Earning Money for Camp!

The boys:  Joe, Jonathan, Ben

Yesterday, Ken and I went shopping.  It was not intentional, I just needed a few things...but as always if Ken is with me I wind up buying too much.  He likes shopping for me.  Ain't that nice...  That's a whole different blog.  Anyway, as we were waiting on a cashier, Ken started a conversation with another customer waiting.  It seems she was in town picking up "stuff" for her boys who were getting ready for church camp.  Of course that brought back a TON of memories.  There's nothing like summer camp with 150 kiddos!  For years our children went to camp every summer, for years I directed pre-teen camp, for years I did the singing or co-directed girls camp...I LOVED THAT STUFF!!!  So did our children.  They all went to camp, then when I directed pre-teen they all worked in it, and Tafta even worked at camp during her summers while she was in college.  We were Summer Camp People!  Today I'm thinking about one summer in particular.  It was the summer of our "BIG" vacation.  We took off right after school was out, at the beginning of June.  We helped a friend move back to Boaz, Alabama.  After we got him situated, we kept on going straight up to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  We camped and stomped all over those Smoky Mountains.  Those memories are for another day as well.  Long story short, we spent so much money on that trip that we told the kids when we got home that if they were going to Summer Camp, they would have to earn the money and pay for it themselves.  We get home,  things were normal again...I enrolled in a college class meeting from 8 - 12, Ken's home with the kids from 8 - 12 then working every afternoon & evening with church, kids are everywhere.  Ben literally had his "camp" money in one week, maybe less.  He washed cars, raked yards, weeded flower beds, whatever he had to do.  Jonathan had his money too.  He had mowed yards, fed goats, fed dogs, whatever...Those boys had gotten after it!  I came home one day to find Joe lying down on the couch watching TV.  I said, "Joe, have you earned any of your camp money yet?"  "No, ma'am."  He looked worried.  He finished, "I need you to take me to the dentist."  He was only 6.  But clearly he was having trouble with something.  I said, "Joe, which tooth hurts?"  "None mama, I just need to get all my teeth pulled so I can sell 'em and get enough money for camp."  Poor baby, Ken was not as amused as I was.  That very afternoon, he was out there hustling with his brother Ben earning money for camp.  They all went as usual, and as far as I know Joe still has all his teeth!

Joe and Ben