Austins, Petsmart employee

My little entrepeneur Austin decided that he wanted a pet. Dad said that he could not have a hamster (tried that last fall), dog is out of the question, birds are too loud, etc. So, after careful research and a few fieldtrips to PetSmart, it was decided that dwarf frogs and a Beta would be a good combo. Problem: he did not have enough money for all of it. I provided the tank and rocks as his bday present, but he still needed to cover the cost of the pets, food, heater, etc. Add that to his money binder where he has to put 10% tithing, 50% saving, $!5 for gifts...and then whatever is leftover is for spending. He decided to shovel the snow from the neighbor's sidewalks during Christmas break! He raked in over $80 in two days. What a hard little worker (Wes also did the same thing, with not as much money...which caused some jealousy. I then introduced them to the song, "Some guys have all the luck" and it helped make a bit more sense).

When we were at the check out for the tank at Petsmart, Austin was concerned about buying more plants, etc. The cashier, the store manager, heard our conversation and said that if Austin wanted to come back at sweep, he could earn a free plant. Austin didn't think he was serious, but I continued the conversation and we made an agreement! So, the next day, Saturday, Austin went and swept the floors for an hour 1/2 and earned himself a Beta, which he named Percy. Alice and Scout (the male fish I bought for Levi) and Glenn (the algae eater that pipa bought for Isaac's bday), are now a happy family. Jared and I thought we might have to deal with baby frogs since the two like to mate so much, but the fish would eat the eggs as caviar and they wouldn't ever grow into adult frogs. Phew! Austin is responsible to add fresh water every week, he feeds them daily, we have all enjoyed watching the LED lights, and I remember back when I had my own fish tank with frogs...great memories for a kid.