I haven't blogged much about our family this month, per se, and now that November is just a few hours short of expiration, I'm going to aspire to my characteristic procrastination and sneak in a little last minute "family update."

First of all, November, which is ordinarily quiet and relatively uneventful, has been extraordinarily busy, tugging our family in so many directions that keeping on top of things is akin to living a fantasy.

Brock loves letters. He's always scribbling letters on paper and on his chalkboard. Sometimes he just scribbles lines and asks me if it looks like writing. I say yes to humor him but its a great reminder to step up the preschool basics that he should have mastered already. A few weeks ago, we had a family home evening lesson about the stripling warriors and Brock has been fascinated ever since with the Nephites and the Lamanites; interested to the point of educating his sunbeam teacher all about them last Sunday. I feel like I've been dipped in pure joy when those lessons resonate with Brock because simple little lessons like putting dirty clothes in the laundry basket do not make such a bold impression.

Clarke. Studly. Sexy. Service Technician. LOSER.
Yes, my husband is a loser.
He's lost 20 pounds since starting his new position as a service technician two months ago.
TWENTY POUNDS!!!!!!
And its still melting off. LUCKY.
He's already had to add two additional notches in his belt!
I would normally hate him b/c of his amazing weight loss, but I don't.
Instead I stuff his lunch full of chips and rice krispy treats to slow him down!
Bwahahahahaha!

I'm overwhelmed with portrait sessions right now and quite honestly stunned at business. Surprised and GRATEFUL! Who would have though that a wedding photographer would do so well in family picture season???? Its so much fun to meet so many families!!! I started working out every morning at 5 a.m. YES, 5 a.m. My phenomenal husband cleared out a spot in his garage to set up a workout station for me, complete with surround sound (that's true love for ya)! My second favorite holiday of the year came and went quickly and rather successfully. No, not Thanksgiving. Black Friday=Bliss! Its theraputic to finally spend all that money we had saved for months on those rockin' doorbuster deals! I saved a whopping $300.00 and snagged some fab finds this year! Christmas giving will be a blast!

Last week we put up our Christmas tree and decked our halls....and our plant shelves....and our tabletops, and the walls with all sorts of Christmas decor and I came to the tragic realization that I've run out of house for all my decorations. Earlier this month we entertained the thought of putting in an offer on a 3000 sq ft house that Clarke helped build a few years ago. We indulged in ten minutes of wondering before our fantasies were doused with a cold wave of realization that we'd have to sell our house first. Yeah, like that will happen anytime soon! Ha! Maybe next year we'll revisit our 3000 sq ft fantasy. :)

For MONTHS, the hearts of millions and millions of teenage girls, and their mothers alike, were beating wildly at the thought of November 20th as it signaled the release of Twilight: New Moon.

I'm not a card-carrying, heart-palpitating, t-shirt-wearing, I-dream-of-Edward, member of the Twilight craze. Admittedly, I enjoyed the books. But I only read them once. I know....*gasp!*
Oh, and I saw the first movie.
It was passively enjoyable, if you discount much of the acting.
Keeping the company of other "moms" who indulged in Twilight was the clincher.

Of the four books in the Twilight series, reading New Moon was, I'm sorry Twilight-a-holics, agonizing. It was a whiny 300+ pages of dismal heartbreak and hopelessness, until the last couple of chapters. Understandably, it was with hesitation that I considered the second movie with only a fraction of the anticipation of MANY other women I know, but will not mention names. You know who you are.

And what did I get for my hesitation? Satisfaction, that's what!

The movie was FANTASTIC!!! It squashed the book (and how often do you hear that?)! With a new director, bigger budget, acting lessons, and some hard bodies (yeah, so I'm a girl. I kinda like that in a guy), the least favorite book of the series has turned into the better of the two Twilight movies....so far. As an added bonus, it followed the book fairly closely. The next movie in the series, Twilight: Eclipse, is due for release next June. Its safe to say that I'm looking forward to that one!

Brighten up your day with this random sampling of people on the streets of NYC: