Hats, Hats, Hats

Despite common beliefs, hats can be worn for other reasons than to cover up a bad hair day! Today we took the time to decorate some beautiful hats especially for our Other Hat Club.

On May 18th Serenity is hosting a Mother-Daughter Tea or Father-Son Toast. Coffee, tea and other goodies will be served. As this is a celebration by the Other Hat Club, everyone is encouraged to wear their favorite hats – and we specifically made these hats with this event in mind!

Take a look at a couple of the fun hats we made today. Pictured above is Leona who is enjoying her creation. To the right is Arlene Tangen who had a blast making her new favorite hat!

Piñata Lesson 101

Here at Serenity, we’re never too old for a history lesson; and it’s always fun to find a reason to celebrate. Tomorrow is May 5, but sometimes it is better known in Spanish – Cinco de Mayo! For the festive occasion we decided to make typical Mexican pieces of art – piñatas.

Though they are famous in Mexico now, piñatas did not originate from this country. These interesting artworks were probably first made in China and then spread through Europe. Once they reached Spain they gained popularity and the people there used them to celebrate religious holidays such as Lent.

In the 16th century, Spanish missionaries attempted to use piñatas to convert Mayans to their religion. As it turned out, the Mayans had a similar tradition in which they would take clubs and sticks and break large feather-covered pots filled with trinkets. These pots were suspended by a string in front of an image of a god. When the pots would break the trinkets would fall to the feet of the gods as an offering. The two cultures mixed together to form the types of piñatas that are famous in Mexico today.

Now that we’ve had our history lesson, take a look at the piñatas we made today! We started by blowing up balloons and mixing together flour and water to make a paste. Once this was done we took strips of newspaper, dunked them in the paste and wrapped them around the balloon.

Once the whole balloon was covered and left to dry for an entire day, we finished by paining them festive colors. Take a look at these pictures to see all the fun we had! Pictured above is Arlene Tangen who is working diligently to make her piñata. To the right is Alice who is also hard at work!

April Fools!

Today is a great day – if you’re a trickster! And all of us at Serenity discovered that the Serenity staff is full of tricky people.

Today we arrived at lunch and noticed bright yellow butcher block tablecloths on the table. We figured that it was spring now and that’s not too out of the ordinary. But then the staff squirted ketchup and mustard right on the table! What happened to plates?!

After this we were served a delicious meal of corn dogs and French fries – with no silverware. For dessert we were served dirt. Yes, we couldn’t believe it was dirt. After we summed up enough courage to at least try this concoction, we discovered that it was only pudding and crushed Oreos! What a meal!

Take a peek at this photo of Arlene as she tries to make out what was happening today at lunch!

Happy Birthday, Arlene Tangen!

Happy Birthday, Arlene Tangen!

She looks good for 18 doesn't she?! :-)

A Game of Whist, Anyone?

Finding a few good friends, getting together and simply playing an exciting card game can be a lot of fun. And this is precisely what we did this morning! Hubert Asplin, Bonnie Bratholt, Leona Jereszek and Arlene Tangen all gathered around a card table at about 10:00am this morning to play a few games of Whist. Aside from the amusement of the game, it was also nice to get out, chat with old friends and make new ones. And they sure had a lot of fun!

If you’ve never played Whist and would like to learn, here are some of the basic rules:

First of all, Whist requires four players which then make two teams of pairs. The dealer deals a standard deck of 52 cards, starting with the player to the dealer’s immediate left. The last card dealt that belongs to the dealer is flipped over and displays the suit that is trumps for that round. This card remains face up until it is the dealer’s turn to play the first trick. Now the game begins! The player to the dealer’s immediate left starts the first trick and any card may be led. The other players then lay tricks in clockwise order. The cards played should be of the same suit and the highest trump wins the trick (with Aces being high). If a player doesn’t have any of the same suit, any card may be laid. Once all 13 cards of the suit have been laid, the team that won more tricks wins one point for every trick it won in excess of six; the winner of that round deals the following round. The partnership that reaches five points first wins the game. It’s that simple!

Take a peek above at the group shot of the whole gang; Arlene (dealer), Hubert, Bonnie and Leona (in clockwise order)!

Guten Tag!

To many Americans, Germany is the land of delicious beer, excellent chocolate and divine cuisines. Sometimes we think of the Germans wearing their traditional Lederhosen, Dirndls and Tyrolean Hats. All these things make up a unique part of the German culture. This week we have decided to celebrate the German way of life by making Edelweiss Hats and enjoying a fine German delicacy.

Today we kicked off the week by designing our German Edelweiss Hats. We had a blast making all the hats with our favorite colors and even furnishing them with feathers like the traditional Tyrolean Hats some Germans wear. It was fun for us to remember the old German sayings we had learned so long ago and to talk about Germany’s unique culture as well. We will wear our creative hats on Thursday when the German fun continues!

On Thursday we will enjoy a German specialty called Zwiebelfleisch which literally translates to onion meat. The traditional dumpling noodles called Spaezle will be served to accommodate this delicacy as well as Scharzwaelder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry Cake) for dessert. These foods are deep-rooted in the Black Forest region in southern Germany and will surely make an amazing meal for us here at Serenity!


Take a look at these pictures to see all the fun we had! Pictured above is Muriel who is modeling one of her hats and to the right is Arlene working diligently to finish one of her many hats (she made almost ten of them)!

Happy Birthday, Arlene!

Today, September 30th, we rejoiced for Arlene Tangen's 80th birthday at Serenity Assisted Living! We celebrated her beautiful self with a scrumptious birthday cake her daughter brought in, along with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and beets.

Yummy!

When asking Arlene if she was planning on having any cake fights that evening, she replied, "Pies work MUCH better for that!"

"Your Birthday is a special time to celebrate the gift of 'YOU' to the world!"