Pulling Up

Daniel has started pulling himself up to stand. I need to get a picture of it. He just started crawling, and now he's doing this! He's just like Evi, I say--wanting to go, go, go. We also got a cute video clip of him "dancing" today to some techno music. I'll have to post that when I have more time. That's it for now!

Daniel a inceput sa se ridice in picioare saptamana asta. Trebuie sa-i fac o poza asa. Abia a inceput sa mearga pe branci, si deja face si asta! Este exact ca Evi, cum am spus inainte--vrea foarte mult sa mearga. Si am facut si un video scurt cu el "dansand" azi la niste muzica techno. Trebuie sa pun video-ul cand o sa am mai mult timp. Atat am pt. ziua de azi!

We're Home Again

We were out of power and out of the house for three days because of the winter storm that hit. We were glad to have shelter and heat at Dad's house--just a few miles away--during that time. I'm not sure what we would've done if it hadn't been for him. So, we're thankful for that and for the fact that our power is back on and we're home again.

N-am avut curent, nici caldura pt. trei zile din cauza furtuna de gheata care a inceput marti. Am fost plecati trei zile de acasa. Ne-am bucurat ca am putut sa stam la tatal meu si sa avem un adapost si caldura in perioada aia--el sta doar cateva mile departe de noi. Nu stiu ce am fi facut fara el. Deci suntem recunoscatori pt. asta si pt. ca avem curent acum si putem sa stam acasa din nou.

Scenes from the storm at our house...
Ce fe arata la noi in curte dupa furtuna...

Snow Day

We have all been home together today. Evi got a snow day today. And since I was working all weekend, today has actually felt like the weekend for us. And we're all just waiting for that big snow that's coming. There's a 100% chance of snow tonight, so we expect that Evi will have another snow day tomorrow. The schools sure do like their snow days around these parts! I just hope the snow doesn't melt too fast for the kids to actually enjoy it tomorrow.

Suntem toti acasa azi. Evi a luat o zi libera de la scoala din cauza vremii. Si din cauza ca eu am muncit tot weekend-ul, ma simt ca si azi suntem in weekend. Asteptam ninsoarea mare care trebuie sa vina. Este o suta la suta sansa ca o sa ninga peste noapte, deci cred ca Evi nu o sa aiba scoala nici maine. Scolile de aici se inchid des la iarna! Sper doar ca zapada nu se topeste pana copiii au o sansa sa se joace in ea si sa se bucure de ea maine.

Our day at home...
Ziua noastra acasa...

Allowance

Evi gets a real allowance now. She told us recently that there was something big she wanted to buy in the future. So I thought maybe this would be a good time to do an allowance with her and get her to be more consistent with doing chores (because, I tell you, we have not had a whole lot of consistency in our house in the past couple months). So far she's earned $6. She really is taking this seriously and starting to be more responsible and even starting to behave better.

Evi castiga bani acum. Mi-a spus in ultima vreme ca este ceva mare pe care vrea sa-l cumpere in viitor. Si m-am gandit ca poate este un timp bun sa inceapa sa castige cativa bani in fiecare saptamana pt. munca pe care o face acasa (ca pana acum a facut munca doar din cand in cand dar nu in fiecare zi). Pana acum a castigat $6, si este foarte seioasa despre asta. Este mai responsabila si a inceput si sa se compoarte mai bine.

The Time is Flying

Just a quick picture of my sweet baby who has turned eight months old today. He's growing so fast! He even has said his first word, if you can believe that. I'm gonna have to film him one of these days. After I say to him, "clap, clap, clap," he claps his hands and says "cla-cla-cla." He's done that several times today, so I'm going to count it as his first word. Very different from Evi's and Samuel's first words--Evi's was "num-num," and Samuel's "papa" (which is the kids version of "food" in Romanian).

Doar o poza cu bebelusul meu care a facut opt luni azi. Creste foarte repede! Chiar ca a spus primul lui cuvant azi, daca ma credeti. Trebuie sa-l filmez spunandu-l intr-o zi. Dupa ce-i spun "clap, clap, clap" (adica, "bate din palme"), el bate din palme si spune "cla-cla-cla." A facut asta de multe ori azi, deci consider asta ca primul lui cuvant. Este foarte diferit ca primul cuvant al lui Evi si al lui Samuel--al lui Evi a fost "num-num" (pt. mancare) si al lui Samuel a fost "papa."

The Long Stretch is Done

I'm back. I had eight straight days of work and school, and that's over now. I crashed on the couch or in bed very early every night last week. I'm going back to just weekend work for the time being. I'm so glad to be home with my little ones. I really missed them these past two and a half months that I was working all the time and trying to keep up with my school work as well.

We've got snow! Evi would've had a snow day yesterday had it not been that she was already off for MLK Jr Day. She was off Friday because of the bitter cold. So she's glad to be back today. It's still snowing very softly, but the roads are mostly clear so the buses can get to where they need to go.

Here are some pictures of the kids recently. Since Evi's been home four days straight, she's had lots of time just to play and use her imagination. It was fun to watch and listen to her play this long weekend (when I was actually home).

M-am intors. Am avut opt zile la rand de munca si scoala, si s-a terminat programul asta ieri. M-am culcat foarte devreme in fiecare noapte saptamana asta ca nu mai puteam. O sa muncesc doar in weekend de acum incolo. Ma bucur sa fiu acasa din nou cu copiii. Mi-a fost dor de ei in ultimile doua luni jumate cat am avut scoala si mai multa munca in acelasi timp.

A nins la noi! Evi a avut o zi libera de la scoala vineri pt. ca a fost foarte, foarte frig afara, si a fost libera si ieri pt. o sarbatoare (Martin Luther King Jr. Day). Deci a stat patru zile la rand acasa, si se bucura sa fie la scoala din nou azi. Mai ninge putin afara, dar strazile sunt curata, deci autobuzele pot sa faca drumul lor sa duca copiii la scoala si inapoi acasa.

Jos sunt cateva poze cu copiii pe care le-am facut in ultima saptamana. Evi a avut patru zile doar sa se joace si sa-si foloseasca imaginatia. A fost frumos sa ma uit la ea si s-o vad jucandu-se (cat am fost acasa).

Evi, Samuel and their new wagon from Grandpa
Evi, Samuel si carutul lor nou de la tatal meu

Playing in the front yard
Se joaca in curtea din fata la noi

How Daniel stayed warm--with a too-small hat for his big little head!
Cum s-a incalzit Daniel--cu un fes mic pt. capul lui mare!

Samuel fell asleep in the turned-over playhouse (before it was thrown away this past week).
Samuel a adormit in casuta copiilor rasturnata (inainte s-o arunce Nelu la gunoi saptamana asta).

And all three of my sweet little ones
Si toti trei impreuna

I Know What I Said...

...about not writing again anytime soon. But I just had to show you all this. Daniel is officially crawling now. He's not a pro yet, but he can get to where he wants to go.

Stiu ca am zis ca nu mai scriu pt. putin timp. Dar trebuie sa va arat asta. Daniel stie sa mearga pe branci acum. Nu este foarte bun la asta inca, dar poate sa ajunga unde vrea.

Busy Week Ahead

One of these days I'll post some more pictures. But it's been busy and will continue to be so for another week and a half. Please bear with me. I've been working on my internship application today as well as getting some housework done. Then I'll have a full week of work (plus a three-day holiday weekend of work) and school next week. I'll get back to writing and sharing pictures just as soon as I can!

Intr-o zi (cu soare si doua dimineti--cum spune Nelu) o sa mai pun niste poze. Am fost ocupata in ultima vreme si o sa mai fiu si in continuare pt. o saptamana jumate. Va rog sa aveti rabdare cu mine. Am lucrat azi la aplicatia mea pt. practica si la rufe si curatenie. Si o sa am o saptamana plina si un weekend (cu trei zile pt. o sarbatoare) de munca si scoala saptamana viitoare. O sa incep sa scriu si sa mai pun poze cat mai curand!

A New Development

The baby's got his first tooth coming in! We noticed it last night. I don't have any pictures yet--I'll have to get one once it starts coming in better and you can actually see it. He doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all. Just taking it as it comes, I guess. Another thing is that he's on the verge of crawling. He's so close but just not quite there. He did start pushing himself up to sit from the crawl position today, though. He's a little go-getter like his big sister, I believe.

Ii iese primul dinte al lui Daniel! L-am vazut aseara. N-am facut poze inca--o sa le fac dupa ce iese mai mult si poate fi vazut mai bine. Se pare ca nu-l deranjeaza. Si altceva este ca aproape merge pe branci. Este foarte aproape, dar nu poate inca. Dar azi a inceput sa se puna pe fund de pe branci. Cred ca este si el ambitios ca sora lui mare.

I Can't Believe I Forgot!

Daniel was baptized on December 21st, the day he turned 7 months old. It was a beautiful time with all of my family and our church family. And as a mother, I felt my heartstrings get tugged pretty tightly.

We are getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. The decorations are down. Evi's back to school, and I start again next week. I'm back to work, and Nelu is back to looking for a job. We're trying to hold our heads up. We do know that God is with us, and we trust that He will provide for our every need at the right moment.

Daniel a fost botezat pe 21 decembrie, ziua in care a facut sapte luni. A fost un timp foarte frumos cu toata familia mea si cu cei din biserica noastra. Si ca mama, m-am simtit ca Dumnezeu mi-a atins inima in acel moment.

Viata noastra se intoarce la ce este normal pt. noi dupa doua saptamani de sarbatori. Am strans bradul si toate podoabele. Evi a inceput scoala din nou, si semestrul meu incepe saptamana viitoare. Am inceput sa muncesc un program normal azi, si Nelu incepe sa caute din nou munca. Incercam sa mergem inainte. Stim ca Dumnezeu este cu noi, si credem ca El o sa ne dea ceea ce avem nevoie exact cand avem nevoie.

Daniel and Nelu the morning of the 21st
Daniel si Nelu inainte de biserica

Before being baptized
Inainte sa fie botezat

What Evi and Noel did all this past weekend
Ce au facut Evi si Noel weekend-ul trecut

Samuel and his very own backpack
Samuel si rucsacul lui de care este foarte mandru

And just in case you were missing Nelu and me
Si doar in caz ca v-a fost dor si de noi doi

Quick Trip

We took a little trip down to my brother's this weekend. It was good to be with family. The kids had a great time with cousin Noel. And Nelu and I got to get out for a short while by ourselves while Zach and Melanie watched the kids. That was very nice!

Am fost in weekend la fratele meu. A fost frumos sa stam impreuna cu familia mea. Copiii au avut un timp bun cu verisorul lor. Si eu si Nelu am avut ocazia sa iesim pt. putin timp in oras cat fratele meu si sotia lui au avut grija de copii. Asta a fost foarte frumos!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is enjoying a good start to the new year. I haven't done resolutions in a few years. But this year I have one. Just one. And that is to live differently. If that makes sense to anyone, good. I won't explain it--way too much to get into here, I think. Anyway, I hope that all of you are well this day and this year.

We're enjoying the day off. It's back to business tomorrow. Here are just a few more pictures of our holiday time together.

Sper ca toata lumea a avut un inceput bun la anul nou. Nu mi-am mai facut propuneri ("resolutions") pt. un an nou de mult timp. Asa se face la noi in America--nu stiu daca este asa si la voi. Oricum, mi-am facut una pt. acest an. Doar una. Este sa traiesc altfel. Nu stiu daca asta are sens, dar bine daca da. Nu vreau sa explic ca este prea mult de explicat deocamdata sau pt. blogul meu, cred. Oricum, sper ca faceti toti bine azi si in acest an.

Noi ne bucuram de o zi libera. Maine ne intoarcem iar la munca. Am atasat inca cateva poze cu timpul nostru petrecut impreuna de sarbatori.

Samuel eating the frosting of some wedding cake
Samuel la nunta verisoarei mele

Evi and a Christmas gift
Evi si un cadou

Daniel and Grandma "Browki" (as Samuel calls her)
Daniel cu bunica mea

Samuel and Chopper
Samuel cu cainele matusei mele


The kids still having fun in the playhouse
Copiii inca se bucura sa se joace in casuta lor