Our Week - The One with Teeth Extractions, Jacob’s City Golf Tournament, the Fall Carnival, a Masquerade, and Sleepovers

Last week was a busy one, but thankfully we had some time to relax this weekend.  Here’s the recap!

Monday, October 14

Monday was the last day of Fall Break for the kids, and we were grateful to have one more day off.  We all slept in again, I made homemade waffles for breakfast, and then I spent the morning organizing pictures and trying to get caught up on blog work.  I was so behind since my phone and computer weren’t playing nicely, so Brian was kind enough to offer to do all of the grocery shopping for me so I didn’t have to stop working. 

Just before lunch, I got showered and ready for the day, and then we all ate lunch when Brian got home from the store.  The kids had dentist appointments to have some baby teeth pulled at 2, so we were out the door at 1:45 to get them there on time.  We got down the street to jump on the highway and ran into nearly standstill traffic because they were paving the highway yet again.

They have been repaving our main highway for months now, and it is a HUGE inconvenience since they have to shut down most of the lanes while they do so.  Typically, they only have the road closed for about a mile or so, but for some reason on Monday, they had the entire highway from our exit all the way until the exit at the dentist closed down to one lane, which is many miles, so the traffic was the worst it’s ever been.

Instead of taking 12-ish minutes to get there, it ended up taking us 35 minutes, and we ended up being almost 20 minutes late for their appointment.  I called them on the way to let them know what was going on, and thankfully, they allowed us to keep our appointments. 

They took both kids back right when we finally arrived, but they wouldn’t let me go back with them even though Olivia was a little bit nervous.  Jacob ended up being a champ, having all four of us removed as planned, but Olivia couldn’t get past the numbing feeling, and she was so upset that they decided not to pull hers.  Instead, they referred us to a pediatric dentist because our dentist didn’t want her to be afraid of him going forward. 

I had expected recovery to be a little tough, but Jacob had no issues whatsoever.  We gave him Ibuprofen as soon as we arrived at home, and he kept the gauze in for a couple of hours.  I let them relax with video games when we got home while I finished up some blog work and did my Bible study, and then I headed out for a run and to do an arms workout before dinner.

When I got home, I showered, and then Brian and I made breakfast for dinner since all of the foods are soft.  By dinnertime, Jacob’s mouth numbness had completely worn off, and he had no pain, so he was able to eat everything totally normally and it was all well!

During dinner, we started watching Hocus Pocus, and then we all sat down on the couch to continue watching afterward. 

My parents stopped by around 7:45 to use our back yard because the Atlas Comet was visible Monday night, so we stepped outside to join them, and I was able to grab this picture with my phone.  Apparently, it was visible until October 21, and it won’t be visible to humans again for 80,000 years.  Oh my!

After Momma and Daddy left, we watched a few more minutes of Hocus Pocus, and then we got the kids in the bed.  After they were settled in, Brian and I watched another episode of Nobody Wants This (seriously the BEST show), and then we watched a few minutes of The Golden Bachelorette before calling it a night.

 

Tuesday, October 15

Tuesday, the kids headed back to school after six days off.  None of us were quite ready, but I’d say that’s pretty normal.  6 AM came really early, and it’s been harder and harder to wake early since it’s been darker and darker each morning.

I got the kids to school, dropped off some paperwork at the office, and then I headed to Fresh Market to pick up some chicken.  When I got home, I worked on the blog all day and also caught up on various other things that had been neglected while we were out of town.

I grabbed Olivia in the car line when school let out, and she and I drove home while Jacob stayed behind for his Velocity meeting.  We had just enough time at home for Olivia to grab a snack, finish her homework, and start studying, and I got the dishes done and the kitchen cleaned up before we had to turn back around to pick up Jacob.

Once Jacob was picked up, we headed home again, and this time, I had just enough time to do my quiet time and Bible study before leaving again to get Olivia to dance.  When I got home from dropping her, I made dinner – parmesan chicken, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and cinnamon muffins – and we all sat down and ate shortly after Brian and Olivia got home from dance.

After dinner, I got in a stair stepper and arms workout, and after the kids were showered and ready for bed, we said goodnight to them.  It was a bit of a late night, which is unusual for a Tuesday, but we just had so much going on, and Olivia had some studying to do, so we ended up having no time for TV. 

After the kids went to bed, Brian and I were able to squeeze in one episode of Nobody Wants This and then we headed to bed, too.  I was exhausted.

Tuesday, we also found out from Jacob’s art teacher that he won first place in the “sculpture” category for a city-wide contest that they’re doing for a huge horse-racing event that takes place in Pine Mountain, GA every year.  Our city holds a contest for all kindergarten – 12th grade students at all schools, public and private, and his won first in its category!!!!  We are invited to an awards banquet tomorrow evening, so I’ll have more details then.

Wednesday, October 16

Wednesday was a crazy day.  I dropped the kids at school, headed home, and settled in for a few hours of work, and then around 11 AM I gathered lunch for Olivia and me + all of the things we needed for the afternoon – Olivia’s dance bag, lunch and dinner for Olivia, snacks for both kids, etc. – because we were going to be on the go for the rest of the morning, afternoon, and evening with no time to come home.  I also did my devotional early.

Olivia had her consult with the pediatric dentist at noon, so I grabbed her from school at 11:30. I hate pulling the kids out of school for appointments, and we try to avoid that at all costs, but it just wasn’t going to happen with this particular dentist.  Thankfully, her appointment was lightning fast – we were in and out in less than 20 minutes – and they were really great there.

The dentist there said that he specializes in extracting teeth on little ones who are nervous/anxious about it, and he said he has some tricks up his sleeve to make for a smooth process.  She is scheduled for Thanksgiving break, and I’m glad that a) she won’t have to be put to sleep, and b) that she won’t have to miss school.  Hopefully he’ll be able to get the job done this time!

By the time her appointment was over, it was lunchtime at school, so I gave Olivia the lunch to eat that I’d brought along for her in the car.  And since we were right by Target, I pulled up there to pick up a last-minute order I’d placed so that would give Olivia time to finish her lunch before we got back to school.  Jacob had a masquerade ball for Halloween Saturday night and he and his best friend wanted to be Mario and Luigi, so I had to find a last-minute Mario costume.  Thankfully, Target had ONE LEFT in his size.  Whew.

After getting our Target pickup order, we headed back to school, and I walked Olivia to the cafeteria to join her class.  The dentist and Target pickup ended up being so fast that I had time to run home (unexpectedly) really quickly to dump all of the stuff from Target, get reorganized, and let Maui out.  I was really worried about leaving her for so long, so it was nice to be able to run home and let her out one last time before all of the afternoon activities.

In the car line, I talked to y’all on Instagram for a bit to get caught up, and then I got some work done before the kids came out.  We had to take Olivia to my parents’ house after school, and on the way there, we saw Jacob’s old piano teacher for like the 84th day in a row.  Haha.  It’s wild how our routes cross every single day now.  What are the odds with all of the different factors that play into getting us to that point every day? 

Since Jacob had his city championship for golf Wednesday evening, my parents were kind enough to take Olivia in for the afternoon and get her dance for us so I could finally attend one of Jacob’s matches.  They say it takes a village, and we have been utilizing our village a LOT lately.  We are very grateful for all of you.  <3

Once we got Olivia settled in with her homework and dance stuff and dinner at Pop and Cokie’s house, Jacob and I took off to the golf course.  Brian met us there, and then we both walked with him for all nine holes.  They did a shotgun start (a group of kids start at each of the holes and play around the course until they’re done rather than all kids waiting in line to start at the first hole), thank goodness, so we were done by 6:15, which was way earlier than we’d anticipated.  We’d expected them to do the awards ceremony afterward as that’s how it’s been done in the past, but there is new management at the golf course they use, and they said that they were going to wait to wrap some things up before doing that, which meant we were free to go.

Jacob ended up shooting a 43 (one par, three bogeys, and five double bogeys).  He hit his tee shot onto the green on three holes which is a record for him, but he had some trouble putting, so unfortunately, his score didn’t reflect how well he hit the ball.  It was SUPER windy and freezing cold, too, so I’m not sure if that had something to do with things.  Who knows.  It’s crazy, though, because apparently fall and winter decided to pull up together this year… we went from eighties and nineties to thirties, forties, and fifties with a quickness this year.

I headed straight home to let Maui out, and Brian and Jacob stopped at Chick-Fil-A to pick up dinner for the three of us.  We ate when they got home, and then I got in a strength workout, focusing on arms again.  I took a long hiatus from arms workouts after my vertigo started since the arms workouts irritate my neck which irritates my vertigo, so most of the definition that I’d worked so hard to sculpt back in 2022 and early 2023 is gone.

After my workout, I got ready for bed, did my Bible study since I’d never had the chance to do it on the go, and then I helped Olivia dry her hair before bed.  Brian had picked her up from dancing and they’d gotten home a little after 8:30 so it was another late night.

By the time I had the chance to sit down on the couch, it was already 9:45, so I let Maui snuggle for about 20 minutes and then I sent her to bed so I could go to bed, too.

 

Thursday, October 17

Thursday morning, it was freezing – 38 degrees! – so we all bundled up because that is COLD for us, especially in October.  I dropped the kids at school, attempted and failed to pick up my contacts from the eye doctor (because the optical shop opened later than the office and they failed to mention that on their website) and then I headed back to the school to have a meeting with one of the teachers about upcoming things. 

By the time our meeting was over, it was time to head to the church to meet Olivia for Mass and her first quarter awards ceremony.  She is in the choir at school now, so she sings at every Mass, so I couldn’t sit with her, but I love watching her get up there and sing.  She loves it, and I love it for her.

After Mass was over, she came to sit with me, and then we watched third, fourth, and fifth grade receive their awards.  Olivia received the award for Honor’s Roll, meeting her AR goal, and the religion award this quarter.  Fifth grade is when the curriculum gets very rigorous, and we are very proud of her for working so hard this quarter!

After Mass was over, I headed straight home to get some things done before I had to be back at school to pick up the kids.  First up was lunch because I was starving since I hadn’t had my morning tea and snack.  Then, I caught up on some blog reading and worked on a couple of blog posts. 

After school, the kids and I headed to music lessons.  Jacob worked on a couple of new Minecraft songs for piano, and then Olivia started working on Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.  She had been working on the song Red from The Rise of Red (the new Disney Descendants movie), but it’s soooo fast-paced that she was getting a little frustrated with it.  It was just too aggressive considering she’s only been playing for a couple of months, so Mr. Steve decided to slow things down for her.  He figured she might want to be able to play a Christmas song by the time Christmas rolls around, and he said that in order to be able to do that, she needed to start now to learn it.

When we got home from music lessons, Olivia did her homework and did some extra math work to prepare for her math test on Friday, and I did my Bible study and assisted her as needed.  After that, Jacob started learning The Christmas Song on the piano while Olivia practiced Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas on her guitar, and I got started on dinner.  I have to say, all of that Christmas music made me VERY excited for the Christmas season!

Friday afternoon, I also got a text from Olivia’s teacher saying that they’d had a contest in fifth grade, and she’d won first place!  Each student was given a different haunted house somewhere here in the United States, and the kids had to write persuasive essays on why someone should buy the houses.  The school principal and her teacher picked hers to win first place.  Her teacher texted the moms of the top three winners to ask their favorite donut flavors because she wanted to surprise them with donuts the next morning since they’d won.  Is that not the sweetest?  My girl does love to write, so creative writing is where she shines!

When Brian got home from work, we had turkey and cheese biscuit sliders and fruit for dinner, and then we got the kitchen cleaned up.  The kids headed to take showers after dinner, and I got in a mixed cardio workout.  I’d hoped to go for a walk outside, but we got a late start on dinner, so it was getting too dark by the time my workout rolled around.

After that, we got the kids in the bed around 8:45 which is a little earlier than most other nights, and they both read in bed for a bit while Brian and I watched two more episodes of Nobody Wants This.

 

Friday, October 18

Friday, I HAD NOWHERE TO BE WHILE THE KIDS WERE AT SCHOOL!!!!  Can you tell I was excited about that?!  So, I made a long to-do list, grabbed a cinnamon muffin and some hot tea, I wrapped up in my blanket, and I settled in for a long day of work and crossing things off the list.

When we got home from school, I got my Bible study done, and then Brian and the kids and I headed back to the kids’ school for their fall carnival.  Both kids had friends there, so they hung out with their friends while B and I hung out with friends, too, and then we snuck out a little early so we could go eat dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant near the school.  We hadn’t had it in, like, two months maybe??  So, we were all craving it since we were long overdue.

When we got home, we all got into PJs, and then we finished Hocus Pocus that we’d started earlier in the week.  Tis the season for being so busy that we don’t have time to watch a movie all in one sitting.  Ha!

I took an epic couch nap while we finished the movie – I just can’t stay awake Friday evenings anymore – and then when the movie was over, we got the kids in the bed and Brian and I finished season one of Nobody Wants This.  Y’all.  I haven’t loved a show this much in a very long time.  I’m thinking it is going to bump something out of my Top five.  It is THAT good.

Saturday, October 19

Saturday morning, we all slept in, and then Olivia and I made homemade waffles for breakfast.  Brian and I sat on the couch and watched ESPN College GameDay from start to finish – three hours LOL – and it was so nice to waste away for a bit.  I never really do that aside from 30 minutes to an hour in the evening when B and I watch TV before bed.  While we watched GameDay, I also stalked social media for aaaallll of the Eras Tour updates because the U.S. leg started again last Friday in Miami.  I can’t get enough!

When GameDay was over, I finally got up and got in a workout.  I did a hodgepodge of things – a little bit of cardio, some weights, some resistance training, and then we had lunch.

After lunch, I was productive for a couple of hours tidying the house, doing some laundry, and working on the blog for a bit, and I also did my Bible study.

After that, I showered and got ready while watching the Bama vs. Tennessee game.  I had totally picked Tennessee to win, and I can’t believe they actually pulled it off!

Once I was done getting ready, I sat back down on the couch again with B to watch some more of the Bama/Tennessee game, and I started getting my planner for 2025 set up.  I always start by filling in all birthdays and anniversaries, all of the kids’ extracurricular activities, and believe it or not, I already had numerous appointments and meetings to add.  I didn’t finish getting the whole thing set up, but I made a big dent in it!

Olivia’s friend, Maren, was dropped off at our house a little after 5 since she was sleeping over.  Jacob had a masquerade ball to attend Saturday night, and he was spending the night with his friend, so we let Olivia have a friend over, too.

I had to leave at 5:45 to pick up Jacob’s friend, WJ, and get them to their masquerade ball, and of course, we had to take some pictures of them in their costumes before we left.  I love it!  Haha.

The boys’ masquerade ball was at a local church, and the place was jumpin’ by the time we arrived.  There were kids dressed in costume everywhere and they had a great turnout.  After I said goodbye to them, I swung by two pizza places to pick up dinner – one local place that Brian and I love, and then Domino’s for Olivia and Maren since Olivia doesn’t like the pizza from the local place – and then I headed home just in time to watch the end of the Bama/Tennessee game.

After dinner, the girls went outside to play in the back yard (in the dark – haha) and then Brian and I settled in for the Georgia vs. Texas game.  Sheesh, what. a. game.

Georgia went in as the underdogs and we had to go up against the #1 team, the media, the Vegas odds, the refs (don’t get me started), and the Texas fans (who threw trash all over their own field at one point), and we still beat them 30-15.  I don’t think a regular season win has felt this good in a long time!

Brian and I were pretty much baffled for the majority of the game.  I always hate blaming officials (refs) during games, but my gosh, that was some of the worst officiating I think I’ve ever seen in my 25 years of watching (and really paying attention to) college football.

The worst call of the game was when the refs made a bad call that happened to be in our favor (yes, as a Georgia fan, I know it was a bad call), but the officials announced the penalty, marked off the yards, and then put the ball down on the field for the next play.  Once announced, a non-reviewable play can’t be reviewed/overturned, and the game is supposed to continue regardless of whether or not it was a bad call. 

Well, the Texas fans decided to start throwing bottles and cans and trash all over the field to show their disgust, which of course, endangered all of the players, coaches, staff, cheerleaders, and everyone else on the field, and because the game had to be put on pause to clean up all of the trash, the officials ended up reviewing the video and overturning their non-reviewable/non-overturnable call.  And then, to make matters even more insane, they didn’t even penalize Texas for their fans throwing bottles and cans all over the field.  We were completely shocked. 

In my 25 years of really watching college football, I have only seen trash thrown on the field one other time (never forget the mustard bottle at Tennessee!  IYKYK) and I have NEVER seen officials go rogue and overturn something that’s not eligible to be overturned.  It was just shocking.  Talk about setting a dangerous precedent for fans of all teams going forward… throw a tantrum = get your way. 

So don’t be surprised going forward if college football fans start throwing trash more often when there are bad calls during a game.  Ugh.  All of this below!

Anyhoo, the officials went on to make many, many more bad calls throughout the game (mostly in Texas’s favor) but we still beat them 30-15.  I can’t even imagine how utterly exhausted Kirby Smart, the staff, and the team were after that win because I was utterly exhausted just watching. 

Glad we got the win, though!  A couple of funnies did come from it on social media, though... IYKYK.  Hahahaha.  And please excuse the language.

Oh, and on Sunday the SEC slapped Texas with a fat fine of $250K, and they are requiring the school to use all measures to identify all individuals who threw trash on the field and/or at our team and prohibit them from attending any Texas athletics events for the remainder of the academic year.  They also said that they have the right to suspend their alcohol sale privileges if requirements are not met.  OUCH.

Welcome to the SEC, Texas!!  Please learn to play nice.  We don’t behave like that in our conference.

We ended up getting in bed super late since the game ran late.  And thankfully, WJ’s dad had picked up Jacob and WJ from the masquerade since they were spending the night at WJ’s, so we didn’t have to pause our game.  He sent me my proof of life picture when he got them.   Haha.

Sunday, October 20

Sunday morning, we slept in again, Brian picked up donuts for the girls (and us), and then I got to work, getting stuff done.

I got the kitchen cleaned up, I listened to my Sunday morning sermon, I did yoga, I got my planner ready for the week ahead and made my to do list for Monday, and I worked on my blog post for Monday. 

Late in the morning, I got showered and ready, and then Brian took Maren home on the way to his tennis match just as WJ’s dad was dropping Jacob off at home from his sleepover.

He was tired from staying up so late, but he’d had a blast at his masquerade.  He and WJ had gotten Honorable Mention in the costume contest, and he said that they’d done all kinds of other fun stuff – various games, a dance contest, etc.

When he got home, the three of us sat down and ate lunch.  Brian had already eaten and was gone at his tennis match, and then after lunch I got right back to doing things – laundry, sorting dirty clothes, cleaning the house, trying on a couple of Amazon purchases and getting the returns ready because they didn’t work, etc. 

Meanwhile, the kids tidied, studied, showered, and got everything ready for Monday, and then they both settled in for screentime for the afternoon.  They were both exhausted after their sleepovers, and I’m honestly surprised nobody fell asleep.

While they had screen time, I worked.  I finished my blog post for Monday, I transferred all pictures and videos from my phone to my computer from the week, I got those organized, I freed up some space on my phone and synced it, and I updated iOS twice (since I was behind).  Whew.

At 5:30, we left to go to Sunday dinner at my parents’ house, and on the way, we swung by Maren’s house to drop off a couple of things that she had left at our house.  Lol.

We celebrated my brother’s roommate’s birthday at Sunday dinner and my Momma made a delicious dinner.  About five minutes into dinner, we realized nobody had seen Maui in a while, so after looking for her all over the house, Brian and my brother and his friends went out to look for her, and that little stinker was running up the street.  We’re not 100% sure how she got out, but it’s not like her to run EVER.  We let her out all the time in our yard and in my parents’ yard and she never tries to run away, so it was very out of character for her.  And it scared me to death.  I was so mad at her!  But so relieved when they finally found her.

After that, we headed home, got the kids in the bed early since they’d had no sleep Saturday, and then Brian and I watched Dave Matthews Band get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  If you’ve been here for any amount of time, you know I am obsessed with them.  I’ve loved them since I was 12, I’ve been to 28 of their concerts, and they are just my absolute faves, so I thought this was well deserved and LONG overdue!  My blog is a nod to their song One Sweet World, after all!  If you didn’t know, now you know!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!