Our Week - The One with Homecoming and Girls Pumpkin Painting Night

Last week was a great one – soooo busy – but oh so good!  We just love this time of year, y’all!  Here’s the recap…

Monday, October 24

Last week was HOCO week at the kids’ school so they had themed dress-up days every day.  Monday was “Mathletes vs. Athletes” and both of our kiddos opted to be athletes.  Olivia originally wanted to be a Mathlete, but we didn’t have time to pull anything together for it. 

I got them both off to school and then I headed home for a bit to get some laundry started.  Shortly after that, I had an appointment with an orthodontist.  I never had braces as a kid (obviously), so I’ve contemplated straightening my teeth for years.  I never really made it a priority, but in recent years, my bite has gotten worse, and my teeth have started hitting in places where they’re not supposed to hit, and as a result, I’ve chipped a couple of teeth.  Thankfully, the chips were minor and easily fixed, but I know if I don’t do something soon, I may have bigger problems in the future.

My hope was to be able to do Invisalign as I have zero desire to wear braces, but unfortunately, the orthodontist told me that while my teeth aren’t all that crooked and Invisalign could easily correct that, my bite is reeeeaaaalllly bad.  Like 9/10 (10 being the worst) bad.  Like, I’m literally almost at the point of needing surgery to correct my bite because it’s so bad.

So, the bad news is that I cannot, in fact, do Invisalign, and that I need actual braces (like, really, really bad), and I’ll have to wear them for two whole years (I really want to cry right now just typing this, y’all).  On the bright side, he seems to think that all of my TMJ/clinching/grinding/face/jaw issues will resolve once my bite is corrected from wearing braces.  We’ll see!!

Basically, since I never had braces as a kid, I’ve had a “floating bite” my whole life, which has caused a plethora of problems/bad habits that are just getting worse and worse as time progresses.

Sigh. 

Sigh. 

Sigh.

So anyway, I have some decisions to make, but it’s looking like full-on teenager braces are in my near future.  Like probably in December.  Or maybe even November.  <forehead slap>  I might actually put it off until the new year, though…

Either way, though… ugggghhhh.

Anyhoo, after my appointment, I headed back home to work on blog stuff for a bit, and then I spent the rest of the day working on the Reindeer Run that I’m in charge of at the kids’ school. 

Monday after school, we dropped Olivia at dance.  She was so excited because they had their Halloween week at dance last week and she was able to dress up both days.  She opted to be Dorothy, which is her costume for Halloween this year, and she looked so dang cute.

After Jacob and I dropped her off, he and I headed to piano lessons, and then we headed home to get homework done and cook dinner.  After dinner, I went for a walk/jog, and I was able to jog a lot more of the way this time.  I still don’t feel like I have all of my energy back, but I’m finally almost back to normal.

After my walk/jog, I pulled out my Friends puzzle once more, and I was so frustrated that we just decided to throw it away.  It turned out that several pieces were missing, and many more of the pieces wouldn’t fit anywhere, so I think we just got a bad one.  After throwing it in the trash, I pulled out my new fall puzzle and it was so refreshing to have a puzzle where all of the pieces fit together as they should!!!!

After the kids were done getting ready for bed, we watched Nailed It with them and then B and I watched Vampire Diaries after the kids went to bed.

Tuesday, October 25

Tuesday was Duo Day at school, so the kids had arranged with their friends to twin.  Jacob and his friend, Julian, opted for black athletic shorts and white tees since it was easy and something they both had on hand, and Olivia and her friend, Cami, twinned in jean skirts and ribbed tank tops. 

After I dropped them off, I worked on laundry and blog stuff all morning, and then I went to the Home and School meeting at the kids’ school. 

After school, the kids and I headed home for them to do homework, and then Jacob and I dropped Olivia at dance in her Dorothy costume yet again.  Then he and I headed straight to the car wash to give my Telluride a bath.  I hadn’t had it washed in months and it was just filthy, y’all.  It’s amazing the difference it made!  I didn’t realize just how bad it was until I went to back up out of our parking spot, and the backup camera picture was clear as a bell.  Haha! 

Jacob and I headed straight home after that, and I got to baking some pumpkin spice cupcakes while he spent some time on YouTube.  It was really dreary Tuesday afternoon and evening, so it got dark really early, which made it extra cozy.

I poured a glass of wine and turned on some music to enjoy while I cooked dinner, and then when Brian and Olivia got home, we all sat down to eat together.  After dinner, I did an arms workout, and then I worked on my fall puzzle for a bit.

After that, it was a Nailed It and another Vampire Diaries and then bedtime.

Wednesday, October 26

Wednesday was neon day for Olivia’s class and Jacob’s class was supposed to wear green or orange.  Nailed it!

I had nothing on the calendar Wednesday, so I spent the entire day working on the blog.  I also made some chocolate ghosts and put together my second Instagram Reel!

After school, Olivia had two makeup voice lessons back-to-back, so we headed to the music school after swinging by the house to get snacks. 

After music lessons, we headed home and made breakfast for dinner.  The school HOCO bonfire was Wednesday evening, but we were all beat, so we decided to skip.  I had hoped to go this year since Jacob didn’t have baseball for the first time in years, but we all agreed to just chill at home instead.

The boys played basketball after dinner until dark, and Olivia was so wrapped up in a good book that she took it outside to read while the boys played.  Meanwhile, I got in 2.22 miles, and I jogged for more than half of it. 

The rest of the evening was spent putting laundry away, watching Nailed It, and watching Vampire Diaries per usual. 

Thursday, October 27

Thursday was pajama day at the kids’ school, and I forgot to take a picture.  After I dropped the kiddos, I made a quick stop at Publix for some essentials and then I spent the rest of the day working.

On the way to pick up the kids from school, I swung by the library to grab my book hold, and then I grabbed the kids in the car line.

Olivia had her regularly scheduled voice lesson after school, and they were doing Halloween week, so she changed out of her pajamas and into her Dorothy costume yet again.  We’re definitely getting our money’s worth of that dress and those shoes this year!  Hahahaha.

After voice lessons, we went home, the kids did homework, and I cooked dinner, and then after that, we spent the rest of the evening outside.  B and the kids played basketball again and I got in three miles.  I’m trying to get all the evening walks/jogs in while I can, because once that time changes, I won’t be able to do them anymore. 

After my jog, I took a quick shower and then got everything ready for Friday, and then we all watched Lego Masters followed by a Vampire Diaries for B and me after the kids went to bed.

Friday, October 28

Friday was homecoming at the kids’ school, so they had Extreme Spirit Wear Day.  Both of them got all dressed in their school spirit wear best, and then we painted Olivia’s face and hair.  Jacob opted out of the face and hair paint this year, but he did get Brian to spike his hair up into a mohawk and he wore some blue socks with stars on them.  Lol.  I’m totally digging the socks.

After I dropped them off, I had to stop in the school office to drop some stuff off for Halloween, and then I headed back home to pick up B so we could go early vote.  There was nobody there, so we were in and out in less than ten minutes, and then we headed back home. 

I worked most of the morning, and tied up some loose ends, and then I met two of my old coworkers for lunch.  One of them just quit recently and she’s living that stay-at-home mom life like I am, so she and I ended up sitting around for a long time after lunch, and before I knew it, it was time to go get in the car line to pick up the kids.

I ended up being a little earlier than usual, so I Facetimed with another old coworker while I waited, and then the kids and I headed home.  They’d had an all-school pep rally for the homecoming game later that night, so they were completely wired when they got in the car.  Olivia’s class had won the spirit stick for the intermediate hall, and her class had also won a pumpkin decorating contest, so she was HYPED UP.  Haha.

We had a couple of hours after school before we had to be back there for the alumni social, so I tidied up the house and did a few things in my office, and then we all headed back out to the alumni social at 6.  The weather was absolutely perfect – partly cloudy and cool – and we had the best evening meeting up with old friends.  A lot of my closest girlfriends to this day all graduated with me in 2000, and several of them were there, and there were a few others from our class there, too, two of who I hadn’t seen since graduation. 

One of our local Mexican restaurants catered for the social, and they had beer and wine for all of the adults, so we spent the evening eating and drinking and socializing.  They also had the cutest selfie booth set up, so we got a few pictures there, too.  (And the school’s logo was all over everything including the step-and-repeat behind us, so please excuse all of the weirdly edited photos… I edit them for our privacy, of course.)

Most of us lingered on the practice field at the social well into the football game, and then we made our way over there before halftime so we could see the Homecoming king and queen crowned.  We ended up staying almost to the end, and then we headed home just before 10.  We had to drag the kids outta there because per usual, they didn’t want to leave.  They were just living their best lives all night with their friends… we hardly saw them all night.  Haha.

When we got home, the kiddos crashed, and B and I stayed up for a bit to hang out with Maui.  We watched the Diane Sawyer/Matthew Perry interview to end the evening.  He’s one of my favorite actors – Chandler Bing is one of my favorite TV characters of all-time – so I’ve been fully invested in him since I was pretty young.  And my cousin is also married to his sister so that just adds another layer to my love for him.  Haha.

Saturday, October 29

Saturday morning, we all slept in late… I somehow slept until 8:50 which is unheard of, and Jacob had just gotten up right before I did.  I made homemade waffles for breakfast – spider web ones, of course – and we ended up having to wake Olivia at 9:30 to come down for breakfast.  She was wiped out.

The rest of the morning was slow and lazy – I curled up on the couch with Maui, watched College GameDay, and scrolled through my phone for most of the morning – and then just before noon I finally got in a workout and started some laundry. 

Brian had a tennis match late in the morning, and then when he got home, we all ate a late, light lunch.  The Georgia/Florida game was on at 3:30 so my father-in-law came over to watch that with us.  Georgia ended up beating Florida pretty good, but it did get a little too close for comfort in the third quarter.  Whew.  

We ordered takeout for dinner, and then after the game, my FIL left, and B and I watched some other games that were on while the kids played outside and then watched a movie upstairs.

 

Sunday, October 30

Sunday morning, we made cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then we watched a couple of episodes of Nailed It.  I got in a yoga workout after that, and then it was time to get ready to go to my MIL and step-FIL’s for lunch.  We hadn’t seen them in ages since we’d been out of town and then I had Covid, so it was nice to be back over there in our normal routine. 

Sunday evening, Olivia and I headed to a friend’s house for some pumpkin painting.  A few of her friends from school were there, and they all had a blast.  They each painted a big pumpkin and a little one, and they watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on the back porch while they painted. 

All of us adults opened a bottle of wine and hung out around the fire while the girls painted, and then once they were done, we all ate tortellini lasagna, salad, and ghost cupcakes for dinner and dessert.  The girls played on the trampoline and did some sparklers after dinner, and then shortly after that, we rounded them all up and headed home. 

While we were gone, the boys had watched Beetlejuice, and they were playing Connect 4 when we got home.  We had just enough time to watch another episode of Nailed It before bed, and then it was a Vampire Diaries for B and me followed by bedtime!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!