Camp Tonsofun Day 5: Kids' Closets & Drawers

For the last day of Camp Tonsofun we tackled the kid's clothes.  This was MUCH NEEDED just in time to go school clothes shopping.

But first, for our Camp Activity we went swimming.  We had so much fun that we skipped the Camp Craft & kept swimming.  We were there all morning & we had a blast.

When we got home, we all took showers & the little ones went down for a nap.  The girls organized all their pants, shorts, skirts, pi's, undies, & socks.  We took notes on what they were running low on so we knew what to buy for school clothes.

Then we worked on their closet.  We decided they were good on dresses, long & short sleeved shirts, & church shoes.  However, they were in desperate need of new school shoes.

After the kids woke up from their naps, I gave them a note telling them that they

"ROCK"

for all the hard work they've done this week with me.  I attached some rock candy to the note.  They loved that.

Then we took a trip to Target & Payless Shoes to buy school clothes.  The girls got some jeans & lots of leggins to wear under skirts.  The boys got some socks.  And they all got a new pair of shoes to replace their old falling apart shoes.

For dinner tonight it was Craiger's special night.  I made homemade chicken nuggets (the Chic-Fil-A recipe I have), french fries, & bananas.  He ate it up SUPER FAST.  He loved it.

And that's the end of Camp Tonsofun 2012.  Tomorrow is our Field Day to Santa Cruz.  It was a SUPER FUN WEEK.

Camp Tonsofun Day 4: The Computer Desk

For day 4 of Camp Tonsofun we tackled the dreaded computer desk.  Though it usually looks just fine from the outside, the drawers & cabinets were a MESS.  I've stopped opening them because I knew I would NEVER find what I was looking for.  It made for a great project for this week.

I slipped a little treat into the kids' toy room this morning.  They do a really good job at keeping their toy room clean.  I gave them a little "Bottle Pop" with a note that read:

"I can't 'BOTTLE' up my joy when I see your toy room THIS clean."

Then I split up the computer desk into mini-jobs & wrote them on pieces of colorful paper, folded them up, & put them in a bowl to draw from.

The kids found their surprise REALLY early today.  The toy room is usually the first room they go into in the morning.

We let Craiger draw most of the jobs out of the bowl throughout the day.  He LOVES pulling paper out of things & gets a kick out of opening them up.  He's a pill.

So we tackled the desk a job at a time.  Each job took about 10 minutes is all, but when there's 11 jobs, it works out well to divide it up with breaks.  There are 2 drawers in our desk & both are JUNK DRAWERS.  They were a MESS. 

But now they are nice & beautiful & clean.  I know what's in them & know where I can find what I need.  I love being organized.

The outside of the desk wasn't too bad, but it was still pretty cluttered with things.

But now it's de-cluttered, filed & organized, & then we oiled the wood so it shines.  It's beautiful now like the day we bought the desk.

The kids have been putting beads on their necklaces all week every time they do a chore.  Their necklaces are getting REALLY long now.  They're loving it.

For the Camp Craft today we made chocolate suckers. . . but not just ANY chocolate suckers.  We made MUSTACHES.  How cute is that?

The kids each got to make their own mustache.  They did a GREAT job too.

Craiger wanted NOTHING to do with taking pictures.  He was SO MAD that mommy was putting a chocolate sucker up to his mouth but NOT letting him eat it.  Oh well.  He was cute eating his mustache.

The cabinets in the desk were the worst.  I seriously haven't opened these cabinets in weeks because it was such a mess in there.  Now both cabinets look AWESOME & organized.

The Camp Activity for the day was taking a walk to the BX to get treats.  We've been SO blessed to live just a few blocks from the BX & Commissary here in Monterey.  We literally can walk to the BX & back in 30 minutes.  It's great.

The kids each picked a candy bar to eat.  They've done SO WELL this week helping me clean that they deserve a reward for their great attitudes through it all.

Ta-Da!  The desk is done.  Isn't it beautiful now?

Why does Bladen ALWAYS choose BLUE CANDY?  Ugh.  Look at those teeth.

Tonight's dinner was Taya & Mommy's night.  Taya LOVES beans & cheese & watermelon & I'm a sucker for tacos & fresh made salsa.  Since both things go so well together, we shared our special night.

When Daddy got home, he couldn't resist some mustache fun as well.

Tomorrow is our last "cleaning" day of Camp Tonsofun 2012.  It will be bittersweet.  I always love doing this with the kids, but by Friday, I'm pretty worn out.

Then Saturday is our Finale/Field Day.  Since it's the only day Daddy gets to be with us, we always go & celebrate a great week of getting stuff done around the house by going somewhere fun.  This year we're heading over to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk for some good food, rides, & carnival games.  It will be a blast.

Camp Tonsofun Day 3: The DUNGEON

Day 3 of Camp Tonsofun started out with a treat.  The kids do one bathroom chore every morning after they get dressed.  As soon as their bathroom chores were done, I snuck in & put a See's Root Beer sucker on the bathroom counter with a note that said:

"I'm a 'SUCKER' for clean bathrooms!"

Bladen found them first, but the girls quickly grabbed their suckers from him & danced around the house really excited.

See's lollipops are Lorien's FAVORITE candy.

Today's Big Chore: THE DUNGEON

aka Mommy's Craft Room

Yes, it's gotten WAY out of hand.  It's a room that's meant to be a closet, but I store EVERYTHING in there.  All my fabric & papers were piled in the corner & made it so I never went in there.  I've been wanting to sew & craft again, but the room is such a mess I don't even want to look at it, let alone go in there.  It was time for a makeover.

The first thing we did was pull EVERYTHING OUT.  I piled all the fabrics in one pile & the boys were going crazy.  Craiger found a cute little jungle animal print fabric & kept saying 

"BLANKIE."

I think my next project will be a blankie for Craiger.  It was cute fabric too.

The girls pulled everything off the floor, then swept & mopped it.

I have the best kids on the planet.

Cadence was assigned helping me get the sewing corner organized.  We put all the fabrics in bags according to texture & then we lined them up nicely against the back wall.  We put my sewing machine, my embroidery machine, & Cadence's sewing machine back there as well.  It's like a little sewing nook now.

For lunch I made the kids one of their favorite things in the world.  Have you ever seen those nasty hot dogs with the cheese in the middle?  They GROSS ME OUT.  But my kids LOVE them.  I gag just looking at them.  I usually buy them once or twice a year when I'm feeling REALLY nice.  They've done SO MUCH WORK this week that I had to buy them for them today.  We went grocery shopping (yes, with 5 kids in tow) & they were ANGELS.

So we ate NASTY CHEESE HOT DOGS for lunch.  I even cut them up & served them with little toothpicks & ketchup/mustard dipping sauce.  Gag.  But they were sure happy.

After lunch I broke out the Camp Craft of the day.  I bought them one of those loop looms that I used to have when I was a kid.  I remember playing with these for HOURS as a kid.  They were a HUGE HIT.  The girls were taking turns making pot holders ALL DAY LONG.  When it came time to do the "fun camp activity" for the day (playing the Wii), they turned it down so they could make more pot holders.  I laughed.  They are like me in SO MANY WAYS.

I was really happy with the way the craft room turned out.  I have a beautiful little sewing nook in the corner of the room.  Then I have 4 boxes stacked up full of FHE & church ideas, card stock for crafts, pictures/important files, & then "To-Do Crafts."  I like having the to-do crafts right on top so I can see them & get them done.  I love it.

Then I've got my craft table & files all organized nicely so I can get to anything anytime I need it.  The kids now have 4 drawers to themselves where they can keep all their art supplies.  And all my gift wrapping & party supplies are on the top.  It turned out perfectly.

The kids were proud of their hard work.

And they were even prouder of their pot holders.  :-)

Tonight was Bladen & Daddy's night for dinner.  Unfortunately Daddy wasn't able to make it, but he was there in spirit, but Bladen loved it.  Both Trek & Bladen's favorite food is pizza.  And Bladen loves squeeze applesauce.  We got to tell Bladen why we loved him SO MUCH.  And then when Daddy got home we told him why we love him so much too.  It was a great day.

So the dungeon is no longer a dungeon.  It's a BEAUTIFUL craft room.  Wahoo.  Let's sew something!