Easter Time Tradition

Every year at Easter time we go to one of the more run down nursing homes in our area .

                   Brooke and I make paper tissue flowers all week and we try to remember how
                   fortunate we are as we make a simple gift for those whom need some love and
                   cheering up. This year Brooke was even more excited about making the flowers
                    since she is older and getting much better at it!

Will loads his shopping cart with the paper tissue flowers and he becomes the littlest, and most handsome flower delivery man that there ever was - in my opinion ;)

It is always such a sweet experience to see these hearts lifted by the thought of a child making them
such a simple gift as a paper tissue flower, and as they don't get to get out of the home, seeing little children dressed in their Sunday best is a special treat for these sweet souls.

This year one of the patients that I had taken care of at the hospital was in the home! She remembered me taking care of her, and she was thrilled to meet my children and husband. I was so happy to see she had gotten so much better. She could actually speak now, as she couldn't when I took care of her. She had to write everything down. She also was able to tell me that she now can take 28 steps, and is hoping to go home soon.

I didn't get a picture of her because Kevin and the kids didn't last talking with her as long as I wanted too ;)

It is always such a blessing to be able to love those whom might not have their own family around to show them love.....

Mommy Caught The Bunny!

We have had three or four bunnies sitting in our front yard nightly for over a month now. If you know us, you know that we can't just see an animal - we have to lure it in to pet it. So, I challenged Kevin to try and catch the a bunny for us. He took it seriously and I thought for weeks how fun Kevin was being with the kids as he was daily modifying his rabbit trap and letting the kids put the food in it - in order to catch a bunny.

Kevin's trap wasn't being successful and if you know me, I tend to lack patience in unusual areas of my life. Then there is the fact that Kevin and I like to make our bets- so I bet Kevin $20 if he couldn't catch the bunny within the next few days.

Well, the next night when I was talking with Kevin and I reminded him that he was shortly going to lose the bet - he asked me why I cared so bad, he was planning to eat the bunny he caught! He said that his good friend and him across the street were planning to roast the rabbit that he caught, since his friend is a hunter and has cooked rabbit before.!

All my sweet affirmations of Kevin's desire to please my children flew out the window, and I took matters into my own hands as I usually do.....

The next morning I told the kids that I had a surprise for them and we were going to trick Daddy!
They thought my plan was hilarious! They could not stop chuckling as their Dad started to set the bunny trap for the day...

A few hours after the trap was set that day, they ran into the house and said, " Daddy, you caught a bunny! Come see! " ....

Well, really Mommy caught a baby bunny at the pet store ;)

                            AND THIS BUNNY IS NOT GOING TO BE DINNER!!!!!!!!!

Too Smart For His Own Good

As a Mom it can be easy to wonder if anyone notices how much work you are doing....

              As a Will's Mom sometimes it's hard for me to know if Will is pulling my leg. Will  is really really smart, and I am really really gullible.....

Will was telling me the other morning that he wanted this Power Ranger mask that is a prize at Chucky Cheese.

I gave Will my normal speech about how it's so lucky when he gets to just be able to go to Chucky Cheese, and that he doesn't need to buy toys from there.

Will of course as a four-year old asked, " Why don't I need toys from there? " And I gave my normal speech about how things cost money, and we have all we need.

Then Will says, " Well, I have money." He hold out two quarters.

Then Brooke says, " That's not enough money for anything Will! If you want more money, you are going to have to work for it!"

So here is where either my leg is being pulled, or Will notices more than anyone in the house?

Will said, " Well, mommy has lots of money."

I said, " Will, why do you think I have lots of money? "

He said, " Because you work all the time. You must have a big pile of coins somewhere."

I said, " Really? What work do I do? "

Will said, " You keep cleaning everything all the time, and the sick people at your work, and home work everyday."

I was in shock! Was Will really smart enough to compliment me like that for a toy?

Well, I will let you decide with the rest of the comments made during that week.

One night I was putting Will to bed and I reminded him to say his nightly prayer. I have to stay with him while he says it or he wont do it.

Will began complaining and said, " But I don't know how to pray Mommy."

I knew Will knew how to pray, but I decided to just have fun with him rather than reprimand.

So, I said, " Will lets play the prayer game. "

I taught him the plan to make a prayer sandwich by starting with one piece of bread as Dear Heavenly Father, then the meat, of thank you for this and this, etc... and then the cheese of please help this person and this person, and then the mustard of sorry for doing this, and please help me to know what to do better, and end with the last piece of bread that says, " In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

Well, Will upon hearing the game said, " What does praying have to do with food Mommy? "

I said, " Will it is just a game."

He then surprised me again! He said, " Oh, I know how praying is like food! It's the bread of life."

I thought, does Will know that scripture? Surely he doesn't remember that scripture?

Then, he said, " Mommy, you know Jesus is the bread of life. You must not have seen that church movie."

That's not all...the next day Will asked me how the lights work? He said, How does the light get to the light bulb from the light switch? I tried to explain electricity the best I could, and then just decided I better keep him safe, because I just told him there was power in the wall, and in the outlet. If you know Will you know he is always seeking to get special powers. So I said, " But, Will if you stick something in that power socket in the wall you will die. So don't do it."

Will quickly responded, " Well, Mommy, that's okay if I die, because I will just resurrect like Jesus did."

Then I tried to explain the Resurrection of those who die wont be for a long time and that I didn't want to wait that long to see him again.

So Will;s response was, " Well, I didn't want Jesus to die either."

Now is Will too smart for his own good, or what? But then again..is he? He told me today that a fly kicked his eye seven times yesterday????

Animal Encounters

                                                               
                                                                         Camel

                                                                           Baby Bear

                                                                 

                                                                      Baby  Alligator

                                                          Bob Cat mixed with house cat

                                                        Skunk with scent gland removed

                                                               
                                                                        Baby Tiger

                                                                       Baby Kangaroo

                                                               
                                                                            Snakes!!!
                                                                     

                                                           
                                                                          Wolves
                                                                   

                                                                 
                                           

Grizzly Adam's and Kevin's Crush

This Spring Break we took one day to do something fun with the kids. I still had school and Kevin had tons of work to do, but we really wanted to do something fun for the kids before they went back to school. We took our Sat. that we had free, and went to GW Zoo in Oklahoma. As you know our family doesn't do traditional zoos anymore. We have spoiled ourselves and our kids with too many animal encounters that they just don't compare to all these crazy zoos that you can find in the middle of no where; where the people are even weirder than we are.

Kevin was so proud of himself on this day! We ordered the CD of pictures that the photographers on our tour took of everyone because it was one of the best days of Kevin's life. JK, but he was very pleased with himself because we got so much attention from the owners and famous visitor for the day: Grizzly Adams???? Oh and they were filming a TV show while we were there....

Grizzly Adams was visiting the day we went to this exotic animal rescue zoo, and he called Kevin right out of the crowd. In mid sentence and said on microphone to Kevin, " Good job kid, you have prettiest blue eyes." I personally don't even know who Grizzly Adams is, and I purposely don't care to find out because I am teasing Kevin about how happy he was about a famous man was complimenting him.

So, the owner of this zoo thought he was so funny, and he actually was funny making jokes to the crowd here and there...He got a smile out of me, when he called Kevin and I out of the crowd as a couple and said we needed his business card, but when I saw this was in inappropriate joke you can see that my face changes quick!

My face change is funny, but not what he said.............

Secret Meetings

Yes Brooke, I broke the rules and I snuck into your " Secret Club House " . Someday when you read this book you will thank me for being your paparazzi . You will get a smile out of yourself the way that I get too daily...

 Last week was  Spring Break. Brooke held what she calls " daily meetings " everyday with Will. She quizzed him on his numbers, shapes and letters, she let him choose a book and read it to him, then  she chose a book, which is always the scriptures...and all in a corner and she calls it their " secret meeting".... lastly, they play a made up game together.

As parents you imagine your children realizing someday how hard it was to raise them. I don't have to wait for Brooke to understand this...I  know all too well how she felt as I heard her say loudly, " Will sit still...it's time for shapes." " Will!!! SIT Still! We are having our meeting." She was incredibly patient with Will. She was upbeat and fun..and oh my goodness, Brooke came up with this all on her own. Can you imagine how my heart melted when I finally did get to see what all she had tapped to the wall? This week it isn't spring break; but Will still asks daily if they are going to have their " Secret Meeting". 

                                                         Reads in Brooke's writing :
                                                                  Members
                                                              List of Members
                                                          1. Brooke Turano Leader
                                                         2. William Turano member
                                                        3. Natalie Stone ( Brooke's best friend ) Common Visitor

                                             
     Reads : Where every day is fun - Brooke and Will's Club House and little school hide out
                                       

                                      Reads : Learning is cool when it's combined with fun!

              Reads : Stripling Warriors - Do good for God and pray because their Mom's taught them

                       
                      Brooke is reading Will a book and is not happy I am invading with my camera!

True Treasures

Brooke and Will, I have kind of had to learn the hard way in a lot of ways in life. Brooke you will see pictures of me with medals around my neck, and holding you as a baby, as I am all sweaty and gross. You all might come across some professional pictures of me or see them at your Dad's office. I used to think things like that were the key to feeling happy in life. Succeeding or conquering a goal. 

I want you to know that there is NOTHING in this world that can give you the pleasure and the joy of what I get to experience by serving Him daily in the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 

For weeks I have had this letter from some amazing Sister Missionaries sitting on my dresser. I thought I will just hold it dear in my heart, but today I needed to share it with you and anyone who will or can listen to me as I say that these things are the things that make me happiest in life.I have tried a lot of ways to be happy- I promise you that there is no satisfaction like the satisfaction of knowing that you are showing God that you love Him and that you are thankful for His son, that he allowed to suffer for us all to come back to Him, if we will?

To know that I have helped young ladies who have the same goals, the same mind set and desires is better than any feeling of winning any race. The friendships that I have made with them as I have shown them that I love them never fade, as someday those medals will. 

The lives that they are able to touch because of the support that I want to give them and try my best too is incomparable to subjective views about a persons appearance. 

Nothing can feel as good as being part of " Bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." 

This is a treasure of mine, that I hope you will believe me when I say:

Lasts longer than any moment of athletic success, fills the heart with love of God, fills the soul with great feelings from the Spirit and the knowledge that you are pleasing Him does not compare to any other feeling in the world. 

If you are like me you will seek deep and far for joy in your life.  You will demand it and accept no less than great joyous adventure each and every single day. You will know that one day without smiling is a failure of a day. You will eventually learn that the only smile that counts is one that lasts because it travels from person to person whom hears of His Glory, and then even angels rejoice because of it. 

I trust that you will believe me, and not choose to have to learn things the hard way.

Here is one of my greatest life treasures:

Sister Turano, 

We just want to let you know how much we love you.You are the best missionary that we have ever seen! Your testimony is so strong and others can see that you really do what you say and that you mean what you say. Sister Turano you are not only an example to our investigators but you are a really big example to us! We look up to how well you know the Bible, how strong your testimony is, how you work hard going to school, how you are such a cute Mom, and so much more! Sister Turano we talk about you daily and say if everyone was like you we would not be missionaries. Thank you, thank you! Let us know if there is anything that we can do for you. We will be praying for you and your family! We love you!

Sister Vail and Sister Rust D&C 6:36

Texas is the best!

FUN WITH FRIENDS- BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION WITH FRIENDS

 Brooke and I had tons of fun planning her ninth-birthday party! Brooke requested the theme to be     " Cotton Candy ", since Grandma and Grandpa Pack gave her a cotton candy machine of her very own, last year for her birthday. We thought it would be a great chance to bring it out for some sugary fun! Brooke invited a few girls from her class at school and the house was full of laughter and girly squeals.

The first game the girls played was a game that I played at my childhood birthday parties. The object of the relay race is to keep your cotton ball stuck to the straw that you are sucking into, all the way to the bowl at the end of the hall. The girls were put into teams, and the winner team got to choose some fun prizes!

It was quite hilarious because Will- the four-year old was the very best at this game! Will was an asset to his team, being faster down the hall- dropping the cotton ball in the bowl and rushing back into line!

Next, the girls played " pin the horn on the unicorn ". We decided the party wouldn't be complete without something " unicorn " themed, since Brooke has such a love for unicorns ;)

Next we played, " Who can eat the gummy worm off a string the fastest? " Also another childhood game that my Mom did at a couple of my birthday parties. It was super fun to watch my daughter play games that I remember having so much fun doing!

Finally it was time to make the cotton candy, and of course Grandpa was such a help making all the cotton candy for the girls. The girls then took their cotton candy and topped it onto an ice cream cone; put a face on the cone, and decorated the " cotton candy hair " of their " cotton candy people."
Brooke and I practiced doing this the weekend before, and it proved to be more successful with less hyper girls running around; but they still had fun decorating their people with candy and frosting.

                                                       Then it was time for cake!

                              Brooke has had three birthday wishes this year for her birthday!

                               Elise and Brooke are such sweet friends always laughing together.
                         Brooke has nicknamed Elise, " weasel ", and when Brooke saw Elise had
                           signed , " From weasel " on the birthday tag- they both had a laugh ;)

                             I love you Brooke! I am glad you had so much fun with your friends!
Sorry my camera has been broken again and these pictures had to be taken by my cell phone, making them a little blurry....