Back to School!

Well it is that time again. The end of a wonderful summer, and the time to go back to school. Today was the day. I must say, I have been looking forward to it over the past week, but once it got here my excitement wore off. Brinton started 1st grade at Franklin West, and my little Chase is now in kindergarten there as well. It is always very emotional for me to leave my kids the first day of school...probably because when they actually start kindergarten it feels like the end of the "Mom & Me Era."
Anyway, the boys were relatively excited to begin school. Chase admitted when we got to his classroom that he was feeling a bit nervous. I am sure I compounded that by crying, but what is a mom supposed to do?! We got cute pics of them (as you can see) and then McKenna and I were on our own. (I am looking forward to having special alone time with just her.)
Chase is in half-day kindergarten so we picked him up from the bus stop before lunch time. I must say the 1st day of school excitement had worn off by then. I asked him about his day, and his reply was, "It was boring Mom. We didn't even have recess." When we got home and were eating lunch I tried to pry more. He said, "Mom we didn't do computers, we didn't do PE, we didn't do recess, we sang a little, but I didn't get to play instruments. It was boring. I already said that." So that was Chase's 1st day of public school in a nutshell. Later this afternoon, he did admit he had PE, but didn't recognize it as PE. He just was balancing a bean bag on his head and finger.
Brinton enjoyed his first day back. He seemed to enjoy his teacher and had fun seeing old friends. He did ask if I cried when I left them. I admitted I had and he smiled. I think he really enjoys knowing he is missed! I love you boys and am super proud of the wonderful guys you are becoming!!

My Mom : According to Chase Johnson

Chase recently finished preschool. I can hardly believe he will be starting kindergarten next year! So for his last day of school, he brought home a lovely picture of me with some very interesting facts according to Chase:

Mom is 20 years old (Thank you Chase, but that makes for very scary math. Brinton is 6 years old!) Actual: 30
Mom is 100 inches tall. Like a T-Rex standing up. (That's a tiny T-Rex) Actual: 64 inches
Mom weighs 3 million pounds. (No thanks for that one Chase. His teacher says all the other kids were guessing 10 pounds, and he knew they were wrong!) Actual: None of your business...except I will say it is even less than 1 million pounds.
Mom's favorite food is meatloaf. (I do make the occasional meatloaf. Chase hates it!) Actual: Chicken fried steak...Yum!
Mom's favorite color is black. (I do wear black often. It is slimming and I am after all trying to disguise my 3 million pound waste line.) Actual: Maybe red??
Mom's favorite thing to do is: Do stuff with me. (Well he was absolutely correct about this last one.) I love doing stuff with my kids!
I love you Chase, and enjoy so much seeing you grow! Thanks for the good laugh!

Pure Deliciousness!

Be honest! This picture just makes you smile. I love this girl!!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Ole! As you can tell we really get into this holiday. Okay not really, but Graham's brother Dave likes to throw a party he refers to as Cinco de Moustache. Last night it was deemed Cuatro de Moustache because it fell on Monday night and is used as a social event in his single's ward. So Graham & Brinton went to the fiesta while I stayed home at the infirmary. (McKenna & Chase have been sick.) They were sad not to go, but Brinton was quite excited. He left shouting "Adios amigos!" Since coming home, Brinton too has joined the infirmary (late last night) so I am having quite the fiesta myself at home today. Happy Cinco de Mayo...I hope yours is less yucky than mine.

Spring Break in Colorado

We took the kids to Colorado for Spring Break...I know I'm behind but better late than never! We had a great time being there as a family. Dad was able to get some work done, but we were still able to have lots of fun. We rode the quads, swam at the Durango Rec Center, painted rocks, and made daily trips to the ice cream shop. (Of course this is always the kids' favorite part of the trip!) It was so fun to be able to play in the snow! Unfortunately it was not fresh snow...so a little hard to work with, but snow is snow. The kids had a blast! We are so glad to be able to getaway to the cabin for some special family time. Thanks Grandpa J!!

Chaseisms

2 quick "Chaseisms" I wanted to record.

I have a gal who comes over every other week and helps me clean. Chase came upstairs to relay this to me. "Mom, I was just downstairs and I told Elizabeth, you are a good cleaner Elizabeth." She didn't understand me so I said, "Muy bien Elizabeth, that means good job cleaning Elizabeth." He is precious!

Also, Chase has always been my style dog; the one most concerned with what he is wearing for the day. Last week he came and climbed into bed with me to cuddle, (his morning ritual...and I love it!) fully dressed for the day. He said, "Mom, do you like my outfit? Do you think the ladies will like it?" The fact that my four year old is already trying to impress the ladies is a little frightening. But I have heard a story or two about his dad at that age. He was quite the ladies man in preschool/kindergarten as well. So he gets that from Graham. Thanks a lot babe!

A Poem from the Past

Graham and I were cleaning out a file today when we came across an old poem he had written in elementary school. Graham has 8 children in his family; the first 6 were boys (how did his mom do it?!) So without further adieu my husband the poet:

Little Brothers

nice,cute
jump, skip, run
They are so cute
little brothers

Big Brothers
mean,ugly
hit,punch,kick
i will fite back
Big Brothers

I don't know if you thought that was as funny as I did?! Graham often says they fought a lot growing up...and I am guessing these were real feelings he wrote about. This poem was mounted on cardstock and given to his mom & dad. I am sure it produced all sorts of warm fuzzy feelings. I am sure the teacher had quite a laugh as well!