What's Been Going on at the Remmers?!

Yikes!  It's been a really long time since I posted anything on this blog!!

Unfortunately, once you slip, it just keeps piling up and piling up and then you never want to start because there's so much to say that you just don't know when you'll have time to write all!  ARGH!!

In pondering this situation this morning, I realized that the thing that holds me up is uploading the accompanying pictures.  So, to speed the process along of documenting the last couple of months, I'm just going to bullet list everything we did.  I may or may not add pictures later.

• March 21:  Lyn left for her first solo trip to visit family on the West Coast.  She had a great time!
• March 23:  John spent the day at the temple with other youth from our church.
• March 24:  Margie participated in a mock voir dire, or jury selection, helping Fairfax County Public Defenders prepare for their trials.  It was a lot of fun!
• March 27:  Easter.  We missed having Lyn be with us for our annual family picture!
• March 28:  Lyn came home.  Yay!
• March 29:  John participated in a Scouting Board of Review and the next day advanced to Star Scout.  One step closer to attaining his Eagle!
• April 1:  John went with his class on a field trip to the Newseum.
• April 2:  The family participated in our assignment church cleaning.  Margie was supposed to attend training for her new position as Cubmaster, but was feeling sick.  Dan started building the Once on This Island set for Edison High School.
• April 8:  Margie went with some girlfriends for a weekend trip to Wisp Mountain, also visiting Falling Water during a freak snow storm!
• April 13:  John was selected by his Civics teacher to attend a tour of the Fairfax County Courthouse, as well as sit in on a real trial.  Margie went as a chaperone.  It was very interesting!
• April 15: Margie hosted her first Cub Scout Pack Meeting.  This is a monthly get together with all the boys, 8-10, that she oversees, as well as their families.  All the kids made percussion instruments and then played them in a special performance orchestrated by a local Eagle Scout.
• April 16:  John ran sound for his middle school production of Seussical.  Unfortunately, the rest of the family couldn't come see it because we were busy catering the cast and crew luncheon for Once on This Island.  We went to see the show that night and John got to sit in the audience.  The kids did a great job!
• April 22:  John attended a dinner hosted by his Young Men leader, then came to see Once on This Island with us.
• April 23:  Margie attended a regional scout meeting in Ashburn.  It was really far away, but she learned a lot and is glad she went.
• April 27:  Margie volunteered at Finance Park.
• April 29:  John went camping and completed a 10-mile hike in preparation for the 50-mile hike he would be doing this summer.  He needed some help carrying his pack every so often, but in general, his leader said he did a great job.
• May 4:  John went on a field trip with the school News Crew, which he has been on this year editing videos.
• May 5:  Margie hosted her last Honor Roll Assembly.  She has been the Honor Roll Assembly chair at the middle school for four years, and it's time to hand over the scepter.
• May 6:  The family attended a performance of To Kill a Mockingbird at LTA.  Dan designed the awesome set, and his sister Debbie tried her had at set decorating for the first time.
• May 7:  Margie took the kids to a performance of the rarely performed musical, Starlight Express, at a local high school.  We loved it.
• May 11:  Margie volunteered at Finance Park.
• May 13:  John and Dan attended the annual church Father Son campout.
• May 14:  Lyn attended a party in preparation for her work as Youth Camp Leader this summer.
• May 17:  Margie and John met with the guidance counselor at the high school (yes, John's going to be in HIGH SCHOOL) to discuss possibly participating in a new pilot Global Stem Challenge program next year.  This is a program that combines math, science, engineering and computer science into one class, working in conjunction with local businesses to solve real world problems.  He's going to do it!
• May 18:  Margie volunteered at Finance Park.
• May 25:  Lyn went kayaking with some of the Young Women from church.
• May 27:  Margie and Lyn attended the annual Thespies, a drama department awards show at Edison High School.  It was fun.
• May 29:  The family attended a potluck after church.
• June 2:  Margie participated in another mock jury.  This time in Loudon County.
• June 3:  Margie attended the funeral of a dear friend's husband, who died of complications related to Alzheimer's.  In the evening, she and John attended the Twain talent show.
• June 4:  The whole family helped with the Opening Night Party for History Boys at LTA.  One of John's classmates was in the show, so it was kind of fun.
• June 8:  Margie, Lyn, and John attended the temple and for the first time ever did work for our own ancestors.
• June 10:  Margie participated in a blood drive.  It was a kind of a neat experience because there was a woman there who had been a blood recipient over 40 times and was awaiting a liver transplant.  She came to encourage, thank us, and hold everyone's hand.  It make the whole experience very real.
• June 11:  Margie hosted Pack Meeting at Huntley Meadows Park.  It was hot and yucky, but the boys had a great experience.  That evening John attended a swim party for a friend's birthday.
• June 12:  Seminary graduation.  For the second year in a row, Lyn received the Thomas S. Monson Award for Excellence.
• June 13:  Dan attended the LTA annual meeting.  There were no contested races, to Margie opted to stay home.
• June 15:  Margie and Lyn had a spa day and got our nails done!
• June 18:  Lyn and John performed in a church "roadshow"--basically a mini-play. Twelve local congregations each put on a show based on a given theme.  John shocked everyone with his on stage dancing!
• June 21:  Margie went with her friend Jennifer Lyman to see a taped live show of James Corden in One Man, Two Guvnors, for which he won a Tony Award.
• June 23:  Last Day of School!  The kids celebrated by joining their friends in a trip to Shadowland--our local laser tag place.
• June 24:  Margie and John attended at financial seminar at USAA.  John is really into money and finance, so we thought this would be a good introduction--plus he could make some connections for some summer work experience.  It wasn't as great as we'd hoped, but he did learn some good info.  In the evening, Margie and Dan attended History Boys.
• June 25:  Attended a going away party for a family who was leaving the area.
• June 26:  Attended a Front of House Appreciation Party at LTA.  Margie has served as the FOH Inventory Coordinator for a couple years now.  The rest of the family helps cater Opening Night Parties.  John and Margie each one $15 gift certificates in a drawing!  That evening, Margie attended training for her upcoming roll as a Youth Conference Chaperone.
• June 27-July 1:  John hiked and camped in the Finger Lakes region for Boy Scout High Adventure.  He hiked a total of 50 miles!!  Meanwhile back at home, Margie served as a Day Camp Walker, overseeing a dozen Cub Scouts as they participated in several activity stations, including archery, BB guns, crafts, etc.
• June 28:  Lyn attended a party for the girls she would be overseeing at the upcoming Girls Camp.  Meanwhile, Dan attended a dinner to meet and get to know the crew of his upcoming show, Dinner With Friends.
• June 29:  Lyn went on a day hike to Old Rag. 
• July 4:  As usual, we started the day with the annual church breakfast to celebrate the holiday.  Margie and Lyn were asked to sing the National Anthem in a women's acapella group.  And that was all we did!  We didn't even attempt to see fireworks.  We're just all stick-in-the-muds when it comes to Virginia summer!
• July 5-July 9:  Lyn attended Girls Camp this year as a Youth Camp Leader.  She had a great time.
• July 6:  A friend was in town on her way to Spain.  Margie and John met her, her kids and some other families for brunch and then a trip to Shadowland.
• July 9:  John got an iPhone!  Also, Margie went with some girlfriends to an Escape Room--something that had been on her bucket list.  Basically, you're trapped in a room and have clues to figure out a mystery before time runs out.  Unfortunately, time ran out for us, but we were pretty close.  It was fun!
• July 10:  Lyn attended a Young Women's brunch to continue to work on her Personal Progress--a personal development program developed by the church.
• July 11:  The whole family went to the dentist.  No cavities!  One of Lyn's teeth was "sticky"--basically in a "pre-cavity" stage, so we made another appointment to get it bonded.
• July 13:  John and Margie had to go to the Apple store to replace his new iPhone, which was "bleeding data" and charging us $15 every 30 minutes!  Ack!!
• July 14-July 16:  Margie, Lyn, and John attended Youth Conference.  They had a great time.  Margie had to leave early on the last day to attend another funeral--the husband of another LTA friend.
• July 18-July 23:  John and Lyn attended "Especially For Youth" (EFY), a religious camp sponsored by BYU.  They both said it was the best activity they did all summer.
• July 18:  EFY was held in Buena Vista, which is about 3 hours away.  Margie drove the kids down in the morning, and then, not wanting to drive all the way back, stopped to visit her friend Alison in Luray.  Despite the rain, the two of them headed down to the river for some wading and girl talk.
• July 22:  The kids needed to be picked up at 7am on Saturday morning.  Instead of driving down so early in the morning, Dan took the day off on Friday and he and Margie went down to a BnB not far away.  There we swam, went on a little hike, played some pool, and had a great German dinner.
• July 23:  Picked up the kids and headed back to the BnB, where we all had an amazing brunch.  Dan and Margie had planned a day of sightseeing as we moseyed back home, but the kids just really wanted to go to their own beds, so we went straight there instead.  On the way, we finally listened to Hamilton.  We were slow to get on that train, but we finally made it, and, like the rest of the world, we're hooked.
• July 27:  Lyn and Margie went to the dentist.  Lyn got her first filling (sort of, it was really just bonding), and Margie got one of her teeth bonded as well in order to protect the root and make it less painful to eat.
• July 28:  The whole family went to see West Side Story at LTA.  Dan's set was amazing.  It was so cool to watch everyone climbing all over it.
• July 30:  Since Lyn's birthday was on Sunday this year, we decided to take her out to eat on Saturday.  Aunt Debbie and Uncle Doug joined us for lunch at House of Dynasty.  A friend of Margie's who is a food writer has been raving about this place for years, saying it's the best in the area.  Margie kind of poo-pooed him thinking chinese food was chinese food, but she's now eating her words.  It was fantastic.  She still dreams of the orange eggplant she had there.  Yum!
• July 31:  For Lyn's actual birthday, we didn't do much except make her favorite dinner--orange lentil salad.  BTW, she is planning on having a "friends" party after school starts, as most of the people she knows are gone on vacation.
• August 1:  Went out to dinner to celebrate the 30th wedding Anniversary of our dear friends, Dan and Susan Maher.  We felt very special, as we were the only non-family members there.
• August 5-August 6:  Lyn got a job doing some assembly work for a company called TwinGo.  It was kind of weird, though.  At first they didn't want her because they thought she was too young, but after she proved she was better than some of the 20-somethings that had been hired, the home business owners had her fold laundry and clean their house? It was very strange. But, at least she got paid!
• August 8-August 10:  John attended an Entrepreneurship Summit, the first of its kind sponsored by Junior Achievement, which also runs Finance Park (where it was held).  Fifteen teenagers were tasked with solving a real world problem, developing a product and marketing plan, and presenting their solution to a group of judges acting as potential investors.  He did an amazing job and really shone in the final presentation!
• August 8:  Dan and Margie attended yet another funeral for a dear friend from LTA.  Margie declared that there had been too many funerals this year and that she would not allow any more!  Unfortunately, that would not be the case...
• August 11:  Dan, Margie, and Lyn attended a presentation on "Supporting Your IB Student" at the high school.  IB, or International Baccalaureate, is the top level class offered in many subjects.  Lyn is taking a few of them this year and is a little nervous.  Junior year is the toughest in all of high school!
• August 12:  Due to repaving of the church parking lot, Pack Meeting was held at our house.  We had several outdoor water games.  It was a lot of fun, but Margie sure wishes the landscaping was done--including the swimming pool we plan to install!
• August 13:  To celebrate Dan and Margie's birthdays, the family went to Sandy Springs Adventure Park and climbed trees!  It was a fun ropes course with many difficulty levels.  Despite the horrendous heat and humidity, we had a lot of fun and plan to go back as soon as we can--though it's not cheap.  After showers and naps, we headed out to our favorite ethopian restaurant, then Ben & Jerry's for dessert.
• August 14:  Lyn attended an "Adopt-a-Grandma" brunch.  This is a program started by the Young Women to reach out to lonely seniors at church.  Unfortunately, her adopted grandma was not in attendance, but Lyn enjoyed the pancakes anyway!
• August 16:  Since we had already celebrated Margie's birthday at the ropes course, her actual birthday was pretty low key.  Since Margie is doing a two-week raw stint, Dan and Lyn made her a raw apple pie.  It was both beautiful and delicious. After dinner, we headed to LTA to finish a major closet clean out.  It didn't seem right for Margie to be working so hard on her birthday, but as Lyn pointed out, "It's so Mom to spend her birthday organizing!"
• August 19:  Margie and Dan attended a memorial for yet another dear friend from LTA who died. Later that evening, John made another trip to Shadowland.
• August 20: Margie had the day off work, and we hadn't done much in the way of fun and relaxation this summer, so she and the kids decided to spend the day at Pirate's Cove.  It was so great to be in the water on such a hot day--nearly 100 degrees!

And here we are!  All caught up!

Of course, there were lots of things we've been up to that couldn't fit in the play by play above:

• Dan has been busy designing and building sets--West Side Story, Dinner with Friends, and soon, Lion in Winter.  We hardly see him anymore.  Last fall, he developed what we thought was a sty in his eye.  When it didn't go away after several months, he finally went to the doctor and discovered it was a "chalazion" and he had to have it removed.  That was fun. Also, the basement bathroom was falling apart (it wasn't in the remodeling plan because at the time it was the best bathroom in the house!), and Margie thought it would be an easy thing to just take everything out and put in new shower, floor, and vanity.  So we closed the AirBnB for two weeks, thinking it would only take one, but just to be safe.  Turned out it was a much bigger job than we thought, problem after problem, poor Dan was going crazy and cursing up a storm, Margie felt horrible that she was putting him through this, and it ended up taking THREE weeks (we had to put our guests upstairs).  ARGH!!  But, he finally finished, and it's gorgeous.  Oh yeah, and we just found out that he was on a team of three people that won "2015 Scientist of the Year" at NAVSEA.  Woo hoo!
• Speaking of AirBnB, Margie is still managing our listing and things are going well.  We had someone come and stay the entire summer, which is nice because we don't have to clean the space as much or deal with checking people in and out.  But our tenant is leaving next week, so that routine will start up again.  Margie has also been busy figuring out how to be a Cubmaster, and though it's been 6 months, she still feels like she doesn't know what she's doing.  Margie spent most of her spring doing a major home clean out for a friend who has terminal cancer (enough of the dying already!).  It was a lot of work, but she was grateful she could help.  The friend was super appreciative.  She said that she just felt so bad leaving her family with such a mess, and the work Margie did brought her a lot of peace and comfort.  Speaking of cleaning out, Margie has also been working to clean out the supply cabinets and closets at LTA.  Every 6 weeks, Margie restocks these, and it has been driving her crazy that things are such a disaster.  She finally had had it, so she coerced Lyn and John to come to LTA at 7am every morning for a week and help clean.  That was the only time we could do it due to LTA summer camps.  They were such troopers!  Next week, Margie will begin yet another huge clean out--this time of the Edison High School Costume room.  In addition to all this pro bono work, Margie has been super busy with her paying clients as well.  As you may remember, she added professional organization to her list of services at the beginning of last year.  Business has been booming so much she can hardly breathe!!
• After they came home from EFY, Margie declared that summer vacation was over and the kids needed to get to work.  Lyn spent two weeks planning, prepping, and cooking meals, and together we did some house cleaning, and of course the work at LTA.  She applied for a job at Robek's, the smoothie place, but was told by the owner that he didn't hire people who couldn't work on Sunday.  That was a huge bummer.  She's done some babysitting here and there, and there was the assembly work at TwinGo.  Now she has settled into working for Margie doing some organizing jobs.  Right now she is spending most of her time working on making digital photo albums.  She enjoys it, and she's getting paid well (higher than minimum wage!), but we wish she could gain experience working for someone other than Margie.  The last two weeks, she has also been learning daily money management as she has been responsible for paying our household bills and keeping on top of our spending.  She's definitely keeping busy!
• John, too, has been keeping busy.  For two weeks, he was responsible for the daily money management, then it switched and he helped with meal planning, prepping, and grocery shopping.  He also has been working with one of the Young Men's leaders, who is an accountant, on some projects.  Both kids have had summer homework assignments, but John has more than Lyn.  She only had a book report, while he had a book report, a history assignment, and an assignment for the Global STEM challenge.  And, of course, piano doesn't stop during the summer around here!  All this, plus scouts, has kept him very busy and out of trouble (so far!).

Anyway, that's all our news.  I think I'm FINALLY caught up with all that has been going on since spring break!  I hope to finish out the year with more frequent updates.

Hope you all are doing well!

Happy Easter!

This Week at the Remmers'

Well, I thought this had been a relatively quiet week until I started brainstorming everything that went on.  It never stops around here!

On Monday, we had little bit more work done on the house.  The ceiling in the basement bathroom was crinkled from years of built up moisture, so we had it replaced.  Unfortunately, this disturbed a nest of cluster flies, which had been hibernating somewhere in our walls.  On Tuesday morning, our poor Korean house guests woke up to three huge flies in their tiny bathroom, and we have been fighting them all week (the flies, not the house guests!), killing more than 6 per day (flies, not house guests).  I felt terrible for them (the house guests, not the flies), but there is nothing we can do except wait for them to die out (the flies, not the house guests!).

In better news, also on Monday, we held our annual Pi Party.  Nope, that's not a typo.  On March 14, nerds around the world celebrate PI (3.14) by eating PIE.  We had a HUGE crowd (almost too big for our tiny house!) and it was a lot of fun.

This year there was a special twist!

On Tuesday, Margie was invited to attend a special "parent input" meeting about the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Program (MYP).  This is something our schools are in the middle of implementing, and the official representatives wanted to get a sense of how it is going. Margie was worried that 1) she didn't know enough about the program to offer any good input, and/or 2) she was going to say something that made the school lose points.  Ack!  But it all turned out fine.  Whew!

Later that day, Lyn got her driver's permit!!!!  Ack!  Here we go on our next adventure...

She's permitted!

On Wednesday, Margie was excited for finally pick up her bike from the shop.  She had brought it in several weeks prior for a spring tune up, as well as some much needed repairs.  Unfortunately, when she went out on the trail Thursday morning, it was still broken!!  ARGH!!!  Margie was very upset and convinced Dan to go with her back to the shop and strong arm them into fixing it.  Turns out he wasn't needed, though.  They gladly made some adjustments, and she was on her way.

Top o' the mornin' to ya! Margie was looking forward to a St. Patrick's Day ride, but found out her bike was still broken the moment she got on it!

Due to the issues with the bike, we weren't able to celebrate St. Patrick's day in style.  We feasted on our Colcannon on Saturday instead.

On Friday, we said goodbye to both of our children. Lyn went on a long-promised solo trip out to the Pacific Northwest to visit family.  She had been wanting and waiting for this for some time.  Her cousin Emily had made the reverse trip a few years ago, and last year we promised Lyn that she could do it, too.  Unfortunately, Margie waited too long to buy the tickets last year, and it was cost prohibitive.  We are grateful we have such a patient and understanding daughter!

Lyn's first solo transcontinental flight!

John also left on a trip, but his was much shorter, camping with his scout troop.

With both kids gone, Dan and Margie got to go on a little date night.  We took the opportunity to visit one of our favorite restaurants, Hawwi (which neither of the kids like), in Old Town.  If you are local and enjoy Ethiopian food, check it out!

On Saturday, Dan and Margie went on a little bike ride along Accotink Creek.  It was nice to have two working bikes and hang out together, but it was cold!  Plus, for some reason, there were dead frogs everywhere.  Margie remarked that she thought she might be in Egypt!
 
After the campout, John headed over to help out with a friend's Eagle Project.  He built some furniture and helped out with some organizing projects--both of which he has a lot of experience with(!)--at a local Chamber of Commerce.  Meanwhile, Lyn seemed to be having a good time West of the Mississippi.

With Uncle Tom at Cousin Emily's robotics competition.

Skagit Valley Tulips.

Well, that's all our news.  Hope you're enjoying this first day of Spring!

This Week at the Remmers'

My goodness--I don't know where the time went yesterday!  I'm supposed to have lots of time in the morning before church, and my goal is to write this update then, but time got away from me--it may have something to do with the fact that I was SO EXHAUSTED from the jam packed weekend!

But let's start from the beginning...

Last Sunday, John performed in his Pre-Festival Piano Recital.  This takes place at his music teacher's home, and it is an opportunity for all her students to show off their stuff and perform in front of an audience before the big day, when they'll play and receive a score from two judges.

John did a great job.  In fact, he did so great, that we were a little worried that he peaked too early!  Last year, as you will recall, he fell apart in the recital, and we chalked it up to "bad dress rehearsal, good performance"--and that's exactly what happened.  This year, he did so well that we were concerned that the opposite would be true, but luckily it wasn't.  I'm getting ahead of myself, though!

On Monday, John and Dan bagged food for the needy at Arlington Food Assistance.  This was part of John's community service hours required for his Civics class.  They had done this once before, and it was a great experience.  John still has some hours left, though, so he's planning to learn how to usher and house manage at LTA.  That's still to be scheduled, though.

On Wednesday, Margie attended her very first scouting Round Table.  Since it finally became official last Sunday, I guess now is a good time to let the cat out of the bag--she has been called and sustained as the new Cubmaster.  This means she oversees the cub scouting program (boys 8-10) for three of the congregations that meet in our church building.  It is a HUGE job, and she's terrified and overwhelmed, (and why do they keep asking her to work with little kids?), but she's been training/working on it for a month now, so she's beginning to settle in a little bit.  Anyway, the Round Table is a monthly meeting of scout leaders in the area, and it will allow Margie to meet others, get trained, get ideas, etc. 

On Thursday, we attended a potluck put on by the North Franconia Civic Association (NFCA).  We do not have an HOA in our area, so this group is an opportunity for our neighborhood to have a united voice to local legislation in civic matters.  We also get group discounts and stay informed on what's going on in our community.

Though we are long time members of the NFCA, we don't usually attend their social gatherings.  This year was a little different, because they had as their guest speaker, Jeff McKay, who is our district supervisor, and they asked us to submit questions in advance.

Margie is on a mission to get our street name changed. There are 9 homes on Franconia Forest COURT that are numbered 6200 through 6208.  ALL of these homes have a house with a corresponding number on Franconia Forest LANE.  As you can imagine, this situation is extraordinarily confusing for visitors.  We get eachother's mail, packages, pizzas, service workers, etc.  Basically, anyone who wants to come to our houses on the court needs special instructions about the difference between the LANE and the COURT.  Deliveries are frequently missed because the driver comes to the wrong house.

Jeff's answer was that we needed to submit a petition, which would be reviewed by the board of supervisors, and then, if approved, submitted to VDOT.  Since it only affects 9 homes (well, 18, if you count the corresponding houses), I'm not sure how much attention we'll get.  Margie will have to talk to the neighbors and find out their thoughts.  Margie has noticed, however, that most people are more likely to tolerate a bad situation than she is.  She is frequently baffled at this fact and wonders why more people don't stand up and make a change!!  Anyway, not sure what will come of it.  Stay tuned!


We left the potluck a little early so that we could head over to The Little Theatre of Alexandria and catch the performance of The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged).  Margie had seen it in New York many many years ago, so she knew it would be a treat for the whole family.  It was very funny, and the kids loved it.  If you're in the area, there's one week left--check it out! 


On Friday, our busy week turned into a frenzied weekend.  As part of her duties as Cubmaster, Margie plans and executes a monthly Pack Meeting, which is a time for the boys and their families to get together for fun, games, and awards.  Unfortunately, John's Festival performance was scheduled for the exact same time!  So, she planned the whole meeting, got everything set up, and then let her committee run the evening.  She heard great things!

This month's theme was "Thrifty" (one of the points of the Scout Law), and the evening was centered around reusing, recycling, and re-purposing items.  As people gathered, each family was presented with an identical "genius" kit, which contained a variety of items such as pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, buttons, aluminum foil, etc.  They were instructed to "build a house, fit for a mouse."  After the opening ceremony was presented by the Bears, the Webelos performed a skit about re-using tin cans and some string as a telephone.  Awards were then presented, and everyone got to talk about the creative things they were able to come up with for their mouse house.  This was followed by a presentation of several items which volunteers got to think of creative uses for.  The evening ended with refreshments provided by the Wolves and served in unusual containers.  A great time was had by all!

Unfortunately, we missed it.

Instead, we headed to the neighboring town for Piano Festival.  On our way there, we stopped for dinner at the local Byzantine Catholic Church, Epiphany of our Lord, which, every Friday during Lent, serves a traditional, Slavic meatless meal of Pierogi, Halushki, and Soup.  We typically try to get take out there every year, but this was the first time we have eaten in. It was fun!  We enjoyed a leisurely meal, and then sauntered out to the car.  We planned to have lots of time to get to the Festival location with extra time to find parking, find the performance space, and be there early to test out the piano and relax.

But as we walked to the car, suddenly Margie realized--WE FORGOT JOHN'S MUSIC!!!!!

John had the pieces memorized, but we needed to provide the music to the judges so they could follow along, as well give them the judging forms to mark.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes, having a race car driver in the family is very handy!  We raced back home, John ran in to get the music, and then we raced to the performance location.  Our hearts were pounding!!!  Miraculously, we not only got there, we got there with plenty of time to spare.  We were able to find the room, John was able to test the piano, and we all had a chance to breathe and relax.  Whew!


We won't have the results for a week or so, but John did extremely well in his performance. He suffered a little bit from the poor piano.  It was not as responsive as ours, so he had a difficult time expressing the dynamics in his pieces--as did everyone else in the room.  I suspect the judges will note this on the form, but I don't think he'll lose points for it.  He did very well, and we expect a high mark.  Dan said that one of the judges had a huge smile on her face during one of the pieces.  That's a good sign!

There was no rest for the weary, however, as Saturday we headed into John's Odyssey of the Mind competition.  This year, for their long problem, his team presented their version of an Aesop's Fable.  They chose one called "The Bear and the Two Travelers".  (Google that if you've never heard of it--we certainly hadn't!)  John played the narrator.  They did a great job and got some great feedback from the judges.  The set they build was a giant book that opened into the story--so that was pretty cool.  Their overall score was 80%, which is decent, but not likely to send them on to the next round.  We'll find out the rankings at a later time.

John sat out of the spontaneous round.  This is the one where they all have to come up with creative solutions to a problem that is either verbal, an object, or both verbal and object.  They had six members of their team and only five could participate in this round.  John had previously said that if it was verbal, he wanted to be the one to sit out.  He said that it's verbal every year, and he prefers the other two.  This is unfortunate, because this round is where he excels!!!  The question this year was "If someone left a box on your front porch, name something you wouldn't want to find inside."  As we were brainstorming in the car on the way home, we said your typical things, like "a severed head," "poop", "a bomb"--you know, things you'd think to find in a box.

We then asked John, who was in the room, but not participating, what he thought of that his team didn't say.  He responded with things like "a paradox", "a black hole," and "doubt."  THIS KID CRACKS ME UP!!!  We suggested that next time, he not sit out.  He's just too good!!!

After the competition, we raced home so the kids could change clothes, and then we took them to the church to prepare for the annual Youth Service Auction.  This is the one fundraiser that the kids do each year to raise money for Summer Camp.  They serve a spaghetti dinner and then auction off various services like babysitting, car washing, lawn mowing, etc.  There are also baked goods that they make and auction.  This year, John offered Chess lessons and cookies.  Lyn offered homework help for elementary school kids and a family portrait.

It was a fun evening, but it had been a long day, and we were all pretty exhausted when we finally got home.


On Sunday, we were all pretty tired from the weekend's events, and it didn't help that we lost an hour due to the time change.  In addition to our regular three hours of church, Lyn, John and Margie all had hour long meetings for their various callings (Lyn is Mia Maid President, John is Teacher's Quorum Secretary, and Margie, as you know, is Cubmaster), and Margie and Lyn had choir practice.  So I guess that explains where the time went!

I hope you all are doing well and looking forward to the coming Spring!

This Week at the Remmers'

As always, things were hopping at the Remmers' this week.  It actually seemed like kind of a quiet one until I started writing things down for the blog!

On Sunday night after church, Margie attended a preparedness seminar hosted by one of the congregations that shares our building.  I guess the National Guard experience last week really brought home the need to be prepared in case of an emergency.  One valuable take away she learned was to put "ICE" in the contacts in your phone.  This is "In Case of Emergency," and it provides first responders with a quick an easy way to reach your loved ones if something ever happens to you.  If you don't have one, put it in right now!!!

On Tuesday, there was no school due to the Primary elections, which were expected to have a "historic and unprecedented" turn out.  There was no line when Margie voted, so I don't know if the school closure was really warranted after all.

John's Odyssey of the Mind team took advantage of the extra time, however, and held another practice.  I hear they made good use of it and are feeling good about the competition coming up next weekend.

On Wednesday and Thursday, John took the 8th Grade Writing SOL (Standards of Learning) test.  We will not get his results for awhile, but hopefully he did well.  Margie is especially nervous since 5th grade is supposed to be "the writing year," and that's the year he was homeschooled.  He did write a lot that year, but since he didn't take the SOL, we don't really have a baseline measurement.  Fingers crossed!  By the way, his essay topic was "the pros and cons of competition."  That seems like something worth writing about...

On Friday, Lyn attended her first costuming meeting for Once on the Island.  She says things are going well, and she is especially looking forward to costuming the gods.  Both she and Dan, who was at rehearsal the next day, say that the cast is really ahead of the game.  Dan is particularly impressed with the choreography.  We're looking forward to a great show!

That night, we hosted a Doctor Who Dinner Party.  Last Halloween, you will recall that John dressed as Doctor #11.  We attended a church function that night and found that there were two other Doctors there (#10, and another #11).  We figured they were cool people we wanted to get to know better, so we invited them and their wives (neither couple has children yet) over for dinner.  Of course we had to make all the food Doctor Who themed!

We had celery in honor of Doctor #5, Roasted Fez Peppers and Bow Tie Pasta in honor of Doctor #11, Adipose Tofu with Broccoli in honor of #10, and of course "Fish Sticks" and Custard for dessert.  This was in honor of #11, but instead of fish, Margie used Walkers Shortbread Sticks, which is a product of Scotland--where the actors that played both #10 and #12 are from.

To drink we had Rose Lemonade (in honor of the Doctor's companion, Rose Tyler) and Jones Soda (in honor of both the Doctor's companion, Martha Jones, and the British Prime Minister in many episodes, Harriet Jones).  Margie even decorated the glassware with Doctor Who characters.

We all had a great time eating and getting to know each other.  They are, indeed, pretty cool people!

John with Drew Bahr, the other #11, Halloween 2015.

John with Mike Hill, #10, Halloween 2015.

Yummy, Doctor Who-themed food.

...and beverages.

When people chose their drink, they got a character.

Only one person really dressed up, but Margie joined the fun with the marking of the Silents.

Saturday started with Dan heading over to the high school to begin work on the set for Once on the Island.  A student had designed it, and while it looked cool, it wasn't very practical to build, so Dan is going to have to do some adjusting.  Luckily, he knows what he's doing.  The other dad that typically helps build the sets there is not available for this show.

Dan also helped John's Odyssey of the Mind team build THEIR set.  He's not allowed to build it at all--just provide insight and advice--so John took charge.  It's a good thing John has so much experience from putting together all our new furniture!  He was a natural with the drill.  He even used the circular saw.  Yikes!  It's a good thing mom wasn't there to watch...

Tonight after church we are headed to a Pre-Festival Recital at the home of John's piano teacher.  This will give him an opportunity to play for his peers and their families before heading to the competition (Festival) next weekend.  Hopefully it will go well, but if it doesn't, that will be fine, too.  Last year, John entirely forgot his music at the recital, but then played perfectly at the competition.  We'll see!

Hope you all are doing well.  I don't know about you, but we are certainly looking forward to the lion to head out and the lamb to head in.

Wrapping up February

Dear Loved Ones,

As February comes to a close, I thought I'd send everyone a note and fill you in on the latest news.  I figure if I write a little more frequently, it will be a little less cumbersome.

On Monday, February 15, we braved the slush and ice storm and headed out to a restaurant in Arlington, where our friend Sabrina Campbell was hosting a viewing party for her appearance on Food Network's Cake Wars.  We were on the edge of seats and were thrilled to learn that SHE WON.  It was very exciting, her cake was gorgeous, and she treated everyone to a slice of the prize-winning flavor.  Yum!

John enjoyed drinking root beer and making new friends. 
Lyn was there, too, but we didn't end up with a picture of her!

On Thursday, February 18, Margie's friend Alison came for a visit from Luray.  Alison runs the hostel there, Open Arms at the Edge of Town, so she doesn't get much time away, and this was the first time she was able to see the new house.  Margie had fun showing her around and telling her all about the remodel.  Afterwards, Margie took Alison to her favorite grocery store, Fresh World, to help Alison find some specialty ingredients for a Mongolian Hot Pot party Alison was hosting the next day. 

That night, John and Margie attended a portion of the Fairfax County School Board meeting.  As part of his Communications merit badge, John had a requirement to attend some sort of a public meeting where an issue would be debated, so he could listen to and record both sides.  It just so happened that the School Board was debating that night whether or not to close school for the Primary election on March 1.  John thought the meeting was pretty boring, but Margie was grateful he had the opportunity to see our community in action.  And by the way, the motion passed in the affirmative.  No school!

On Friday, February 19, the family helped put on the annual Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet.  John is no longer in Cub Scouts, so let's just say that we were helping a friend who was out of town.  It was a bit chaotic, but everyone seemed to have a great time.

The next day, Lyn and John attended the annual "mini-MTC" (Missionary Training Center), which allowed them to get a feel for what it would be like to serve a mission for our church.  They had a great time and learned a lot.

Last week, Margie had an interesting experience--her first paid acting job, serving as a "victim" for a disaster training drill for the National Guard.  On Monday, she went to training.  On Tuesday, she went on her first assignment.  You can see her instructions in the picture below.  It was a LOT to remember, and she was so nervous!!  Unfortunately, the weather was so bad that they had to alter the drill to only include the hospital visit, and cut a few of us who were categorized as "Non-Ambulatory" (NA), as well.  So, she ended up spending 8 hours wet and freezing in a drizzling tent.  It was a rough, but exciting day!

The next day went much better.  This time, the drill was held at RFK Stadium (the day before we were on a fire department training campus), and instead of waiting in a tent, we actually got to hang out INDOORS, where there was HEAT.  Margie's acting instructions were also much shorter and easier to remember.  Whew!  Unfortunately, there was a thunderstorm (and tornado warning) coming that afternoon, so they had to pull out sooner than they had planned, and Margie only got to participate in one drill.  Still, it was a great experience, and unexpectedly emotional, as it seemed so real that Margie began feeling genuinely worried about her family and what would happen to them in such a horrible disaster (the drill was an IED in the stadium).

That night, Dan, Margie, and John attended a meeting to go over plans for John's first High Adventure Camp Out for the Boy Scouts.  This summer they will be heading to the Finger Lakes Region of New York, and it sounds like they are going to have a great time!

Thursday morning, Margie attended the Honor Roll Assembly for John's school.  Technically, she is the Honor Roll Assembly Chair (her fourth year in the position), so she is supposed to be in charge of it, but she thought she wasn't going to be able to be there due to the National Guard Training, so she had turned it over to the person she has been training to take over next year.  It turned out Margie could make it after all, and while it was great to come and support John, it was a little weird to see someone else doing her job without her!

Friday morning, Dan and Margie headed to Lyn's school early in the morning to continue the clean out of the scene shop.  We were able to organize and label all of the small parts, so hopefully as parents and students begin building in a few weeks, it will be much easier for them to work. 

That night, Lyn and Margie had a little girls night as we went to see some friends perform in a local high school production of The Little Mermaid.  It was a cute show, and they did a great job!

The next night, Margie went on a "big girls" night out for dinner with some theatre friends.  They had great food and conversation!  Meanwhile, Lyn went to a church dance.  She almost got John to join her, but he opted out at the last minute.  Maybe next time!
 In other news, Dan continues with work and sets--he attended the first read-thru of To Kill a Mockingbird, and it looks like it's going to be a great show.  This past week he also attended a meeting for West Side Story, where he got asked to design A Winter's Tale, this time at TAP (the Arlington Players), which has a HUGE stage.  That will be a challenge! 

In addition to her acting adventures, Margie continues working steadily as a professional organizer.  Lyn has had a little bit of a break since the One Acts closed, but is gearing up to costume Once on this Island, which is coming up soon, and John continues to practice the piano and work on Odyssey of the Mind--both of which have big competitions coming up in a couple weeks.

And that wraps up February.  A big shot out to Margie's Uncle John, who has a birthday tomorrow--one he only gets to celebrate every four years.  It's how he stays so young!

Catching up on 2016

Dear Loved Ones,

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day.  Things were quiet around here, though there was definitely chocolate involved!

This morning we are greeted by another winter storm, which has derailed our plans for the President's Day holiday, so I thought I would use my newfound time to send an update with what's been going on in our family so far this year.  It's been a rough one!

Over the Christmas break, Margie got sick with bronchitis, and she still wasn't recovered by New Year's Eve, so she and Dan spent the holiday apart.  Dan took John to our friends' New Year's Eve party, while Lyn attended a church dance.

Then, on New Year's Day, Margie hurt her back and couldn't move.  This lasted several weeks, exacerbated by the lingering cough from her bronchitis.


On January 4, the kids went back to school, and, with the exception of Margie being flat on her back, everything seemed to be roughly back to normal for awhile.

On January 16, the family gathered to celebrate John's 14th birthday, as well as exchange some post-Christmas presents, since we had spent the holiday apart.  It was fun to see everyone and gather in our new family room.

John is growing like a weed.  His 14th birthday, and he's almost as tall as Opa!

On January 17, we attended a Youth fireside introducing the 2016 Theme for the church teens, "Press Forward with a Steadfastness in Christ."  You can find out more here.

Around this time, Lyn got sick as well.  She missed school on Wednesday, January 20, which turned out to be the only day of school for two weeks!  On Monday, January 18, Dan and the kids had the day off due to Martin Luther King Day, and on Tuesday, there was a pre-scheduled teacher work day.  On Thursday, the storm hit, which would leave everyone home bound for quite awhile--school was canceled for an entire week!

In all, we got about 30 inches.  We were grateful to have our new windows and doors, which allowed us to stay comfy and cozy. We were also grateful for the snow blower that Dan's mom gave us before she moved to Florida many years ago.  Dan used it to shovel our driveway over and over and over!!

This snow drift outside our sliding glass door is much more impressive when you realize the ground is about 2 feet below the bottom of the door.

Poor Dan.  He kept shoveling and shoveling that walkway, and the storm kept right on covering it up!

It turned out that the snow storm was a huge blessing in many ways, however.

First, Lyn was scheduled to perform in the One Act Festival, but she since she was so sick, she would not have been able to attend rehearsals, and perhaps even the performance.  As it was, however, the performances were rescheduled for a week later and all went well.  She played "The Innocent" in a student-written play called "Another Stereotype," and she was in the ensemble of a kabuki-style performance of  "Urashima, the Fisherman."  She did a great job in both!

Second, Margie and the kids made great use of being at home by cleaning out and organizing the pantry.  It had been bugging Margie for awhile, and it looks so good now!  Not to mention things are easy to find, store, and keep track of.

Margie later added some labels and some better containers for a few items.

 John also used the time to knock out some merit badge requirements for Boy Scouts.  One of them was to work on a project that would benefit the family.  To Margie's delight, he chose to clean up and reorganize the family recipe book, dividing it into individual binders for each type of recipe, and reprinting and hole-punching those recipes that were well-used and falling out.

Also during this time, Margie picked up a new client.  A family she went to church with years ago moved from Woodbridge to Arlington and needed to some help unpacking, decluttering, and organizing.  Since school was out due to the snow, she was able to bring John along to help.  He earned a nice chunk of change (his first real "job"), and we were able to get unpacked much quicker with his help.


Since we can't seem to get enough of cleaning and organizing around here, Dan and Margie volunteered to help clean out the scene shop at the high school.  Dan had worked on the set for the fall production and had offered recommendations on how the parent boosters could help improve this area.  In the meantime, the drama department received and failed a safety inspection in there, so the drama teacher was eager to accept our help.  So on February 6, Dan and Margie spent the day with a few other parents and students cleaning out the shop (Lyn was in rehearsal all day, while John was home sick (his turn!)).  It was a LOT of work, but we really made a dramatic improvement.  I wish I had remembered to take before and after pictures!

Since then, things have calmed down and continue to roll along. Everyone is now well, and the kids are back in school.  Dan is back at work and continues working on a couple sets for LTA.  To Kill a Mockingbird is up next--he designed the set, but doesn't have to build it, which is nice.  His sister is going to be doing set decoration for the first time.  It will be an adventure!  John's English class will be reading the book this quarter, and we're hoping it works out that we can host a group to come see it and perhaps have a talk back with the actors and/or production staff afterward.

While the inside still has a handful of things that are not quite finished, on February 11, we met with the landscape designer we hired to come up with a plan for outside.  It's going to be expensive, and we're now out of money, but now that Margie's business has picked up, and we're getting fairly steady income from our listing on AirBnB, we plan to start working on it piece by piece.

The first step will be the driveway and car pad.

Next, we'll start working on the patio, fire pit, and, of course, pool.

Margie also continues to be busy with her volunteer job as treasurer for the high school drama boosters.  At the end of January, she was finally released from her calling as secretary of the children's organization at church.  After about a week of break, she was assigned a new calling.  Since she hasn't yet been sustained by the congregation, she can't reveal what it is, but it is HUGE--far more work than she was doing in Primary.  It is also overwhelming and scary, but we believe that church assignments like these are designed to push us past our comfort zone so that we can learn and grow.  It also teaches us humility and provides opportunities to rely on a strength beyond our own.  She will be spending lots of time on her knees, and that's the point.

In other news, John is preparing for Piano Festival, which coming up March 11.  He is also getting ready for the Odyssey of the Mind tournament that same weekend.  This past week, he met with his counselor and registered for HIGH SCHOOL.  Ack!!!  Not sure Dan and Margie are prepared to have two kids in high school.  How did we get so old????

On February 1, Lyn qualified to take the test for her driver's permit.  She is doesn't seem to be in a hurry to take it, however.  Margie spent every day for a week asking her about it and finally told her that she would just wait for Lyn to tell her when she is ready.  Who knows when that will be, though Dan is very anxious to get started with the driving lessons!

Well, that's all our news.  The snow is falling now, but the temperature is expected to be the 50s tomorrow.  Crazy!