Pumpkin Carving

We carved pumpkins for FHE on Monday night. That of course means by today our pumpkins are looking a little pitiful, but it was really fun! We invited our good friend, Lisa over to help us carve. I got 3 pumpkins so that Graham, Lisa, and I could each work on a pumpkin with one of the kids. Fortunately for me, Uncle Dave showed up, and wanted to show his creative style. We had a fun time, and the pumpkins turned out great! In case you can't tell, Graham's pumpkin was a Mickey Mouse head, Lisa's was a monster from Where the Wild Things Are, and Dave's was a crazy faced free hand pumpkin. Kuddos to Lisa, since it did take about 1 1/2-2 hours to complete that pumpkin. There was a lot of detail! Happy Halloween!

Halloween Work Party

Well Graham had his annual work Halloween party this past Saturday while I was out of town. I missed being there with the kids, but Graham got some cute pictures. Chase won Best Costume. (That UPS kid is pretty cute!) So fun for him...so frustrating for Brinton. When Chase decided he wanted to be a UPS man, he begged me to buy him a UPS truck. Seriously! That kid thinks his parents are doing way too well. Needless to say, he gets a UPS box to carry, no truck to drive. Sorry Chase!

My Little Man can Hold a Grudge!

I love the little conversations that happen when we are driving in the car. Yesterday, McKenna & I picked Chase up from preschool. Usually he is in a super good mood, but yesterday this was not the case. I was thanking a friend for some help she had given me, and Chase begins so kindly screaming at me from the car.
Chase: "Mom, mom, can I have the rest of the granola bar?
Me: "Yes buddy, but please do not speak to me that way. Make sure you share some with your sister"
When I finally ended my all of 3 minute conversation, I climb back into the car to Chase's griping about how he can not break off any of the bar. (Nature valley bar...they are hard to break and quite messy) So I break off a small piece and handed it to McKenna. Chase begins a nice 4 year old tantrum about how he wanted to give it to McKenna. My response, "Well maybe next time if you talk kindly to me I will let you give it to McKenna. (Yeah I know, what a reward!) Throughout the drive home, McKenna is begging for more of the treat. Chase is obviously not going to share anymore. I look in my side door and find a small piece of the bar remaining, because lets face it, it was my breakfast and I never quite got around to eating it. (So typical) So I hand the appetizing looking snack to my daughter and Chase starts tantruming once again.
Chase: McKenna, I am very angry with you.
Me: Chase don't be unkind to your sister.
Chase: McKenna, I am not happy that you got more than me. I am never sharing my treats with you again!
Me: Chase, stop being so angry with your sister. I am the one who gave it to her. So if you want to be upset with someone it should be me.
Chase: Oh don't worry Mom. I am even madder at you than McKenna. Thats a promise.
Me: Well okay then.

He may hold a grudge, but at least he is honest about it. Hopefully those 2 qualities will nicely balance each other out.

Super Girls' Weekend; Super Dad!

Well, we had our annual girls' weekend in Texas this past weekend. It is so much fun. My mom centers it around Time Out For Women (put on by Desert Book)She brings us all into town and then helps to make the weekend so much fun. Mom, you are the Best! So this weekend, on Thursday, we were also able to celebrate the sealing of Ansley & Elizabeth Knies. It was so wonderful to be present for the joining of these precious girls to Chandler and Heather. It is amazing to finally see them in their role as parents. It is definitely meant to be! No one could love and adore those girls as much as their parents do! Time Out for Women was on Saturday in San Antonio. It was an amazing experience, and we were each "spiritually fed." I have so often been reminded of my need to enjoy the present moment of my life as a Mom. I had that reiterated to me at this conference.
So I did lots of other fun things while in Texas IE. makeovers with Mom & sisters, lunches with "just the ladies", movies/charades as a family, a run (yes I ran) with my sisters Alden & Kristin, and lots of time just sitting with no responsibilities. (No really, multiple times I was aware of the fact that I had absolutely nothing I had to do or be in charge of...pretty nice feeling!) It was so fun, and I am so grateful my Mom feels like this is a worthwhile event. It definitely recharges me for life.
Well, while I was away, my husband was being Super Dad! I am so lucky to have him! He was so wonderful about sending me away to play, and he enjoyed the children as a Single dad for the weekend. I am also very fortunate to have wonderful friends who were willing to pitch in and watch my children when Graham had to work. Daddy still had to make the Bacon! It was fun to talk with Graham throughout the weekend because they were always running somewhere. They had lots of fun activities, and McKenna bonded even more with her Daddy. (now she prefers to have him sing & tuck her in at night) I am grateful that I was able to enjoy the weekend knowing that everything was taken care of. And don't be too jealous, but I even came home to a clean house! So Graham, you are not only a Super Dad, you are a Super Husband as well. Thank you!

Can you Believe our Little Guy is 6??

Well, I may be a few days late in posting, but Brinton turned 6 on October 19th. It was such a fun day to celebrate him. He looked forward for 2 weeks to his birthday and soaked in all the fun he could on his special day. Brinton, we love you so much! You are such a special spirit sent from our Heavenly Father. Daddy & I are amazed at the goodness within you, and your constant desire to follow Jesus Christ. You inspire me to live my life better because I know you are watching me. You are the kindest big brother to McKenna and you are Chase's very best buddy. I feel so blessed that you set the example for Chase & McKenna. I know that you are trying everyday to be like Jesus, and as a Mom this brings me such joy. We love you with all our hearts, and our so proud of the big boy you have become.

I love being a Mom!

Sometimes I forget to say it, but I love being a Mom! I feel so blessed to have our 3 precious children. I never knew I could have so much fun working so hard. Life is busy, time is short, children are crazy, too often my house is messy, but inspite of all that: I love being a Mom! These children inspire me to be a better mother; more worthy of their unconditional love. They are so pure and so thoughtful. I am truly blessed to know them. So the next time I call my dad or mom crying about how crazy my children are making me, they will remind me of this blog entry. And that is fine by me because I Love Being a Mom!

Those Gym Towels are Really Small!

So I have been working out at the gym now since May, (that is incredible for me!)and I am really enjoying it. I thought once the kids went back to school it would be much easier for me to get into a normal workout routine. Obviously I was so wrong about that! Anyway, so I go to the gym whenever I can work it into my schedule. Sometimes it is just me & McKenna (she graciously waits for me in the childcare part of the gym) and sometimes I take all of my cute Banches. Well yesterday, I took Chase & McKenna right after lunch, but before naps, and told Chase I would be fast. So I did my workout, and hustled in to take a shower and get somewhat presentable for the rest of my day. Before hopping in the shower I went on and locked my car keys (with my locker key attached) in my locker. Not realizing this; I shower away. It hit me as I am dripping wet, buck naked, with a teeny-tiny gym towel covering part of my body that I have no way to get into my locker. So what to do?? Well I wait. I mean I can't walk out dressed like this. So I wait. Women are always coming into the locker room to use the restroom, shower etc. So I wait.strong> Apparently very few women work out at 1:15 in the afternoon, and surprisingly few of them feel the need to use the "Little Girl's Room" at that time either. So I wait. Finally after about 10 minutes I realize I could be waiting for quite a while. Just then I hear someone using the vending machine right outside of the men's dressing room. So I tip toe just barely out of the dressing room, realize it is a woman and say, "Pssst could you come in here really quick." Then I hustle back into the dressing room trying to reposition my Tiny Towel so that my Tiny Hiney is covered. All of a sudden that Hiney didn't seem so Tiny! So she comes in, I explain the situation, she has pity on me and grabs some wire cutters. Well poor girl, it took her about 10 minutes to cut my lock off my locker, but in the end I did walk out of the gym fully clothed. Graham recommended I get a combination lock next time. Definitely something to look into!

Happy Birthday Beautiful Girl! 10/10/08

McKenna Baby Girl Knies Johnson, you turned 2 today. You bring such incredible joy to our family. Your brothers adore you, you melt your Daddy's heart, and you are your Mommy's Little Best Friend! You have brought a sense of peace to our entire family. Brinton & Chase love taking care of you and do so much to make you happy. Our family is truly blessed by you! Happy Birthday...And Many, Many More!

Wednesday, October 8th

We got to celebrate our friend, Hannah Kartchner on her birthday. We made some cookies and went to play at the park. The kids had such a fun time, and I couldn't resist the cute pictures of Brinton and Hannah. He pretends like Hannah liking him is strictly one-sided, but judging by these pictures I would have to disagree.

Chase's 1st Soccer Goal: Sort Of!

So the boys had another soccer game on Saturday. They both had a great time as you can see. Brinton got 5 more goals bringing his total to probably 16 goals for the season (3 games played). He is awesome! But the really exciting news is that Chase sort of got his 1st goal. So he finally makes it all the way down the field and is kicking the ball into the goal, when the wind blows and knocks the goal down. The referee quickly picked the goal up allowing Chase another turn to get the ball in when another gust of wind takes the goal down. By the time the Ref picks the goal up, the Coach says, "Hey that counts as a goal for Chase." Poor Guy. So he didn't actually get the glory of seeing/feeling himself kick his 1st goal, but we talked it up all the same. So Hooray for Chase! We are proud of both of our cute soccer players!

Do I really have to potty train her??

So when is it really time to potty train? McKenna is about to turn 2 (on the 10th of October), which is way earlier than I potty trained the boys. But as I am taking pictures (smelling something) she says "Mommy I poop" As much as I would like to pretend it isn't time...when they can say the words in a sentence it is difficult to deny!