Tech Free Morning Challenge

While feeding my son, I started to Facebook. While scrolling down my feed I found the following article.

http://us.cnn.com/2014/04/14/opinion/robbins-morning-habits/index.html?sr=fb041414snooze1pStory

I read and soon discovered I am guilty of doing just this. My typical day goes like this...

• I turn off my alarm (I hate snoozing it, I want to sleep solid until the very last minute.)

• I keep my phone in my hand and start scrolling through Facebook, or I check my messages, and sometimes I will check my email.

• Finally I get out of bed and I get dressed.

• Now one of my daycare kids shows up. 

• I get the kids breakfast and then I start to feed Peter.

• Usually I will turn on the TV and watch one of my shows and sometimes I Facebook some more.

• I don't do much in the morning. Pretty slow while I wait for all the kids to show up. 

• I teach the kids the letter of the week, read a book, and sometimes a craft.

• Then I put Peter down for his first nap.

• I still sort of laze about. Sometimes I pick up a bit, or maybe another show if anything is on.

• Peter is up, lunch is given to the kids.

• About an hour later it's nap time for all the kiddos.

• And it is now that I finally bust my butt. I clean my house up and down. I start dinner. I start the laundry. I have my phone down and the tv off. I get it done.

I have to admit I'm not proud of my day. I mean I know my house is clean by the end. I do get done what is needed and I even have plenty of time to relax. Yet, I still feel like I have wasted so much time. After reading this article, while yes wasting time on Facebook, I cannot help but wonder if it all begins with my start. If I didn't get on Facebook first thing would I have a more productive day? At the very least would I have a less stressful day? A day that I wasn't thinking about all I had to do in the morning, and stressing to get it all done in the afternoon?

So I decided to challenge myself and anyone and everyone is welcome to join me. First, decide the goals for the day.

Here are mine.

1. I want to add scripture study.

2. I want my house clean.

3. I want dinner cooked.

4. I want to spend quality time with my kids.

5. And I don't want to wait until the last minute to get it all done!

6. I do want some time to relax but not at the expense of any of the above or the feeling of being rushed to get it all done on time.

Second, come up with a plan of attack (some tips I found in the article)

• I will not check my phone as soon as I wake up.

• I will move my phone and charge it away from my bed. (It's a habit but I shouldn't need to be on it right before I go to bed or right when I wake up.)

• I need to do at least one productive thing before I do anything wasteful. (article suggests three but baby steps)

This is my goal for the week. I hope to continue until it becomes habit. Please feel free to join me and if any do, let me know if you notice any changes in your routine by simply cutting out that morning tech.

My Family Up-to-date

So far 2014 has been a very busy year! James turned three and that has been quite an adventure! 

For his birthday party this year, we had a ninja turtle theme. He loves those ninjas! I think he rotates through his favorites but I would say Donatelo takes the cake.

We had a very full house for his birthday! Lots of family and friends that came to show their love for our Mister James!

We even had a "choose your weapon" piñata! This was quite a hit (pun intended)!

All in all I felt James had a lot of fun! More recently, James has been doing many new things! He has a small group of friends of which I provide childcare for. Nicholas, Feleicitie, and Derek provide James with lots of fun during the day. One of James' favorite things right now is Mario. He actually can play really well! 

For example this game! Now all those baby yoshis are going to swallow the squares and start climbing around. He has to pick the right things! He loves ice power and that mean looking dragon guy will mess everything up! 

Okay! So he doesn't do it every time but I will say this, he is alot better than me! He is either really lucky or he actually follows them! I am not sure how that is possible!! 

James has also been learning his letters. This week we are on "H". He has been doing pretty well and can recognize what we have learned for the most part but on some days everything gets to be called "A"! 

Matt had made the above banner for James' birthday and it really does a great job at showing what kind of things he is currently into but here is a list:

• His shows! Ninja Turtles, Justice League, Ninjago, Spiderman, Super Why, and some Mario show from the eighties that drives me crazy! Dang you Netflix!

• He loves to color! However he takes after mom and prefers markers over crayons. 😋

• Legos! I feel this is what Matt is most excited about. I would have to say I love the fine motor skills and creativity it allows but I hate the price tag! Boo!

• Animals! Our home may be bit of a zoo to say the least but James loves his pets especially his good girl Lexi!

• Making piles. No explanation mark because I don't like this. I do not understand it, I do not know why he does it. But every day he takes everything in the room and puts it in a pile. All the toys, blankets, baskets, books, basically anything he can lift. He then tells me it's all sorts of things. Yesterday it was his T-Rex. But I have heard shell raiser, house, castle. And the worst part for mama; when I go to clean it up he gets really mad at me because I am breaking it!

• Being a ninja. James loves taking his toys and flinging them around as he fights imaginary bad guys. In fact just yesterday, he was swinging around a necklace that decided to fight back as he hit himself in the eye! (Don't worry he is okay)

• Imaginery friends! He has baby yoshis and invisible dogs that go everywhere with us. The other day we went to try on shoes and I told him he could not have a certain pair. He threw his head up and in a desperate cry he said, "You made baby yoshi sad!" Heaven help me!

I must say that I do love this stage that James is at. Every day brings something new. And sometimes it's something hillarious! Can I just say; I love being a mom!!

Peter is now 19 weeks 3 days! Translation 4.5 months. 

I can hardly handle how fast these boys grow up. Peter has also been up to a lot as well. Most recently he moved into his very own room into his crib. I was worried about how he would handle the change but I guess it was me that would have a more difficult time with it. If anything, I would say Peter loves his crib. I think he likes the extra space. 

I have discovered that Peter is quite the chatter box. He loves to sit with me and just babble away! It's so stinkin adorable! He is a very happy kid and gives me lots of smiles. I have to say I love how much he loves his big brother. James can capture Peter's attention and he can make laugh by just acting silly! It's really great to see. 

Peter is a very smart little man! One of my favorite things that he does is his help with diaper changes. Every time I go to change his diaper he lets me undo the tabs then he sticks his little feet in the air so that I can wipe him. Then I take the dry diaper and place it underneath his bum and he drops his legs down so that I can pull the front of the diaper up and replace the tabs. Thank you Peter for making this chore that much easier!

I also need to make mention of the bumbo seat! I never bought one for James and Matt was very hesitant to even bother getting one for Peter. "James never needed one." But I have to say I am very happy we decided to get it! Peter loves it and now he can sit at the table with us for dinner. He is much happier for it. Here's a list of some of the things Peter likes right now:

• His fingers! I would say he has a preference for his thumb but he isn't biased by any means. I do have a feeling that he is going to turn out like me! I will have to check with my mom to see when I finally gave up my thumb.

• Blankets! Can you like your fingers and blankets? This boy does! He loves holding his blankets and tucks them up by his face. I guess Kait's time here taught him some habits.

• Eating! This boy is one chunky monkey and I know why. He absolutely loves to eat. He will be six months soon and I think he is going to love eating real food. 😀

• Toys! Finally! When learning about parenting it seems that no one mentions how bored these tots get when all they can do is lay there. I am so grateful for the brightly colored, easy to hold, and fun-textured toys created for babies! Peter gets so excited about any toy you give to him.

• Observing. Peter loves looking around his surroundings. He watches the animals, his brother, and us like a hawk. He studies us a lot and I am so excited for when he can join in more.

I love these boys so much! Now if only I could stop time!

And there is an update on the boys! I promise the adults aren't as exciting but I won't leave us out. Miss Kaity has moved out of our house and into Jake's. It was time for her to experience something new. A break from this married with kids life style. We miss her being here but I have to say I am so proud of her and the choices she has made. 

Matt is doing great at Radiant. I am very grateful for his job and all of the time he can commit to his family. I think his most recent venture was to the barber shop. And thank goodness he loved it! (Yay, this mama does not have to cut hair anymore!) More than anything I am grateful for what a great dad and husband this man is. Every day he grows and manages to get better! We are very lucky to have him!

(Before his haircut, I'll have to get a more current picture when he gets home.)

And as for me; well I decided to starte writing this blog again! I can't say much more is going on with me but I love my life, which is why I want to share it!

And for the family as a whole. We recently have talked to a contractor to convert our garage. Expanding our home and my daycare in one fell swoop! Thank you Grandpa Paul and Grandma Carole for making it possible! I am so excited for the extra space.

Our pets are doing well. (I can't leave them out!) Lexi is getting big, in fact she turned one this last week! Our cats are adapting to her well, in fact I would say a couple of them even like her. Now, I think I would like to say that's all folks because pets shouldn't be too exciting but I have one more story to tell. Our oldest cat, Aladdin, escaped our house. Yes, he is an indoor cat. Well where we live, our houses all look the same. This is all fine and dandy for a human but for a cat this equals confusion. So much confusion, in fact, that Aladdin ran into some random house. Terrifying those inside he ran around like a manaic and even attacked their Great Dane. After scaring him back outside these strangers felt that the ordeal was over. But our dumb Aladdin was convinced that these strangers were in his house. So a couple of hours later he tries again. And with scratches and some fear these strangers call the cops. It was a Saturday and that would be why the cops were called instead of animal control. Well, after this, we finally found him through Facebook! Thank you strangers for sharing your story so that I could read and know without a doubt that the psycho grey cat was definitely our cat. Some phone calls were made, bond fees paid, and ten days of quaranteen and finally Aladdin was home, safe, and happy. And all I can say is thank you Aladdin because blogging about our pets just wouldn't be the same without you!

Until next time; I hope I have some good stories to share. 

Inspired to Write

I am not entirely sure why I find it so hard to get on and write a post. I would be writing about my gorgeous family and while we keep things simple, my boys still fill my life with adventure. Recently I have had a few examples that made me really want to crack down on this blog. One of my friends has been blogging for years. She is an excellent writer and thanks to her talent once a year she orders a hard cover book of her blog for that year. Now she has a beautiful book full of her family's adventures and pictures from that year. I heard about this and all I could think was, I want that! It then hit me that I would have to work for it. But it's more than worth it! Why??

Because. . .

1. I could potentially have years of books full of memories and pictures. (Goodbye boring scrapbooks!)

2. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the prophets of our church have asked us to keep journals. I have never been good at this but if I think about it, blogging is the modern day journal.

3. To look back on my life and see where I've been so that I can see how my family and I have grown! That is so special and would give me appreciation for my family.

4. This could develope a talent. I would say that I am not much of a writer now and I know I have a lot to learn but the only way to grow is to do!

I am sure if I put my mind to it I could think of many more reasons to why blogging is important and why it can be so good for me to do. The person above is what I want to become. I want to have years of stories to read! The reason I am on today is because another dear friend of mine, Holly Blau, is expecting twins. She has an 11 month old already and I know she felt certain with the combo that she would have many stories to tell. She told me that she was going to start blogging and once again I was hit with that feeling of "I want to do that"! So here I am! Now I'll publish this rather boring post so that I can write one about my family. I just knew I had to write this for myself so that I can read it and hopefully remember that feeling of inspiration when I start slacking on writing. Remember this future me...

1. And old proverb recently quoted by Dieter F. Uchtdorf; "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now." Plant the tree! Write away our stories.

2. Have confidence. I know what I am feeling right now. I don't have confidence in my writing, I feel slightly embarrassed to put myself out there for people to read. In fact I don't want to post this because I do not think it is good enough. I think I will be embarrassed to reread it when I am older, more mature. Well don't think about this. Just write. Some of it will sound stupid but the memories are more important than how "story-like" they sound. Do not care about what it is but what it will become.

3. Always consider the future. Think about your children, and their children to come. Some day I won't be around to tell the stories and I know I will surely forget the stories long before that. This is for the future generations to have a piece of this lifetime. I would love to read journals of my grandparents. I would love to see what they went through. Know what is important and everything will fall into place.