A Question About the Sacrament

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The other day, I asked a question out loud. It was of a spiritual nature, and I don’t often speak them out loud, though I certainly do have them. I adhere to Thomas Jefferson’s “question with boldness” mantra. I think it’s important to not ever believe the first source on anything you find unless you can find at least a second or third source to back up the first one.

The exact quote from Jefferson was written in a letter to Peter Carr, his nephew. He said: “Religion. Your reason is now mature enough to examine this object. In the first place divest yourself of all bias in favor of novelty and singularity of opinion. Indulge them in any other subject rather than that of religion. It is too important, and the consequences of error may be too serious. On the other hand, shake off all the fears and servile prejudices under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear. You will naturally examine first the religion of your own country.”

Jefferson said much more about religion in this letter, but I give this portion to illustrate the seriousness with which Jefferson held the topic of religion and figuring out for yourself what is true. The italicized portion is the part of the quote that always sticks with me. Though I have never questioned the existence of a God (I’ve had far too many witnesses of his existence to see the logic in doing so), I do question why he makes us go through the things we do. I question his commandments, especially when I see that they are hurting people. And, I question the cultures surrounding religions, not just mine, all of them.

Additionally, our Father in Heaven has established all throughout the scriptures that his word will be established through the mouth of two or three witnesses. So, I look for them. My favorite scripture on this matter is 2 Nephi 11:3, which says, “And my brother, Jacob, also has seen him as I have seen him; wherefore, I will send their words forth unto my children to prove unto them that my words are true. Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my word. Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses, and he proveth all his words.” Other scriptures that talk about needing two or three witnesses are Ether 5:4, 2 Corinthians 13:1, Matthew 18:15-16, and John 8:17.

So, I question things, lots of things, not just religion, but also, science, history, and politics. I look for multiple witnesses that what is said is true. I research the motives, funding, and beliefs of the witnesses to get a better understanding of why they say what they say and decide for myself if I think what is being said is true.

On this day, my question was: if you are righteous, do you really need to take the sacrament? I think that’s kind of bold question. It goes against Mormon culture, where people are incorrectly encouraged by people who do not have the proper authority to refrain from taking the sacrament when they commit some of the more serious sins and even the less serious. So, I vocalized this question, and God answered it over the next couple of days.

First, my oldest, who is baptized and has been reading the Book of Mormon with us to complete the prophet’s challenge to read it by the end of the year, came up to me while I was cooking and asked, “Mom, how do we get back to Heavenly Father?”

And I gave a somewhat jumbled answer that was not as well thought out as I would have preferred. “Well we follow His commandments as best as we can, but really, the only reason we can return to Heavenly Father is because Jesus suffered for our sins in Gethsemane. That’s called the atonement. Without that, there’s no way we could ever get back to Heavenly Father.”

She thought for a bit, as I continued cooking, then said, “I really just want to be with you, but I don’t know if you’ll make it back.”

Daggers to my heart, but I responded, “I don’t know if I’ll make it back either, but I’m trying. Do you want to try with me?”

She agreed and then went on her way. I was left to finish making dinner and think about how amazingly smart (or dare I say wise?) my child was. Alma, when talking to the poor Zoramites about how they can worship and gain spiritual knowledge anywhere, at any time, and from anyone, said, “And now, he imparteth his word by angels unto men, yea, not only men but women also. Now this is not all; little children do have words given unto them many times, which confound the wise and the learned.” – Alma 32:23

This encounter with my oldest lasted about 5-10 minutes, but it was certainly humbling and most definitely confounding. She knew what my problems were, at least the visible ones, just in the same way that I knew what my parent’s problems were when I was growing up. And, despite knowing my problems, all she wanted was to be with me in the eternities. Amazing.

Then, on Sunday, we had ward conference, so the bishop and stake president both spoke. I was there with my two oldest children because the younger ones were sick at home. Meaning, I actually got to listen to what was said. The stake president thoroughly answered my question, which I was not anticipating at all.

He said that he was so grateful to have the sacrament because otherwise the stake center would be packed every Sunday with everyone trying to get rebaptized and receive a remission of their sins from the week. It was a funny visual in my mind, but it drove home the point that everyone sins, even little tiny sins, that we need to repent of and be cleansed from. The sacrament does that for us, at least the cleansing part.

Then he quoted Elder Bednar, who said that we should always take the sacrament, especially when we sin. None of this “I have made a mistake, therefore, I am unworthy of taking the sacrament.” The only times we should ever not take the sacrament is if we’ve done something that would affect our membership in the church. Certainly, those people exist, but they are not many.

Curious about the context of this quote, I began searching through conference talks and did not find it. So, I asked my stake president where he got it and was told that it was in a Sabbath Day training video. My relief society president helped me find them on lds.org, and I found the entire quote.

“It’s my observation, too, some members of the church, especially very conscientious members can be way too hard on themselves. And, so they may have had an inappropriate thought or a fussy word with somebody in the family before they went out the door, and they may think, ‘Oh, I’m not worthy to partake of the sacrament.’ That’s why we take the sacrament. Now if we do something that potentially affects our standing and membership in the church then there should be a real reservation. Otherwise, we should do what we need to do. Be prepared. Even with all of our best efforts. If I get grumpy going out of the house and say something to somebody that I shouldn’t have said. But the sacrament is to help, and we should not withdraw ourselves from that blessing needlessly.” – Elder Bednar

So, I asked a question, and God answered. I don’t often have these quietly intense moments of direct learning from God, though when I do, the teaching is thorough and sticks forever. The main things I learned from this are that I will never be righteous enough to not need the sacrament, and if by chance I ever think that I am, I am probably in need of a lot of humility. Also, that there are probably a lot of people who should be taking the sacrament but aren’t because of our misinformed culture. My heart goes out to everyone who needs it just as much as I do.

My Family’s Favorite Meals

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Yesterday, I posted on Facebook a list of my family’s favorite meals. These are specifically for dinner, but we eat the leftovers for lunch all the time. People asked for the recipes as well. Some of them are my own, so I’ll be posting the recipes as I can, but I found many online and will provide the links for them on this page. I’ve added my small changes that I make to other people’s recipes. I tweak almost every recipe that I find, and I hope that this encourages you to do the same. You know what you and your family like to eat, so make it the way they like to eat it.

  • Spaghetti
  • Deep Fried Chicken Tenders
  • Italian Wedding Soup
  • Chicken Cacciatore – I use butter instead of coconut oil, we don’t do mushrooms, and sometimes we substitute rice for the cabbage, but try the cabbage! It’s amazing.
  • BBQ Beef
  • Pot Roast
  • Asian Zucchini Stir Fry
  • Chicken Salad
  • Pasta Salad
  • Taco Salad
  • Loaded Baked Potatoes
  • Hamburgers
  • Hot Dogs
  • Steak – This is how we cooked our steak the other day, and it was amazing. Just make sure the steak is completely thawed if it’s been frozen.
  • Beef Stroganoff
  • Chicken Pot Pie
  • Zuppa Toscana
  • Swiss Steak
  • Southern Crock Pot Chicken – I add a lot of salt to this. Otherwise, it’s kind of bland. It’s good served with rice, on toast, or in a tortilla.
  • Chili
  • Chicken Enchiladas
  • Chicken Noodle Soup
  • Vegetable Beef Soup
  • BBQ Chicken
  • Beef Stew

It might take me a while to get through this whole list, but some of these are better in the winter anyway.

2016 New Years Resolutions

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Photo by Krista Stufflebeam

Photo by Krista Stufflebeam

I made a few resolutions this year. I’ve still got my second 101 Goals in 1001 Days going on, but after studying the scriptures for the Young Women’s Personal Progress Virtue #1, I decided that I’d work on a few things from Proverbs 31.

“She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.” – Proverbs 31:17
“Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” – Proverbs 31:25

I want to be stronger. I already have a few goals in progress that fit this bill, like swimming 10 miles by the end of my 101 goals. But, I want to focus on my arms. I have carpal tunnel in both of my arms. Currently it’s my left arm that is killing me, but it switches back and forth all the time. I have a bunch of stretches and exercises that my chiropractor and a physical therapist friend have given me that I want to do consistently. I would, also, like to lift weights. I have no idea how to do this properly, so I might take a class. I don’t want to get buff, but I do want to have the strength to carry my children around when I need to.

“She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.” – Proverbs 31:15

I want to get on a better sleep schedule. I used to be superb at this, but I’ve been a major slacker in adulthood. Last night, I went to bed before midnight, which I haven’t done in a long time. I woke up this morning, still wishing for more sleep, but able to take on the day. I have a salt lamp that I turn on in the evening, and I try to turn my electronics off before I climb into bed, so it’s easier to fall asleep. The hardest part will be giving up personal alone time, but I think it will make other aspects of my life more enjoyable, like parenting and housekeeping.

This isn't me, but this would be fun with the kids.

This isn’t me, but this would be fun with the kids.

“She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” – Proverbs 31:26
“Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” – Proverbs 31:28

And, finally, I want to focus more on my children. I want to play with them more and set up a good schedule for reading and homework. I want to consistently have family home evening and try to include them in my everyday life. I’d like to offer them the chance to cook with me when I’m cooking and clean with me when I’m cleaning. Not in a forceful way, but more in a let’s do something together kind of a way. There are a lot of things I want to teach my children, but it’s kind of impossible to do without having a good relationship with them.

I don’t typically make New Year’s resolutions, because I think resolutions and goals should be made constantly throughout the year, but this is as good a time as any to start these up, and I am very optimistic right now. My favorite thing about this is that they are spiritual, physical, and family all in one. The first goal I had before making these was to be more of a Proverbs 31 woman. These are just the smaller goals I set to accomplish that.

Do What Matters Most

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april-2013-general-conference-1124653-mobileI finally got to listen to all of the October 2015 General Conference, since I was in Japan when it happened. One of the talks that really stood out to me was Elder David A. Bednar’s “Chosen to Bear Testimony of My Name.” In it he talks about how the church is a gerontocracy, a church run by old men, and how this is a wonderful thing. This was a new word for me, and I love the ideas it presents.

One day, while visiting with Elder Hales, Elder Bednar asked, “What lessons have you learned as you have grown older and been constrained by decreased physical capacity?”

Elder Hales answered, “When you cannot do what you have always done, then you only do what matters most.”

Elder Bednar goes on to say, “The limitations that are the natural consequence of advancing age can in fact become remarkable sources of spiritual learning and insight… Physical restrictions can expand vision. Limited stamina can clarify priorities. Inability to do many things can direct focus to a few things of greatest importance.”

I have seen this in my own life, even though I am still very young compared to the men who run this church. I first experienced this in college, when I was taking 17 credit hours, participating in a play, and working three jobs. Half way through the semester I realized that I couldn’t do it anymore; I quit the play and withdrew from Calculus 2, bringing my credit hours down to 13. School and work, those were the important things in my life at that time.IMG_5649

The lesson I learned from this semester stuck with me, and I try very hard to not overwhelm myself with too much to do. Being a mother, however, there is always too much to do, and I have been trying to weed out the things in my life that are not as important to me. For example, I am not a crafty mom. I would love to be; I have friends who make the cutest things with their kids. The craftiest I get is searching the internet for coloring pages. My kids love helping to pick these out, and occasionally I join in to color with them.

Even within my hobbies I have to scale it back. My garden next year will consist of tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini. I might even buy the cucumbers and zucchini as plants instead of using the seeds I already have to make things that much easier. I’ve been simplifying my cooking as well. Thankfully some of the most delicious meals are, also, the simplest to make. I.e. pot roast.

I’m back in school again, taking one class at a time. As much as I want to finish quickly, I can’t without neglecting the most important thing in my life: my family. I believe they will be the most important thing for the rest of my life and into eternity.

Elder Bednar continues, “These men have had a sustained season of tutoring by the Lord, whom they represent, serve, and love… These ordinary men have undergone a most extraordinary developmental process that has sharpened their vision, informed their insight, engendered love for people from all nations and circumstances, and affirmed the reality of the Restoration.”

I’m sure some of this tutoring has to do with being an apostle, but another part of it must be this life, which we view as being a time to learn the good from the evil. I know I’m just at the beginning of this difficult tutoring, but I am pleased with the results so far, and I can’t wait to see what I get to learn next.

Early April 2015 Garden Update

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SeedlingsGod has answered my prayers today for rain. Although looking outside, I am debating if it is rain or really slushy snow. It is so wonderful to not have to water today. That is the biggest downfall of living in the desert, there is never enough water it seems. This year is even more nerve wracking, since we only got snow for Christmas, and maybe a few other times, but certainly not enough to pull us out of the drought we were in last year, despite all the wonderful autumn rain. One thing is for sure, though, you become an expert at the weather when you are a gardener.

So, while we are blessed with rain on this beautifully, cloudy day, I am focused on my indoor gardening. I have started my summer seeds, to be planted outside in roughly one month from today. Planted six days ago, my seedling tray now contains 10 Marketmore cucumbers, 7 Noir De Carmes cantaloupe, 1 Crimson Sweet watermelon, some German Queen tomatoes (I couldn’t tell how many were pushing up through the dirt), 1 Stupice tomato, 3 Sun Sugar tomatoes, 3 Paul Robeson tomatoes, 4 Sungold Select II tomatoes, 1 Tondo Scuro Di Piacenza zucchini (an heirloom eight ball zucchini), 1 Connecticut Field pumpkin, 1 cilantro, and 41 Green Mountain Multiplier onions. I am just imagining all the food I can get with that alone, but there is more I am still waiting on: Dark Green zucchini, Spaghetti squash, Jack Be Little pumpkins, and I am hoping for more watermelon.

Outside, my Tom Thumb peas are doing well, and my Swiss chard has sprouted. The strawberries are in bloom, and produced many new starts, which I moved to an empty area. I still need to finish weeding them. It’s slow going, since the majority of the weeds are mint and grass, two of the most difficult weeds you could ever have in an area. I bought seed potatoes at my favorite nursery yesterday, Yukon gold, a red variety, and a blue variety. The box for them is cleared, and simply needs to be loosened and compost added to it. And, finally, all of the carrots have been harvested from last year. They are so tasty, and digging them out of Mel’s mix has got to be the most fun thing you can do with your children in the garden. Imagine playing in a sandbox filled with dirt and carrots, instead of sand, and then being able to feed the carrot tops to the chickens, because they love them.

Improving a Bad Day

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It’s amazing how doing something you actually care about can improve your mood so drastically. Today was such a downer of a day for me. I had no desire to do anything, but wanted so badly to be productive, so I broke out my timer method, which goes something like rest for 10 minutes, clean for 15, repeat until motivated. I never actually hit motivated, though my house is cleaner than it was before, barely. I hit such a low, that while my husband was getting Cute Stuff to sleep on his lunch break, I was napping. Now there’s nothing wrong with napping, sometimes it’s necessary, but my night time sleep hasn’t been too bad lately, and it just wasn’t something I wanted to do today.

So, when my husband and I had to switch off getting Cute Stuff to sleep so he could go back to work, I sat there, cuddling my baby, thinking about how in the world I could improve my day. I certainly had no desire to fall into a week of despair just because of one bad day. (I do that sometimes.) Then I remembered a blog I had stumbled across sometime last month, while in one of my weeks of despair. Laying in bed, completely miserable, I googled, “I’m sad. Make it stop.” The first entry was Alison Gresik’s blog about walking depression in creatives. She specifically is an author, so it was right up my alley.

Using the What Kind of Creative Are You? Quiz, I realized that I am the Dutiful creative, which means that I try to get everything I’m supposed to done before I do my creative things. As a mother, I can tell you, this means that I never get to do my creative things. When I first read all of this, I decided to do at least one creative thing a day before I started all the other things I was required to do. It worked great, but then life happened, and I became caught up in serving everyone else again, so I found myself completely bummed with life today, as my list included lame stuff like laundry and dishes. Yuck! Who wants to do that?

So, while snuggling Cute Stuff, I pondered over and over about what I could possibly have enough energy to do that would be creative enough to pull me out of this bad day. I thought to my 101 Goals, and decided that writing notes to friends would be a good one, and I would get the satisfaction of working on my goals. And here, you see the fruits of this depression killing technique I have stumbled across. After writing only four notes to people I love, I am able to crank out a 450 word prose about the remedy to my bad day. I’d say it worked pretty well.

Postcrossing 2014

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Last year I join Postcrossing, which is an online community of people all around the world that send postcards to each other. We reach out to each other through snail mail, and you can kind of get a sense of how things are going in the rest of the world, without having to get super depressed from the news. For instance, cards to and from Ukraine take forever, while cards to Germany only take a week. You learn things like how to pronounce Belarus (bĕl′ə-ro͞os′), and that Taiwan is part of the Republic of China, but Hong Kong is not. And then you get to learn about people. Most of them speak more languages than I ever will, even if I ever manage to learn Spanish. There are so many people that speak English very well, and then a few who fake it so they can keep doing Postcrossing.

Last year, I got a lot of cards that I love, and I’ve been wanting to show them off on my blog.

Taiwan TrainThis is my favorite card for 2014. I love the
red train with the pink cherry blossoms.

russiaAnd this card from Russia comes in at a
close second. It was my favorite of the
year until I got the one from Taiwan.

legos

Coolest card goes to this card from Legoland
in Germany. It’s called “Miniland,” and
is a tiny little city made out of legos.

building

This is the Romanesque St. Nicholas Rotunda
in Cieszyn, Poland. This is one of the most
popular cards I have received. I think it would
be so much fun to visit it one day.

Martin Luther churchI really enjoy getting postcards of churches.
Especially from Europe, where they are
ancient. The first card is the church where
Doctor Martin Luther posted his thesis, which
I find totally fascinating. The second card is a
Taize church or sorts. Taize is in France, and
is a community where Christian’s congregate
to pray and sing together.

Palm Trees and SnowThis card is just fun for me. I enjoy seeing
the people, but really what I’m fascinated
by is the palm trees with snow covered mountains
in the background. Marrakech is in Morocco.

ChristmasAnd, in the spirit of snow, I received this card
from the Ukraine just in time for Christmas.
It was perfect to add to my wall of Christmas cards.

fall leavesI love the colors of this card from Taiwan.

pearsAnd, this card reminds me of my
grandmother for some reason.

The last three cards are all from China. I think they’re pretty great.

Chinese flowersI love the simplicity of this card. The Chinese
translates into, “Can’t forget the happiness
in the mountain while sitting alone.”

Chinese Food mapMap cards are awesome. This one is a Chinese
food map. I can’t even tell what most of the
foods are, but it looks fun.

Chinese rainbow lg

And, finally, this card is about the size of two postcards stuck together. It was such a treat to receive such a large card. I find the view fascinating as well.

Hope you enjoyed my postcards as much as I did. Postcrossing is a great way to connect with the world. Sometimes you find someone on a different continent that you connect with instantly. From there you can be pen pals, or just enjoy having met someone like you through mail.

President’s Day Gardening

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On President’s Day, as I was finishing lunch, I looked out the window and saw snow! We’ve had practically nothing since Christmas, and now on the day I was finally ready to work in my garden, it decided to snow? I ran outside as fast as I could, determined to get some work done before it got too cold. Half way through, the flurries stopped, and it was just cold. The first step to getting a garden ready is cleaning up from last year. My chickens did most of that for me, when we let them loose on the garden during the winter, but there was a pumpkin vine they didn’t touch and a bunch of those giant prickle weeds, so I grabbed a huge garbage bag and started filling it up. Then I made my way to my smaller boxes and started cleaning those up. They were mostly full of some sort of grassy weed, as I had harvested everything from all but one box last year.

Chickens digging through the grassy weed.

Chickens digging through the grassy weed.

Delicious winter carrots.

Delicious winter carrots.

The box that still has food in it is full of carrots, because they over winter beautifully, and since this winter was so mild, I didn’t even have to cover them. I cleared out the grassy weed from this box as well, and fed all of the weed to my chickens. I figure it’s some sort of annoying grain, which chicken’s love, and they’ve been enjoying digging through it. I, also, suspect that this weed helped to insulate my carrots when the temperatures did get cold. So, this weed and I don’t have too bad of relationship, especially considering how easy grass is to pull out of Mel’s Mix.

Thistle. These are all over my yard, even in my grass.

Thistle. These are all over my yard, even in my grass.

This weed and I, however, have a very complex relationship. Thistles are considered a noxious weed, which means it’s attempting to take over the planet. No, really it means harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant. In this case, all three, though it is only mildly poisonous. When they bloom, they’re deathly beautiful, but they kill to even lightly brush up against. Don’t wear flip flops around these things. I’ve been collecting any of the dead flowers I can find, in a probably futile attempt to prevent them from growing in my garden. They’re so hard to get rid of that even digging them out doesn’t stop them from coming back. Once I had a thistle so big that a colony of ants made it their home. That was gross.

Clean garden box and large garden pot, ready to be planted

Clean garden box and large garden pot, ready to be planted

After a quick, though not thorough, clean up, I devoted my energy to one box. My chickens used it as a place to dust bathe in, so there was lots of chicken manure and feathers strewn about it. I left them there and hoed them in, while breaking up the Mel’s Mix to make it nice and soft for this year. The dirt was thawed completely, and I wonder if it even froze this year. After about fifteen minutes, the box was ready, except for needing a little compost for added nutrients. I don’t know if my compost pile even did anything this winter, because there wasn’t any snow to insulate it while it rotted. I’ll be checking the bottom of the pile later this week to see if I need to buy some compost or not, and then, I’ll be planting Tom Thumb Peas. I’m very excited to eat them. Combined in a stir fry with the carrots planted last year, it’ll be delicious.

72 Hour Kits

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72 hr kitsI finally got our 72-hour kits finished last April after years of trying to accomplish this goal. I have been scouring Pinterest for ideas on how to make these. I read the Red Cross’ guidelines for the first 72 hours after an emergency occurs. I even found calorie recommendations for men and women at different ages. And then, realizing that I was never going to get it exactly the way I wanted it, I broke down and bought two 2-person 72 hour kits from Thrive Life (used to be Shelf Reliance).

These kits comes with enough supplies for two people, a small amount of water, packaged so that it lasts for five years, and two 3600 Kcal bars, which also last five years. There are four basic kits, each in a nice plastic bag. There is the hygiene kit, to which I added baby shampoo, a travel brush and mirror, Q-tips, and travel deodorant. I, also, took the sanitary pads out of my husband’s pack and put them in mine. To the first aid kit, I added fun band aids for the kids, sunscreen, aloe vera gel, and chap stick. I don’t know why these kits didn’t come with sunscreen. That seems like a pretty logical thing to put in a 72-hour kit, but a travel size was cheap enough, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. I, also, moved the first aid kit to one of the front pockets on the backpack for quick access, and to make more room for food in the backpack. The survival kit, as I call it, comes with some basic stuff to help you get through some of the crazier things that can happen in an emergency. I didn’t add anything to this kit. And the warmth kit, is all about staying dry and warm. I added more hand warmers and an emergency blanket. There is, also, a very nice wind up flashlight. It’s the best one I’ve ever seen. As well as a large water bladder, water purification tablets, and an emergency preparedness guidebook. I added some tissue and plastic bags to the outside pockets.

For clothing, I added two pairs of socks, two pairs of underwear, an extra shirt, and extra pants for the girls. For entertainment, I added small coloring and sticker kits, extra crayons, puzzles, glow sticks, a slinky, a jumpy frog, a maze, a note pad, a magnifying glass, and dominoes. Most of that came from the dollar store. I made backpacks for the girls, which contain the toys, their clothes, and the half of the food that is for snacks. For food, since the girls will probably not eat the calorie bars, and my husband will need more calories than the kits came with, I added dark chocolate acai bites, dark chocolate pomegranate bites, M&Ms, Reese’s pieces, fruit leather, applesauce, raisins, slim jims, and beef jerky. For lunch and dinner we have tuna salad, chicken salad, and BBQ chicken salad.

72 Food

One thing to keep in mind is that things expire. All of the food expires eventually, so we made sure to get food that would last at least six months. Last night, since it’s been six months, we took out all the food that will expire before next April. Today we’re munching on applesauce packets, fruit leathers, and slim jims, because they haven’t gone bad yet. I’m going to buy replacements for them that may or may not be the same thing, but I will keep calories and food type in mind. The calorie bars will need to be replaced in five years, as well as the tiny bit of water. The deodorant and sunscreen will need to be replaced eventually. Clothes needs to be updated as children grow… and adults, too. Because my girls are so close in age, I actually just gave the younger one the oldest’s clothes and found some new clothes for the oldest. It was super simple, which is the best way to manage these kits. Entertainment needs to be kept age appropriate as well. We’re adding a few books this time.

Keeping on top of these kits has many benefits. The best, I think, is that you get to change your mind about what’s in them. I have decided that the slim jims are disgusting, so for myself, I’m going to try to find some other kind of protein that will last at least six months. Eventually we’re going to test the calories bars to see if my husband can even handle eating them, but until then, I’m adding antiacids and Digestzen, so that he can cope in an emergency. My kids will actually fit in the clothes in their packs, probably for another year. And, finally, when new family members arrive, you are reminded to make them a kit as well. I have a whole new kit to make for a baby, which hopefully won’t cost too much.

Here’s a quick list of what I’m putting in his backpack for those who need an infant 72 hour kit list, and then I’ll be off.

1 small can of formula
3 bottles of Smart Water
1 bottle
15 size 3 diapers
travel wipes
diaper rash cream
3 size 9mo PJs (Just a guess as to how big he’ll be in six months. I’m going to the DI for these.)
3 size 9mo onsies
jacket
blanket
3 purees (Put as much as you think your baby will be eating in six months.)
toys
mylicon
tylenol

Good luck! Don’t over think this. The important part is that you have something in an emergency, not that it’s absolutely perfect. Also, keep the kids packs light, as you will probably be the one carrying them, and the kids, and your packs. Again good luck, may we never need to use these.