Happy Birthday, Kate!

 

In case you've lost track, we celebrated Spring Birthday #3 this week!  It was Kate's turn and she turned the big 3-0!  We had a party for her after our visit to the master gardeners on Tuesday morning.  On Wednesday, we were back at Grove to volunteer in the Food Pantry, and we also added a new weekly project of arranging flowers donated by Trader Joe's that we will deliver to Commonwealth Senior Living.  We spent Thursday at AFCC celebrating a couple of food "holidays" that you'll have to read about to believe... It was all business on Friday morning when when we worked at Eaton, followed by lunch at the park... with the mayflies! We are enjoying the warmer weather, but hoping it doesn't get too much buggier, hotter, or humid too soon!  Here's a look at our week:

Tuesday, April 22

Our day began with a visit to Freedom Park for a session with the master gardeners.  Today, we checked on the seeds and bulbs we planted two weeks ago, learned about the herb of the day, chives, and made something called flower seed bombs!  (But they are a surprise for Mother's Day, so don't tell the moms! 😆)

We checked on the veggies we planted two weeks ago, and the potatoes that Karen and Steve planted before that.  A couple of potato plants have flowers about to bloom which means the potatoes will be growing underground!  The onions are growing, as are the carrots, beets, radish, and lettuce.  There was only one small spinach plant popping up through the soil, so we are hopeful the spinach will take off soon.  Bryan assisted Barb in planting kale, too!

 

We tried something new today!  Karen had air dry clay, soil, and wildflower seeds.  We combined it all into a ball that will harden and become a "flower seed bomb."  Once they are hard, you toss them into an empty area (where there is soil) and they "explode" releasing the seeds which will disperse, and hopefully take root and grow into pretty flowers!  The clay will break down and wash away, after it's protected the seeds until conditions are right for germination.  (We're going to include the flower bombs in our Mother's Day gift, but that's a secret! 😜)

The herb of the day was chives, which we learned have an oniony/garlicky flavor, and are often served on baked potatoes.  Krafty Karen made a tasty chive dip which the MGs served us with carrots and lemonade for a snack.  It was so tasty!   At the end of the session, the gardeners shared cut flowers that are growing in their yards at home.  Barb and Joanne showed a variety of irises, and Karen had beautiful azaleas.  In a touching moment, the MGs showed us a small oakleaf hydrangea they planted in remembrance of our late friend, Beka.  Beka always loved our time with the master gardeners.  We miss her. 💚💙

Enjoy Carolyn's lovely Journal Update for today's visit!

We were excited to get back to the center so we cold celebrate Kate's 30th birthday!  Her parents, Elizabeth and Mark, and our friend, Sandra, were bringing lunch.  Sandra provided her delicious pork and rice with salsa verde, and Elizabeth and Mark brought cupcakes and sodas!  Lunch was delicious!  Sandra, we are so happy when you cook for us, and somehow it's even tastier when we have it for Kate's birthday!  Thank you, and Elizabeth and Mark, for making today very special for Kate, and fun for us all!

We are grateful to Kate and her family for introducing us to Sandra, who is from Colombia, many years ago.  We have lost count of the many times she has prepared her delicious dish for us.  

We appreciate her kindness and love when she calls us her angels!

Kate, we hope all your wishes come true and you begin your 30s with a great first year!

T

Wednesday, April 23

Today we spent the morning doing service projects and the afternoon learning about Shakespeare!  How cool is that?!

Devin, Cameron, Emma, Bryan, Laura, Annmarie, Erik, Kevin, and Xavier worked at GCOC filling food distribution bags with our favorite volunteers, Joel and Thom (show here), and Tom, Peggy, and Ursula (shown in the 3rd pic).

Our group also helped unpack several boxes of donated Easter treats and get them ready to go on the shelves at GCOC's market, The Gathering Place.

Many thanks, Ursula, for the delicious brownies!  We appreciate the treats very much. 💖

While our Grove group was busy with canned goods, the AFCC group was busy with flowers!  How, and why, did we go from this...

 

...to this???

We began a new service project today.  Trader Joe's donates unsold flowers to the Arc, and we will be learning to make small arrangements with them which will be delivered to the residents at Commonwealth Senior Living.  We have a learning curve, as flowers must be handled with care, and gently placed in the jars, but we will persevere!  

Some of the gang rides back to the Rec Center in the afternoon when we return the vans, and their families pick them up from there.  They will be delivering the flowers on Wednesday afternoons when we stop at Commonwealth Senior Living.  Today, Patrick and Gail made the connection.  In addition to the small arrangements we made, we also gave them the leftover flowers to share with the residents.

After our busy morning of service work, we enjoyed perfect weather for a nice walk around the back of the school.  It was a sunny 65 degrees and the humidity was low.  After the walk, we took a group photo on the bleachers.  Don't we look great in our Arc shirts?! 

After lunch and Choice Time, we read to an exciting part in our read-aloud, The Wild Robot Escapes.  We think the author, Peter Brown, writes very well, and we are enjoying his series about Roz, the robot.  

Our next lesson was about one of the greatest English writers of all time, William Shakespeare, since today is Talk Like Shakespeare Day.  We learned from our video that he is credited with adding over 1,700 words to the English language.

We also learned that Shakespeare was the first to use phrases such as "wild goose chase," "good riddance," and "in a pickle."  Emma said she thought they sounded more "modern" and was surprised they were coined over 400 years ago.  We ended our lesson with a fun game called Is It Shakespeare or Taylor Swift?  We read quotes and had to decide if they were written by Shakespeare or Taylor Swift, and it was not easy!  It was fun, though!

We got another exciting and encouraging update from Tessa's mom today!  Tessa is able to get up and down steps, with support, so she is able to be outside more and take rides in the car.  Watch as she swings her legs around, something we take for granted!!  She's making such good progress!

Thursday, April 24

When we have a day at the center with no traveling, we have to keep busy and today, we did that with cooking and cleaning to cornhole and counting (money)!

We celebrated Pigs in a Blanket Day, which is today, and Lima Bean Respect Day, which was Sunday.  It made for an easy, and tasty, lunch menu.  Xavier, Devin, and Kevin had two important tasks:  first, clean the microwave and the Nina, and second, get the lima beans seasoned (we used chicken bouillon) and on the burner to simmer until they were soft and creamy! 

Kate and Patrick were bakers today.  They prepared a simple recipe for cake mix cookies which we topped with a dab of frosting and colorful sprinkles.  Sam, Lexi, and Erik made napkin rings with an adorable pig in a blanket on the outside!

 

Speaking of pigs in a blanket, we had Drew and Bryan work with Nan to grill the "pigs" before Laura, Thomas, and Michelle wrapped them in doughy blankets so we could bake them in the Nina.  We think they taste better if we grill them first.  Lately, we have been enjoying clementines with our lunches, and Annmarie and Emma made a great team peeling them for us today.

While we waited for time to eat, we enjoyed another gorgeous weather day with a cornhole game.  Annmarie was about to score a point for her team, the Wienies! 

Next up was Thomas, who was scoring for the Beanies today.  

In today's Wienies vs. Beanies game, we had two 1st place winners!  The score was tied at the end, 22-22!!

The actual beanies and wienies we were waiting for!  Yum!

We're halfway through The Wild Robot Escapes.  Roz was briefly reunited with her adopted gosling son, Brightbill, but he had to continue his migration south.  He will return in the spring to help her escape the farm where she works, and where the children know her secret and have vowed to help her.  (Roz is a defective robot because she has developed human emotions.  If the farmer finds out she's not just a machine, he might send her back to the factory to be destroyed...)

Our last activity of the day was in recognition of Teach Children to Save Day.  We watched a video that explained the importance of saving for emergencies as well as dreams and goals.  We discussed that any money can be saved, whether it's earned from employment/allowance, or received as a gift.  Our brain work consisted of counting money for a shopping game, and matching coins with their values.  

Friday, April 25

First thing this morning, Laura trained Bryan on how to take attendance, in case she ever needs a substitute!

It's been a month since we last worked at Eaton, so we were looking forward to today's experience.

We are very good at unpacking and transferring parts from the large boxes to the smaller tubs.  It takes a while, but teamwork gets it done.  The group at the table was using clippers to snip small plastic pieces off of the white plates.

After a two hour shift, we had emptied all the big boxes and filled these tubs and tall boxes!  We are good at packing the tubs neatly so lots of parts fit in, and after we finished today, we had 4 empty tubs that we didn't need to use.  

Our next stop was New Quarter Park, where we stayed long enough to eat and take a short walk.  If you're wondering why we didn't stay longer, play the video that follows this picture!

Before returning to the center, we stopped by MG Barb's house since we were in the area.  She has the most enchanted front and back yards.  When she moved into the house 6 years ago, the yard was overgrown grass.  Now, it looks like a beautiful park!  Things are starting to bloom, and the color will only pick up as the spring and summer progress.  Barb told us to knock on her door if we had a chance to stop by, and she was home today!  We thoroughly enjoyed a tour of her enchanted yard!  It's just gorgeous!  Thanks for showing us your lovely plants and flowers, Barb!  What a lot of work you have done!

After visiting with Barb, we returned to the center for Choice Time, and then it was time to go home.  Here comes the weekend, and we are ready for a few days to chill.  We'll be back next week, and here are our plans:

Tuesday:  We're going to visit Bluebird Gap Farm in Hampton today.  We had a very enjoyable visit there last year, so we want to go again before it gets too hot or crowded with summertime visitors!  Please bring a bagged lunch.

Wednesday:  We will volunteer at GCOC today so please wear Arc shirts.  We'll also arrange flowers for delivery to Commonwealth Senior Living, begin our Mother's Day gift project, and welcome visitors from the Arc Board of Directors.  The HIGHLIGHT of today, however, will be celebrating Devin's birthday, Spring Birthday #4!  His family is treating us to cheesesteak sandwiches for lunch!  Thanks, Scott and Roxanne!!

Thursday:  Today we will visit York River State Park for a ranger-led program that Tracy arranged for us.  It will include a hike, too!  Thanks, Tracy.  We look forward to hanging out with you today!  The forecast looks promising, so bring a bagged lunch for a picnic after the program.

Friday:  It's a Pet Supplies Plus work day, so please wear your PSP shirt.  The Cooking Crew will prepare Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, Side Salads, and Chips for lunch.  We'll end the week with yoga with Jaime.

Enjoy the last weekend of April!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang

Happy Birthday, Bryan!

 

The next celebration for Spring Birthday Season came this week as we celebrated Bryan on Tuesday!  We also had a fun visit with Christina at the Art Museums in CW on Tuesday...doing something a little different this time.  On Wednesday our therapy dog friends visited and that's always a great time.  Thursday was a gorgeous day so after making bunny cakes for Friday's dessert, we spent the afternoon at the park.  Friday was a busy day working at the pet store and around the center, and then celebrating Easter with an egg hunt and games.  It was a great springtime week!

Tuesday, April 15

For some folks, April 15 is the dreaded "tax day," but for our friend Bryan, it's his birthday!  But, before we got to his celebration, we finished our painted pasta egg craft.

We began this project last week when we colored the egg background and glued different shapes of dried pasta on them for decorations.  Today, we painted the pasta.  Laura and Annmarie added bright touches to their pasta shapes with our pretty spring paint colors.

Nan checked in on Liz and Kevin who were delicately brushing paint over the pasta.

Emma not only painted her pasta, but added extra touches of paint around the pasta shapes.  She inspired others to do the same.  Check out our finished products! 🠟

Bryan was all smiles today as everyone wished him "Happy Birthday," and we were all smiles as his family treated us to key lime pie and sodas at lunch time!  What a treat!  Bryan requested a game of rock/pop music trivia for his party, so we played one before lunch.  On Friday, Devin made a mental note that Bryan wanted to play rock music trivia, and today, Devin wore his Bon Jovi t-shirt to celebrate!  Nice way to support Bryan, Dev! 

Bryan, we hope all your wishes come true!  We had fun celebrating your 29th birthday with key lime pie and sodas and we hope you did, too! 🥳🎉

Our celebration with Bryan continued after lunch when we traveled to The Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg for our monthly visit with Christina.  She had a different plan for us today:  We joined her in the Hennage Auditorium for a program called "Crack the Code."  We had reserved seats on the front rows, and the rest of the auditorium was filled with folks who were visiting town.

 The program was about how codes and ciphers were used during the Revolutionary War because George Washington recognized how important "good intelligence" was as a means of "frustrating" and eventually defeating the British.  He also noted how "nothing requires greater pains to obtain"  than good intelligence.  We agree, after working hard to crack some codes during Christina's program!  

We worked really hard to figure out the secret messages.  Luckily, Christina and her daughter Cate (home on a college break) were able to help us, as well as Carol, Lisa, and Nan.  We persevered, and learned some fun things about spying, too!

Thanks for this fun and interactive program, Christina!  We always knew George Washington was smart, but we didn't know he had so many smart spies helping him defeat the British!  It was great to try the "Crack the Code" activity and we loved getting to see Cate again, too.  We wish her well as she prepares to graduate from your alma mater, Houghton University in upstate New York, on May 10!  Go, Cate, Go! 🎓

(Some of our friends had already started heading up the stairs when we took this photo.)

Wednesday, April 16

Who let the dogs in?!  Why us, of course!  Our monthly therapy dog day was here!  We missed Kent with Leo and Tavish, and Carol S. with Casey, but we welcomed five other handler friends, and a total of 8 dogs!

Carol D. and Darby brought Janet today.  We have met her before and always enjoy it when she can join us with the dogs.  They read with Thomas, Erik, and Annmarie.  Carol D. and Janet were the co-chairs of February's amazing Night to Shine event, and we're so happy to call them friends!

Caroline, Pip, and Indy read with Laura, Bryan, and Kate.  Our theme today was Earth Day, and this group was discussing the use of wind turbines.

Little Aja listened to reading from Kevin, Alexis, and Sam.  It was Sam's turn to read about helping the environment.

For the first time ever, Marisol brought all 3 of her corgis for the entire session.  Emma, Devin, Michelle, Xavier, and Nan agreed that Tucker, Nellie, and Louie are three cuties.

Sweet little Aubree was so content as Drew, Patrick, and Liz read with Vicky.  Aubree is for real, even though she almost looks like a toy in this picture!

After a couple of reading rotations, we learned about Earth Day with a scavenger hunt.  Everyone learned interesting facts, such as cutting down trees reduces the amount of oxygen in the air.  Did you know that one large tree can provide a day's worth of oxygen for 4 people?  After finding the scavenger hunt answers, we had a great discussion about all of the Earth Day facts we learned.

Carol D. and Janet, the Night to Shine co-chairs, brought extra t-shirts and offered them to those who weren't at the event.  They hope all of our guys will save the date for next year's Night to Shine, February 13, 2026, and make plans to join the fun!  Thank you, Carol D. and Janet, for sharing the extra shirts with us!  

In other news today, we took a brisk walk outside before lunch and learned about the Titanic since yesterday was the anniversary of the "unsinkable" ship's tragic sinking in the North Atlantic.  We also made bunnies using paper plates so we could decorate our walls with them alongside our painted pasta eggs.  We didn't get pictures of our walk or Titanic lesson, but here are a couple of photos of our colorful Easter decorations!  

Thursday, April 17

We were expecting sunny weather today, and we got it!  The park was waiting for us, but before heading out, we decorated mini-bunny cakes for tomorrow's lunch.  We have never tried group cake decorating, but it was a lot of fun!

From this...

To this...didn't our guys do a great job?!

We also celebrated National High Five Day this morning.  It's a "fun holiday" meant to spread cheer and good will.  Everyone got a high five hand cutout with a friend's name on it, and wrote a positive message to them.  When we revealed who had whose "high five message," there were smiles all around as friends shared heartfelt words to one another!  

We decided to take our chances with the tables at Newport News Park, and were happy to find that they had very little pollen on them.  We had taken table coverings, but didn't need to use them.  It was a lovely day for lunch outside!

  

An after lunch walk led us to this pretty spot for a photo op.

It was heartwarming to cross paths with Beka's mom, Susan, and her friend, Judy.  They were walking on the same trail.  We gave Susan a lot of hugs, and asked how she's doing.  Of course, she said it's been very sad for her since losing Beka.  We told her how often we talk about Beka, and that we will always keep her picture in our room, and that made her smile. 

Before leaving the park, we set up cornhole on the patio area near the Discovery Center.  Today, the Easter Bunnies played the Easter Eggs!  The Bunnies won, and the Eggs finished in second.  It was a great game, and great weather!

Friday, April 18

We couldn't believe it was Friday already, but we followed our plans and sent one group to Pet Supplies Plus while the other group did housekeeping and lunch prep at the center.

Our PSP crew was very helpful with stocking new product on the shelves, straightening product already on the shelves, and assisting Scott with, in Sam's words, "the heavy lifting."  As usual, our PSP team always works diligently and efficiently!  Good job today, Alexis, Patrick, Kate, Michelle, Laura, Erik, and Sam!

Pet Supplies Plus is the place to find all kinds of fun toys for your pets!  Tell them the Arc of Abilities sent you!

Meanwhile, at AFCC, we had cleaning, decorating, and cooking going on simultaneously!  Good job dividing up the tasks and helping us get them all completed Liz, Bryan, Gail, Thomas, Kevin, Annmarie, Drew, Xavier, Devin, and Emma!

Liz and Bryan cleaned our yoga mats from top to bottom and front to back.  Gail peeled the little Cuties for lunch.  Thomas and Kevin helped Nan prepare coleslaw using green cabbage we bought and purple cabbage we harvested from the garden!  Gail, Drew, Annmarie, and Xavier colored pretty Easter pictures that we used to decorate our serving table at lunch.  Speaking of lunch, Devin and Emma prepared the mac and cheese. 

Lisa cooked a Boston butt overnight at home so we could have bbq sandwiches with our mac and cheese, Cuties, and coleslaw.  Our bunny cakes were worth the wait, too!  Lunch really hit the spot!

We ended the day with an egg hunt and a round of egg-themed games.

Eggs (filled with treats) were hidden in the office and kitchen area and we each had to find just one.  We had to look up and down, under things, behind things, and even inside some places.  Finding the eggs wasn't too hard, but they weren't exactly hiding in plain sight, either!

During this game, Xavier, Kevin, Kate, and Thomas tried to balance plastic eggs on toilet paper rolls and transfer them to other TP rolls.  Not too many bounced on the floor! 

In this game, each player had a clothespin and the object was to pass around a paper egg using the clothespin to make the transfer.  This one took a bit of practice!

Our last rotation was a game of egg exchange.  We rolled a die and had to follow a direction such as trade eggs with the person across from you or pass the eggs to the right.  At the end of this game, we got an extra treat...thank you, Laura and family, for the m&ms!!  They complemented the non-chocolate candy in our eggs very nicely!

After our games, it was time to call it a week!  We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend.  We'll be back next week.  Here are our plans:

Tuesday:  It's going to be an action-packed day as we visit the master gardeners in the morning and then return to the center to celebrate Kate's birthday!  Prepare to make seed bombs (!) with the MGs, and later, enjoy Sandra's delicious Colombian pork and rice for Kate's birthday lunch!  We'll also dance with Sandra, and play Birthday Bingo! 

Wednesday:  We will volunteer at GCOC today, so please wear Arc shirts.  We'll also have fun learning about William Shakespeare as we celebrate Talk Like Shakespeare Day, and play a fun game comparing his writing to that of Taylor Swift!  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is offering Cheesy Pasta Supreme or Assorted Wraps.

Thursday:  One of today's lessons will include activities centered around earning and spending money for Teach Children to Save Day.  We will learn about lima beans, too, since it's National Lima Bean Respect Day.  It's also Pigs in a Blanket Day so we'll make pigs in a blanket and lima beans for lunch!

Friday:  We are scheduled to work at Eaton today, so please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch.  We will keep our eye on the weather and hope for a chance to enjoy lunch and a walk at New Quarter Park.  It's National Celebrate Trails Day!  (Yoga with Jaime as a backup.)

Don't forget about The Arc's Community Pickleball Challenge spring fundraiser which is coming up in a few weeks!  Registration is open if you're a player.  If not, come out anyway to support The Arc and see what pickleball is all about!  

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang