1st Birthday of the Year!

This week we had a birthday party for our Parks & Rec friend, Karryna.   The struggle is real for some with birthdays close to Christmas, like Karryna, whose birthday is December 29th.  We love celebrating birthdays, but we also enjoy our Winter Break when the AoA is closed.  But, Karryna has become a valuable member of our partnership/team with P&R over the past year, so we were happy to have a celebration for her in January!  Here's a look at everything we did this week, Karryna's birthday party included!

Tuesday

Our week began with a lesson for National Houseplant Appreciation Day.  We learned that it came to be because a gardening association thought that people might be slack on caring for houseplants during the busy holiday season.  On Houseplant Appreciation Day, we are reminded to care for our plants during the dry, winter months.  We potted small houseplants for our tables, and we will be sure to take care of them all year round...until we slack off during Winter Break?!

In addition to enhancing our space, as Xavier agrees with here, we learned that houseplants have many benefits, including boosting productivity, reducing anxiety, and improving the quality of the air.

We even found a fun movement activity on YouTube that had a gardening theme.  Who knew "watering plants" could be such a good stretch?!

Today was also Save the Eagles Day, which is an annual favorite of ours to commemorate, but before we actually talked about eagles that are animals, we checked out Devin B's favorite football team, the Philadelphia Eagles, who just last year released a holiday music album.  We weren't aware of this a month ago, or we would have been listening to their Christmas songs, which sounded pretty good!  Click on the pic to hear the Philadelphia Eagles' version of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town." 

We watched an educational video about eagles and were reminded of such facts as eagles are no longer on the endangered list, the female is often bigger than the male, and eagle pairs mate for life,   We also checked a live webcam of an eagle pair in Florida whose eaglets just hatched in the last week.  Click on this picture if you'd like a link to the webcam.  We also learned that baby eaglets stay in the nest for about 2 1/2 months before they "fledge," or begin to experience the world on their own.  We plan to check the webcam each week to observe their progress.

Even though is was chilly and overcast, we put on our jackets after lunch and headed to W&M's campus to look for so-called "secret sites."  We explored campus for about an hour, and enjoyed being outside!  Here, we were walking through the Sunken Garden, and when we stopped for a picture, some of us struck our "W&M Pose" for the camera! 

At the statue of the Reverend James Blair, the founder of W&M, Patrick and Kate were photographed as our "Best Dressed" for today because they were sporting W&M apparel - Patrick's t-shirt and Kate's scarf!  Go, Tribe!

This might be the coolest, and maybe most "secret," site on campus.  On the west side of James Blair Hall is the Tyler Family Garden, which details how many descendents of President John Tyler's family have attended the college.  But the cool part is the side of the building commonly known as the "Echo Wall."  As Annmarie was about to find out, if you face the building and speak loudly, while standing where "X" marks the spot, you will hear your voice echo!

We continued on our walk and saw rock gardens, more statues, the Crim Dell Meadow and Bridge...where we walked across holding hands with each other because campus lore says that will make us friends for life!  Liz also came across a site that we weren't expecting to see, a beautiful camelia bush with several bright red blooms!  After this, we headed back to AFCC for Choice Time and to begin our new read-aloud story, Island of the Blue Dolphins.  We enjoyed our brisk, if abbreviated, walk today! 

Wednesday

Today was a day of celebrations!  The first one was our return to volunteering in the library at the school.  Mr. Nonnemacher, librarian, and Ms. Ortega, assistant, were thrilled to see Liz, Erik, Alexis, and Kate today.  They had lots of books for them to shelve, and told us they are glad we're back! 

The second celebration would be for Karryna's birthday.  We were busy this morning getting lunch ready, which was going to be curried chicken, cucumber salad with dill dressing, and naan bread.  In this picture, we have Drew and Lexi cooking a batch of curried chicken in one skillet while Kevin and Sam cook another batch.  Patrick, Laura, and Annmarie were working on our "Happy Birthday" napkin rings.

In the kitchen, Erik and Adia were preparing the cucumber salad while Liz, Kate, and Abraham whipped up birthday brownies and Devin B stood by to help with both!

Xavier and Devin T were happy to work on birthday cards for Karryna. 😍

Tracy and Karryna arrived a few minutes before lunch was ready, so we enjoyed social time with them.  Birthday girl Karryna was surrounded by well-wishers!

Tomorrow is National Curried Chicken Day, so that's what we cooked for Karryna's birthday.  Along with the cucumber salad and naan bread, it was a very tasty birthday lunch!  Click on the pic for a link to our recipe...and we recommend using fire roasted tomatoes! 😋

Before letting Karryna blow out the candle on her birthday brownie, we took a group photo.  Karryna turned 24 on her birthday (which was officially on December 29), and that makes her the youngest among us...wow! 😮

We wish you a wonderful year ahead, Karryna, and hope all your wishes come true!

After the party, we delved further into our new read-aloud, Island of the Blue Dolphins.  The main character's name is Karana, who Lisa kept wanting to call "Karryna!"

Next, we watched a Mystery Doug episode that explained why January is the first month of the new year.  

The Roman calendar is the "ancestor" of our modern day calendar, and the ancient Romans decided to make January the first month of the year because it was named after their god, Janus.  He had two faces, so he was thought to be looking back on the past year while also looking forward to the new year.  Now we know why January is the first month of a new year!

After learning about Janus and his two faces, which look back and forward at the same time, we talked about our last year while looking ahead to this year.  We made a list of favorite things we did in 2022, and also listed things we would like to do in 2023.  Lisa, Carol, and Nan will look over our ideas, and see if they can make some of them a reality! 

Thursday

We had a really nice day today!  First, we visited with Mike at the Watermen's Museum where we talked about eagles and impressed Mike with how much we already knew!  He told us that during warmer weather, they are spotted often near the museum.  (Must be all that water and fish!) 

Mike provided each of us with a booklet about bald eagles, and we learned a few more facts about them, such as their wing span is very straight, designed for soaring for long periods without flapping their wings.

Next, we moved on to the topic of New Year's resolutions.  Mike said his was to spend more time with family and not so much time working.  😍  We were happy to tell him what we planned to do differently in 2023.  Everything from eat less cake to eat more French fries and exercise/walk more to go see more movies at the theater - and lots of things in between!

We also talked about wishes with Mike, and how they are different from resolutions because they are things we can't have much control over.  We each listed our resolutions on starburst shapes of paper and our wishes on paper cut like eagle feathers.

Mike had drawn an eagle on this large sheet of paper.  He posted our resolutions and wishes, with Devin T's help, and told us that sharing them with others would enable us to help each other try and achieve our resolutions, and that maybe we could even help make some of our wishes come true if we worked together and cared for one another!  Thanks, Mike, for an uplifting lesson today!  What a great way to get the new year off to a positive start!

It was nearly lunchtime when we finished with Mike.  The sun was peeking in and out from behind the clouds and the temperature was pushing 60, so we were able to eat outside at the picnic area and then play a game of Winter Corn Hole Challenge!

Our friends are always happy when someone scores, and in this shot, we caught Sweet T running to high five his teammates after scoring two points.  He went on to be the high scorer for his team today, with a total of 4!

After Drew landed a bag on the board for a point, Devin B and Abraham embraced him and said, "Look what you did!"

When time ran out, it was the Minion Corn Holers who won today with a score of 14-12 over the Virginia Corn Thunder.  It was a great game, and we loved being able to play outside in January! 

Our wonderful day wasn't over yet!  We had time to drive up to the monument where we parked the vans and got out for a brisk walk...that was Annmarie's suggestion and we thought it was a great one!  👏👏  Carol's van spotted this flowering bush, and Liz ID'd it with her app to find out it's called winter jasmine.  An internet search said, "these starry, little blooms are magical surprises in a cold-season landscape."  They have no scent, but are very easy to care for and therefore a favorite to bring winter color to the garden!

After our walk, we returned to AFCC for about 30 minutes of Choice Time and 40 minutes of yoga with Jaime!  We love busy and active days like today!

Oh, and doesn't our eagle/resolution/wish banner look great on our entrance wall?!?!  

Friday

This morning we watered our houseplants, which, after 4 days, still look great!  

Next, we headed to Eaton for our first work day of 2023.  Jorie was happy to see us, and excited to explain that we would begin a new assembly project today!

First, we had to sort through a few random boxes and find colorful parts for the new project.  Sam was careful not to bump his head on the metal shelving, and Erik stood by ready to take what Sam handed up to him.

While Sam and Erik gathered the parts, we had some of our crew working on familiar tasks.  Nan, Kate, Adia, Lexi, and Liz began unpacking lightbulbs!

Erik and Sam soon enlisted the help of Annmarie, Laura, and Patrick in sorting the colorful parts for the new project.

Drew, Devin B, Xavier, and Devin T knew what had to be done with this huge tub of mixed pieces.  They handled the sorting job effortlessly!

The new assembly project requires us to snap colorful parts into place inside a small, plastic box.  They must go in a certain order.  Once they are in place, a metal piece with screws attached is put inside the box.  Don't forget this step  The lid to the box is also plastic, and the last step is to screw it on in the four corners.  While others were still sorting and opening light bulbs, these guys worked with Jorie and Carol to start the assembly line for the new product.

Later in the day, more of us were working on this new assembly, and Jorie wasn't needed anymore!  What we are putting together is part of a kit for charging electric vehicles.  We assembled over 200 today.  Jorie would like us to get about 500 done each month!

We're so proud of the work we do on projects at Eaton!  We're efficient and reliable, and our teamwork is stellar!  It is an exciting time for Eaton to be getting into the electric vehicle market, and we are super-stoked to be along for the ride!  (Pun intended!)

We won't be working at Eaton next week, but we'll be busy in other ways.  Here's a look at our plans:

Tuesday:  Our regular plans with Christina for today had to be postponed until January 31, so we're going to try something we have been thinking about for a while:  grocery shopping!  We will divide and conquer our list for this week at Walmart by splitting into 3 groups (Lisa, Carol, Nan).  We'll try our hands at self-checkout, too!  When we return to the center we'll prepare grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for lunch!  We'll continue our read-aloud and have a social studies lesson on Martin Luther King, Jr. after lunch.

Wednesday:  Today is Winnie the Pooh Day so we will watch a video clip and discuss favorite Winnie the Pooh quotes, then choose our favorites to make inspirational posters.  We'll make birthday cards for our friend, Cameron, and for movement, the weather looks favorable for a round of Winter Corn Hole Challenge.  We're going to meet the executive director of Grove Christian Outreach Center today, too, and discuss volunteer opportunities for our group!  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is available and the choices today are Cheesy Pasta Supreme or Sub of the Day.

Thursday:  We will send the Work Crew to Pet Supplies Plus today, so please wear PSP shirts.  The Cooking Crew will be busy preparing Shepherd's Pie for lunch.  Other activities today will include a winter craft using large marshmallows and a new Guess in 10 game (Disney version).

Friday:  There will be options today.  We need to do some winter cleaning and organizing, so you can choose Movie Day or Clean Up Crew!  Either way, there will be popcorn for a snack. 😋  We'll also have a lesson to mark Squirrel Appreciation Day (tomorrow).  Dress to stretch because we will end the day with Jaime and yoga.  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is available and the options are Corn Dog Nuggets or Cheeseburger.

Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang