Ready for Spring

We are ready for Spring so this week we were outside often as we worked in the garden, took walks, and enjoyed a little extra recess time.  We also tried making our own springtime window clings…here’s a glimpse at a few days from this week.

On Tuesday we enjoyed the fact that the bowling alley wasn’t as busy as it was last week.  We could hear each other better when we celebrated our improving scores!

Devin and Kacie high five Devin’s strike!

Sam and Devin at the approach...such style!

We are going to take a break from bowling for the next two weeks.  We aren’t able to use the vans next week as Parks & Rec needs them for their Spring Break Program.  The following Tuesday, April 11, we will begin working with the master gardeners at Freedom Park.  It will be interesting to see if our scores remain consistent after our mini-hiatus. 

After bowling on Tuesday we stopped at the Rec Center on Longhill Rd to take a walk and visit the playground.  Most of our friends are walking about a mile and the others are getting close.  As our endurance improves, we will increase our distance!

Here we are in front of one of the vans we borrow from Parks & Rec.  We are so thankful for this privilege!

These guys are at the end of their walk…and talk!

Our gang enjoys time on the playground…the swings are so relaxing. 

This week Chris entertained us by playing the chimes.  The sun was not shining, but our friendships were!  (I'm new to this blogging so if the videos don't work, give me time to figure it out!)

Then, he moved on to the drums...he's going to miss our drumming class with Sandy so he can go on a cruise, but he's got the right idea!

We had our Tai Chi lesson with Michael on Wednesday morning.  Once again we worked with the balls to improve our ability to “flow” with graceful movements.  We also work on balance, and we’re getting better each week!

Celebrating “Something on a Stick Day” found us making breakfast kabobs for lunch!  They were a hit, and fun to prepare.

Later on Wednesday we met Rob for our weekly session in the community garden.  We are really beginning to notice the difference we are making, especially with the weeding we do.  The garden is opening up now that a lot of the dead brush has been cleared and lots of tulips and hyacinths are blooming. 

Kacie and Becky planted more beets.

Nancy, Kate, and Alexis read about bats.  Another garden volunteer was preparing to set up a bat house later with a group of children from the school.

Meghan, Kevin, Carol, and Alexis weed the tulip bed. Lisa helped when she wasn't snapping pics!  :-)

Here’s how pretty it looked after they finished! 

Chloe did most of the watering.

Elizabeth, Nancy, and Chris said they can’t wait to come back next week and finish cleaning out this bed!

These handsome guys helped us welcome Tracy Newsom back from maternity leave.  They took her and Becca (also from Parks & Rec) into the woods to see the outdoor classroom.

On Thursday we spent most of the morning volunteering in the school.  We’re very busy and it’s hard to remember to get pictures sometimes, but here are a few of some of our friends filing, shelving books, and folding clothes for the uniform closet.

Teri Collins stopped by on Thursday afternoon to reveal Kacie’s Family Tree!  Kacie was thrilled to see pictures of distant relatives and hear stories about some of their adventures, such as the 7 times great grandparent  who was so tough and resilient the Indians had to let him live (as per their tradition) after trying three times to kill him!  

She was also excited to find out that the actor, Jimmy Stewart, is a first cousin five times removed…even though she didn’t know who he was!

We need to decorate our room for Spring so we tried making our own window clings using a glue, liquid soap, and food coloring mixture.  Teri stuck around to help us with this sticky project.  Thanks, Teri!  You’ll have to check the next blog entry to see how well they turned out as they weren’t dry before this post was written! 

Lisa is traveling this weekend but will post highlights from Friday’s adventures sometime before Tuesday.  We are looking forward to learning about drumming with Sandy Layman from The Arc and enjoying sloppy joes and an indoor hockey game with one of our favorite substitute staffers, Sue Grimes.  Thanks to those ladies for helping!

A few reminders about next week: 

*It is Spring Break for the schools so the cafeteria will be closed.  Everyone needs to bring their own lunches Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  On Friday, we will celebrate Sam’s birthday with a taco lunch and birthday pie!  (PB&J sandwiches will also be available.)

*We may take a trip to the park on Thursday, so make sure to send a bag lunch that day – no microwavable meals.  Thanks!

*The Family Caregiver Focus Group will meet Monday evening, April 3^rd, at 7p.m. at the JCC Rec Center.  Randy Lavender will facilitate the meeting.  Please join us as we share with one another what we know about resources and supports available for our loved ones.

*Save the date:  The Zumbathon FUNdraiser is Saturday, April 22^nd at Newtown.  The time is 1:00-2:30 and that’s for real…please disregard our previous reporting that it’s from 1-4!

Take care,

Lisa, Carol, and Nan

Sunny Days

Hi Everyone,

We welcomed the sunny weather this week even though it was on the chilly side for much of it. We're looking forward to the temperature warming up just a little more! Here's a glimpse into our experiences from last week.

Each week at bowling we mix up the teams as we try to find a good mix of players in regards to skill and tempo. We thought the teams this week matched up well, so we took team pictures!

Drew, Alexis, Patrick, and Liz are a little on the speedy side, so they were our only team of four.

Nancy, Kevin, and Sam keep a good pace and work together to set up the ramp for Kevin.

Chloe and Devin encouraged our new friend, Josie, and helped show her the lay of the land at the bowling alley. 

These three, Kate, Chris, and Kacie, are among our most enthusiastic bowlers!

Next week will be our last bowling on Tuesday for a couple of weeks. We are skipping April 4 as it's Spring Break for the schools. Many kids will be enrolled in the Parks & Rec program and they need the vans. The following Tuesday, April 11th, we will begin traveling to Freedom Park's Botanical Garden to participate in a program with master gardeners. 🌺 ☀️ 🌱 This will be a five week experience taking place every other Tuesday. We will continue bowling on the Tuesdays we aren't with the master gardeners. That will be our schedule through mid June, when we plan to resume weekly bowling. 🎳 

When Michael came for Tai Chi on Wednesday, he worked with us on making circular motions with our arms. Noticing that some of our friends had trouble keeping their arms extended and apart, he decided to have us hold balls. That really helped us learn to move our arms in unison with each other.

Wednesday was National Goof Off Day so we partially celebrated that, when we weren't practicing Tai Chi or listening to our visitor discuss our work with the master gardeners. We gave the associates a choice during Eaton work time...some got goofy and some chose to work. It was fun to see their choices! 

 Here are a few goofballs! We love them anyway!! 

Here are a few workers...

We all got into Goof Off Day later in the afternoon when we made paper airplanes! Who knew trying to throw them through hoops or at targets...or just throw them at all...would be so much fun?

All goofiness was forgotten by Thursday morning when we did our volunteer work for the school.  Our highlight this week was introducing Josie to this wonderful experience.

Our Thursday afternoon group sessions were spent playing games, something we will do each week, since everyone had so much fun doing this with a staff or volunteer facilitator. 

This group had to think on their feet as they tried to be the first to "Blurt" out the answer to a descriptive clue. It was neck and neck until the girls edged out the boys on the last question!

Pictionary brought lots of laughs for this group!

Our volunteer Becky modified Headbandz so that her group found joy in the verbal challenge associated with that game.

It was hard to tell who enjoyed Jenga more, Nan, Sam, or Nancy!

Another of our volunteers, Nancy Dayton, celebrated a birthday this week by spending not one, but two days working on Eaton parts for us! That really helps our bottom line come invoice time. We enjoyed making cards and presenting her with a pretty spring flower pot!

By Friday we were ready for some cooking experiences. We celebrated Chocolate Covered Raisin Day by making a super simple recipe in the slow cooker, courtesy of our volunteer, Pam. Sad to report all the finished products were gobbled up before any pictures were taken!

For lunch we had a delicious chicken pasta salad that was assembled by these ladies. 

Later on Friday we got into the garden with Rob. He taught us how to plant our beet seedlings, which took almost three rows!

It took a lot of us to get the weeds out of a couple of beds, but it was worth it when we realized the difference between before and after!

Ok, we admit we have more work to do here!

Still, we added a lot of weeds to the compost heap!

It was another successful week and we look forward to next week. Here's what's in the plan:

Tuesday: Bowling and pizza lunch; wear Arc shirts.  We will also stop at the JCC Rec for our Tuesday walk.

Wednesday: Dress for Tai Chi! We will also celebrate Something on a Stick Day (one day late) by preparing breakfast kabobs for lunch. The ingredients include French toast sticks, fruit, and sausage.

Thursday: Please bring a bag lunch as we are tentatively planning a trip to Newport News Park. We're watching the weather on this one. It's National Take A Walk in the Park Day and we found from earlier visits that the trails in NN Park are awesome...and we're so close now that we're back at AFCC.

Friday: Lots of fun planned for this day. Lisa and Nan will be out of town so Sue Grimes (Patrick's mom) and Sandy Layman (from The Arc) will help fill in. Sandy is going to lead the gang in a round of drumming! Sue has graciously offered to provide a lunch of sloppy joes, and for our friends observing meatless Fridays for Lent, there will be PB&J sandwiches...along with sides of chips and fruit. Thanks to Sue and Sandy for lending a hand!

Please remember to keep Saturday, April 22 open for our Zumbathon FUNdraiser at New Town. The time is actually 1-4 p.m., not in the morning as previously mentioned. 

Hope everyone has a chance to enjoy the lovely weekend weather!

Lisa, Carol, and Nan