Primary Program 2012

The Primary Program in Campina Grande was a total success! :) We worked so hard all year to learn the songs and bless their hearts these kids don't have a ton of exposure to music, so for them to learn to sing on tune and get the timing right was a real accomplishment! :) It was so sweet to see them sing all the words memorized, sing "I Am a Child of God" in perfect English!, see them do sign language to "Love One Another", hear Mormon quote the first vision memorized while the piano lightly played "O How Lovely was the Morning", see the little boys all lined up singing "Called to Serve" and then the whole congregation join in- the spirit just filled the capela! I sang "Child's Prayer" with Marcio and when we got up to sing it was amazing to see how many people were so teary! Truly these little ones have a spirit that is sweeter and more touching than anything else! :) It was such a special day and I am so grateful for this calling that has made my little brazilian life full of purpose and joy! 

Parabens minhas pequenininhos! 

Maile and Lucas were so excited! Maile sang so beautifully! :) 

Primaria Ala Campina Grande

Our Presidency: Elizete, Cida, Me and Vania

Our handout "lembrancinha" was so cute. 

Little Hershey's nuggets put together to make a little biblia! 

"Sei que as Escrituras Sao Verdadeiras" 

Happy Turkey Day!

Grateful

There seem to be so many things to be grateful for this 2011 year. As I look back on the year I realize what progress I have made here in Brazil. Last Thanksgiving I remember walking back from the grocery store in the hot sun,with 2 kids and a load full of groceries, and calling Ligleydson to tell him about the turkey meal I was trying to be excited about making. Well, he wasn't as "enthusiastic" as I would've liked him to be and for some reason that was my breaking point. So I sat down on a patch of grass and cried. I mean, I really cried! Seriously? Seriously. And of course it wasn't him, it was the fact that I was so far away from home, I wasn't used to anything, and just felt defeated in so many ways and it all just hit me how hard my new way of life was for me. I was soooo homesick on Thanksgiving. 

Now one year later, today I went out and about to do some errands and I was noticing how I'm just used to everything now. Everything is so much easier. I enjoy the loudness on the streets, I don't notice the dirtiness of things like I used to, I know my way around the town. I actually have friends to talk to and things going on in my own little life. I feel the blessings of serving in the church, I feel such an overwhelming love for my husband and my kids, and everything just seems a bit easier.  With saying that I am grateful that I am having this Brazilian experience and for all that it has taught me and made me. I am grateful for a husband that works so hard, that is always happy, that is the funnest Dad around, and loves me. I am so grateful for my Mom that calls me all the time, for my sister that I adore, for my Dad and brothers who I love so much, for my sweet Mimi that I think of often. I am grateful for the health of my two little "babies" and how much I love being their mom. I am grateful for all the little ones in my Primary that make me so happy and that make me want to plan the best activities and lessons for. I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life and for the happy path it keeps me living. 

I am very grateful this Thanksgiving. 

And even though we had macarrao today instead of turkey...what the hey....

Happy Thanksgiving anyway! 

Little Ballerina

This little ballerina spinned and whirled all around the house in her beautiful new costume, so excited for her first ballet recital at school! 

But the minute we got to the school and she got backstage she started to freeze up. :) And when all the little ballerina fairies started dancing out on the stage there was only one that stayed on the side of the stage like a deer in headlights.....our little Maile. :) I put my camera back in my purse and just had to smile. I was soooo shy as a little girl.  I'm just glad we get the real performances here at home. 

You can see her here on the right side.

Now on the other hand her little classmate, Yasmin, just couldn't get enough of the spotlight! :) She was so cute I had to snap a few shots of her. 

Love you Maile Nicole!

The Simple Things...

It's definitely the simple things that make my day. Seeing the kids gallop off on broomsticks, help lick the cake batter spatulas, wrestle with their Papai, and the way they play so well together all  puts a smile on my face. 

And it's little phrases that Maile says that just makes my days better...

"Mommy, can you come in my castle and ring the ding bell?"

Me: "Where are you taking my lipstick Maile?!"

Maile: "Neverwhere."

"Mommy, have you seen my tinkle bell sandals? I want to play Peeper Pan."

Or when we were cleaning up her room together and she was helping me and I thought it would be a good time to point out how helping makes us happy:

Me: "It makes me feel so good when you help me Maile!

 Does it make you feel good?"

Maile: "Not really." 

I love the way she describes things like: When she got a bunch of mosquito bites-

"Mommy, why do these little bugs just climb all over me and eat me?" 

or when she wants to say "yesterday" she says "last day" 

Her Porto-Ingles is so cute. She speaks Portuguese really fluently but makes cute little mistakes like says "Leitar for deitar" or says "arramar for amarrar" and lately she's been letting out an awful lot of "Oxe!" and yesterday she exclaimed "Rapaz!!". Minha nordestina! 

And I can't forget my little Lukey beijoqueiro! :) Always sending kisses our way! 

A few favorite Brazilian Recipes....

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Living outside the U.S. has been a challenge cause not everything just comes ready- one being yummy tomato sauce. My sister-in-law taught me this EASY way and it is soooo good not to mention organic! 

Chop up all ingredients into smallish pieces. Depends on the quantity you want to make but the ratios are about: Tomatoes (5), onions (2) , green peppers (1) , 2 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped up, 1 tsp salt, a few Tablespoons olive oil, and a few spoons butter (optional). Let it cook on medium high until the ingredients are cooked through and tender. 

Brazilians love to put everything in the blender including the sauce. So that's what I do but I like to leave it a little bit chunky. Put over noodles, chicken, etc. "Que gostoso!" 

Brazilian White Rice

I remember my first time eating their authentic rice on my mission I thought it was so flavorful. Why? Cause they're not afraid of onions and fresh garlic- and neither should you be. Poor a bit of olive oil in a pan and chop finely half an onion and sauté together with a clove of fresh garlic (peel, add some salt and mince). Don't let the onions brown but just saute enough to get that fragrant smell going. Add 2 cups of rice (or however much you want) and mix around a bit. Add necessary amount of water (here for 2 cups rice it would be like 4 cups water). Important: stir and taste the water- it should be salty enough before you cook it. If it's bland in flavor add more salt. Let come to a boil and cover half-way cooking on med-high until the rice is cooked. Tip: spoon down to the bottom when you think it's done to make sure there's no excess water at the bottom. 

Cuscuz

Another go-to dish we make a lot is based with couscous. Cook the couscous like normal, then at the end you will add the following ingredients: a little scrambled egg (like they do in fried rice), saute onions chopped small along with a green pepper finely chopped and saute until tender, then chop up fresh tomatoes, and don't forget the chopped cilantro. Mix all together and you've got a yummy dinner. 

Desserts

Brazilians love to use sweet and condensed milk "leite condensado" in practically every dessert. (ever tried drizzling a little over jello? E bom!)  An easy and yummy recipe that I make when I'm missing rice-krispy squares and those kind of american desserts is this "Palha Italiana". Combine in small pan one can sweet and condensed milk, 1 generous spoon butter or margarine, and 2-3 spoonfuls of powdered chocolate (like Nesquik/ aqui "Nescau" like you use in chocolate milk). Mix and stir over medium heat until it thickens and isn't sticking to the side of the pan (takes 5+ minutes). (at this point you've made 'brigadeiro' which is rolled into little balls and chocolate sprinkles, but that's another dessert) For this one add crumbled cookies (aqui biscoito Maizena, 400g) but if I were in the U.S, I would use like 2 packs of crushed graham crackers. Mix into the ingredients and then spread into greased glass pan. Press down into the pan and lightly sprinkle sugar over the top. Let cool (even better in the refrigerator when served chilled) and then cut into squares to serve. Que delicia! 

Another easy dessert is making mousse. Combine 1 can sweet and condensed milk, 1 can "creme de leite" (they say the closest thing to this creme is found in the hispanic section of the market and it's by Nestle called "media crema". Add a packet of lime flavored instant powdered juice. (like koolaid, chrystal light, etc.) and mix in the blender until creamy. Pour in a bowl and put into the refrigerator to serve cold. It would also taste awesome poured into one of those graham cracker ready pie crusts. E uma delicia tambem!

Maile's new doll....

The Halloween madness all started when...

Mom sent us an awesome package full of tons of Halloween stuff! Stickers, pencils, bags, paper, candies and the wheels in mind started a turnin'....which led to all the Halloween madness! :)

Gosh- I was kinda worried that my kids wouldn't get the Halloween experience in Brazil since they don't have it here- but we ended up doing so many parties I think they, and especially ME are "Halloweened out!" :) But it was fun while the busyness lasted! The kids loved pulling the guck out of the pumpkin. And as you can see our little 'punkin' Lucas loved being on top of the table. 

He is climbing on everything these days! 

I did a cute little party at Maile's school for the kids. Painting, pumpkins, mummies, ghosts and The Charlie Brown pumpkin movie. I am soaking it up all I can that Maile just thinks it's the coolest when her Mom comes to her class to help. Lukey had a lot of fun with the kids too- he's so easy to take places.

 Our big festa this October in the Primary was Halloween themed and it was a total blast! The YW came and helped me the day before decorate cupcakes, make posters, cut out pumpkins and make all the little goblin foods. I got so many fun ideas off Pinterest! The kids had so much fun at the party and I was sooo happy that everyone came and even a handful of visitors. This party, however, was so much work and so much clean up after that I literally was warn out and got so sick and had no voice the following week! I guess I need to listen to my body better when it tells me to slow down! But it was all worth it! :)

We've been hanging out a lot lately with Hercules and Cida. They are so much fun and recent converts to the church. Hercules cracks me up and he thought it was so much fun to carve a pumpkin. I forget that they've never done stuff like that. And when we left it lit the whole night when I went to blow it out the smell of that burnt pumpkin just remembered me sooo much of Halloween night! I love how smells can bring such memories! We went to the temple this weekend with Cida and Hercules and left the kids with Mari overnight. We slept at the temple and we just had such a good time together. We did a few sessions, (the one after lunch is a bit of a killer though- too full and sleepy! lol)
and it was so nice to have that time with Lee. I love the temple!

Elane, Luan and Leo came over after church on Sunday to eat lunch and help me decorate cupcakes. They come from super humble circumstances and come to church every Sunday even though it's soooo far away and they don't have money to pay for the bus. The ward helps them a lot and they love to come over to our house cause I can't help but spoil them. :) They are sweet kids and the Gospel means everything to them. Luan (in the middle) is turning 12 next year and we have worked so much with him in the Primary. He used to be all over the place and such a little terror, for lack of a better word, but he has made such progress and I have really developed a strong carinho for these sweet kids. Luan wanted me to tell him 20 minutes before we were going back to the church for choir practice so that he'd have enough time to take a shower at my house.
He never gets to have a warm shower so he just thinks that's the best. ohhhhh! 

                                      

We got all of Lee's family together (well, almost all) for a Family Home Evening on Halloween night. Alessandra helped me a ton and it was fun to spend more time with her. Maile and Laysa had so much fun together. :)

We shrunk down our husbands into little babies! But seriously-

 they look so much like their Papais!

 And who can forget about this little princess?! You are such a joy little Maile!