Updates Galore!

First off, Happy Birthday to my Nephew! I can't believe he's three already...

Second, if you want a great General Conference Packet for your kids (activity sheets, etc.), then go here. [Kudos to my Aunt Arlene and my friend Cheryl (i.e. Cardalls) for the link!]

Third, I won The Office contest at Bythelbs! And it wasn't even rigged. How cool is that!?

Fourth, I can't think of a fourth.

But Fifth! I am bringing you some updates on the Happy Crazy family. Because my parents, I'm sure --although they love me--are tired of reading about all my introspected crazy depression posts, and since I use this blog as means of communicating with family --even the family that never, ever, ever leaves comments (yeah, you know who you are!) --I should, every once in a while, post some pictures and show the grandparents that the children are still alive and doing pretty darn good. I promise! They are! Although, now that I think about it, this update is totally just a preview of our Annual Christmas Letter, so...it'll be pointless? Not needed? Or good practice for me? Yeah, I like that last one.
Here we go:

#1: Well, the girl is in 2nd grade, can you believe it? She's been talking a lot lately about how excited she is for her Baptism, even though it's not until this spring. In other news, #1 loves to ride her bike to school; she started art lessons at the Visual Art Institute of Utah, and I'm teaching her piano lessons. She loves primary, the library, and friends and hates bedtime, cleaning, and chocolate. I know! Well, she doesn't hate chocolate, she just prefers vanilla.

#2: She started Kindergarten! And she loves it. We recently put her into acting classes at the SCERA, and most people tell us that makes a lot of sense. She's very creative and makes up stories and songs and if we would let her? She'd manipulate all of us and take over the world. She also loves primary, the library, and friends; she also hates bedtime, cleaning and...nope! She adores chocolate. Adores it! We're working on her reading, but she seems to be progressing in school just fine. Oh, and she hates to walk to school, but I make her sometimes (with #1). I'm so evil! Isn't it great?

#3: He started Preschool! He goes twice a week in the mornings; I was afraid he would dislike it, beat up all the kids, scream at his teacher, etc. etc. but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that not only does he love school so much (he gets angry when it's not a school day), but he is kind, considerate, and listens. He listens! #3 is into bugs, cars, trains, bouncy balls, batteries, and mud. He loves macaroni and cheese and chocolate, hates bedtime and church. We're still not sure what he hates about church, since he's pretty good in Sacrament Meeting and loves, loves, loves his Sunbeam teacher. I'm starting to wonder if it's just the clip on tie and the shoes...hmmm...

#4: My baby! Oh, the sweet boy. He's growing so fast and his newest feat? Completely weaned from the binky, and he's not even two years old! Funny part? He doesn't even care (and yet he was so attached to it). We did it quite by accident; we were down to one binky, and one night, just before bed, we couldn't find it anywhere. Ah, well! We put him to bed, and he went to sleep. The next day at nap time? He cried a little, but not for long and bedtime was a breeze. We found the binky in the playroom downstairs a few days after that, and I just threw it away. Why start over when it was obvious he didn't need it?
Let's see...#4 loves to eat, laugh, and copy his big brother. He adores his sisters, and is finally starting to like Nursery (at church). He loves to jump off of the coffee table onto the couch, and his new favorite toy is anything his siblings have in their hands. He has the sweetest smile and I just love to kiss his face!

Brandon: He loves BYU football, works hard at his job (website here and here), teaches the Course 14 Sunday School Class and Advises the Priests. He also loves ice cream, spicy food, laptops, sandals, and peanut butter. Oh, and Cougarboard. And hiking (he hiked Mt. Timpanogos last Thursday for the umpteenth time):

(There aren't any recent photos of Brandon. Sorry!)

Me? Pshaw! You hear about me everyday.
But we did do something fun this weekend. On Saturday, we packed a picnic and drove the kids up Provo Canyon, up past Sundance and Aspen Grove, and onto Cascade Springs. We walked around the springs and then had a picnic lunch down at a park in Midway. My favorite part was the scenery! The leaves were gorgeous, the fall colors were so bright and luscious and even the kids were expressing their awe at such beauty of the mountains in Autumn (my favorite season, you know). So, of course, it would make sense that I had forgotten the camera. Yep. Totally forgot.
Sigh.
Brandon did get some photos from his cell phone. However, they didn't catch the magnitude of the beauty. We look kinda cute, though, don't we?

So, there you go! Updates for all. Now I can go back to my deep posts and continue to inspire the masses.
Lucky masses!