Day 14 - Make the Most of Your Mornings Challenge

I realized that updating my blog on the progress of the "Make the Most of Your Mornings" challenge is my accountability, so here is how it's been going since day 1.
You know how I mentioned that my two boys are early birds?  Well, there have been several days when I rise as early as I possibly can, only to realize one, if not both, of my boys are already up as well.  Yeah, so much for 'alone time'.  But that's OK!  I've learned that you have to roll with the punches and make adjustments, but don't assume the whole day is lost.  This also goes for 'falling off the wagon'; it really is OK, dust yourself off and start again the next day.  I think it's important to know that life is always unpredictable, especially with young children in the house, and if you can't be flexible then you're going to get frustrated and be disappointed.   Crystal has posts on her blog to address each one of these issues.  It's normal, it happens, and you can recover. Money Saving Mom - Make the Most of Your Mornings
So, what are the most important things I've learned so far?  If I don't go to bed by 10 PM I can forget rising before 6 AM the next morning.  I require at least 7 hours of sleep to function well the next day.  I learned the hard way this summer that if I let my body get run down, there will be consequences.  I have piles of hospital bills to prove it:)  After spending 4 days in the hospital and being down and out for 3 weeks recovering from PNEUMONIA, I have learned the importance of REST.  Allowing your body to get the rest it needs affects every aspect of your life.  You will be a better mother, employee, wife, friend and so on, if you make rest a priority.  What good will it do if I stay up hours at night trying to finish cleaning, reading, etc, if it means I may not be around at all tomorrow??  Yes, my illness was that serious!

Lesson #2: If you can't beat 'em, take 'em with!  If Ben and Nolan are up in the morning before I've gotten a morning workout in, I try to find a physical activity that includes them.  After this happened once I realized it's actually more fun to include them in my workout, sometimes.  Now, on Tuesday and Thursdays I load them in our bike trailer and set out for a nice ride through our neighborhood.  Tuesdays and Thursdays work best for the morning bike ride because Ben has preschool on M W F.  If you could see my neighborhood, one ginormous hill after another, and bearing in mind I'm towing an extra 90+ lbs behind me, you would probably understand why our bike rides last no longer than 30 minutes:)  On a nice Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon we head down to Grant's Trail because it's scenic, perfect for cyclists, close to our house, and it's FLAT.  Mommy can pedal a lot further and faster on the Trail.

All in all, I'm enjoying this challenge so far and really hope that I'll continue to make progress into "Making the Most of My Mornings".  When I start my day right: rested, as early as possible, with exercise, and meditating with God and his Word, the rest of my day tends to go smoother.
Things to work on:

• Meeting my 9:30 - 10ish bedtime every night 
• Keeping the boys in a good bedtime routine so that they'll hopefully sleep until 6:30, or later:)
• Really focus on exercising first so that I can shower and change before the rest of my day begins

Cheers!