Monday morning began with sunshine, rising temps and Monday Movers seated exercise group! It had been a couple weeks since we’ve exercised so it felt wonderful to gather together to stretch out our muscles. After a little cool down, Stacey brought out her guitar and we moved right into Sing Along next. Our singing group grew and we mightily belted out the tunes until lunchtime! After the midday meal and mail pass, Noel and Chef Jeff joined forces for Kitchen Corner, whipping up a big batch of Cottage Cheese and Peanut Butter Dessert Cups---a big thanks to Shirley Klinski for “supervising” and letting us know the dessert was satisfactory after a little taste test. The afternoon activities culminated in Brain Games in which Team Two was the ultimate winner of 10 points with one steal! The word puzzle champions were Rosemary Alley, Janet Robelia, LeRoy “Hank” Hankinson, Carol Bauer (Seasons), Yvonne Sinz (Seasons) and Kay George. We ended the busy day with some supper and Monday night Bingo. Thank you to Pat Frion and Kathy Luebker for all their wonderful help with the game!

All day rain showers greeted us Tuesday as we gathered after breakfast for Catholic mass, but we were cozy inside with Terry Pelzel and Father Jojo here for the service. Lunch followed and in no time at all Stacey wheeled out the popcorn machine to make a double batch of fresh, yummy popcorn for our Popcorn Social! The delicious treat brought a smile to everyone’s face and was quickly gobbled up by our residents. As we continued into the afternoon, there was plenty of time for one-on-ones and social visits, full of music and lots of laughs--especially when one resident reminisced about riding a cow on her farm! Hahaha! Pastor Phil from Evangelical Free Church stopped by a little later for an afternoon worship service and then we capped off the day with a little supper and an evening of games with Willow! 

The sun came back out to play as we bowled our hearts out Wednesday morning! It was a close competition for our 14 players throughout three rounds in which Shirley Klinski, Kay George and Goldie Helwig came in fourth, Yvonne Sinz was the third-place winner and Kevin Bauer, Jeff Halverson, Ivan Mason and Wilbur Black all tied for second. Our first-place winner was Barb Holmstadt, thanks in part to scoring the only strike of the game! Lunch and mail delivery followed soon after and then it was time for an afternoon of Fruit Bingo fun. We are always on the edge of our seats to see who gets blackout first and this week Yvonne Sinz was the big winner! We appreciated having the help of volunteers Kathy Shingledecker and Marlene Zimmer; you ladies are wonderful! Everyone stuck around after bingo to attend the Mid-Week Social where we finally tucked into the Cottage Cheese and Peanut Butter Dessert Cups. Yummy!

The busy week continued Thursday with Local News and Coffee with Noel here to read folks the latest news from the local papers. We had a little extra time at the end to chat about kindness and reminisced about our high school graduations after looking at all the wonderful graduation pictures in the newspaper! Lunch kicked off our afternoon and soon after the meal was cleaned up, Willow arrived and had a line-up of ladies who wanted manicures! Giving our gals a proper amount of pampering took up the majority of the afternoon and once everyone’s nails were dry, it was time for supper. After the evening meal, Willow led folks in a game of Pokeno!

And just like that, it was Friday again! Noel brought folks together for a morning game of Shuffleboard and the rowdy crowd had great fun through four rounds as Ivan Mason placed fourth with 101 points, Goldie Helwig’s 102 points won third place, and Alice Brantner took second with 104 points. Janet Robelia beat everyone this week with a first-place win and 106 points! Once lunch was over, Chef Jeff joined Noel in the dining room for Snack Makers and the cooking duo made a rich and creamy Brownie Batter Dip to dunk with vanilla wafer cookies. It was a very pleasant afternoon which continued into Happy Hour, with Ryan Herman at the care center for musical entertainment! Toes were tapping and fingers were snapping as everyone enjoyed the music while snacking on the delicious brownie dip and cookies. All too soon, the party was over and after supper, we settled in for Movie Night with the Doris Day film “Calamity Jane!”