These spring mornings still have us feeling the lingering chill of winter…what better way to warm up than moving our bodies at Monday Movers seated exercise group? We gently stretch arms, shoulders and legs all from the safety and comfort of our seats! After we warm up our bodies, it’s time to warm up our vocal chords at Singalong. Such an invigorating start to the day and week! We sing all the way up to lunchtime and once the meal is through and the mail has been passed out, we embrace our inner artists at Crafty Corner. This week, we use canvas, paint and circle daubers to create mandala art! Not sure what that is? Come check out our gallery wall in the dining room and see all the beautiful canvases our residents created! It’s so inspiring to see how unique each artwork is, even though each person started with the same materials. Our weekly game of Tic Tac Toss follows craft time and we have a big group trying their luck this week! Goldie Helwig is the fourth-place winner, Jeff Halverson comes in third and it’s a three-way tie for second: Frances White, Shirley Klinski and Kevin Bauer. Our first-place winner this week for Tic Tac Toss is Alice Brantner! After a bit a supper, we clear the tables for Monday night Bingo. Thank you so much to Joyce and Marie Berger for all their wonderful help setting up, cleaning up and passing candy prizes!

We gently ease into Tuesday with Catholic mass in the morning for residents; we are ever grateful and blessed for all our faith leaders who spend their time with us. Once mass has concluded and lunch is finished, we plug in the popcorn machine and eagerly await bowlfuls of delicious popcorn! The smell of it is so strong and enticing that it doesn’t take much to round up residents for the Popcorn Social. Later in the afternoon, Pastor Pfaffe from Immanuel Lutheran Church stops by for church and we are uplifted and comforted by the message. Supper is served and then it’s an evening of games with Aaliyah!

The sun is shining brightly as we gather Wednesday morning for our weekly bowling game! We always have such a great group of residents and it is so sweet to hear them cheer each other on as the game progresses. Alice Brantner came in fourth place, Ivan Mason and Shirley Klinski tied for third place and Milda Bautch was the second-place winner! Kevin Bauer took the first-place title again this week! We worked up quite an appetite for lunch and once the meal was done and the dishes cleaned up, we got ready for an afternoon of Fruit Bingo. Thank you to Harriet Rothe for calling numbers and for helping set up and clean up! The winner of blackout this week was Judy Thorn! The afternoon rolled right along and our Pretzel and Pop Social was next; today is National Pretzel Day, so we had a delightful afternoon chatting with friends and munching on pretzels!

Thursday morning is our “Local News and Coffee” social. Lana Ingli is always a wealth of information, good news and stories to tell. We share a few of our own and all too soon our time is done since lunch is just around the corner. This afternoon we offer manicures for our ladies and we enjoy chatting with each other as we make their nails oh so pretty! Brad Richardson arrived with puppies (and a baby donkey!) in hand and we eagerly took them all off his hands. Supper soon follows and then it’s Pokeno tonight with Aaliyah!

We start Friday morning with a new game: Dart Ball! Residents gather round to throw 12 Velcro balls at a new dart board target to see who can get the highest score and they don’t disappoint! Kevin Bauer scores fourth place, Shirley Klinski is the third-place winner and Ivan Mason nabs second place. Alice Brantner sails into first place with a score of 1, 230 points! Dart Ball seems to be a hit, so we will definitely play it again soon. After lunch is cleaned up and mail is passed out, it’s time for Snack Makers. Since it is Arbor Day, we dip pretzel rods in white chocolate and green sprinkles so they look like mini trees! These salty and sweet snacks are perfect for our Happy Hour treat and we enjoy them along with listening to live music from Larry Radle. Supper follows and then we settle in for our Friday night movie; this week, we watch the classic “High Noon,” starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. Sound like fun? Stop by for a visit and stay a while; we would love to see your smiling faces!