There was a lot of excitment this week as the Super Bowl loomed on the horizon. Our guys typically get a little wound up over this because it's an excuse for a PARTY at the Arc of Abilities! But this year, they are really wound up because their friend Devin B's hometown team, the Philadelphia Eagles, are playing and Dev has been hyping us up! It was the perfect excuse to have a blast! Many of them are pulling for the Eagles out of loyalty to Dev, but we have quite a few Chiefs fans, too. Check out our party, and the rest of our week, as you enjoy the pictures below!
Tuesday
Our week began with a trip to the garden to look for changes...and maybe some signs of spring?! Krafty Karen sent us a few pictures recently and said she was starting to see some color. Wouldn't you know, the first thing we spotted were plenty of daffodils in bloom!
Patrick and Annmarie, with Carol's guidance, noticed some new buds appearing on this bush!
Karen told us the turnip greens would rebound, and they did. Aren't they beautiful?! We didn't harvest today because we wouldn't have an opportunity this week to cook them, but we'll try to get back for some soon.
We even spotted some snowmen in the Fairy Garden! We had jackets on, but the weather is forecast to be milder than normal for the next couple of weeks. We hope the snowmen will be ok! Haha! Oh, and hello, Cameron! Nice to hang out with you today!
Hey, Drew - is the new mulch going around the trees a sign of spring coming?!?! Chesapeake Chuck said it will be early this year and it looks like Freedom Park is going to be ready!
After we checked the garden we headed over to Bowlero Lanes where we were thrilled to find out that Wendy has been named General Manager! She's been the best assistant manager ever, and we are so excited for her. It's a well-deserved promotion!
We grabbed a few random shots today. Everyone had a good time, and we had a few strikes and spares here and there. Mostly, we just enjoyed being together!
Drew actually rolled 2 strikes today, and Sweet T was happy for his buddy!
More hanging out, watching our friends do their thing!
Cheers from Sam, Dev B, and Adia to Erik on a great strike he had just rolled!
We used the donation from Nina to pick up pizza from Domino's today. Sam really likes it from there, and since he's Nina's favorite grandson (in Williamsburg, at least!), we went with it. Plans to eat at the park were scrapped because it didn't quite warm up enough by noon to suit us. We returned to the center and the pizza, which was still warm, hit the spot! Thank you, Nina, for treating us! We appreciate your generosity, and have enough of the donation left over to do this again!
After lunch, we had Choice Time and then we checked last week's blog. It's always fun to see our photos and reminisce about what we did in the past. We also heard another chapter from our read-aloud, and then ended the day with a dance-down, since we didn't have time for a warm up before heading out this morning. It was a good day!
Wednesday
Here's today's JRES Library Team: Erik, Liz, Alexis, and Laura, who want to let remind us that February is Black History Month. There are some great books on this topic in the library.
Look who visited with us on Zoom today! It's Lilly, our former Arc intern. Lilly graduated from CNU and is now in grad school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. She said she's trying to find a good balance in her life, because she has a lot of work such as attending classes, doing research, completing assignments, and student teaching this semester at the elementary level! Luckily, she has made good friends and they spend time together visiting local parks, eating out, and listening to live music...which is no surprise since Nashville is known as "Music City!" It was great to catch up with her!
During our lesson on the state of New Hampshire, which is part of the group of states known as New England, we found that they have a lot of interesting state symbols. The state dog is the chinook and the state beverage is apple cider!
We worked on a handout that identified many of New Hampshire's symbols, and we also learned that the nicknames of the state are "The Granite State" and "The White Mountain State." Their official state motto is "Live free, or die." We had a discussion about how that reminded us of a famous Virginia patriot named Patrick Henry!
The state bird of New Hampshire is the purple finch, which we thought we had seen plenty of around our bird feeders, including during our lesson, when we grabbed this picture. Upon closer research, when we checked our bird book, we decided that the pretty birds with the reddish-purple chests and heads that we see are known as house finches.
Before lunch we spent time outside enjoying mild, almost spring-like temps. We forgot to take the camera, but you've seen us outside lots of times before! 🌞
Drew was on the way to wash his hands when Lunch Lady Liz arrived with meals that had been ordered from the JRES Cafeteria. He gave her a big high-five, and when he got back, enjoyed his selection for today: "hot dog on bun!" 🌭
Later in the afternoon, Liz and Alexis helped Sam and Devin B figure out how to make a football by sewing two pieces of paper together and stuffing them with fluffy stuff! We were making decorations for our Super Bowl party, which is tomorrow. The footballs are cool, but Sam and Devin would probably rather make some other kind of decoration! 😉🏈
Thursday
It was another beautiful day as we headed to Yorktown and the Watermen's Museum for a lesson with Mike. Today's topic was Valentine's Day. Mike taught us that according to Greek philosophy, there are 7 kinds of love! We learned that love between friends is called "philia."
Mike had made a life-size Valentine card for us, but we needed to help him finish it. We decorated these hearts with words and pictures of things and people we love.
Kate helped Mike attach our decorated hearts to the front of the card. The words for the 7 types of love are also on the front of the card. We can learn Greek words at next week's party!
We wrote silly rhymes to finish the phrase "Roses are Red, Violets are..." on the inside of the card. Mike had also cut out a window inside the card, so we could take fun pictures. Kevin gave it a go today, and at our Valentine Party on Tuesday, we'll get others to pose, too!
Mike loves a good sing-a-long, so today he sang one of his favorite love songs with us. It's called "That's Amore" and there is a word in it that means a type of dance, "tarantella." Mike said it is an Italian folk dance that involves some twirling around, and some of our guys decided to give it a try.
We were also singing along with Mike to "That's Amore." It was fun, especially when we got to the part we knew!
We also had time to make special Valentine cards for loved ones in our lives. Before we knew it, another visit with Mike was coming to an end. Thanks, Mike, for the joy and fun you created for us this morning. We love learning cool things like Greek words and Roman legends, and just hanging with you, too!
Back at the center, we quickly got set up for lunch! We had put meatballs in the slow cooker, and prepped fruit salad, a veggie tray, and cheese and crackers before we left for Yorktown. What a great spread! We also learned that Super Bowl Sunday is the second most "food consumption" day for Americans after Thanksgiving!
For dessert, we had scrumptious Super Bowl cupcakes provided by Liz and her family! Ohhh, so yummy. Many thanks to them for this extra special treat! Thanks to Kevin's mom, Debbie, too. She provided decorative serving pieces, the table cloth, and all the little football souvenir balls! We appreciate our families' support of our fun parties! Liz was flanked by super fans Devin B and Kate, in front of our Super Bowl backdrop board. Go, Eagles! Go, Chiefs! Let's hope for a good game! 🏈🏈🏈🏈
Included in the cupcakes was a beautiful gluten-free one for Xavier. 🧁 Our friend Sweet T eats a soft foods diet, so we made him a cup of "pink cream" when we put together our fruit salad this morning! Celebratory desserts for all!
We spent the afternoon dancing, watching Super Bowl promo videos, playing Football Bingo, and then we each colored a helmet to represent which team we are pulling for in the big game. We put them up on our annual graph, and the Eagles are edging the Chiefs in our predictions by just a hair!
Friday
We got right to work at Eaton this morning! Laura, Sweet T, Patrick, Devin B, Drew, and Annmarie tackled the unpacking of over 300 pieces that James calls "amps." They worked together to help each other open the small boxes, which are tightly closed, and to get the recyclable packages to the bin outside, too.
The rest of the team worked on PowerSlide Door assembly. Sam unpacked the doors and kept our pacing on track. Liz handled the accurate placement of amber lenses into each door.
Today's "label ladies" were Nan, Alexis, and Adia, who managed this sticky situation with ease!
We were shorthanded by 4 of our team members today, so Kevin and Xavier had to man the nuts/bolts table pretty much on their own. Others slipped over to help when they could, but these two were incredibly efficient today! Meanwhile, Erik was, as always, extremely focused on tightening the four screws on each door before passing them along to be packed back into the boxes, usually by Carol.
We can't help but grab the video camera when the chicken dance song comes on in the middle of a work day and some of our friends just have to move to it!
Here's a shining example of teamwork...just because! 💙
When her team's work was done, and there was a bit of down time while others finished, Annmarie took a moment to enjoy this beautiful day. We had the garage door open, and the fresh air and sunshine called her name!
Back at the AFCC, Liz and Alexis were heading out to fill the bird feeders when Laura asked if she could help, too. Another shining example of teamwork! 💗
We got back from Eaton in time to enjoy a yoga session with Jaime. Today's theme was "Minions" and our guys worked it!
Our hope is that Friday afternoon yoga helps set them up for a great weekend. Jaime's voice alone is enough to calm anyone, and her moves just make it even better! Good job, guys!
Another week ends, and we are grateful for our many and varied opportunities. Next week is going to be another fun one, filled with time spent celebrating and cherishing friendships! Here's our schedule:
Wednesday: The forecast looks good for an outside adventure today so we are planning a trip to Newport News Park for walking, games, and lunch. Please bring a bagged lunch. Arc shirts optional.
Thursday: It's going to be a busy day as we send a group to Pet Supplies Plus, so please wear PSP shirts. While the PSP Crew works, the rest of us will prepare for a special guest: Moose Patti is coming to visit, and she's treating us to an early Mardi Gras celebration! She's making gumbo for lunch! She's also bringing a king cake! We will have a lesson on Mardi Gras, too.
Friday: Today will be another day of celebration. It's Heike's birthday and we're making breakfast casserole with apple crisp for lunch to celebrate her! Monday is Presidents Day so we will have a lesson about that, too. We'll wrap up the week with yoga, so dress to stretch.
Enjoy the weekend!
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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