Skate night

Tonight Giovanna reminded us of her school skate night. Every now and then her school partners with Classic Fun to offer students and their families free entrance and really affordable rental fee. The kids love it and always have tons of fun.

After skate night we headed back to Amiron to have dinner with Rebecca and Spencer Holman. They are a wonderful couple from our ward who also happen to be our (almost next door) neighbors. We love them!

Can you believe todays is the last day of September? This year is flying!

In summer

I’ve found these jams on Ale’s phone. I love Fall and I am excited about it. But I also miss summer already and all the good times it allows us to have.

Have a wonderful weekend!

In the hands of God

I can’t believe I am sick again. Not long ago I was sick with flu which made me miserable for several days. Now I am dealing with an awful cold. My body hurts, my head hurts, and everything else HURTS.

Today I dragged myself out of bed to attend my background check appointment. I needed to get it done in order to volunteer on field trips at Giovi’s school. After my appointment I laid in bed most of the day. 

The good side of it is that when I am sick I stop. And when I stop I actually have time to get some things done that I usually don’t have time to do. Like working on my personal progress. I already have done it when I was a Young Women, but since the day it was announced that this program would be replaced, I decided to do it again.

One of the required value experiences was to read Proverbs 31:10-31 in the bible and two conference talks on womanhood. I picked two talks from October 2005 semi-annual conference:

Instruments in the hands of God by James E. Faust

To Young Women by Jeffrey R. Holland (I adore him!)

They are wonderful and I urge you to read, ponder, and share these truths with your daughters, sisters, friends, and all the wonderful women in your life.

“Even though your works may be known to only a few, they are recorded in the Lamb’s book of life, which one day will be opened to witness of your dedicated service, devotion, and deeds as “instruments in the hands of God”.

Giovanna goes to Orthodontist

 

My beautiful Giovanna might need to wear braces. On her last appointment at the dentist Dr Mandelaris referred her to an Orthodontist to have her gums checked. He suspects her gums are swollen because of the two permanent canines that are coming out.

Today at the ortho the doctor showed us a x-ray of her mouth. She has at least three issues going on in her little mouth. Her top and bottom permanent teeth are trying to come out completely out of place causing problems on the permanent ones that have already grown.

The first step to fix it will be placing a maintainer on top of her mouth to help freeing space for other teeth. But in order to do that Giovi needs five teeth pulled out in the next couple of weeks. She was first excited to wear braces and now she is scared.

I know it won’t be easy. I wore braces for several years and I know by experience it is not easy and far from comfortable. But I have promised Giovi if she really needs braces I will help her in every step of the way. I know she can be even more brave than she already is.

Hair cut

And I got a hair cut.

 

Can you tell?

Ready for Halloween

I was so excited to decorate the house for Halloween I couldn’t wait any longer. So last week after picking up the girls from school, and after homework and naps we gathered around the boxes and started getting all of our Halloween stuff out. I love doing that with them. It is so much fun!

The girls love it too! They wear masks, tiaras or whatever they find inside the boxes and help decorating the house with Halloween songs playing in the background. We do that every year, and I always look forward to it.

I started loving Halloween after Giovanna was born on October 29th. The maternity was all Halloween decorated and even my nurse was dressed as a witch. Her first birthday party was Halloween themed and everyone wore costumes.

Then when the house was ready and spooky, we spread blankets and pillows in the living room to watch our favorite Halloween movie: Hotel Transylvania.

I always say I will keep celebrating Halloween no matter where we live.
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And speaking of Halloween, help everyone get in a spooky mood with this fun Halloween matching worksheet. You can check more reading activities at Education.com. You’re welcome!

Playing in the rain

This morning we woke up to see rain pouring from the sky. I love rain when I don’t have to go out. So I dragged myself out of bed, put pants and a sweater on, and rushed with Giovanna to the car to take her to school. I can’t wait to have an actual garage so I don't have to get wet every time when getting to the car. 

When I came back home I gave Bianca breakfast, then she asked if she could play in the rain. Just like her dad she loves playing in the rain. I watched her under the umbrella while she happily ran around stepping on the water pods and giving her barbie a bath.

I love little kids and the happiness they find in the simplest things. I love their heart and their purity. I can’t even start describing how much joy Bianca brings to my life. I just wish I could stop time so she could be little forever. 

Weekends are for (Brazilian) food

Last weekend we packed our stuff and drove to North Salt Lake for a sleepover at the Britos.

-We baked Brazilian pizzas for dinner. Yum! Our favorite of all time is the classic frango com catupiry [catupiry cheese].

-We played games while the girls watched to the new Aladdin.

-And we all watched (and laughed) baby Bella dancing Jojo Siwa. Every time we’d say we were done with Jojo she would cry and cry. I feel bad because it was hilarious.

Then on Sunday we all went to church. The girls were super excited to go to  primary with Claire. For lunch we cooked Brazilian feijoada, then we had lime mousse for dessert. It was a delightful weekend. We love the Britos and we are thankful for their friendship.

This weekend we have birthday parties to attend and dinner with Ale’s friends from MBA on Sunday. They will be making my favorite food — sushi! I am beyond excited!!

Have a food, I mean, good weekend! :)

Knowledge Bowl

This year Giovanna is participating in the Knowledge Bowl at her school. Every year students from third to sixth grades are invited to participate in a specific subject study group, then after six months they compete with other students from schools within the district.

This year the subject is science. Last week I volunteered to help putting the material together, and today Giovanna met with other thirteen kids to start studying it. The topics go from physics, to solar system. It won’t be easy but Giovanna is very excited to be part of it.

 The group will meet every Wednesday for one hour, then students should study by themselves for at least fifteen minutes every day. It’s a big commitment since after six months they will be representing Windsor Elementary at the competition.

I am excited for her. Go Wild Cats!

Marito turns 6

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I can’t sleep anymore. Last night I woke up at 2:30 in the morning and I just couldn’t make myself back to sleep. Then a few minutes later Bianca came to our bed because she is afraid of thunderstorms and heavy wind, and it was really windy. At 7:00 I was up. I had five hours of rough sleep with Bianca kicking me the whole time.

After dropping off the girls at school, at 8:30 I was back to Giovi’s school to help preparing the material for the Knowledge Bowl that starts tomorrow. These two last weeks of September will be busy ones with several different appointments to go and birthday party and baby shower to attend.

And speaking of birthday party, last Saturday we attended Marito’s 6th birthday celebration. I can’t believe he is already six. I still have a photo of little Giovanna holding baby Marito. Time flies and I am not sure if I like it.

 Soon I’ll start working on Giovanna’s 9th birthday. Nine! My baby is not so baby anymore.

Windsor Carnival 2019

Today I spent the morning helping the PTA set up for the carnival. Every time the PTA does the carnival I sign up to volunteer. Carnival and picture day are Giovanna’s favorite times of school year. Bianca also loves her big sister’s school carnival.

This year I made sure each of them had their own punch card. Now that Bianca is older she wants to play more games and all. They also have their own preferences in what to do and when to do it.

The carnival was A LOT of work, but seeing everyone playing and having a good time was very rewarding. The girls loved every second of it.

Carnival 2018 and 2017

Springville carnival

School has started but whenever we can we enjoy some outdoor fun. I am so glad we are still having  warm days (and cold, and rain) and activities to do.

Today Springville city hosted a quarter carnival. Every ticket for the games cost only $.25 cents, plus they were distributing free hot dogs. The splash pad was turned on and all the kids had a blast.

The girls didn’t really play at the booths (the lines were gigantic and I had enough being stuck at the free hot dog line under the sun), so they played the whole time at the playground and splash pad.

We met some Brazilian friends there, and the kids played for about three hours while us mom talked about family, kids, doctors, hair, food and Brazil.

Also, who has already decorated the house for Halloween? I am so excited to get started around here!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Today at the Public Library the girls found a little play going on at the storytelling wing and decided to sit and watch it while I printed a few papers.

For my surprise they were watching Shakespeare and his Midsummer Night’s dream. At first I was a little worried having the girls watch it (I wasn’t sure if it was kids friendly specially it was way past bedtime for them on a Thursday), but the troupe was great and funny, and a few other children started to arrive.

I am sure the girls didn’t understand half of what they were saying (which some times it was a good thing), but I was able to explain to them who Shakespeare was and some other stories he wrote. It wad a very instructive evening. 

*Follow The Grassroots Shakespeare Company on Instagram. 

Wedding anniversaries

Every year Ale and I celebrate our anniversary in three different dates- civil wedding on September 6th, religious ceremony on November 1st, and temple sealing on June 12th. It is a lot of dates to remember, but Ale not only remember these dates but also the day we started dating. He has an excellent memory. Me... not so much, and that’s why I have a huge calendar in the kitchen where I write everything down.

But I like to actually celebrate our anniversary in September. Not only because it is easier for me to remember, but also because it is my favorite month and time of the year. At least here in the U.S. Then in June I like celebrating our sealing anniversary.

This year we celebrate eleven years of marriage, and ten years sealed for eternity in the house of the Lord. Two beautiful milestones.

Ale presented me with beautiful flowers and chocolates. Then for dinner he took is to Braza Grill to enjoy some Brazilian taste (different of mine). 

Eleven years have taught us so much about patience, respect, endurance, humility and faith. We have grown together and straightened our relationship and companionship. Sometimes we get frustrated and even angry, but soon the love and covenants made in the temple overcome any sad feelings we may have toward each other.

Happy 11th anniversary to us. And many more to come.

Hailstorm

It’s been raining all day today! We even had a hailstorm, which started while I was picking up Bianca from school. Bianca and I watched the little iced balls bucket down while waiting for the storm to easy a little so we could run to the car.

Then once we got home of course Bianca played with the ice in front of our doorsteps.

And to think that just yesterday we were swimming in the pool...