Happy November, friends! This is my absolute favorite month, and not just because it's my birthday month. It's the month where all the best things (usually) happen in my neck of the woods, and the month when our weather finally starts to match the season. It's also the kickoff to the holiday season, which is supposed to be filled with joy, and after everything we've been through this year we could all use a little joy.

Alright, strap in, folks. This morning's post is going to be a long one. We have a lot to recap from last week, complete with pictures.

Last week was Red Ribbon Week at school. Thankfully, we didn't have a lot of complicated dress-up days, but we didn't get the schedule until late in the week before so all the planning was last-minute, and by the time the weekend and all its events rolled around, this mama was tired. Above you see Alexis dressed as a teacher for her drug-free future and dressed like the 80s inspired by Lisa Frank.

Then on Friday, we went to a birthday/Halloween dress-up party with my parents. It was for one of my dad's coworker's sons. It's the first time I've really dressed up in years, but it was fun. We decided to do a family pirate theme, which is something we've never done before, and Alexis loved it.

We kept things pretty low-key on Saturday for Halloween. We let Alexis draw a face for her jack-o-lantern. I made her grab a handful of guts, which she put back into the pumpkin, and then we set her on the front porch until we got back from trick-or-treating. Alexis dressed up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, I did a simple black cat, and even Chris got into the spirit with a jack-o-lantern shirt and temporary hair dye.

Trick-or-treating was noticeably less crowded this year, but there was still a nice turnout. We went around dusk and stayed away from large groups. I didn't feel uncomfortable or unsafe while we were out, but of course only time will tell. (The scarecrow in the third picture below is animatronic.)

Sunday was pretty standard. It's always been laundry day, so that didn't change. I finally got my new entryway table put together and set up, and I scheduled out my month for work. We put Harry Potter on the TV so I didn't have to suffer through a bunch of kids' shows all day long, and I got some blog posts scheduled for this week.

I'm starting to think about my holiday posts, specifically gift guides. I've already gotten a bunch of catalogues so maybe I'll have something ready to share next week. Is there anything you'd like to see?

This week will be kind of scattered. My November magazines will be delivered some time today, so we'll get started with distribution. The turnaround at the printing press was a lot faster than it's been being, which is a nice surprise. But it means I'll be busy most of this week, so if things seem quiet on my Instagram or Facebook page, that's why.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!