This week was about so many smiles. We had one opportunity after another to share joy and fun. We celebrated Valentine's Day, delighted in a visit with the therapy dogs (after a brief hiatus), worked at the pet store, partied for Mardi Gras with Moose Patti, and had a great lunch for Heike's birthday, even though she missed it! Come along on our journey...
Tuesday
Valentine's Day comes but once a year, and we make the most of it. This morning we all worked to put together our lunch and get our room decorated for a fitting Valentine party. This pic is representative of many of our mornings, as we all concentrate on our assigned tasks.
We easily turned our room into a Valentine spot and got down to celebrating the day. Look at our lovely ladies!
And how about these handsome gentlemen?!
Aww! Our Rec besties, Karryna and Tracy, along with Nan, Lisa, and Carol were ready to celebrate, too!
Thank you, Kevin, for sharing these tasty cheesecake bites with us! You're so sweet!
We paused from partying to assemble The Arc's March mailing. BINGO is back for an activity!
Be sure to complete your sign up sheet and return it to Kellie ASAP!
Remember the life-size card we made with Mike at the Watermen's Museum last week?! It was a centerpiece of our decorations today. Greetings from your Valentine, Annmarie!
We missed Abraham for the past couple of weeks while he was out of town helping his sister and brother-in-law with childcare for his new nephew. We're so glad to have Uncle Abraham back!
Michelle has a Valentine smile that would light up any room!
Finally, the exchanging of Valentines! All 17 of our friends were in attendance today, so this was a busy segment of our day. We loved how they helped each other!
💘💘💘 Happy Valentine's Day, 2023! 💘💘💘
Wednesday
We found out at the last minute that a couple of therapy dogs could visit us this morning. The library crew remembered that there are so many good books representing Black History Month, and checked out several for us to use when reading with the pups!
Due to some scheduling issues, we didn't get to see the therapy dogs in January, and today's visit was not certain. We were thrilled when Caroline was able to join us with Pip and Indy!
We were also thrilled that Ava and Gunther could come on short notice as well! We missed our dog and handler friends. So many smiles this morning!
We enjoyed our Black History Month book selections during small group sessions with our friends. Caroline, Pip, and Indy seemed happy to be back in our routine, too!
Ava and Gunther's group was quite chatty about their books. They let Ava know that we have had many discussions about the civil rights movment. Many thanks to Ava and Caroline, Gunther, Pip, and Indy, for spending time with us this morning. We loved seeing you and cannot wait to have ALL of our therapy dog and handler friends back in March! 😍🐕🐶😍
To make sure we're prepared to party with Patti tomorrow, we did some brain work about Mardi Gras. We learned a bit of history about the day, and also talked about symbols associated with it. We used the colors of Mardi Gras, gold, purple, and green, to help us highlight answers on our reading comprehension worksheet. Abraham and Sweet T were proud of their work!
Next thing we knew, it was raining! Not much, and it didn't last as long as it took to make this video, but still, we were surprised!
Luckily, we didn't encounter any more rain, but we did see some beautiful white buds and several blossoms on this small tree. Lexi and Adia found the blooms to be lightly fragrant, and later, Liz used her app to identify it as a star magnolia!
While several of us lingered around the star magnolia, others meandered toward the overlook. There were seagulls floating by and a couple of ducks, and we even spotted a great egret in the distance! (Sadly, we also noticed litter at the edge of the water...😔)
Despite the overcast skies, we got a couple of nice group pictures!
It was a nice day for a walk, and we found daffodils are blooming early in Newport News, just as they are in Williamsburg!
Thursday
Today was amazing, and we have a lot of pictures to prove it! We had so much fun. One group went to work at Pet Supplies Plus, and the other group transformed the room into a Mardi Gras spectacular so we could party with Moose Patti! This is one of her favorite celebrations, and we were about to be treated to a very special time with her!
First, a few pictures from PSP. A delivery truck was running late, so instead of stocking shelves, our team did some cleaning today. They swept floors and dusted shelves. In this shot, Adia and Kate were helping to feed some of the animals.
The crew chose two animals to highlight today. Here are the guinea pigs! According to Alexis, there is only one male, and several females, and they are all "soooo cute." Kate, Adia, Michelle, Dev B, and Erik agree!
There are several parakeets, too! They were singing their hearts out today. Wouldn't you like one for a pet?!
This picture was spotted near the entrance. We're so proud of the Bobowicz Family and their successful operation of two Pet Supplies Plus stores, this one in Lightfoot and another in Chesapeake. We'd like to thank them again for giving the Arc of Abilities the opportunity to work for them! Thanks to many of our AoA families for shopping at PSP, too. 😊
At the center, Abraham, Laura, Dev T, Sam, and Kevin worked diligently to color lots of letters and extra pictures, using the Mardi Gras colors of purple, green, and gold. We decorated our big white board with samples of our brain work from yesterday, too.
Drew, Patrick, Annmarie, and Xavier were also on decorating duty. We got everything together about 3 minutes before Patti arrived!
WOW! Not only did Patti bring us homemade gumbo for lunch, she also brought an authentic king cake which she had shipped here from New Orleans. Patti, you are sooo good to us!
Before we got into the gumbo and king cake, we danced to New Orleans Jazz music as we held up the great masks we made yesterday!
We learned that it is against the law to be on a float in a Mardi Gras parade unless you are wearing a mask!
We danced up a good appetite and couldn't wait to try Patti's gumbo! It was loaded with veggies like peppers, onions, celery, and okra, and lots of chicken, shrimp, and sausage, too. Plus, a little cajun spice! We served it over rice with a cornbread side, and it was so delicious. We did not know Patti was such a great cook, but trust us, she is!
Aww, look who stopped by just as we were serving lunch. Much to everyone's surprise, especially Nan's and Lisa's, Grandad decided to take a drive to the AoA today! He's been getting some strength back in between his chemo rounds, and he misses his friends at the AoA. It made our hearts smile to see him. He agreed that Patti makes very good gumbo, too! 💙😋💙😋
Here's a close up of the king cake Patti had sent all the way from Nonna Randazzo's Bakery in New Orleans. It had the best cream cheese frosting! We were curious to find out who would get the slice with the little baby inside...as we know that by tradition that person would be in for a year of good luck!
Erik got the piece with the baby! You're going to have some good luck coming your way, Erik! And, as Adia reminded us, Erik found a ladybug crawling on him at the park yesterday. They are signs of good luck, too!
We played a Mardi Gras themed dice game. Sweet T was rubbing the die before his roll!
Guess who won in this group! Patti is cheering for Erik, who filled his sheet before Patti or Kevin. Looks like Erik's good luck has already started!!
Patti hung around with us all afternoon so we took her outside for a walk on this warm February day. We really enjoy her company. Thank you, again, Patti, for what you did for us today. Your gumbo and king cake made our day (you know how much our gang loves a good party), and the time spent catching up with you was priceless. We're so glad we're friends!
Finally, we noticed that a hyacinth has popped up and bloomed in our "lasagna pot" that our master gardener friends helped us plant last October. The pansies on top have been vibrant and beautiful all winter, but some of the bulbs (they are layered in the pot, like a lasagna) have begun to push through the soil. We are hosting the master gardeners for a luncheon next week, and can't wait for them to see this! So pretty!
Friday
A rainy Friday morning brought out the disco ball during our dance warm up!
When it was time to prepare lunch, we had some great helpers. Nan and Michelle enjoyed cutting canned biscuits into quarters for our breakfast casserole.
Dev B and Sam happily browned the sausage and found the hash browns we needed for the recipe!
Alexis "tutored" Xavier on the fine art of cracking eggs. We needed 18 for our casserole...he practiced with 2!
Patrick and Laura had a lot of apples to wash! They were going to help Carol make her "famous" apple crisp to go along with our breakfast casserole.
For morning movement, we had set up the spinner so we could play the "Roaming Recess" game Lisa made up a few weeks ago, where we spin to find out which exercise station to visit. After our workout, we put names on the spinner and used it to select winners of special Mardi Gras prize packs Patti left for us yesterday. Erik and Patrick were the lucky winners of glittery golden masks and colorful beads! Thanks, Patti, for bringing these fun gifts! It was exciting to spin for winners, and you would have loved the round of applause everyone gave Erik and Patrick!
We had a lesson to commemorate that Monday is Presidents' Day and we learned that Lincoln was the tallest president at 6'4" and Madison was the shortest at 5'4". We also watched a video about the making of Mount Rushmore, and when we worked on the comprehension sheet, Adia gave Kevin a high five for correctly answering a question!
In our read-aloud, Full of Beans, the setting is Key West in 1934, during the Great Depression. In the story, President Franklin Roosevelt sends "New Dealers" to transform a Key West from shambles into a tourist town. Laura's colorful shirt depicts a scene from the movie Encanto, but it also helped us visualize how colorful the houses in Key West might have looked after they were painted during the New Deal.
We can't think of too many weeks when we were (happily) busier than this week, so our Friday afternoon yoga session was welcomed!
After a relaxing stretch, we put away our mats and said farewell until next week, when we will see how busy it will be. We won't have three celebrations again, but it promises to be full of fun and engaging experiences!
In fact, we will begin a brand new partnership with Grove Christian Outreach Center next week. We'll do that, and more, on Wednesday. Here is our entire schedule for next week:
Tuesday: This morning we will visit with Christina at the Art Museums for a lesson on Black History Month. If the weather cooperates, we will take a walk in CW and enjoy lunch outside at the Visitor Center, so bring a bagged lunch. We'll continue our read-aloud today as we aim to finish by the end of the month, and begin making preparations for Thursday's special event. Please wear Arc shirts.
Wednesday: We will split into two groups for today's incredible adventures! First, one group will kick off our partnership with Grove Christian Outreach Center by volunteering at their facility this morning. At the same time, the second group will travel to Trader Joe's for a tour of their store. (We will repeat this on March 8 and switch groups.) It's going to be an exciting morning! Lunch will be on your own. JRES Cafeteria is available for Chicken Sandwich or Hot Dog on Bun, Our afternoon activities will include making birthday cards for a special Arc office friend! Please wear Arc shirts.
Thursday: Today we are welcoming our master gardener friends for a luncheon in their honor! We're just weeks away from beginning our spring sessions with them, so we want to let them know how appreciated they are. We will prepare baked penne and side salads for lunch. We'll also play a round of Winter Corn Hole Challenge - hopefully outside as the forecast says it will be 74 degrees!
Friday: We have an Eaton work day scheduled for today, so wear your Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch. We should have time for yoga when we return to the center, so dress to stretch, too.
Have a great weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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