Raking Until the Painting Pays

We've had a rainy week here, but Josiah still managed to squeeze in raking the front yard.  The kids needed a way to earn money and I'm not about to pay for things they're already supposed to do inside the house.  We do have a very large yard now, so it seemed to be the place where they could earn some bank.  Josiah jumped on the chance.  At the beginning of the week, he got home from school, changed his clothes, and got to raking.  He worked steadily for a little over two hours raking all the grassy areas of the front yard.  He was focused and insistent on doing it himself.  Why?  Because he did not want to share any of the earned income.  Before he began, he already had a portion of the money spent....on a Fortnite battle pass.  He knows I'm not keen on using money for anything video game related, so now he can buy it himself.  

This past weekend, he was planning on finishing the job by using our new blower for the flowerbed areas.  The blower is battery-powered and Josiah drained the battery twice in his quest.  He still did not finish, so when the rain stops, we're getting the electric blower out to finish the job.  Both boys helped Todd with the leaves in the back.  

Once they heard they would get paid for yardwork, both Caroline and Henry were quick to say they wanted to blow the leaves off the carport roof.  Caroline got to do it this weekend.  Todd does not like heights, so he's more than happy to let them be the roof cleaners. 

Josiah has started painting again.  He likes landscapes and always enjoys painting mountain scenes.  This weekend, we watched a Bob Ross episode where he painted a seascape.  The next morning, Josiah was on it.  

Caroline did a 360° trick behind the foyer wall.  She did it very smoothly and it cracked me up.  

Caroline wanted to help make pumpkin bread this evening.  She wanted to do all the steps by herself, including opening the can of pumpkin.  She said she wanted to figure out the can opener without any help.  So I sat back and took pictures of the attempts.  

Eventually, I showed her the way.

The kids have noted that this is the last full week of school before Thanksgiving break.  (There is a service day the Friday before Thanksgiving week, so technically they don't have to go to class.)

And this guy is still cute.