We're Up to Some Good!

We all seemed happy to be back together on Tuesday after Thanksgiving break, and we enjoyed sharing stories with each other of our family traditions.  It's nice to realize how much we have in common!   

Our week was busy, with bidding a sad farewell, welcoming special guests, and doing our small part to make the holidays brighter for a couple of children.  

We were excited to celebrate Carol's birthday on Tuesday, which we did at AMF Lanes!  It was our last bowling trip of 2019, too.  And, it was nice to be back on lanes 1-4.  Everyone settled in and began encouraging and cheering for each other right from the start!

Devin, Kate, and Xavier made their approach...they meant business!

Why so excited here?  We had just heard from Ed that Dallas is coming back to AMF Williamsburg in January!  We have missed him and obviously find this to be great news!

Sam gave Kevin encouragement each time Kevin went up to bowl.  💙

  

"Ta-da" is what Laura said before we served up the pizza!  She was thrilled that her grandparents were sponsoring our lunch today.  Thank you very much, Grandma and Grandpa Heath for your generosity.  The pizza was delicious today and we enjoyed it!

The guys loved gathering around Carol to sing "Happy Birthday" and share in the cupcakes Liz baked for us before leaving for bowling.  They were yummy!

 Back at AFCC on Tuesday afternoon, Kiley came for a yoga session.  She's a special friend to us, being that she's about the same age as most of our guys, and really relates to them.

She has a way of getting everyone involved at their best level.  

We love how she makes it her mission to call each one of us by name every time she works with us. 😍

So it's with heavy hearts that we bid her good-bye after today's session.  She misses her family in Minnesota so she's headed up there to return to school for her Master's in Human Resources.  She's got plans to continue bringing yoga to the masses, and we know she'll be successful.  We're going to miss her a lot, but we'll continue to "work out" with her via online videos she's posted!  We wish you the best, Kiley!  Thank you for bringing your light and love into our world!

First thing Wednesday morning, Alexis and Kacie shelved books in the JRES library.  They are obviously looking forward to Christmas, too!

Here we are busy as bees preparing our December calendar.  Everyone has specific tasks they work on, and it all comes together nicely!

This group was putting the finishing touches on the calendar, when Laura returned from working with Dave, our Rotary volunteer.  She was about to tell Drew it was his turn to work with Dave!

Annmarie was interested in working on a new website with Dave's guidance.  She showed him how smart she is!

This group was about to put their heads together and write a thank you card to Laura's grandparents for their recent sponsorship of our pizza lunch at bowling.  (Laura joined them, a few minutes later!)

Wednesday's highlight was a visit from The Arc of Greater Williamsburg's Board of Directors!  Pam (our Executive Director) set it up, and they treated us to a delicious lasagna and salad luncheon from Sal's, too.  WOW!  We are so blessed.  

Our guys really enjoyed mingling with them before we ate!

Pam officially introduced everyone, and Lisa and Carol gave the new members an overview of our AoA program.  The gang chimed in with their own insights, too.  

It was a great time together.  Thank you, Pam, and the Arc BOD, for investing your time in meeting us and getting to know our program better!  We are thankful for your support and look forward to more interactions with you!

Somehow we managed to finish our tree today, too!  Isn't it fabulous?!

To celebrate National Dice Day on Thursday, we played games that tested our number sense.  Liz, Kate, and Kacie made 3 digit numbers after rolling their dice, then compared the numbers to see who had the greatest one.

Kevin and Laura had rolled their dice at the other end of the pool table, then raced to this end to gather the number of cubes equal to their roll.  In the background here, you can see a tall Christmas tree that the Parks & Rec crew put up.  It's a festive addition to the room!

In the foyer, Drew, Annmarie, and Xavier ran to find a number card that equaled a total they rolled.  Looks like Drew won this round!

Patrick and Alexis rolled dice to make 3 digit numbers, and compared them to find who had the lower number.

Devin and Sam played a game where they rolled dice and removed the highest one each time, then added up the total of all 3 to see who got a point for the highest number.

Dice games warmed our brains up for using the "number" side.  After lunch we took on Walmart to shop for our Angel Tree recipients.  Each group had an assigned list of items to shop for...and a budget!

Sam, Kate, Nan, and Kevin checked their list and then headed to the toy department!

Becky was all smiles with Drew, Patrick, and Alexis as they began their shopping spree!

We found Xavier, Devin, and Liz trying to decide on which pair of shoes to buy for their angel.

We were anxious at check out to see if we stayed within our budget.  Each Angel Tree recipient got an outfit, pajamas, a coat, and some toys.  We did very well!  We even had a few dollars left over that we used to buy extra items for our Food Drive!  Many thanks to our AoA family for supporting this holiday benevolence project.  It was a good task for us and we look foward to doing it again next year!

After checking out at the store, we stopped by The Salvation Army office and delivered our gifts!  We told them we would be back on the 17th to drop off our Food Drive donations.  They were grateful for our support!

Friday was Mississippi Day, and we began by teaming up to prepare our recipe of the day, Mississippi Mud Pie!  Team 1 worked on the crust, which was the only part of the recipe that had to be baked.  Xavier chopped walnuts!

Drew measured and added flour.  Annmarie smiled encouragement!

Kevin added the chopped walnuts, and then they pressed the mixture into a pan and baked it for a few minutes in the Nina.  Great job, Team 1!

Team 2 prepared the second layer, which consisted of cream cheese, sugar, and whipped topping.  Kate, Devin, and Kacie made sure it was well-blended before they spread it over the cooled crust.  Looking good, Team 2!

The "mud" was mixed together by Team 3, which consisted of Patrick, Liz, and Alexis.  It was a combination of chocolate and vanilla pudding, but still looked like the muddy Mississippi River!  Unfortunately, they worked so quickly (and independently) in mixing it and spreading it over the cream cheese layer, that we didn't get a picture.  😱  They then put it in the fridge for Team 4 to finish later, after lunch.  Thanks, Team 3!

Meanwhile, we moved on to our study of Mississippi.  Patrick, who was "best dressed" in his Ole Miss shirt, also brought some books about Mississippi that belong to his mother, who went to school at Ole Miss.  Thank you, Ms. Sue, for the extra support!  One of the books is a collection of Christmas stories from Mississippi.  We're going to borrow it a little longer so we can enjoy the stories next week!

We completely forgot to take pictures for most of the afternoon.  Maybe it was because we were busy learning that Mississippi is bordered by just 4 states and its state bird is the northern mockingbird.  Its nickname is the "Magnolia State" because of the vast amount of beautiful and stately magnolias that grow there.  We also learned about the mighty, muddy Mississippi River.  It begins all the way up in Minnesota, flows through 10 states, and is the second longest in the United States.  We completed our map skills page, too.  

But what we were waiting for was our Mississippi Mud Pie!  We sent Team 4, Laura and Sam, to grate the chocolate and sprinkle it on top!  Beautiful teamwork!

 Somehow we thought about getting a picture now!!  Of course, it was delicious!  We had half of it leftover, too. It's in the freezer for another time!

We were excited to share our mud pie with Sam's grandmother, and our friend, Nina, who came to visit on Friday afternoon.  She left her home in warm Arizona to spend the holidays in Williamsburg with Sam and his family.  We always love catching up with her.  

Today, she brought us paper products and a fun little "stress" toy, which we can squeeze all sorts of ways and it will still go back to its original shape.  It came in handy Friday night when Alexis's Duke basketball team struggled against Virginia Tech...but came away with the win. 🏀

 Thank you, Nina!  Your friendship means a lot to us!  We were happy to see Coach Teri, too!  She brought Nina for the visit.

What a great group shot with Nina and Nan to end the week!  Speaking of group shots, we'll be taking one on Tuesday for our 2019 AoA Christmas card!  We hope everyone will be here on Tuesday.  Here's what else we have coming up next week:

Tuesday:  We're traveling to the Mariners' Museum this morning for a lesson on maritime history with our friend, Wisteria.  The weather forecast looks questionable, with warm temps but likely rain.  Please bring a bag lunch and if we can, we'll eat outside and walk on the Noland Trail.  If not, we'll head back to AFCC for lunch.  We're also going to take a group picture for our annual Christmas card!!  So be here and wear your Arc shirts!

Wednesday:  Our master gardener friend "Krafty" Karen is coming today, along with a couple of MG friends, to create a holiday craft with us!  She told us when our Fall sessions ended that she couldn't wait until Spring to see us again! 💚 It's also something called National Noodle Ring Day...which is a "celebration" of a retro dish (kind of like a casserole) from the 40s and 50s!  So we're going to have a chicken noodle ring and side salad for lunch.  😋  Should be interesting!

Thursday:  We're heading to Eaton today for our last work day of 2019.  It's been a great year!  We also have just enough left on the Wendy's gift card Nina gave us last Christmas to finish 2019 with one more Frosty stop at Wendy's!  Bring a bag lunch and wear Arc shirts!

Friday:  Time to learn about the 21st state to enter the Union:  Illinois!  We'll learn what pierogis are and make them for lunch along with baked green bean fries.  It's also Gingerbread House Day and we're going to make one out of craft sticks.  Finally, we will also learn about the poinsettia, since's its Poinsettia Day, too!  Busy Friday!

Thanks for checking us out!  Have a great weekend!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang