emma thought an abstract portrait of a girl's head surrounded by hands was unique!

We would have loved to take pictures of all of the entries, but there were a lot!  We're happy for all of these student artists, and really amazed by their talent and creativity.  We look forward to coming to this show again next year!

From the art show, we headed over to Waller Mill Park, which we had not visited in a few years.  We were lucky to get a shelter for our picnic, and luckier still that the tables weren't covered in pollen!

We'd like to thank Gail, and her sister-in-law, Zelda, for bringing us a treat of colorful spring cookies!  We appreciate your thoughtfulness, and the cookies were delicious!

Our friends made sure that everyone who wanted to swing got a turn.  Here, Devin and Emma were flying high, but soon Annmarie, Erik, and Sam did the same!

Of course we found a trail and took a walk!  Some of us even made it up an incline to a lookout over the reservoir.

We couldn't have ordered a more beautiful day to start our week!

Wednesday, March 26

We were very busy this morning.  One group went to GCOC to pack food distribution bags and the other remained at the center to stuff plastic eggs!  We were done with all that by 11:00, and then we welcomed visitors, got some exercise, and learned about manatees!

Before going to volunteer at Grove, Bryan cut apart stickers for us to put in the eggs we were stuffing.

For the fourth year in a row, the Arc of Abilities has been hired by the wonderful folks in Sam's neighborhood of Powhatan Secondary to stuff eggs for their annual egg hunt.  We'd like to thank Sam's mom, Coach Teri, for being our "agent" for this job each year.  Not only do we have fun with it, we also earn a stipend that we spend on a pizza party!  

Step 1: A runner (Annmarie) makes sure the stuffers have a steady supply of empty eggs.

Step 2: Stuffers (Erik, Alexis, Sam) fill each egg with three pieces of candy.

Step 3: More runners (Abraham and Drew) bring candy-filled eggs to stuffers (Michelle and Nan) who add a sticker and a tattoo to each egg.

Step 4:  Baggers (Thomas and Annmarie) carefully put the stuffed eggs in packing bags so they won't come open and spill the contents!

This week's egg stuffing crew was about half-way finished when they had to dash outside for a fire drill.  Once they returned inside, they finished the job of stuffing over 500 eggs!  Next Wednesday, when this group goes to Grove, the other group will stuff another 500 or so eggs, and then we will arrange to deliver them.  Thank you, Powhatan Secondary Community Association, for trusting us with this important job!  We all felt like Easter Bunnies today!

Meanwhile, down at GCOC, Carol's group was surprised to learn that Joel, Peggy, Tom, and Ursula were all traveling this week, and only Thom was on hand to work with us today.  No worries, Thom...Arc of Abilities to the rescue!  This situation required us to really step it up, and we came through like rock stars.  (A couple of GCOC staff helped with set up, but it was Thom and us who filled over 140 bags.) Way to go, us! 👏👏

We also learned that Gail is a hard worker.  She seemed like a natural!

We're so proud of our gang!

We squeezed in some extra movement after our work with eggs and canned goods was finished!  We spun the online wheel and visited 10 fitness stations (based on which number we spun) for extra stretching and a little bit of cardio.

For National Manatee Day, we watched a short video and did brain work.  We learned that manatees have no natural predators.  Water pollution and human behavior (hitting them with boats) can threaten them.  They are mammals who spend their entire lives in water, but come up for air and are capable of staying underwater for up to 20 minutes at a time!  They are also herbivores who spend 8 hours a day grazing on sea grass, which is why they are nicknamed sea cows.  Early explorers (who may have been a bit tipsy from drinking ale or rum) that saw them thought they were mermaids!

We welcomed Arc board president, Sue Hassan (middle right) for a visit and she brought new board member, Kristin Doherty, to meet us!  We enjoyed showing Kristin around, and catching up with Sue, who visits when she can.  They helped us with our manatee brain work.  Sue, it's always nice to see you, and we appreciate you bringing Kristin to see our program.  Thanks to you both for your friendship and support!

After lunch, Choice Time, and read-aloud, we put the finishing touches on a congratulatory card for the William and Mary Women's Basketball Team, who recently made school history when they won the CAA conference tournament and earned a bid to the NCAA tournament where they won their first round game!  We also took a walk on another beautiful spring day!

Thursday, March 27

In case you haven't noticed, we love a party!  Today we welcomed our dedicated master gardener friends for a spring celebration as we get ready to kick off our 9th season with them!

We were very busy working in small groups this morning to clean, cook, bake, and decorate for our luncheon.  We decided to take 3 photos to show our room transformation instead of the usual pictures of groups doing the various tasks.  Thank you, Allison, for switching your volunteer day to today and pitching in to help us organize our luncheon!

Before...when a lot of our "stuff" is all over the place!

During set up when we worked together to cover the tables and set out centerpieces and other small decor!

After...as we eagerly await the arrival of our special guests.  Doesn't the room look lovely?!

After cleaning, cooking, and baking, we spent time outside on yet another pretty, but cooler, day.  We wanted to introduce Gail to cornhole, but she was already familiar with the game, and she had quite a good aim, too!  Today's teams were the Flowers and the Bees.  The Flowers won, and the Bees came in second!

We suggested everyone try and wear spring colors for today's luncheon, and our guys delivered!  We thought Emma and Thomas looked exceptionally nice!

Before we served lunch, Thomas gave a welcome speech.  He said he wanted to "speak from the heart" and he aced it!  Without prior practice, he said we enjoy working with the gardeners and we were excited to welcome them to eat lunch with us!  After lunch, Emma, Alexis, Devin, and Liz volunteered to share memories of working with the gardeners, and to thank them for their continued friendship and partnership.  They also had no prior practice, but aced their remarks!  So proud of them all!

To reinforce what Thomas, Emma, Alexis, Devin, and Liz eloquently said, THANK YOU, our beloved master gardener friends!  We cherish our times with you, and are grateful for the wonderful things you teach us, and for your genuine friendship, too.  It's hard to believe we first started working with you in April of 2017!  It's really true that time flies when you are having fun.  We can't wait to spend this spring and fall with you.  See you on April 8th!

It's hard to get all of us in a photo sometimes, so today we took two pictures.  Here we have Lisa, Xavier, Annmarie, MG Barbara, Nan, MG Karen, Laura, MG Joanne, MG Carolyn, Kevin, Patrick, Erik, Thomas, Alexis, Emma, Carol, and Gail.

Here we have Sam, Lisa, Xavier, Michelle, Liz, MG Barbara, Devin, MG Karen, MG Joanne, MG Carolyn, Bryan, Abraham, and Carol.  A BIG Shoutout to Karen's husband, Steve, who took the photos for us.  Steve joins us at the garden from time to time, and we consider him a friend, too!

Here's a throwback to our first visit with the master gardeners in April, 2017.  We have so many great memories with them!!

We received more good news about our friend Tessa's journey to regaining her strength.  She took some steps with support from her dad, Chris, and he also reported that she was able to get up 4 stairs today, with assistance.  What a difference a week makes.  Tessa, we are cheering for you every day!  Keep pushing and never give up!

 

Friday, March 28

As we wound down the month of March, we had a busy Friday work day.  One crew went to PSP, and the other crew worked at AFCC.  Check out our progress from this morning!

We took Gail to work at PSP along with Kevin, Alexis, Erik, Sam, Kate, and Bryan.  Her friends showed her the ropes, and she did very well!  She said she likes to work.  😊  Scott, shown here with Erik and Sam, was pleased with how well our crew stocked and straightened shelves today!

Brittany let us pet the kitties.  Puffin is the tuxedo kitty and Lil' Bear is the black one.  They were so lovable! 💖

Thank you, Pet Supplies Plus and Scott, Roxanne, Brittany, and all of the other team members with whom we work!  This is a great vocational experience for us and we are grateful for what you've taught us!

We were busy at the center, too.  We updated our calendar for April, prepared books from the school library for discard, and prepared a lunch of Sloppy Joes (no photos of Sloppy Joes, though)!

Laura and Abraham colored some pictures for decorating and also prepared our large APRIL letters with pretty spring colors.  Michelle and Drew reset the calendar so the dates would line up correctly, and also helped with other tasks as needed.  Thomas and Xavier took down all the decorations from St. Patrick's Day and Mardi Gras, and Liz and Pat used the laptops to add clipart to our calendar squares.

Devin and Emma stamped "discard" and crossed out bar code numbers on JRES library books that are no longer in circulation.

When the PSP group returned, we played Disney Movie Trivia with an app called Baamboozle.  We didn't get all of the answers correct, because this game is quite challenging!  We liked it!

We ended the week with yoga.  Jaime had posted a new episode called "Three Little Pigs" and even though we knew the story, we didn't know the yoga poses for things like pig, wolf, and big pot!  It was fun, and of course, a great way to stretch and relax.

As we watch March fade away, we look forward to welcoming April next week.  Carol will be on vacation and Allison is going to substitute for her all week.  Rest up, Allison, because we'll keep you busy next week!  Thanks for filling in for Carol!

Here are our plans for the first week of April:

Tuesday:  We welcome Allison to fill in for Carol this week!  Since it's the first Tuesday of the month, we'll go bowling and enjoy pizza for lunch!  We'll also "celebrate" April Fool's Day... 🤔🤔🤔 Arc shirts optional.

Wednesday:  This morning we will send one group to volunteer at Grove while the other group stays at the center to finish the egg stuffing job.  Please wear Arc shirts.  Later, we'll learn about ferrets since it's National Ferret Day.  It's also National Walking Day, so there's that, too!  (It seems like every day is Walking Day for us!)  Lunch on your own.  You can order from JRES Cafeteria, but the menu isn't posted yet.  (Wednesdays usually have tasty offerings!)

Thursday:  By now we will be finished with our read-aloud, The Wild Robot, so we will watch the movie and then compare the two.  We'll also have a lesson about rainbows since it's Find a Rainbow Day.  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is available and they usually serve Domino's pizza or sub of the day on Thursdays, but the menu isn't posted yet.

Friday:  Due to a schedule change, we are working at Pet Supplies Plus again this week, so please wear your PSP shirt.  The group that does not work at PSP will deliver the eggs we stuffed to our friends at Powhatan Secondary, and then return to the center to make lunch.  We're celebrating National Burrito Day, which was yesterday, so we will make chicken burritos and rice for lunch.  After lunch we'll start a new read-aloud...what will it be?!  The forecast looks good for ending the week with cornhole and bocce, too!

Coming Soon!  Share with all pickleball players you know, or sign up yourself!  

We hope everyone has a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang

Spring Arrives, 2025

It was the week for spring to officially arrive, and we were looking forward to it.  By definition, we know spring means milder temperatures, longer days/sunlight...and yes, even pollen and rain.  We lucked out and had four very nice days!  On Tuesday we visited with Christina at the Art Museums of CW and on Wednesday we delighted in the return of our therapy dog friends.  On the first official day of spring, Thursday, we checked the garden at Freedom Park and enjoyed free Italian ice from Rita's!  We wrapped up the week with a work day at Eaton.  We consider it a successful first week of spring!

🌞🌷🌳🐦

Saturday, March 15

On Saturday, we sent Alexis and Patrick to represent us at the Williamsburg Moose Lodge as servers for the WOTM's St. Patrick's Day dinner.  Moose Patti, who took these photos and isn't in them (!), invites us to help out at various functions throughout the year, and we are proud to do so!  Great job serving and socializing with the Moose members, Alexis and Patrick!  We are proud of you! 

Alexis and Pat worked with familiar faces ,WOTM members Catherine and Shelly (left, with Lexi).  They were reunited with sweet Christine, who worked with them last year, and they met a new friend named Matthew.  Together with Patti and Allison, they all made a great team and served up lots of corned beef and cabbage to hungry Moose members!

Tuesday, March 18

Our regular week began with the introduction of a new friend, Julia, who is hanging out with us this week to see what our program is all about.  Julia recently moved to Williamsburg from Chesapeake.  She's been a member of The Arc of GW for a while, so some of our members already know her.  Welcome for a visit, Julia!

After our dance warm up, we checked last week's blog and then did a movement activity with a St. Patrick's Day theme.  

Next, we took advantage of a sunny morning to get more movement with a walk outside.  It was a little chilly...or shall we say, refreshing!

We were pleasantly surprised when Sam's parents, Coach Teri and Tim, stopped by to drop off some plastic eggs that we will be filling with candy again this year for the egg hunt at Powhatan Secondary.  We chatted with them for a few minutes.  Always fun to catch up with our families!  Can you spot Coach Teri and Tim in the middle of the photo?  Everyone was back today except one member, so it was a full house!

Sunday was National Panda Day and who can resist learning about those adorable black and white bears?!  We learned many interesting facts between our video and our brain work.  For example, pandas do not hibernate in winter; they spend up to 12 hours a day eating and bamboo is 90% of their diet; they have large flat teeth for tearing and chewing the bamboo; and they are a vulnerable species.

After an early lunch, we joined Christina at The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg for a lesson to celebrate National Let's Laugh Day, which is tomorrow.  Christina pointed out various objects related to the American Revolution, shared the history with us, and then told jokes and riddles that related to them.  Here, we were looking at a picture depicting a discussion about the Declaration of Independence.  We learned that while Thomas Jefferson was the main writer of that historic document, there was actually a committee of five who worked on it, including John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.

Here's a riddle that relates to this picture:  What was the colonists favorite dance?  The Indepen-dance! 😂

In this video, Christina was asking a riddle about the funniest person in the Continental Army, and the answer was a play on the name of someone we have learned a lot about because he was one of George Washington's generals during the Revolutionary War!

Here is a statue of George Washington that was cast from iron, and he is dressed in the style of a Greek or Roman god.  This was because after his death, when this was made, Americans wanted to portray him as a man so great that he was on the same level of the gods.  Christina said George himself would not have cared for this depiction!

So, does anyone know what George Washington's favorite drink was?!  Why, liber-tea, of course!  Christina kept us laughing and learning today!

We switched gears from the Revolutionary War to animals when we got to the Down on the Farm exhibit in the Proserpi Gallery.  Christina taught us a game that was similar to musical chairs, only it involved us imitating animal sounds, which made us laugh, and didn't require us to remove a seat after we moved around!  We did have to be attentive listeners, though.

As we were making our way through the galleries, Christina was taking answers from us for a "Museum Mad Lib" which she read to us when we got to the Ed Studio for our final activity.

Our project today was to make a brochure like design that enabled us to make lots of different funny faces, depending on which parts of it we opened or closed.  We drew, cut, and pasted different types of eyes, noses, and mouths and no two projects ended up alike, but all were funny when the different parts of the faces were mixed up!

We enjoyed hanging out with Christina's son, Zack, too!  He was home for Spring Break from James Madison University, where he is a junior majoring in elementary education.  Thank you, Christina, for creating a lesson to celebrate Let's Laugh Day!  We try not to be too silly while visiting the museum, but you made it permissible today, and we loved it!

Wednesday, March 19

What a happy morning we had welcoming our therapy dog friends for the first time in 2025!  We had cancelled their visits in January due to a potential stomach virus going around, and again in February due to the snow.  Third time was the charm to start 2025, and we had a blast with them!

Julia is a dog person, and she and Kate enjoyed their time with Aja today.  Casey was very attentive as he and Carol read with Abraham and Devin.

Kent brings Leo and Tavish now, and they were very chill as Lexi, Laura, and Drew read.  Vicky and Aubree liked the titles chosen by Michelle and Thomas this morning.

We had 7 groups today!  Rounding them out were Marisol and Tucker, who were joined by Erik, Nan, Annmarie and Patrick.  In the hallway, Caroline, Pip, and Indy read with Kevin, Liz, and Bryan.  Stationed in the office area were Carol and Darby with Xavier, Emma, and Sam.  

🐕🐶🐕🐶 Thank you so much, therapy dogs and handler friends!  Reading and socializing with you is something we look forward to and we're so glad to continue our partnership with you in 2025! 🐕🐶🐕🐶

We got an extra treat when, after our therapy dog session ended, Marisol told us she had her other two Corgis waiting in the car.  They wanted to meet us!  From left to right are Louis, Nellie, and our ole buddy, Tucker.  Thanks, Marisol!  We are smitten with  your sweet Corgis!!  (Liz is holding a copy of the neighborhood magazine from Ford's Colony which has a picture of Marisol and her Corgis on the front cover!)

It was a gorgeous late morning after the dogs left, so we introduced Julia to corn hole.  Everyone was here today, which made two teams of 9 members each!  Team March Madness won, and Team Lucky Charms came in second! 😊

March 12 is National Girl Scout Day, but we celebrated today with a Girl Scout Cookie taste test!  We welcomed our favorite Daisy Girl Scout, Haley, who, along with her sister, Jordan, happen to also be Nan's favorite great-grands.  Their mom, and our friend Kelly, from APEX-PT came, too.  Lexi was excited to see her cousins!

Haley was our guest speaker and she shared lots of information about what it means to be a Girl Scout.  She told us that it's important for Girl Scouts to be good citizens and responsible leaders.  She said their largest fundraiser is the annual cookie sale, and Jordan proudly pointed out Haley's patch for having sold 1,000 boxes of cookies!

 Sean and Amy, family friends of Lexi's and Haley's, donated 10 boxes of cookies to us so we could have a taste test!  Haley introduced each flavor and then we had samples.  Thank you, Sean and Amy, for your generous donations of delicious cookies to the Arc of Abilities!  Trust us when we say, this was a big hit!  Haley, YOU did a great job telling us about your experience as a Girl Scout.  We are very proud of you!

Everyone filled out a rating sheet, and all 5 of our cookie samples got high rankings!  We tried Lemon Ups, S'mores, Tagalongs, Thin Mints, and Toffee-Tastic (gluten free).  For fun, Kelly brought Samoas and Adventurefuls, and when we turned in our rating sheets, we got to pick one more for a bonus sample!  We also had tasty Girl Scout Punch (Lisa's secret recipe).  Abraham's smile speaks for us all.  It was such a fun and tasty afternoon!

Thursday, March 20

Finally, spring arrived, and we were excited to hit the road for a visit to the garden at Freedom Park and a stop by Rita's for a free sample of Italian Ice!  We worried all week that it might rain, but it turned out to be a warm and sunny day.  We spent just about all of it outside, and it was awesome!

As we wandered around the garden, we took group photos.

Emma, Julia, Drew, Bryan, Thomas, and Xavier stood in front of a baby's breath bush that is starting to fill in with blooms.

Nan, Liz, Kate, Abraham, Erik, Alexis, and Michelle posed at the butterfly garden that is colorful from blooms of daffodils and hyacinths.

We found Annmarie, Kevin, Devin, Sam, Patrick, and Laura at the fairy garden.

As some of us were checking out the "insect hotel" Krafty Karen set up for winter hibernation, we were surprised to see a large bee (carpenter bee?) poke it's face out to say "hi" to us!

We took 2 walks and had a lovely lunch outside in between!

We thought there was a lot of spring color in the garden today, but we know there will be more to come!  We're looking forward to beginning our twice monthly visits with our master gardener friends in April, May, and June!

From the park, we stopped by the shopping center where Rita's is located and admired the mural painted on the brick wall.  It was painted by local artist, and Xavier's stepfather, Steve Prince, and it is beautiful!  Steve titled it "Peace Quilt."  Here's a quote from Steve taken from an article published in WYDAILY on November 21, 2024, and the article can be read in it's entirety here:

"Peace Quilt" in WYDAILY

“Peace Quilt is a mural about the inextricable connections we have as people. Every culture on the planet has a patchwork quilt-making past, because they have gone through seasons of great lack where they had to figure out how to survive with the scraps,” Prince explained. “The quilt therefore is a metaphor for how we made a way out of no way and that we are made up of disparate pieces that mesh together, for better or for worse. Peace Quilt tells a story about America from the East to the West, and from the North to the South and beckons us to remember the past while moving forward into an untouched future collectively working for peace.”

Our awesome day ended with free Italian ice from Rita's, in celebration of the first day of spring.  This was the first time we've ever gone to Rita's, and it was a popular stop!  We only got one photo, as we were busy helping everyone get their treats, and it was a little busy there!  Here's the photo again in case you missed it at the top of the post!  Happy Spring to Everyone!

Friday, March 21

Due to a scheduling conflict, we ended up back at Eaton this week.   Starting next week, we will do two Fridays in a row at PSP.  This morning we assembled 132 PowerSlide Doors, unpacked hundreds of parts, and sorted a lot of other parts, too!

Drew and Patrick moved white handles from the big box to the smaller tubs, making sure not to overpack the smaller tubs because they need to be able to stack flatly on top of each other.

Devin carefully transferred clear plastic plates into smaller tubs.  He organized them as best he could to optimize the amount of space used.

Abraham and Sam moved a lot of tubs to the other side of the room so they could make more room for working around the big boxes.

Annmarie and Laura began transferring parts from a big box to the smaller tubs, and then we needed them to sort other parts to get them ready to be gasketed.

Michelle and Bryan got the door assembly line going and set the pace for everyone so we would be very efficient!

It was great to have Nan back at the label table today with Liz and Alexis!

Xavier, Thomas, Kevin, and Emma trained Julia on inserting 4 sets of nuts and bolts into each door.  Julia concentrated and stuck with the task!

"Erik the Electric" kept the whiz of the power screwdriver going!

After a very productive work morning at Eaton, we decided to return to AFCC for lunch and Choice Time.  Here's a glimpse into some of our choices today:  using laptops, playing card games, coloring, drawing, working puzzles, dancing, and checking personal devices!

World Down Syndrome Day is observed each year on March 21, also known as 3-21.  Down Syndrome occurs when the body has 3 copies of chromosome 21 on each cell instead of the usual two, and this day brings awareness to, and understanding about, what Down Syndrome is, and how amazing people are who have it.  Local brewhouse Frothy Moon held an awareness/fundraising event Friday night to benefit The Arc of Greater Williamsburg.  Our very own Thomas was their guest bartender and he did a great job!  It was nice to see other AoA families there, too!  Thanks, Frothy Moon, for your support of The Arc, and all of our friends with Down Syndrome!  Thanks, Liz, for providing the photos!!

Way to go, Thomas!

Looks like fun was had by Laura, Liz, Drew, and his mom, Donna! 

Yay for spring, and what a great first week it was.  We're looking forward to enjoying this time of year!  Here's a look at what we have coming up next week:

Tuesday:  This morning we will start preparations for Thursday's luncheon for our master gardener friends and then head to Colonial Williamsburg to check out the Youth Art Show at the Stryker Building.  After that, we'll go to Waller Mill Park for a picnic and walk, so please bring a bagged lunch.  We'll also welcome another new friend, Gail, who will be visiting for the week to see what the Arc of Abilities is all about.  Welcome, Gail!

Wednesday:  We will be busy today as we volunteer at GCOC and begin a job of stuffing over 1,000 plastic eggs with candy for the annual egg hunt at Powhatan Secondary!  This is our 3rd year doing the egg job, and it's a lot of fun.  We'll also learn about manatees for Manatee Appreciation Day, and we're expecting a visit from a couple of Arc board members.  Please wear Arc shirts.  Lunch on your own.  JRES is serving Cheesy Pasta Supreme or Assorted Wraps.

Thursday:  We are welcoming our master gardener friends for lunch today as we get ready to kick off our spring session with them, so we'll prepare for the luncheon in the morning.  After the luncheon, we'll have a quiet afternoon of card games!  Baked ziti, spinach salad, and orange/pineapple cake for lunch.

Friday:  This morning we will send a crew to Pet Supplies Plus while the others remain at the center to prepare for our "make up" celebration of Sloppy Joe Day, which we had to reschedule due to work conflicts!   We hope to finish our Wild Robot read-aloud this afternoon, and we'll vote on whether to play corn hole or have yoga with Jaime to end the week.  Please wear PSP shirts.  Sloppy Joes, chips, and fruit for lunch.

Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang