My Report

I made a goal nearly 2 weeks ago and I suppose it is time to report on how things are going. I had been inspired by General Conference to start holding "Family Devotional" and had reluctantly decided the results would be worth the cost. I am very happy to report that it is beyond my dreams of worth it. I am getting up a bit earlier, which was a little tough, since Rylee has been a horrible sleeper. So, I get up at 7am. I get breakfast ready and wake the kids that are not already up at 7:15. I play the Primary songs on the cd player and collect everyone by 7:30. They need to be dressed when they come downstairs. We read a chapter of the picture book scriptures and work on memorizing an Article of Faith. Then we have Family Prayer. Then it is breakfast time.

I met with much less resistance than I expected. I recall being rotten when we did this when I was a kid, so I was anticipating a battle, but they are not only agreeable, they are excited about it! They sit around me and look at the pictures and ask questions and then they can't wait to practice their AoF. That has been a rousing success. Callie is too cute for words. She rattles off what she knows and looks so happy. The 3 older kids had #3 memorized in the first week. Callie passed it off to the Primary president and I think she said it 4 times.

Here is the amazing part. I have so much more time in the morning! I have time to make breakfast and lunches. The kids are dressed and fed and ready to go 20 minutes before the bus comes and everyone is more pleasant in the mornings. I haven't had to rush anyone out the door or panicked looking for lost shoes at the last minute or anything!

I had secretly hoped I would be blessed with a baby who slept all night, but I knew it would get worse before it got better, and it did. Get worse, I mean. She was waking up about every hour, and she was sick and snotty and unhappy. It was pretty awful. Fortunately, the Lord loves me and answered my prayers, and I was good to go, once I got up in the morning. No matter how bad the nights were, the days were great. I had enough energy to do what I needed to and I was able to keep a cheerful attitude (mostly!). I felt like I was well rested, even though I wasn't. It was a great blessing. And this week, Rylee has been doing better.

So, I have established this routine and we're going to stick with it! Yay for me!