Thankful Thursdays

I have clearly been slacking on adding to my gratitude list.  It's time to start again and do it faithfully. I'm going to pick up where I left off...I am grateful/thankful for...

31. a peaceful day filled with joy.
32. sweet, unasked for hugs from my middle son
33. giggles and smiles when I pick my baby up from his naps
34. snuggling while reading books
35. a clean house
36. motivation
37. my love of reading
38. a quiet house
39. friends and facebook
40. a healthy body
41. that I live under the new covenant of grace, mercy and love through Jesus Christ





And yes, I know this says Mondays but I always forget on Mondays...Thursdays are easier for me to remember due to my husband's schedule.

Why get up early?

I thought I'd post about why I've decided to starting rising early and why I thought it was important enough to make it a goal of mine for this month.  This is coming from a notorious night owl who is changing her ways.

For a while now...since sometime in the fall, I'd been thinking about getting up early(as in before my kids were up).  I had heard lots of good things about it and so off and on I would try it and those days were usually great.  But I would go right back to my old habits of sleeping till my kids got up or a bit later if I could.  Then in the past month I started hearing and reading about how great getting up early is from just about every source(people, blogs, etc).  So when April rolled around and I was thinking about what my new goals would be for the month, this immediately came to mind.

Here are my reasons:
1. I have time to wake up and get my day going before I have to be Mom.
2. I have time to read my Bible, journal and pray(which I know from experience won't happen if I don't do it in the morning) 
3. I get to have a cup of tea without anyone else asking for one as well :) Seriously.
4. I'm able to get my priorities/schedule/list ready for the day ahead.
5. I get a shower without having to wonder if my kids are getting into something(when I've actually gotten my shower before the kids are up...I'm working towards this).
6. I am in a better head space when I get up before my kids...I'm ready to be Mom and to go about my day with purpose and joy...instead of getting out of bed when they do and feeling rushed, cranky and still tired.

Things I've noticed just over the past week of starting this...
I am a happier person.  My days flow so much better and seem to go more smoothly.  My kids seem to be more at peace. My house is neater and cleaner:) I'm getting meals prepared on time.  I seem to be more productive and am able to fit more into my day.

Overall, I'm hoping to make this a habit.  It felt odd getting up late yesterday and even today(I was up at 7:15 which was still before my kids, but not as much time as I'd like to have).  The peace and quiet of the morning is different than that in the evening(and believe me I LOVE that time...it was/is one of my arguments for staying up so late...which I'm also working on so that I actually get some sleep).

Some things I read that were really motivating for me:
From  Simple Mom : Numbers 1 & 3 really resonate with me
From Inspired to Action: the article I linked to just really made me think(This being my favorite paragraph: Comfort and change CANNOT coincide. The one you value the most will determine on which side of the wardrobe you’ll live your life)...so then I checked out her (free) e-book called Maximize Your Mornings and read through it.  Just making small changes everyday will get you there(and me as well).  It's a worthwhile read.

So there it is...my reasons why I chose to start rising early(I will say that all the light early in the morning DEFINITELY helps...we'll see how my resolve is come next winter:)

I also wanted to add that it does take some work.  For me to really be able to have the time I want and get a shower and not wake anyone up I am having to do some rearranging(which I knew we would do soon, but it has forced me to do it instead of procrastinate).  For me, my goal now is to be in bed by 10, 10:30 at the latest...this is changing from typically going to bed around midnight and it means I must get stuff done right after supper or right after the kids are in bed so that I still have some downtime before I go to bed.  We are also in the process of moving guy smiley into the kids room(they will all be sharing a room once the transition is over).  This means that I'm also working on getting him sleeping through the night (before we started he would nurse at least 2x a night...last night only once at 6am).  And so for now the two older kids are in our room so it stays quiet for both guy smiley and for them.   But I do these things so that I am able to get up earlier and get the sleep I need because I want this to be a priority for me.

Today

Today was the first day since starting my challenge for the month that I did not get up early.  I was up 5 or so times throughout the night with guy smiley who was throwing up.  Poor guy didn't feel well, and then had to have his jammies changed at least 5 times.  Needless to say I slept in with him(as did my other kids).    But I will be pack up bright and early tomorrow.

Even getting up late I still managed to journal and do my Bible reading and I spent time praying while I was showering and getting ready for the day(which happened by 10am this morning instead of my 9am goal).  I always hate starting a new challenge and then "failing" the first day.  But I am not a failure and I will start fresh tomorrow.

Speaking of the Get Dressed Challenge...head on over to Sarah Mae's blog and enter to win a fabulous giveaway from DownEast basics.  I drool over the clothes from there often and can't wait to place my first order!

The Get Dressed Challenge

I've decided to add to my goal of rising before my kids.  I was reading on this blog about getting dressed as well before starting your day and have decided to take the challenge.  My goal is to be up and dressed by 9am.  I still plan on working towards getting up by 6am but I want to make sure that I get time to journal, read my Bible and talk with Jesus before I shower and get dressed, so for now 9am is my goal, but that is going to move earlier as I get up earlier. 

For today...it is now 9:14am and I am showered, dressed, and have done my hair.  Now for breakfast, for me and the kids(one of my kids is still sleeping), so it's not too late for us:)

Day 2

So I promise to not talk in terms of my goals everyday...but since I'm at the beginning of them it will be more frequently for a bit.

I was up and out of bed today by 630, so 10 minutes earlier than yesterday.  I could've been out of bed by 610 because guy smiley woke me up but instead rested for 20 more minutes.  I do like getting up early and even though my eyes feel a bit tired when I wake up, the rest of me feels well rested. So maybe 6ish is a natural time for my body to get up.  It does help that it the sun is coming up when I get up.  I love Alaska in the summertime...all the light is wonderful!

We(dh and I) have partially started implementing our new eating style.  We know tomorrow we won't be completely on it so we planned that in and said our official start date would be Monday.  But since yesterday was shopping day all my grocery shopping was geared towards it.  And both of us have all ready begun cutting out our sugar and grain intake.

Speaking of grocery shopping...is it just me or are groceries expensive?  Especially organic or all natural food products and produce?  Maybe it because of where I live but man, grocery store days are frustrating for me because it seems like I can't get ahead and so all my budgeted money flies out the door the first day(buying things we need, I really am not wasting it...dh looked over my receipts).  Then by the time two weeks is up we are scrounging...I find it very frustrating.  But last night, driving home from the grocery store(my second trip of the day...first was to another store with all the kids) I realized that I needed to be thankful even through my frustration.  So that's what I did...and while I still feel frustrated I do feel better.  So I'm going to work on continuing that thankfulness and see how it changes my outlook on groceries.

April

Well, it's a new month and I'm starting over(again) with blogging.  It's been almost 2 months since I've posted and I have yet to get better about it...but I am going to start fresh.


Last month I began setting monthly goals(a maximum of 3 as I don't want so many that I keep none of them).  For the month of March my goals were to Meal Plan every payday and go to the library once a week.  I did fairly well.  I have made a meal plan for 2 out of the last 3 paychecks.  And we have made it to the library every week for 3 weeks now, tomorrow will be our 4th week in a row.  And we will continue, though we plan to move it as to coincide with our local Farmer's Market when it opens!

As for April, I have set new goals(and dh has set one with me).  My goals for April are:

1. To start getting up early, before the kids with my end goal being 6am.  I've decided to start with 10 minute increments getting earlier every day to two days.  Today I was out of bed by 6:40am(usually I'm up with the kids around 7:30).

2. To have the kids have two sets of 30 minute by themselves playtimes.  They usually play great anyways, but always want to be where I am(or dh is).  And ask any parent...this gets tiring after a while. Whenever we ask them to stay in their room to play we are usually met with fits, crying and tears.  This is not what I want.  I don't want them to NOT be able to play by themselves.  Not only that, but we find that after having 30 minutes to play alone they behave so much better when they come out.  It's like they needed that time for to be by themselves.  To reach this goal I'm going to start with one 15 minute playtime a day and move up from there.

3.  Last, but not least, dh and I are starting the Primal Blueprint "diet". (To learn more go here.)  I hate the word diet, that is why it is in quotations...it's really a lifestyle change we are embarking on.  We have realized that we really need to cut back on the amount of sugar we have been consuming recently and along with that we'd like to see other changes occur.  I'd like to lose some weight and dh would like to have more energy.  So I'm heading to the grocery store today with these things in mind and after Sunday we will really take off eating Primal.

So as we begin these changes I hope to be faithful about blogging about them.  I'd like to be blogging at least twice a week hopefully more.  And I'd like to pick up where I left off with the 1000 Ways of Gratitude.  I hope to post those on Thursdays.

Simple Living Giveaways

Just thought I'd share about some awesome giveaways going on at 5 different websites...Simple Mom, Simple Organic, Simple Kids, Simple Homeschool, and Simple Bites.  They are giving away some amazing things...for instance a gorgeous necklace made by One Pearl, a Keurig Platinum Single Serve Brewer and two great books by Amanda Blake Soule called The Handmade Home and The Creative Family.  Hop on over and enter today...or don't and let me win :-)