Day in My Life 2015: Thursday

This morning's routine was very similar to yesterday's with maybe a little more whining about socks and shoes not fitting just right, but otherwise about the same.

After Paul and the big girls left and I snuggled with Max and Ella, I finished up the blog post about yesterday and checked a few emails.  Then I fed them breakfast and we headed upstairs to get ready for the day.

We left the house around 10, stopped at Chick Fila to indulge in their monthly offer of a free medium iced coffee, then headed to Once Upon A Child to look for pants for Max.  We didn't have much time because I had Kindergarten pick up, so we left around 10:40 to get to school by 10:45 when the kids are let out.

I dropped Isaac and Lucy off at Lisa Conway's for the preschool Thanksgiving feast, then headed to my parents' house.  My mother is kind enough to let us hang out there some afternoons so I can use her treadmill while Max naps.

Luke came home from Purdue for part of the day because he had an orthodontist appointment, so we chatted with him and my mom for a few minutes before they headed out the door.  I fed the kids lunch, put Max to bed, then walked on my mom's treadmill for about 45 minutes.  Lucky for me, she had a lot of magazines for me to read while I walked, which helped the time go by faster.

 

The girls played in the basement making all sorts of messes but they were playing so well that I let it go.  I ate some lunch, then did a little online Christmas shopping before Max woke up and Luke and my mom came home.  We chatted for a bit, the girls cleaned up their mess, then we headed out the door at 10 till 3 to go pick up Rose and Ava.

When we got home after school, the girls unpacked their backpacks, changed, had a snack, and helped keep an eye on Max while I jumped in the shower.  A little after 4, they brought Max up to me and headed out the door to the neighbor's again.  Madeline and Ella and their friend came over around 4:30 to play at our house.  Max tries to tag along with them, which sometimes goes over well, but sometimes not so much.   Things were getting crazy around 5:20, so I sent Cate home and had Madeline and Ella clean up their mess.  Rose and Ava got home at 5:30 and started on their homework.

Paul walked in a little before 6 and I got dinner started...just easy grilled sandwiches tonight.  After dinner, we prayed our decade of the rosary, the girls started their kitchen jobs, and I headed out the door a little after 7 to go to my monthly neighborhood Bunco get together.  I never win anything, but now that it's colder outside, it's really the only time I see my neighbors!

I got home around 10:30 and sat and chatted with Paul for a bit before we headed to bed around 11.  As I walked upstairs, I saw that Madeline had put her bears to bed too...so sweet.

And that's just another day in the Klinker household.

Day in My Life 2015: Wednesday

My day started at 6:40 am when my alarm went off.  I rolled out of bed, and went to wake up the 3 big girls.  This morning, Paul was already downstairs making eggs and Ella was chatting with him while she colored at the kitchen table.  To keep the girls on schedule, I give them until 7 am to eat breakfast, then send them upstairs to get dressed while I sign their assignment notebooks.  Around 7:15, they trailed back downstairs, and we did hair, got lunches, and packed up backpacks.  They headed out the door around 7:25 so Paul could take them to school.

After the big kids left, the two littles and I snuggled in the rocking chair to watch Mickey Mouse.  Max with his bottle of milk and me with my green tea.  This is our every day routine and they know it.  I love that time with them.  After two shows, I fed Ella and Max breakfast then we headed upstairs to get dressed and ready for our day.

Max entertained himself while I got myself ready.

I cleaned up the kitchen and got the carseats put back in the car (we had a rental yesterday), then we headed out with just enough time to fulfill my guilty pregnancy craving...McDonalds sausage mcmuffin (I know...terribly unhealthy, but what baby wants, baby gets :)...before Max's 18 month well-check at 10am.  We were in and out pretty quickly and everything looked good and healthy.  Couldn't have asked for a better visit.

Mollie did Kindergarten pick up today, so I called her as I was leaving the doctor and since I needed to run to Walmart and so did she, she just brought Madeline to Walmart and we did the kid-tradeoff there.

We got home from Walmart around 11:45. Max fell asleep on the car ride home, so I carried him to bed, unloaded the groceries, then fixed the other two girls lunch.  Paul walked in around 12:15 and sat to eat lunch with us.  It's always nice to see him in the middle of the day.  

After lunch, I sent the girls upstairs for quiet time while I threw a load of laundry in, then finished wrapping the Christmas books with a cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie playing in the background.  Max woke up a little after 2, so I fed him lunch, then helped Madeline practice her sight words.  

 

At 2:55, we loaded in the van to pick up Rose and Ava from school.  We were home by 3:20, when star of the day (Madeline) brought in the mail, and everyone unpacked their backpacks and had a snack.  Rose's friend called her, so she chatted for a few minutes before the neighbor girls were knocking at our door.  After they cleaned up their snacks, Madeline did her kitchen job, and Rose practiced her spelling words, the girls ran out to play.  Left by himself, Max begged for his "ba-ba" (bottle of milk) and pointed to the tv, so I turned on Mickey for him while I made some honey beer bread for dinner and finished cleaning up the kitchen after snack.

 

The girls came back home from their friend's at 5:30.  Rose and Ava started their homework and Madeline and Ella cleaned up their things on the main floor while I finished making dinner.

Paul walked in a little before 6, then we sat down to dinner.  After a nice quiet, mannerly meal (ha, ha), the girls did their kitchen jobs, got ready for bed, packed lunches, and finished their homework.

Around 7:45, everyone headed upstairs to read a Thanksgiving book, say evening prayers, and get

 in bed.  We let them read on their own until 8:30, when I tuck everyone in and sing them a song.

We put Max to bed in a pack in play in our room so Paul could try to finish painting his room.  I headed downstairs for an evening snack and to check my emails while catching up on my Wednesday evening shows.  Paul joined me around 9:30 and we watched an episode of White Collar before heading to bed around 10:30.  We've been better about going to bed at a decent time since I've been pregnant :)

And that is a pretty typical day in the Klinker household.  I'm cherishing our pretty laid back evenings right now because before I know it, we will be chauffering our kids around here and there and everywhere.

SURPRISE!

 

Baby #6 is coming in May!!!

Friday Funnies

Rose:
"I wanna be fat so I can be a sumo wrestler when I'm older."
Uh...good luck with that one :)

 My sister Madeline French braided their hair together.  It didn't last very long!

Ava:
Ava got glasses a couple days after school started and she was so cute about them.
When she was getting ready for mass one Sunday, she didn't want to wear certain
dresses because she didn't think they went with her glasses :)

Madeline:
At school they were looking for a gingerbread man who was hiding and she said,
"We looked in the boss of the school's room (aka the principal's office)."

Ella:
"Dad's allergic to One Direction."
Well, that's one way to put it :)

Maximus:
A more fitting name for him is "Maximus the Destroyer."  He is into EVERYTHING
and he is a sly little guy, but luckily his cute little face gets him off the hook :)

HAPPY Friday!

Laundry Room Makeover

When Paul and I first bought this house, I told him I loved everything about the layout...except the laundry room.  Why builders decide to make laundry rooms SO small, I will never understand.  I knew that it had to be one of the first rooms we redid simply for the fact that it was NOT functional for our family.  And we all know what that means...lots of dirty clothes that were not getting cleaned.

After spending some time on Pinterest, I knew exactly what I wanted.  I drew up a rough sketch, showed it to my handy dandy husband, and he made it all happen!

Here is the laundry room before we moved in:

Here is the laundry room now:

First, I knew I wanted to change the color of the walls.  The dark neutral beige was just not working for me.  I knew it needed to be light and inviting to help motivate me to actually DO the laundry.  We decided on a mint wall color and I couldn't be happier.

Next for functionality.  I like to have a laundry basket for each kid so I can put pajamas and undies (and now even clothes that need hung up) in there and the kids can take the basket up and put everything away.  Paul was able to build me shelves big enough to fit six full-sized laundry baskets!  I knew the kids couldn't reach the baskets at the top, so I designated one laundry basket per room.  Paul and I share one, Rose and Ava, Madeline and Ella, and Max has his own.  That leaves me two baskets.  One I use for clean laundry that needs to be folded (towels, sheets, etc.) and the other I use for clothes that are stained and need extra attention.  So far the system is working great!

We were able to reuse the cabinets from the previous owners which saved us a little bit of cash.  Paul hung them above the washer and dryer and they give me enough storage for all my laundry and cleaning supplies.  The baskets on top are my sock baskets: one for kid socks and one for adult socks.  I have a small space to hang clothes that can't go in the dryer and Paul put up a shelf right over the washer and dryer so that nothing can fall behind (so helpful!).

I added a few pictures of the kiddos and a Laundry room decal just to make it a little more fun.

And I still have hooks to hang up my purse and a space for my chore charts on a 

bulletin board behind the door.

It may seem silly to get so excited about a laundry room, but there is just something about personalizing a room just the way you want it so that its fun and functional that deserves a little excitement....even it is just for cleaning dirty clothes.

And there you have it!  Our new and improved laundry room! More room makeovers to come!