my similar top + similar jeans + hat +bracelets  |  hayden’s similar pants + top  |  harper’s shorts + top  |  sheets + gray quilt + pink throw + pink pillow + art

What do chores look like at your house?! Is there a lot of complaining? Do you pay allowance? Or are you still trying to figure out a system? With all of us staying at home, this is a perfect time to figure out a plan that works for you and your people!

For us, having  5 little people and keeping things clean + organized can be a challenge. For Joe + I, we wanted chores to be more than just pitching in to keep the house clean. We wanted it to be a way to teach our little people more about responsibility at the same time. We tried and tried to find something that would work and just fell short Until my good friend Ralphie over at Simply on Purpose talked about her “family economy”. You guys, my mind was blown! It was almost exactly what we were looking for for our family! We’ve made a few tweaks and customizations to fit our needs, but we have loved how it works! Since it is working so well for us and a lot of people have asked how we get the kids to pitch in around the house, I thought I’d share it with you today in case it can benefit you too!

hunter top + similar jeans  |  my similar top + similar jeans + hat +bracelets
white bedding + pink pillows + pink blanket + art

:: WHAT IS THE FAMILY ECONOMY? 

Our Family Economy is basically a deeper focus on your every day chore chart. It takes your typical do your chores to get an allowance, and teaches the deeper meaning. It teaches your kids how to save, how much things cost,  and how to budget, while showing them that the effort they put in equals the reward.

:: WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS WAY OF DOING CHORES/ALLOWANCE? 

For me, the number one purpose was to help + encourage me to be more of a yes mom. Constantly nagging my little people to do a set list of chores was getting old. I didn’t want to be the source of all the no’s and cant’s.  We wanted them to grow up knowing that getting the things you want takes hard work + effort and it isn’t just a free handout. The family economy has been a great way to explain these simple things + encourage them to set and achieve goals.

:: HOW DOES IT WORK? 

The first thing we did was customize our chore charts. This can be tricky for some people to come up with a good layout so I included a downloadable version below!  Our little people each have chores they do every day to earn money. For us these daily things include things like making your bed, doing your homework/reading, hanging up your backpack + washing your hands after school, reading scriptures + saying prayers. As you can see, for the most part these are more things they would do already. For the bigger  Saturday chores, we have taught them that pitching in is part of living in the house, and not something they are paid for.

As they do their chores, they have to get their charts signed off. If the job isn’t signed off, they don’t get paid. Based on their age, they have a weekly allowance amount. If they complete all of their chores, they get the full amount. If there is a day they don’t feel like doing their chores, that is fine. For that day, they will not be paid.  We have had a few days like that, but they quickly realize they’d rather do it and earn more money. We also have weeks where we will offer bigger chores or babysitting for additional money.

:: HOW DOES PAYMENT WORK? 

This is where things change from what most people know as chores + allowance. Instead of paying our little people in cash, they each have a checkbook ledger. At the end of the week, we look over their charts and figure out how much they have earned. We write that amount on their check ledger. When we are out at the store and they see a toy they want to buy, or a treat they’ve gotta have, we pull out their ledger. If they choose to get it, we just subtract that amount from their total. I love not having cash floating around the house, or the excuse of “losing it” their allowance money.

Now don’t get me wrong, we haven’t fully turned into buy everything yourself mode. We still have family date nights for treats and things. But if we are just running errands and they feel like a bonus treat, they know its up to them if they want to spend their money on it.  It has been amazing to see them be able to process if things are really worth their money .

Saving is also a big part of the family economy concept that we haven’t completely visited yet. My little people are still young and in the spend spend spend mode, but we are going to start pushing saving soon. The way Simply on Purpose recommends for saving money, is to agree to double whatever is in their savings when they turn 16. Having a benefit, similar to an interest rate at a bank, makes saving money more appealing.

Most important in all of this is to do what works for you and your family. Comparison isn’t going to get you anywhere and one way of doing things doesn’t work for everyone. This is totally customizable and will take some trial and error, so work it out for you! If you try it let me now what you think! Catch our chore chart downloads below!!

photos : aubrey taiese 

:: CHORE CHARTS ::

Just hold down on the image + save to your phone OR right click (if your on a computer)to print off and save to your desktop!                                            TIP: you can add your child’s name to the top any chart

hayden’s tee + similar shorts  | my tee + similar jeans + bracelets + glasses  ||   swing + baskets  ||
more room details 

We have another birthday in our house to celebrate!! Our sassy, determined, hilarious Hayden turns 9!! If you’ve been around here for a while, I really try not to single out my kids too much, so I don’t share a ton of the behind the scenes with Hayden. But if you know us in real life you know our Hayden is our strongest child, (if you know what I mean) and we both butt heads with her the most. And while that is the case, at the exact same time she is also our most fun to be with, hilarious, and loving child too! So to help celebrate her, I want to share 9 fun things that make her the Hayden we love!

:: SHE DOESN’T CARE WHAT PEOPLE THINK

If you know Hayden, you know she does not care at all what other people think about her. And it is honestly such a quality that I wish I could be more like her in. Where myself and my other kids will worry about what people think of an outfit or way of doing something, she is confident, does what she wants and doesn’t give it a second thought.

A perfect example is with the shoes she wanted this year for school. She saw Hudson and Houston’s big high top Nike’s, which are technically boys shoes, and she instantly wanted them. She didn’t really need more new shoes, but to not completely shoot her down I said I’d pay half. The girl wanted them so bad she earned the money and paid extra for fast shipping to rock them the first day of school.  While I was over here worried about her getting teased or embarrassed, she was as happy as could be and knew everyone would love them!

:: SHE IS THE PERFECT MIX OF TOM BOY + GIRLY GIRL 

On the same note as the shoes above, Hayden is the perfect mix of all things tom boy and girly girl. She absolutely hates to have her hair done, but will make sure she has her lip gloss with her at all times. While she loves to wear dresses, you will almost always find her pairing them with gym shoes and probably a skinned knee. I love that she doesn’t let one side define her and is always 100% authentic to her.

:: SHE IS STRONG WILLED 

This trait is for sure a double edged sword for us. Hayden is soooo strong willed and determined, and we have quickly learned it goes both ways. For example, if she does not want to read, there is basically nothing you can do to get her to. She will not quit or give in. But on the flip side, the same goes for things she does want. When she started gymnastics she was determined to get a back hand spring. She practiced and practiced and got it because she will not let herself quit.

:: SHE IS SO WELL ROUNDED 

One of the perks of Hayden’s determined personality is that she is so well rounded. She is an amazing dancer, but doesn’t take dance because she doesn’t want the teacher to tell her what to do. Soccer is her new found love and again she is so good! I’ve convinced her to try gymnastics again this year and she can’t wait to try softball.

:: SHE IS SO SO GOOD WITH THE BABIES 

The babies absolutely love Hayden and she is so great with them. She has so much patience with them and loves to be their little mommy. If I need extra help she will take them and play with them for hours.

:: SHE LOVES TO GET AND GIVE NOTES + GIFTS 

Out of all of my kids, Hayden is my biggest lover of words + gifts. If she gets a little note from me or Joe, her whole day is made and it means so much to her She is also my most motivated by gifts and loves giving and writing notes to help others feel special too!

:: SHE IS HILARIOUS 

Oh my gosh, this girl, I don’t even know where Hayden gets her sense of humor. She is completely hilarious and can always have us all gut laughing. Some of our very favorite home videos are of her just being Hayden. She loves to make people laugh and is so good at it!

:: SHE IS NOT AFRAID TO STAND UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT

Another thing I absolutely love about Hayden, is she is not afraid to stand up for what she knows or feels is right. She can be having the best time with a group of friends, and if they are gossiping or not treating someone fairly, she will just leave and not even give it a second thought. Where most of us would hesitate and feel singled out for doing that, she owns it, says what she thinks and if they don’t change she just leaves. I love that she doesn’t ever let what someone else might think affect what she knows to be good.

:: SHE LOVES TO BE IN THE KITCHEN 

If there is one place Hayden loves most, it is the kitchen. She absolutely loves to bake cakes and make new creations. I think she asks me at least once a week if we can go to a Cake by Courtney class because the kitchen is her happy place. Her little catch phrase is “bakers never stop”! Because her brain is always spinning with new things she wants to create in the kitchen.

. . .

I hope these 9 little quirks about our Hayden girl help you get to know her a little better! She is such a special part of our family! I can’t wait to see all she does in her life with that strong loving personality of hers!

joe’s tee + jeans  ||  hudson’s similar tee + jeans  ||  houston’s tee + jeans + shoes

It is time for another birthday celebration in our house, and this time it is everyone’s favorite, Joe! It is no secret around here that being on Instagram is far from his favorite thing. But don’t let that fool you. He is the funnest guy you’ll ever meet! So today to celebrate him I am sharing 5 fun, crazy, funny, and maybe even surprising things you probably don’t know about him!

my swim top + bottoms + sunglasses  || joe’s similar suit

:: JOE GOT PAID TO GO TO COLLEGE 

Yes you read that right. Joe is so dang smart and he is also extremely talented at baseball. So when it came time to go to college he had a full ride scholarship for academics and for baseball. So every month he would get a check directly to him, on top of his tuition. The kids think it is so insane and it has been awesome motivation for them to try and do the same!

:: JOE GREW UP WITH ALL BOYS 

When it comes to our families, Joe and I are completely opposite. Joe grew up with all brothers and I grew up with all sisters. Which made for some fun and hilarious surprises when we first got married. One of my favorites was he had no idea what hairspray was when he first saw it in our bathroom!

joe’s similar tee + swimsuit + hat  ||  my top + similar shorts + sandals + hat

:: JOE LOVES ICE CREAM AS MUCH AS I DO 

I didn’t think it was possible to find someone that loves ice cream as much as I do, but Joe is right up there with me. When we first got married, we lived right across the street from a place called Scoops. We would go get a pint for each of us every single night. We still joke about our “scoops bodies” because we took the Freshman 15….or 50 very seriously. Haha!

:: JOE HAS CRAZY CURLY HAIR 

You would never guess it because it is so short, but Joe has crazy curly curly hair. Like if he grew it out it would look like he had a big curly afro perm!! I will try to find some good pictures to share on Instagram.

  joe’s top + tie + pants + shoes  ||  my dress

:: JOE IS TERRIFIED OF HORSES

This one is so crazy to me. The guy is scared of very little, but horses is for sure up there on his list. I grew up riding horses all the time with my grandpa and absolutely love them, but Joe doesn’t want to be anywhere near them!

Hopefully that helps you get to know our favorite guy a little better. He isn’t a huge presence here in this space, but I honestly don’t know what we would do without him. He is our comedian when we need it most, the calm to our crazy, and just the best guy we could ever ask for!

We are in the final days and weeks of Back to School prep, and I’m guessing for the majority of us that is looking a lot different this year. Maybe your kids are going back to school full time but fully masked and socially distanced. For some, schools are choosing to do all distance learning. Or maybe you are choosing to go the homeschooling route. But no matter how your “back to school” is looking this year, I think we can all agree it is going to be different. As I’ve prepared myself and my kids for what it looks like for us, I thought it would be helpful to share some tips we are going to try, to help you prep for distance learning in your homes.

:: STICK TO A SCHEDULE 

I don’t know about you, but my to do list + calendar are basically my life line. Sticking to a schedule and a routine makes such a difference in my day. I think the same goes for our kids. When they go to traditional school, things are done on basically the same schedule day to day. Not only does it help our brains process and know what to expect, but it helps us not to get too overwhelmed.

When it comes to distance learning, I think treating the day like a normal school day is huge. I’m not saying you need to be teaching your kids for 6 hours a day, but keeping some of the key elements will be so helpful. For example, try to avoid sleeping in later than you would on a normal school day. Have breaks in your learning like “recess”. If it doesn’t feel structured, chances are you and your kids aren’t going to take it as seriously.

:: SET UP LEARNING STATIONS FOR YOUR KIDS 

When we first started distance learning back in March, we were kind of all over the place, in survival mode. As the weeks went on, we set up work stations in the office for the kids to do their school and it made all the difference. They were away from distractions and knew that when they were in that space, it was to do school work. This can be a great option for homeschool, distance learning, or even full time students to have a place for homework.

One of the biggest issues we ran into was electronics. Having 3 kids, we didn’t have the computers and electronics needed for them to work at the same time. We didn’t want to invest a crazy amount of money either. A friend of ours recommended we look on eBay and I am SO glad we did. We were able to find great quality like new laptops for each of them to use at close to half the price we thought we would have to spend. You can search specifically for Manufacture Refurbished Laptops, which gives you the peace of mind they were  tested + verified by the Manufacture. I love that I am not stressed about them using something brand new that cost a ton, but they still have the resources and technology they need to work. And if it isn’t what you expected you can return it at no cost to you!

. . . SHOP SOME OF THE GREAT LAPTOP DEALS FROM EBAY . . .

:: DON’T FORGET TO FIND THE JOY 

Life has been hard lately. The unknown and change is hard on us adults. We need to remember it isn’t easy on our kids either. Things are so different and we need to do our best to bring the joy and happiness in to their daily routine. It doesn’t have to be extravagant, but will be worth it. Have a dance party break for recess! Go on a “field trip” to research something fun like ice cream flavors. Try to bring the joy and happiness they will remember. All of this might not be our top choice, but it is still time we can enjoy and cherish together.

I hope these tips are helpful as you prep for however Back to School looks for you this year! I’d love to hear your tips and ideas over on my Instagram Post!

in partnership with eBay