Iced Out Week!

After two days at home following the weekend's icy storm and the subsequent below freezing temperatures, we were happy to see our friends on Thursday and Friday for a short and chilly week!  Not everyone was able to be with us due to family obligations, travel, illness, and staying safe from a potential slip, but we understood and missed them all!  We hope everyone will be back next week!  

Thursday

We decided to get extra movement today since most of us were stuck inside for the past several days.  With school still closed, the gym was available, so after our dance warm up, we took advantage!  There were lots of large, bouncy balls lined up along the wall, and we felt certain that Coach Alex wouldn't mind if we used them.

In this game, we had 2 teams with each trying to get all the balls to the other team's side by chasing, kicking and throwing.  We got some movement, for sure!

We're going to Eaton tomorrow so we had to get some work done today.  While we checked last week's blog, a few of us worked on gasketing. 

We appreciate Eaton allowing us to bring some of our work, like gasketing, back to work on at our center.

In another movement break, we danced with DJ Raphi!

National Blueberry Pancake Day was yesterday, but we celebrated today!  Lunch prep included setting up for an impromptu birthday party.  Tracy was coming to visit today and her kids would be with her since there was no school.  We found out it's her daughter Heidi's birthday, so voila!

Thomas was in charge of the hash brown patties which he monitored in the oven until they got golden brown and crispy.  Xavier helped cook his gluten-free pancakes, and then heated the syrup in the microwave.  Drew worked on decorating the birthday table for Heidi.

Devin was the sausage chef today.  He had the room smelling so good!  Gail and Bryan worked on creating colorful napkin rings that said "Happy Birthday."  Carol and Liz were hopping at the griddle as they cooked a few dozen blueberry pancakes!  Lunch was very tasty!

Happy 9th Birthday, Heidi!  We enjoyed celebrating with you and know you were happy to not have school on your special day!!  We hope all your wishes come true!

Tracy and Heidi are in the middle, and Tracy's son Colby is on Heidi's right.  Over the years, we have watched Colby and Heidi grow up before our eyes!

Our afternoon ended with a "blueberry" movie...or at least one that had a reference to blueberries!  We watched the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in which Violet becomes a blueberry after chewing bubblegum she wasn't supposed to be chewing!  Everyone enjoyed this original, even though they also like the version with Johnny Depp.

Friday

The very cold weather didn't impede our trip to Eaton for a work day!  There were only 11 of us today, but that turned out to be helpful since there was less work than usual for us to do this morning.  We assembled 48 doors and unpacked plastic lenses during our 2 hours onsite.  We're proud of our work ethic!

We were all business and very professional at Eaton, but once we returned to AFCC, we observed National Have Fun at Work Day!  We originally planned to get Frosties from Wendy's, courtesy of our friend Laura, who had been saving a birthday gift card to share with us. 💖 However, Laura came down with the flu, so we unanimously decided to postpone the Frosty Fun until she's back with us.  Feel better soon, Laura!

Having access to the JRES gym when students aren't here is FUN! We can't wait until we move to McLaws Circle where we will have a "gym" space we can use every day!  This afternoon, some of us shot hoops during Choice Time.

Someone thought it would be FUN to bundle up for a brisk walk to find a photo spot for a picture to use at the top 🠉 of the blog for this week's post, which is titled "Iced Out Week."  It was 26 degrees and we lasted about 10 minutes!

Lisa had FUN coming after us with an ice claw!

We took a picture around this mound of ice, but with the shadow, it wasn't too great for the top 🠉 of the blog.

We walked back to the front of the building and ended up getting a nice photo for the top 🠉 of the blog!  Here's a smaller version.

Back inside we warmed up with a FUN lesson about Groundhog Day, which is Monday.  We made a quick groundhog craft that depicts the groundhog seeing its shadow, thus predicting 6 more weeks of winter.  Our "homework" is to find out if the groundhog really does see its shadow on Monday.  If it doesn't, we're going to cut the shadow off of the craft and celebrate that spring is on the way!

We forgot to get a picture of our cute groundhogs, but they look something like this!  What a FUN holiday!

Our final FUN of the day took place when we realized that both National Backward Day and National Opposite Day occur during the last week of January.  

We made up a silly way to play corn hole that involved playing from opposite side of the court, which is also kind of backward, and throwing the bags into hoops on the floor instead of the hole on the board.  It was silly and FUN, and we enjoyed getting to play it in the gym, too!

Congratulations to Team Backward who won today!  Happy National Have Fun at Work Day!

And with those silly faces...we called it a week.  Short, chilly, and so much FUN.  Here's a look at what's coming up as we welcome February next week:

Tuesday:  It's the first Tuesday of the month so we will go bowling and enjoy pizza for lunch.  Cameron is visiting so we'll also celebrate his birthday!!  In addition, we'll welcome Sara as our newest member, and Hannah for a weeklong trial visit.  After lunch we will make cards for Allison (knee replacement scheduled for today) and finally get back to our read-aloud about George Washington's socks!

Wednesday:  It's Service Work Wednesday so please wear Arc shirts.  We'll volunteer at GCOC and arrange flowers for CSL.  We'll also update our calendar for February and begin making Valentine decorations! Plus, we have a bonus visit from Marisol and the corgis today!  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria is offering Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce or Philly Cheese Steak (unless last week's closure changed things).

Thursday:  We will continue to decorate our room for February, and also begin preparing for tomorrow's Super Bowl party.  It's National Optimist Day so we will have an activity about that, too.  Lunch on your own.  JRES Cafeteria lists Domino's Pizza or Deli Sub as lunch choices.

Friday:  We'll work at Pet Supplies Plus this morning, so please wear PSP shirts.  National Soup Day was on Wednesday, so we'll celebrate that and football today with a "Souper" Bowl Party!  We'll have Ground Beef Stew with Cheese Toast, Chips and Dip, and Football Brownies for lunch. We'll also make our annual Super Bowl winner prediction graph and end the day with Super Bowl themed corn hole.

Everyone have a great weekend!  Snow...or No??!!??!!

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang