Just the Facts!

Our week was fun and busy!  Here is a "just the facts" blog about it, since Lisa is traveling for the weekend and is cranking this out in a hurry.  Not as many details, so a quicker read.  Hmm, might be nice for a change! 😉

Tuesday;  We finished our Fall sessions with the master gardeners by planting bulbs "lasagna" style in our pots.  We layered tulip, daffodil, and crocus bulbs after reviewing how the roots and stems grow on the bulbs.  We also made a beautiful card and had a tasty snack!  Back at AFCC, we had an AHH-mazing yoga session with Kiley!

Linda showed us pictures of the stages our bulbs would go through to become flowers.

Vickie gave us interesting facts about daffodils.  They are also called "narcissus."

Shirley gave us information on tulips and showed us pictures on her phone.  Tulips originated in Turkey, and then made their way to Holland!

Rick and Barb were kind of silly as they worked with Kacie and Devin to plant some of the bulbs.  They made us laugh!

Cameron and Laura also helped plant bulbs.  We planted daffodil, tulips, and crocus.  Come Spring, we hope to see some pretty flowers in our pots!

Linda presented us with a pretty thank you note for last week's luncheon!  It had lovely pressed flowers on the front...we thought it was so pretty!

Then we found out Krafty Karen had pressed more flowers and leaves and was going to help us each make a beautiful card!

Karen has been making pretty things with pressed flowers since she was a little girl! Here, our girls carefully glued dried flowers to their cards.

MGs Marcella and Vickie helped Patrick and Drew with their cards.

Here are a few of our finished cards! 

MG Barbara made part of our snack today and it was gluten free peanut butter cookies, which meant Xavier could enjoy it!  Thanks, Barb!  We also had more of Karen's yummy zucchini bread!  Until Spring, 2020....we will miss our MG friends!  We really appreciate our partnership with them.  Our sessions are fun, educational, and always engaging!

MG Rich takes pictures during our sessions.  He put together this display so the MGs who couldn't make it to our luncheon last week could see what we did.  Thank you, Rich, for always capturing the good times we have with you guys! 

We went back to AFCC for lunch and then Kiley came for a yoga session with us.  She brought her speaker, which was wirelessly connected to the yoga playlist on her phone.  The music was great!

She led us through a series of gentle stretches and some of our favorite poses.  

We were relaxed and quite limber when she finished.  All the deep breathing we did felt good, too.  What a treat to have an extra yoga session this week.  Thank you, Kiley!  Your friendship means a lot to us!

Wednesday:  We talked about the meaning of color and how it affects us and sometimes influences our decisions.  We also painted little pumpkins and a few rocks as a way to celebrate "Color Day" and get ready for next week's Halloween Party!  Patti led us through our last practice for next week's "Thriller Yoga," followed by a fun Halloween craft that Liz found for us to do.

After learning about the meaning of colors in our world, some of us worked on color by number pictures and practiced filling in all the spaces with color.

Others used the computers to make posters representing the meaning of colors.  Alexis and Patrick learned how to insert text boxes so they could label things in their work.

It was nearly 70 degrees when we went outside for some mid-morning movement! (A few of us were already inside helping to prepare for the next activity.)

We decided to paint the mini-pumpkins we used as table decorations at our MG luncheon last week.

Some of us also painted rocks with a Halloween theme.  Kacie enjoys painting and made several pretty rocks.

Kate worked on a spooky design while Devin proudly showed his purple and orange rock representing his favorite college team, Clemson!

Look how much concentration Laura had while painting her mini pumpkin.

We put the pumpkins back in the windowsill along with some flowers and other decorations we've made.  It looks very seasonal.

WOW!  The Washington Nationals are up 2 games to none over the Houston Astros in the World Series!  Our in-house fans Patrick and Liz are excited and hoping for more wins over the weekend.  (Maybe the Nats will sweep the series and we'll get a broom as a prop for a picture next week!)

It was the last day of practice with Patti for next week's "Thriller Yoga" performance for Halloween.  From ghouls and ghosts to zombies and monsters...we have the moves!

Here's a little preview of our choreography!

After yoga we helped each other make scary bats to use for decorations in the lunch room.

Cute or Scary?!

Thursday:  We have been going to Eaton for work days often over the past couple of months.  This is part of our day support program's initiative to provide vocational training for our associates.  The amount of progress each one of them has made in  mastering technical skills, as well as developing work ethic, over the past 3 years is significant.  We're very proud of them!

Tucked into a quiet corner of the room, Bo and Liz applied sticky gaskets to plastic parts.

There were hundreds of these pieces that needed to have a small part snapped off from the middle.  Kacie, Patrick, and Annmarie happily snapped most of the day!

Once again, we worked on PowerSlide doors and got at least one hundred assembled.  Nan, Alexis, and Carol applied labels while Sam and Devin inserted amber-colored lenses and Xavier moved doors from table to table.

Here's a closeup of Kevin applying one of four nuts and bolts that go around the amber-colored window.  

Cameron also inserted nuts and bolts. 

This shot of Abraham and Drew is a bit blurry because they are so speedy when they sort mixed parts!

Kate and Laura perservered at snapping two small pieces off each of these parts.  

We appreciate our volunteers very much.  Becky chipped in to help at the label table when Carol had to be relocated to tightening screws.

Volunteer Meemaw usually operates the power screwdriver, but today she applied gaskets to the amber-colored lenses.  We have cross-trained our volunteers as well as our associates!


Friday:  The highlight today was celebrating Kevin's birthday, which is on Sunday!  We danced to his favorite Wiggles tunes, made thoughtful cards, and his mom treated us to KFC tenders for lunch because we were learning about Kentucky, the 15th state to join the Union, and the birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Kentucky is also home to the world's longest known cave system, Mammoth Cave, of which over 400 miles have been explored!  Plus, it's is home to the most exciting two minutes in sports, aka, the Kentucky Derby!  Ask your associate if they remember why Kentucky is called "The Bluegrass State" or what the state bird is?!  We also talked about the United Nations today, as its birthday was yesterday.  We ended the day playing Bingo, as we are trying to memorize the first 15 states and their capitals.  That was a challenging ending to our week!

Friends proudly showing the work they put into learning about Kentucky!

On our way outside, Alexis and friends stopped to tie Annmarie's shoes.

We spread out today and threw balls and flying discs.

In the garden, we were reminded that Mr. Rob's ashes have been placed under this beautiful pine tree.  Volunteers continue to freshen up the garden in his memory.

Our study of Kentucky was made extra special by it being on Kevin's birthday.  He originally wanted to have chicken from Chick fil-A for lunch, but changed his mind when he realized today would be Kentucky Day.  Thanks, Kevin and Mom, for treating us to tasty chicken tenders from KFC!  It was....wait for it...finger lickin' good!

We loved Kevin's cupcake "cake" that had his picture on it!  Gee, Kevin, that's a lot of Wiggles DVDs!  🧡

All the friends wished Kevin a very "Happy Birthday" as they sang to him.  It was a great party!

Sam is smiling because he learned that the United Nations is an organization that works for world peace!

During fire drills, we exit the building quickly, though not necessarily, in a single file line.

Becky showed her silly side by making rabbit ears over Sam's head, which is what he had done to her yesterday while we were working at Eaton! 

Our Bingo cards had state names in the boxes.  Becky called out the capital and we had to find the state.  After a few rounds, we got better at remembering the capitals for the 15 states we have studied so far. 👏👏

As our week ended, we left feeling excited about next week.  We have a lot to look forward to with it being Halloween Week and including another birthday celebration!  Here's our schedule:
Tuesday:  Lisa and Nan will be out today, but Tracy is filling in for a fun day of bowling and pizza for lunch, courtesy of Kate and her mom!  We thank them!  If the weather is nice, we'll also stop by the garden at Freedom Park to see if we can harvest some spinach for Wednesday's lunch, and take a walk to look for signs of Fall color!  Wear your Arc shirt! 🎳🍕

Wednesday:  We're celebrating Alexis's birthday today!  We'll prepare her request of quinoa salad with spinach, tomatoes, and chicken for lunch, along with a side of garlic bread.  Lots of our guys like cats, so we will celebrate National Cat Day, which was yesterday! We will also prepare a couple of treats for tomorrow's party.  Dress to stretch for THRILLER YOGA w/ Patti, too! 🎂👾

Thursday:  Happy Halloween!  We will spend time in the morning preparing our lunch of Mummy Dogs (hot dogs), Bones and Slime (veggie sticks and dip), Chomping Teeth (apples and peanut butter), and Dragon's Blood (punch).  We will party from about 11-2, so bring a costume (or wear one) if you'd like.  We'll dance, play games, and watch the movie Coco, which ties nicely into the book we recently read.  It will be a spook-tacular day! 👻🎃

Friday:  Today is the 1st of November, so we will work in the computer lab to prepare our calendar of events.  We'll also celebrate the 16th state to enter the Union, Tennessee.  Lunch on your own, but since Tennesse hosts the National Banana Pudding Festival in October, we'll make banana pudding in its honor. 🍌🍌

Reminders:  The AoA will be in session on Monday and Tuesday, November 25 and 26 during Thanksgiving Week, and will be closed Wednesday-Friday. 🦃🦃

This Saturday (October 26) is the Octoberfest at Anheuser-Busch.  Come out and support The Arc of Greater Williamsburg.  Admission is free!  We hope to see you there!

Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang