A Day in My Life: Thursday

Max slept pretty well last night...he woke up about 3 times to eat, but went right back to sleep.  The last time he woke up was around 5:30 am.  Paul got him and put him in bed with me, kissed me good bye then headed to Nashville, TN for the day.  I didn't roll out of bed until 7:15 when my alarm went off.  I was up before any of the kids, so I ate breakfast, made my tea, and checked my emails.  I woke up Rose and Ava at 7:30 am to get ready for school.  Madeline and Ella heard me and got up too.  Everyone ate breakfast, got dressed and we headed out the door at 8:30.

Sleepy faced little boy

The girls debating what shoes Maximus should wear

On our way home from dropping Rose and Ava off at school

After we dropped the big girls off at school, we stopped at home just long enough for me to feed the baby and do Madeline and Ella's hair before we headed to a kickboxing class which started at 9:30.  The kids went to the childcare room while I got a good workout in, then we were off to run a few errands.  We headed to the Dollar Tree, Smoothie King (to indulge in my guilty pleasure), then Walmart.

Lean Chai Pumpkin smoothie...yum!!!

Three kids in the cart so nobody gets lost, which actually happened to me on Tuesday!

We got home around 12:30 and since Max had fallen asleep in the car, I quickly fed the other two girls lunch and hopped in the shower before the little guy woke up.  Max slept a whole hour, so I had enough time to get ready and unload the groceries before he got up.  At 1:50, my friend (and neighbor) Kim called to see if Madeline and Ella could come over for a half hour.  They quickly changed out of their flamenco and hippy dress up clothes (forgot to get a picture!) and ran over to their house.  While they were gone, I fed Maximus, cleaned a few things up in the kitchen, got Rose's basketball clothes together and headed out the door to pick them up, then pick up the big girls from school.

Rose had basketball right after school so we went straight to St. Aloysius to drop her off.  Back at home, Maximus happily crawled around on the floor (and got into all my ribbons) while I cleaned up the kitchen, the other girls had a snack and Ava unpacked her backpack and lunch box.

We left the house again at 4:20 to take Ava to gymnastics.  We were going to stay and watch the whole time, but Rose's coach (who always brings her home after practice) was running late and didn't drop her off before we had to leave to take Ava.  So we ran back home and got Rose and headed back to gymnastics in time to catch the last half of Ava's class.

Look at that form!  Ava is in the orange and green leotard with black shorts in the back.

Back at home, I got dinner started and the girls cleaned up their things on the main floor.  Paul walked in the door at 6:15, much earlier than I expected.  We sat down to eat at 6:30, read about the saint for the day, prayed a decade of the rosary, then the big girls and I cleaned up the kitchen.

Talented...blowing his nose and holding the baby on his head at the same time

By the time we finished the kitchen it was already 7:30, so I sent the girls upstairs to get ready for bed.  After they were finished, Ava read to me, then I read each of them a book of their choice.  Paul came upstairs for evening prayers then put the baby to sleep while I read Rose and Ava another chapter in The Little Princess.

A three year-old causing trouble while I was reading

Ella reading to me :)

This is how we find Rose many times throughout the day

A little after 9:00, I headed downstairs and started making a dessert to bring to Paul's cousin Michelle the next day, who just had her 4th baby girl.  I put it in the fridge, cleaned up my mess, then finally sat down to indulge in my evening snack.  I had been looking forward to this snack all day (sad, I know)!  At 10:15, I started folding and hanging a basket full of laundry.  At 11:00, I put the laundry away, fed the baby, then headed to bed.

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Overall, it was a pretty good day.  I am always grateful for the nights when Paul is not traveling!