Happy Thanksgiving 2022

 

Our week began on Monday...and ended on Tuesday!  For the Thanksgiving holiday, the Arc of Abilities has always closed Wednesday-Friday, so in order to have a 2-day week at the center, we come on Monday of Thanksgiving week.  It's the only Monday of the year on which we meet, and it's always as great a day as any other!  Here's a look at our abbreviated week.

Monday

Guess what we got to celebrate this week...besides Thanksgiving?  Adia's birthday!!  Actually, her birthday is on Thanksgiving this year, but we celebrated her on Monday.  First thing we had to do:  make thoughtful birthday cards for her!

Adia requested a movie day for her birthday, so while we made her birthday cards, she popped the popcorn!

Adia chose the movie Encanto, and she also checked it out from the public library for us to use!  We settled in with our popcorn and friends.

 Encanto was a big hit, and the room was quiet during the movie.  That is, until our favorite song came on...but we don't talk about Bruno!

We did some lunch prep before watching the movie, and then Lisa and Carol finished things up for us. Here's Adia's official "birthday with friends" picture!   We were missing Annmarie today, but if you look closely, you'll see Karryna popped in to celebrate with us!  (So did Tracy, but she missed being in this picture.)

We recently came across a recipe for pumpkin and zucchini lasagna, which Adia asked if we could make for her birthday lunch.  It also has sweet maple sausage in it, and it was sooooo good!  Definitely a taste of the fall season in this one!

After we made roasted sweet potatoes a couple of weeks ago, using the ones we grew at the garden, everyone asked if we could have them again.  This time we had to use sweet potatoes purchased at the store, but they were still very tasty!  We just drizzle them with olive oil and honey, and then sprinkle them with a bit of cinnamon, brown sugar, and sea salt.  Yum!!

We'd like to thank Adia's family for providing cupcakes and three kinds of sodas today for Adia's birthday party!  What special treats!  Adia, we wish you a Happy Birthday (on Thursday) and we hope all of your wishes come true!

We'd also like to thank Laura's family for providing these Thanksgiving-themed paper products for our lunch today!  We are so thankful for ALL of our AoA Families!

Our Corn Hole Challenge manager, Lisa, announced some player trades today!  We saw Patrick and Kate of the Virginia Corn Thunder get swapped with Erik and Annmarie from the Minion Corn Holers.  Everyone was cool with our player trades!   We then played just for practice, so the traded members could get used to their new team dynamics.   

We were suprised when our friend Caroline, along with Therapy Dog Indy, spotted us playing and stopped by to say "hi."  They had been visiting students at JRES.  It was so much fun to see them!

Speaking of it being fun to see our therapy dog friends, Laura ran into Carol and Casey last Saturday at the Farmers Market in CW!  What a great surprise!

Tuesday

After our dance warm up this morning, Kate wanted to show us examples of the Euro currency that is used in Portugal.  We learned that 1 Euro has about the same value as 1 US dollar.  Very interesting, Kate!  

As a review, we watched a video about the history of Thanksgiving.  Thank you, President Lincoln, for declaring it a national holiday in 1863.  Next, we got unusually serious (so it seems) as we worked with partners to play a game of Thanksgiving Bingo!

Leftover Halloween candies were the prizes today.  Maybe that's why everyone was so focused!

It was "warming up" nicely outside (near 50, but very sunny!) so we made our way to the garden at Freedom Park.  There, we were very happy to see Krafty Karen!  She was tidying up some of the beds.

Adia checked the insect hibernation box that Karen made and installed last month.  She didn't see any signs of hibernation yet, but Karen said it would be used when the really cold weather sets in!

Over at the Fairy Garden, Karen showed us a new painted rock that someone left.  She wanted Drew to see it, in particular, because she knows he loves French fries.  This rock is painted to look like an English cottage with a thatched roof, but the roof looks like fries!  Drew agreed!!  🍟

We ate lunch a little after noon, and it was perfect!  There was no wind and the sun was still bright.  It was a beautiful November afternoon!

Next, we were off to the trail to take a pre-Thanksgiving meal walk, also known as...

A Turkey Trot!!  

When we got back to AFCC, we had time for a yoga session with Jaime before drawing names for our Secret Santa exchange.  It was kind of crazy and exciting, so we didn't get pictures, but everyone who was here today brought home a red envelope with the "Secret Santa Support Form" for the person whose name they drew.

We hope all of the Secret Santas will have fun selecting gifts for their friends, and will keep the names secret until December 16th! 

The name drawings brought our short week to a close.  We'll resume AoA sessions on Tuesday, November 29.  Here's what we have planned for next week:

Tuesday:  We'll spend the morning dancing, checking last week's blog, talking about our Thanksgiving break, and learning about South Carolina, the 8th state to join the Union.  The long range forecast looks hopeful for another nice November day so we plan to leave mid-morning for a visit to Yorktown for a picnic, corn hole game, and walkabout to see how they decorate for the holidays.  Wear Arc shirts and bring a bagged lunch.

Wednesday:  We are going to begin transforming our room from autumn colors to Christmas ones.  We'll create a tree for our entrance wall, and begin coloring some festive pictures.  We'll also create our December calendar and vote on which treats to make for our holiday party.  (Just voting...no baking yet!)  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is offering Cheesy Pasta Supreme (which lately has turned out to be spaghetti) or Sub of the Day.

Thursday:  Our artist friend, Jeff Helm, is returning today to work on a project with us!  We'll use cardboard scraps to create artful masterpieces.  Jeff suggests wearing clothes that you wouldn't mind getting getting spattered with paint!  Jeff will also join us for lunch, which will be Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad, apple slices (it's National Red Apple Day), and brownies.  After lunch, we will have a history lesson in honor of it being Rosa Parks Day.

Friday:  We're celebrating Carol's birthday today!  We'll divide into teams to prepare chili with ground turkey, cornbread, and lemon bars for lunch.  We'll also continue working on crafts/decorations for our room, and end the day with a new yoga episode from Jaime!  Dress to stretch!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang

Chilly Weather Week

 

We didn't see anyone wearing shorts this week for the first time since March!  It definitely felt like fall as the temperatures averaged in the low 50s, but we didn't mind.  We stayed cozy inside for work, crafts, and time with our therapy dog friends.  We grabbed our jackets when we went out to take a hike, see Christina, and work at PSP and Eaton.  It was a great week...check it out!

Tuesday

We were happy to welcome Kate back to the group after a long absence due to her travels to Portugal for Sandra's wedding, and then getting sick for two weeks!  Her mom, Elizabeth, joined us this morning and she and Kate told us all about their wonderful time in beautiful Portugal.  Then, Kate gave us special gifts.  Lisa, Carol, and Nan got pretty mugs, and the friends got new writing pens.  Thanks, Kate.  How thoughtful of you to bring us special souvenirs all the way from Portugal!!

We worked on a poster that highlighted facts about Thanksgiving.  Annmarie and Alexis worked on gluing their facts to the background paper.

Each group had the same materials, but had flexibility in how they designed their posters.

Laura was writing the title of the poster while Abraham finished coloring one of the facts.  Patrick had used his phone to look up Abraham Lincoln to make sure he colored his hair accurately!

We think our Thanksgiving Facts posters turned out very nicely, so we posted them around the AFCC so folks who visit the rec center can read them!

We squeezed in a fitness routine before having lunch a little early so we would be ready to head to the Art Museums around 12:10.

We had one of Christina's "famous" scavenger hunts at the museums today, but she put a twist on it.  First, we looked at the big Christmas tree from the second level and tried to spot 5 certain ornaments.  For the scavenger hunt, we were going to look for other examples of the same objects represented by the ornaments.

It was hard to spot the 5 ornaments from upstairs, so we went downstairs for a better view.  We found a fox, a butterfly, a jug, a snowman, and a star that had been stitched.  Now, we were ready to look for the same objects, only larger, in the galleries.

When we spotted several samples of jugs in the cabinet shown here, Christina told us an interesting story.  She said adults in Colonial times would store things they didn't want children to have, such as alcohol, in jugs that had scary faces or maybe something like a snake on the top!

We always enjoy the objects in the weather vane gallery, and today we spotted a butterfly there.  Do you see it?!

Christina said finding the fox would be really challenging, but we were up for it.

After searching for a while, and needing an extra hint from Christina, Abraham finally spotted a fox on the shirt of this object!  Scavenger hunts with Christina are always fun!

Here is a picture of the stitched stars we found.  They are part of a beautiful quilt called Sunburst by Mary McPherson that was made in the 1840s.

 To wrap up the lesson, we each colored a section of a paper quilt. Look at our focus as we worked on our individual pieces.  We took our work back to AFCC where we will put it together later in the week.

Wednesday

The theme today was Thanksgiving as we enjoyed a visit from our therapy dogs and handler friends.  We sure are thankful for the relationships we have forged with them over the past few months!

We spent the first part of our time together reading with one another.  With Nan listening intently, Devin T, Alexis, Michelle, and Annmarie took turns reading to Ava and her cockapoo, Gunther.

Kent and his Chow, Leo, read with Sam, Liz, and Kevin today.  Before they began reading, Kent shared photos he had taken yesterday when he and Leo participated in an event at CNU.

Can you spot Casey, the golden doodle, in his favorite spot under a table?!  He and Carol enjoyed the variety of books shared by Devin B, Patrick, Erik, and Laura.

Caroline brought her black Lab, Pip, today.  He got so many belly rubs and neck nuzzles from Kate, Abraham, Xavier, and Adia that he was one happy pup!

Lena was under the weather and didn't want to share germs, so she and Marlo had to skip today's visit.  However, Lena sent us a sweet email wishing us a Happy Thanksgiving, and included a picture of Marlo!  Aww!

 

We also worked on a Thanksgiving craft with the dogs and handlers.  We made turkeys, with colorful feathers that listed things for which we are thankful.

Aren't the turkeys cute?!  So are we and our therapy dog and handler friends! 

Later today we made up a couple of STEM lessons we didn't have time for last week.  Using physics and engineering skills, along with string, balloons, straws, clothespins, and tape, we did a science activity called "To the Moon with a Balloon."  Xavier, Devin T, and Adia were careful to construct their balloon rocket without popping it.  Devin T was concentrating on holding a clothespin tightly over the end of the balloon until time to release the air.

Alexis and Erik finally got their balloon rocket set up, not realizing it wasn't going to go in the direction they hoped it would...

With Patrick looking on, Devin B held their balloon rocket while Sam attempted to secure it in place with tape.

Liz and Michelle got their balloon rocket set up, but they had twisted the open end of the balloon so tightly to keep the air in, that when they tried to launch it, the air barely seeped out and didn't provide them with enough propulsion.

We talked about today being the day NASA was finally able to launch Artemis I, the test flight that will help us get humans back to the moon and eventually to Mars!  They had a little trouble earlier this year trying to launch, just like Lexi and Erik did in this attempt at launching their rocket!

Patrick, Devin B, and Sam decided to consult Adia for assistance and ended up with this fabulous launch!

In other afternoon STEM fun, we used our laptops to play games of strategy online.  Kevin, Kate, and Xavier took turns on a matching game. 

Laura played a missing letters word game with Liz and Michelle.

Annmarie was delighted to do an online coloring page!

We also got our pretty quilt pieces that we colored with Christina yesterday assembled on a green background.  We are going to hang it on the wall in the spot where our "Thankful" banner is, once we take that down after next week.

Thursday

This morning we sent an energetic crew to Pet Supplies Plus where they had 5 overflowing carts of product to get on the shelves.  Erik, Patrick, Alexis, and Kevin, with Sam and Liz in the background, were busy!

Scott enlisted the assitance of Erik and Patrick to assemble a bird house!

It was a treat to see Scott AND Roxanne in the store today.  We also love working with manager Taylor, who is smiling over Kevin's shoulder!  Our featured product this week is Thanksgiving stuffies for your favorite pets.   Hurry, before they sell out!!

Back at the center, we had a few chores to keep us busy.  Abraham and Devin T stacked chairs in the kitchen area.  There must have been a meeting in here last night, because chairs were left everywhere...

Annmarie, Adia, and Laura prepared our silverware and napkins for today's lunch.

Yesterday we left the turkeys we made with our therapy dog friends on the white board, but today Devin B and Michelle moved them to join the Thankful Banner on the wall.

Michelle and Devin B also opened silverware packets that had been donated to us so Devin T and Xavier could empty and sort them for easier access.

We remembered we had some spinach left over in the fridge, so Adia added it to one of our pizzas!  This turned out to be our only "lunch" picture, because once the pizzas came out of the oven, all of our hungry workers dug in while they were still hot!  Lunch was great!

November 17 is National Take a Hike Day, which we try to celebrate each year!  After filling our bellies with pizza, we drove to Newport News Park for a very nice walk.  It was chilly, but sunny, and not too windy.

After our hike, we found the large playground empty...so we took advantage!

Kevin and Alexis had a race down the slides!

Annmarie and Laura may be a bit short of stature, but they are taller than most little kids and they can barely reach the bar on this whirly mushroom thing!  Lots of parents must have to lift kids up to use it.

Oh, to be 6 again!

What a nice way to spend the afternoon!  We are lucky to have Newport News Park so close to our center.

Friday

Lisa spent the day at the hospital with Gdad while the crew spent a work day at Eaton.  We would like to thank Patrick's mom, Sue, for filling in for her today!  😘

Sue's team unpacked things.  While this may seem like a simple job, Eaton workers on the line really appreciate that they can just grab a part and not have to stop and unpack it.  We appreciate that we help them work more efficiently!

Nan and Carol's team worked on PowerSlide door assembly.  Speaking of efficiency, this is one team that can get it done!

Later, there were more tasks.  Alexis, Michelle, Liz, and Nan unpacked lightbulbs.  They are careful with this fragile job, which we have done for years!

Kevin and Xavier were counting small white parts.  They are always attentive to their counting mats, so the numbers add up correctly!

Accuracy is important, and we know Patrick, Laura, Devin B, and Abraham will make sure the screws are also correctly counted!

Looks like Erik (in the background) had a separate counting task, while Sue helped Annmarie, Devin T, and Drew with theirs.  Thanks again, Sue, for filling in for Lisa today.  She heard you were a natural!  We hope you enjoyed your day with us at Eaton!

Next week will be an abbreviated one as we pause to celebrate Thanksgiving.  We will be here on Monday and Tuesday, before taking a holiday Wednesday-Friday.  (It's the only Monday on which we ever have an AoA session!)  Here's a look at our plans for the two-day week:

Monday:  Adia's birthday is on Thanksgiving Day, so we are celebrating her today!  At her request (and everyone else agrees), we are going to watch Disney's Encanto.  We'll prepare a new recipe, pumpkin lasagna, for lunch, along with roasted sweet potatoes, which were so good recently, they were requested again!  There will be cake, too. 😋  We'll also make some corn hole team player trades, and play game #4 in our fall challenge.

Tuesday:  We will have our annual lesson on the history of Thanksgiving today, and throw in a Thanksgiving Bingo game, too.  The weather looks promising for a visit to Freedom Park to check on the garden, eat lunch, and take a "Turkey Trot" walk before ending the day back at the center with yoga!  Please bring a bagged lunch and dress to stretch.

To all of our families, including extended family members near and far, and Arc staff, and our many friends, including vocational partners, museum partners, gardening partners, and therapy dog partners, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang