Arc of Abilities: Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of our moms, grandmoms, and those who are like moms to all of us! We have many wonderful women to celebrate in our lives. The weekend looks to be beautiful and sunny, just like all the amazing moms we honor!

During our Thursday Zoom we dedicated our time to honoring

moms. The associates had completed a "fill-in-the-blank" about their moms, which they shared. Here's a photo of Annmarie's mom (bottom left) giving her a big hug when she found out that Annmarie said she loves to dance with and hug her mom! We enjoyed hearing about the special AoA moms!

We also squeezed in a quick game of Mom Bingo, in which all the squares on our cards were filled with words that remind us of Mom, such as "special," "hug," "kiss," "love," and of course, "celebrate!" Alexis used dry roasted peanuts to cover her squares. They became a snack when the Zoom ended. 😋

Our lesson during Thursday's Zoom session was on idioms, which we reviewed by watching a BrainPOP episode in which the characters are trying to make breakfast for Mom on Mother's Day. There were lots of chuckles as Moby, the robot, shook his leg (instead of hurrying), removed one of his hands (instead of helping by "lending" a hand), and misinterpreted many more examples of figurative language! Here's the link if you'd like to watch it again!

Idioms on BrainPOP

Remember, during the school closure period, BrainPOP is free for our families with this login name: AoA2020 and password: Arc123123

We also have a regular BrainPOP account that our dedicated volunteer, Becky, gifts to us! We always wish to thank Becky when we enjoy BrainPOP! 😍

Here's a picture of the GoNoodle fitness dance we did on Zoom. All of our favorite GoNoodle characters were Zooming in to show their dance moves!

And here's a picture of all of us...this was our 12th Zoom!

We got a little ahead of ourselves by starting with Thursday's Zoom, but Tuesday's was a great one, too! It was Cinco de Mayo, but it was also Coach Teri's birthday! As most know, our AoA tradition on Cinco de Mayo has been, from our very beginning in 2016, to celebrate with Coach Teri, who likes to treat us to soft tacos from Taco Bell! We've always loved sharing her birthday...here's a throwback to our first celebration with her in 2016. You'll recall that the AoA was a small group back then, and several friends in this picture have moved on to other opportunities. 💙💚💜💛

This year we had a history lesson on Cinco de Mayo, shared birthday messages that were so thoughtful with Teri, and sang to her. It wasn't quite the same as having a "live" party, but she had an idea...

She and Sam met up with Lisa and Alexis to enjoy a socially-distanced lunch from Taco Bell, keeping the tradition going for 2020! Looking forward to 2021 already! Happy Birthday, Teri! This one will be uniquely memorable!

Laura's family also celebrated Cinco de Mayo with this beautiful spread! That looks festive and delicious!

When we weren't having our AoA Zoom meetings, we were doing lots of other things.

Xavier's friend (and ours), Steve Prince, is still producing "Muscarelle in the House" art lessons each week. He's been teaching the secrets to drawing the human face. The weekly videos are not only educational, but they are also highly entertaining! Check them out at the link below!

Steve Prince's Muscarelle in the House Art Lessons

We got this fun picture of Devin opening a birthday gift from one of his aunts. It looks like she knows all of his favorite snacks, and he looks quite pleased with them!

Devin and his family also visited the Botanical Garden recently. He checked out the Fairy Garden that we helped create!

Drew was out checking on his "neigh"bor again. Thumbs up from the horse stable!

Kevin's family took their boat out on the James River for a dinner cruise last Saturday!

Kevin got a kick out of watching a couple of people jet skiing in his boat's wake! Wow, a water-thrill show!

Kevin also enjoyed a relaxing morning on the deck having coffee with his sister, Julia. How sweet!

Lisa and Alexis have spent lots of time with Haley, including taking a walk on Jamestown Island. They highly recommend a visit, as the parkway (from Jamestown to Kingspoint) is currently closed to vehicular traffic but open to bikers and walkers! (Park at Jamestown Settlement and walk or bike over.) Thanks to Tracy for sharing this idea!

We have had some pretty days lately. Laura's family met up with Laura's sister and her family for a socially-distanced picnic recently. As soon as they got to this spot, Laura said she was at Christina's place! Yep...we recognize that lawn and building!

Liz took advantage of nice weather to work in her family's yard.

She also found the perfect spot for hanging the gourd birdhouse she made with the master gardeners last year! Be sure to let us know if a bird family moves in, Liz!

Can't you almost smell that yummy-looking pancake? Kate was getting a lesson from her mom on cooking them!

In this video clip, Kate tries to flip the pancake. That is a hard skill to master. Don't give up! The pancake was still delicious, we're sure! It's great to see you cooking, Kate!

Of course, it's a great idea to get excercise during all this extra time we have. Kate pumped up her bike tires before heading out for a spin around the neighborhood.

It's also a great idea to relax during the extra time we have...and Kate and her pup Lucy did just that!

Our friend Scott at APEX PT is helping Alexis (and Kevin) with their exercise efforts. Each Thursday afternoon they join him for "Zoom-ercise" from his clinic. All are welcome! Here, Alexis worked on squats!

We were lucky to continue having a bit of Eaton work this week. Mr. Mason and Mr. Jackson picked up lids that Liz had finished putting gaskets on, and brought her more to do!

Patrick joined the "work from home" crew this week. He helped unpack some breakers. Good job, Patrick!

Sam sorted and repacked different parts very neatly. Carol then picked them up and delivered to Alexis and Liz for gasketing. Thanks again to Eaton Corporation, for providing work for some of our AoA associates during this shutdown period!

Coming up on May 18 is Xavier's birthday! Our quarantine "tradition" (which we hope we never have to observe again) has been for the guys to send cards to the birthday boys and girls. So, Drew is here to remind everyone to create a card for Xavier in the next few days!

Please get them in the mail (to Lisa) as soon as you can. She will deliver them to Xavier prior to us celebrating his birthday on our May 19 Zoom. Great job, Drew! Thanks for taking care of business!!

Happy Mother's Day, once again, to all the amazing mothers, grandmothers, and mother-figures in our midst!

We hope our Arc "Quran-team" of Pam, Bette Faye, Lisa, and Carol have a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday! They have been Zoom meeting weekly to plan and organize the Arc's work during this unprecedented time.

We also wish our extra special team members Nan, Meemaw, and Becky a fabulous Mother's Day! The AoA is blessed by the love of all of our special moms!

Nan taking a walk with Lexi!