This week we enjoyed somewhat warmer temperatures, even though there wasn't a lot of sunshine. That's ok...we'll take it...last year during this week we only made it on Tuesday before 3 snow days grounded us! We enjoyed a busy week, visiting with Christina at The Art Museums on Tuesday and with our therapy dog friends on Wednesday. On Thursday we returned to Williamsburg United Methodist Church for another visit with those new friends and there was a lot of musical fun! We worked at Pet Supplies Plus on Friday morning and then celebrated the Lunar New Year with Chinese takeout for lunch. That's always a fun time! In between those adventures, we learned about Presidents' Day and Mardi Gras (King Cake!) and celebrated our favorite pets. It was a great week!
Tuesday
Our first highlight of the day was a lesson about Presidents' Day. We learned that it is observed in February because that's the month in which George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were born. However, there were two other presidents born in February, William Henry Harrison and Ronald Reagan. We also learned that not every state recognizes it as a federal holiday!
Not sure if it was a highlight, but after most everyone said it was still too chilly to walk outside, we cranked up the tunes and hit the hallway...
Visiting Christina after an early lunch was definitely a highlight! Today was the first day of the Lunar New Year and she gave us some great info about that, and then more great info about porcelain dinnerware that was exported from China to the American colonies as far back as 1607! That's right...we've been importing goods "Made in China" since the first colonists arrived in Jamestown!
China has some of the best type of clay for making fine porcelain dishes which were popular in Colonial America. The remains of many of those dishes have been found by archaeologists in Colonial Williamsburg.
This plate that was "Made in China" was part of a set belonging to the last royal governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore. He fled Williamsburg in 1775 as the Revolutionary War was getting underway. Later, the things he left behind at the Governor's Palace were sold in an 18th century version of a "yard sale," and many of his dishes were unearthed by archaeologists all over CW over 100 years later.
It is the Year of the Horse in the Lunar Calendar. Christina showed us a wooden horse toy on display that was also "Made in China!"
We learned that long ago, and even now, other countries were influenced by Chinese style. We saw a bookshelf, a tiled art piece, and a chair that were all made in England but based on Chinese culture and design.
We went to the ed studio where Christina said we were going to get to design our own Chinese porcelain plate. We were only going to use shades of blue, as that was a very popular color during colonial times.
Christina gave us some tips for drawing things like flowers, trees, birds, and Chinese buildings., which were often drawn on porcelain. If you start with a couple of J's written backward, you can create the look of Chinese architecture!
We worked quietly, but encouraged each other in our designs. It seemed strange to just use shades of blue, but we got into it!
Christina finds it relaxing to create, even if just with blue colored pencils on a paper plate. Isn't her design lovely?
We were proud of our plates, designed and made right here in Williamsburg, VA! Thanks, Christina, for another interesting and engaging lesson! What a fun way to combine history and art!!
Wednesday
This morning we welcomed a small, but mighty, group of therapy dogs and handlers. Sometimes we have as many as 8, but today only 4 could make it. So, our literacy groups were larger with four or five of us in each, but our enthusiasm for spending time with these special friends was strong!
Xavier was up front when Caroline, Pip, and Indy arrived so he was the first to greet them!
Before we began our literacy groups, we gave a shoutout to handler Carol Downey, center in beige sweater, who is co-chair of the Night to Shine committee that hosted an amazing night for us last Friday! So many of our friends attended and had many, many great stories to share, including how nice it was that several of our therapy dog friends were in attendance as well. 👏👏 and 💖💖to all of you for a night we will remember for a long time!
We enjoyed reading the books we had checked out from the James City Country Library last week. Alexis, Tessa, Drew, Xavier, and Erik read with Lisa and Lola while Gail, Kevin, Bryan, and Liz read with Carol D and Darby.
Carol S. and Casey read with Patrick, Michelle, Devin, and Laura. Caroline, Pip, and Indy were all ears for Kate, Thomas, Sara, and Annmarie. After reading, we played Lunar New Year trivia. Thanks therapy dogs and handlers, for another engaging and joyful time spent reading and learning! We appreciate you!
We appreciate Carol and Nan for finishing up the flower arranging service work after the dogs arrived so we could read and play games! This week we had enough extra flowers that we were able to give our 4 handlers beautiful bouquets!
A beloved tradition we have is celebrating Mardi Gras and enjoying authentic King Cake delivered straight from New Orleans, courtesy of Moose Patti and her father, who lives in the Crescent City! We were a day late for our lesson and observance, but with an acknowledgement that today is Ash Wednesday, we carried on with our celebration.
Drew and Gail assisted Carol with icing our King Cake.
This year's cake was strawberry! Here's how it looked before and after decorating. The plate of cookies we decorated are gluten-free, for our friend, Xavier.
We decorated masks and had a little dance party before indulging in the cake!
The online wheel spinner chose Laura and Bryan to be our King and Queen, so they got to select the first pieces of cake. This year, we had 4 little plastic babies to hide in cake slices and 1 silver coin. Tradition says, that whoever finds the babies or coins will have good luck and prosperity in the year to come!
Hmm....it seems Annmarie may have found a trinket in her cake slice! It was the silver coin!
Along with Annmarie who found the lucky coin, are Drew, Bryan, Nan, and Michelle who each found a little plastic baby in their pieces of cake! Congrats to you guys, and here's to a year of good luck and good fortune!!
Thank you so much to Moose Patti and her dad for sending us the delicious King Cake all the way from New Orleans! The only thing that could have made it better would have been if you could have joined us! We love you, Patti...and Patti's dad, Richard, too...for loving us, and for this generous and tasty King Cake treat!! What a fun afternoon!
Thursday
The weather was dreary today, but our time with the women's group at Williamsburg United Methodist Church couldn't have been brighter! The theme was "Music" and we danced and sang our hearts out! This is a great time to let the pics and videos tell the story...might want to grab a bag of popcorn! 😜
Today's session was led by Jeanne, with support from Gayle, Renee, and Linda. Jeanne had loaded her phone with great music (we knew it all!) and we followed her moves and also made up some of our own. We got a great workout! Jeanne is an inspiration at 84 years young!
We took a break from all the dancing and singing to play a game of "Hot Potato."
Next, we had a special request session. Liz took over Jeanne's phone and quickly pulled up some of our favorites! Check out the singing and dancing and pure joy that ensued!
Thank you, Jeanne, from the bottom of our hearts for getting us moving today with your contagious enthusiasm! We had so much fun with you, Gayle, Renee, and Linda this morning. The rain could never compete with your sunshine!!
We returned to AFCC for lunch, Choice Time, and read-aloud. We ended the day with a celebration of National Love Your Pet Day! This group brought pictures and stories of their beloved dogs and cats, some of whom had crossed the rainbow bridge, but still live in their hearts. 💙💚💖💜 💛We enjoyed every photo and story, as this is a favorite "celebration" each year!
Friday
At PSP, Sara, with the help of seasoned veterans like Gail, is really getting the hang of stocking products, being careful to match the bar code numbers. Behind her are seasoned veterans Liz and Kate, too!
Bryan, Devin, and Erik can be counted on to focus and work efficiently on their job of stocking products for all kinds of critters!
Devin and Erik also worked with Ryan, a PSP employee, to stock dog food products. Our guys enjoy working alongside members of the PSP team.
Today's crew couldn't resist highlighting some of the stuffed toys available for our furry friends! Thanks to Erik, Bryan, Kate, Sara, Devin, Liz, and Gail for your professional and hard work today!
Can you spot the dragon, Nian, in this throwback from 2017? We were temporarily relocated to the Rec Center on Longhill that week due to a broken water pipe at AFCC. This was our first celebration of Lunar New Year, and we were making Chinese lanterns!
We were too busy decorating and working on some special cards for special friends, to get any other pictures, but our crew of Tessa, Kevin, Drew, Alexis, Patrick, Xavier, Laura, Michelle, Thomas, and Annmarie were busy all morning taking care of business!
Thanks to Lexi and Nan for picking up our take out order from Hong Kong Restaurant in the James-York Plaza on Merrimac Trail. Thanks also to Lexi, for sharing her collection of stuffed horse animals which added to our decor for the Year of the Horse! 🐎
Once again, as for many years past, Hong Kong got every order correct, and today, we had 18 of them! 😋
Our week ended with sunshine outside, but we hear we may see snow this weekend??? That seems crazy since it was above 60 degrees today, but you never know. We certainly hope to see everyone on Tuesday, and here are our plans for the last week of February!
Tuesday: We'll keep our eye on the forecast and hopefully be able to visit the park for a walk today. We're also going to visit Wendy's so Laura can treat us to Frosties. She's had a birthday gift card she's been wanting to share for a while! Thanks so much, Laura! Speaking of birthdays, it's Pam's today, so we also hope to stop by our new building to give her some happy wishes (and maybe a Frosty, too!) In other activities today, we'll learn how telephones work, make our own string telephones, and play the telephone game! Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is serving Chicken Fajitas or Pizza.
Wednesday: It's Service Work Wednesday so please wear Arc shirts OR pink shirts (keep reading). We're also celebrating Cook a Sweet Potato Day (it was on the 22nd) by making a baked sweet potato bar, with sides of meatballs, green beans, and fresh fruit for lunch. The Arc's Kasey is joining us today, and she'll lead us in a celebration of National Pink Shirt Day, which recognizes kindness, inclusion, and antibullying. Feel free to join Kasey in wearing pink today if you'd rather, instead of your Arc shirt.
Thursday: Moose Patti is volunteering today and we're going to play board games and corn hole with her. We'll also work on creating cards and posters that we'll present at a future JCC Board of Supervisors meeting. Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is offering Domino's Pizza or Deli Sub.
Friday: We will work at Eaton this morning so please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch. After lunch we'll have a lesson for Pokémon Day (bring your Pokémon stuff if you'd like) and enjoy a Pokémon version of yoga with Jaime to end our week, so dress to stretch.
Have a great weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
