Thursday, February 25, 2021

Easter Wreath- Covid-19 day 347

This week I’ve been dedicating myself to a fun, easy, and cute Easter craft.


I first got supplies to make an Easter wreath for myself. Then before I knew it I was making five more for friends who have ordered them.

Today I will be delivering them. I can’t wait to see my creations hanging on their doors.


I have some other ideas for the following holidays, and I can wait to start working on my next project.

 

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Mucous Cyst- Covid-19 day 346



After picking up Bianca from school I took her straight to InstaCare. For a while now she’s been carrying a huge sore on her lip. 

At first I thought it was a canker sore, just like her dad who often gets really big ones. But after three weeks with not sign of improvement, I decided to take her in.

It turns out Bianca doesn’t have a canker sore. She has what the doctor calls Mucous Cyst on her lip.

Apparently, it is not harmful and it happens when the area suffers some type of trauma like bitting or hurting while sucking something.

The bad news is that there’s nothing we can do about it but wait- maybe a couple of weeks, maybe a month. 

If it starts hurting or bothering her, we can take her to the ear, nose, and throat doctor to have it drained.

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Date night- Covid- 19 day 345

Last Saturday night I went on a date with my handsome.


It was a pleasant night, with delicious food, and the best company.

For more days (nights) like this. Amem. 



Menu:

BBQ Brisket Nachos

BBQ Brisket

Pulled Pork

Ribs

Mashed Potato 

Mac and cheese 

Monday, February 22, 2021

Friend to Friend- Covid-19 days 342-344

 I can’t wait for Summer, and don’t have to worry about school and homework anymore, and for being able to wake up late, and get out of the house even if it’s only to go to the pool. 


My routine and responsibilities got heavier and more tiring with the virus. I think that probably happened to most of us (or all of us).

Unfortunately, weekends haven’t been looking like weekend for a long time, and Giovanna started complaining we never do anything fun on the weekends. 


I found children to be extremely resilient during this pandemic, but it seems that they are also done with this virus, just like the rest of us.

I love the gospel and how church leaders are inspired to help us in every aspect of our lives. 

This past Saturday, our children from Primary organization were able to participate in a worldwide program made just for them.


The program was BEAUTIFUL and extremely well done, and the girls loved the messages, the songs, and the activities.

Then later on, I let them talk to a couple of friends from Primary through Zoom meeting. I am thankful for technology that helps us be still connected somehow.

Thank you Nasir Ahmed for using Heavenly Father’s gift given to you to do good. 

Friday, February 19, 2021

Parent Teacher Conference- Covid-19 day 341

Bianca’s been home these past two days due SEP Conferences at school. On the beginning of the week I received papers with the girls’s grades, and a form to sign up to Google meet with their teachers.

I checked Bianca’s DIBLES score and they do not look very good. But since I was already expecting that because of the emails from IEP and Special Education Services, I decided not to meet with her teacher this time.

On the other hand, we scheduled a time to talk to Ms Johnson to talk about Giovanna’s poor performance on her homework and a few tests.

She was doing good, and now it feels like she is moving back, forgetting old concepts, not retaining new information, and acting really discouraged.

I am not sure what is going on, but it’s been HARD, specially today when we kept telling her to go back and redo her math about five times.

I am still concerned about her cognitive development. Tomorrow I will call her pediatrician.

In the meantime, the world out there seems to be upside down, with virus, winter storms, floods, and so forth.

I’ve been praying for people in Texas who’s been hit with power outages, and are fighting to keep themselves warm and alive.

These are the last days indeed. I pray for guidance in what to do and how to do it in order to be prepared temporarily and spiritually and to help my family do the same.

I can’t stress enough how grateful I am for a living prophet and his guidance through revelation coming directly from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. 

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid”

-John 14:27

Thursday, February 18, 2021

Movies and Snuggles- Covid-19 day 340

Bianca is still in heaven with her horseback riding lessons. Two classes ago she started posting. 


Elevating herself out of the saddle is a little challenging for her, and she tends to lean forward to do it.

But she is extremely disciplined and determined (specially for her age). I love seeing her pretty little face so focused and eager to learn.


Also, we’ve been under the blankets watching movies, snuggling, and enjoying these couple of days she has off from school.

Wednesday, February 17, 2021

Sledding- Covid-19 day 339

 Today I took Bianca for the first sledding of the year. After she came back home from school and after lunch, we drove to Windsor Park.


I knew when Giovanna would get home we wouldn’t be able to go with all her homework and projects to be done. So I decided to take Bianca before the snow melts.


It was a perfect day for sledding. The snow was soft, and the sky was clear.

We had so much fun! We sure missed Giovi, and I hope she can join us next time.

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Valentine’s Day 2021- Covid-19 day 338

 This past Saturday Ale and I had dinner at PF Chang’s for Valentines. Just the two of us. I love when we can have a time away from the girls, so we can talk and connect.


Then on Sunday we prepared a special lunch. Ale cooked delicious meat for us, and we had a typical Brazilian meal with white rice and salad.


During our meal we each wrote ten things we love about the other. Ale and I wrote what we love about each other, and Bianca and Giovi wrote what they love about each other.

It was so fun and nice! Bianca loves Giovi’s joyfulness and the fact she always plays with her. Giovi loves her little sister laugh and silliness.

Ale loves I am generous and worry about everyone. As for me, I absolutely love Ale’s sense of humor. I also love his smile and when he plays his guitar.


At night we had our traditional chocolate fountain with strawberries and bananas. I lit some candles and we had a cozy and romantic time.



It was a perfect Valentine’s day.

Monday, February 15, 2021

President’s Day- Covid-19 day 337

Happy President’s Day.

Friday, February 12, 2021

Wreaths- Covid-19 day 334

Today was a lazy day for most of us. Ale worked, and the girls enjoyed their first day of break watching movies on their pijamas.


I woke up with a horrible headache which didn’t go away until past eight in the night. So I also stayed on my pijamas most of the day.

We ordered Chinese food for lunch in honor of the Lunar New Year, then I worked on a little project.

Remember my old wreath? Well, I thought it was time to upgrade it. And I absolutely LOVE how it turned out.


I will be using it on our entrance hall, along with a new coat hanger, new pictures wall, and a buffalo plaid doormat.

I also upgraded an old sunflower wreath I got from my neighbor. I wish I had taken a picture of how it looked before. 

I am so excited to hang it out on my porch this Spring! It is going to look great!

Thursday, February 11, 2021

School Valentines- Covid-19 days 331-333

 This week I’ve been helping the girls with their school Valentines festivities.


On Tuesday I had Bianca sign over twenty little cards with a cute eraser to give to her classmates. I also bought delicious sugar cookies to go along with them.

Then on Wednesday I helped Giovanna with hers. I used some cute prints I had from last year and lollipops from Halloween and recent birthday parties.




I also bought raspberry shortbread cookies from Trader Joes for Ms Johnson- Giovi’s fourth grade teacher. I really like her and I appreciate all she does to help Giovi.


Today is the last day of school. The girls will be in President’s weekend break til next Tuesday when classes resume. I am so happy specially for Giovanna who will be free from homework for a few days.

The plan was going to St. George, but I guess we will (hopefully) be going there for Spring break. Fingers crossed.

Monday, February 8, 2021

Weekend- Covid-10 days 328-330

Weekend was better than expected. On Saturday I played play dough with the girls, then we baked and decorated sugar cookies.


Saturday night I decided last minute to get the girls and go to North Salt Lake to sleepover at Mindy’s.

We played games til 1:30 in the morning. I believe the kids went to bed just a little before that. They were so hiper it took a while for them to calm down and fall asleep.


Then on Sunday we headed to Mel’s to watch the Super Bowl and have Brazilian barbecue.

It was great. I had a much needed relaxing weekend and the girls had tons of fun with their friends. We came back home just in time for bed.

Friday, February 5, 2021

Under rain- Covid-19 day 327

 Giovanna had riding lessons under snow/rain today. After one hour of class I went to pick her up and found her crying because her hands and feet were frozen.


I knew something like that might happen so I was prepared with hot cocoa for her to warm her cold body.

I love that they are enjoying the lessons, but I don’t like they doing it under bad weather. It makes them sick. Literally.

Last week Bianca had fever, sore throat, and runny nose after riding in a rainy afternoon. Gladly, she is feeling better now.


Tonight, before bedtime I gave both the girls Tylenol.

I really do hope the weather cooperates these next few weeks. I have already paid for the whole month of February, and I am not looking forward to see them riding under rain. 

Thursday, February 4, 2021

My life- Covid-19 day 326

-Me: “Bianca, do you like horses?” 

-Bianca: “Horses are my life”

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Negative- Covid-19 day 325

 Today we got Bianca’s Covid test result. It came back negative. We are so relieved, specially because she is feeling much better now.

I am more than ready for the vaccine and for all this Coronavirus season to be over.

Let’s keep praying.

Tuesday, February 2, 2021

Testing for Coronavirus- Covid-19 day 324

Bianca’s been feeling sick for the past five days. She is considerably better than five days ago when she started with runny/stuffed nose, sneeze, and fever.



Today we took her to a drive up to be tested for Coronavirus. We just want to make sure if what she has is symptoms of a common cold or something more serious.

Fortunately, the test wasn’t nasal swab. Bianca only had to spit a bit of saliva into a small tube. Very simple, fast, and painless.

The results will be ready within three days.

In the meantime, we will take precautions for Giovanna not to get sick also. She started sneezing a couple of days ago, but with a few doses of Tylenol she was fine again.

Monday, February 1, 2021

Wildfire- Covid-19 days 321-323

 We were planning to go sledding this past weekend, but it turned out the little snow we had was GONE!

Soooo, we stayed home and played video game on daddy's new PS5, baked, and watched all episodes of my favorite old, old cartoon Wildfire- a 1986 series about a girl (Sara) who travels between realms on her Wildfire horse to fight the evil witch (Lady Diabolyn).


We barely could see the character's faces (I mean, a 1986 cartoon). But the girls didn't mind and kept asking to watch one more. It is really cute indeed. I used to love it growing up, and I am glad they like it too.

Next time I will show them Punky Brewster. Another favorite.

* * * * * * *

Covid-19 updates:

Yesterday, we cooked some food to drop off for Mario Senior who is still sick with Covid. We found out Lupita, his wife also contracted the virus. They are overall doing okay. We will keep praying for them and for a fast recovery.