March 2020 is Here!

This week we welcomed the month of March AND got to celebrate two birthdays!  We're also excited because it's in March that the Arc of Abilities celebrates its anniversary, and this March 16th we will be FOUR years old!  WOW!  Has it really been that long?  We're already planning our celebration!  But first...here's what we were up to this first week of March.

Tuesday

Our week began with our bowling league.  We traveled to AMF Williamsburg where Ed greeted us and made us feel so welcome, as always. 

We had big plans to make strikes and spares...and to celebrate Drew's birthday!  We're happy to report, we did all three!  Kacie found a lucky nickel in the parking lot, and it really brought her luck.  She bowled with Devin and Sam today, and rolled a few more strikes and spares than they did!

Annmarie, Kevin, and Xavier were on a lane together.  They make a good team!

We grabbed this shot of Alexis and Patrick congratulating Lura on a strike!!  (And her next roll was a spare!)  All three of these guys bowled well, but Patrick had today's highest score of 126!

Here's the birthday boy, Drew!  He gets a picture all to himself as he celebrates a...STRIKE!

We were happy to be the recipients of "lunch choice" today, in honor of Drew's birthday.  His family treated us to hot dogs or chicken tenders, including fries, and we were thrilled!  And while we truly enjoy having pizza on bowling days, it is fun to change it up every now and then.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to Drew's folks for your generous treat!  Drew loved it!  Here's Drew with the hot dog group.

We didn't get a picture of the chicken tender crowd.  They were too busy enjoying their lunch.  Here's a picture of what they were eating!

Of course, the best part of the party was singing the birthday song to our friend, Drew!  We had a few friends who couldn't make it today, but those of us in attendance sang loud and proud for Drew!  Then, we enjoyed scrumptious cupcakes!

When we were ready to leave the bowling center, it had started to sprinkle rain.  Instead of stopping by the park for a walk, we returned to AFCC where we checked last week's blog and had a few minutes of Choice Time before dismissal.  It was a great day and we hope it was special for Drew! 

Wednesday

Look what Kacie discovered when she went to the JRES Library to shelve books:  The school was still celebrating Dr. Seuss Day, which was on Monday!  

We had a lively lesson on The Star-Spangled Banner since National Anthem Day was this week.  We learned about how it came to be written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 and that Congress designated it to be our official national anthem in 1931, when Herbert Hoover was president.

For our educational work, this group discussed that the "star-spangled banner" of 1814 had 15 stars and 15 stripes.

This group broke down the meaning of the lines in the song, and discussed the meanings of such words as "perilous" and "gallantly."

It was time to get the February and Valentine decorations down, and start gearing up for March and Spring!

Here's our March calendar.  We used the computers to find a lot of pictures that represent some of our activities for the month.

Our "Month" wall looks great with shamrock and kite faces to mark signs of March!

We began our yoga session with a warm-up that included marching in place.  The date was March 4th...so that seemed appropriate!

Arching our backs for cat pose and taking a deep breath before exhaling and sinking our backs into cow pose.

Annmarie and Abraham in route to a stretch called child's pose.  

We're not sure we've ever done this pretzel pose before, but we got there once our bottom arm stretched through the top one.  Abraham, Kacie, and Patti have good form!

So does Liz, in this up close shot of pretzel pose!  Yoga always delivers for us!

To celebrate Grammar Day, we had a discussion about using the English language.  We talked about how tricky it can be sometimes to use English because we have so many tricky words and rules.  We took an online quiz, and have to admit, we agree with the assessment we got! 😂

Thursday

Iowa, the 29th state to be admitted to the Union, was on our agenda for Thursday, and we couldn't wait to cook the dish of the day.  Here are the ingredients for a copycat version of Iowa's "Maid-Rite" sandwich.  It's just seasoned ground beef cooked "loose" and piled on a bun.  The story goes that a butcher created the recipe in 1926 and gave the postman a taste, who then exclaimed, "This sandwich is made right!"  That inspired the butcher to open a restaurant, which is now a chain in the midwest, called Maid-Rite.  They say the butcher was a great cook, but not so good at spelling!

While our delicious smelling loose meat simmered in the Crock-pot, we typed thank you notes to Drew's family for treating us to lunch for his birthday at bowling this week.  Devin, Kacie, and Annmarie took turns adding thoughts and pictures to their letter.

Alexis worked alongside Kevin, who is pretty quick at typing words!  Alexis helped him sound them out, too. 😊

Excuse the blurriness, but we were power-walking in the hallway before lunch, and no one stopped to pose!  

Rumors swirled that we might be having a sweet treat later in the day.  The best defense is a good offense, we always say!

Thursday was Speech and Debate Education Day, so we gave debating a try.  We discussed "rules" and the importance of respecting the other person's opinion.  We also watched a sample debate between two school-age students.

We had a few of our guys give it a try, but it was challenging for most of them to "think on their feet" during a designed "argument."  (They are pretty good at it when we aren't asking them to!)  Kacie and Devin got into it, however, as they argued for Halloween (Devin) versus Christmas (Kacie) as their favorite holiday.  In the end, Devin agreed that both are great, but Kacie held firm that Christmas tops all the others!

No one debated that Maid-Rite sandwiches aren't good, even if the man who created them is a poor speller!  The meat was flavorful and we included a spoon, just like at the Maid-Rite restaurants, so we could scoop up any loose meat that fell off the bun!  We also had creamed corn, which was very tasty!  Iowa produces more corn than any other state!

Tim and Moby, our BrainPOP hosts, have lots of lessons on grammar, so we decided to have another lesson today.  This one will definitely need to be reviewed in the future...  It was fun, though.  Tim and Moby are wisecracks!

Our last lesson of the day was finishing up our study of Iowa.  We learned that it's located in the midwest, Des Moines is the capital, and it's the only state that is bordered the length of its east and west sides by rivers, the Mississippi and the Missouri.  Iowa also has more pigs than people, and more corn than crime!  Yes, it's one of the safest states in America!

Maybe the "coolest" thing about Iowa is the fact that Blue Bunny ice cream is headquartered there!  Oh, yes!  We had to sample Bunny Tracks at the end of the day...after all, we walked all those laps earlier!  

Friday

What better way to start a birthday celebration than with a birthday dance!  Yes, we were celebrating Birthday #2 for this week, and Annmarie was the Birthday Girl!  Sam gave her a twirl (or two or ten) on the dance floor!

Later in the morning we were moving again, this time to a fitness video.  It's hard to tell, but we did a lot of marching in place in between spurts of exercise movements like squats, jumping jacks, and toe-touches.  The music in this one had a fun beat, too.  We'll videotape it next time!

Thank you so much to Annmarie's mom, Teresa, who brought us fried chicken (Annmarie's favorite) and salads for lunch so we could celebrate her sweet girl!  It was a  delicious lunch!  Annmarie requested pink and purple cupcakes and we delivered!  Happy Birthday to Annmarie (she's the one in the pretty new dress!)!

Friday was also National Dentist's Day, so we decided to learn about the types of teeth we have and their functions.  During our continuing education time, these groups put their heads together to solve crossword puzzle clues about teeth.

We also talked about good dental hygiene, and this group worked on an activity that had them putting the steps to brushing their teeth in the correct sequence.  They had to pay attention to detail on this one!

Our final activity for the week was celebrating Employee Appreciation Day, which is the first Friday in March.  We consider our associates to be "employees" when we work at Eaton, and we all know what a great job they do there.  They deserved a bit of recognition!

First, we watched a video clip on positive affirmations.  We read many of the affirmations aloud, and talked about how important it is to think these kinds of thoughts about ourselves.

Everyone had a turn to receive a special recognition certificate, stating a personal and special quality that they bring to our group.  Each associate proudly accepted their certificates, while their friends cheered for them.  They each got a goodie bag, too.  We appreciate our awesome employees!  We were missing Cameron, who is traveling with his family for a few weeks, but everyone else was here.  What a great group!

Our Employee Appreciation Ceremony wrapped up another great week at the AoA.  We have a lot of fun plans for next week, and here's a big announcement, too:

NEWS FLASH!!! The Arc of Abilities will mark its 4th Anniversary next Monday, March 16!  So we're going to celebrate ourselves and our program all week long! 👏👏

Tuesday:  We're going to tour the Williamsburg Police Department today, so wear your Arc shirts.  It's also Pack Your Lunch Day, so bring a bag lunch, and if the weather cooperates, we will celebrate the upcoming arrival of Spring with a picnic in the park!

Wednesday:  Today we will work in the computer lab with Dave.  We'll also have a belated celebration of Meatball Day (March 9) and prepare a healthier version of one of the associates' faves:  turkey meatballs and salad for lunch.  Patti will be here for yoga, too, so dress to stretch!

Thursday:  We're headed to Eaton for a partial work day, so wear your Arc shirts.  After working half a day, Eaton is going to celebrate the Arc of Abilities and the Community Engagement Grant we won by providing lunch for us!  Thanks Jorie, James, and all of our Eaton friends!

Friday: Our state of the week is Wisconsin, the 30th to join the Union, and home to some very good cheese!  Lexi's cousin Kelly, from APEX Physical Therapy and Movement Center, is treating us to her famous Wisconsin Mac n Cheese for lunch (we will add ham roll ups).  We'll also have special activities to mark the AoA's 4th Anniversary, which is on March 16th!  Oh, and it's Friday the 13th...

💜💜💜 As we look forward to starting our 5th year of the Arc of Abilities, we wish to thank all of our many friends and family members who support the Arc of Greater Williamsburg and our day support program.  We are so grateful for all of you! 💜💜💜

Have a wonderful weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang