Well, we wrapped up Spring Birthday Season this week with celebrations for Tracy from Parks & Rec, and our very own Devin "Sweet T." There will be a few birthdays of friends of the AoA here and there that we will celebrate with cards (and maybe cupcakes) in the next few weeks, but we won't have a blast for one of our own again until Nan at the end of July, and Laura near the end of August! We will miss birthday partying, but we'll do our best to find something to fill the time! Meanwhile, here's a look at a great birthday week that also included hanging with the MGs, volunteering at GCOC, dancing, drawing, and "pancaking" for Xavier's part 2 celebration, weloming a new friend, and saying farewell to an old one...
Tuesday
This morning we welcomed a new friend who is visiting with us this week to see what the AoA is all about, and if we might be a good fit for her. Her name is Tessa, and she graduated from high school last year. We were eager to meet her and make her feel welcome! Michelle, Sam, and Xavier introduced her with a big "ta-da" and lots of smiles! Update: Tessa will join the AoA this summer!
Next, it was off to Freedom Park to work with our master gardener friends, and then celebrate Tracy's birthday! Right away, the MGs had us busy planting a variety of seeds.
Barbara worked with Michelle, Sam, Kate, and Kevin to plant corn seeds in the bed where strawberry plants are growing. We asked if corn and strawberries are "companion plants," and Barb said she wasn't sure, but "they are now!" We'll look forward to seeing corn stalks growing among the strawberries!
Rick dug a small trench so Adia and Tessa could plant bean seeds. We will watch the bean plants travel up the trellis as summer approaches!
Other seeds we planted today included baby watermelons, a squash that grows vertically instead of spreading on the ground (that should be cool to see), and cosmos seeds. MG Rick was happy to have a hand with the watering thanks to Sam and Dev B!
We harvested, too. Adia pulled the last of the garlic out of the potato bed, and Alexis harvested this gorgeous lettuce, as well as some arugula. There will be a tasty side salad to go with our lunches tomorrow!
The Herb of the Day was chives, which we learned are related to onions and garlic. They have a somewhat oniony flavor. The MGs gave us a taste of savory cream cheese and chives spread on crackers. Along with the strawberry lemonade, it hit the spot and was so tasty!
Next, MG Elizabeth gave us a review about bees and pollination. She told us it's amazing that bumble bees can fly at all, becuase they are so "plump," but even more amazing is the fact that they can flap their wings 11,000 times a minute! The MGs gave us a homework sheet related to the life cycle of bees. They also gave us a recipe for a cheese ball that includes chives. We'll consider that homework, too! 👌
MG Krafty Karen cut some paper shapes that can be folded into seed packets. Adia was thrilled to receive them, as she has really gotten into seeds and herb gardening lately!
MG Carolyn brought us some sage plants from her son's garden! She included information about sage, and recipes, too! Patrick happily carried it to the van for us! Thank you, Carolyn, Karen, and all of our MG friends for another excellent session! It was a beautiful day to spend in the garden with you, and we had a great time.
Speaking of MG Carolyn, here is her beautiful Journal Page from today's visit. MG Photographer Rich had an appointment and wasn't able to join us, so Carolyn just whipped out her cell phone and got the job done!
The bluebird couple is still living in the birdhouse and today we got this shot of mom and dad on the "front porch." We can't hear babies chirping , but the parents go inside. We think that means the babies from earlier in the spring have moved on and there may be new eggs inside. Bluebird babies leave the nest after 18-19 days and soon, the mother bluebird lays more eggs!
MG Barb showed these lovely flowers from her yard, and then gave them to us to put on display in the center, as she always does. 💜 Thanks, Barb! Annmarie was delighted to be our flower girl!
We were delighted to celebrate Tracy's birthday today! She is so helpful to our program, making sure we have vans for traveling, acting as a substitute "teacher" when needed, coordinating everything we need to know about being at AFCC, being on the board of directors for the Arc of GW, and just hanging out with us! Her coworkers Rachel, Laurie, and Sarah joined us, and Rachel brought these letters for which we had just enough partiers to spell out Happy Birthday, Tracy! Looking good, AoA!
Tracy, we hope all your wishes come true! Thank you so much for everything you do for us, and especially for being our friend! We 💖 you!
Tracy had the day off, so after lunch she headed to Busch Gardens to ride roller coasters! We had (almost) as much fun staying at Freedom Park for a game of boys vs. girls corn hole!
The girls won the first game, but Sweet T's point after this turn put the boys ahead, and they went on to win the second game!
Back at AFCC, we ended the day hearing about Kate's trip to Las Vegas. She had a lot of fun, and brought each of us a really nifty initial key chain! Thanks so much for the thoughtful souvenirs, Kate! We're glad you had a great trip with your family. (Sorry this pic is blurry...)
Wednesday
We hit the ground running today as we celebrated Devin "Sweet T's" birthday! He came in with a surprise for us. We knew we were going on a Frosty Field Trip after lunch, but his family sent us fun party snacks, too! Thank you, Tyrees!! We loved this!
Devin loved all the songs our DJs played today that they thought fit his personality, or that they knew he loved, like "You've Got a Friend in Me." 🎶
We volunteer at GCOC on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, so we took the Birthday Boy in the first group, where he helped his buddies bag the canned goods!
Beloved volunteers Peggy and Joel worked with the friends at the other end of the table. We have really come to love our time working with this sweet and fun-loving couple!
The next group to go to GCOC also worked with canned foods, but instead of bagging them, they took the shrink wrap off and placed single cans neatly into small boxes. That sweet gal with her arms in the air is our friend, Alli. We love working with her. She's high energy and fun to talk to!
Erik, Adia, Xavier, and Tessa broke off from the others to pull a few weeds and pick up a bit of trash around the grounds.
Our friends at Grove always thank us for coming, but we want to thank them for giving us this valuable opportunity to give back to the community!
We're getting ready for James' farewell celebration on Friday at Eaton. Michelle and Annmarie worked on decorations and cards.
Drew and Birthday Boy Devin helped make salads with the fresh lettuce and arugula we harvested at the garden yesterday. We're very proud of this teamwork!
Patrick added a few tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers, and BAM! We had fresh side salads to go along with the lunches we brought from home today. They were not only tasty, but economical, since we grew the greens ourselves. THANKS, MGs!!! 🥗🥗🥗
After lunch we played a game Lisa made up and named "Pin the Frosty on the Cup." We all know Sweet T's favorite treat is a Frosty from Wendy's! He did well in the game, placing the Frosty near the top of the cup!
Abraham had us in stitches during his turn when he was saved by Adia from pinning the Frosty on Dev B's head!
There were a lot of smiles when we took our "Frosty Field Trip" to Wendy's. Of course, Sweet T got a chocolate Frosty, but we had choices and others chose strawberry Frosties, French fries, or sweet tea! (Yep, Sam and Kevin opted for sweet tea on Sweet T's birthday!) We couldn't get everyone in the same shot, so here's Sweet T with a few of his friends...
And here he is with a few more! Cheers for Frosties, Fries, and Tea with friends!
Thank you to Devin's family for sponsoring this very "cool" party for our Sweet T! We can't think of a better way to celebrate his birthday! We really enjoyed the Frosties, Fries, and Tea, but mostly we loved seeing how happy this made Devin!
We forgot to take the candle to Wendy's, so we saved our singing for when we got back to the center. Luckily, we had the Frosty from our game for a prop, and Devin was able to make a wish and blow out the candle. Devin, we hope all your wishes come true! Happy Birthday, Sweet T!
Thursday
Last week our friend Xavier turned 28, and we celebrated with pizza and delicious gluten-free cupcakes his mom, Leah, delivered for us. However, Leah and Steve, Xavier's stepdad, had scheduling conflicts, and couldn't hang out with us to celebrate Xavier's special day. That's why today, we had Xaiver's Birthday, Part 2! Leah and Steve shared their artistic talents with us...and cooked for us, too. Xavier couldn't have been happier!
As soon as pancakes came off the griddle, we started serving them. Xavier went first, and by the time Liz got her plate, he had finished his. Yes, the pancakes, sausage, and bacon were THAT good! 😋
After lunch, Leah helped us burn the pancake calories off with a dance lesson! Leah is a Professor of Dance at William and Mary and the founder and artistic director of her own dance theater, so we were in really good hands! 💗 It was high-energy and a lot of fun! Leah noticed that Laura even wore a shirt with a dancing bunny on it that said, "I wanna dance!"
DJ Liz cranked up one of Xavier's favorite songs, "All Star," by Smash Mouth (featured in the movie Shrek), and Leah taught us the moves to a fun line dance. She is a great dance teacher!
After we danced, it was Steve's turn to teach us something. Steve is Director of Engagement & Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Muscarelle Museum of Art, so again, we were in good hands! 👐 He gave us a blank piece of paper and said he would guide us in drawing a self-portrait. He told us there was a simple "formula" to follow, but not to try it in math class!
Right away, we were attentive and following Steve's directions. We had helpers, such as Liz working with Kevin, and Leah assisting Drew. Things were going well, and then Steve started to reveal his comedic side!
Tessa enjoys art and drawing, and she remained focused, but up at the front of the room, things were getting wound up!
Steve was teaching us how to make our self-portraits, step by step, but he was also entertaining us with hilarious commentary! Don't let his straight face fool you!
Steve doesn't mind audience participation. He welcomes it! You can tell by these faces that we were having a blast!
And then this happened! Believe it or not, we were still following the self-portrait directions in between the silly antics!
When our self-portraits were done, we were having so much fun we forgot to take pictures! Everyone did a great job, and later Lisa was able to get this pic of Alexis with hers!
Steve had one more surprise for us! We played a guessing the secret number game, which Liz won. Her prize was having Steve draw a portrait of her using just ONE line...meaning he never lifted the pen off the paper. We all watched, very intrigued, for about 5 minutes as he worked. Liz couldn't see what he was drawing, but the rest of us wondered how it would end up being Liz?!?!
Once the eyes were filled in we started to imagine it could be Liz!
When Steve finished, and Liz stepped forward to see the final product, she was amazed! (She had taken her hair down during the drawing.) WOW! Steve is a very talented artist and funny guy, and we really enjoyed working with him. What a great souvenir from Xavier's Party, Part 2, for Liz to get to keep!
Thank you so much for spending time with us today, Steve and Leah! We loved celebrating Xavier with you. We'll remember our delightful time dancing, drawing, laughing, and of course, eating pancakes, for a long time! Happy Birthday, Part 2, to your handsome X-Man!
Earlier today, Adia transplanted a few more sunflower plants that we were growing indoors to our outside area. We are eager to see if these make it, because we would love to see pretty sunflowers outside our window, and we would also love to see if the birds like them! Thanks for bringing your gardening tool kit from home, and handling this project for us, Adia!
We also squeezed in a lesson about Memorial Day this morning, and it included a collaborative coloring project. Everyone had a picture to "color by letter," so following directions was key. We talked about everyone needing to use "true" red, blue, yellow, and green crayons, too. There are so many variations of each color, but we wanted to go traditional for our patriotic picture. Sam, Nan, Laura, and Abraham were on it!
Our separate pictures went together like a puzzle to form one big one, and it's very well done. It was fun to watch the process and see the end result of our teamwork!
Friday
We have done a lot of celebrating lately, and it's certainly been fun-filled, but today we had a celebration that was bittersweet. Our dear friend at Eaton, James, is retiring, and while we celebrate his very successful career at Eaton, we are also going feel his absence and miss him so very much. 💙😥
Upon our arrival at Eaton this morning, it was business as usual. James greeted us and walked us through all of the tasks he had for us. Here, he explained to Carol what we needed to do with this box of water plates. To the right is Ethan. We will resist calling him the "New James," because James is one of a kind, and we're sure Ethan is, too! But he will be taking over for James, and we look forward to getting to know him and working with him in the future!
After getting our marching orders from James, we settled in to work, hoping the time would pass quickly so we could have James' retirement celebration at lunch time! Alexis, Erik, and Liz snipped pieces off of the center of the water plates, and packed them neatly in tubs.
Nan, Carol, and Adia assembled brackets. They had to connect a metal piece to a plastic piece, with two screws.
Tracy came by to check on us, and say good-bye to James. She jumped right in and assisted Kevin, Dev B, Sam, and Patrick with the task of twisting small pieces off of these plastic panels. It's not in the photo, but they had a huge blue tub full of panels to work on, and got about 1/2 of them done today! Thanks for your help, Tracy!
We also decorated for James' farewell luncheon. We worked on these all week, and they really brightened up the work area. We also had thoughtful cards that we included in a gift bag for James.
We summed up all of the kind things we had to say about James on this "accordion card" using words that began with the letters in his name. Our inspiration for the card was Mike at the Watermen's Museum. Remember the Mother's Day card we made with him?! What a great idea!
Finally, it was time to celebrate James! He was thrilled with the decorations, the accordion card, and our gift to him, which was a framed collage of lots of pictures we took at Eaton over the years. Jorie looked on, happy for James, but she, too, was feeling bittersweet about this day. (Technically, he retires on June 1.)
The Arc of Greater Williamsburg's Executive Director, Pam, joined us and shared very kind remarks about what James means to The Arc. For over 7 years he, along with Jorie, has been the "heart and soul" of Eaton, and together they embraced the Arc of Abilities for a vocational opportunity that has benefited our guys immensely. We are grateful for both of them! 💖💖💖
This is Jorie and James with the rest of the "core" team that we work with at Eaton. To James' left is Russell, followed by Ethan, and then Kim. All of them (except James, of course) will continue to work with us and we'll all strive to continue to make James proud! Now...about that spread that has been in the past few photos... Thank you to Jorie and Eaton for providing a very, very, very tasty pasta luncheon today, so we could honor James on his last work day with us! We loved the chance to attend a retirement celebration, and this one was the bomb!
After our meal, we shared the sentiments about James that we put on the accordion card. Adia, Alexis, and Dev B did a beautiful job reading them aloud!
After lunch, everyone, including us, went back to work. Before wrapping up our day, we made one last trip to see James at his warehouse. Thank you, for 7+ wonderful years, James. You have played a large role in helping us strive to reach our vocational potential. We wish you all the best on your well-deserved retirement! And we meant what we said, about not being a stranger. There is another tasty meal in your future when you visit us at the center! Happy Trails!
Well, after our emotional, but happy Eaton work day, we returned to AFCC where we stretched and relaxed to yoga with Jaime. No pictures, but trust us, we had a relaxing 35 minutes before the weekend called!
Here is our schedule for the coming week. While every day is celebrated at the AoA, there won't be any official celebrations next week. We're going to slow things down for a while! 😀😀😀
Tuesday: We're going to The Mariners' Museum today for a lesson with Wisteria and Erika on Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage, which is celebrated in May. Our gang is disappointed to find out that the Mariners' Cafe is still being renovated, so we can't enjoy lunch there after our lesson. Bring a bag lunch and if the weather is nice, we will eat on the museum patio and then explore the Noland Trail. If it's rainy, we'll head back to the center to eat and mark National Water a Flower Day. We'll check on our sunflowers and have some other activities related to plants and flowers. Please wear Arc shirts.
Wednesday: There are several fun days on the calendar for May 31, so we will have a lighthearted time celebrating World Parrot Day, National Smile Day, and National Flip Flop Day! Bring your flip flops for some silly games! It's also the end of May, so we will set up our June calendar. Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is available and is serving Cheesy Pasta or Sub of the Day.
Thursday: It's Pet Supplies Plus Work Day, so please wear your PSP shirts! The Cooking Crew will prepare spaghetti leftovers (thanks, Eaton) for lunch. They will also make the Chive and Cheddar Cheese Ball recipe the MGs gave us last week, and it will be served with fresh veggies. After lunch, we'll complete the bee homework the MGs gave us, and catch up on a Mystery Science endangered species lesson we missed a couple of weeks ago.
Friday: We're headed to the Watermen's Museum for Free Fishing Day with Mike and friends! We did this last year and it was so much fun! The weather looks like it will be OK for us to picnic after fishing, so bring a bag lunch. We'll also plan to take a walk and a trolley ride. When we return to AFCC, we'll end the week with yoga, so dress to stretch. Arc shirts optional!
REMINDER:
Our 2nd Annual Community Pickleball Challenge is coming to Veterans Park (Kidsburg) on June 3-4. Please plan to stop by on one (or both) days and show your support for those who are supporting The Arc of Greater Williamsburg through their participation or sponsorship of this event! The Arc of Abilities could not exist without our amazing Arc of Greater Williamsburg! Thank you!!
It's Memorial Day Weekend, and we wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday. We honor the fallen, and thank the veterans who are still with us.
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
