Our new allowance system

As much as I love my family, it is not easy managing a household of six (especially when you come from a household of three - with a 8 year age gap between the two children).  With working, schooling, feeding, crafting, chauffeuring, and all of the other stuff that goes into the course of my day, it is sometimes difficult to make sure that everyone's chores are being done, that attitudes are positive and that instructions are being followed (the very first time).  So we have implemented a little system.  For years I have tried to teach the girls that we take care of our responsibilities because they need to be done, not for rewards.  So we have never given them an allowance before.  Honestly, that was a huge pain in the butt!!  I'm sure they get it, but with my schedule being so busy I have resorted to bribery. Well, not bribery...a reward system.  We have implemented ALLOWANCES!!!  The kids are ecstatic.  

We have all of their chores written on big craft sticks.  The older kids have a set and younger kids have a set.  Each Sunday they pick chores at random and store them in their chore containers (I started color coding certain things for them a couple of years ago and it kind of stuck - Jena is green, Ashni is yellow, Bijou is blue and Zion is red).  These are their chores for the week.

We also have other clearly defined ways to earn happy faces or red strikes on our behavior chart.  (There are things on the strike list like, screaming, whining, not following instructions with first time, being uncooperative, not finishing chores.  The opposite of these behaviors earn happy faces.)  This is our behavior chart.  It's just one of those cork board squares that I added the girls pictures to.  We have a three strike policy in our house.  The first red strike (which is just a thumb tack colored with red sharpie) is a warning, with the second red strike you lose your chance for a happy face for the day and with the third you are doomed to go to bed a half an hour early. (Notice that Zion has three strikes in this picture.  She got the tird strike late, so she will NOT be happy at bedtime tomorrow).  If you have no (or just one) red strikes then you earn a happy face for the day (which is a thumb tack with a happy face drawn on it).  At the end of the week, we all sit down and count up the happy faces for the week.  For each happy face the little girls get, they earn $.25.  For each happy face the older girls get, they earn $.50.  

This is our tax jar.  Yes, I said tax jar.  Some days I feel like my kids eat all of our school supplies.  Pencils disappear while in use, crayons are immediately broken into the tiny nubs, markers tops are, I don't know, buried in the backyard.  SO, in order to (hopefully) get the girls to understand that their things cost money, we deduct taxes from their allowance.  Ten percent of each girls' allowance in deposited into the tax jar.  This jar will hold money that will be used to purchase school supplies when needed.  Hopefully, this works out.  I'll keep you updated.

2012 Year in Review

I had a really good year in 2012.  I was definitely busy (which is good most of the time, but my busy mostly consisted of driving).  So I thought I'd share some of my favorite moments.

January

Zion found her ability to color early this year.  We were (and still are) all very impressed with her skill.

I like tattoos (not sure if I ever mentioned that).  I got one this year for my girls.

February

My baby turned three (and she will be four before I know it).

The madness that is my house.

Gardening with the lady clan.  This has become a yearly tradition since we moved to Mississippi.

Jena's fancy solo dinner.  

March

Ashni's prize winning photo.

Ashni's Peter Pan birthday party for her 9th birthday.  Surprisingly, the glitter never made it into the house.

April

First (of many) fencing tournament.  Bronze medal winner!

May/June

Then there was this.  Occasionally we throw adult parties.  There's food on the grill, beer, friends and our kids...eating corn...in a kid sized lawn chair...with a pink guitar...

July

The bountiful harvest from the farm.

The husband and I finally got a honeymoon (after six years).  We spent the night in Bradley Beach, NJ where we had breakfast and then rode bikes around the beach and boardwalk... 

..then we headed to Brooklyn...

...fish balls in Chinatown...

...as well as shoes, lol.

August

Jena turned 11.

September

At my sister in law's wedding in Virgina.  This was a long drive for a short trip, but it was great.  We got to stay in a hotel (which never happens when we travel)

The venue was a really nice vineyard in some tiny place in Virginia.

The bigger ladies at the reception.

And Bijou's debut as a flower girl.  It was the highlight of her short life.

The kids in DC.

October

Day of the Dead Halloween costumes.

November

The Thanksgiving spread.

December

Bijou's Purple Parisian birthday party for her sixth birthday.

And finally, Jena starred as Clara in this year's Nutcracker.  The performance this year was a little different.  There was acting AND dancing, which means that Jena had lines.  She did really, really well.  

Update on the Lady Clan

I know, I know.  I shouldn't even consider myself a blog owner these days.  Life has certainly increased its pace here in the last couple of years.  Work takes up time, schooling takes up time, the kids are all in extracurricular activities (which take TONS of time), so there's very little time left for me to do anything except eat and sleep.  And I really don't do either of those very well anymore.  Anywho, life has been good, despite the level of business, so I thought I'd share a little update.

Three of my four girls are performing in the Nutcracker this year.  Jena will be Clara!  The show opened last night and was a success.  The entire weekend is old out.  I've finally gotten comfortable with doing the girls' makeup (thanks to a few years of crazy face painting for Halloween).  I still can't believe how much older they look now.  I mean, Ashni still has that childlike face, but Jena?  When did she start looking like an adult?  Fortunately, she is still a big goofball, so maturity is a long way off I think.

This is my classroom.  Generally it is full of busy little toddlers.  There's nothing in the room that is taller than 15 inches, lol.  Well, maybe a couple of things.

We've become part of a great little homeschool co-op.  Jena finally has girl friends her own age.  Not that she has ever complained about having boy friends, or friends that are younger, but I know that she is enjoying it.  We meet weekly for rotating lessons (nature study, geography, art, science, PE).  We also have field trips and social get togethers.  We went on a trip to a National Park here in Mississippi and hiked.  Zion  is showing off her mopey stance as we finish up the trail.

Ashni is still fencing and we are all very proud of her.  She just returned from Houston, TX competing in a youth circuit.  She won a bronze medal!  So far, she has medaled at every competition she has entered.  She loves it and we love seeing how proud she is of herself.  Her coaches envision great things for her fencing future.

Adn, although it doesn't seem like it, we still manage to get some school work done.  I printed this giant map ages ago (and pieced it together on the wall) for the girls to map the countries that they research for geography.  It is also been helpful with the younger girls learning the continents and oceans.  Bijou is labeling the seven continents while Zion names them.

I've also been painting quite a bit.  I've had some portrait work and currently have a show hanging!  So things are going well.

Just another night in the David household...

Sometimes I feel like my children live in a fantastic musical.  There's an abundance of song, dance and fantasy around here quite often.  Tonight, the girls decided that we needed to have a fancy dinner.  Jena wanted to cook dinner.  She made whole wheat penne pasta and tomato sauce with broccoli and mushrooms.  Ashni wanted to add some gourmet flair, so she was in charge of plating (chopped fresh spinach and smear of sauce).  A pot of peppermint tea and a few dressy outfits later, the girls were eating Italian food with chopsticks!  As if that was not enough, they also decided that they needed to speak in pretend accents for the entire dinner. 

Where in the world...Philadelphia Bound

Today, we hit the road and head for Philadelphia. Washington DC has been great, but I'm ready to move on. The kids are getting antsy and are falling prey to some modern day influences that we try to avoid at home. Basically, too much TV, too many movies, too much computer access, too much weirdo kiddie pop music, too much staying the house, too many Capri Suns and way too much getting their way. The kids love visiting with their cousin and I love watching them spend time with family, but it's completely affecting the way they interact with each other. There's so much more fighting and bickering and being mean. It's driving me nuts. So, I am looking forward to heading to our next destinations and getting back to what we are used to in our kids.
We don't have much planned for Philadelphia. My sister in law and I have planned a trip to Ikea (just because I LOVE Ikea) and they just opened a HUGE Whole Foods in her area and I think there are plans to make vegan marshmallow treats. There won't be 1000 TV channels or extensive computer games. And best of all? NO BARBIE!!! Goodbye Barbie and Justin Bieber (whoever you are) and hello vegan marshmallow treats and arboretum!

Where in the world... Hello DC

Today is our first full day in Washington DC. We planned to leave St. Louis around 4am on Tuesday, but lost track of time and long story short, we ended up just getting on the road at 2am instead of trying to sleep for two hours. We drove through a massive thunderstorm in Illinois (at 2am!), but after that the weather was great. The trip from St. Louis to DC is supposed to be about 14 hours, but we got lost somewhere in rural Maryland and it ended up being about 16 hours (but that's what makes it an adventure, right? Yeah...). Surprisingly, the kids did great (and neither of the drivers fell asleep behind the wheel)! I have to admit that staying up for 48 hours was much easier when I was 19 and had no children (staying up that long now is just plain stupid and I'll be paying for it for the next three days, so I don't recommend it).
Anyway, on the itinerary for the next week are:
1. A family and friends cookout with the in-laws and hubby's friends
2. The portrait museum for Jena
3. Dinosaur bones for Bijou
4. A quick trip to see the White House and Washington monument
5. Lots of sitting around and naps to make up for yesterday's loss of sleep.
Unfortunately, my father in law's computer does not have a slot for my SD card and I left all of the camera cords at home, so pictures will have to come later..... Well, it's later and here are pictures.

Apparently Zion is unhappy with her current amount of accessories and would like to add large, flower shaped clip on earrings. I think they make a statement.

Generally we don't allow hula hooping in the house, but when you're this cute with a hula hoop exceptions must be made.

This is what being on vacation has done to rides in the car. No matter where we went, this is what it looked like in the back seat. This is reason enough for everyone to take a massive road trip with their kids.

Just before we go lost in Maryland, this was the lovely view from the car. Not that the view wasn't lovely while we were lost, but things are much nicer when you assume you know where you're going.

Where in the world, Part 2

So we are still in St. Louis and as I mentioned we are staying at the family house here in the city. This neighborhood has changes so much since I was a kid. There are so few people left in the area. This lovely dilapidated building is my childhood home. It's hard to believe that the bulk of my childhood was spent in this house.

The "big house", as it is affectionately called is one of the few houses left standing and livable in the neighborhood. The house is over 100 years old (I believe) and still has original hardwood floors, ornate fixtures and woodwork. There are even a couple of original stained glass windows along the front stairs.

Zion and Granny share a granny/granddaughter moment on the front steps. I think they were counting the rocks that Zion had collected from the front garden.


All the kiddos by the big beautiful hydrangea bush in the front yard. We were on our way to the Friday night family meet and greet.

Yesterday was the family picnic. The big girls were in charge of creating this family tree. I drew the tree and they had each member of the family leave their fingerprint "leaf" and name. I was hoping for a fuller tree. Maybe we will leave it unframed here at the house and as more family members gather for other family functions they can add their leaf to the tree. There were more leaves than this by the end of the day, but we have a HUGE family, so we could fill the page with prints.


Jena had a ball playing Davis bingo. She didn't win, but she had fun all the same. I think it helped that her cousin Nia was sharing the bingo card.

Zion ended her day exhausted and filthy, the true sign of a great day.

A little people pow wow.