Thursday, October 7, 2010

Maximize Your Mornings Challenge- End of Week Overview

So, Wednesday morning went well. But that was not because I got up and got all of my morning routine done. TDaddy had to go to a conference in the city so since he had to leave early to take the train, I had to get the shower earlier than usual. Because I got in the shower earlier I was out earlier and so had more time to get myself and the kids ready. Then more time pressure was taken off due to the fact that we didn't have the usual 8am teacher devotions because of an evening parent teacher meeting on Tuesday night. All of that combined to a low pressure morning. Totally until the previous wake-up-late-dash-around-madness of the morning before.

Thursday. Not so much. I didn't wake up late, but it was the first morning this season that when I woke up it was kind of cold and the temperature made me want to stay under the covers. And I have to admit that that is precisely what I did. I did my Bible reading, on my phone, under the covers. Not exactly the quiet time I had planned. By the time I was in the shower, Tboy was crying about not wanting to get dressed, Tgirl was tattling on him, and TDaddy was already getting frustrated. All this by 6:45am. So not exactly a great start. Every time we have a morning like this I can't help but think that had I been up and ready before everyone else and have prepared the day for them in prayer would that have made the difference?

Friday was better. Got up, read the Bible, got to the gym. I only had time for a short workout, but some exercise is better than none, right?

TDaddy went to a screen writers' conference this weekend. So we all got up at 5 to take him to the airport. I did not get up earlier than the family, in fact, my alarm didn't go off and TDaddy had to come wake me. And I have to admit to settling the kids in front of the PBS kids channel and going back to bed until it was time to get up and get going to basketball and soccer.

Sunday was better. No gym (can't leave the kiddos alone). But I got up and read and prayed and got going on time.

So overall, the week was rather a mixed bag, a couple of good days and a couple of not so good days.

Guess I will have to keep trying! :)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A New Cousin!

One of my (3) brothers and his wife had their first baby! We are so excited!

Tgirl and Tboy have older cousins on TDaddy's side, but they are much older and live 2 states away. But on my side of the family, they are the only children. They have a few second cousins, three who are much older, and two closer in age who live far enough away that we only see them a couple of times a year. We have been hoping for first cousins since my first brother got married 8 years (I think) ago.

I am delighted to be able to get a good baby fix but not have to return to sleepless nights. (Neither one of my babies was a good sleeper.) It's been 5 years since we had a baby in the family, ok, since I had a baby, and I am more than ready for another one. But I don't really want to personally raise another child. Unless God has a different plan, it appears that I now have my hands full. So it is definitely time for my brothers to step up and give my parents some more grandchildren! :)

I must say that Tcousin's parents had another baby a year and a half ago. However, sweet little G was taken from us before he was born. Tcousin's birth is that much sweeter for all of us after losing G.

Tgirl is delighted that Tcousin is a boy. She wouldn't mind a girl, but also rather likes being my mom's only granddaughter so far. She is also looking forward to babysitting in a few years.

Tboy is delighted because he has always been fascinated by babies, he points them out to me whenever we see one at the store, etc. He was very excited for Tcousin to be born and in the last month or so of my SIL's pregnancy would talk about all the things he plans to teach Tcousin: baseball, riding a trike, and climbing up and bouncing down stairs on his bottom to name a few. So I did my best to prepare him for how small Tcousin would really be when he was born. And how little Tcousin would be able to interact with Tboy. As in, the baby won't be able to talk or walk or run for quite a while.

Which lead to multiple discussions of what babies CAN do. They sleep, and cry, and wet their diapers, and eat lots of snacks of milk because they have tiny tummies. And then after you feed a baby they get bubbles in their tummies so you have to burp them and sometimes, if they are like Tboy, they spit up a lot after they eat.


Tboy's very serious response to babies spitting up..."Yeah, then you have to hold them over the garbage can (to catch the "throw up" in his mind) ...
...and hope you don't drop them in!"

"Maximize Your Mornings"

Inspired To Action Button
I have joined in the challenge going on over on one of my favorite blogs, Inspired to Action. The challenge is basically to establish an effective morning routine which includes: 1)getting up early/on time/when the alarm actually goes off, 2)exercising, 3)spending time with the Lord, and 4)planning. The idea is that if as a mom I get up before the rest of my family to take the time to take care of myself, spend quality time with God, and prepare for the day, the day will run more smoothly and purposefully.

I could use more purpose in my life and a little less flying around by the seat of my pants putting out fires and feeling stressed all the time. :)

The only problem? Since starting 3 days ago, I have woke up with a migraine on day one. Day two? Set the alarm wrong on my phone and it didn't go off early enough. And on day three, today? I woke with a start at 7:10. The kids and I aim for 7:30 to be out the door, no later than 7:45. God was gracious and we left the house at 7:43. However, I was supposed to throw together the ingredients for crock pot lasagna for dinner tonight. So no coming home to a hot meal courtesy of the crock pot!

Thank the Lord that tomorrow is another day!

It will be better.... right?

Just So You Know...

There is no kissing allowed at school. We may love our buddies, but there is no kissing at school!