Summer is here and the kids + I couldn’t be more thrilled! It’s the best time of the year! If you need us, you can probably find us out by the pool all day every day! I’ve rounded up our favorite summer items from Amazon and why we love them! See below!

AMAZON SUMMER MUST HAVES

reusable water balloons + beige set + striped tubes + cooler bag + stanley jug + crochet cover up + blow-up slide + straw hat + water blasters + bucket with toys + mini fan + sunscreen + belt bag + workout tank + towel clips + goggles + towels + beach tote + flip flops + speaker + waterproof cards + wrap skirt

: REUSABLE WATER BALLOONS

These reusable water balloons have become so popular and I understand why! There’s no mess, they’re easy to use, and you don’t have to fill up TONS of balloons for a one-time use.

: SWEATER SET

I’ve had this sweater set for a few years and it’s still my go-to! Comes in a ton of different colors and is so easy to throw over your swimsuit! I wear the small for reference.

: TUBES

How cute are these striped inner tubes for the pool? I love that it comes with one big one and one small one. Only $22!

: COOLER BAG

Everyone needs a cooler bag for summer and I loved the simple look of this one. It’s great size and only $17.99!

: STANLEY JUG

A Stanley jug is a MUST for summer to keep you and your family hydrated! It keeps water cold for so long and I love the handle!

: CROCHET COVER UP

I have this crochet cover up and LOVE it! It’s so flattering and pairs well with any swimsuit. I have the small and it fits true to size!

: WATER SLIDE

My mom bought this water slide for the kids and they are all loving it! Great size and under $100!

: STRAW HAT

I’ve had this straw hat for years and it’s still in great condition! The quality is great and it gives so much coverage so I don’t burn my face or neck. I have the S/M size!

: WATER BLASTERS

Kids love these water blasters and Amazon has a pack of 6 for under $25!!

: BUCKET WITH TOYS

This sand bucket and beach toys are the cutest! Thought it would be so cute for anyone going on a beach trip this summer.

sweater set + straw hat + beach tote

: HANDHELD FAN

I thought this mini fan was the perfect thing to keep in your pool/beach bag to help keep you cool! Comes in other colors too.

: SUPERGOOP SUNSCREEN

Supergoop is one of my favorite sunscreen brands- especially for my kids. Amazon has this 2 pack (SPF 50) for only $30!

: BELT BAG

Everyone needs a belt bag for summer- it’s handsfree and the perfect thing to bring to the pool or for running errands. Comes in a ton of colors and is under $20!

: CROP TANK

This crop tank is the Lulu align tank dupe!! It’s buttery soft and looks just like the Lulu one. SO many color options and only $21.99!

: TOWEL CLIPS

These towel clips are so practical and I love the look of them. They keep your towel clipped to your chair and it’s seriously the best invention! Pack of 6 for $9.99!

: GOGGLES

Harper + Houston have these goggles and love them for the pool! They brought them to Hawaii and used them in the beach too!

: STRIPED TOWELS

We have these tan striped towels and have loved them. They’ve oversized which is so nice- especially for the adults! Comes in a pack of 4!

: BEACH TOTE

I LOVE this beach tote. I brought it to Florida for our beach vacation last year and it was amazing! It holds so much and the quality is amazing!

: FLIP FLOPS

These flip flops are mine and Hunter’s favorite summer staple! Quality is amazing and they can be worn with anything!

: SPEAKER

Hunter has this bluetooth speaker and we love it! It’s waterproof and a must for summer. My kids love turning on music when we’re out by the pool.

: WATERPROOF PLAY CARDS

How fun are these waterproof play cards? So fun to play around the pool or beach and only $6.97!

: WRAP SKIRT

This wrap skirt is the perfect thing to throw in your pool bag for when you need to throw it on! Comes in a ton of colors and is only $12.99!

. . .

What are YOUR Amazon summer must haves?

hunter’s dress + shoes || my dress + shoes

Summer is here!!! We are beyond thrilled. I absolutely love slower mornings with the kids and not having to feel rushed to get everyone out the door. I’m feeling so much better since our last update… I got my stent out so I’m feeling much better and am just so grateful for my health. I figured it was time to share another life update and share what’s going on over here at the Wright house!

OUR LIFE UPDATE

: HOUSE UPDATE

Our house plans are being submitted to the city TODAY! We’ve been working with Elizabeth Hales for all our designing which is almost finished… we just need to finalize the living room, entry way, fireplace, and dining room! We’ve worked with her for forever it seems like. She’s helped us design 3 houses and is so amazing! The kids and I have started working on designing their rooms. We’ll be doing that on our own just to save some money. I’m excited to start sharing more updates as we go. It seems like everything is taking so long but I’ll be sure to start sharing more house content!

harper’s swimsuit + towel || houston’s shirt + swim shorts

: KIDS UPDATE

Hunter got her first job! She’s loving it. WE are loving because she’s no longer asking for money, haha. She has a few friends that work at the same place so that makes it fun for her. She also started physical therapy for her knee last week. At her first appointment, they hooked her up to electricity and she came back so exhausted. But we’re just hoping she can repair her torn ligament and get her knee stronger for high school in a few months.

Hunter and I went up to that Mixhers event at Sundance and had so much fun! We stayed the weekend with my sister and Hunter even got to go to lunch with some friends so that was fun for her.

Hudson is still playing with his baseball team up north, so him and Joe went up there over memorial weekend for a tournament! It was Hudson’s first time up there since we’d moved, so he was excited to see all his friends.

Hayden made 2 cheer teams so she’s doing cheer 4-5 days a week! It’s Honestly a lot…we’re still debating if we’re going to do 2 teams, but she’s going to try it this summer and see how it goes. She’s so excited about it!

The younger 2 aren’t doing anything right now, which is honestly nice. They’re staying busy with diamond art, crafts, and swimming at grandmas!

Update on Houston’s recovery… he got his tonsils out and he’s been doing pretty good. I hear the older they are, the tougher the recovery is. We’ve stayed up on his meds every 3 hours so that helps him with the pain. The first few nights we would wake him in the middle of the night to give him his Tylenol and switch that off with ibuprofen. He had a few rough days when the scabs started to fall off. The best thing they gave us was these numbing suckers and anytime it would hurt, he would suck on it for 15 seconds and once it numbed his throat, we’d give him his medicine. He seriously just lived off shakes and protein drinks! If he was running around or talking a lot, he would totally feel it the next day so we mostly tried to lay low and relax. We played lots of games at home, crossword puzzles, books, coloring, diamond art, etc. He didn’t want to watch TV too much. It honestly was pretty easy since we stayed up on medication. By day 10 he was totally fine!

hayden’s end of year presentation

: SUMMER PLANS

We don’t have a ton planned this summer since we’re building a house and want to save money, but the kids will have soccer camps and Hudson has a few tournaments out of town so it will still be busy. We’re going to go visit Madison Vining this summer but not sure on the dates yet. She lives on the most amazing farm so everyone’s excited about that!

. . .

Wishing everyone a GREAT summer!!

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 summer break upon us, this is a perfect time to figure out a routine 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. So I thought I’d share in case it benefits anyone else

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

:: WHAT IS THE FAMILY ECONOMY? 

Our Family Economy is basically a deeper focus on your everyday 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 spending 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! Our chore charts are available for download 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