Our Week - The One With Fall Family Photos, Trunk or Treat, Halloween, and Sleepovers

*This post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

We had the best weekend, and I have a very long recap, so settle in, friends!

Monday, October 26

Monday morning, I was able to snooze an extra time since Brian didn’t have to drive to the office to work.  I got ready for the day and dropped the kids off at school, and then I headed home to work all day.  On the list Monday was…

 

-       5 loads of laundry (I love laundry batching!)

-       Finishing my blog post for Tuesday

-       Finishing my blog post for Friday

-       Starting my blog post for Monday

 

Brian and I had lunch together, and then I played fetch with Belle for a while.  After that, I did some blog housekeeping and caught up on emails, and then I painted my nails before I had to leave to pick up the kids from school.  I’ve found that’s my favorite time to do it… since I have no choice but to sit in the car and do nothing, it gives my nails ample time to dry.  Haha.

When we got home, I helped Olivia with her costume, and then we headed to dance.  While I was gone, Brian went to pick up Jacob, and then they did some driving practice.  Jacob drove on a real street for the first time ever and Brian said he did really well.  They went to the back of our neighborhood to practice since there’s very little traffic through there.  Brian said he was hugging the curb the whole time, but didn’t we all the first time we got on the road?

When I got home from dropping Olivia, I filmed a Reel and started working on the edits while I sat outside with Belle.  I also got the house tidied because it wasn’t in great shape.

When Brian and Jacob got home, Jacob helped me make mini pizzas for dinner while Brian drove to pick up Olivia from dance.  She’d had her Halloween party at dance, so she told us all about it when she got home.

I put some oils in the diffuser and Jacob put on the It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown record while we made dinner and ate, and it was just the coziest little evening.

Once the kitchen was clean, I headed upstairs to put away some of the laundry.  The bed was covered with five loads, and we had to have somewhere to sleep later, so I put some of it away and then stacked the rest on the chair to be put away on Tuesday.

I did a mixed cardio workout indoors while the kids showered, and then I sat down to watch Olivia dance.  I don’t think I’ve mentioned this here yet, but she is in drama this year as an elective, and her class is putting on a production for the littles at school.  They’re doing an adaptation of The Little Mermaid and after auditions, Olivia was cast as Ariel!  In addition to being Ariel, she was also named choreographer since she has dance experience, and she has been working on the choreography for Chef Louis’s dance for her BFF who is playing that role.  She created the whole thing, and she wanted to show it to me, and it is just fantastic.  Seriously the cutest thing ever.

After that, we all settled in on the couch to start watching Hocus Pocus 2.  We put our Friends watching on hold to squeeze in all our Halloween favorites before Halloween is over.

We stopped about halfway through the movie so the kids could get in bed, and then Brian and I watched one episode of Nobody Wants This before we went to bed.

 

Tuesday, October 27

Tuesday morning, I was up at 6 AM, I dropped the kids at school, and then I headed home to work all day.  I spent the morning starting and finishing my post for Monday, working on a Reel, and doing some blog housekeeping and email reading… nothing new… just the usual stuff!

I went outside with Belle at lunchtime and sat with her for a long time.  She played in the yard for a while and brought a HUGE stick up to the porch, and then she curled up right on the arm of my chair while I finished editing my Reel.  Sweet girl.

We went back up to my office later in the afternoon and she went right to sleep while I started this blog post and worked some more on Reels.  I went down to grab a snack and a cup of tea around 3 PM, and then I sat down with my planner to make sure it was ready for November.

I got my tripod set up and ready to film a Reel after that, and then I had to stop because it was time to pick up Olivia from school.  She’d had Velocity right after, so I didn’t have to get her until 4 PM, and Jacob had e-sports even longer, so he didn’t come with us.

When we got home, I made some chicken nuggets for her for dinner, and then I filmed my Reel (pats self on back for that transition!!) while she tried on costumes for dance.  She was able to dress up every day last week, and she kept trying on all her old costumes from when she was tiny.  She was still able to squeeze into her very first costume that she wore when she was four/five.  Lol.  It wouldn’t button in the back, but she somehow got in it.  They’re super stretchy so I guess that’s why.

She helped me add some music to my Reel while she ate dinner, and then we drove to dance.  When I got home, I started on dinner – sausage, peppers, and onions tacos, chips, and fruit.  Brian picked up Jacob on his way home from work, and then we ate dinner together when they got home.  

We cleaned the kitchen, and then I got out for a quick walk before it got dark.  It was chilly and the neighborhood was bustling with other walkers and runners, and it just doesn’t get any better than an evening walk in the fall, y’all.  I’m going to miss my after-dinner walks now that the time has changed.  I do LOVE this time change, though!!!!  My body clock is so relieved!

When I got home, I did a very short arms workout, and I kept it very controlled and slow.  My neck tension / dizziness was out of control all day Tuesday and it was miserable.  I hadn’t had a day that bad in a while, so it was a big bummer.  I actually had to take a break while I was working to lay down on the floor in my office on Tuesday.  Bellie came and snuggled up next to me, though, so that was a nice treat.  :o)

Brian left to pick up Olivia from dance, and I showered and put away the rest of the laundry.  I also peeked in everyone’s closets to figure out what to wear for family photos since I wanted to try to squeeze those in Wednesday evening.  Oh, and I soaked up THIS VIEW!!!!  I changed out our bedding a little early to film a Reel and then I just left it on there because it makes me so happyyyy.

 

When Olivia got home, she showered and got ready for bed, and then we all started watching the new Matthew Perry documentary on Netflix, The One About Matthew Perry.  My cousin’s wife, Mia (Matty’s sister), is the one who helped put it together, so we were all looking forward to watching it.  It was surreal seeing her on screen, and we all enjoyed it.  We had to stop the first episode a little more than halfway through so the kids could go to bed, but we're looking forward to watching the rest of it and seeing my cousin.  My aunt and uncle also make an appearance from what I've heard.  

Brian and I finished the evening with another episode of Nobody Wants This.

Wednesday, October 28

Wednesday morning, I was up at 6 AM, I got ready for the day, I dropped the kids at school, and then I headed home to work.  Belle didn’t want to be in my office, so I took her back down to the kitchen, and then I settled in under my electric blanket with my hot cup of coffee and got to work.

First on the list was to go through emails.  I’ve gotten bad about emailing links to myself that I want to go back and read/watch/recipes to cook/etc. and then never going back through them, so one of my inboxes was full of emails from myself.  Haha.  I always just let them sit, but I was tired of the clutter, so I finally went through each one.  I printed out the recipes to try, watched the videos I wanted to watch, and read the articles I wanted to read.  And it was SO nice to have a completely decluttered inbox.

After that, I caught this post up to present, and then I started on Wednesday’s blog post and got it as close to done as I could.  I sat outside with Bellie during lunch, and I put together a carousel to share later on Instagram.  Then, it was back upstairs to work a little more before it was time to pick up the kids. 

I swung by UPS on the way to get them because I had a couple of returns to process, and then in the car line, I worked some more on some content for Instagram. 

When we got home, Jacob helped Olivia study for a science quiz (the sweetest!) and the kids played outside with Bellie for a while.  After that, they came inside for some screen time, and I did two Bible studies.

I headed downstairs to make some blueberry muffins to have on hand after that, and then I got started on dinner – barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes, and broccoli.  The chicken had to bake for nearly an hour, so while that was in the oven, I got the kitchen cleaned up, I set the table, and then everyone changed into different clothes for family photos for our Christmas cards. 

We always do them ourselves in our own back yard, and they turn out well!  I’m sure a professional photographer would, of course, do a much better job, but photography prices are outrageous these days, so I much prefer to pull out the tripod and do it ourselves.  As a matter of fact, I just upgraded my tripod to this one and I love it because it came with a large ring light + a remote for my phone so we don’t have to set a timer anymore!! 

Pictures were quick and (mostly) easy – LOL Bellie was acting crazy for some of the time... she got tangled up in my necklace at one point – and we were done in less than 15 minutes. 

By the time we’d all changed back into comfy clothes, dinner was ready, so we all sat down and ate together, then we cleaned the kitchen, and then we took Bellie for a family walk.  She saw a tiny skeleton creature in a neighbor’s yard, and she started barking like crazy at it and we all had a good laugh.  We were excited to see that this year our neighbors in our own cul-de-sac have one of the giant skeletons in the front yard, so that’s fun!

When we got home, I tidied up our bedroom and bathroom because it was a mess after my quick change for family photos, and then I did a quick arms workout before getting into pjs.  The kids showered and got ready for bed, and then we all settled in to finish Hocus Pocus 2.  We had just enough time to watch an episode of Friends after that, but we’d forgotten that some of the episodes were “supersized” (do y’all remember when NBC did the supersized Thursdays?) and this particular episode was long, so the kids ended up going to bed a bit later than usual.

Brian and I agreed that Wednesday evenings always have us feeling like the weekend since the kids don’t have to be anywhere, and we were both in the mood for a cocktail, so we made regular old fashioneds and settled in for an episode of Nobody Wants This before going to bed a little later than usual for a Wednesday.  Worth it!

 

Thursday, October 29

Thursday morning, I was up at 6 AM, I drove the kids to school, and then I stopped by Walmart to grab all the goodies for our Halloween party Saturday.  I also had to pick up donuts for the kids’ sleepovers, and I had to pick up some real pumpkins for the fall middle school dance later this week.  The pumpkins were SO CHEAP since they were trying to get rid of them, and I ended up getting four huge heirloom pumpkins for only $3 each!!!!  I was so excited, y’all!

I headed home after that and got the groceries put away, and then Bellie and I went to my office to work.  She lay right down in her bed and went to sleep, which was great since she rarely does that anymore.  She usually scratches at the door until I take her back downstairs.  Haha.

I settled in to tackle my to do list for the day:

 

-       Work on my blog post for Wednesday

-       Catch this blog post up to present

-       Start my blog post for the following Friday

-       Transfer and organize photos from my phone

 

At lunchtime, I sat outside with Bellie working on Instagram while she ran around chasing birds, collecting sticks, and just generally frolicking.  Haha.

After lunch, she came back upstairs with me, and I finished organizing photos and then I started catching up on blog reading and blog comments. 

I let Belle out one last time before I had to pick up the kids, and she would NOT come back to the house.  I was worried I was going to be late picking up the kids, but I finally bribed her with her ball, scooped her up, and put her away before I left.  I hate having to trick her like that, but my goodness, that dog doesn’t follow directions.  Haha.

In the car line, I worked on my Instagram carousel for the evening, and then the kids and I went to music lessons.  I sat in with Jacob to watch him practice a couple of songs in his piano lesson, and he’s sounding great!  He’s been working on a song from one of the Zelda video games and it’s so beautiful.

When we got home, I put chicken nuggets in the oven for Olivia for dinner, and then I started my Bible study for the day.  I didn’t have enough time to finish before I had to drop Olivia off at dance, so I left it sitting until I could finish it later.

When Olivia and I were on our way out the door for dance, Belle bolted for the first time ever, and we all panicked.  She usually hangs out around the door when we’re trying to leave, but she’s never tried to get out before.  I had a feeling it was coming one day, and apparently, Thursday was that day.  Sigh.

Thankfully, she didn’t go too far, but she would NOT come to us when we called her.  Olivia and I both tried bribing her with sticks, but every time we would get close enough to grab her, she would hightail it out of our reach.  I told Jacob to bring out her leash since she knows we get to walk when that comes out, and that did the trick.  She came right over and I was able to snag her quickly, and I was so dang relieved.  By the time I got her, she was already two doors down, and I was so worried she was going to just take off and be gone forever.  Or get hit by a car.  This dog is a piece of work, y’all, and we are going to have to be much more careful going forward.  (Although, we were already being careful, and she STILL managed to get out.  LOL.)

Olivia and I were running late after that whole debacle, but we managed to get her to dance just a minute late.  I headed home after that and I tided the kitchen, and then Brian and I made breakfast for dinner when he got home from Sam’s.  I also took the time to take a couple of photos for some favorites from the week - fresh muffins in my cake dome and the leaves on the trees in front of our house... they've finally started changing colors!

After dinner, we all cleaned up, and then Jacob and I played out in the back yard with Bellie while Brian trimmed some branches off the trees in the front yard.

I then finished up my IG carousel for the evening, and then I did a stair stepper workout while Jacob showered. 

After that, I got into my pjs, and then Olivia got home from dance and she wanted to show me what she had learned.  They’re working on quadruple pirouettes, and she is close to nailing hers.  It’s just so wonderful watching her grow.

While she showered, I filled out a field trip permission slip for Jacob, and it was then that I realized I’d never finished my Bible study, so I did that next.  The kids got into bed after that, then I meditated, and then Brian and I watched some football while I got organized and made my to do list for Friday.

 

Friday, October 30

Friday morning, I snoozed an extra time and then realized when I woke up that I had to help Olivia with her Halloween costume, so it was not good that I’d snoozed.  Haha.  I busted through getting ready, and I skipped unloading the dishwasher so I could spray her hair for her costume, locate a goody bag for her (since I literally forget to do that every year for Trunk or Treat), and get a plastic bag to wrap around her headrest in the car so she didn’t get pink hair paint all over my car.  I grabbed my bag and my travel mug of coffee, and it was time to hit the road!! 

The school had their annual Trunk or Treat celebration first thing Friday morning, so I met up with the other ladies to load up the wagons with candy, hand it out, and replenish throughout the morning.  The high schoolers all dress up, decorate their cars, and hand out candy to the preschool, lower school, and middle school students, and it’s just my favorite event of the whole year.  The high schoolers go all out, and it is truly just the best thing!  One of the kids’ teachers dressed up like Ted Lasso, so of course, I had to take a picture with him!

And Olivia wanted me to walk around with her, so I followed her and Maren around.  They decided to be Shimmer and Shine this year, but they pieced their own costumes together because they didn’t want to wear anything too little kiddish. 

After the final kids went through, I went around to all the cars to collect our candy baskets and the candy trash from the high schoolers, and then it was time to hit the road.

On the way home, I swung by Kohl’s to grab the Advent calendar Brian had bought for Olivia that morning, and then I headed home.  Olivia wanted this Advent calendar again this year, so I decided to wait until the big 30% off sale before getting it.  Well, that was a mistake because it ended up selling out before it went on sale, and I was so bummed because I thought I wasn’t going to be able to get it.  Well, B realized that they had it at Kohl’s, and they were honoring the 30% off, so he ordered it while I was Trunk or Treating, and then I was able to pick it up on the way home.  If you’re wanting one, they will ship them, too!! 

When I got home, I sat outside with Belle for a bit, and then I worked for a few minutes before Brian and I ate lunch.  My friend, Jeannine, texted a photo of our kiddos from years prior that had shown up in her memories, and it made me tear up.  Look at those precious, tiny babies!  Friends since they were born!

 

After lunch, I had so many things to do that I didn’t even know where to start, but I was able to tackle all of this before picking up the kids from school:

 

-       Filming a couple of Instagram stories

-       Ordering a Christmas gift for Olivia

-       Catching up on emails

-       Catching up this post to present

-       Doing some blog housekeeping

-       Painting my nails

 

After that, I headed to school to pick up the kids, and then we went home to settle for the rest of the evening!  I grabbed a cup of tea and a pumpkin spice muffin and worked on a Reel while the kids played video games, and then my father-in-law came over to see the kids in their costumes.  He usually comes on Halloween, but he just decided to see them Friday instead this year.

After he left, I finished my Reel, and then I tackled a bunch of random small tasks around the house that needed attention:

 

-       Refilling the hand sanitizer

-       Cleaning out my car

-       Tidying the kitchen

-       Unpacking and putting away some stuff B had gotten from Sam’s

-       Restocking the bathrooms with paper products

-       Catching up on a few things in my planner

-       Ordering a dress for Olivia for the fall dance

 

Brian left to pick up takeout from Olive Garden per the kids’ request after that, and I got ready for bed while the kids both showered.  Olivia had to wash all that pink hair color out!

I got the table ready and whipped up some prickly pear mules for Brian and me, and then we all ate dinner together.  After the table was clean, the kids started carving our pumpkin.  They both love carving, so next year I’ll probably get two so they can each do one. 

We turned on Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice while they worked on that, and then when they were done, we popped some popcorn and settled in the living room to finish the movie.  We also watched It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  We usually watch it on Halloween night (we’ve been doing that since Jacob was tiny), but this year, both kids are having friends over to spend the night after trick-or-treating, so I knew we probably wouldn’t be able to convince them to watch it on Halloween this year.  Haha.

The kids went to bed after that, and then Brian and I made a nightcap, and we finished season three of Nobody Wants This.

 

Saturday, October 31

Saturday morning, I slept in until 9 AM (my body clock has been so off lately!), and then I headed downstairs to find Olivia and Bellie hanging out in the kitchen.  Olivia greeted me with a giant hug and a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  And then she told me she’d gotten up at 7:45 AM, cleaned her entire room to get ready for her sleepover company, and then she’d let Bellie outside and then turned on all the lights and opened all the blinds.  She is her mother’s daughter.  :o)  I told her she got a gold star for the day!  Haha.  

Then, later in the day, she folded all the toilet paper into bows for our guests... I just love how extra she is.  Haha.

I made waffles with candy eyeballs for breakfast, and then the kids went upstairs to start their laundry, clean their bathroom, and clean the playroom since we were having guests over.  I made a cup of coffee and sat on the couch to watch a few minutes of College GameDay and get my to do list ready for the day, and Belle wandered around downstairs.  I found her on the back of the couch in our front sitting room just looking out the window, and I think she’s found one of her favorite spots in the house!  (Don’t let that fool you, though… she was a menace for most of the morning.  Haha.)

Mid-morning, I headed to my office to get a few things done, and then I ended up going down the rabbit hole of all things Christmas as one does on Halloween.  Hahahaha.  I ordered some different pjs for Olivia for Christmas (it says they're frequently returned, though, so if they're bad I'm probably going to grab these instead) because she randomly told me she hopes Cheek (our elf) brings her silk pajamas this year that they’re a little more grownup (so I guess I’ll be returning the ones I got from Target), and then I also ordered her Christmas ornament for this year.  I always try to get something meaningful for each person depending on what their thing was from the year, and Olivia’s was totally crochet this year.  This ornament is gorgeous and I absolutely love this brand.  They make the best ornaments!  The quality is out of this world and they’re always even more beautiful in person than they are in the pictures online.

I also got some tax info set up for Amazon since USA-based influencers now receive commissions from Canadian purchases (we never have prior to this) and I had to call my accountant (Brian) to my office to consult because there were some questions I’d never seen before since Canadian taxes have different requirements than we do here in USA.

Once all that was done, I worked on this blog post for a few minutes, and then it was time to get my butt up and start getting stuff ready for the main event – our Halloween get together!  I had quite a few things on my list…

 

-       Wash towels

-       Wash some bedding

-       Tidy the whole house

-       Make the bed

-       Clean out the kids’ shower

-       Wash the mirrors

-       Clean the sink / toilet in the guest bathroom

By the time all that was done, I had to take a break to rest my neck.  All the scrubbing had my neck tweaking, so I lay down to do some of my isometric exercises and then meditated and lay on my neck pillow since I knew I wouldn’t have time later in the day.

It was lunchtime after that, so I got everything ready for that, and we all ate together.  Brian and I cleaned up the kitchen and then we tackled a few things like restocking the fridge with waters and sodas, Brian cut a pineapple (using our favorite tool that makes it a million times easier) for my candy corn fruit skewers, and then we got Belle’s tag attached to her collar and put her collar on her just in case she decided she wanted to bolt on Halloween night with all the people coming and going.  Lol.

I got showered and ready for the day after that, and then I grabbed a cup of tea and headed back to my office for a quick minute to get a couple more things done before all the festivities.

At 3:30 PM I headed downstairs to start on the food for Halloween.  Maren arrived right around 3 PM and she and Olivia worked on a project for history for a bit, and then they headed upstairs to get in their costumes and do their makeup… and also film some before and after transition videos of their costumes.  They all turned out soooo cute.

I worked on our festive dinner and helped the girls pin their costumes and spray their hair blue and pink and it was a whirlwind of an hour.  The Georgia game was also on, and thankfully, we whooped Florida, because if the game had been close, I would have had a hard time concentrating on anything but that.  Haha.

Everyone came over around five, and we ate dinner.  On the menu for our spooky Halloween dinner was…

 

-       Mummy dogs

-       Jack o lantern pizzas from Papa John’s

-       Candy corn fruit skewers

-       Caesar salad

-       Chips and Cheetos

-       Mac n cheese (we had to have all the orange things)

-       Candy corn

-       Halloween brownie bites that my Momma made

After dinner, we all took some pictures out front, we left some candy out for the trick or treaters, and then we headed out with the girls to trick or treat.  We took Belle for the first few minutes so she could burn some energy, but she was wild and crazy, so Brian took her back home after about 30 minutes.  We trick or treated until about 7:30 PM, and when we got home, the boys were still out since they’d split off from us.

When everyone was back home, the kids headed upstairs for a massive candy trade, and I cleaned up the kitchen and chatted with my parents.  They left a little after 8 PM, two of the boys got picked up around 9 PM, and then Brian and I got into pjs, we made some old fashioneds, and I settled in on the couch to scroll through social media and see everyone’s costumes!  I just love Halloween night!

WJ and Maren both spent the night, so the girls kept popping in downstairs to hang out with us here and there, and it was a relaxing night after a festive evening.  After the football game we were watching ended, Brian and I went to bed, and that was our Halloween!

 

Sunday, November 1

Sunday morning, I woke up at the new 7:40 AM since the time had changed (just glorious!!!!), and I was surprised to see that all four kids were awake and they’d already eaten breakfast.  The boys usually sleep in pretty late, so I was surprised that they were already up.  The girls were outside playing with Bellie, and I could tell she was loving every second.  She was zooming all around the backyard forever with them and it was so cute.

I got my breakfast, unloaded the dishwasher, put away some serving trays I’d hand washed the night before, and then I chatted with the girls for a bit before making my coffee and taking that and a pumpkin streusel muffin to my office to get some things done.  I also turned on some Christmas music while I worked!!!!  EEEEK.  On the list for Sunday was…

 

-       Getting my planner ready for the week ahead

-       Transferring and organizing photos (and it was one of those days where it wasn’t cooperating, so it took foreverrrr)

-       Working on this blog post

-       Catching up on emails

 

The girls kept coming in and out of my office a million times to tell me stuff / show me videos they’d made / ask me questions / all the things (LOL), so all the things took a lot of extra time, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I love how much they want me to be involved in all the things!  I hope they always do.

Meanwhile, the boys played video games, and the girls played with Bellie, rode scooters outside, put up Olivia’s Christmas tree in her bedroom (LOL), made a leaf pile in the front yard and filmed themselves playing in it, and listened to Christmas music all morning.  I just love their festive hearts.

Late in the morning, I turned everything off in my office so I could get a few things done around the house…

 

-       Making the bed

-       Tidying my closet and bathroom

-       Putting away some laundry

-       Tidying the kitchen and doing some dishes the kids had left out

 

I made lunch for everyone after that.  We had leftovers of pretty much everything from our Halloween dinner, so I reheated a bunch of it and everybody grabbed what they wanted.  I cleaned the kitchen (again) after that and then headed to shower and get ready for the day.  I listened to The Swiftie and the Scholar while I got ready, and then Maren’s mom came to pick her up shortly after I was done getting ready.

I headed to my office for a bit after that to work on this post, check my emails, finish my blog post for Wednesday, and finishing up my blog post for Friday … and I did it all while watching Serendipity!  EEK, y’all!  Gah, I just love these last two months of the year!

I shut everything down in my office after the movie was over and I started working on the meal plan and grocery list for the week ahead.  WJ’s mom and sister came to pick him up, so I chatted with them for a bit before finishing up with my list.

By the time that was done, I had to make sure everything was ready to go, and then we all headed to pick up Mama Cass for 5 PM Mass.  Mass ran a little longer Sunday evening, so we decided not to pick up Belle before heading to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner. 

Momma made her famous spaghetti with salad, bread, and brownies, and it was a nice little evening over at their house with the fam. 

We went home a little earlier than we usually do because we had to get gas and get home to Bellie, and then at home everyone got into pajamas and got everything ready for school the next day.  We had just enough time to watch an episode of Friends, and then the kids got into bed.

Brian and I started the most recent episode of SNL and then we went to bed, too.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!