Hats, finished off with feathers, that we made with Christina!
Winter definitely arrived this week and brought us some chilly weather. Oh, well, we just bundled up and carried on. We are grateful for the cozy heat at AFCC! Our week began on Tuesday with a trial visit from a new friend, Beka, who is interested in joining the AoA, and a rainy visit to see Christina at The Art Museums of CW. On Wednesday, the coldest day we've seen in a while, it was fun to cuddle up and read with the therapy dogs! By Thursday, the temperature was in the 40s, but that's still chilly so we cooked a comforting cheeseburger pie and played indoor corn hole. We worked at pet Supplies Plus on Friday and enjoyed online yoga with Jaime to wrap up another great week. Check it out!
Tuesday, January 16
Today we welcomed Rebekah for a trial visit. She's a member of The Arc of Greater Williamsburg, and is interested in joining the AoA. She had a great day and enjoyed learning about the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr with us, and meeting Christina at The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg where we celebrated National Hat Day! We also showed Beka how flexible we can be when Becky, from Parks and Rec, showed up with a camera guy to get some shots of the Rec Center. We had to vacate our room for a while and work in the foyer and kitchen. Beka rolled with it, just like we did!
Beka, in the middle, visited with us today.
John, the camera guy, taking photos and video of the room for a Parks & Rec feature.
We relocated to get our "brain work" about MLK, Jr. done!
Beka and Devin had a good conversation about King's "I Have a Dream Speech" and what it meant.
We discussed what some of Dr. King's quotes meant, and how they are good words to live by still today.
Walking through the art museums looking for "hat" art and learning cool things!
George Washington held his hat while posing for this painting so his face could be better seen!
These are "tobacconist figurines" wearing interesting types of hats. They were placed outside stores most popularly in the 17th and 18th centuries to encourage customers to buy tobacco products.
Toy soldiers wore many different kinds of hats, too.
Christina taught us how to make hats out of paper today!
We had a great time, as always, with Christina!
Wednesday, January 17
If anyone doubted what winter feels like, they found out today! We were grateful for a good heating system and for a delightful day visiting with the therapy dogs and handlers, making birthday cards for Cameron, combining BINGO with movement, finally starting our new read-aloud, and learning what happens to bugs in the winter!
"But first, we worked at the library." A direct quote from Laura! They did a great job shelving books, and also checked out winter-themed books for us to use with the therapy dogs!
Caroline, Pip, and Indy read with Laura, Liz, and Tessa. We are so sorry for not getting Indy fully in the photo. Look for her in another photo below!
Karen and Tessa read with Nan, Xavier, Alexis, and Kevin.
Drew, Patrick, and Kate read with therapy dog Aja.
Sam and Erik read with Kent and Leo.
Casey and Carol read with Devin and Annmarie.
After reading a while, we switched to a following directions/coloring task so we could practice good listening, and also use the new crayons we got from the therapy dog group for Christmas!
Liz did a great job on following the silly directions to complete her snowman picture!
Our morning with the therapy dogs and our handler friends was warm and cozy, even though it was bone-chilling cold outside. We always enjoy time spent with them, and appreciate their commitment to working with us! Before lunch, we made birthday cards for Cameron and also played a BINGO game that had us going back and forth between our main room and the foyer so we could get movement!
Happy Birthday to Cameron on January 23rd!
Movement BINGO!
Our BINGO cards were in the foyer and once we found the clue,
we raced back to the main room for the next one!
Lisa read the first chapter today! Yay!
Our last lesson today was learning where insects go in winter. We learned that some, like Monarch butterflies, migrate to warmer places. Others, like the praying mantis, die after laying eggs which will hatch in the spring. There are also insects, such as ladybugs, that huddle together in a group to stay warm while hibernating!
Thursday, January 18
We welcomed Beka for another visit today, and she got to celebrate Thesaurus Day and Winnie the Pooh Day with us. She also showed off her cooking skills when we prepared lunch! Later in the day, we began a Winter Corn Hole Challenge. Our new team names are The Jamestown Guard and The Yorktown Cannon! Great names!
Laura's mom helped her gather these friends to share with us today, so we set up our own Hundred Acre Wood! Thanks, Laura and Lisa P!
We enjoy Kenny Loggins music during our Dance Warm Up all the time, especially "Footloose" and "Danger Zone." Today, during our lesson for Winnie the Pooh Day, we learned that The House At Pooh Corner was the first book he ever read, and at age 17 he wrote a song based on it. Later, when he was about to become a father for the fourth time, he added a verse and it's been a sweet song on his children's album ever since. Click his picture below and take a listen!
We also learned that a year or two after writing the song about Pooh Corner, Kenny almost got in trouble, since the rights to Winnie the Pooh belonged to the Disney Company. But it turns out, he was dating (unbeknownst to him at first) the daughter of a Disney CEO, and when he mentioned to her that his song couldn't be recorded due to copyright issues, she said, "Let me talk to Daddy." It all worked out after that! Read more about that story, and watch a video clip here...it's pretty cool!
Lunch today consisted of cheeseburger pie, fruit salad, and chips. We put Beka to work with Kate cutting onions, and they both did a great job...and no tears!
Erik sauteed the onions.
Liz, Drew, and Kevin whipped up a fruity salad, but the guys vanished before we got a picture.
They showed up again when it was time to eat! LOL!
Annmarie passed out silverware to everyone.
Xavier had a gluten-free pasta dish we created with meat and onions for him, and Patrick gave our regular cheeseburger pie his approval!
Today was National Thesaurus Day and even though we weren't too interested in learning to say, "Thesaurus," we learned that "back in the day" when Lisa and Carol went to college, it was an important book to have so you could learn to use more descriptive words in your writing. We were actually more interested in the fact that Carol started college when she bought this thesaurus in 1975!
Of course, Lisa said Thesaurus Day was a perfect day for word games and activities, and we did enjoy that!
Beka read the clues for our game of "Blurt" when Lisa went to take pictures of the other groups.
Annmarie taking her turn as a member of the Yorktown Cannon team in Winter Corn Hole Challenge game one.
Today's winning team was the Jamestown Guard! Congratulations to Dev, Erik, Alexis, Laura, Patrick, Beka, Tessa, and Kevin!
Friday, January 19
It was a no-frills Friday at the center today. In the morning, we sent one group to work at Pet Supplies Plus while the other group stayed at the center to make bird feeders and tidy up. After lunch we listened to a chapter from our book, Zorgamazoo, began a watercolor craft that we will finish on Tuesday, and relaxed with Jaime during yoga. No rush, no fuss, but all in all, a great ending to a chilly week!
Mr. Nonnemacher, the JRES Librarian, brought us a cart of books that we can prepare for discard next week. Thanks, Mr. N., for entrusting us with this job!
At Pet Supplies Plus, our team placed toys, dog food, and other goodies on the shelves. It was fun to see the variety of things PSP sells for pets to play with!
So many boxes to unpack!
The gang wanted to take a picture with PSP's Brittany, and show off the variety of Valentine toys and treats that are for sale...and going fast! Thanks for a great work day Drew, Sam, Annmarie, Alexis, Xavier, and Erik!
Our PSP team also stopped at Eaton to deliver work we had completed at AFCC, and to pick up more tasks to complete before we go for a work day onsite next week. Rosemary and Ethan had their day brightened by our visit! 😍
Meanwhile, back at the center, we celebrated National Popcorn Day with a snack (we saved some for our PSP Crew) and then tried to make popcorn ball bird feeders, but they wouldn't hold together so we ended up spreading the mixture on the ground for the birds (or squirrels) to find.
We played a popcorn themed word game, too. Nan, Laura, Patrick, Tessa, Michelle, Devin, and Kevin came up with a lot of words to fit certain spelling patterns! Great job, guys!!
After lunch we used oil pastels and the watercolor sets our artist friend Jeff gave us recently to decorate winter hat pictures with a color-resist technique. We'll use them to add more decoration to our room after they dry over the weekend and get cut out on Tuesday.
We found space to let them dry over the weekend in our pantry! Haha!
That's a wrap for this week, but we're excited for next week because we're visiting someplace new! Here are our plans as January rolls on...
Tuesday: We're taking a tour of the Coast Guard Training Center in Yorktown today! We'll meet new friends and see exciting demonstrations. We're also being welcomed at the dining hall to purchase lunch. It's "Taco Tuesday" on base so the choices will be Mexican food inspired. The Commanding Officer might be able to join us for lunch, too! Please wear Arc shirts and bring $10 for lunch. You may bring a bagged lunch if you prefer.
Wednesday: This morning we will volunteer at Grove, so please wear Arc shirts again. We'll also celebrate Compliment Day, which is always heartwarming. Our friend Cameron is joining us to celebrate his birthday and his family is treating us to pizza and cupcakes for lunch! Thank you, Ouelettes! Our first birthday of 2024 will be a blast!
Thursday: Tracy's intern Mallory is joining us today and tomorrow so we welcome her! Today we will observe Opposite Day with fun activities and we'll cook pasta with meat sauce and side salads for lunch. We also have visits from not one, but two special guests: First, Therapy Dog Handler Vicky is stopping by to introduce us to her new puppy, Lucy and after lunch, Laura Beach is returning for a joyful session of Laughter Yoga! It's going to be a fun day!
Friday: We return to Eaton for a work day so please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch. The weather forecast suggests it could be in the 60s, so if it's nice outside, we may take a walk at New Quarter Park after our work is finished. If not, we will return to AFCC for yoga with Jaime. Either way, dress to stretch and move!
Have a great weekend,
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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