Back in the day, the gender of the baby used to be a surprise till the day of birth. Since no angel announced my brothers’ arrival to my parents, my dad strongly believed that his first born would be a little baby girl called Natasha (which is Naty in Russian). Since Vali was funny and curly, he was a keeper. Continue reading→

I love everything about Christmas. I love how it sounds. I love how it looks. I love how it smells. I even love how it tastes. (Can you blame me?) Continue reading→

When you dream of being a parent, you never envision yourself having the following sentences leave your mouth: “Sweetheart don’t bite the table”, “Honey stop brushing your nose with your toothbrush”, “No honey, you can’t play hide-and-seek in the fridge, you’re a touch bigger than a carrot”, “Sweetheart, put mommy down! ” (I literally had to say each one of these.) Continue reading→

Bella, our youngest, has the habit of wearing all her t-shirts backwards. So, one night, as we are getting ready for bed, I mention the obvious to her about the  pajama top.Continue reading→

Each fall, America celebrates Thanksgiving Day. In Romania and Moldova, churches delegate one Sunday every fall to celebrate Harvest Day.Continue reading→

‘I want to be in the army’ the young boy said boldly to the lady at the desk enrolling the men for Soviet Army.

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The arrow. The arrow comes fast. The arrow is thin and hard to notice from a distance. The arrow might be lit up on fire. The arrow can only come from the enemy. The arrow is shot with precision to aim. The arrow intends to harm, or even to kill.  Continue reading→

Growing up with two brothers I learned to easily adjust from playing teacher with my dolls to playing pretend war between the Russians and the Americans with my brothers. Growing up under Former USSR, somehow the Russians always won. (Today our family enjoys a peace treaty with the Americans, since I married into the culture. 🙂 ) Continue reading→