First Things First

There are so many things to post about, but first I have to tell the story of the lemonade stand. I hope I haven't built up this story too much, but it really must be told - if only for posterity's sake, so that the boys will have a record of it when they are older.

Our garage sale day dawned early (my mom had us up and lugging junk out onto tables at 5:45am). As we prepped for the sale, the door to the garage suddenly swung open and there stood Kirby in his pajamas, eyes sparkling and a huge smile as he assessed our progress. "It's garage sale day! Lemonade stand day!", he said. Clearly, you can see that he had filed the event in his mind somewhere between Christmas and going to Disney World. At about 9:30am, we put a table at the end of our driveway with two little chairs, a large Igloo cooler full of lemonade (CountryTime, because I'm so fancy - but wouldn't you know two neighbor kids told me I should give their moms the recipe!), a plate of chocolate chip cookies, and Connor's cash register. Kirby created the signage for the cookies and lemonade, and I included a sign letting our neighbors know that the boys would be donating the proceeds to the St. Vincent De Paul Society (or as Connor says, "The St. Paul Uh-sigh-tee), our church's food pantry.

The Boys Open Their Sales Day

Kirby Oversees the First Sale

Sales were steady, and they were one quarter at a time. It was fun, as a parent, to see our two boys working together for a common cause. Of course, Kirby had designated himself as the "Head Boss" and Connor as the "Assistant Boss". Kirby, having to leave for a birthday party at 11, reluctantly turned the operation over to the Assistant. That is where I got my first big surprise: as I looked up at one point from my conversation with my mom, we saw Connor, from his chair, stop a large group of people who were walking on the sidewalk. "Would you like to buy some lemonade?" I heard him ask one of the grown-ups. I almost fell off my chair! I hate to compare children, but Connor usually takes his cues from Kirby, and Kirby would never have approached people like that (like his mom, he's afraid of rejection). The man stopped, thought about it for a moment, and then said yes. "How many would you like?" Connor asked. I was all smiles as I heard the man order 8 lemonades, but Connor took it right in stride. He got up from his chair, walked around to the front of the table, counted out 8 lemonades, and poured and handed them out. He very somberly collected all of the money, and called up to me for help when two of the girls came back to buy cookies and needed change.

Connor Serves up 8 Lemonades

Note the cell phone (not operational) sitting on top of his cash register. He was prepared for anything!

For the next three hours, I was continually surprised and proud as I watched him single-handedly man that lemonade stand.

The kid never left his post. It was hot and sunny and he was focused. My heart just about burst.

See the notebook he's writing in? He was keeping track of how many people came - purely his idea.

At the end of the day, Nana helped Connor tally up the earnings, which came to $36.00. That's a whole lot of lemonade and cookies!


I thought one of the neatest parts of the day was when Kirby came home from his birthday party and asked Connor to show him how much money he had made. Connor punched the button to open his cash register and Kirby's eyes bulged when he saw all of the money in it. He was genuinely proud of Connor and told him what a good job he did. At that point, the boys comfortably slipped into their more familiar roles of Head Boss and Assistant Boss.