We were happy and excited this week to welcome a new member to our group! That's Thomas in the photo above, in the white shirt, on the front row. He's known to a few of our guys from other Arc events, and now the rest of us will get to know him as well! We enjoyed welcoming him during a very active week that included bowling, volunteering, working at the pet store, and celebrating two birthdays! We mentioned last week that Fall Birthday Season has arrived...and guess who adds another birthday to that season?! Yep...Thomas, whose special day is November 6! Bring on the candles!
Tuesday, October 1
Besides bringing on Thomas, we also brought on the month of October today, so that meant bowling, and pizza for lunch!
Laura was back with us today and happy to be bowling. Her knee feels good, she's moving easily, and the stitches come out next week. You're a champ, Laura!
Liz making her approach to the line.
It was no surprise that Thomas likes to bowl! He played well and got lots of "way to go" cheers from his new friends!
Bowling is a great time to chat with friends in the peanut gallery!
Lexi's family has been helping Nan go through all the things in the garage and attic that Gdad saved. They have found a lot of stuff. A surprising treasure were Nan's and Gdad's bowling balls from their long-ago bowling days. Lexi was thrilled that Nan's ball is Duke blue, and she loved bowling with it today. It's even got Nan's "real" name engraved on it: Virginia. 💙🎳💙
Alas, it was a rainy day, as the past 3 Tuesdays have been! So, after bowling we picked up pizzas and returned to AFCC for lunch. Abraham and Alexis speak for us all when they say, "Thank you, anonymous donor, for your generosity in providing pizzas on bowling day for us this year during the even months. We and our taste buds appreciate you very much!" 😋🍕💖
We ended the day by making birthday cards for Lisa. We'll have a celebration for her on Friday!
Happy First Day, Thomas...and "hi" to Cameron, too! He joined us for today and tomorrow!
Wednesday, October 2
We expected to see some sunshine today, but it was another cloudy one and we even had a rain shower around lunch time! We're going to be optimistic that Mr. Sun will appear tomorrow for our Yorktown trip. Meanwhile, here's how we enjoyed another not sunny day!
Lisa took a group to GCOC for our Wednesday volunteer duty of packing USDA food products into distribution bags. The renovations to the work room are ongoing, but the blue paint on the walls looks good! We had to set up in the hallway, and that makes things a bit tight...but we rocked the packing anyway! In fact, it was so busy, with sooo much food to pack (yay!) that Lisa only got 1 picture (gasp!), and it's not a great one. But trust us, we were working hard and we're sending a big shout out to our new member, Thomas, who is a hard worker! Thanks also to Peggy, Joel, Thom, Ursula, and Tom for working alongside us and giving us encouragement and compliments. Right back at ya! We meant to get a photo with you, but it was a very, very hectic morning, and all of us were focused on the task at hand!
Back at the center, the calendar crew was busy, too. As we do each month, our bulletin board calendar needed to be updated with October events, and other changes needed to be made as well, such as fresh pictures for the wall and we even added a chart to remind everyone which van they are assigned to when we hit the road!
Liz and Kate updated calendar squares while Cameron worked on labels for the van charts.
Kevin showed Nan how to reset the calendar! (His usual partner, Michelle, was at Grove!)
After coloring new bubble letters to spell OCTOBER, Laura and Xavier enjoyed coloring some seasonal pictures that we will add to the wall. In the background, Devin and Bryan worked on fall pictures, too.
After morning movement, where we had "indoor recess" using the GoNoodle app, we played a game of Guess the Disney Movie with only audio clips for clues. We finally found a game that challenged our Disney whiz kids a bit, as we only correctly identified 13 out of 17!
Annmarie consulted with Michelle on her turn, and correctly ended up guessing The Emperor's New Grove!
On Drew's turn, Bryan gave him two options to choose from, and Drew correctly picked Finding Nemo!
Devin and Bryan were the first two hands up when we asked who wanted to help with pie making!
Kate added egg wash to a couple of pies. It was her first time doing this and she was curious to see how golden the crusts would become!
Beka is experienced with the egg washing technique. She enjoys baking with her mom!
These are going to be good! If only we didn't have to wait until tomorrow!
Today was National Smarties Day, a fun food "holiday" that just began in 2022. We learned interesting trivia about Smarties from our video, such as the Smarties Candy Company is run by three cousins, who are the grandchildren of the founder. Smarties, Mega Smarties, and Smarties Lollis are the only candies they make. We sampled Smarties and tried to guess what flavor each color was. We were surprised to learn that the green ones are strawberry!
We had so much fun with our taste-testing activity, that we ran out of time to complete some brain work and prove what "Smarties" we are! Lisa will save it for another time, because we never back down from a challenge!
A cool thing was happening at the end of the day when Drew once again decided to clean the white board. Kate helped him understand that if he opened the cleaning cloth and tried to wipe using his whole hand, the cleaning would go faster! Thanks for working on this with Drew, Kate! That's what friends are for!
Thursday, October 3
Finally, some sunshine in our day! Yay! 🌞🌞🌞
Our visit with Mike was great! It was his birthday and we were super excited to bring him an apple pie, a big birthday card, and a gift of new markers (which we will get to use)!
We told Mike we used the apple pie recipe we created with him last month to bake his birthday pie. So, besides apples, sugar, and cinnamon, we also added lots of friendship, joy, kindness, and love! Hap-pie Birthday, Mike!
Today's lessson began with us commenting that we noticed how high the tide was on the York River, so Mike took a moment to explain to us about the changing climate and rising tides. He said that over time, too much salt water from the bay may be pushed into the river, and that wouldn't be good for our ecosystem.
Next, he shared the history behind jack-o-lanterns. Our tradition of carving pumpkins has its origins in Scotland. Pumpkins were not native to Scotland, so they carved scary faces on rutabagas and turnips. They placed a burning candle inside as a way to ward off evil spirits during the longer nights after the fall equinox.
Thanks, Mike, for another fun and educational lesson that we enjoyed very much. You're a wonderful storyteller! Thanks for bringing cupcakes for your birthday, and then turning the celebration into one for all of the October birthdays - Kevin, Alexis, Erik, you, Lisa, and Abraham! You're so thoughtful!!!
Thankful for the beautiful weather, we headed to the picnic area after our fun with Mike. After lunch, we had a choice between playing corn hole and bocce, or taking a walk. We got some good movement and fresh air at one of our favorite places. We enjoyed this wonderful day!
It was birthday time, but before we could party, we had work to do! Our Pet Supplies Plus group did stocking and cleaning today. Abraham, Thomas, Patrick, Bryan, and Liz caught all the dust bunnies that had been flying around the store from the grooming area! It was Thomas's first visit to PSP, and he did a great job!
If you are looking for Halloween costumes for your furry friends, check out Pet Supplies Plus in Lightfoot near Harris Teeter! The selection is awesome, but they will fly off the shelves faster than a witch on a broom! 🎃
Our PSP friend and coworker, Brittany, is holding a ferret that is wearing a yellow costume. Between her and Abraham is Margie, who is a new employee at the store. She's a retired special education teacher, and her husband is a boxer with our friends over at APEX PT's Rock Steady Boxing program. We feel like we know her already, and we look forward to working with her at the store! We are grateful for the skills we have learned at PSP. Thank you, Scott and Roxanne (Dev's parents and store owners) for believing in us!
Seven of our guys went to PSP, and the other eight who remained at the center formed "dynamic duos" to get things ready for Lisa's birthday celebration! Did we mention that Fall Birthday Season is here?! Hope we can keep up! Of course, with our great team, that won't be a problem.
Dynamic Duo #1, Drew and Kevin, cooked rice and then added black beans and spices to make our side dish for today's meal. Duo #2 (also dynamic), Erik and Sam, made sure our meat was chopped, browned, and seasoned just right! We went with a seasoning mix by Taco Bell, since they are responsible for starting National Taco Day, which is actually the first Tuesday in October, but we had to hold off our celebration until today!
Dynamic Duos #3 and #4, made up our decoration committee. Xavier and Laura colored pictures that would brighten the Birthday Girl's table, and Michelle and Alexis made lovely napkin rings that said "Happy Birthday!"
Lisa actually baked the birthday cake cookies, but Erik arranged them on a beautiful silver tray, and they were very pretty!
Our taco luncheon with birthday cake cookies was very tasty! 😋😋😋
Happy Birthday to Lisa, and thanks for the taco luncheon!! We hope all your wishes come true!
Lisa joked that our "gift" to her was a quiet time during yoga at the end of the day. (Was she really joking?!) We were happy to deliver, because yoga is a time for us to relax, too! Someone also mentioned that the stretching would help us for tomorrow's 5k! That is true!
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We have a Tessa update that shows encouragement! Late last week she had to be given a feeding tube, but it helped her get some good nutrition. She felt well enough for her mom to wash her hair (that must have been a challenge), and play around with a "new" Pippi Longstocking style!
By today, the feeding tube had been removed and Tessa was asking for French fries! She's not eating a lot, but it's a start! Go, Tessa, Go! Hopefully there will be physical and occupational therapy coming, and a possible move to a rehabilitation facility. Tessa's family is grateful for our love and prayers!
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We hope to see everyone at the 5k tomorrow morning, and if not, we'll see you back here on Tuesday! Here's a look at our week to come. Spoiler alert: Fall Birthday Season continues!!!
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Tuesday: We're going birding today with the master gardeners! We'll learn about some of the birds we see at our feeders, and others that may not visit. The forecast looks great, so we will drive over to Jamestown Beach for a picnic and walk. Please bring a bagged lunch. Arc shirts optional.
Wednesday: Today we will volunteer at GCOC so please wear Arc shirts. We'll also welcome guests from the Arc's Board of Directors. Our activities today will include a Halloween craft with volunteer Allison, and a Mystery Science lesson about the biggest apple in the world! Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is serving Cheesy Pasta Supreme (usually spaghetti) or Sub of the Day.
Thursday: Happy Birthday to Abraham! We'll celebrate with a couple of his favorite activities: dancing and Disney trivia! For lunch we'll have pigs in a blanket, fresh fruit, cake, and ice cream! We'll also make up our Smarties Day brain work that we didn't get to last week, and yes, we're going to celebrate National Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day! It's optional...but fun, and we'll have extras if needed!
Friday: Happy Birthday to Erik, who turns 30 tomorrow! We'll celebrate today with a sweet treat after lunch, and hopefully a round of Erik's favorite game, corn hole, at the park after Eaton (time permitting)! It's an Eaton work day, but we are going to enjoy craft time with our Eaton friends as we decorate little pumpkins after our work is finished! It will be a busy, but celebratory day!! Please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch.
Happy 5k Weekend! Thanks for your continued support of The Arc of Greater Williamsburg!!
Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang
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