Halloween Fun!!!

So here we are getting ready to go trick-or-treating. As you can see, Olivia decided she wanted to be a cupcake this year. It turned out to be quite an inconvenient costume for sweet Olivia. She kept falling over (hence the constant hand holding), pulling off the sprinkles, and she could only shuffle her feet, rather than take normal steps. But hey, she was cute, wasn't she?!

And cute Alicey. She was an angel this year, though dressed as a witch! As patient as could be with her slow little sister, and SOOOO excited about going to more and more houses! She kept telling me throghout the evening that she couldn't eat anything until she got home. Ok!

And here's Olivia trying to be patient to get another piece of candy in her mouth! You should see the inside of her costume by the end of the evening- it was right up against her mouth most of the time.

Alicey excited to knock on another door...

Alicey trying to be patient along the way. You can see how Olivia was super slow. Mandy came with us trick-or-treating while Cesar stayed at home and handed out candy.

Alicey is so fotogenic!

Here's Alicey's preschool class. They had a Halloween parade right before Halloween. I guess most little girls want to be princesses... It's fun to be different!

Earlier in October we also went to Gardner's Village for a Family Home Evening activity. It was so much fun! The girls LOVED finding all the witches everywhere! And getting a cookie for finding all the hidden ones at the end. Here's Cesar, Olivia, and Alicey almost getting attacked by a witch flying on a bicycle!!!

Here's me and my twin witch!

I think we're going to have to make a tradition out of going to see the witches at Gardner's Village each Halloween from now on! I would definitely recommend this activity to anyone, with or without kids! We all had so much fun!

New Clothes and Some...

So here are some new pictures of my two beautiful daughters (actually, mostly Alicey- she's gotten most of the "new" clothes recently) I just finished sewing this nightgown for Alicey with some scrap fabric that was leftover from Olivia's Halloween costume. I think she likes it!

And here's Alicey in a new dress I just bought her from my friends' new business- Ladybug Girls (Alicey's nursery teacher made it!).

And here's a peak of Alicey's witch costume!

Olivia's gotten so much older!

And I just love how my girls are such good friends (most of the time)!

My girls

Recently Alicey has begun climbing into Olivia's crib to play with her (luckily she knows she can do this only AFTER nap time). Don't they look cute? Such good friends..Alicey my angel...

Then this morning Alicey was sucking on a push pop lollipop I bought her yesterday upstairs, and Olivia's was downstairs in the kitchen. Olivia grabbed it from Alicey and Alicey got VERY defensive... after hereing a lot of screaming, I walked into the bedroom just as Alicey chomped down on Olivia's face! Yeah, like I said, my little angel...

My husband's tropical forest

So, recently Cesar decided to realize his dream in life (or one of them)- begin creating Bonzai trees. His plan is to see if they last until next year and then to sell them on ebay, ksl classifieds, and to local stores. Since these are all tropical plants, and we live in Utah, he has to keep them indoors. So our guest bedroom was extended to Cesar's plants...

Alicey's 3rd Birthday Party

On Friday, August 28th, 2009, Alicey Melo turned 3!!!!!! We love you Alicey! As you can see, Alicey had a princess-themed birthday party! Thanks to her friend, Alyssa, who turned 2 a couple months ago and also had a princess party, all the decoration were provided for us!

And here's this year's birthday cake! I liked mostly how the cake turned out, except for the hershey kisses- I thought they didn't really match, but that's okay! I liked the idea of the ice cream cone towers on the sides!

And here were the party's "amiguinhos" (as Alicey calls her "little friends"). We invited maybe 13 or 14 little kids, and 3 came!!! Sammy and Lucas are Alicey and Olivia's friends from church that live a few blocks away. They're also 1/2 Brazilian. And opposite from Alicey and Olivia, these guys are short and cute! Sammy turned 5 a few days before Alicey turned 3! Alyssa also showed up a little later, but unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of her and Alicey. And we must not forget our "big friends" that came to the party... Aunty Mandy, Tia Rai, Marcia, and Fernanda. To be honest, Alicey didn't even notice that not very many of her friends came. She was excited about the party before anyone even showed up! When I put her to be that night (so cute), she was praying and thanked Heavenly Father for her party, the cake, the presents, and her "amiguinhos".

And here are the presents she got! I think her favorite was from Grandma and Bampa- an electric guitar! She surprised us a few weeks ago when we were asking her what she wanted for her birthday and she cried out a guitar! I think after seeing Mandy's she decided she needed one, too! One day in the car while listening to the Wedding Singer soundtrack, "Video Killed the Radio Star" came up, which starts with some strong guitar beats, I told Alicey that was a guitar playing. Ever since that day, whenever that song comes up, Alicey starts screaming, "guitar!!! guitar!!!! guitar!!!!! I'm going to get a guitar for my birthday, too!"

She also got a bunch of these flower clips (that Tia Rai made) from her friends Sara and Julia that weren't able to make it to the party. I thought they made the party outfit.

And we must not forget the "mesinha" (little table) that Alicey has been asking for for months!! She told us she needed a new table so she could make medicine for Olivia. Who knows where she got that one from! She loved it!

And she also LOVED Mandy's present- a set of big building blocks (leggos). She plays with these every day! Sammy and Lucas gave her a really cool farm puzzle (which I couldn't find a picture of). She's helped me put that together already and gotten it out several times to play with!

Overall, I felt the party was a big success, and most importantly, Alicey loved it!!!

Thanksgiving Point Museum of Ancient Life

So last night we deicded we'd take the girls to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point for a Family Home Evening Activity. When we got there, if anyone is familiar with the building, there's a huge T-Rex painted on the front of the building. We told Alicey we were going to see dinosaurs and she immediately got very nervous. She saw the big dino and said she didn't want to go in. We couldn't help laughing. After convincing her that the dinosaurs were not loose and not even alive for that matter, she consented, as long as Cesar carried her THE WHOLE TIME! Here's me with the girls looking at their first dinosaur. Notice the shirt Olivia is wearing. It's kind of hard to see, but I made it for her this week. It was originally supposed to be for Alicey, but it's kind of hard for me to get the sizing right for some patterns, since I don't really use a pattern. It's "shirred", if anyone knows what that means. The top part is sewn with elastic thread and is streachy.

Alicey enjoyed riding the baby dinosaur...

... while Olivia just wanted to kiss it!

One of Alicey's favorite parts was searching for dinosaur bones at the end of the tour. They bad brushes their for the kids to see what it's like being a dino archeologist! This museum is great for kids because it has little interactive kid stuff like this all throughout!

And Olivia enjoyed brushing the sand off the other brushes!

I really enjoyed spending some educational time with my family. Thanks Cesar for taking us!

Bows!!!

Here's my newest project. I decided Alicey needed some new hair bows, so I bought some cute ribbons and figured out how they work! I think these are a very common thing lots of women in Utah make and sell. Hmmmm... maybe I'll try it someday!

About two weeks ago I decided I wanted to start some projects at home. Why not try my luck at some sewing?! I think I started sewing when I was maybe 8 or 9. My mom had me do some small projects to teach me. And we can't forget the summer of lovin' Erin and I had when we were about 10 and we made lots of stuff, including big, funny rabbits, aprons, crooked shorts, and jumpers. Around that time I also went to a sewing class from a lady in my ward, Sister Ludlow. She wanted to teach her daughter how to sew and thought it would be more enjoyable for her in a few of her friends were involved. I can't really remember, but I probably sewed every once in a while while I was a teenager, as well. And then I took a sewing class at BYU, as well. And that was the extent of my sewing history. I probably haven't done anything for about 10 years.



So where does one start who wants to sew? I would say one needs a sewing machine! I used to have one of those. My mom gave me her old one when I got married. Then I moved to Brazil and took it with me. A few months later, I moved back and left the machine with my mother-in-law, Maria Alicey. I saw her a month ago and she kept telling me how happy she was that I had given it to her because her other one had just broken! Anyway, two weeks ago, once I decided I wanted to start sewing, I bought a machine. It's a Brother 50 Stitch Computerized Sewing Machine-Limited Edition Project Runway from Walmart. I think we've gotten along pretty well since I got it! Here it is:



And here's some of the projects I've been working on:



The first was a baby blanket for my friend's baby shower. I always loved these shaggy blankets and wanted one for my babies, so I decided to try out making one for Ruth. I thought it turned out pretty well! I'll have to make one for my girls now!


And closer...

The next one is kind of hard to see in these pictures, but I forgot my camera when they wore them for the first time. Thank you Mandy for donating these! I made Fourth of July dresses for my girls!

Then I made these butterfly room decorations last week for Olivia's room.

I made this "clutch" (that's what Mandy tells me it's called) for Summer for her birthday last week, too. I've never made a purse before and thought it was a good experience! I liked the colors. Thanks Grandma for all the scraps you gave me last week!

So how, do you ask, did I find time to make all of these things? Well, like I said, I got kind of excited about my new machine, and since daytime sewing is kind of hard with two little girls (I've tried it a little bit but not with much success), I've ended up working ofen late into the night. I downloaded some books on tape (MP3's) and listen while I sew. Don't ask me which book, I shouldn't be reading/listening to it again...

And where have I come up with these ideas? Well, I've discovered something really cool offered on a lot of web sites by a lot of people. They're called tutorials. They walk you step by step with pictures and explanations, and all for free! Here's the tutorial for the clutch I made Summer.

For the past year and a half, I think, I have been working with a wonderful lady named Ruth Rodrigues in our primary. Ruth followed me as music leader in the Brazilian ward we belong to. She also, like me, is an American married to a Brazilian, though she did not speak any Portuguese when she married her husband, Breno. When she was called as music chorister in our ward, she spoke fluent Spanish and not a lot of Portuguese. I was so impressed with her dedication to the children and her calling. She did such a wonderful job! Anyone could tell watching her with the children how much she loved them! She is moving to Missouri this week. She is also pregnant and very close to her delivery in the next month or so. Last week we had a baby shower for her. Here are some pictures: Ruth after opening her presents.

Hungry guests: Vera, Flavia, Juliana, and Tirzah.

Tirzah, Janese and her baby, and Ruth!

The shower was held at one of Ruth's nursing friends' home. That's Lindsay and her baby in the middle. Celia and Silvia showed up for the last part of the shower. They took a break from work to come. How thoughtful!

Here we have one of the games- cutting pictures out of baby magazines to see who could best come up with Ruth's baby boy...

Juliana thought she should have won this game...

We also played another funny game where everyone had to drink juice from a bottle and see who could finish first. I don't have any pictures of that one. Too bad. I don't think anyone had enough patience to finish. My mouth REALLY hurt after a minute or two!