What does $10 and creative kids get you? The best pajama party of the year!
This summer we are having $10 days. Once a week I give the kids $10 (total, not each) and they can do whatever they want with it. If they want to buy candy, they can. If they want to get happy meals, they can.... slurpees, ice cream, etc. They can do anything they want...they just have to stay within the $10 budget and they all have to agree. It has been interesting as they have to work together so everyone gets what they want. $10 may not seem like that much for 4 kids, but it is enough and has given me opportunities to teach budgeting and value of money. This week the kids threw a pajama party for their $10 day. They went to the local caramel corn store and spent their money on caramel corn and candy. They set the agenda and planned the day. I let them run with it and holy cow, my kids can throw a party! (I am not joking or being sarcastic)
This is the diagram of the counter--so we knew where each treat would be placed. The party started at noon and went to 6:00. It was suppose to end at 4:30 but they weren't quite done yet so they extended it.
This is the party food spread. They had donuts, candy, punch (with soda in it), cookies, and ice cream. After they got everything out, I added a plate of carrots, celery and cucumbers. They didn't get eaten first, but did get eaten so that pleased me.
Manda's favorite part was being in her pj's all day and getting to go eat food whenever she wanted. The kids were so excited they got up extra early. Needless to say a few of them were falling apart before lunch. I had a talk with them and threatened to make them get dressed if they didn't knock it off. It seemed to do the trick.
Darren was pleased as punch just to be around his crazy siblings. It is hard to believe he is already 2 months!
The kids played musical chairs, twister, wii, gamecube, karaoke, sorry and watched a movie (Nanny McFee). I asked Justin why they needed to have the family room covered in blankets as part of the decoration. He responded, "'cause it's cool, Mom" There is so much I just don't know.
The best part of the whole thing? When it was time to clean up, my kids did it all. They put everything away that they got out. It was so great that I just might let them do it again!
We played the chocolate candy bar game...
We tye dyed T-shirts. I was so worried about the 10 girls not spilling dye on my floor and walls that I forgot to take pictures of the actual tye dying. This is when we were done and the best part is that we remained stain free.
Brittany and I made this cool sun pinata. Too bad the sun wasn't shining. At least it dried out alittle so we could go outside to do the pinata and didn't have to do it in the garage.
The finished product! It was really fun and from what I could tell, the girls had a great time.
This rock face was a good stopping point to stretch our legs. The drive was beautiful but will be more enjoyable when they finish all the construction for the 2010 Olympics.
We got to the resort a bit before our room was ready so we bought groceries and got "the lay of the land". As soon as we got into the room, Amanda was hot to trot to go swimming but it was time to prepare dinner. She and AJ took a dip in the tub while they waited for dinner.
Alex pretty much wore these goggles all day. He was so funny about them. By the end of the week he learned how to go under water without plugging his nose. That was his big accomplishment this week.
Grandma brought her newly purchased Cricut machine for paper doll making. That was a huge hit! Justin and Brittany spent all their free time creating paper dolls and Amanda used the ones that Grandma had precut. I was surprised that Justin stayed with it but we literally had to pull him away. The kid loves to create.
waiting in line
We splurged and I let the kids have fun in the Adventure zone. Alex had no interest in the trampoline but the other three tried it out. It looks easier to flip around than it really is. They all loved it but had a look on their face that said, "this is fun but I'm gonna be sick!" Fun to watch.
Grandma brought owl pellets for the kids to dissect. Brittany thought it was gross and didn't do hers. AJ stuck with it for a bit but got bored and wanted to go swimming. Amanda was surprisingly interested for awhile and Justin got through his and then took it home.
All in all, each of us had a great time. It would have been even better if Grandpa and Daddy could have been there. The weather was great, the resort was beautiful and we were able to get back into the US so it was all good. The kids were tuckered out by the Thursday and slept great that night. Thanks Grandma for a fun week! We can't wait until next year!
This summer we are having $10 days. Once a week I give the kids $10 (total, not each) and they can do whatever they want with it. If they want to buy candy, they can. If they want to get happy meals, they can.... slurpees, ice cream, etc. They can do anything they want...they just have to stay within the $10 budget and they all have to agree. It has been interesting as they have to work together so everyone gets what they want. $10 may not seem like that much for 4 kids, but it is enough and has given me opportunities to teach budgeting and value of money. This week the kids threw a pajama party for their $10 day. They went to the local caramel corn store and spent their money on caramel corn and candy. They set the agenda and planned the day. I let them run with it and holy cow, my kids can throw a party! (I am not joking or being sarcastic)
This is the diagram of the counter--so we knew where each treat would be placed. The party started at noon and went to 6:00. It was suppose to end at 4:30 but they weren't quite done yet so they extended it.
This is the party food spread. They had donuts, candy, punch (with soda in it), cookies, and ice cream. After they got everything out, I added a plate of carrots, celery and cucumbers. They didn't get eaten first, but did get eaten so that pleased me.
Manda's favorite part was being in her pj's all day and getting to go eat food whenever she wanted. The kids were so excited they got up extra early. Needless to say a few of them were falling apart before lunch. I had a talk with them and threatened to make them get dressed if they didn't knock it off. It seemed to do the trick.
Darren was pleased as punch just to be around his crazy siblings. It is hard to believe he is already 2 months!
The kids played musical chairs, twister, wii, gamecube, karaoke, sorry and watched a movie (Nanny McFee). I asked Justin why they needed to have the family room covered in blankets as part of the decoration. He responded, "'cause it's cool, Mom" There is so much I just don't know.
