Am I Busy Doing The Right Things?

We are in an insanely busy season right now (isn't everyone?). There is so much in this life to distract us. There are trips to take, home projects, schooling endeavors, church plays, gardens to tend, baby chicks that need attention, playdates, field trips, grandparents who need to hold our babies and graduations. 
 

When our schedules are so full we must ask ourselves, "Am I Busy Doing The Right Things?"





Evaluate the items in your day and determine their lasting value. What are the most important items that need attention in life? I ask myself if there is any eternal significance in what I am doing? Am I tending to relationships and cultivating friendships? Am I solidifying my children's self worth and deepening their knowledge of the Savior? As much as I love doing dishes, laundry, decluttering and cleaning the house (ha!), can I stop for a game of chess with my daughter or to put together a Lego man for my son? Am I doing the things that I will be be thankful I did when I look back at my life twenty years from now? Life is but a vapor and it is too short to live with a long list of regrets.

 

One of my personal prayers is that I will always remain teachable. I find the Lord uses unique teachable moments in my life.  I was not prepared for the sobering moment that struck me during Mr. Banks and Bert's song the first time I saw Mary Poppins as a parent.  It saddened me to think that it could ever being too late to give that spoonful of sugar to my little ones. Of course I will always be available for my children in whatever capacity I am able. I just don't want insignificant pursuits to interfere with what is most important in my life and that is my family.

 

A man does have dreams, as Mr. Banks so eloquently articulates (and mommas do as well) but at what cost? Perhaps we can build these dreams together. It may take a smidge longer but what is that in light of eternity? What do you want to be remembered for? How can you make each moment count?

Life will always be busy. Are we busy doing the right things?

 "So teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
Psalm 90:12

Grace and peace,
Adoring Family

Morning Routine With a Newborn

Our family thrives on a routine. Before our 4th baby arrived I knew I would have to develop a routine we could easily adhere to in order to ensure our children's schooling did not fall behind. We are not rigid with our routines but we find they are the backbone of our day. The children enjoy the rythm and seem more balanced in their behavior when we adhere to our routines. It doesn't always work out perfectly but below is our ideal morning routine...

Morning Routine:

Our rooster starts crowing around 4am and that is usually the time I wake to feed my baby. I will lay in bed and cuddle her till about 4:30 or 4:45 (ETA who wrote that? this no longer happens. I guess technically it does but then daylight savings happened so it is now 5:30 or 5:45) and then I get up. It's early, I know but I am refreshed at this time and I have found if I go back to sleep I feel more tired when it is time for me to get up at 6:00.

1. Feed baby girl 

 2.Quiet Time: This is the time I read my Bible, write in my prayer journal, give thanks, dedicate my day to the Lord and ask Him to give me a soft heart, gentle temperament and kind yet firm disposition. I pray for a passion, love and delight in God's Word. "For then you will delight in the Almighty And lift up your face to God." Job 22:6

3. Workout routine

4. Pack husband's lunch and green smoothies for us to enjoy for breakfast (he eats breakfast tacos at work and I will have eggs later with the children).

5. Blog. I aim for 3-5 entries per week (haha, I'm lucky to get 3).

6. Breakfast with children (eggs, fresh from our chickens). I then go over my daily planner/to do list and meal plan. Proverbs 16:3 says "Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established." I commit my day to Him and pray we honor Him in all we do.

7. Between 8:30 and 9:00am I get the children on track with their daily chores. I find the children do best when I go into their room with them and start helping them rather than just giving them a list of chores to do on their own. Once they have a good momentum I'll throw on a load of laundry, make my bed and get dressed.

8. Bible study with kiddos. We pray, sing some fun praise songs, go over our weekly memory verse and the children enjoy morning snack while I read. It is usually time for the baby's morning snack as well :)

9. Begin math, reading and writing. In order to effectively homeschool with a newborn, I sought programs that would intorduce the material to the children while I could nurse or help the other two school. For math we use Teaching Textbooks (I will give a full review in a later post). Reading, spelling and vocabulary are Reading Bear and now adding Progressive Phonics (thanks, Jen). Writing is Explode the Code(workbooks purchased from Amazon) and we write out a new memory verse each week.  We use Classical Conversations for History, Science, Latin, English and Geography. These are not affiliate links.

12:00 lunch

12:30 clean up lunch and sing Classical Conversations memory work.

I recently thought it would be wise to do some early spring decluttering so we discussed taking a week off from our routines. By Thursday we were all going stir crazy. Things didnt get accomplished as I had hoped and the children were bored. Friday we implemented our routine and the children had a much better day and I got a lot more accomplished. Seems somewhat contradictory  but hey, it works for us! I enjoy hearing other mom's routines as we are always tweaking ours to fit the changing seasons of life. Please share what your morning looks like in the comments below. I would love to get ideas from you for our next season of life!

Grace and peace,

Adoring Family

linked:
HipHomeschoolMoms.com

Workout Routine With a Newborn

Now that I have a sweet, little 2 month old and have been given the all clear to resume exercising, I have put together a light fitness routine. As you know, I was a certified personal trainer and fitness instructor before this last baby came along. I have tried many types of exercise programs but the one I found to be most effective for me is one that involves cardio intervals.

Cardio intervals allow you to keep your heart rate up over an extended period of time by doing short bursts of cardio exercises coupled with short rests between. This allows you to keep your heart rate up longer than if you performed the put the same amount of effort into one long set of cardio training. The result is maximum fat burning with less exertion, something this girl can smile about! Speaking of fat burning, muscle burns more calories than fat which encourages me to build strength training into my routine.

Here is my cardio/strength training program that can be completed while my little ones are doing this...

 

Quick Cardio Interval Training
1. Sprint in place for 30 seconds
2. Rest or maximize your workout by doing 15-20 curls with 3- 5 lb weights
3. Mountain climbers for 30 seconds
4. Rest or perform 15-20 shoulder raises with 3-5 lb weights
5. Jumping jacks for 30 seconds
6. Rest or do 15-20 skull crushers using 3-5 lb weights
   Repeat entire set.

The second day I will replace the short arm workout with a leg workout ie. squats, calf raises, deadlifts. If you feel tired, please rest to avoid overexertion. Be sure hydrate throughout this set and after, especially if you are nursing.  Reward yourself with some clean, delicious protein within 30 minutes.

This is what works for me but please discuss this with your doctor first :D
Diet is an integral part of fitness, we all know this. More on that in my next post!

Grace and peace,

Adoring Family

linked here:
mommy monday