We’ve been enjoying the mild weather as much as we can but, we know there is still a lot of winter left to go! Our week started strong with Monday Movers seated exercise group where spending time gently stretching our arms and legs felt wonderful after the weekend. After warming up our bodies, it was time to warm up our voices at Sing A Long with Stacey on the guitar! All that movement and singing whipped up quite an appetite for lunch and after we filled our bellies, we tapped into our inner artists at Crafty Corner. During this week’s project we created cheerful snowmen to add to our Kindness Snowflakes display! Time sure flew and before you knew it, we gathered everyone for an exciting game of Tic Tac Toss! This week’s winners were Herb Tschumperlin in fourth place, Judy Thorn in third place, and Kevin Bauer in second place. This week’s first place champion was Jeff Halverson! Our game took us right up to supper and then we held our Monday evening Bingo game. A big thank you to Marie and Joyce Berger for helping set up, clean up and passing candy prizes!

Tuesday morning began with Deacon Mark here for Catholic Mass and what a peaceful and uplifting way for folks to start the day! Lunch followed, as well as mail pass, and pretty soon we smelled the delicious scent of fresh-popped popcorn coming from the dining room. Aaliyah had arrived to help residents scoop up bowlfuls of the savory and salty snack at our afternoon Popcorn Social! Once the last kernel was crunched Pastor Pfaffe from St. John’s Lutheran Church arrived for afternoon services. The easygoing day ended with supper and an evening of games with Aaliyah!

The temperature was climbing outside just as the competition was starting to heat up inside as we began Wednesday with bowling! We had our biggest group yet with 15 bowlers ready to test their skills on the lane; it was such fun to see them cheer each other on! We had a four-way tie for fourth place: Ivan Mason, Shirley Klinski, Milda Bautch and Judy Thorn. Herb Tschumperlin and Bill Joyner tied for third and second place went to Beryl Anderson. First place was awarded this week to Jeff Halverson! As the day marched on and the sun shone warmly outside, it was soon time for Fruit Bingo. Our blackout winner this week was Milda Bautch! Thank you to Wanda Ebensperger and Lana Ingli for helping with set up, prize delivery and clean up; we don’t know what we would do without our volunteers! No sooner was bingo done then it was time for our Mid-Week Social; residents stayed after the game to snack on a delectable choice of cookies: Snickerdoodle, Brownie and Lemon. What a nice treat to enjoy with a hot cup of coffee on a winter day!

Thursday was the first day of February and we began with a delicious cup of coffee and the local news being read to residents by the one and only Harriet Rothe! She always has a lot of fun stories and tidbits to share with the group; this time, she brought a 1925 Valentine decoration which belonged to her mother. We always appreciate everyone who stops by for a chat and to keep us informed on what is happening in our community! Lunch followed and then we had a few ladies lined up for manicures. The above average temperatures have everyone thinking spring and that is certainly reflected in the colors the ladies chose for their nail polish: lots of pinks, yellows and sparkles! After an afternoon of pampering and pleasant conversation, supper was ready and then it was time for an evening of Pokeno with Aaliyah!

Friday morning, Stacey and Noel led a small Fitness Friday group through several sit down dancing routines! We rocked and rolled to tunes like “Baby Face” and “Me and My Shadow;” it didn’t have us sweating like some other chair exercises we do, but it was a lot of fun. There was just enough time for a couple rounds of Chicken Toss Twister before lunch - not sure what that is? We tossed rubber chickens onto a Twister board to try and hit the color circle that we spun for. It is definitely as silly as it sounds and residents had such fun laughing and tossing those chickens! Goldie Helwig came in fourth place, Milda Bautch and Kevin Bauer tied for third and Judy Thorn nabbed second place. Dorothy Pfaffe was the Chicken Toss Twister champion with an even 100 points! After lunch, there were a couple hours of downtime to chat and visit, but soon Rich Schroeder arrived with his guitar to entertain the crowd at Happy Hour! We snacked on powdered donut holes and sang along to all our favorite songs, but all too soon, Happy Hour was over and supper arrived. Our fun continued into the evening as we dimmed the lights and got cozy for Movie Night. This week’s feature film was the funny and exciting “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey!”