Garrett's First Job and Other Random Stuff

I received a text message on Monday from a woman in our ward whom I work with in our primary calling as activity boy leaders (formerly cub scouts), Sis Susan Cleverly. She had asked me if Garrett mowed lawns or if I knew someone who did. As it was Garrett was actually mowing our lawn at the time that she asked. Apparently she was looking for someone to mow her lawn because the previous person had to quit due to a family emergency. Garrett had never mowed anyone else's lawn before so I asked Garrett if he was interested and he said he was so we set it up for him to mow her lawn the next day, which was Tuesday. We were able to lay the seats down in the van and have paper bags lined up for the mower to fit inside without making a big mess. After I took Nikki to work I went back home and we loaded up the van with the mower, gasoline, gloves and bags (just in case). We didn't know how she liked her lawn mowed or if she wanted the grass bagged or mulched. 

After we arrived and talked with her it was decided that we would bag the grass but we forgot to grab the bag for the mower so I had to drive back and get it while Garrett got the mower filled with gas and ready. She lives really close to us so it didn't take long. I also brought back our trimmer so we could do a little trimming as well. Garrett got going on mowing after I returned and I watched him mow and gave little pointers here and there. Since he was earning money (a lot more than he gets paid for mowing our lawn) I told him he had to make sure he didn't miss spots and to make it look as nice as he could. While I helped bring the garbage can over for him, I decided to let him empty the bag of grass into the dumpster by himself. Sometimes I tend to do too much for my kids so I stood by and watched and gave pointers when needed. It was great to be able to watch him and see how much he's growing. When we made it to the back yard I just sat at the little table and watched from afar. I let him do all of the mowing stuff. 

When he was done with the mowing I showed him how to use the trimmer. Since this was his first time trimming we took turns (I do the trimming at our house). He kind of enjoyed it though. We got as much done as we could until the battery ran out but we got most of it done. It took about 2-2 1/2 hours because it was the first time and the grass was longer because it hadn't been mowed recently. But he got it done and I told him next week will be faster because the grass won't be as long and now he knows what he's doing. He gets to mow their lawn for the rest of this season. I don't know if he'll do it next year but at least this is a good start to him earning his own money and gaining confidence in himself.

The girls don't let me do their hair very often but I decided to do something with it while Charlotte was watching something on her iPad for school on Wednesday. And it's always fun to have them match. Charlotte actually loved having her hair like this but she still prefers having it down most of the time. Alice also had her 2nd day of preschool that day and it went great. I was able to just drop off the girls and leave. I came back for Charlotte after PE and lunch were over at 12:30. Meanwhile, the boys were over at Grandma Norton's (GG's). Jack was doing chores to earn money so he can buy Garrett a birthday present. Garrett was there to ask grandma questions about family history for a school project. So I did a lot of driving around that day, lol! (To preschool, to grandma's, back home, then to preschool to pick up Charlotte, then to grandma's again to get the boys, then back home again. And then picking up Alice at 2pm)

Charlotte was drinking juice the other day and making mustaches. She would make a mustache, wipe it off, and then do it again.

There are so many days when I don't like the way I look but I was having a good day on Friday where I had some of those rare moments where I felt like I actually looked beautiful, so I took some pictures. I normally hate doing selfies because it never looks good but I think these ones turned out. And it's so important that we look at ourselves in a positive way. We get enough negative influence from the world, that we don't need to add to it. I have been trying to look at myself more positively and it makes me feel better about myself. And when I feel better about myself then I can be more positive with my kids and husband and it makes everyone happier.

Back in July we had bought Curtis's mom a glass blowing class Groupon for her birthday. I finally got over to her house about a month later to help her schedule it. They did their class on Friday 9/11. Yesterday they went to pick up their projects that they made so we made a last minute date night out of it and tagged along so we could see what they did. Then on the way back we decided to get some food and go back to their house to watch something. Three of us grabbed Subway while Gaya went to Albertson's to get fried chicken, grapes and other goodies. We ended up watching a few episodes of the Mandalorian on Disney+ because they hadn't seen that show yet. It was a fun last minute date!

Gaya's is the blue pumpkin and Steve's is the yellow and black bowl.

I was surprised to find a few pictures taken on my phone today when I didn't realize they were being taken. Curtis took a few pictures of me reading to the girls from the Friend church magazine after we got home from church this morning. He must have heard me last night when talking to his parents about how I'm never in pictures unless I specifically tell someone to take a picture of me. Nice to know he's listening 😉