Happy last day of November! We had a very special Advent Celebration this morning. It was a toe- tapping, soul warming Gospel Music hour in the theatre. Ernie Haase and Signature Sound presented “Christmas Live!”- and boy was it a treat! To top it off, we enjoyed hot cider and cookies while enjoying the music. Many thanks to Chaplin Pastor Mari for the beautiful opening & closing blessing and the beautiful Christmas cards to boot! After our special event, several residents gathered in the Chapel for Rosary. This afternoon we enjoyed some arts and crafts, as well as a Christmas movie to continue our happy feeling as we celebrate the beginning of the Advent Season!
~Melissa

What a wonderful day to be here at The Fountains today! The weather outside is frightful but we had lots of fun things to inside, so we didn’t mind one bit! Our day began with a Sit and Stretch exercise class, just the thing we needed to wake up our bodies. Next, our friends from Midwest Special Services joined us to continue working on our big Mosaic Turtle Project. The residents truly enjoyed breaking the tile and placing them on our turtle form. They are coming along beautifully. The photos below will give you a peek at our progress! After lunch we had a special entertainer, Jim Roth, his accordion music is a delight! You could hear the group singing the Beer Barrel Polka clear down the hall! After our toe tapping fun we engaged in a game of Community Scrabble. We filled the board as usual with some very create words! Happy Day!
~Melissa

This morning, a few residents came down to the bistro to play bingo while everyone else watched the Gaither Homecoming Christmas.  The music is wonderful!  When bingo and the video was done, we did some exercises.  First leg stretches and then we used the ribbons for our arm exercises while listening to Christmas music!  Before lunch, we watched  a video of a high school boys choir singing a Christmas carol while doing some funny dance moves!  It was hilarious!
It was Christmas decorating day today!  It’s so fun setting up the Christmas tree and decorating!  We got a good start, but there is still so much to put up!
~Jessica

Happy Friday!  The day started with The Daily Chronicle.  We learned about some different historical events and trivia.  Did you know the medical term for ice cream headaches is sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia.  One resident said after that, “I’m never having ice cream again!”  One of our favorite things is the humor of the day!  They all especially liked this one by Conan O’Brien, “A study in the Washington Post says that women have better verbal skills than men.  I just want to say to the authors of that study: ‘Duh.'”  After the chonicle, we all did some stretching and played a short game of ball toss to at least get some exercise in.  Then we started singing a few Christmas carols!  We’re all ready for the best time of the year!  Lastly, we watched a video of mulitple babies giggling.  That always brightens our day!
After lunch, several residents did a couple word games.  One of the games was making a list of as many things related to Christmas as we could.  Everyone loves Christmas!  Next, they each worked on a puzzle.  It was great to see some teamwork too!  Lastly, we did the activity, You Be the Judge.  I read them a couple cases and they gave the verdict.  One verdict they came up with was, “10 lashes with a wet noodle!”  It was so funny!  There were some interesting cases, that’s for sure!
~Jessica

Hello and Happy Wednesday! It is the day before thanksgiving and we started our day with prayers of Thanksgiving with Pastor George. Many of our residents gathered in the theatre for worship service. The message today was not a surprize saying thank you- not just for our blessings from God, but to each other! After Service, some residents met in the Chapel for Rosary. To close the morning, we all gathered in the living room for the story of the first Thanksgiving, some turkey trivia and even some turkey ticklers (jokes)! After lunch we enjoyed a few games of BINGO- many of the residents favorite! Piano Music with James was the highlight of the afternoon. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow and I wish to tell you how very thankful I am to be a part of the family here at The Willows!
~Melissa

The day began with our morning funnies.  The residents listened to many hilarious puns, then they filled in the blank for the rest of the puns.  They did a great job by guessing most of them!  We laughed out loud for just about every one of them!  Everyone really liked it!  After that, we did some exercises.  Most participated in stretching our legs, back and shoulders, but we wanted to save arm exercises for the twirling of our ribbons and stretching our arms.  They all really do enjoy using those!  We ended early because we were all tired out!  One resident said, “That was a good workout!”  After that, we watched a couple videos of kids telling the story of Thanksgiving and the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving!
This afternoon, we did a Tom the turkey and truth or turkey trivia activities.  We all learned some new things about turkeys and Thanksgiving.  The residents guessed a lot of the questions correctly!  We also played a couple games of Thanksgiving bingo!  There were so many winners again!  It was a great afternoon!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
~Jessica

We started this Monday morning by seeing the Hosanna! Preschoolers.  A few residents helped them with a cute turkey craft.  One of the kids said his favorite Thanksgiving food is hot dogs!  That made our day!  Next, was devotions with Chaplain Mari.  It was a very nice time singing and praying and listening to the devotion.  They sang “We Gather Together” and “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.”  It is always a good start to the day!  Next, we got some stretches in and loosened up all our muscles.  We also tossed the ball around to one another and played the category ball game.
This afternoon we decorated more sugar cookies and reminisced.  I read a few stories after they ate their treats.  It was nice to also hear their own personal stories.  One resident told us how her grandfather sang Christmas carols in German!  That story led to great conversation with others since they are German too!  Diane and Tolstoy were here today.  We were all so thrilled to see them again…and Tolstoy was excited to see everyone too!  The residents first helped to feed ice cream to Tolstoy!  He went through the tunnel multiple times like he loves to do and did all his different puzzles!  It was a good time!

Happy Saturday!  It was spa day today!  A few residents were able to get their nails painted. It’s nice to be pampered every once and awhile!  Everyone also watched a bunch of YouTube videos, including baby videos and dancing videos.  This afternoon, we played bingo!  We had visitors helping with bingo today, a big group of young hockey players!  It was a good time had by all and it was fun to have helpers for the day!  After bingo, the residents watched the movie, Paddington before dinner.   
Have a wonderful Saturday!
~Jessica

Happy Friday! Today was the first winter weather advisory of the year- so much discussion of the weather could be heard though out the building. Many residents shared memories of big winter storms of the past and what they did while stuck indoors. During Morning Funnies I had some very humorous quotes from some famous authors, such as Erma Bombeck and Mark Twain. We all enjoyed them- but the favorite funny was that from Erma,” Make sure you have a dog when your children are teenagers , so someone will be happy to see you when you get home.”. Next we had our daily exercise class, to the sounds of Glen Miller.  This afternoon was our November Birthday Party! Streamers, colorful tablecloths, loads of smiling faces and of course CAKE can always be found at the monthly birthday party. We all enjoyed live music that we could sing along to- as well as clap to the beat! A good time was had by all. Unfortunately our storage is full on our camera- or maybe its fortunate that we have taken so many photos that our storage is full… so you’ll have to check out our Facebook page for photos of todays events. Thank you for understanding!
Cheers! Melissa