What Makes a Good Mom?

Weston's Words of Wisdom

So what makes a good mom? Good housekeeping skills? Making delicious meals? Posting the cutest homemade crafts on your brag er I mean blog? Putting your kids in sports and music lessons?:

Mom: "Weston, am I a good mom?"

Weston: "Yes"

Mom: "What makes me a good mom?"

Weston: "You don't pour orange juice down your shirt."

Well, there you have it. So if you too have resisted the urge to pour your juice down your shirt, give yourself a pat on the back. But then again this may indeed be a compliment coming from a four-year-old boy who can't eat a pb sandwich without ending up with some in his hair.

She's a Keeper

My little Emma. She knows everything already and has such a hard time explaining herself to her slow-witted mother who just can't understand why she just had to do those things to her brother. We have our days but she really really loves her family and wants so much to be good and to keep everyone happy. Last Sunday we had a special lesson in Relief Society and the men subbed in Primary so I got to go. They gave us roses and Emma thought the flowers were for mothers day and quickly made this card for me when we got home:

"Love is just what you need"- It absolutely is.

I was having one of those "I've failed as a mother" weeks and was completely disappointed in my parenting skills. Then Emma had a homework assignment to draw a picture and write about her family. This is what she did:

Okay, not a complete failure

This one just cracked me up. I guess we've been in the south too long. Emma's class was asked to draw pictures of something real and something imaginary. Here's Emma's illustration:

"This [pointing to the left] is a picture of a man milking a cow. And this [pointing to the right] is a cow eating Chick-Fil-A." (and if you got that one, you've been in the south too long too)

Everything's coming up Roses

I'm a very practical person. If I'm gonna spend money on a garden it needs to give me something in return. Basil and mint were an exciting buy this weekend because they are edible and smell delicious and that's as crazy as I get. But a few weeks ago I looked out my kitchen window and something yellow caught my eye...

A border of daffodils had sprung up along my side planter and just brought a bit of sunshine to my day (and the weeks following that they lasted)

Then these beautiful flowers started blooming on the tree by my front door and I can't help but stop on my steps and breathe a sigh of contentment every time I pass

I love how they look next to the overhang with the windows. On the other side of those windows is my piano. I enjoy playing when my mind is troubled and to look up from my music out at a green landscape flecked with colorful flowers and the lake in the background is very therapeutic.

And these lovelies started popping up in the planter off our driveway that I found useless when we first moved in and started using as a stick receptacle. Shows what I know.

Every day I go out and see new buds promising some wonderful surprise in the days to come and I can't help but feel a little giddy with excitement. I guess that's part of the fun of a garden growing that you never planted, everything's a surprise.

And Emma was upset at the idea of me mowing the lawn because of the little wildflower weeds that had sprung up in our lawn. The river that ran through our grass during the floods created a lush path of blossoming weeds.

I love the bright colors against all the greenery! Maybe this is why Georgians are more religious- can you really deny the existence of a Creator when you see this kind of beauty surrounding you?!

The hostas are coming up. Not much to look at yet but these and my magnolia tree help me remember I'm in Georgia and it's kinda fun.

Emma was excited to see this one because she thought it looked and felt like a mermaid tail.

between our house and the neighbors there are big trees covered in white blossoms and looking out the living room window at this pink tree and the white blossoms and all the greenery is so pretty.

After the daffodils died off these trailing white flowers started springing up

(p.s. I'm loving the digital macro setting on my camera because these flowers are actually quite small- thanks Nate! Too bad you didn't have the same Spring Break as Emma though so you could be enjoying this weather and color with us)

Look what's hanging over the swingset and tall green trees surround the fence. And the weather has been completely gorgeous and hours just pass away as we sit and play outside and I snap away at my camera. I seriously can't get enough of it!

Our front yard last week. And this week it's even better with the new flowers and colors on the bushes! (although I was very careful not to include the neighbor's perfectly green manicured lawn to take away any of the glory and contentment of my home right now). I don't think Jamie's gonna have any luck talking me into moving back to Vegas right now. he'll have to wait til everything's barren again and all that is left is a huge pile of leaves to rake.

This last week we went down to the aquarium during Emma's spring break and walked across the street to Centennial Olympic Park. There's something very peaceful and appealing about a big green park in the middle of a busy city. Especially when the colors are so vibrant after freshly fallen rain and you can hear the trickling of fountains over the city traffic. It was a nice contrast to the crowded aquarium.

This is why I dragged the kids over here. I had a glimpse of these from the road as we passed and I couldn't help but cross the entire park just to get a better look. Flowers, color- I can't bring myself to spend money on them but they seriously bring me joy! They literally lift my spirits just seeing them everywhere right now. Physically I feel better, emotionally/spiritually I'm just happier more balanced and calm. Being around them, taking pictures of them just makes me feel good. So when the world goes cold and dark again I can look back at this post and these pictures and remember the promise of spring!

Prophets, Prehistory, and Parties

Thought this weekend was just going to be sitting at home enjoying conference but we still packed in a lot of outings somehow.

Friday a friend invited us to go with them to the zoo on her family pass. Beautiful day out and I enjoyed gabbing with my friend while the kids had a blast.
Weston's so cute, he would go up to each animal in the petting zoo, get eye-to-eye (or try at least), and smile at them. I guess he was waiting for one to break down and smile back, because who can resist a gesture of love from Westie?
Andrew was loving on the animals too and kept trying to tell me the goats were little horses.

Friday evening Emma had a birthday party for a friend from school at Chuck E. Cheese.

Saturday The kids had plenty of egg hunts and treats this week so I didn't feel the need for more eggs and sugar. The baskets were given Saturday morning so the kids could get their conference supplies. The primary gave all the kids paperback Book of Mormons so I made a case for Weston and he got a CTR ring so he can be like Emma.

Then we emptied our baskets and headed down to the Ferbank Natural History Museum for their Dino Egg Hunt. I won free family tickets and we were excited to go check out the museum. The traffic in the neighborhood was AWFUL getting there and we missed the younger-aged hunts and Emma managed to seize three eggs in the last one which she shared with her brothers. But I really had just come for the free museum tickets anyway. Weston kept asking me if the animals were real and would smile and wave at them because he's just friendly and sweet that way. Andrew fell in love with the dino rub table because he has a thing for coloring and wasn't so happy when mom tore him away but did enjoy the optical illusion spinning disc and sat mesmerized while we explored the other exhibits in the room. Weston kept wandering back to the bubble-maker and was happy just to watch in awe as the other kids blew big bubbles. Emma was excited to see and learn everything but likes to tell me "I already knew that."

We rushed home, set out the conference buffet, and enjoyed conference together. It's kinda nice having the later conference here because you still have your Saturday morning and with food out the kids love joining us for conference. Andrew loved the buffet because he could reach all the foods he wanted and felt so grown-up and in control. Just as Jamie was about to put on his tie and head out for Priesthood session we heard Andrew screaming down the hall. I found him with blood all over his face and hand. He had cut his head open above his eyebrow and the cut was pretty deep but after cleaning him up the bleeding went down and we decided a little super glue should suffice.
Sunday We were more than happy to stay home and enjoy conference carefully in our own home. It was great and even the kids appreciated it. After the last session I put on some church music and Weston whined, "no mom, put conference on." I don't know if he was expecting a new conference buffet spread with extra Easter candy but I'd like to think my children enjoy conference and the spirit it brought into our home.

Now Emma has Spring Break this week and we've exhausted my outing stamina and the kids will expect great things after this Easter kick-off.