Happy Halloween! What a wonderful day! Our first activity of the day included a very special visit from three seperate classes from Primrose Preschool- Trick or Treaters! All of the children were dressed in costume and we very happily oohhed and awwed over their exuberent cuteness. They left with smiles on their faces too- and a big bag of candy!! We all enjoyed our lunch and a little rest break before our BIG Halloween Party. Bob The Beachcomber performed live for us and we enjoyed homemade pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting. We all had a wonderful time singing, clapping and dancing to the music- please, enjoy all the wonderful photos!
Happy Halloween!
​~Melissa

Happy Monday!  It was a nice morning! We began by singing a few hymns together, including one of their favorites, "Amazing Grace."  After the wonderful music, we talked about Halloween and all the fun things about it!  Next, we stretched and flexed and had an exciting ball toss game!  Lastly this morning we enjoyed watching a video of many babies in their Halloween costumes!  There were lots of "that's so cute," and "ohhh's and ahhhh's!"  A group of residents worked on making masks this afternoon to wear tomorrow.  We also worked on more decorations for the party tomorrow!  We're so excited for it!    
~Jessica 

Hello and happy Saturday!  This morning, we all enjoyed some humorous things that different authors said, including Mark Twain and Woody Allen.  Then we had an exciting game of balloon toss while we listened to 50s music which really got us going and woke us up more on a Saturday morning!  Before lunch, everyone enjoyed some wonderful songs from Meet Me in St. Louis and Mary Poppins.  Classic movies are the best!  This afternoon, a big group played many games of bingo.  It was a great time!  After bingo, we reminisced about all the wonderful sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of fall.  It was a very nice day! 
~Jessica  

Happy Friday!  The day started with our mind joggers which included city sights and country connections, and questions all about chocolate.  The trivia about chocolate was definitely a favorite!  We had a great group that went out to Emma Krumbee's and General Store today.  It was a great time had together eating lunch and looking at all the neat things in the General Store!  The residents also enjoyed listening to piano music with James!  It was a great day!      
~Jessica 

Happy Thursday!  It was another great morning filled with lots of laughter and fun!  The morning jokes and stories all made us laugh so much!  It's so good to start the day that way!  Exercises were a blast!  We had great 50's Rock n' Roll music on while we stretched, twirled and danced with our ribbons!  It was a great time!  Then, we had to end with some funny Halloween videos including animals in costumes and funny videos of kids trick or treating!  This afternoon, we had a good time playing bingo and enjoyed Music Safari with Jennifer!  It was also a great evening spent working on a Halloween decoration and reminiscing!  It was so fun hearing about one another's Halloween stories among many other stories.  There sure was a lot of laughter tonight!  It was such a wonderful time spent together!  Pictures will be posted in the morning.     
~Jessica 

Hello and happy Tuesday!  Our day began with PUN-tificating morning funnies.  It's so great to start the day with laughter!  We also had to get in some exercises which definitely woke us up a little more!  Since "The Sound of Music" is such a popular movie here, we just had to watch some of the best scenes with the wonderful songs before lunch.  What a busy morning!  It was a fabulous afternoon with one of our favorite musicians, Jim Roth!  It was a good time singing with him to all those great songs!  After the music, we had our fall/pie social!  The dining room was almost full by the end of the social, everyone came running for pie!  It was such a good treat and a good time had by all!   
~Jessica 

~Happy Monday! Our day began with Hymn Sing- all of the residents beautiful voices just filled the family room with such lovely music. It was just beautiful. Next, we caught up on the weather forcast from Paul Douglas in his daily post in the paper. We were all glad to hear that there are not any storms bruing in the near future for Minnesota. Stretch and Flex was next and it felt wonderful to move our bodies and warm them up for the day. Next, I read several fall stories to the group, one was about a baker entering a pie contest and he won first prize! This brought up many discussions about Pumpkin and Apple Pies. Before lunch we watched a few Shirley Temple dance numbers and decided our favorite was "At The Cod Fish Ball". 
Our afternoon was filled with Art- we painted some wooden pumpkins and decorated them with golden glitter- no candle needed! Diane and Tolstoy, the theapy Husky dog, visited with us and he performed all sorts of great tricks! It was great fun! Please enjoy the photos.
​~Melissa

Hello and happy Sunday! It was a great day here in the Willows! Our day was spent with Hosanna! church services, broadcast via the television and Individual Time. Individual Time is basicly one on one time with individual residents. I cherish this time at it really is wonderful to have this time to really connect with the residents. We also had some time for nail painting and some hand massages. 
​~Melissa

Hello and happy Saturday! Our day began with the weekend funnies... humorous riddles, jokes and stories that were perfect to start the day laughing. Our Reminesce groups are becoming quite popular- this time is was about becoming a grandparent for the first time and all the feelings and memories surounding that big event! Many residents shared their stories. Next we had our full body stretch exercise group. Candy trivia was next- it was a big hit and the perfect thing to get our appetite up before lunch. To continue with our candy theme we sang along with some favorite "candy" songs... Big Rock Candy Mountain, On the Good Ship Lolly Pop, When I Take My Sugar To Tea and more. After lunch we all gathered in the dining room for BINGO- we had a huge group and it was a blast! Many family members and residents from other parts of the building joined us, so it was a true "The More The Merrier" event! After Bingo Simon, the therapy dog, came for a visit to spread love and happiness. It was a wonderful day. Please enjoy the photos!
​~Melissa