definition please . . .

 

(my great grandmother, pearlis caroline kump nielsen, and her children lyle, Iris, and Myrna (my grandmother. she is the little one.))

 (my grandma myrna, my aunt sue, and my mom)

 (me and my mom)

(me and my boys)

(if you are reading this, please continue and leave a comment)

what defines a good mother?

this is a question that has hung over my head since the day i found out i was pregnant with ben. i wanted to be the best mom ever, but what does that look like? what do i do?

so i put the question to you mothers and yet-to-be mothers alike (men's comments are welcome) . . .

what defines a good mother?

is it how much tv their kids do or don't watch? is it how many vegetables their kids eat? how many hours per week you spend reading to them? if the kids go to bed easily and sleep through the night? is it how their children behave? how smart they are? is how clean the house is? how many homemade meals she prepares every week? how much laundry gets done? how in shape she is? if they know the names of all the apostle and prophets and can recite the articles of faith before they start primary? how do you become someone they love and admire? can motherhood be quantified? how is it measured? people will often say of others, "oh she is such a great mom!" but how do they know and why do they never say it about themselves?

i would love to hear all of your thoughts on the topic.

thank you.

some days . . .

  some days are just like this.

let it snow

 

 march, march, march. making tracks.

 engineering the frozen kitchen.

 airplane flyover

 snow up the glove! that is the worst!

cole's blessing

 We blessed Cole on Dec. 5th. I have been behind so I am just posting the pictures of him in his blessing outfit now. He is such a little angel. He has grown up so so much since then!

I LOVE this kid's eyelashes! They are so long!

day on the lake

 Best day ever. Period. I love being out on the lake in a boat. and to be able to do it in December! Wow. The boys love love boat rides. It was Cole's first boast trip and he loved it! Ben loved the engine noises. He kept telling Grandpa Clark to go faster.

 When we go to Texas we take the ski boat out on the lake and got to one of the lake restaurants. They are awesome. There are docks off the back of the restaurants so you don't park your car you dock your boat! So awesome. Great food too.

Yes that is me in a wetsuit. I went waterskiing on December 21st! Best Christmas present by far! It felt so amazing! Meanwhile back in Utah Kiersten was skiing 2 feet of powder. I will take the lake and the sun anyday.

buzz lightyear to the rescue!

 Who is that caped crusader? Is it Batman? Superman? Spider Man?

 No! It is Buzz Lightyear!

 "I come in peace."

Christmas Day in Utah

Yes we had two Christmas mornings! Which was fantastic. The only problem is that Ben now thinks that Christmas happens every couple of weeks. Ooops.

Aunt Chicken (Kiersten) was Ben's favorite person to help unwrap presents.

Cole was satisfied being snuggled by the Grandmas.

Ben cruised through presents so fast. He hardly stopped to take a breath.

Ben was such a great brother. He opened all of Cole's presents for him! At least he showed Cole what he got.

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!! Ben loves loves Buzz. He flies him around all the time and yells, "To infinity and beyond!!"

My favorite part of Christmas morning was watching my mom, grandma and grandpa open my surprise gift! I made a photo book for my grandma with the photographs I took of her making chocolates. She cried, which is a huge deal. She never cries. It my whole life to be able to make her that happy.

Grandma and Grandpa Richens spoiled Ben with ski rentals for the season! Ben couldn't wait for the slops so Aunt Chicken braved the cold with him to ski on the frost.

This is Ben "dropping a cliff."