Soaring Eagle - Respect

 Brooke was the first Soaring Eagle of the year last week!!!! On Friday Brooke was awarded in the assembly at school for the REACH reward, under this month's character trait that was specified as
" Respect".

Brooke was really excited to be the first Soaring Eagle of the year. For the past three years she has always been selected as the Soaring Eagle in the first few months of school, but never in the very first month. As always Brooke started jumping up and down with excitement when I told her the day of the assembly that she was going to be the Soaring Eagle. I think the teachers like it to be a complete surprise and then have the parents surprise them at the actual assembly. It might be selfish of me, but I did not want to miss out on my precious little girl's face expression as she found this good news out. Also, Brooke probably wouldn't jump up and down in front of her teacher like that, so I let her have the opportunity at home. ;)

I am really proud of Brooke for always showing such respect for her classmates and teachers. Brooke always kind of gets the brunt of hard situations at school, which makes it even more admirable that she is respectful of her peers. Brooke almost always is sat next to the most talkative child in class. Right now she is next to the boy who has to also have empty desks around just her and him. So not only is Brooke respectful under normal circumstances, Brooke is respectful under even the hardest circumstances.

Brooke relayed to me what her teacher has been telling her lately. Brooke said, " My teacher keeps telling me that I am super patient with ------ ( I wont name names ) .I think she says that because he can act just like Will a lot. He is really smart, but he just can't stop talking and waving his hand in my face."


Brooke enjoyed having ice cream as her special treat for being the Soaring Eagle, and the date was just with me, as Grandma and Grandpa had Will for a couple hours on Sat. night. 

Best Friends

There is hardly anything that can bring a Mom more joy than what Will told me last night as he gave me a huge tight hug, he said, " Mommy, you are my best friend."

I am so lucky and thankful that Will tells me that I am his best friend at least once every few weeks, and it always comes randomly and with a huge hug.

Be still and this will not hurt....

Brooke called me into the bathroom the other day and exclaimed to me that she no longer needed to go to the dentist to get her teeth cleaned! Then she proceeded to show me her solution to getting her teeth cleaned!

I didn't realize that teeth cleaning could come so cheap, or that becoming a dentist might only require some wings and a beak! ;) Hahaha....Just kidding.

Don't worry Skittles doesn't bite! Oh I mean Dr.Skittles, doesn't bite ;)

Fun Can Require a Mess

Sometimes having fun, requires a mess! :) I love it when Brooke and Will get super creative with each other and play so nicely together. They were pretending it was Christmas in these pictures and their fort was a place where they do exercise ( according to Will ). I realize that as Brooke gets older these kind of play times with Will, will get to be less and less.....I cherish watching it while I can. It's so fun! :)

First Day of Preschool ( 2nd Year )

Will has been in his second year of pre-school for a couple week now, and he is loving it! On Will's first day back he was so excited that he could hardly contain it, and that's what he felt his foot was going to do...not be able to contain it's self anymore! As usual, that day began with Will telling me some story about what has happened or will happen....

Grandma Turano is right about Will already seeking to practice as a lawyer, and the fact that he seems to be perfect for this field. You see, everything with Will can be explained by his reasoning, and he knows the answer to all of lives questions, so don't even try and tell him, because you may just end up being corrected by a four-year old.

It was breakfast and Will began explaining to me in a very serious voice that he could not eat very much breakfast, because if he did.... then his foot would grow so big, that while he was at school , his shoe would explode! ( As he made sound affects " ka-boom" and his hand exploded out of the first he had made ) and his foot would come right out of the shoe and his brand new school shoes would be ruined forever!

Maybe he could get a job in Roswell someday, and become their Science Fiction lawyer, in case anyone has any alien trials that need to be taken care of? ;)

So....I miss will very much on the days he is at pre-school, but I can't be anything but happy for him while I miss him, since everyday he says to me first thing in the morning, " Do I have school today?!" with excitement in his voice.

Will thinks that even the bird is going to school now, or at least that Skittles should be going to school...

This morning Will ran into my room and said, " Mommy, Skittles is ready for school. She just took a bath!"
and no, Will did not give the bath to the bird, as he does the cat sometimes...this time the bird had soaked it's self in the water dish....

Will already has a couple great friends at school, and he especially loves these two twin girls that he calls the same name, " Ainsley." This weekend Will was gathering hangers and Brooke's spare string and cloth and taping them all together on the hanger. He proudly declared that he had made the Ainsley's a dress for Christmas...

Family Scripture Study with the Mcniells

             All of the Mcneill and Turano kids in one shot! Elias (7 ), Brooke ( 8 ), William ( 4 ), Isabel( 12) , Fawn (3) and Hyrum (10 ) 

Uncle Bryant leads family scripture study first with a short picture story for the little ones, and then following that adult Book of Mormon chapter every night. Brooke loved to be a part of such a big family doing this all together every night....She felt heaven present so much that she wished for that to be possible for her every night. 

                                      I am so thankful for my sweet, smart, and happy children!

Playtime at Aunt Audrey's House

                                                       
                                                            Endless fun on the trampoline

                                                    Fawn and Brooke picking pears

                                                              
                     All of the Packs love hot tubs!!! Aunt Audrey's has a nice view of the stars at night! One night we watched a meteor shower in the hot tub!

Will was was confused about why these eggs he watched come out the chicken did not have babies in them, and why in the world would we eat something that came out the chickens bum!
                                                       

I was really disappointed in my skills of catching a chicken that got out of the pen! I am not a very good farmer , and to be out ran by a chicken was just pathetic in my opinion.

Cortez, Colorado

Brooke wrote this the first week of school as an assignment:

A Look Back At My Summer

My favorite part about my summer was when I went to my cousins house . Me and my little brother found out that they had two donkeys and eight chickens. Eli who is my seven year old cousin, showed me their two cats and bird that his family owns. Hyrum my ten year old cousin showed me their secret hide out. The secret hide out was a cabinet that you crawl through and a room is hidden behind the cabinet. Me and my cousins also went exploring, we also went to Mesa Verde National Park. Mesa Verde is a place with ancient ruins.

                                                                                                                  By: Brooke Turano