Sometimes

Sometimes I feel my heart overwhelmed and beating like hell.

It's gratitude and love what I feel, and fear of losing what I love most. 

Life was so difficult for me as a young girl, that now I find somehow hard to believe everything is so fine. A big, loving and happy family, good health, the blessing of doing what I like, the stars seemed to have finally lined up for me.

I wake up in the night and loose my sleep, because there is so much running through my mind. I'm afraid that I might wake up in the morning and find that all that disappears, as if everything was just a dream. You might say I don't live in the present, but it's exactly the opposite. I enjoy every day so much, I'm afraid to sleep so it won't finish. 

 

 

Maria's Choice

There is a Romanian tradition which says that, one year after baptizing a baby, the godparents have to cut a strand from the baby's hair and give it to his mother to keep. 

Even if I kept and practiced this tradition for every godchild I have, I didn't know until last weekend that this is not an orthodox custom, but a pagan one. The religion does not say to practice it, it has nothing to do with the church, but is a good opportunity for the family to gather and cherish the moment of being together. 

So, the tradition says that the godparents dress the baby with new clothes...

... offer gifts to the baby and let him choose some objects from a plate. 

 It is said that the child's future is designed by his choices, so the parents and godparents put on the plate kind of everything they wish the baby to pick, like books, pens, money, beauty gear, car keys, all the crazy stuff you can imagine. The baby can choose only 3 of them.

Wait, there is something more: the godmother has to break a cake above the baby's head, for wealth and luck in the baby's future life.

We take the tradition very seriously here, so Maria received all the necessary gifts to improve her future: new clothes and shoes (a very nice white collection), gold earrings and a necklace, a wonderful cake and, of course, toys. 

She chose the best possible things:

the Book

the Lipstick 

 

and her father's car keys.

Her brother, Andrei, took her in his arms...

... and made her melt of sweet brother's love.

Then, all the kids did what they know best: played and played and played again.

 

 

We are all wishing Maria the best and beautiful life, good fortune and plenty of love!

Good luck and good life, my dear niece and god-daughter!

Saturday Report

It was a beautiful weekend and we totally forgot about work, internet, plans and any other boring and bothering stuff.  I tried to increase my presence and I think I succeeded, I enjoyed so much spending time with Bogdan and the kids, you know, just living on basics. We don't need too much to be happy, just the presence of people we love, some food and some beer :).

We spent the whole weekend in a small village between the hills, one and half hour driving from home, in my brother's yard, playing with the kids, sleeping, barbecuing (I mean eating, because my brother prepared the food) and making soap bubbles. And pictures. That's why I'm telling you today only about Saturday, it was hard to choose from more than one thousand pictures, and Sunday was so glorious! I need to tell and show you more.

 Radu was the number one bubbles fan this time, he fought with Mara every 10 minutes for the bottle, even we brought one for each kid.

 Mara was running all the time, up and down, picking flowers and playing with Alexandra, her cousin.

Children's table...

 Our wise niece, Alexandra.

 Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles.

 Runa was very helpful with the kids on Saturday... I might tell you later what she did on Sunday :).

 Accomplices in action!

 Dolls in chains, lots of imagination flying around!

 Marian, my brother, preparing the wood for barbecue. He is the best!

 Meanwhile, Radu was overturning Runa with the beach chair... yes, he is very strong!

 There was kind of swinging competition...

 Maria won... she is 1 year old and her grandmother is teaching her to walk. She can swing better.

 But soon she's gonna run, no more grandma's help.

 Alexandra forgot about the soap bubbles, she has chosen the dandelions instead...

 Mara is already an expert in blowing dandelions!

 Sharing secrets...

 ... and wonders...

 It was Alina's birthday last week and we kind of celebrated her Saturday night! Happy Birthday, sis! We should do that again, because this is the first Alina's birthday we didn't dance!

 That's me, yep.

 My barbecuing brother!

My sweet sister-in-law.

 Ice cream devouring on Saturday, Paracetamol on Sunday.

 Told ya' I didn't know what to choose!

Bogdan doing what he does best! 

See you soon with the Sunday adventures (and some new and beautiful places to discover)!

I'm wishing you (and myself) a fabulous week!