We have had a pretty eventful weekend and beginning of the week.

Friday, after work we were able to spend the evening with friends.

Saturday I had to work (only until 1:00) and so R.C. began working on his car. It was in need of a new heater core. The part itself was inexpensive, but the labor, if we took the car to a shop would cost us near $1000!! Yikes! No thanks!! So, R.C. got some encouragement from Bro-in-law John and a local friend, did some reading and dove into grease-monkey mode. This is what I came home to Saturday afternoon:

Sunday morning we devoted the entire day to car repair. Some friends came over in the morning to check out the car mess, and do some light saber battles.

Those are some sassy jedi masters!

Sunday evening the boys and I headed out to the country for a cookout. Our friends (am I allowed to use names guys?) have family who live outside of town and the past few Sunday evenings we have enjoyed a cookout and campfire in the evening with them. This has become one of our favorite activities during the week. There is always lots of food, fire, friends and it's a great, relaxing way to begin the week.

Monday was a holiday and the bank was closed which meant no work for me and no school for Russell. We spent the day working around the house as R.C. continued to work on his car. Monday evening Grandpa and Grandma Sayler came to visit as they were passing through town. They were staying the night, so we took them to the school playground and played until it was dark. Afterward, we read some Halloween stories before bed. In the morning, we had cinnamon rolls together for breakfast before they walked Russell to school. They had to leave in the shortly after, but it was great having them visit!

Tuesday the car was fixed!! R.C. got everything put back together and took it for a test drive. I am beyond impressed and proud that he was able to fix this by himself!!

Max and I spent some time washing the car, sitting on the porch reading, and coloring while Russell was at school. When he returned we ate a quick supper and headed to the ball fields. We played baseball for awhile before heading to our friends house to help/watch them butcher a deer.

In the afternoon I talked with Max about meat. Where our meat comes from. He was totally ok with the idea that we eat animals. Although.......sweet little Max...oh sweet, sweet Max, told R.C., "I might cry, but I'll be ok." He loves animals, but he also loves hamburgers. Anyway...we did not scar the children for life. It was good for them to see how we get the meat we eat. I was totally impressed with the process! I was also really excited to get my hands on some fresh meat as I helps cut off the "junk".

Look at the joy as the meat is being ground! I can almost smell the burgers grilling next summer! Do you see why we like this family so much!?

The best part of the weekend came near the end of Tuesday evening. As Lil was grinding the meat and I was watching in amazment, Max came in to check things out. He saw the meat in the bowl and was ok with that. But then he saw the ground meat coming out of the grinder. This is what he thought about the situation: