Second time Soaring Eagle

                                            Brooke and her First Grade teacher Mrs. Rupert

It is an easy thing to get used too....... having a superb, super star, dream child for a daughter.....

But, we shouldn't and hopefully we do nottake it for granted, how wonderful that Brooke is....

Last year, in Kindergarten Brooke was chosen as the second Kindergarten Soaring Eagle of the year....

When the it came time for the second First Grade Soaring Eagle of the year to be chosen, Brooke told

me confidently..." Mom, if I don't get chosen as the Soaring Eagle again , I will know that maybe the

time I will, because other good kids need to get a chance." When she said this I was impressed that

Brooke had come such a long way since last year when she came home asking everyday if she was

going to the the Soaring Eagle, because she tries so hard to be good every single day. It also reminded

me she was still trying hard this year and it is important to her to get this very respected award, but she

is trying to be mature about it. When I got the phone call from Mrs.Rupert that Brooke was chosen as

the Soaring Eagle, Brooke was jumping up and down excited to be awarded in the upcoming assembly

and to get a one on one congratulations from the principal, oh and the chance to have her picture

hanging in the hallway all year long with the other famous eagles at the school. This year the Soaring

Eagle traits have changed a bit and Communication is one of the traits....This is what Brooke was

recognized for. Mrs. Rupert said that besides Brooke being great at verbally communicating, she is also

great at her non-verbal communication. She also told me about how Brooke consistently finishes her

work before the other children and that she asks Brooke to walk around the class and help those

children who need extra help.

Congratulations Brooke for working hard every single day to be the kind of student you strive to be!!!!

We are so proud of you and we are amazed by your kindness and thriving to excel in all areas!

My Prima Ballerina

                                                            keeping priorities straight

                                                 Spot light on Brooke            ^

                                                                 Candy Cane Princess

                One thing Brooke said to me with a huge smile on her face as she was about to go on strage , " Mommy , I don't have to go see the Nutcracker Ballet this year because I AM IN IT! "

                                                           Eveey , Brooke and Brooke

                                                                   My Prima Ballerina

The Nutcracker 2012

            Brooke started ballet this year at the best ballet school without driving an hour away. We still drive twenty min. to get to her dance school, but it is very worth it for her to receive the instruction that she is...

              Ballet has actually been a part of Brooke's everyday life ever since she was three years old. Every day with out fail, Brooke will disappear to her room, and come out with some sort of frilly costume on. She then turns on classical music and dances on her tip toes like a ballerina. She does turns, leaps and every movement with grace.

               When I found out that Brooke's particular dance school puts on the Dallas Repertoire Ballet Nutcracker every year, I was thrilled that she would have the opportunity to try out and if she made it, she would be performing with professional dancers that her school hires to be the main characters...

                Brooke was so happy when she found out that she was chosen to be a candy cane. She was upset that she was not able to do as well at the tryout dance as she would have liked too however. We got that worked out by working on this particular move Brooke couldn't do, every single day...She got it after about a week.

                I learned a few things about Brooke that I already knew and did not know about Brooke during our first Nutcracker experience...

                First, I saw what I already knew, that Brooke was born a performer. On the night of the first show at the Eisman Center, all the other girls in her scene were really about to throw up because they were nervous to get onto such a big stage and see darkness and people in an audience. You would have thought Brooke was in her own home.... she was comfortable and excitedly smiling. Brooke never looked at another student...she only looked to the audience and performed her dance with confidence, and perfection.... every single time.

                 Second, I found out that Brooke has an amazing sense of direction. Elizabeth, Brooke Maddison's Mom took them to practice one night when I was working, the next day when I was asking her how to get to the Eisman Center, where to park and how to get to the stage, she said to me, " Did you know that your daughter helps me figure out how to get to the elementary school every time we take a different route threw the neighborhood?" I said, " No, I didn't." She said, " Your daughter is amazing with directions and has a good memory. All you have to do is ask her once you see the building and she can tell you where to park and how to go in." I said, " Okay and didn't ask anymore because she seemed in a hurry. So that night when we saw the building I said, " Brooke, Elizabeth said that you would know where to park and get in?" Brooke quickly told me which road to turn down, gave me specific directions about what floor to park on and then when we got out of the car she lead me to the opposite end of the parking garage, took me down three flights of stairs, around a corner to this empty hallway where we exited out the parking garage and then lead me to one door out of four that took us into the basement of the performance hall. I was shocked she could remember how to do this! I felt like I was with my genius little sister Amy, only this was my Six-year old leading me!

                    Third, I learned about Brooke's self-control. When all the other little girls were playing around because they didn't go on stage until act two, I told Brooke, " We need to do your homework Brooke." She said, " Why?" I said, " You tell me. Lets talk about priorities. Tell me what priority dance comes after? " She said, " School ." I said, " That's right, you will have time to goof off later."  She did not hesitate, but instead she offered her friends the bag she had packed with all kinds of games and coloring books in it, and said, " You guys can play with this until I am done."


                      Fourth, I saw how wise Brooke is even as a little six-year old, she knows she needs to have a balance. Even though Brooke says almost every day that she is going to be a Prima Ballerina someday and that she can't wait to be good enough at ballet to wear the " Big girl Point shoes" She wants to do what is right. I told Brooke earlier in the month that after the Nutcracker we were going to talk about taking her our of her Ballet One class , so that she would have more time at home and not have dance twice a week. She was very okay with it because she doesn't like ballet one as much as ballet two, because she is with bigger girls in ballet two. She asked me while we were waiting for her to go on stage at one of the shows if we were still going to do that? I said, I talked to the owner of the school and she told me that she didn't want Brooke to leave ballet one yet because she is the teacher and she liked to teach every single student at the school for a whole year, their first year. Brooke said, " Well I really don't want to leave the older girls class that I am in." I said, " Sorry we have no choice, she is the one that casts the Nutcracker so you need to stay with her and that's what she said. Brooke looked at me sad and said, " Mom, it's okay if I have to get out of ballet two that I like, I will be able to be with the older girls later, and I like Mrs.Kathy ( the owner ) even though she is mean and yells at us, she is a good teacher."
I was so impressed that Brooke was able to let go of her pride about wanting to be in the older girl class and make a good choice on her own to quit one day a week of dance. I actually hadn't made up my mind about what I was going to do because I was so worried about how sad she was going to be to leave that older girl class that she loves....

Brooke really is a special girl. I know that God smiles down upon her :)

                        Dec. 7, 8, & 9th    Dallas Repritore Ballet presents "The Nutcracker"
          


              

Dinner Date for Kevin's Birthday

              Can you believe that Kevin turned 44 this year!? He has amazing genetics that do not make him look that age...and he surely doesn't act it ;) To celebrate Kevin's birthday, Kevin and I had a nice date at a Japanese steak house, where they cook the food right in front of you. Kevin was trying to convince me to go crash a private party in the back room of the restaurant where they were singing karaoke. Kevin likes to hear me sing. When we drove to Kansas City before we had Brooke, Kevin would ask me to sing to him instead of putting the radio on. I did sing to him...the only songs I really know...church songs....

So Kevin knows the owner of the restaurant we were at. He went and asked him if Kevin and I could join the party so that I could sing as part of entertainment. The owner said absolutely I could and he wanted to hear me sing too. I felt like that would be kind of rude to crash some one's party...but I agreed we could come back and have our own karaoke party and I would sing all night ;)

                                           November 16th, 2012  - Mom & Dad

Abuelita Escobar

                     Our Abuelita is very special to us. Brooke tried to remember all the Spanish words that she knows and she was excited to be able to show her great grandma from Guatemala that she is learning Spanish. We are very blessed that Abuelita comes to visit us about once a year. When she was leaving I begged her to come visit in April for Easter, like she sometimes does. The problem is that it can be dangerous to leave your house unattended in Guatemala and Abuelita has to find someone to take care of her house while she comes to the United States.

                                                  
                                     Alida Escobar is 83 years old and she is extremely healthy.....
                                            We are thankful for that. We love her very much!

Cycling

                          The past two years are the first Thanksgivings since I was thirteen that I didn't workout.  Starting about age thirteen I went to my Mom's cycling class every Thanksgiving morning, of course if it wasn't on a Sunday...I loved getting up early with her and being at the gym even on Thanksgiving. When I cycle I day dream about being in the mountains on that bike, or biking past a really pretty site...Someday hopefully I wont have to day dream about that because I really will be riding outside somewhere pretty....

                      I am glad I didn't workout this Thanksgiving...I do know now, that sometimes it is better to take a break from your workouts when needed and especially since I have little kids who aren't old enough to come workout with me.

                         The day after Thanksgiving Bryant, Kevin, Audrey and myself enjoyed taking the infamous " Vilma Pack's " cycling class. My Mother has a large following at many of the gyms in the metroplex. She is an amazing coach. She explains very well how to get the best workout possible and she pushes everyone very hard! Most of the people who like to take her class are the kind of people who love to be tortured!

                          It was fun to with some of my family and do something that I love to do. Sweat and feel my muscles burn!

                          I love that my Mom has taught us all to take care of our bodies by working out and she has shared her passion with all of us. Every single one of her children works out almost daily.....

Feeding Ducks at Town Lake

                                     The Pack's are not home bodies. We like to be out doing things.
             We enjoyed a walk around Town Lake with the kids and Great Grandma on Thanksgiving Day.
               It was perfect outside, not too hot, not very cold....Audrey and Bryant coming from  cold Colorado...well they thought it was hot...

Kisses for Fawn

We were doing last min. grocery shopping before Thanksgiving.

That's kind of a pack thing to do...bring the whole crew even to the grocery store..

Hey, maybe that's why our last name is pack? ;) All twelve of us walking around in Sam's its funny to watch us all chase Grandma Pack down the isles....

Will was getting his flirt on with his new cousin Fawn.

Fawn is one-year old.

She was more interested in the samples she was eating than the sweet nothings that Will was whispering in her ear. That is not an exaggeration. Will really was whispering in Fawn's ear.

He was also softly playing with her hair, and caressing her face. Finally we just said, Will do you want to give Fawn a kiss? and he did multiple times...It was so cute!