What a week we had! Tuesday was our last session with the master gardeners until Spring, 2022, and saying "bye" was a little sad, but we quickly perked up on Wednesday with a joyful combined birthday party for Kevin and Alexis, a busy work day at Eaton on Thursday, where we celebrated James, who was born on Halloween. We wrapped up with a super fun Halloween party on Friday. Here come lots of photos from our amazing week!
Tuesday
Carolyn kicked off our final session of 2021 with the master gardeners by taking "time" to teach us interesting facts about "thyme." It's an herb, and it's often found in Italian cooking, which we love! It doesn't need a lot of water, and it is an easy herb to dry...which we are trying with the bunch that Carolyn gave us. She also told us it seems more flavorful when the dried version is used. We're excited to try a lemon and thyme tea cake recipe she gave us, too! Stay tuned for that culinary adventure in the coming weeks!
The plan today was for us to plant layers of spring bulbs in these pots, which we would take back to AFCC. Devin and Kate volunteered to assist Barb and Karen. They planted hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, and "mystery" bulbs, and then put pretty pansies, which do well in cold weather, on top.
We set them out near our window at the center. Now, we wait until spring to see what a beautiful creation it will become! We also planted a patch of thyme in our other pot, where some rosemary is growing that Liz and her mom planted last year.
Meanwhile, back at the garden, Rick, Barb, and Karen worked as a team to pull up the vines, so we could harvest the sweet potatoes that were growing there.
Liz and Alexis were excited to show off our bounty! We ended up with two bags full of sweet potatoes, which we plan to cook in a couple of weeks after they "cure" for a while!
It was such a pretty day so we took some pics of our guys enjoying the garden and the sunshine!
Xavier and Abraham caught up with Carolyn and gave big smiles for the camera!
Kevin hung out at the trellis bed for a while, watching all the action at the sweet potato bed.
We were excited to give our MG friends the cards we made for them last week, and a donation to the Master Gardener Program from the Arc. We appreciate all of the opportunities we have when working with the MGs, and cherish the many fun gardening projects and crafts we do with them.
Our Executive Director, Pam, stopped by to share thanks as well. She was right on in talking about the incredible experiences the MGs provide for us, and thanked them for being awesome community partners. Thank you, master gardeners, for a perfect fall session! We are grateful for you and the amazing work you do at the WBG. Thanks for including the Arc of Abilities!
After eating lunch in the garden, we hid our jack-o-lantern rocks all around in hopes that visitors will enjoy finding them. Abraham hid his on the butterfly bench.
Stop by the garden and see if you can find one of our hidden rocks! It's a beautiful place to explore!
Before heading back to AFCC we ran into Michelle and her mom. Michelle was not with us today because she had a couple of scheduled appointments, but in between her stops she asked her mom if they could run over to Freedom Park and try to find us. She wanted to introduce us to her new puppy, Max!
Max is a cutie, and of course, Michelle's friends loved meeting him! Thanks for finding us, Michelle!! It was great to meet Max, and see you and your mom, too!
Back at the center, we celebrated National Pumpkin Day! First, we did some thinking work as we got in teams to brainstorm answers to questions like "Where might a ghost live?" and "Name things that are black or orange." Nan's team of Xavier, Devin, and Sam came up with lots of answers!
We also enjoyed a taste of pumpkin bread that Carol had whipped up for us before leaving for the garden this morning. We used canned pumpkin in the recipe, but we remembered that MG Barb had taught us that the small pumpkins are the ones used for cooking. Thanks, Carol! This pumpkin bread was delicious!
We ended the day by painting a face on our large pumpkin, which Barb taught us is best kind to use as jack-o-lanterns. After looking at a series of photos to get decorating ideas, and our guys voted on this one. We think it turned out well! Happy National Pumpkin Day, 2021!
Wednesday
There was quite a buzz of excitement as everyone arrived today. We were jazzed up to celebrate Kevin's and Lexi's birthdays!
We have some dancers in our group, so when Kevin's favorite group came on, we grabbed the video camera. Here's a Wiggles' party song and our interpretation of it!
A song that both of our birthday buddies like is Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" and when we played this one, they sang together!
We were busy this morning making cards for Kevin and Alexis, plus we made some for James that we will take to Eaton tomorrow. Here, Laura is signing her name on her card for Alexis. Laura came up with a message, and Lisa helped her write it. (They each wrote some of the words.)
No one knew we had a birthday party surprise guest until Lisa turned on Zoom and there was Lilly! She joined us for lunch from her office at Christopher Newport University. She filled us in on how she's doing in her new job in the admissions department (she loves it) and we filled her in on our lives, too. It was great seeing her...and doesn't she look all grown up?!
Speaking of lunch, Alexis and Kevin requested pasta with meatballs and it was well-received!
Here are the birthday buddies surrounded by all the thoughtful cards their friends made for them! The cake was adorable!
Kevin's mom, Debbie, provided the cake and she went all out to make it really personal for Alexis and Kevin! Thanks, Debbie! It was perfect!
We had a great double birthday party with dancing, games, and just hanging out with friends. Happy Birthday, Alexis and Kevin!! We had fun celebrating with you today!
Our last party activity was Birthday Bingo, and Kevin's mom, Debbie, joined us for a few minutes. She saw first-hand how much our gang loves this game, and learned very quickly that if you want to be heard, you have to shout, "Bingo!" 📣
Thursday
While we were still in party mode we headed to Eaton to work, AND celebrate James, who was born on Halloween day! Kesha texted him to come down and "check on us," and as he walked in, we broke into song!
We gave James a treat and the cards we made yesterday, and he said our thoughtfulness is a "blessing" to him. 💙🧡💙🧡 We sure think he's a blessing to us!
One of our tasks today was unpacking 50 amp receptacles. This crew made sure we only put 40 in each tub, as per James' directions!
It's always a hopping time at the PowerSlide Door assembly line. What a smooth operation!
Take a look at us in action. Once we get set up, everyone settles into certain roles (they all usually have more than one), and we get busy. We are proud of how much our crew has grown in the areas of efficiency and mastery of skills over the 5 years we've been working at Eaton!
Alexis, Liz, and Kate unpacked dozens of light bulbs today! In the background, Sam and Devin were transferring parts from a huge tub into several smaller ones for easier transport.
We recycle as much of the boxes and packaging as we can when we upack parts. Here, Drew, Patrick, and Xavier were taking a run to the outside recycling dumpster, while Laura put some things in the smaller can.
There were pallets set up outside our building today, and we loaded them with the work we completed. Abraham represented us all when he said, "Ta-da! Look at this!" We usually leave it inside, and James has to come get it. But today, we took a couple of new steps, which will save James a lot of steps...
Since the amps were in tubs that were loaded onto carts with wheels, Laura, Abraham, Devin, Patrick, and Drew rolled them over to James' warehouse. That left extra room on the pallets for other tubs.
Once we were done for the day, Kesha drove the forklift over to pick up the loaded pallets and take them to James. We celebrated this, because Kesha just got her forklift "license" last week! She did a great job and we were up on the deck cheering her on!!
It was a productive work day, and one that makes us feel really proud because we are part of the Eaton team!
Friday
Can you party too much in one week?! We think not! Everyone arrived today ready to celebrate Halloween. Check out this year's costumes!
Here we have a member of the Goon Squad, a W&M football player, a bumble bee, and a witch!
Next we have a Seattle Mariners baseball player, a Man in Red, a Zombie, and Lacky, from the Wiggles!
We rounded out the gang with Robin Hood, Maid Marian, a Dunkin' Donut, and Gozilla! We were only missing Annmarie, who was traveling with her family this week and was very much missed.
We had some preparations to take care of before we could officially party. First, we made cute monsters to string together for a garland.
We also had to create do-it-yourself Halloween Bingo cards!
Lunch was a team effort today. Xavier, Kevin, and Drew made it easy for us to eat eyeballs...we mean grapes, by removing them from the stems.
Devin (he's Robin Hood, thus his face is hidden), Michelle, Alexis, and Kate used miniature Reese's peanut butter cups, Oreos, peanut butter, and candy eyes to make edible bats.
Here's a close-up of the tasty bats!
Nan and her group, Patrick, Liz, Abraham, and Laura, were in charge of making our Hallo-weenies! Yum!
We staged this side of the room for our party. All of the decorations and crafts we've worked on this month came together nicely to give it a party feel! We added our disco ball for effect and turned the overhead lights off when we ate.
Can you spot our cute monster garland?!
We didn't get his picture, but Sam worked with Carol to cut up some veggies and they made this cute spider to sit atop the dip!
We'd like to thank Kevin's mom, Debbie, for the ghost and bat chips, and Laura's mom, Lisa, for the paper products!
We had surprise visitors after lunch. Jorie and Kesha, from Eaton, stopped by to bring us candy! Kesha had never seen the center, so we showed her around. Thank you, Jorie, Kesha, and Eaton, for these generously apportioned treat bags!! We're all kids at heart on Halloween, and we loved getting candy!
We invited Kesha and Jorie to particpate in our Halloween Scavenger Hunt, and they happily agreed! Here, Kesha's team of Michelle, Devin, and Kate were learning that pumpkins come in lots of colors, including blue!
Kevin, Xavier, and Laura were in Carol's group. A fun fact they learned was that if there are two full moons in a month, the second one is called a "blue moon."
Abraham found the next clue for his team, and Sam and Drew made sure Nan wrote the correct answer for it, which was that the word witch comes from an Old English word, wicce, which means "wise woman."
Jorie worked with Alexis, Patrick, and Liz, and she made them take turns reading and figuring out the clue answers! Here, Alexis was reading that the largest jack-o-lantern ever carved weighed 1,810 pounds! It was great having a visit from Jorie and Kesha, and we think they enjoyed our scavenger hunt!!
If there ever was a day we needed yoga to settle us down, it was today! LOL! Everyone was bursting with excitement by the time Jorie and Kesha left, and we had played a lively round of Bingo. But they worked together to get the room cleared of tables and chairs, and got situated for yoga in about 5 minutes. We pulled up Jaime's "Spooky Halloween" yoga and decided to end the week with what we jokingly call a "butt shot!" Looking good, don't you think?!
We're looking to slow our pace a little next week, but we'll see how that goes! We do like staying busy and having fun! Here are the plans for our first week of November:
Tuesday: Today we're going to visit 5k sponsor, and Lexi's cousins Kelly and Scott, at APEX Physical Therapy and Movement Center for a workout routine in their Rock Steady Boxing gym! We last visited them in 2019 when they were located in New Kent. They have now relocated to Mooretown Road and we're looking forward to visiting their new place! After exercising, we'll have lunch at the garden at Freedom Park so we can check the veggies and fall foliage, and take a walk. Please wear Arc shirts (or 5k shirts, if you have one...APEX was a sponsor) and bring a bagged lunch.
Wednesday: We'll update our calendar for November today, and celebrate Authors' Day by learning about some of our favorite authors, including Carl Hiaasen, who wrote our new read-aloud, Squirm. We'll also talk about Stress Awareness Day, and since it's Sandwich Day, we'll have peanut butter and jelly on your choice of bread (we'll have a few selections) for lunch.
Thursday: We have a treat in store today! Sam's grandmother, and our friend, Nina, who lives in Arizona, has been waiting for a chance to treat us to lunch. Since today is National Men Make Dinner Day, we're going to have Sam and the boys prepare Sloppy Joes and fresh fruit for lunch! Nina will be so proud! Thank you, Nina, for sponsoring this. We'll post pictures of your grandson and his buddies as they prepare our tasty lunch today. They will be very busy in the kitchen! In other action, we'll also have lessons on using money, in honor of Cash Back Day, and if the weather is nice, we'll walk off the Sloppy Joes at CW after lunch.
Friday: We'll have a laid back day today as create thank you cards for Nina and our friends at Rock Steady Boxing The gang has been asking for a movie day, so we'll chill out and catch a flick on our new dvd player, too. Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is serving Chicken Sandwich or Fish Sticks (https://wjccschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/November-Elementary.pdf ). We'll end our week with yoga, too. Dress to stretch!
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Calendar Reminder: Families, don't forget we will be following a holiday schedule and will be in session on Monday and Tuesday, November 22 and 23, for the week of Thanksgiving.
The Arc of Greater Williamsburg is supporting the "Stuff the Cruiser" Food Drive being held by James City County Police. We're accepting donations of non-perishable food products at the AoA through next Friday, November 5th! We'd appreciate your support, and THANK YOU to those who have sent donations already!!
Have a great weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
