Spring and Easter Crafts Galore

If you know us, you know one thing – we don’t just sit around! Lately we’ve been letting our spring fever set in – we’ve been busy making lots of spring and Easter crafts.

Earlier this month you could catch us decorating windsocks. It was fun to get out all the spring and summer colors! Though they’re not all outside yet, we’re waiting for the day when we can go out and sit in the summer breeze and watch our homemade windsocks fly!

We also had a blast catching up with our friends while making craft Easter bunnies. Actually, we did several Easter rabbit crafts this month to celebrate the season. With our first project, we decorated small bunny stuffed animals with tutus and flowers. We completed these by attaching wings to make them fairy bunnies! After these were done we decided to make candy holders for when the real Easter bunny would come to visit – take a look at Orval’s picture! In our third project, we took the time to make bunny table decorations. These Easter rabbits were complete with big feet and perky ears; and we used them to decorate our dining room throughout the season.

And what would Easter be without some old fashioned Easter eggs? This week we sat down and dyed a mess of hardboiled eggs every color under the sky. It was fun to remember how we used to dye eggs when we were kids and how things have changed since then – including fun stickers to make the dyed eggs look like monsters!

Take a peak at these photos to really get a glimpse of the fun we had throughout this month. In the topmost picture is Henrietta who is putting her fairy bunny together. To the right is Orval who is showing off his Easter bunny candy holder; and on the right is Muriel who is dying Easter eggs! Below is a picture of the Easter rabbit table decorations we made.

Mardi Gras Fun!

As always, we’ve been keeping busy here at Serenity! This week we got in the spring spirit and made Mardi Gras masks just for fun. It was a blast for us to sit down and make the silly disguises with all our friends; but it was even more fun to look at everyone when they tried on their masks!

On Fat Tuesday we celebrated Mardi Gras by holding a fun party! We donned our masks and had a blast laughing with each other as we got our pictures taken. Do you think you can recognize us? Check out the bulletin board by the parking lot entrance to see all of us wearing our Mardi Gras masks!

Take a look above at Sandy as she decorates her own mask before the Mardi Gras party on Tuesday. To the left is Charles and on the right is Muriel; both had a great time at the celebration!

Happy 101st Birthday, Muriel!

Today, our very own Muriel Kaercher turns 101!!

Join us for cake and coffee in our dining room at 3:00 today to hear stories about all the things Muriel has seen in our world. Scroll down to find some interesting events happening on Muriel's birthday throughout her lifetime:

2006 Ethiopian troops eject the Islamic forces from Mogadishu, Somalia

1997 Hong Kong begins slaughtering all its chickens to prevent bird flu


1997 Russia signs agreement to build a $3B nuclear power plant in China

1994 B737-400 flies into a mountain at Edremit East Turkey, 54 killed

1994 Bangladesh government of Zia resigns

1991 12th United Negro College Fund

1991 Boeing 747-200F of China Airlines crash into mountain at Taipei

1989 Jane Pauley says goodbye to NBC's "Today" show

1989 Wayne Gretzky and Martina Navratilova, named athletes of decade by AP

1988 Victorian Post Office Museum in Australia closes

1984 Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi claims victory in parlimetary elections

1983 U.S. announced withdrawal from UNESCO

1982 Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica

1982 Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant ends his career with Alabama (323 wins)

1978 Spain constitution goes into effect

1975 11 killed, 75 hurt by terrorist bomb at LaGuardia Airport in New York City

1972 Eastern Tristar Jumbo Jet crashes near Everglades killing 101

1972 Life magazine ceases publication

1968 Israeli commandos destroy 13 Lebanese airplanes

1967 Star Trek's "Trouble With Tribbles" 1st airs

1965 CBS purchases NFL TV rights for 1966-68 at $18.8 million per year

1955 Barbra Streisand's 1st recording "You'll Never Know" at age 13

1954 Kingdom of Netherlands, with Netherlands and Netherlands Antilles as autonomous parts, comes into being

1948 Canada recognizes Israel

1948 U.S. State Department announces work on placing objects into Earth orbit

1940 Germany begins dropping incendiary bombs on London (WW II)

1937 Ireland adopts constitution (Irish Free State becomes Eire)

1934 1st collegiate basketball doubleheader (MSG)

1933 Yankees refuses to release Babe Ruth so he can manage the Cincinnati Reds

1930 Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam in the Mississippi River from Ford Dam, Minn, to New Orleans

1922 Dutch Constitution proclaimed

1920 Yugoslav government bans Communist Party

1908 Patent granted for a 4-wheel automobile brake, Clintonville, Wisc

A Busy Afternoon

Here at Serenity it is important for us to keep busy; and did we ever have a busier day!? After lunch today we kicked off the afternoon with some old-fashioned tunes and sit-down dancing. It’s always fun for us to just relax with our friends and have a bit of fun getting a workout! And once we were finished with our dancing we decided to head to the kitchen to take a break; but Nathan was waiting for us with one of his projects.

We quickly started making Chubby Crayon Crafts which was a blast for all of us! First we found some old crayons, broke them into small pieces and then put all the different colored crayons into muffin pans. Then we melted the crayons in the oven and mixed the colors together once the crayons had turned into liquid. Once the crayons had hardened again we took them out of the pans and voila! Our Chubby Crayons were super colorful and fun! When we had finally finished the project we all took a well-deserved coffee break.

Take a peek at these pictures to see the good time we had. Above is a photo of Sandy, Bonnie and Gen getting the crafts prepared and below is a snapshot of Muriel, Henrietta and Lois who were waiting for the Chubby Crayons to melt.

Elvis is in the Building!

You won’t believe who visited Serenity this weekend! Elvis Presley stopped by for an exciting party complete with some of his favorite foods and best tunes. The King brought hamburgers complete with ice cream sundaes for dessert. Aside from a few other fun games there was even Elvis trivia to test our knowledge of Rock ‘n’ Roll! The whole dining room was decorated with fun Elvis paraphernalia including posters and guitars. We even had the chance to get our pictures taken with The King!

Take a look at these snapshots to see the fun we had! Pictured above is John who is rocking out with Elvis and to the right is Muriel who is trying her hand at the guitar!

A Gorgeous Afternoon

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!” All of us here at Serenity had a lot of fun making (and eating) our very own homemade ice cream today. After we were done eating lunch, some of us decided it was the perfect time to go outside and see what the weather was like. And we were followed by all the staff who had lots of fun activities for us!

We started the afternoon by making homemade ice cream. It was really fun! First we filled a one gallon Ziplock bag half full with ice cubes and added at least six tablespoons of rock salt. In another sandwich sized Ziplock bag we mixed ½ cup Half & Half, ¼ teaspoon vanilla and one tablespoon sugar. We then placed the smaller bag inside the larger one and shook the bag until our mixture became ice cream. It was a lot of fun and tasted great!

After we were done making ice cream we weren’t given much of a break before we began tie-dying t-shirts. We all began by drawing neat designs or writing our names on the shirts. Sometimes it took a while to think of the perfect designs to draw! Afterwards we twisted the shirts and tied rubber bands all over them so that once they were dyed there would be some really nifty designs left on them. Then we picked out our favorite colors that we wanted to use on our shirts and got to the messy part and started dying the shirts. It was fun to just look around at all the different colors our friends were using! We then let the dye sit for a few hours; and tomorrow we’ll get our freshly washed shirts back in time to wear them for our Jamaican night on Friday.

When we were finally finished with the exciting activities it was just nice to sit back and take it easy. After all, it’s summer!

To get a glimpse of all the fun we had take a look at the pictures from this afternoon! The top photo is a group shot of a few of the ladies who enjoyed making the homemade ice cream (from left to right: Muriel, Henrietta, Claryce, Cleo and Lois). To the left is Bonnie with her freshly tie-dyed shirt; and to the right is Abbie who is having a blast trying to find the perfect colors to dye her shirt.

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)!

Birdbaths

Many of us here at Serenity enjoy watching the birds come and go throughout the summer months. And just to make our flying friends stay a bit longer we decided it was time to build a few birdbaths! We rounded up a few birdwatchers and got to work.

First we carefully painted terra cotta pots and saucers with our favorite colors. After we were done painting we glued the pots to the saucers and then finished with a few touchups. We finally sealed them and now they are ready for the birds! You can come for a visit to see these creations or just take a look at the pictures here.

Above is a photo of Florence and Claryce working diligently to create a couple of the birdbaths. Henrietta, Lois and Muriel also fashioned some of the beautiful creations!

A Perfect Cut

The ladies and gentlemen here at Serenity are looking pretty sharp these days. At Serenity we have our very own beauty parlor and we invite local hair stylists to cut hair for those individuals who would like this service. This is really nice because all we have to do is walk down the hall to get our hair styled just the way we like it! In fact, many of us take the time to use this luxury to get spruced up from time to time. Just today the hair stylist came to Serenity to keep all of us looking good. Throughout the day we often heard compliments on new hairdos and the confidence that comes with them. And who doesn’t enjoy a fresh haircut!? Take a look at this photo as Muriel takes the chance to relax as her hair is styled.

Keeping Sharp

Sometimes finding the right words is difficult for all of us. But if you are Esther Hilger and Muriel Kaercher, searching your brain for the appropriate words can make for an entertaining game. Esther and Muriel have been playing Scrabble together for quite some time now and it’s pretty amazing what creative words they pull out of their heads to rack up the points! And keeping such an active mind is not just child’s play. According to a research study from the Journal of Neuroscience, doing activities such as reading a book or completing a crossword puzzle can stimulate the mind to delay and even possibly prevent the onset of dementia related diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Though previously thought to be a normal part of aging, experts have now declared that cases of extreme memory loss are not part of the normal aging process at all. Therefore, more dementia related diseases are being researched along with Alzheimer’s to find cures for these illnesses. Currently there are some drugs that have had some success in slowing the dementia process, but there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Because of this, it is important for scientists to research other possible methods to combat dementia. This study suggests that if we keep our minds active by fulfilling mind-provoking activities, we could slow or even prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. So even though playing games like Scrabble just keep Esther and Muriel happy, their brains are working hard at leading a healthy life. Just take a look at the two pictured here as they challenge each other’s wits!



(Check out this study at http://www.news-medical.net/news/2007/01/23/21487.aspx)