Residents began their week at Card Club Monday morning where several folks played Euchre while Noel led a few other residents through several hands of Skip Bo! Others came to join the action and Noel put on Karaoke tunes, so soon everyone was singing while playing cards; it was a fun way to spend the morning. Lunch brought an end to the musical morning card games and once the mail was delivered, it was time for Kitchen Corner! This week’s culinary confection was Cake Mix Pudding Cookies, which were super simple to make; while the batches were baking, Noel and Chef Jeff passed the time playing a few more hands of Skip Bo. The rest of our afternoon was taken up with a game of Tic Tac Toss! We had quite a large group of players compete through four rounds in which Carol Bauer (Seasons) came in fourth, Judy Thorn placed third and Milda Bautch scored second. Congrats to Herb Tschumperlin for his first place win this week! After the game, residents came out for supper and then most stuck around to play an evening game of Bingo with Kathy Luebker. Thank you for her wonderful assistance!   

On Tuesday, Father Jojo and Terry Pelzel spent the morning at the care center, leading residents in Catholic Mass. Their smiles and peaceful demeanors are infectious and folks are always thankful for having such a tranquil way to start their day! Lunch came and went, along with mail delivery, then Stacey wheeled out the popcorn machine for our most anticipated Tuesday activity: Popcorn Social. There was oodles of popcorn for everyone and even folks who chose not to attend got in on the popcorn party as Stacey came around to folks’ rooms, delivering bags of the salty snack! After all the buttery kernels were claimed, it was time for a Hymn Sing in the dining room--a HUGE group was in attendance and there was running joke about taking their choir on the road for live performances. Supper came next and then Willow was here for an evening filled with fun games!

Wednesday rolled around and everyone was ready for an exciting morning game of Bowling! This week we had Ave Maria students Daniel and Dahlia here for help with score-keeping and pin-setting as 14 residents played through three rounds. Milda Bautch tied with Wanda Traynor for fourth place, Ivan Mason came in third and Rosemary Alley tied with roommate Goldie Helwig for second. Congratulations to Jeff Halverson for his first place win this week and a perfect score of 30! Lunch brought an end to our bowling bonanza and then it was on to an afternoon filled with Fruit Bingo; this week Wanda Ebensperger was here to assist and Noel was in the audience helping as well, with Stacey calling numbers. Rosemary Alley was our Blackout Bingo winner this week! Once all the cards and chips were cleaned up Noel brought the pile of Cake Mix Pudding Cookies and milk for our Mid-Week Social treat. The decadent cookies and glasses of ice-cold milk were a perfect mid-afternoon snack!    

After breakfast Thursday morning, Stacey gathered residents together to read them the latest newspapers at our Local News and Coffee group. Along with listening to the headlines, there was also a LOT of laughing and reminiscing! Lunch ushered in the afternoon and once the meal was enjoyed and the mail passed out, Noel arrived for an afternoon filled with manicures. There were a lot of ladies wanting to change up their nail polish and once everyone was done with their pampering, you could see so many pretty pinks, racy reds and sparkles galore throughout the care center! Everyone’s nails were dry just in time to enjoy a pleasant supper in the evening.

We made it to the end of the week and the sun was shining as folks came out to play Brain Games in the dining room Friday morning! Two teams faced off in a battle of wits, solving word puzzles and riddles in order to score the most points. Team One was the winner with 13 points and one steal: congrats to Jeff Halverson, Ivan Mason, Pam Gansluckner and LeRoy “Hank” Hankinson! After lunch was served, it was a quiet afternoon of relaxing and visiting. But soon, Happy Hour was upon us and The Earney’s arrived to get the party started! It was our Birthday Celebration Happy Hour where we honored those residents with May birthdays, and there were quite a lot. For a whole hour, The Earney’s had everyone’s toes tapping and bopping along to the music while we snacked on ice cold soda and banana cupcakes! Once the party came to a close, we rearranged the dining room for supper and then Noel turned down the lights for Movie Night, with “The Magnificent Seven Ride!” playing on the big screen!