Winter came back with a vengeance Monday morning, but we didn’t let the snow stop us from holding our Monday Movers seated exercise group. We tried a new DVD out today and danced through the decades, all the way from the 1920s with The Charleston to the 1980s with hip hop!  It was fast-paced and it sure got our hearts pumping; even staff had a hard time keeping up.  Thankfully, we slowed things down afterward with a little Karaoke Singalong! It is so much fun to sing the old classics as a group and the songs bring back such fond memories. After lunch was finished and the mail was passed out, we welcomed our volunteers for an afternoon Volunteer Social! We have so many wonderful people who volunteer their time and gift us their smiles that we wanted to honor and thank them. Guests snacked on an array of delicious desserts, listened to a speaker from the ADRC talk about dementia and Alzheimer’s and then we drew names for door prizes! We capped off the day with supper and an evening game of Bingo. Thank you to Pat Frion and Kathy Luebker for all their help setting up, cleaning up and passing candy prizes!

The snow is finally melting but the temperatures remain chilly as we begin our Tuesday morning with Catholic mass for residents. It’s such a peaceful way to begin the day and residents are spiritually uplifted by the message each week. Lunch and mail delivery takes us into the afternoon; residents gather for a baking activity and this week they make amaretto brownies for our Amaretto Brownie Social on Wednesday! We get things cleaned up just in time for afternoon church and this week we welcome Pastor Paolo from Arkansaw Methodist Church. Our day concludes with supper and then evening games with Aaliyah!

Wednesday starts off with a fun game of bowling; this week we have two student helpers from Ave Maria Academy to assist with pin-setting and score keeping! Milda Bautch takes fourth place, Shirley Klinski comes in third place and Herb Tschumperlin grabs the second-place spot! Kevin Bauer is again the first-place winner this week! Bowling always works up an appetite so we are happy that lunch soon follows the game. The afternoon brings mail delivery, Fruit Bingo and an Amaretto Brownie Social! This week we heartily thank volunteer Wanda Ebensperger for helping with Fruit Bingo set-up, clean-up and prize passing. We have three winners for blackout: Frances White, as well as Carol Bauer and Joe Berger from the Seasons! Folks hang around after bingo for the Amaretto Brownie Social and it is definitely worth the wait – those yummy brownies are so delicious that they get gobbled up in no time! 

Marlene Zimmer stops by Thursday morning to read the local news and share a cup of coffee with us; we always love seeing our volunteers and other visitors sharing their time with us!  After lunch and mail delivery it’s time for manicures and we have quite a few ladies excited to get their nails done! Bright pinks and greens are still some of our most popular colors and with the weather outside continuing to be gray and gloomy, we are determined to bring color into the building any way we can. We finish pampering the gals just in time for the puppies to arrive and they are extra squirmy and wiggly today, but always ready to be snuggled! It’s always hard to say goodbye to the cuddly canines but soon it’s time for supper and then Pokeno with Aaliyah in the evening.

Our Friday morning Shuffleboard game draws only a small number of residents but we still have a ball trying to score the most points! Kevin Bauer comes in fourth place, Alice Brantner is the third-place winner and Dorothy Pfaffe takes second place. Shirley Klinski is the first-place winner this week! We enjoy a bit of lunch and then students from Ave Maria Academy make their way over to the care center for Book Buddies. Kindergarten, first and second grade students practice their reading skills by reading books to several residents; it is so sweet to watch all of the interactions! There’s not much time until we have our Snack Makers activity and this week (in honor of Earth Day), we make dirt cake. Whip up some vanilla pudding, sprinkle crushed Oreo cookies on top and decorate with a gummy worm and you’ve got yourself a delicious dessert! We finish making the dirt cake just in time to serve it for Happy Hour where we listen to the delightful tunes of The Konsellas. The busy day ends with supper and then Movie Night; this week’s flick is “The Great Outdoors!” If any of this sounds like fun, stop on by the care center sometime; we would love to see you!