Home again, home again

This last week flew by, and it's hard for me to believe our Thankgiving trip is already over and we are home again. It was a great trip, and I am so Thankful for my wonderful in-laws for hosting us last week and for all the fun activities they planned for us while we were there! Some of the highlights of our week were:

The Train museum with Grandpa
Jumping all our energy out at a inflatable play place followed by Graeters ice cream
Going to see Dolphin Tales (I didn't have to take anyone out of the theater the whole time, which felt quite epic and wonderful :))
Going to see cousin Austin's Eagle project at the park and playing on the swings there with cousins
Black Friday shopping
Christmas lights at the Cincinnati Zoo
A kid-free craft fair trip with Mom and Marcia
My first experience with a Hibachi grill at a Japanese Steakhouse - I have never had so much fun watching food be cooked, and it was so delicious.

Packing....

I remember when I was young, my mom had these packing lists she would pull out when we were going somewhere - one for picnics/bbq's, one for camping, and one for other trips.

As a child I didn't appreciate the brilliance of those lists, but having packed only partially successfully for numerous trips now, and having my kids sleep in my t-shirts instead of pajamas and using water cups to store my contacts in, I realize just how awesome they were.  But I never think of those lists until I'm already deep in the throes of the packing madness, and I always think "I don't have time to do that now, but when I get home, I'm definitely going to make that list".

Well, here I am again, packing for a week in Ohio with Grant's parents, without that list...

When I get home I'm definitely going to make that list.

Contribution

It's been a while... A busy couple of months, but isn't life always busy? So that's really not an excuse.

Last time I posted, I just posted that quote from President Hinkley about introspection, and my dear friend Marie asked "How does someone contribute and help their kids contribute when they must be so busy contributing to their children all the time?" And I thought that was a really good question, and I've been thinking about it.

Both my moms have been on my mind a lot this last month, so I started to think about my moms, and the contributions they have made/are making. I feel so incredibly blessed both in the family I was raised in, and the family I married into, and I have AMAZING moms. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of both my moms is this pervading sense of acceptance, and love. And then they both just have this ability to look at any situation or person in life and put a positive spin on it/them. Every time I spend time with either of them I come away feeling inspired to be a better person myself.

Sometimes it is SO EASY for every second of my day to get filled up with just the business of raising little boys and keeping a house that it's really hard for me to feel like I have time to contribute to the world in any significant way. But as I thought of my moms, I thought maybe the best way I can contribute right now is through the attitude I have as I go about my days. Maybe if I'm a little more kind, loving, accepting, supportive to the people I interact with doing those mundane things, maybe that's a contribution I can make, without another check-mark on my to-do list.