Anna Grows

Anna & her piano teacher,  Mrs. Brauer Anna performed at the annual spring piano recital, which was held on April 28.  This is her fifth year of piano and she is having fun with the music choices.  Thanks to her piano teacher, Mrs. Brauer, Anna is expanding into jazz and blues music this year (her parents are REALLY appreciating the variety of music as well).  The recital is held at a local music store, which has a performance studio.  This is a brilliant marketing move on the part of the store as you must walk through all of the beautiful grand pianos on your way in.  By the time the recital is over, parents with visions of their child as the next Mozart or Billy Joel, browse the pianos eagerly (note - this does not apply to Anna's parents who have determined that she can achieve musical stardom using the upright piano she has if she so chooses).  The other entertaining part of the recital is that the two boys next store are also taking less...

Maggie, Anna & Hannah entertaining the crowd while selling Girl Scout cookies season is officially over and it was a good one.  Anna's troop exceeded their goal, selling 2,160 boxes of cookies.  Anna contributed to the total by selling 352 boxes of cookies (in case you are wondering, Anna came in third in her troop for sales, so that gives you an idea of the sales team).  The girls sold at local retail locations around Vienna (by far the most lucrative spot was a local CVS on a Sunday afternoon) as well as neighbors, families and friends.  The lead salesgirl for Anna's troop was particularly adept at getting donations from local banks.  Theresa has been warehousing cookies and helping with cookie booths - thus was very happy to clear the remaining cookies out today.  Anna's troop selected the USO as their charity, so today Anna and family drove to the USO warehouse at Ft. Belvoir to deliver 380 boxes of girl scout cookies for the soldiers.  I...

Happy Easter! Anna received a special treat for Easter this year.....a visit from Bonnie!  The other part of the treat was that Aunt Mary and James came too (well somebody needed to drive Bonnie....despite what the  golden retrievers driving in the Suburu commercial may lead you to believe).    Anna was thrilled for the visit. Bonnie was also excited to be on vacation in Virginia.  Anna showed her off to her neighborhood friends and had a great time playing ball and taking her for walks with James. Anna had a girl scout event on Saturday afternoon to learn archery, so Joe took Aunt Mary and James for a Civil War battlefield tour, including Manassas battlefield.  The weather was beautiful for all of the outdoor activities. There were many other exciting moments from the weekend, including: Aunt Mary arriving with Easter Bread (Joe was very excited about that) James skateboarding with Bonnie (you needed to see that one) James and Anna color...

Pocahontas, Betsy Ross, and Sacajawea Fourth grade in Virginia schools means Virginia History.  Anna is learning all about the establishment of Virginia, including the settlement at Jamestown, Native Americans, and of course famous Virginians like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  She is also learning a lot about colonial life, thanks to her project for colonial day. Colonial Day was held on March 17 and is the grand finale of several projects the students work on throughout the year.  Each of the 4th graders had to do a book report on a famous colonial American and learn how to do a colonial trade.  They then put together a display board for their project, dress up as their famous colonial American, and present their project at the "fair" to the rest of the school and parents.  Anna chose Betsy Ross and her trade was "Limning," which she learned was painting.  She focused on sign painting for shops. This all sounds like a fun, educational pr...

Mary Lou & Grandma enjoying Greek Food It is sewing badge time!  Thanks to Grandma and her friend Mary Lou, Anna's girl scout troop was able to earn their sewing badge.  Grandma and Mary Lou made a special trip out to lead the effort.  As a side benefit, they got to go to the Philadelphia flower show the next day. Leading 10 girls for a sewing project that involves the use of a sewing machine is not for the faint of heart.  Grandma and Mary Lou came up with a project that involved sewing a button and a straight stitch on the sewing machine.  The end result was a kitchen towel that you can hang over a handle.  Theresa secured a couple of sewing machines from the neighbor and Sofia's grandmother brought her old singer sewing machine along, for a total of three machines. Sewing with the Girl Scouts The first challenge was getting the two newer machines to work.  Fortunately Grandma and Mary Lou spent a couple of hours the day before workin...

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...