Monday morning shined brightly as we gathered everyone for Monday Movers! Residents followed Stacey and Noel in a full body workout while seated; we exercised arms and legs, as well as engaged in light cardio as well. What an invigorating way to begin the week! Once the group had a little bit of a breather, it was time for Karaoke. The group crooned along to classic tunes such as “I’m Sitting On Top of the World” and “Yes Sir! That’s My Baby.” Lunch arrived quickly and then the afternoon kicked off with Noel in the dining room with a couple of assistants for our baking activity! This week, we made Heavenly Oreo Dessert, a decadent dessert consisting of layers of chocolate pudding, crushed Oreo cookies and cream cheese frosting. It looked so good that it was hard to not try a bite or two! We distracted ourselves with a game of Tic Tac Toss and residents exercised their throwing arms in the hopes of coming out on top! Alice Brantner took fourth place, Milda Bautch and Carol Campbell tied for third and Judy Thorn was the second-place winner. Kay George was awarded first place this week! Dinner was soon served and then we capped the evening off with Bingo, with Pat Frion assisting with set-up, clean-up and passing prizes, as well as helping residents play the game. Thank you, Pat!

We eased gently into Tuesday with Mass after breakfast, led by Father Jojo and Terry Pelzel; we are all definitely saying prayers that winter will be over soon and that the temperatures will continue to climb!  Once lunch had concluded, there was plenty of time to deliver the mail and chat with friends. Aaliyah came later in the afternoon for the popcorn social and once she warmed up the popcorn machine, everyone’s noses led them to the dining room to scoop up bowlfuls of the delicious snack! No one can resist buttery, salty popcorn and pretty soon, it was polished off. With no pastor here for afternoon church, Aaliyah led the group in an uplifting hymn sing and even sang acapella after the microphone gave her troubles! After a yummy supper, residents stayed in the dining room to play evening games with Aaliyah!

Everyone was ready for more fun and games Wednesday morning – must be time for bowling. Ave Maria students Mary and Seth stopped by to help with pin-setting and score-keeping and our residents wasted no time racking up points! Kay George and Milda Bautch took fourth place, Alice Brantner and Beryl Anderson tied for third place and Kevin Bauer shared second place with Jeff Halverson. This week we also had two first-place winners: Mary Matzek and Judy Thorn! We celebrated the game with a tasty lunch and prepared for an afternoon of more fun at Fruit Bingo. It was extra special today as seven Ave Maria students joined us for the game! Folks are always on the edge of their seats to see who gets blackout first and this week Mary Matzek was the big winner! We appreciated having the help of joyful help of volunteer Kathy Shingledecker: thank you, we couldn’t have done Fruit Bingo without you!  Everyone stuck around after bingo to attend the Mid-Week Social where we indulged our sweet tooth with the Heavenly Oreo Dessert that was prepared on Monday.  What a delicious way to end the afternoon!

Lana Ingli swung by to read us the newspaper, as well as share stories and laughs at our Local News and Coffee group Thursday morning. We always enjoy seeing her smiling face while she kept us informed about what has been happening around the area! After lunch, Aaliyah steered her cart of full of nail polish into the dining room and the ladies were ready for their afternoon of pampering with manicures. All our gals chose such classy colors and their nails looked lovely once Aaliyah worked her manicure magic! Then it was time for a little more visiting before supper was served.  Aaliyah ended the evening with a lively game of Pokeno!

Friday finally came and we rounded up folks for a spirited game of Shuffleboard! The competition was fierce and after five lively rounds, Ivan Mason was in fourth place, Dorothy Pfaffe took third and Jeff Halverson and Milda Bautch tied for second. Judy Thorn was the Shuffleboard champion this morning with a whopping 137 points! Lunch, room visits and mail delivery kicked off the afternoon and at Snack Makers, Chef Jeff {Halverson} helped Stacey and Noel quickly whip 40 mini fruit pizzas because pretty soon Happy Hour was upon us. Craig Morton came with his keyboard and delighted everyone with his soulful songs and toe-tapping tunes! Happy Hour was over way too soon and after supper, we drew the blinds and fired up the projector for Movie Night. This week’s Friday night film was the Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis comedy “Jumping Jacks!”