Weekends...

It's early Saturday morning.

Kevy has been out hunting since 5:30, Ransom is playing in his crib with a little snack, and the two big boys are watching cartoons. I am nursing a very large, very strong cup of coffee and am trying to muster up my "get up and go" for the day.

Two things - rather grody things - I'm trying to wrap my brain around this lovely morning. The first is that we just discovered that sweet little Smudge has been using our drain system (that we dug in our basement because of the flooding) as his litter box. All around the perimeter of the whole stinkin' basement, Mr. Farty Pants has been using as his own personal bathroom. SO not cool. So, we have to remedy that problem post haste. And secondly, I cannot wrap my brain around how to get my middle child to stop peeing in his bed at night. He sleeps SO deeply, that he is completely, blissfully - I might add, unaware of when he has an accident.

Holy Hannah.
So, those are my two ponderings for this morning.
Joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Moving on...
To better and brighter things...
* * * * * *

During the months of October and November, our Family Days tend to involve guns, maps, and a good amount of blaze orange. One of the boys' most favorite things to do is to go "Heater Hunting."

We load up the car with all of the essentials: Snacks, coffee, a map, toilet paper, a bow and arrows for the deer (during bow season), and guns for the birds.

Kevy maps out our plan, and we are off.
See the loop on the map below? That was the route of our last adventure.
Destination: Willy Wags.

We drive until we come to the dirt road that we'll be exploring, and then we rearrange ourselves in the car. The two biggest hoolies sit up front with Daddy, and I go to the backseat with Ransom. No seatbelts, heads hanging out the window, it's all very wild and exciting for the boys.
So exciting, in fact, that one time last year, Jesse in his "Jesse-ness" flung himself forward and cracked the windshield with his head. This didn't hurt him nor did it phase him in the least, but it marked the end of that day's heater hunting excursion. This year, he's a little more refined as he is twelve whole months older.

See?
MUCH more refined...

We drive some, and we walk some, and then we drive some more.

Sometimes we see things, mostly we don't, and it's tradition for Ransom to fall asleep in my arms all snuggled up in the backseat. All in all, it's really quite lovely. My kind of hunting, really. Warm and cozy with snacks and coffee - and not a whole lot of effort needing to be exerted. Good times.

THIS family day, however, we completely mixed things up and had a family first for the Bookers! I have been watching and waiting for the day when I could take my two biggest boys to their very first movie, and yesterday we did it. Rancey Pants went and had his nap over at Grampy and Grammy's house, and Kev and I took the Large Ones to see Dolphin Tale.

Oh my word.
It was so good. SO good and sweet and powerful, really.
It's based on a true story, and it had some really great themes that ran through the whole movie - family, perseverance, courage, trust, friendship. It was just amazing. Both Kev and I got choked up at several different parts! It was just a sweet, sweet movie.

So there you have it.
Our weekends as of late.

And now I must go deal with all of the things I was pondering about earlier on in this post. Anyone want a kitten?