Didn't Huck Finn Do This?

These pics are a few weeks old, but I've been meaning to post them, because I'm really proud of three of the kids for a very specific reason. Tony helped do some major work on the back deck, including staining the entire thing, unloading two tons of gravel underneath, and putting up lattice. We left the back lattice wall for the kids to paint, not only because we ran out of time, but because I wanted them to do some hard work. David threatens the photographer with his roller. Don't you love his hat?

They did a great job - mostly took care of assembling materials themselves, and - after a quick demonstration - they did all of the work themselves. I had 'hired' Daniel for the job, and told him I'd pay him $30. When he enlisted the help of his siblings, I told him that he would make the decision about their pay.

He decided they each earned $10. Pretty fair, I thought. Of course, the extra twenty came out of MY pocket - not his!

They worked hard and the deck ended up looking terrific.

As I mentioned, this was several weeks ago. This week, like many of you, we are suffering under an intense heat wave. We've had two days of the temperature reading 104 degrees. It's just too hot to even think.