Saturday, December 17, 2022

Happy Holidays 2022

  

Here we are nearly at the end of another year.  As our guys like to say, "How did this happen?!"  We're already excitedly looking forward to 2023, but first we had to wrap up 2022 at the Arc of Abilities with a lot of joy and fun.  Here's a look at our final week of the year!

Tuesday

Today we had big plans to celebrate Christina's birthday!  She has welcomed us to The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg for over 5 years, and she is one of our dearest friends.  We prepped part of lunch and made birthday cards before catching up with her at the museums for a quick tour to see all the beautifully decorated Christmas trees.

This is the Edward Hicks tree, and we love it because he painted many animals in his Peaceable Kingdom series, so there are lots of animal ornaments on this tree.

This tree, decorated with objects related to farms, is always a favorite, because it's in the gallery that features the book Down on the Farm, which was written by Christina and another art museum friend of ours, Jan.  It tells the story of a dog named Prince who goes on an adventure and meets friends who, like Prince, are based on works of art at the museum!

Here's one of several new trees this year.  It's made of wooden dowels and beads, and is decorated with handmade objects inspired by the pieces in this gallery, which is the "beginning" of the Folk Art Museum (where the galleries switch from decorative to folk art).  Christina and her family made all the ornaments on this unique tree, including a model of an airplane and a realistic-looking possum!

Or course we had to stop and admire the showcase tree!  It has about 2,000 handmade ornaments, many of which were made back in 1975 and used on the White House Christmas tree for President and Mrs. Ford, who asked Colonial Williamsburg citizens to make them!

At each tree, Christina told us interesting facts about how it came to be.  She said she always puts a "hidden" object on each tree.  This is one of two identical musical-themed trees, and the hidden object (that's not very hard to find, but still, we love searching) is the fife.  That's a shoutout to Christina's son, Zach, who played in the Fifes and Drums of Colonial Williamsburg until he aged out this year!

What is this tree you may be wondering?!  Well, first of all, we had to go behind a secret curtain to see it because it only comes out for display on Wednesday evenings, when the museums have extended hours for special events.  We were so surprised to see an 18th century "gown tree."  It's made with recycled parts of artificial Christmas trees and other garland decorations, and was designed and built by Christina, her husband Michael, and their son Zach!  "WOW" is all we can say!  This is very interesting and like nothing we've ever seen!  

Another new tree this year is a wedding cake tree!  It's based on an eye-witness account of a cake served at a wedding supper in Williamsburg in 1806.  It's very elegant and looks edible, too!  But Christina told us the cake frosting is made from spackling paste, the fruit from modeling clay, and the walnuts and pistachios were carved from crayons.  You have to see this one to believe it!

We were all ears when Christina told us about the details on the toy-themed tree.  The hidden object on this one is a little girl holding a green dinosaur!  This is a flocked tree, and it's covered with artificial snow.  Christina said she loves these kinds of trees as long as they are at the museum and not in her house.  They can be a little messy!


On the way out, we saw one more tree that had many handmade ornaments that look like decorations that can be seen around CW.  Christina's favorite is this wreath she made, and the hidden object here is the blue ribbon she put on it to represent 1st place!  Christina made A LOT of the ornaments on the trees around the museum, and they are all very beautiful.  She's very talented!


We are very talented, too!  After giving us the Christmas tree tour, Christina accompanied us back to the center and provided supplies for us to make our own ornaments!  Erik and Devin T worked together making initial ornaments for themselves!

Devin B was focused on creating his ornament.  He said he was putting pompoms on "in a pattern."


Christina assisted Kate who was having trouble getting a "doodad" to stick!  Thanks for doing this fun project with us, Christina!  We were inspired by your zest and enthusiasm for making ornaments!


We also had Christina come back with us so we could celebrate her birthday, which is Friday!  It's become a tradition for her to come to us in December so we can celebrate her by making breakfast for lunch.  Last year, she decided to craft with us when she comes!  


Today, we had a simple egg and sausage casserole, grape salad, and very tasty ice cream French toast!  The French toast was a treat provided by Devin "Sweet T's" family, who highly recommended we give it a try!  We made this once before, several years ago, but we had forgotten how delicious, and easy it is.  


Just melt the ice cream, dip the bread in, and throw it on a hot griddle that is well-buttered.  Thank you, Tyree family, for this special treat.  We, and Christina, absolutely loved it!!


Here are our very festive initial ornaments!  They are awesome!


Happy Birthday, Christina!  We hope all your wishes come true!!


In a very thoughtful twist on her birthday, Christina brought gifts for US!  Everyone received a bag and inside was a cute little gnome!  Thanks, Christina!  We love these!!


Before sending Christina on her way (she had a meeting back at the museums), we had time to play Christmas Carol Charades!  Here, Alexis is showing how she guessed that Adia was acting out "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."  It was Adia's gesture of a big tummy that gave it away!


For the grand finale of the game, Annmarie wasted no time giving us a clue for "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," and kept it up while her friends sang the song!  What a fun day and a great time with Christina.  We can't wait to do it again next year!


Wednesday

What a joyful day when the therapy dogs come to visit!  Just like us, they were in a festive mood this morning.  Drew and Alexis wanted us to get a picture of Darby in her Santa hat, while Leo (with Kent) sat nicely alongside.


We began our visit with small group reading sessions.  We had a variety of holiday books to share today.  Patrick, Laura, and Erik read with Ava and Gunther.


Caroline brought Indy (beside Liz) AND Pip today!!  What a double treat, and Liz, Sam, and Kevin agreed!


Later, we couldn't resist catching a snippet of Kevin's excellent reading of The Twelve Days of Christmas!  All of our members do such a great job, and bring many smiles to our faces as we watch them interact with our dog friends! 💗📖🐕


Lena and Marlo brought us a couple of new holiday books for our collection!  Devin, Alexis, Annmarie, and Drew enjoyed reading and chatting with them this morning.  Thanks, Lena and Marlo!  We love books!


Carol #2 and Darby listened to reading from Devin B, Adia, and Xavier.  With Adia, Devin, and Carol supporting, Darby enticed Xavier to read aloud today!


Kent and Leo read with Michelle, Abraham, and Kate.  The story Kate brought to read was The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and this group learned that Kent once played the Tin Man in a production of the play!


In our next rotation, we did an activity that involved rolling a die and coloring a picture a certain way based on what was rolled.  Kent worked with Erik, Laura, and Patrick on this activity while Leo kept watch for anyone coming around the corner!


After our rotation activities, we served cookies and hot cocoa to our friends.  We set up a serving table, and you can see the pretty snowflakes we made out of cardboard rolls with handler Carol's daughter, Christen, last week.  What a perfect touch! 


Socializing, our favorite pastime!


Like Casey's "mom" Carol (who visited last week), Leo's "dad" Kent is a retired music teacher.  So we recruited him to lead us in caroling, and he was happy to pull songs up on his phone and get us going! 


Abraham requested "Twelve Days of Christmas" (our guys love this one) so we gave it a go again this week.  What a fun morning!  We can't thank our handler and dog friends enough, and look forward to their continued visits in the new year!


Later, after cookie baking and lunch, we got our stretch on with yoga.


Jaime told a story this week about searching for Santa and included a lot of holiday poses throughout the story, like this one which she called "Christmas Tree Pose."  She's so much fun!


Was Santa hiding under a bridge?!


We even got to sing a Christmas carol with Jaime!  It was a great, and very musical, day!


Thursday

In a day that found us as busy as Santa's elves, we started with a baking project.  We like to send goodies to our families each holiday season, and this year we tried a new recipe for cookies called Pineapple Paradise.  Earlybirds Lexi and Adia got them started for us. 


Next, we sent a group to work at Pet Supplies Plus for one last time in 2022.  This has been a great vocational partnership that we began in January of this year, and we look forward to continuing in 2023!  Thank you, Scott and Roxanne Bobowicz (Devin B's parents), for this successful opportunity and your and your staff's support of our workers!  We have learned new skills, and we have a lot of fun, working at your store!


Sam and Kevin worked at PSP, but they also couldn't help but take a break to check out the adorable kittens.  PSP helps find forever homes for kittens and cats, so let them know if you are looking to add a furry family member! 🐈🏡


Adia and Erik had a few loads of towels to fold for the dog wash area, and Sam said they did a great job!


Our guys also swept, dusted, and straightened product on the shelves today.  They also noticed that PSP has plenty of fun toys for pets!  Erik and Sam found a couple of Christmas themed items that they think would be great for a favorite pet!


Liz, Patrick, Adia, and Kevin found more toys that they would like to recommend!  


Did we mention PSP has any kind of toy or other goodie you might need so your pets won't be left out this holiday season?!  Merry Christmas from Pet Supplies Plus, Roxanne (left), store manager Colleen (between Liz and Pat), and your AoA friends on duty today, including Carol!


Meanwhile, back at the center, Devin B, Michelle, and Alexis got to be "teachers" as they assisted Xavier, Laura, Annmarie, Abraham, and Drew with some brain work while Lisa and Nan got things set up for making lunch salads and baking more cookies.  Great team work!


The next hour or so was busy with baking and lunch prepping, and we didn't get many pictures, but we did grab this one of best buddies Drew and Devin mixing our sugar cookie dough.  We love the photo bombers in the background, too!


This group took time for indoor fitness, too, since it was raining cats and dogs outside.  Abraham, Alexis, and Sweet T were on point with the Grinch's video "freeze" pose, while Drew, Devin B, and Laura were...staying upright?!  It's ok.  They were all moving once the music started again!


After lunch we took goodie bags to Eaton.  James (right) and Frank (center) always enjoy seeing us, and taking a break from their work to chat with us as if we're old friends...which we are!  We also saw Jorie but she had to rush to a meeting before we got the picture.  Merry Christmas, Eaton friends!  Thank you for ANOTHER wonderful work year.  We cannot wait to kick off 2023 working on a new product, and a chance to work at our own assembly line!!


What a busy day...back at the center we attended the dress rehearsal for the JRES students' holiday concert, which would be held tonight.  We thought the K-2nd grade students sang beautifully, and we even heard a few songs we didn't know!  Fun!!


Speaking of singing beautifully, our friend Carol, therapy dog Casey's "mom," sings with the Williamsburg Women's Chorus Choraliers.  They were caroling at the Woodlands Hotel in CW this evening, and Lisa and Alexis stopped by to enjoy a free concert!  They sounded like angels!  Our friend, "Christmas Carol," is on the far left.  🎝🎜🎄🎜🎝


Friday

It was a day of fun and merriment at the AoA as we celebrated with our holiday party.  When we put everyone's Secret Santa gifts under the tree, it practically came to life!


Karen is usually an evening custodian at JRES, but she has been working early mornings for months since the custodial staff is short-handed.  Karen does a fantastic job keeping our room clean, and we appreciate what she does for us!  But more than that, she takes time to chat with our guys every day, and has gotten to know them as a friend.  We had a little gift for her this morning!


Speaking of "little gifts," Abraham became a first-time uncle last night!  His sister had a bouncing baby boy and Abraham proudly showed us a picture of his new nephew this morning.  Congratulations, Uncle Abraham!  We're so happy for your family!


It's a tradition for us to play a trivia game called North Pole Pals at our holiday party.  When it was Sweet T's turn, he selected a 40 point question, which he and his team correctly answered!


Soon, our beloved Heike stopped by!  We had a little something for her, too.  She's been here for us for several years now, and we consider her a good friend!  We know she's just a phone call or text away whenever we need something, and we truly appreciate what she does for us.  


We managed to get in some movement this morning.  We had an energetic dance warm up first thing, and later we worked out with Buddy the Elf on a fun YouTube video!


Our room was festive with our colorful table coverings and decorations we had worked on all month.  We patiently played Christmas Bingo while Nan and Carol starting putting out all of our goodies...we couldn't wait for lunch!


It took two tables to fit all of the delicious potluck dishes our families contributed to our luncheon!  Everything was sooo good!  It was also a lot of food, so we may have to come up with another idea next year...however, our gang REALLY enjoyed this feast!  Thank you families for making our holiday party so special!


We have one more excellent and thoughtful custodian we wanted to give a little gift to:  Sevarina.  We see her usually in the afternoons when she empties our trash and checks in to see if we need anything while she's in the area.  She's more on the quiet side than Karen and Heike, but we also count her as a friend, and appreciate what she does for us, too!


Other special guests who stopped by today were Tracy and Karryna.  We always love to see them.  They bring smiles to everyone's faces!  Thank you, Tracy and Karryna, for being the best Parks & Rec partners we could ever ask for.  We are very grateful for ALL you do for us throughout the whole year.  We hope you have a very Merry Christmas!


Nan, Lisa, and Carol had a nice day and delighted in seeing the joy among our gang.  They also really appreciated the thoughtful gifts they received.  Thank you, AoA families, for being the best there are!  Nan, Lisa, and Carol appreciate all of you. 


The Secret Santa gift exchange was a blast today!  It was hard to tell who was more excited, Alexis who received a fun Minnie Mouse pillow, or Sam, who gave it!


Kevin loved a book about dogs that Adia gave him!


Xavier knew from Devin T's "Secret Santa Support Form" that Devin enjoys golfing with his dad, so he gave Devin golf balls that had emoji faces on them!  He also included a gift card to Coldstone because everyone knows how much Dev loves ice cream!!


In a fun coincidence, Patrick picked Devin B's name two years in a row!  We loved these guys' outfits, too.  Patrick went the handsome route with a button down shirt and holiday tie, while Devin went playful in both of today's options: pajama bottoms AND a Christmas sweater, representing Clemson, of course!


It really is hard to believe another calendar year is behind us.  It was our best year yet, and we can only imagine how great 2023 will be, as the Arc of Abilities looks toward its 7th anniversary!  We wish all of our families and friends a joyous holiday season.  We're very, very thankful for your enduring support of The Arc of Greater Williamsburg and the Arc of Abilities.  We hope you find time to savor the spirit of the season, and to enjoy time with loved ones!

All of our plans for the first week of the new year haven't been figured out yet, but here's enough to get us started!  We look forward to kicking off 2023 on January 3rd!

Tuesday:  It's the first of the month, so we will go bowling and have pizza and fruit for lunch!  We will also work on our January calendar today.  Wear Arc shirts!

Wednesday:  Today is both National Braille Day and National Trivia Day.  We will have lessons and activities centered around them.  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is available...menu not posted yet!

Thursday:  We'll have our first Pet Supplies Plus work day today, so wear your PSP shirts.  Yesterday was National Spaghetti Day but we're celebrating today with baked spaghetti with side salads for lunch.  We can thank Erik's family for this, as they sent extras to the holiday party and we were able to freeze it to enjoy today!  It's also National Bird Day, so of course we'll have lessons to go along with that!

Friday:  We'll end our first week of 2023 using our Smartphones and laptops to celebrate National Technology Day.  We'll also use mini-marshmallows to make a decoration for our room, and maybe drop a few into a cup of hot chocolate for a treat!  We will end the day with yoga, so dress to stretch!!  Lunch on your own.


Lisa, Carol, Nan and the AoA Gang