Twinkle is back and more- quarantine day 46

Guess who is back to bring some joy to my quarantined children?

TWINKLE!!

After staying all day at home finishing homework, cooking, and cleaning, in the afternoon I drove the  girls (and Twinkle) to the Timpanogos Temple in American Fork. When we lived in Alpine, we used to go there a lot for picnic and peace and quiet.

We sat down on the grass, ate some snacks, smelled the beautiful tulips, and talked about things we do in the temple and what was our favorite part of the temple building. We all agreed that its stained glass windows were the best.

After our delightful time on the temple grounds, we crossed the street for the girls to ride their scooters at the park. Not long after, I started receiving “dangerous thunderstorms alert” on my phone,  then the wind picked up, and soon it started to rain. That was our cue to head home for dinner and a little movie. 

We finally finished “Spy in Disguise”.

Happy day- quarantine day 45

In the morning, I had a Google meeting with Bianca’s teachers. Bianca has progressed a lot since she started Preschool over a year ago. I can’t believe school ends in a couple of weeks and soon my baby will start Kindergarten. 

Ms Kaylee and Ms Marissa are planning a little graduation for the kids. They will be able to get a certificate and say goodbye to their friends, all through the windows of our cars. 

Today, after homeschool, the girls and I spent a good amount of time playing outside. The day was pleasant and beautiful. Our activities included egged on, badminton, and bocce.

Then in the afternoon the girls planned a sleepover party (in my room), with more games and cake. They set up everything and baked the cake. I just assisted them with the blender, stove, and oven.

The cake turned out great. Giovanna really has a talent for baking.

They were so excited, they kept talking in “bed” until a little before 10:00pm when they finally fell asleep.

It was a really happy day.

New face- quarantine day 44

Tutta Nostra Famiglia has a new look! And I hope you love it as much as I do! I’ve been wanting to update our pictures and all, and this quarantine seemed the perfect time to do it.

In the meantime, I am still homeschooling the girls, Ale is still working from home, and we are still practicing social distance.

I am also trying to entertain the girls as much as I can, specially these last few days I am keeping them inside to avoid allergic reactions.

A couple of weeks ago I bought Forky from the movie Toy Store 4 for them to build and play with. Bianca has already opened and built hers. We are waiting for Giovi to improve on her studies so she can finally do hers too.

Tomorrow I have Bianca’s parent-teacher conference through google meet.

Bianca is a clever little girl, and I always love to hear what the teachers have to say about her.

Little hike- quarantine days 41-43

This weekend our family drove to Squaw Peak to get out of the house a little and breathe fresh air, away from people and viruses.

It turned out though, several others had the very same idea, and the traffic of people and cars was considerably heavy up there.

So we took a quick twenty-minute hike and we headed right back home.

During the hike I let Ale walk a few steps ahead with Bianca while Giovanna and I stayed behind chatting. We mostly talked about her feelings and attitude towards her little sister.

I reassured her how much her dad and I love her and her sister while listening to her pore her heart out to me on how everything has changed since Bianca joined our family four years ago.

I told her she came to bring even more happiness to our family and to be her best friend and confident forever.

It was a nice talk and time with her. Fast, but so meaningful I feel like she needs “me and her” time more often. My baby is growing and with that questions and concerns are arising. I want to be able to connect with her and be her safe place.

I’ll be arranging a date just the both of us soon.

Forty days- quarantine day 40

Today completes forty days of quarantine. FORTY DAYS!

Bianca who has forgotten about preschool already, is having a blast at home, playing with her toys, dancing, and even being homeschooled. She also looks forward to start Kindergarten at her new school.

 Both Bianca and Giovanna have been selected to start Timpanogos Academy next school year. Hopefully, life will be normalized by then! 

* * * * *

Coronavirus updates:

-Alacy Monteiro from our former Portuguese ward is finally home after months in the hospital, and is recovering well from the virus.
-The Vasquez family from our current Spanish ward has been infected with the virus- the mom and their three children, including their nine month-old baby. We are praying for them!
-Ale’s boss has completely recovered from the virus.

Disaster- quarantine day 39

We had a rough week with lots of frustration and yelling. Homeschool this week was a disaster, and I am glad Saturday is around the corner and I don’t have to worry about homework.

Enjoy your weekend!

Happy birthday Dom Dom! -quarantine day 38

Yesterday, we drove to the Matute’s house to wish Dominic, who turned four, a happy birthday (from our car).

The girls painted cards and drew pictures for him, then I taped them on our car’s windows, and off we went to Lehi. 

When we got there, we rolled down the windows, honked the car, and Dom Dom came running outside. It was so cute! We gave him all the drawings and paintings, and his gift.

Then from our cars, we sang happy birthday to him while he blew the candles on the porch. This was the quickest party I’ve ever been to, but it felt SO nice to see friends again!

Happy birthday Dom Dom! We love you!

Fairy Garden -quarantine day 37

I’ve been wanting to do a fairy garden with the girls for a while now, and today seemed to be the perfect day for it. We had a beautiful sunny day today.

The girls were very excited to have their very own fairy garden, and after it was done they played with the cute owls and slugs, and the cute little fairy houses. 

I am in love with them! They look adorable on our porch.

Spring potting- quarantine days 34-36

Our weekend was all about cleaning and sacrament meeting on Sunday. Now that it is getting warmer I am working on our annual Spring cleaning. 

I’ve organized the girls closet and donated cute clothes that don’t fit them anymore (why do they have to grow up?). We also said goodbye to toys they don’t play with anymore and we found new families to love them.

On Sunday we called my mom to participate in our sacrament meeting. Ale blessed the bread and water, and we learned about King Benjamin and his marvelous teachings.

We talked about scriptures, service, and the first coming of Jesus Christ. Then we had a special musical number with Ale playing his guitar.

Today I bought flowers for our porch. The girls helped me a little before sneaking up to ride their scooters. I love Spring and the beautiful flowers everywhere around the city.

This year we also made fairy gardens. Soon I’ll be posting about that.

In this- quarantine day 33

News haven’t been optimistic about the virus getting better anytime soon.

We are keeping ourselves inside the house, and the girls are very sad for not being able to go outside to ride their scooters (the only thing they’ve been doing). As for me and Ale, we just get out when really needed.

Kids are not going back to school and how summer will look like is uncertain. These are very difficult times, and I can’t imagine how it will be when things get worse.

Today I read something really interesting though:

“I have had a friend mock me because they didn’t see an immediate miracle happen after the worldwide fast.  I know that our fast was accepted and I know that our prayers are being heard.  I know that God will deliver us from this trial when the timing is right.  We need to continue to have faith and to continue to pray.  

I was pondering today and thought of Daniel in the lions den. God didn’t take Daniel out of the lions den right away did He? No. Why?  Daniel was faithful, that’s why he was in the lions den—because he had faith that even if he did pray God would deliver him.  Daniel had faith, and faith is supposed to produce results right?  So why didn’t God take him out?  

Because if God would have just taken Daniel out of the lions den—he wouldn’t have been able to have had the experience of being in the lions den and not being eaten.  If God would have taken him out, Daniel would have known that, yes God does deliver us FROM difficulty, but he would not have learned that God also delivers us IN difficulty!  Having God deliver us in difficulty requires more faith, more prayer, and more trust.  

The lions in that den were ready to kill Daniel but they didn’t because Daniel had faith.  In Daniel’s time of need, God sent an angel to hold back the lions—to deliver him IN the trial so he could grow, learn, and become. When morning came and they opened the lions den, there was Daniel with the lions without a scratch on him. Daniel had learned what he needed to from that experience and was then delivered FROM the lions den.

God hasn’t delivered us FROM the pandemic yet but He certainly is delivering us IN this pandemic. So instead of wishing to be out and focusing on the negative—look around and see God’s angels holding back your lions. When the timing is right God will deliver us FROM this, until then let’s remember He is delivering us IN this”.

Amen to that.

The best part- quarantine day 32

Today I tried a new recipe: esfihas. I tried to copycat my favorite esfihas from a Brazilian restaurant (Habib’s).

They turned out really good, and I am pretty sure I might have broken the word of the wisdom because I had five or six of them.

And that was the best part of the day.

We all had a rough morning with homeschooling. I texted a very frustrated message to Giovanna’s teacher, and she stopped by with some material and words of comfort.

Ms Sagendorf is the best English teacher Giovanna has had so far.

Later on I found this on my phone:

Giovanna is a very sensible kid, and when she realized I was so frustrated she left a message on my phone. Then I opened my drawer to find this:

And that became the best part of my day.

Reconnect- quarantine day 31

My dear auntie Elvina said “this corona virus will kill a lot of people, but it will also resurrect a lot of them”. And in a sense she couldn’t be more right.

Since the virus/quarantine has started Ale and I have reconnected with family members and friends we haven’t talked in a very long time.

I also like to think this crazy time is helping spouses, parents and their children to reconnect. Our every day life is so busy we forget to connect with people that are so dear to us.

Truth is, as hard as it’s been to stop and simply be home, the world could use a break. I am grateful for technology that allows us to still reach each other. 

Today, Giovanna along with other classmates met online to sing happy birthday to June. They played games, danced, and watched as June blew the candles.

With the virus birthday parties are looking different. Parents are using their creativity to make their little ones special day... special. In the next two weeks we have two honk parties to attend.

Break- quarantine day 30

I can’t believe it’s been a month since school was cancelled, restaurants closed, and church services suspended. Even though we are able to play outside and go to the grocery store when needed, I am feeling extremely cabin fever.

It’s been so hard seeing the beautiful days go by without being able to go to the park or barbecue with friends.

Today, governor Gary Herbert announced schools should extend the soft closure for the remainder of the year. Classes may resume sometime around May 20ish, then who knows what is going to happen. Will we spend summer inside?

I confess I am a bit tired, frustrated, and have I mentioned tired?

And I also know the girls need a break from their “break”.

Easter 2020- quarantine day 27-29

Easter looked different this year. We did our traditional family egg hunt and other activities we usually do outside inside the house. But the girls had a lot of fun still.

In the morning, I prepared a special breakfast with delicious bunny pancakes. I also baked homemade bread for our sacrament meeting. I am not a very good baker, but this recipe is the only one that works for me. The bread is delicious.

Then later we dyed some eggs. This is one our favorite things to do on Easter time.

After their naps (yep, they still take naps), we did our indoor egg hunt. This time I changed things up a bit, and I hid a few eggs in certain spots. The girls ran to find them filled with candy and chocolate as we read the clues.

The last clue led to their Easter basked Easter bunny brings every year. They were so excited! It is so rewarding to see their little happy faces!

Around dinner time we sat the table for our Easter feast. Ale baked delicious salmon, and we had white rice, salmon, and salad. Then we took turns sharing what each one of us were thankful for.

This magnificent day came into a closing with our last lesson and activity about Jesus Christ triumph resurrection. We felt the Spirit so strong, Giovanna even cried (I only saw Giovi cry like that on her baptism).

I felt so deeply grateful for my life, my family, the gospel, and the infinite love my savior Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father have for me. 

It was a very special Easter. Definitely one to not forget.