#13 Mothers day weekend pt 3. My Mother

*Photo taken by the wonderful photographer Ann Eldridge

I'll admit, Mother's day makes me a little competitive. Everyone is trying their best to claim that their mom is the real "Best Mom". Sometimes I feel like I want to start a competition.

"So you think your mom is the best? Well my mom can water ski on dolphins while reciting the constitution and all of it's amendments, and while tossing a pizza. Can your mom do that?"

That kind of thing. But I have a feeling that my mom (tried) to teach me to be better than that (that being said, if anyone is up for a "who's mom is cooler-off" you name the time and place :) ). So I'll just say this: If life started all over, and all the mothers past, present, and future were lined up, and I got to choose any mother in the world, I would pick my mother, Leanne Cragun, in an instant, even over Oprah, Giada, or Amelia Bedelia. I love my Mom, and I can't imagine what life would be like following in anyone else's footsteps.

*this is the cheesy part* Now, this mother's day as I was thinking about it, I don't think there is such thing as the "best mom" I think every mom is wonderful. All moms are the best, because I think all mom's are the best for their own family. But that doesn't mean I can't brag about my favorite mom for a little bit. So these are the Top 5 Things I love about my mother.

5. She is a woman of many talents. Cooking, gardening, cleaning (fun? no, but talent? I think so), genealogy, being a leader for the girls at church, watching baseball, quilting, quilting, quilting.

4. She is pro at being a mom. She's done it all when it comes to being a mom: crying children, angsty teens, and not to mention with 4 boys and a girl who wanted to be just like her brothers she taught us manners like a champ (however, that doesn't mean we always choose to use them)... (sorry mom) and she never failed to be patient with us (even though we usually didn't deserve it)

3. She loves food just as much as I do. In fact, she taught me how to cook. How grateful I am for that.

2. She believes in having equal dosages of hard work, and fun and laughter. Us children were not brought up to be lazy, however, we weren't brought up to be boring either.

1. She is a sweet, kind lady who is always serving others, and never complains about it, even when she doesn't get a thank you.

So there you have it. Happy Mother's Day to all you mother's out there. And an extra special Mother's day to the mom I think is extra special. (Did you know she won the national ring toss championships blind folded and has the record for most push ups in the state of Minnesota? Yeah, she's a pretty cool lady.)