Anna Grows

Anna delivering cookies It's February, which can only mean two things:  girl scout cookies and Aunt Loren in Florida.  Let's start with cookies. For whatever reason, Girl Scout cookie sales begin right before Christmas.  Thanks to the unusually warm weather, Anna covered a lot of ground in the neighborhood and sold over 200 boxes.  The fun really begins in February when the cookies arrive for delivery.  Theresa once again served as troop cookie mom and ran the troop cookie distribution network out of the Fagella garage - all 2,100 boxes.  Anna borrowed the neighbors wagon on a semi-nice day between snow storms and managed to get most of her cookies delivered.  Next up:  cookie booth sales. February also means it is Florida time for Aunt Loren (the rest of the family lived vicariously through her).  She stopped in Virginia on her way home to New York for a weekend visit.  Fortunately it was just in time to consult on Anna's school...

Anna working on her snow house The Great Blizzard of 2016 struck the Washington DC area on January 22, bringing with it 22-30 inches of snow.  The Virginia Fagellas hunkered down for the weekend prepared to battle the storm. In typical fashion, Washington goes into a panic over snow.  The hype began early in the week and people fled to the local grocery stores to stock up.  In the midst of the hype, what everyone missed was the forecast for 1-2 inches of snow on Wednesday night beginning at rush hour.  Since no snowplows were out (they were busy preparing for the big storm), what resulted was traffic mayhem as snow began to fall.  Over 1,500 accidents were reported.  Roads were so clogged with stuck vehicles, that people began abandoning their cars.  It was not uncommon for folks to log 6-8 hour commutes on normally 30 minutes trips.  Theresa counted herself very fortunate to get home just as the snow was starting that night. When the real...

It is not everyone who's birthday is a national holiday.  Such was the case for Joe who celebrated his birthday on January 18.  Now granted, the national holiday was actually Martin Luther King Day and Joe was the one that had to work (Anna and Theresa were off) - but it was a holiday nonetheless. Joe celebrated with his loving family, some gifts, and Italian dinner, and a cake that Anna made.  Happy Birthday Joe!

White House Christmas Tree It was 72 degrees.  The cherry trees were starting to bloom.  We were wearing shorts and t-shirts while getting ready to celebrate the holidays.  Easter you say?  Why no - it was Christmas 2015.  It was a bit hard to get into the Christmas spirit while wearing shorts and listening to "White Christmas," but it did make decorating outside easier.  Anna enjoyed a busy December with no jacket required. The season kicked off with a search for the Fagella family Christmas tree.  This year, thanks to the balmy weather, Mom decided it would be nice to take a trip to a tree farm and cut down a tree.  The setting was lovely and the task seemed easy, but it took two hours to find the perfect family tree (Theresa was looking for a particular type of tree but they were all too small).  The other mission was to get a large tree since various members of the Kohler family would be visiting for the holidays.  Normally the...

Thanksgiving with the Fagellas It was a glorious warm Thanksgiving Day for 2015 - perfect for a drive north on I-95 to New York.  Uncle John, Aunt Yvonne, and Deborah were hosting the Fagella family festivities and several of the Fagellas were able to make the trip. Anna and family started out early Thanksgiving morning in an effort to avoid the traffic.  Thanks to the early arrival, everyone got to enjoy the beautiful 70 degree weather at Liberty State Park in New Jersey.  The views of the city were spectacular.  Anna thought the large playground at the park was even more spectacular.  It was a great way to enjoy the afternoon. Deborah, Andrew, James, Luke & Anna After a tranquil visit to the park, we rejoined the traffic masses and headed to Uncle John's house.  After some quality time waiting to get over the GW Bridge (where we were greeted by the sight of police officers with M-16s - you gotta love the increased terrorism threat level), ...

Anna at the completion of the race Saturday marked a big milestone for Anna:  she completed her first 5K! This was part of a new group at school - Girls on the Run (www.gotr.org).  GOTR met twice a week at 7:30 AM for a 45 morning practice.  There were 13 girls (3rd and 4th grade) who joined the group.  The program is not only about running but about setting goals and making healthy living decisions.  The grand finale of the program is a 5K race.  Several moms helped assist, including Theresa who served as one of the coaches. Anna & Sophie before the race Another part of the program is a community service project.  The girls voted and decided to collect donations for the local animal shelter.  What this meant for Theresa was a trunk full of cat food and dog biscuits to drop off at the local shelter.  Joe borrowed the car one day and for a brief moment thought he had the wrong vehicle when he opened the trunk to find a bunch of...

Another soccer season has come and gone.  Anna was fortunate to continue with Coach Tom and Coach Dad for the fall soccer season.  There were a few new players on the team, but many of Anna's friends returned for the season.  The Red Lobsters finished the season 2-2-4 (that's right - there were 4 tie games). The girls were excited to play in their first tournament on the last Saturday of the season.  Well, they were excited until they realized the game started at 8 AM on a Saturday morning (Coach Joe was not that excited about that start time).  Anna is definitely not a morning person and the coach has learned not to start her in any game before 10 AM.  It was also the coldest and windiest game of the year.  Needless to say, not to many girls were that upset when they lost the game.  Fortunately hot chocolate and doughnuts were waiting for them afterwards followed by a brief awards ceremony.  Anna received the "Fleet Feet" award for her s...