Tina Overton,Manager

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1 April, 2017 Issue IV Courtyard Coordinators Tina Overton, Manager Rocky Clark Healthcare Coordinator Shana Plumbeck Gayla Gilliland Community Relations Coordinator Stephanie Harris, Chef Chris Wood Life Enrichment Coordinator Dennis Mein Maintenance Technician If you haven't signed up for ACH yet, and want your $25..there is still time! Stop by Tina s office to get the paperwork.. We have move-in specials for April and May! Call or text Gayla ( ) for details.. Light Up the Night will be on Saturday June 24th. If you would like to help with this event to End Alzheimer s,, See Shana in the Garden.. COURTYARD CARES About your health! Our Live 2B Healthy Exercise class is open to the public on Wednesdays. We will even pick you up and bring you home! Come early and join us for breakfast April.the month of things renewed: Buds on the tips of tree branches are preparing for new leaves on the way. Sleeping flowerbeds are breaking through their winter slumber ready to show-off their new blooms. The grass is losing its dormant brown to a cool crisp green. And our nesting eggs are coming to Courtyard! Their incubator will be (safely!) placed in the coop we have ready for them. Like the cycles of the seasons and the wonders of all new life, watching baby chicks break through their shell is egg-citing to see. Throughout April we will have a small menagerie of animals here at Courtyard. You never know what type of critter you might see! The real critters to watch out for are all of the little kidders on April 9 th when we have our Big Egg-stravaganza Day! We will have the Easter Egg Hunt, games, door prizes and other activities that will make you egg-static to be here! WE ARE PLANNING FOR A CROWD! Don t let me down! I LOVE EASTER...sighhh. April is also Spring Cleaning Month! If you are removing winter s waste from your yard, check with the city for the days you can dispose of branches and limbs, its location, and the requirements. Bondurant begins collecting branches and limbs on April 1 (no leaves, grass or garden waste!) and on the 1 st Saturday of each month. (Hear that siren? Get your limbs and branches ready!) The drop off location is the corner of Pleasant St NE & NE 86 th. (Each city has scheduled dates, so check with your city hall.) We are hoping to add an outdoor Spring Cleaning Day, but our days fill so fast. Still, hope always burns eternal for us at CYE. This brings me back to Spring Cleaning! We want to help our residents begin the task of clearing out closets and drawers for those things you haven t used, don t want (or wonder what was I thinking?). For those residents who are able to give permission for our help, we will put everything not wanted in a box or pile for families to go through and take. We will not remove anything from a resident s room until we have clear authority to do so. If you prefer to do this yourself, let our staff know what we can do to help get the job done. We would like to have Spring Cleaning done by April 22nd. We plan to begin the arduous task of deep cleaning apartments. It will help if you have the clutter cleared. HOWEVER: Please understand THE DEEP CLEAN- ING of APARTMENTS WILL BE A MARATHON and not a sprint! Please bear with us as we tackle this job. Tina Overton,Manager manager1@courtyard-estates.net

2 Ride to Be Healthy- LIVE 2B Healthy! Come to Courtyard Estates on Wednesdays and the ride is on us! Every Wednesday our Live2B Healthy Fitness Program for Seniors is open to the public. Want to attend but need a ride? No problem! We will pick you up and bring you home! Where: Courtyard Estates at Hawthorne Crossing 601 Hawthorne Crossing Dr. SE Bondurant, Iowa When: Every Wednesday Time: 9:45 Come early and have a heart healthy breakfast! Please Call to reserve your place!! Gayla Gayla Gilliland Community Relations Coordinator community@courtyard-estates.net

3 APRIL - A TIME OF RENEWAL FOR THE SPIRIT AND THE SOUL The cold and cloudy skies of winter leave many of us seasonally sad and depressed, mostly through the months of January and February. The increasing number of sunny days lifts our spirits, making April the perfect month to renew our spirit and soul. This is an article I found on wikihow with 8 simple ways to shake the negativity away. How to Clear Your Mind and Soul of Negativity Many people have been through a lot in their lifetime. Negative seeds sown into our hearts get stronger and more difficult to throw away. It is like planting an acorn seed: As the oak tree grows bigger and stronger, the roots go so deep into the ground it is nearly impossible to uproot. There will always be some roots left behind. If you follow these simple steps, it will help clear your mind and soul from negativity; but you have to do it with an open heart, an open mind..and a spirit of hope. 1. Find faith in yourself. It is a good idea to get to know you first. Forget about outside forces; pay attention only to your life and the experiences that have shaped you into the person you are now. Think about those things you like about yourself and include the traits you would like to change. Write them down. Set attainable personal goals. Faith will come. 2. Just let it go! The negative experiences of the past do not define who you are. Let them go and keep them in the past where they belong. Those experiences are now over. They cannot hurt you anymore. Recognize them for what they are: distractions to your inner peace and happiness. Close your eyes and imagine the negative feelings floating away. Smile. Everyone has the right to be happy. That includes you. 3. Allow scripture and prayer to influence your mind, body, and soul. When was the last time you picked up a Bible? Sat quietly in reflection and prayer or thought about God at all? Set aside some time each day for He time. God is always there. He is waiting for you. 4. Think positively. Talk in positive terms. Use positive words. Surround yourself with positive people and activities. Fill a glass half way with water and keep it nearby to remind yourself the glass is always half-full. 5. Take 15 minutes out of everyday for reflection. Turn off the TV, radio, the phone or anything else that can be a distraction. Find your comfy seat or lie down. Clear your head of clutter. If you should fall asleep, enjoy the nap! Your body is sending a message that you needed the rest. 6. Exercise. participate in a local exercise class. Ask a neighbor or friend to walk with you. Go for a bicycle ride if you are able. Turn on some music and dance. The benefits of exercise are enormous! It releases endorphins and helps you feel good. 7. Listen to your favorite music. If music can soothe a savage beast, just think of what it could do to get your brain into a happy, positive frame of mind. 8. When you feel down or angry do not bury it. Go for a walk. Take deep breaths in the fresh air. Give yourself time to calm down. The thoughts in your heart where those feelings have matured into hatred and contempt need an exit strategy. Share how you feel with someone you trust. If necessary, get professional help. king through those feelings is the best way to make them go away. Rocky Clark, RN Tips Remember that even an unpleasant event can be a great lesson learned; turning a negative into a positive! If you find yourself falling into a bad mood, take a few deep breaths before you react. Try to identify what is pulling you down then decide if it Is something worth the fall.. Recognize when someone is trying to antagonize or provoke you into a verbal spar. Ignore them and do not take the bait. Tell them firmly you are not interested. If they persist, walk away from the situation. Better to keep the positive energy flowing than dragged into their negative net. Laughter is best medicine! Learn to laugh at yourself and your mistakes. People enjoy those who can laugh at themselves and willing to share the stories when things went wrong. Everyone has had those experiences and will appreciate your openness. Do not blame your negative thoughts and emotions on other people. They have no control over what you think or how you feel. Your feelings are your own. Take ownership of them. The Blame Game damages more relationships and it is hard to restore relationships to their former glory. Value the person and the relationship you share with them. HOWEVER; some relationships are toxic. If your gut tells you a friend isn t the good friend you thought they were, gradually break it off without causing a scene.

4 WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD? Did you know Pay close attention to the April Newsletter. There are chickens placed everywhere! Count the chickens, chicks, roosters - everything poultry! Give your total to Chris and earn CYE Dollars The answer to that question has the people plagued who ponder puzzles dating back to Galileo, who searched the stars for the answer. No one has ever been able to get a chicken to talk. They just scratch and strut and act stupid...as if anyone is believing them! They are much smarter than the want us to believe. The fake answer to the question that has circled the globe by way of a rumor has been: To get to the other side. It would be partially believable if it wasn t for the fact that there is nothing on the other side. There have been different attempts made to catch a chicken talking to another one. During the Middle Ages, chicken checkers kept watch to catch chickens chatting. Chickens in Salem were under the constant scrutiny of The Poultry Police witch hunters. Today, the latest and greatest technologies have been used to keep 24 hour surveillance on various coops and roaming chickens. Every effort ended in failure. It s been rumored that the closely guarder answer to this question is whispered into the ear of the chicks before they hatch. And being the young chicklets that they are, they have been known to repeat what they hear from their. A break in the mystery came in the early part of 2017 when a resident of CYE discovered the real meaning behind the brock brock uttered by the chickens: It s chicken brock-morse code! DID YOU CATCH THE TONGUE TWISTERS FROM THE STORY? Plagued the people who ponder puzzles Chicken checkers watch to catch chickens chatting Courtyard Chicken Checkers Catch Chickens Chatting Just for fun...try and say each tongue twister fast 10 times! How many times could you do it??? With luck and Tina, CYE has a unique opportunity of the arrival of incubated chicken eggs in April, courtesy of our very own Tina, the chicken whisperer. What a stroke of unanticipated luck! We will be the first ones to get the real answer to this question! Do you know what this means? We will become famous and have our own weekly reality television show! Who doesn t want to have their own weekly reality television show!? The working title right now is: Courtyard Chicken Checkers Catch Chickens Chatting. Challenge time...here is your challenge: Give us your best answer to Why did the chicken cross the road? Write it down on a piece of paper and turn it in to Chris by April 5th. For each resident who turns in an answer to Chris, you will get 3 Courtyard Bucks. You can only turn in one answer, Once we have everyone s answers, you will get a sheet with the list of all the answers that were turned in. You will vote for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place answers. We will tally the votes and announce the top three winners on April 9th during our Egg-citing, Eggceptional,Eggs-ellence Eggs-travaganza Top three winners will receive: First Place :10 Courtyard Dollars 2nd Place: 5 Courtyard Dollars Third Place: 3 Courtyard Dollars

5 March may hold the first day of spring, but April is the month of renewal and rebirth. During March, we planted seeds for both the flower and vegetable gardens and in April, we anticipate to see new seedlings break through the ground. This time of renewal and rebirth makes April a perfect month to focus on the Seasons...starting with spring of course! As we tend to our newly planted gardens, we will also work on the memories of spring: Can you remember the smells of spring? The feel of the breeze, the warm sun, and raindrops? The changing colors from a dull brown to the brighter hues of green grass and early flowers? It gives us the opportunity to feel the dirt, warm rays of the sun, sweet breezes that tousles our hair, and April showers. To round out our Four Seasons program for 2017, we will be taking walks around the building to work the kinks out of our legs and enjoy the sights of each season. The senses of sight, feel, smells, and touch engage our residents in discussions of the springs they remember and bring them a sense of well-being. There will be many baby animals around in April; our own CYE Mini-Zoo. Everyone is welcome to come over and visit us! Chris Wood BDLife@Courtyard-estates.net HOW OUR GARDEN GROWS APRIL: A TIME FOR REFLECTION AND REJUVINATION May flowers grow from the April showers that help them prepare for the new colors of the season. Like you, I am ready to see winter return to its cold and snowy corner and allow the warmer weather to break footloose and fancy free! The weather has been so crazy this winter and I m ready for the sun and even welcome the rain and thunderstorms. For me, April is a month to redirect our services for your loved ones as we learn the latest information regarding Alzheimer s and dementia. Courtyard Estates is participating in the Brain Works conference on April 18 th. We have a booth reserved and our mascot will be there to demonstrate our commitment to find a cure for this terrible disease. The conference will provide the latest research and certified speakers with an immense amount of knowledge. It includes discussions of the myriad of topics about Alzheimer s and dementia. I will bring some of that knowledge and research back to Courtyard Estates and share with the staff who are unable to attend the conference. The more we know the better equipped we will be to apply these strategies to our own program. The most important thing we can do is continually educate ourselves in everything that increases our knowledge and understanding. Continuing our education is out commitment to you that we will provide the best care and services to your loved ones with Alzheimer s and dementia. Our greatest rewards are the smiles and hugs we get when we see our hard work pay off. If you are interested in what we have learned from this conference, please contact me and I will be more than happy to share it with you. If there are a large number of you who would like to know more, I will pull together a class. ***SPRING CLEANING*** Through the month of April, we are planning to spring clean The Garden. I need your help! We need to go through every resident s room and identify what they do not want (or is not theirs!), what you would like kept, or gone. Anything you think needs to go to the dump, donated, or fixed please let me know! There could be a project in there for us, depending upon the condition. We will not remove anything until families have the opportunity to go through it first. Help make the Gardens look and feel fresh going into spring. We have a great April planned, you will really want to make The Garden a daily stop. Shana Plumbeck nurse3@courtyard-estates.net

6 April Save the Dates... April Calendar Highlights EASTER FAMILY BRUNCH SATURDAY, APRIL 15TH 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM April 1st Rear View Mirror April 5th Village Inn ~Pie April 9th Palm Sunday ~ ~Egg Extravaganza April 11th Lunch out ~Brick St. Market COST Adults $7.00 Kids 6-12 $3.00 Kids 5 and under FREE April 13th Egg Coloring April 14th Good Fri. ~ ~Making Easter Bread ~Planting th April 15 Easter Family Brunch April 16th Easter Sunday Games, Easter Egg Hunt, Door Prizes.GOOD FAMILY FUN! COME AND JOIN US! April 18th Art Center April 20th ~ ~Alzheimer s Support Group-Bondurant Wellness Wednesdays at CYE We have invited the public to our Live 2B Healthy classes every Wednesday. Please welcome our guests and make them feel at home! Sally April 7th Dorothy April 10th Rosie April 10th Wanda April 20th Are YOU participating in Live 2B Healthy classes? We have a challenge for YOU! Participate in all 18 Live 2B classes for 6 weeks and I promise you will notice an improvement in energy, stamina, balance and strength. PLUS I will give you 25 CYE bucks! If you attend all 18 classes. That more than DOUBLES your dollars Stop and see me or Shana for details. ROCKY, R.N. Thank you, Altoona Hy-Vee Floral, for the beautiful roses!