Decorations!

It was another busy week at the AoA as we had a big delivery from Eaton to work on and lots of decorating to get done.  Everyone chipped in and our rooms are looking very festive.  More on that later...

First, we went bowling for the last time in 2017 on Tuesday.  We are all smiles at the bowling center because it's so much fun to hang out and cheer for one another.

Cameron's ball says what everyone strives to be, a Strike King (or Queen).

With rolls like this, it's easy to see why over half of our guys made strikes on Tuesday!

Here's our friendly pizza baker, Tracy!  Doesn't that look like pepperoni perfection?!

More smiles as we enjoy the pizza!  Thanks this week to Sam's Nana for treating us!

Tuesday afternoon's high temperature was around 70 degrees so Coach Teri and Nina met us at the JCC Rec Center after bowling for our weekly Bocce practice.  The change of venue was fun and we felt like we were playing on a professional field!

With Coach Teri looking on, Chloe and Cameron get their red and blue balls in the vicinity of the jack.  

Here, Laura and Liz discuss strategy, Chris winds up for a toss, and in the background Alexis helps Drew with an underhand toss.

Devin keeps his eye on the jack and Xavier hopes Devin doesn't get closer than Xavier did with his blue ball!

Sam takes aim at the jack which is obstructed somewhat by the cone.  In the background, Liz and Josie chat with Nina.  It was great to have another nice weather day so we could be outside enjoying Bocce Ball.  Hopefully, we will have another nice day before Winter Break so we can have our tournament!

On Wednesday morning we got to meet Chloe's new puppy, Peaches.  What a sweetie!

We celebrated Dice Day a couple of days late, and in an unusual way.  Coach Teri brought us each a big wooden die that featured Colonial era "fortunes" written on each side.  We broke into groups, asked the die our most pressing questions, and rolled to see our fate.  Alexis was excited to to get a positive reply when she asked if she was going to get lots of Christmas presents!

Chris checks for the answer to Kacie's question about seeing lots of family members for Christmas.

It took Carol's group a few turns to catch on, but once they did, there was laughter all around!

Carol had a birthday over the weekend on December 3rd, so we celebrated her on Wednesday with a fresh and tasty salad topped with grilled chicken!  We also had cupcakes...but forgot to get a picture with the birthday girl. 😕

Undeterred by missed photo ops, our Carol got the gang busy with Eaton work shortly after lunch!  Here, she and Chloe apply gaskets to parts.

Kevin, Chris, and Laura had a lot of parts to sort!

Cameron, Josie, and Kacie get the sticky gaskets ready for application on the parts.

A few of us worked on holiday decorations and creating our tree...here's a preview of what's to come:  Chris is consulting with Kate on plans for Thursday's big day of decorating.  

Since we heading to the CW Art Museums after lunch, we spent Thursday morning putting holiday cheer up around our rooms.  Doesn’t this look like Santa’s Workshop?  Everyone was busy Thursday morning making and hanging decorations.  With Christmas music playing in the background and chilly weather outside, we were really getting into the spirit of the season.

Devin is making progress getting his fingers in sticky stuff…like glue!  

Xavier didn’t seem to mind the glue.  Each associate was decorating a green triangle for the “triangle tree” we were making to put in our lunchroom.  

Once they were all done, we put the individual parts together to make this beautiful whole!

Here, Kacie and Cameron work on a “Happy Holidays” banner.  There was an abundance of teamwork today!

It was a good week for Arc publicity as Lisa, Devin, and Drew found their photo in a Va Gazette story about Giving Tuesday that was published Saturday.  In Wednesday’s edition, Drew and his literacy tutor were featured.  (One of Arc’s evening activities is a literacy initiative between Arc clients and students at W&M.)  We couldn’t resist getting Drew to autograph his picture!

After lunch on Thursday we made our regularly scheduled visit to the CW Art Museums where Christina (and her coworker, Jan) helped us finish a special project we began in November.  We had a brief lesson about quilts last month, and saw some on display.  Then we made small versions using paper which Christina framed for us so everyone could give them as gifts to loved ones!  When we arrived in the Education Center, Christina had set our work up “gallery” style so we could walk through and enjoy everyone’s masterpieces!

Some of our proud associates show their art work!

Next, Christina and Jan helped us wrap the gifts so we could take them home to the lucky recipients!

We had a surprise for Christina.  To thank her for the joyful experiences we’ve had, we brought her some sweet treats and one of our AoA greeting cards (complete with our photo).  Here, she and Jan react to seeing the card!

Before leaving the museum, we walked down to see the gorgeous Christmas tree and posed for this group shot that highlights our handmade gifts.  We assembled for this one fairly quickly, too.  Wow, we are getting good at posing for photo ops!

Friday rolled around and we finished the week on a super busy note!  We continued to "deck our halls" (after a lesson on figurative language to explain what that actually means) and we celebrated Brownie Day.  Plus, we revealed where our Holiday Outing will be for 2017!  Take a look at our Fun Friday:

Kacie, Liz, and Cameron string beads to make a garland for our paper chain Christmas tree.

The Brownie Bunch!

Everyone got a square shaped brownie which they then cut into a Christmas tree shape and decorated for after lunch dessert.  They enjoyed eating the "scraps" before lunch!

Happy Brownie Day!

This is our snowman mosaic.  Each associate colored a small square and when we put it together, we got this.  It's lovely as a focal point on one of our walls!

For days our decorating elves have been coloring pictures that we put on the walls.  We have lots of space to decorate!

Everyone colored Santa parts today. 

 Then, the parts needed to be cut out and assembled into dancing Santas that would be hung above the closet door.  Here's Cameron, cutting and assembling all the Santas...he was a WHIZ at this and seemed very happy to do it!  The staff was very thankful for his help!

Fun! 

Finally, we knew Santa needed some reindeer (you can see them in the pic above), so we made a team of paper ball reindeer!  This was tricky, but as usual, we persevered...

Ta-da!  Santa's reindeer!

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor dark of daytime keeps our loyal volunteers from coming to help.  While we were having fun making Santa and his reindeer, Nancy (aka Drew's Meemaw) caught us up on Eaton parts that needed gaskets.  Someone's gotta do it... 😜

Becky also made it in today!  We are so lucky to have these regular volunteers (and Pam W. who helps out on field trip days).  Just had to give them a shout out this week...and add a nifty filter to their pictures.  'Cause they are special!

Before dismissal procedures, we played a game of Hangman to reveal that our Holiday Outing will be to the Virginia Living Museum (on Friday)!  Chris guessed it after the letter i was filled in!  This news was met with lots of cheers...we are excited!  Details below!

Finally, we finished our paper chain Christmas tree but forgot to take a good picture of it.  Here's a sneak peek...a not so good shot of the tree  cropped from another picture.  It's very pretty and another big focal point in our room.  Check back next week for a better picture!

And speaking of next week...

Tuesday:  No traveling today.  Instead, according to the National Day Calendar, it's Gingerbread House Day!  So we are going to have a go at making small ones...you might want to wear clothes that can get messy! Lunch on your own!

Late breaking information:  Our Executive Director, Pam, will be visiting us at 9 a.m. on Tuesday with a team from VA Coastal RE/MAX who will get video footage of our AoA in action to use in a feature highlighting local nonprofits.  BE PREPARED for a change in our morning routine...we will probably dive right in with activities and projects and have our dance warm up a little later in the morning.

Wednesday:  It's a big day at the AoA.  First, our friend from the CW Art Museums, Christina, is coming for a visit and she's treating us to pizza for lunch! 🍕 Yum!  Then, we will get a chance to work it off because our new trainer, Pam, from JCC Parks & Rec is coming today.  She will meet us and do a preview workout of what we can expect in the new year!  Wear comfy clothes for bending and stretching.

Thursday:  We have spent a lot of time talking about and preparing for Christmas, but today, we will discuss the celebrations of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.  We will make not too spicy jerk chicken (Kwanzaa) with potato latkes and applesauce (Hanukkah) for lunch. After lunch we head outside for our Bocce Ball Tournament! Don't forget to wear layers and bring your jackets as it will be a little chillier than we are used to!

Friday:  We are excited to be going to The Virginia Living Museum for our holiday outing this year!   We will see the animals AND attend the Holiday Magic Show in the planetarium. The museum granted us a scholarship for admission and Drew's family is covering our lunch!  Merry Christmas to us!  Thank you to Drew's family for this generous gift!  Please wear Arc shirts and don't be late!  We need to depart promptly at 9:00 for this adventure!

Special Announcement:  Holiday Party!!

We will celebrate with our annual "office" party on Wednesday, December 20th.  We plan to make all of our own "sweet" treats but would like for each associate to bring in a favorite "savory"treat (chips, veggies, dips, fruits, meats)  to share with the gang in a potluck style luncheon.  

Also, we will be playing a gift exchange game, so each associate needs to bring a $10 gift card (wrapped, please) from a favorite locale! 🎅🤶🎄

REMINDER!  Our last days of AoA for 2017 will be Tuesday  and Wednesday, December 19th and 20th.  We will reopen on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2018!

Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, and Nan