Today we had a perfect family Sabbath. We all got up at 8 am, had breakfast and dressed up for church. Troy wore the sweater and one of the ties that Carol and I gave him a couple of birthdays ago; Alexei had his white shirt, red vest and tie on; and I wore my new green, white and black dress with black boots. I also curled my hair using Keri’s hot rollers. Then, at five minutes to ten we walked to church and we got there just in time for Alexei’s Sabbath School. He was an extremely good boy during the program. He sat obediently on his chair, returned things when needed and sat on my lap eating the gold fish they passed around during the adult lesson. During church he was good too. He was happy to sit on Deric’s and Keri’s laps, play, clap and talk during prayers. Only at the end of the service did Troy have to take him out to help regain the good behavior.

When church was over, we walked back home. We had some lunch, except for Alexei. He was tired and after a couple of bites I put him in bed for a two hour nap. Troy napped too, and I designed three cards (two birthdays and one wedding) to give out during the month of March using my PrintPerfect program . As soon as the nap was over, we dressed warmly and with a couple of grapes for Alexei’s snack, we all went to Lake Artemesia to catch the last hour of Sabbath light. It was rather cold and the place was deserted. Alexei enjoyed watching the ducks and geese in the water; other birds, airplanes, and helicopters in the air; and the Metro train zooming nearby. Plus, we couldn’t get away without our favorite past-time of throwing sticks in the water. As the darkness approached and it became colder, we walked quickly to the car and drove to eat at the Olive Garden restaurant.

We had so much fun watching Alexei eat. He sat in his highchair throughout our entire meal. I ordered Eggplant Parmesan for myself, Fettucini Alfredo with the sauce on the side from the kids’ menu for Alexei, and some bread/cheese/tomato appetizer. In addition to all this, we got two bowls of salad and breadsticks (it came with the meal). So, Alexei had fun with his food. He loved the olives from the salad, which he ate after putting on his fingers, croutons from the salad, and his pasta in the sauce. He drank water (using a straw), but only when I drank from my glass. He drew a little bit on the paper with the crayons the restaurant provided. This time he got an orange and blue colored crayons. He also flirted with the people at the table behind us. We all loved the food, got our leftovers wrapped up in two boxes to go, paid for everything with the two gift cards that Aunt Vera and Cheerie Lou gave us for Christmas and went to the mall across the street.

At PG Plaza, Alexei had a ton of fun and I am sure that the people who watched him did too. He went running and laughing and talking in the main hallway. He did not like us going into different stores, but at the end we went into JC Penny and Daddy bought Mommy a sleeveless blouse for $32 and change. Leaving the store made both Alexei and Mommy very happy. I am not so sure about how Daddy felt. Oh well, Mommy has a beautiful outfit finally complete. She has a woolen cream color skirt with a tanktop and sweater that match and look just gorgeous (on her too)! Thank you Daddy!

When we got home, I gave Alexei a quick bath, he ate some more, we brushed our teeth, read a couple of books and I put him to bed. Troy took the dirty diapers out, cleaned the kitchen a little and now, after I finish this blog entry we are going to watch an episode of “Mad Men!” What a wonderful day we had!

Today I made Lasagna. I made it by memory. It turned out pretty good. The only thing I forgot to put in it was the mushrooms. My husband liked it. And this is what matters. He had a piece and I had a piece twice as big. This is they way it goes in our family. I eat twice as much as my husband. I don’t mind it at all, because I am a “growing Mommy", a breastfeeding mommy rather. And the best part about it is that I do not gain weight! And I love cooking for my family. OK, that’s it so far for the first post. I’ll try to make the next one a little more interesting. Thanks for reading!