Happy Birthday, Carol!

The end of November found us saying goodbye to our friend, Adia, whose last day with us was Thursday.  She and her grandmother gave us a gift of holiday paper products, and we thank them both.  We'll be thinking of Adia when we use them in a few weeks.  Adia will be missed, but we wish her well as she transitions to another local day program.  We hope to see her at Arc events in the future!  

This week also found us enjoying an engaging lesson at the Mariners' Museum and Park, volunteering at GCOC, getting a visit from The Arc's Executive Director, Pam, and working at Pet Supplies Plus.  Oh, and we celebrated Carol's birthday, too! 🥳🎉

Tuesday, November 28

We kicked off the week at the Mariners' Museum and Park where our friend Wisteria had arranged for us to meet the Park Team members!  We have met a lot of the museum team members as we've explored many of the indoor galleries.  Even though we have enjoyed the Mariners' Park grounds (specifically the Noland Trail), we've never stopped to think about all the folks who take care of that part of the museum.  We learned that they take care of the lake, the trails, the forest, and the grounds of the entire 550 plus acres.  They do a great job, too!

Wisteria introducing us to Erica Deale, Director of Park Development

Park Team members:  Ranger Victoria, Dylan, Erica, Javier, Katrina, Kelly, and Rob

Members of the Park Team taught us about soil testing, which helps in maintaining the health of over 200 species of trees, birds, moths, and other wildlife within the park, caring for and creating recreational opportunities on the lake, and how critters in the lake are also bio-indicators, whose lifestyle can give clues as to the health of the lake!  We specifically learned about the mayfly nymph (juvenile) and made a model of one.  We were given materials to make models of the adult mayfly back at our center, which we will do when we have a follow-up lesson on this interesting insect!

Our session ended with some movement led by Kelly, who is on the Lake Team.  He invited us to join him in moving our bodies like trees swaying in the wind or waves rippling on the lake.  He also had us give lots of thanks to our feet, which we learned contain 27 bones in each, and which help us travel many, many steps each day!  What a fun visit with Wisteria and friends at the Mariners' Museum and Park today!

Wednesday, November 29

One group spent today volunteering at GCOC where there was a substantial amount of nonperishable food for us to bag...we worked hard, but with happy hearts to see the amount of donations!  We also prepared a huge cart full of books from the JRES Library for discard, made touching cards for Adia's farewell (tomorrow...😞), read several chapters from our read-aloud, and learned from a Mystery Doug episode that football was "invented" after centuries of other ball games inspired it!  Then, we had fun with football-themed word activities.  It seemed like a quick day!

This was Adia's last day to volunteer at GCOC.  She doesn't usually come with this group, but Sam was happy for the help at his station today!

GCOC Executive Director Katie Patrick introduced us to her new chocolate Lab puppy, Moose!

Peggy's treat jar after a good work session! 💖

After shelving books today, Laura learned to use the school's die-cutting machine to cut some letters for our holiday decorations.

Thursday, November 30

Today we started getting ready for the Christmas holiday, enjoyed a visit from The Arc's Executive Director, Pam, and said our goodbyes to Adia.  We updated our December calendar and began putting decorations on the walls, including this year's version of our tree, which we think is just gorgeous!  It was National Mousse Day, so we learned to make a simple mousse, that we encouraged the gang to try making at home (maybe during the Winter Break?!).  It was tasty and easy, and just sweet enough to be perfect for Aida's send off.  We wish her well as she transitions to another day program, and look forward to hearing from her or seeing her at future Arc events.  She promised to keep in touch!

Here's the link to our very simple, but super tasty mousse recipe.  We included the optional almond extract, and there was no need to "sift" the cocoa powder!  3 Ingredient Easy Chocolate Mousse

Abraham and Drew were trained to remove old decor from the walls.  They had removed as far as they could reach at this point!

Some fun times ahead in the next few weeks!

Remember all the stars Tessa helped us cut out, and the letters Laura cut on the die-cut machine in the school library?  They became this year's Christmas tree.  

Working with partners to make birthday cards for Carol!      

So nice to receive a visit from Pam!  It was a day everyone was here, too, so you'll have to look carefully to spot Pam!  👏👏

A walk down Memory Lane as we checked out Aida's first week on the June 7, 2022 blog post!

Liz, Alexis, and Adia loved "Adia's Farewell Mousse!"

                                                                                                  A farewell photo gift!                        

Happy Trails, Adia!  We hope to see you again along the way!

Friday, December 1

What better way to end our week than with a birthday celebration for Carol?!  But, as is often the case, work came first!  Carol took a crew to Pet Supplies Plus while Lisa and Nan did party prep with the others!

The PSP crew was thrilled to get to work with Roxanne and Scott today!  They shelved a lot of product and helped feed the fish.  Today's featured photos are of them showing off all kinds of fun holiday toys and clothing items for your furry friends!  Great job today, Michelle, Alexis, Laura, Devin, Erik, and Liz!

Great to see Roxanne, who is often working at the Chesapeake location of PSP.

Laura got a kick out of telling Scott he was "late," since he wasn't there when our crew first arrived!

Pet Supplies Plus is sponsoring a Wish List for local rescues and shelters.  We're all invited to stop by and make a donation!

Meanwhile, back at the center, Patrick, Sam, Kate, Tessa, Abraham, Annmarie, Drew, Kevin, and Xavier got to work cooking a chicken casserole for Carol's birthday and a Blueberry Crumble for dessert.  They decorated the room, too!  We enjoyed celebrating Carol's special day and hope she liked her cards and lunch!  Later, we made birthday cards for The Arc's Sue (aka, Patrick's mom), whose birthday is Monday.  Happy Birthday, Sue!  We ended the week with yoga, but didn't get any pics.  We did a great job stretching and relaxing, though!

Before we started cooking, we had our regular morning dance warm up.  Tessa requested "Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley.

Happy Birthday, Carol!  We appreciate everything you for us to help make the Arc of Abilities a great place to be.  We hope the next year will be your best yet, and all your wishes come true!

🎄🎅 Next week is the last week of our toy, coat, and food drive in collaboration with our friends at Eaton!  Please help us fill these tubs to overflowing by Friday!!  Thank you so much for the donations we have already received!  (And isn't our wall tree gorgeous?!)🎄🎅

Next week will be busy, and we think, fun!  Here is a look at our plans:

Tuesday:  It's the first Tuesday of the month so we will go bowling and enjoy pizza and fruit for lunch.  We are grateful for an anonymous donor who is sponsoring today's pizza!  💝  We're watching the weather to decide if we will eat at the park or take the pizza back to AFCC.  We'll round out the day with a look at fun basketball moves by the Harlem Globetrotters since it's World Trick Shot Day!  Arc shirts optional (you need to wear them tomorrow for sure).

Wednesday: Today is our last day to volunteer at Grove Christian Outreach Center in 2023, so please wear Arc shirts.  Later, we'll have fun celebrating St. Nicholas Day and also making a "scent"-sational ornament for our family gift bag.  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is available and the menu offerings are Cheesy Pasta Supreme or Sub of the Day.

Thursday:  We'll learn about Hanukkah today and have a history lesson to commemorate Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, too.  We'll also do fun crafting as we continue to decorate our room for the holidays.  Plus, we're making Ground Beef Stew with a green salad for lunch.  😋

Friday:  Wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch as we're headed for our last work day of 2023...and we hear it includes another surprise from our friends at Eaton.  What could it be this time?!  They are so good to us!  We will also deliver our food, coat, and toy donations.  Thank you for your generous contributions!!  Dress to stretch for yoga, too!

Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang