Four Day Week!

For the first time ALL year, we had a full four-day week and we made the most of it!  Check it out...

Tuesday began with our usual dance time, and were we ever surprised this week when Xavier joined in with singing and (sort of) dancing!  He usually walks about the room. or sits on the sofa, during dance time, so this was a B-I-G deal and we were all happy for him!  Yay, Xavier!

Today we did some warm up exercises before we started bowling.  Just simple things, like arm circles and leg lifts.  We watched some pros on a video who pointed out that it's good to warm up since just grabbing a ten-plus pound ball and throwing it could lead to strains or pulled muscles.  Look at the smiles on these faces...their scores were awesome today...and we think the warm up may have helped!

Not everyone scored this high, but look at Patrick's score today!  We nicknamed him the "Spare Bear!"

Kevin enjoyed serving himself from the beautiful water cooler Tracy (our favorite pizza chef) set up for us!

Today was also Cameron's birthday! Since he loves bowling and pizza, what better way to celebrate than with those two things that his friends love, too?  We enjoyed pizza with him at bowling and when we got back to JRES, we created birthday cards for him and set up the birthday board.

After singing to him, we enjoyed these!  Thanks Cameron, and family, for today's pizza and these yummy cupcakes.  We love birthday parties!

Wednesday's highlights included a bittersweet moment as we made cards to send Josie, who recently moved and had to leave the AoA.  We incorporated Sticker Day (Jan. 13) with this because Josie loved stickers, especially if they were sparkly.  Since we didn't get to officially tell her good-bye, due to a snow day, the cards were a way to let her know she will be missed.

The sun was shining brightly so we headed outside for some fresh air around mid-morning. 

After missing two Wednesdays in a row due to weather, we were happy to welcome Patti back for yoga practice!  This is going very well, and everyone is comfortable participating to their best ability...which is perfect for us!

Patti says our mats are our own individual yoga islands.  She models and encourages in her gentle tone and our guys are pretty good at this!

See for yourself!

We had a fun Winnie/Minnie/Any Disney Spirit Day on Thursday!  It's always fun to dance to Disney songs and play Disney trivia games. 

We finally got around to the Chili Cook-Off, too.  Here, members of the Blue Team visit the "pantry" to gather their ingredients and tools.

Drew sauteed onions and peppers while Woody supervised!

Look at the onions and peppers cooking in the Red Team's skillet!  Yum...smelled so good!

We weren't just cooking on Thursday...down in the kitchen we had these bakers rolling out homemade sugar cookie dough so we could celebrate Minnie Mouse finally getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!  It smelled really good in there!

Cameron approves of the teamwork!

Laura held her own with Xavier and Bo, but she wanted to take over the job at this point.  😊

Our finished products made for a delicious lunch on a chilly day!

During education time, Chris's group worked on mental math and played a quick-thinking game where they had to figure out 10 more or 10 less of certain numbers.

Kate's cousin, Melissa, visited with us today and joined the math game!  Thanks, Melissa!  (Kate and her friends enjoy putting their best feet forward when visitors are in our midst!)

These guys have been working on patterns this week so we gave them a challenge today.  They had to work it out with a couple of steps this time!

We were busy bees on Friday as we got 84 power slide doors ready for Eaton...by lunchtime!  When the song "Almost There" from Disney's Princess and the Frog movie came on our Pandora radio stream, we grabbed the camera and caught everyone working diligently!  It was a great morning!

We also got a great shot of Xavier this week!  He was working on a new task that involved removing a a couple of washers from an Eaton part.  It took him a while to figure out that one of them had to be pulled off (the other screwed off more easily), but once he got going, he zipped through the job!

Earlier in the morning we asked for volunteers to prepare a snack so we could have a belated celebration of Peanut Butter Day.  Patrick and Alexis volunteered to fill celery with gooey peanut butter and completed the job, start to finish!

We also had mini peanut butter crackers and pink lemonade.  These "Eaton" workers enjoyed the break!

With students being out of school on Friday, we took advantage of an empty campus with a walk in the sunshine.  That led us to the playground...  😎

When James heard how much work we had ready, he zipped right over from Eaton to pick it up.   Didn't take long to load the van with these helpers!

It was a great Friday!

We are looking forward to another four day week coming up, even though we heard a weather forecaster mention the "s" word for Tuesday morning...let's hope he is wrong!  Here are our plans:

Tuesday:  NO travel today.  We will remain at AFCC and enjoy puzzle and strategy-type games to mark Puzzle Day (which is on Monday).  Lunch on your own.

Wednesday:  Dress for YOGA with Patti!  She asked what we wanted to try this week, so be prepared for Downward Dog and Warrior poses!  We'll also goof off for Backward Day and begin planning our February calendar.  Lunch on your own.

Thursday:  We are determined to squeeze in a Super Bowl "party" and today's the day!  We'll have pigs in a blanket for lunch, along with a couple of party sides, and play some football inspired games.  After lunch we will head to the CW Art Museums for our monthly visit with Christina (last month got snowed-out).  Please wear Arc shirts!

Friday:  We head back to Eaton for a work day!  We'll also have dance and game breaks, and a surprise treat when we return to AFCC.  Hint:  It's Groundhog Day!  Please bring a bag lunch!

T-shirt orders:  The shirts should be ready sometime this week.  You may get a call that you can pick up your order, but there's no need for you to make a special trip.  We will pick them up from the vendor and send them home with your associate!

Hope everyone enjoys the weekend!  Think Spring....

Lisa, Carol, and Nan