What a weekend!

Wow! This weekend was at times exhausting, invigorating, interesting, and relaxing!

It started on Friday when we had two other families over for Shabbat dinner before services at our shul. It was nothing fancy -- a spaghetti dinner served buffet style, but we all really enjoyed it. Between the three families, there were 5 adults and 7 children (4 of which are 6 and under!)! Add to that my large dog and two cats and you get a very full house! We always celebrate Shabbat, but we don't often have company for it. I'd like that to change, though! It was so nice to have other families over for a casual, fun meal and light the candles with a crowd in the kitchen! I think everyone really enjoyed themselves!

Then, we all went to services because I and one of my friends who was at dinner both had to "work" the service that night. It was the monthly family service, so it was targeted to the children of the congregation. We are very fortunate to have a Rabbi who is extremely child-oriented and doesn't get upset by children wandering around the sanctuary or talking or rolling on the floor! My boys may not be able to sit quietly through an entire service, but they enjoy going anyway! Their favorite part is when the kids are invited to follow the Rabbi as he carries the torah around the sanctuary.

On Saturday, one of the girls who'd been here for dinner on Friday came over and babysat the boys while her mother and I went scrapbooking with some of my FlyFriends. Again, we had a great time! There's something so energizing about being in a room full of women who have many of the same interests, problems, situations, desires and goals as myself! We always have a great time and this weekend was no different!

Of course, by the time I got home, I felt a migraine coming on, so I sent Handsome Boy to a neighbor's house to play and Cutie Pie and I crawled into bed and put Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on for the millionth time!

Sunday began with Sunday School as usual, but in the afternoon, we did something different - we went to the annual Winter Party sponsored by our local chapter of FRUA - Families United through Russian and Ukranian Adoption. We had a great time there! The boys enjoyed the buffet and the music and LOVED playing all the games with the other kids. I don't think that they really CARED that the other children there were from Russia, but they did think it was kinda neat! We even met a little girl who lives near us who is Roma (Gypsy), just like Cutie Pie! He doesn't really know what "Roma" is, but he is very aware that he looks different from the other three of us. I'd like to get together with that family again sometime so that at least Cutie Pie will know another Roma child!

We returned home to watch the Eagles game. I guess we all know what happened with that, right???? E! A! G! L! E! S! EAGLES!!!!!! Go, birds!!!!!

Anyway, after all that, it was all I could do to read the boys another chapter of Harry Potter and crawl into bed myself. I think I'm actually GLAD that the weekend is over!

Now..... onto the week!