It's the last month of the year, and we celebrated the last of the AoA Crew's birthdays this week when Carol was honored on Friday. There are 16 in our "regular crew," plus 3 staff members, and it seems a lot of them have had birthdays lately, but we love it! (Later this month we will celebrate Christina from The Art Museums of CW.)
We also celebrated the fact that WE HAD PERFECT ATTENDANCE EVERY DAY THIS WEEK! WOW! No one was absent any day this week, and that hasn't happened since...well, we can't remember the last time we had a perfect attendance week! It was exciting, so we took a lot of group pictures!
In other news this week, we started transforming the room into festive holiday colors, and we had an AMAZING art experience with our new friend, Jeff! Read all about our great week here:
Tuesday
We were happy to be reunited after almost one full week apart for Thanksgiving Break. We had a lot of buzz going around the room, so we took time to let everyone share how they spent the holiday. We heard stories of delicious meals, fun family time, much movie and football watching, napping, shopping, and so much more. Kevin got to see the movie Polar Express at the Ferguson Center with the Virginia Symphony in accompaniment, and he told us he really enjoyed it!
After hearing about everyone's holiday, we ran short on time so our lesson on South Carolina will be postponed to January. Since it was a mild and sunny day (but a little windy), we needed to get on the road to Yorktown. We thought we would see if it is decorated for the holidays. We found this pretty tree, and lots of workers getting ready to put up decorations, but that was about it! A festive weekend is coming up in Yorktown!
As noted above, for the first time in weeks, all 16 of our regular crew members were in attendance! We had fun getting a few group shots today. We'll be back next week to visit with Mike at the Watermen's Museum, so hopefully we'll see Yorktown all decked out by then!
What's a visit to Yorktown without a chat with General Washington, and all of the military leaders from France who helped the Continental Army win our freedom from British rule: Lafayette, Rochambeau, and deGrasse?!
The slightly breezy conditions didn't bother our guys as they played Fall Corn Hole Challenge Game #4! We've got the Minion Corn Holers on the left, and the Virginia Corn Thunder on the right. EVERYONE is making adjustments to improve their play, cheering and advising one another, and having fun during our games!
Xavier knows he's going to get "deep breathing" guidance from Adia, and he looks forward to it!
Go, Sweet T, go! He tossed just a little higher on this throw and scored a point for his team!
Deep in the middle of this group hug is Drew. He finds underhand tossing to be difficult, so we let him throw overhanded. We adjusted his distance from the board so that his throw would go far enough to have a chance to score. After he landed the bag on the board for a point, his team members Abraham, Patrick, and Dev B, along with Sweet T and Sam from the other team, celebrated his achievement!
Here's a pretty fine victory pose from the Minion Corn Holers who won their first game of the Fall Challenge by a score of 22-15!
Wednesday
We worked on our December calendar, and began updating our room decor today. We love to show off our team work each month as we accomplish these tasks. 👏👏
With Adia's support, Devin T and Drew helped make colorful paper chains, while (in the background) Erik and Devin B worked their way around the room taking down all signs and colors of fall.
Alexis and Liz added online pictures to our December calender event squares, while Michelle assisted Kevin in resetting the calendar to align with December dates.
The DECEMBER letters will be a focal point on the wall based on the colors Laura, Patrick, Sam, Abraham, and Annmarie used to color them!
Kate contributed to finding pictures for the event squares while Xavier added seasonal colors to one of the DECEMBER letters.
Later, Michelle and Liz worked on the gift we are making for our family holiday bags. What could it be? A fence?!?! 😀
After he finished his calendar prep work, Xavier played a computer game that is similar to Pac-Man. He wowed his friends with his one-handed use of the arrow keys to easily defeat the game! Impressive!
It was raining outside so today's morning movement was pool noodle volleyball!
Using our BrainPOP app for the video, we talked about it being flu season and how getting the vaccine is a good step toward fending off illness. We also checked the flu activity map for the US and saw that Virginia is in the "high" range.
After lunch we voted for which holiday cookie recipes we want to try this year. Adia brought in a cookie cookbook, and yesterday a few of us went through it and nominated some recipes. After the votes were counted, we learned we will be baking Snowy White Chocolate Crescents and Pineapple Paradise cookies! We also have two other recipes we had already chosen, so it's going to be a sweet holiday season. We'll share our goodies with others, too.
We spent the last hour of the day preparing the Christmas tree for our entry wall. First, everyone decorated a triangle shaped piece of green paper. Sam and Drew seemed pleased, but why the long face, Laura?!
She was much happier with her finished product!
Michelle and Kevin visited the glitter station to add a little sparkle to their designs! We then put all of the triangle pieces away to dry. We'll put the tree together on the wall and post a picture soon! 🎄
Thursday
We had a very FUN morning! Our new friend, artist Jeff, came to work with us in his version of "Fish School" and we had a blast!! He brought all of the supplies needed for us to create masterpieces, and we shined with our work. First, Jeff gave us a rundown on how to start the project, which involved gluing cardboard shapes together in the shape of an "abstract" fish.
Jeff wanted to make sure we knew that anything goes and the goal was for us to have fun with the process. However, he selected such a perfect project for us, that everyone got into it...no artist blocks today...and with his support and guidance, our end products were spectacular!
We appreciate the time Jeff put into preparing this activity for us. He cut hundreds of shapes from cardboard, and primed them,too. Each table got a selection of shapes to use for creating a fish design. Kate and Xavier quickly got to work!
We want to send a HUGE shoutout to Karryna for joining us today! She is so good with our group, and her help today was invaluable. Karryna, you just rock!! Sam and Devin definitely agree!
Jeff also relates super well to our group. They talked his ears off throughout the morning! He visited each table, making sure our guys had support and encouragement for their efforts. Devin T, Alexis, and Drew asked for advice on placing fins. Jeff has a way of empowering us to be creative!
Devin "Sweet T" is usually right-handed, but today he made brush strokes with his left hand! We were happy to see him using his right hand to steady the fish, too!
Jeff provided pretty colors and even showed us how to blend some of them to create more options. Michelle and Liz were fond of the fuschia. Kevin liked it too, and with Carol's help, he made broad strokes that covered a large area quickly, just as he prefers!
Once they got started, Annmarie, Adia, and Erik worked quietly to apply color to their creations. This was a relaxing activity, too! Win-win!!
WOW! Aren't they gorgeous?!
Colorful and unique!
We invited Jeff to stick around for lunch, and he said he enjoyed our Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad with sliced Red Apples, to celebrate National Eat a Red Apple Day! 😋
Each year on December 1st, in recognition of National Rosa Parks Day, we have a history lesson about "good ole Rosa Parks," as Devin B calls her, in a respectful way. We recognize that she is a civil rights icon, and we appreciate what she did in refusing to give up her seat on the bus on December 1, 1955. That led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted over a year. Our gang enjoys the study of history.
Look how happy we are that today is for celebrating Carol's birthday! We got to work getting ready for the party. Adia, Laura, Annmarie, Michelle, and Abraham helped prepare napkin rings for our silverware as well as colored some decorative pictures for Carol's table.
Over in this part of the room, Erik browned the ground turkey for our main dish, chili, and after Alexis, Patrick, and Xavier cut the peppers, he sauteed them, too!
We had a cake crew! It was Liz and Dev B and they baked a tasty lemon cake which we topped with a lemon glaze!
Adia and Michelle whipped up a tasty batch of cornbread!
While the cornbread baked, we burned a few calories with the Ninja Now Workout!
Our chili was very tasty, and with the cornbread and a few chips as sides, it was filling, too!
Carol's actual birthday is tomorrow, and we hope she has a fun weekend of celebrating. We were happy to kick it off for her. Happy Birthday, Carol, and we hope all your wishes come true!
As we were about to take a picture of our "Christmas tree in progress," Annmarie popped in to photo-bomb it! This one was too cute to not include in the blog!
We grabbed a couple of yoga pictures this afternoon. This is a pose Jaime calls "baby pose" and it is a good stretch for the lower back.
No better way to end a busy week than with a relaxing stretch!
We were stretching this afternoon, but next week we'll be on the move! Here are our plans for a busy, busy week ahead:
Tuesday: It's the first of the month so we will go bowling and have pizza for lunch. We'll also make pretty Christmas tree thumbprint pictures to add to our room decorations. Please wear Arc shirts!
Wednesday: Our friend Carol and her therapy dog Casey, along with Carol's daughter Christen and son-in-law Simon, are visiting today. Carol and Casey won't be able to make the regular therapy dog group visit next week, so we are welcoming her today. We'll enjoy holiday books, coloring, and crafting with them! It's Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day so we will have a history lesson, then we'll lighten things up with a celebration of National Cotton Candy Day! Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is offering Cheesy Pasta Supreme or Sub of the Day.
Thursday: It's time to visit Mike at the Watermen's Museum for our last visit of 2022. We'll enjoy time with Mike creating colonial Christmas ornaments and cloved fruit, and singing carols. We'll head back to AFCC for lunch, unless the weather is sunny and mild for eating outside, so bring a bagged lunch. Please wear Arc shirts, too! Since we will be at Eaton tomorrow, we are moving yoga to today, so dress to stretch (with your Arc shirt).
Friday: We'll go to Eaton for our last work day of 2022 today! Please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch. If time permits, we'll make a holiday decoration when we return from Eaton.
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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