February FB updates

2/4
Dad at the store with five kids. Mom jammin to P!nk and mopping the kitchen floor. Sometimes these are the necessary activities to keep a family together forever.

2/20
after scolding Roma for pounding on the laptop while Ben typing a paper.. She started sobbing (naturally) and this is how Simon comforted her: "Hey Sweetie! mom told you no. when mom says no, that means you can never do what you want. But when mom and Ben go in the udder room, I will tell you and you can hit that computer again. Okay, sweetie?"

2/28
Yesterday I had the opportunity to see sweet Ashtyn and feel the love in her hospital room. Suzanne truly has the light of optimism and joy in her countenance.. By finding the silver lining in the clouds, you are changing the world Ashtyn!

Valentine love-lists

For Valentines Day (starting the first day of February), I put a heart on each pillow of my family members with something I love about them.  It was a simple and fun way to celebrate the holiday.. (did you know we've had zero handy in 2013, not even a single piece on Valentine's Day?  true story.)  I'm still not sure if I should keep the love-hearts forever, but here is the list of reasons why I love them so.  {Thanks for the idea Emilee!}

Ben
1- I love when you snort after laughing so hard.
2- I love how responsible you are.  When I give you a task, I know it will get done.
3- I love your awesome dance moves.  You let the music take you away!
4- I love that you still love to cuddle with me.
5- I love how enthusiastic you are about boy scouts.
6- I love your silly sense of humor.
7- I love the example you set for your brothers, they look up to you so much.
8- I love how you guzzle your drinks.
9- I love how you set the table for dinner hours before the food is ready.
10- I love how quick you are at everything you do!
11- I love that you sleep 2 inches from your fan every night.
12- I love watching you play and cuddle with Sunny.
13- I love that you love watching and playing sports.
14- I love your freckles!

Luke
1- I love your sass.  Most people don't get to see it.  I am one of the lucky few.
2- I love that you include Roma and Simon in everything you do.
3- I love how you figure out how to do things on your own.
4- I love playing Mastermind with you, even though we don't own the actual game.
5- I love listening to you play the piano and watching you jam out with your teacher.
6- I love how coordinated you are.
7- I love doing puzzles with you.
8- I love watching you with toddlers, how you get them to laugh and giggle.
9- I love knowing you will be happy with whatever the day has in store.
10- I love that you are a party animal, especially at night.
11- I love how thorough you are with everything you do.. not slow, just thorough!
12- I love how smart and creative you are with origami and legos.
13- I love when you help me with dinner, especially lasagna :P.
14- I love your crazy dance moves!

Zack
1- I love your spunk and energy.
2- I love how you write me endless love notes.
3- I love your back scratches.
4- I love that you wake up ready to take on the day.
5- I love your easy smile and sparkly blue eyes.
6- I love how you talk to Ro in the highest pitched voice ever.
7- I love your love for art and all things colorful and creative.
8- I love going on dates with you, especially when you hold my hand.  (and pay!)
9- I love that you have to have your hair looking just right all the time.
10- I love the way you love music.
11- I love how you've become such a helper.
12- I love watching you be best buddies with Simon.
13- I love how sweet you are with our dog.
14- I love that you are always up for a good time!

Simon
1- I love how you scream everything you say.
2- I love your confidence.
3- I love watching you wrestle your older brothers.
4- I love that laugh at everything Roma does.
5- I love hearing you sing, "We are the Shumways!"
6- I love how knowledgeable you are.  And that when you don't know, you'll make stuff up.
7- I love laying by you for naps and hearing your crazy bedtime stories.
8- I love your long lashes.
9- I love that you dress and undress yourself everyday.
10- I love that you don't need much help in the bathroom.
11- I love your desire to protect everyone with your super hero powers. 
13- I love your swagger.
14-I love how much you love Daddy.

Roma
1- I love your cheesy, squinty grin.
2- I love how nurturing you are to babies and animals.
3- I love reading books with you.
4- I love watching you run naked around the house.
5- I love that you think you are one of the boys.
6- I love how cute you look in a dress.
7- I love your dark eyes and pretty features.
8- I love how yummy you smell after a bath.
9- I love how you eat your food with a fork or spoon.
10- I love how easy it is to know how you feel.
11- I love how you tell Sunny what to do and she listens. "out!"
12- I love watching you drag your brothers around until they get you what you want.
13- I love listening to you sing.
14- I love the connection we have.

Aaron
1- I love going out with you, even if it's to the grocery store.
2- I love how supportive you are of my need to socialize.
3- I love that you are good and kind to everyone.
4- I love talking about our future together.
5- I love that you help with whatever the minute you walk in the door.
6- I love knowing you will always work hard to provide for our family.
7- I love how warm you are at night.
8- I love that you know me so well, but hate that you can read me like a book.
9- I love how you look in a suit.
10- I love that you choose your words wisely.
11- I love how you read scriptures with an accent.
12- I love co-parenting with you, even if you will always be the kids' favorite.
13- I love how you let me have space and freedom to be myself.
14- I love that you pray when you need direction.

love gifts

I'm staying up waayy past my bedtime for this, so it must be important. Today was a very special valentine's day. This year we decided to rekindle a tradition from Aaron's childhood-- The exchanging of handmade, homemade love gifts. We drew names of family members early in February and we've been working on them all month. (It's been a total pain in the butt if you ask me) but it all turned out pretty cute. We originally planned on exchanging these gifts for family home evening this past Monday, but no one was quite ready, so we waited until Valentine's Day and it was a perfect family LOVE night.

Aaron sent Luke (and his brothers) all around the house on a treasure hunt.   It was all rhymes and clues and fill-in-the-blanks and screams and laughter.  They went from the snakes aquarium to the trampoline to the toy room to the garage to Roma's crib and finally, the love gift was out in our mail box.  Luke found a cute laminated valentine (with a special note written on the back from Daddy..)  Not sure if Luke is going to use this as a bookmark or Christmas ornament, but it's a sweet keepsake.  Along with it was a gift-card to get a tropical smoothie... which they will use for a future date.

Simon drew Zack's name and he helped me make two felt hand-puppets.  We originally planned to make puppets of everyone in the family, but it was too time consuming and Simon was hurting the project more than he was helping (surprise, surprise.)  He did help glue on buttons and he the faces.  Zack was thrilled.  They've been using them to fight each other...

Ben was an overachiever this year and made Dad two gifts.  The first, a handpainted picture frame with shells from our Florida trip was too easy for Ben.  He finished it in two days and then wanted to do more.  So he made him a pillow from an old sheet and then glued #1 Dad on the pillow with felt letters.  The frame is darling (the backside has a personal message painted on too) and the pillow is going to fall apart any day... (hand-sewn with love!)

Zack worked SO HARD on my gift and although I am not sure what I am going to do with it, I truly do love it. What is it you ask?  A paper mache head of me!  It can double as a mailbox, so you can put love notes inside my mouth.  It's very fragile and came with instructions on how to care for it "do not let anyone touch it under the age of 5, thank you."  I will find a way to hang it somewhere in my home without it looking morbid.  (Why do you have a huge head hanging from the ceiling? our friends will ask..)

[and ps.  I had every intension of showering and putting on makeup for my husband on this day for lovers, but I was too busy helping a certain someone sew on arms to his stuffed monster...]


Simon is the proud receiver of this scary stuffed monster.  This idea was 100% Luke's and he did most of it himself, although I spent the majority of my day helping him piece it together.  He cut up a soft white towel, sewed it into a square, stuffed it, gave it arms, legs and claws, glued a face on it..  Today he decided it needed something else, so we put horns on it too.  It is darling and Simon went to bed cuddled up to it's angry face.

Roma drew Ben's name.  She bought him a BABYSITTING kit complete with glow sticks, microwave popcorn, band aids, kleenex, coloring activities, books and his own cell phone.  What?  yes, he can now take his phone on babysitting jobs and he's so super excited.  He started entering the parents names of the families he sees regularly and will use the calendar to book his appointments.  He was way excited.  Roma was pretty happy about it too.

had to add one more picture even though the flash nearly blinded them.  This girl is such a light in our family.  We love her and her nasty face.

I drew Roma's name and made her a dozen new bows and flowers for her head... but never had the time to put the clips on them.  They are way cute.  I also finally pinned her first little outfit in a shadowbox for her room.  Before I hang it on the wall, I want to take a picture of her round body holding this premie shirt.  I die every time I think about her fitting in it.  It's doll sized... and so cute.  I also want to add a picture of her wearing it, which I have but haven't printed yet.   Love these little keepsakes.

I think by next year we will be recovered from craft mess and want to do it again.  The kids were literally SO happy to give each other something they made.  It totally filled our home with love and chaos.

The rest of the day was fun too.  Aaron and I each wrote cards to each other.  He brought me home bright pink roses and helped me throw a salad together for dinner (yes, that's a gift)...  I bought him the NICEST set of fingernail and toenail clippers you will ever see.  He was impressed.  We had heart pancakes for breakfast, heart sandwiches for lunch and heart pizza for dinner.  We are all pinked out.  No Valentine's party this year with other couples... too much on my plate.  Too many kids and not a single maid to clean up after us!

Hope your holiday was filled with LOVE.

marriage and freedom

I've been reading Gandhi's autobiography in my spare time... (which is like 3 minutes per day)  it's for our adult/homeschooling/couple's book club in February.  I don't think I'm gonna finish it in time because I'm cheating on Gandhi with a couple of other books on the side...  Aaron's not reading it at all, but every once in a while he'll ask me about it.. and then I go off for an hour longer and we always end up talking about our marriage-- which has led Aaron to stop asking, naturally.

Gandhi was married at age 13.  It was an arranged marriage, to his wife who was 14 years old.  The betrothal took place when they were 7.  They still lived with their parents for several months of the year until they were 18.  In his words he said, it was his "painful duty" to record his experience.  He takes pity on his 13 year old self and congratulates children who have escaped his lot in life.  It's not that he doesn't get along with his wife... it's just that he's been married to her since he was a child.  And he didn't make that decision to marry-- he was forced into it.  There are so many interesting things about his story and his life, but his thoughts and views on marriage and freedom have had my wheels turning these past few weeks...

Although I wasn't 13, looking back, I was a child bride.  I was too young and I knew it.  And I honestly didn't want to get married.  Nothing against my sweet husband, I just didn't want to be tied down.  I wanted (and still desperately want) to be free!  And I felt that as soon as I married and had children, I wouldn't be free to do what I wanted.. Motherhood has taken away much of my free time, but not my freedom.  Right now, I am in the trenches.  I never have time for myself.  I am currently typing this at 2 am because my daughter will not allow me to sit at the computer.  And when she's napping, my priority is my other children.  I dream of being able to have the time do to whatever I please.  But the odd thing is, I feel a great amount of peace and understanding, and such a sense of freedom, especially these past few months.

That sense of freedom (as a mother with my little chicks) was significantly squashed when I sent them to public school.  I know it sounds backward, but our ability to be a family and do what we wanted when we wanted to do it was limited.  It was only when I decided to pull them out of school that I realized how important our time is together... and so even though I feel less time for myself, I also feel free again.

At one of our recent homeschooling parent meetings, the question was asked, "What is your greatest hope for your children and their future?"  My first response to that question was that I want my children to love life & learning and also know how to work hard...  A friend's simple answer took me by surprise, she said, "I want my children to be FREE!"  She went on to explain that as we become educated through self-discipline, we become free.  President Boyd K Packer gave a beautiful address in 1971 that explains this principle.  Below is an excerpt-- (but the entire talk is well worth your time!)

Remember, my brethren . . . ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. (Helaman 14:30.)

If you feel pressed in and pressured and not free, it may be for one of two reasons. One, if you have lost freedom, possibly it has been through some irresponsible act of your own. Now you must regain it. You may be indentured–indentured to some habits of laziness or indolence; some even become slaves to addiction. The other reason is that maybe if you are not free you have not earned it. Freedom is not a self-preserving gift. It has to be earned, and it has to be protected.

For instance, I am not free to play the piano, for I do not know how. I cannot play the piano. I could quickly prove that, but I think it may be a mistake on your part if you ask me to. The ability to play the piano, the freedom to do that, has to be earned. It is a relatively expensive freedom. It takes an investment of time and of discipline. This discipline begins, as discipline usually does, from without. I hope that you do not have contempt for discipline that originates from without. That is the beginning. A parent usually presses a youngster to practice the piano. But somewhere, it is hoped, practice grows into self-discipline, which is really the only kind of discipline. The discipline that comes from within is that which makes a young person decide that he wants to be free to play the piano and play it well. Therefore, he is willing to pay the price. Then he can be free from supervision, from pressure, from whatever forms of persuasion parents use.

This principle has made everything SO CLEAR to me.  What I've realized is that I have given up my plans for what I thought was a well-planned life and what I've received in return has been some of the most sacred and fulfilling moments, and a huge sense of freedom-- not to be confused with free time to do what I want whenever I want.  I am FREE, more so than I ever was.  And as I teach my children responsibility, the more they are able to take on, the more freedom they receive.  Knowledge is power.  Obedience and discipline leads to freedom.  Sacrificing things that are meaningful and important for a greater cause can truly lead to happiness and fulfillment.  This I have experienced since becoming a mother and I wife.  And even though I made the decision to marry at a young age, I am starting to realize that it was wise of me to obey what I felt was the RIGHT decision even though it wasn't in my plans.  I was doing what I knew God wanted me to do and because I obeyed, my world opened up to new possibilities and I have been able to see myself in a new light...



 I realize I this post might not make much sense to anyone else.. I hate to end it here, but my laptop is dying and my cord is downstairs..  I should tie all these random paragraphs together but I have to go to sleep so I can function as a mama tomorrow...  I guess I will publish even though I might regret it in the morning. Goodnight!

weekend schmeekend

2013 started out rough... We were sick for most of January and into Feb.  The weekends have been so busy, and we haven't been able to get the hang of our Sunday routine.  Church is at 2:00-5:00 pm. can I get a whuuut?

Last weekend, I felt another wave of the flu coming on.  Saturday was miserable.  Simon and Ro had the pukes (again!)  Aaron had a few things going on and we weren't able to go grocery shopping until the evening.  The babies were so sick and had gone to sleep early, so we left the older boys home to babysit and we hit the store... but before the store, Aaron pulled up at Chili's and said we were going in for some good conversation.  It was a real date!  Only I was wearing tennis shoes and grubby clothes (no makeup, knotty hair, major hot look.)  But we went inside anyway and found a corner booth and had such a good time.  We ordered chips and salsa and desert and chatted about the nerdy things we do.  If it was a first date, I would have totally married this guy.  He is my fave.  We ran into the store on the way home and grabbed some meds and a few things for sunday dinner.  On the way home, I casually asked him if he would take over Sunday dinner (something that has happened never in our marriage) and he was totally on board.  But only because he wanted action..

feeling sexy at chili's.  nevermind my grandma hands.

Sunday was crazy.  I had meetings in the mornings and a lesson to teach in rs.  (ward conference).  Aaron was home with the sick babies.  During Sacrament meeting, I felt so terrible.. I came home to pop a few Sudafeds and headed back to the church, but not before helping Aaron with the meal and thanking him for taking over.  I went back to teach and do not have a clue on what I said... after it was over, I was a little afraid to drive home.  But I made it back safely.  It was 6:00 or so when I came home and bless my sweet hubby, he was so enthralled in the Australian open and hadn't done much for dinner.  I was so sick and so annoyed and he felt bad.  It took a while to put the food on the table and we hashed it out later.. It was another long week of laundry, throw-up, coughing and sleepless nights. 

Yesterday (Sunday) finally came and low and behold... we still had sick kids!  It was Luke's birthday and it was not such a great morning, but the birthday boy didn't know the difference.  He would have said it was wonderful day had we locked him inside a closet with nothing to eat.  The kid don't care bout nothing.  Before church, I gave the older boys an option of staying with Dad, but Ben said, "I really want to stay home, but only because I want to play with Legos and I know that's not a good enough reason."  So cute.  Luke came too cause it was his birthday.. ?  Heaven knows I wanted to stay and play with Legos or sleep....  

Church was great and uplifting.  I stayed afterward for longer than I expected.  The boys waited for a while and then got a ride home with a friend.  Aaron had dinner waiting on the table and it got cold-- but eventually they ate without me.  I came home around 7 pm... and literally minutes before I walked through the door, Ben was being a sweetheart and cleared the table.  He gave the leftovers to the dog (something we do every night) but he didn't realize that MY plate was on the table... Aaron saved it for me to warm up when I got home.  But Ben got rid of everything. (I was starving.. it was fast Sunday afterall) and there was zero food.  Naturally Aaron was sweating bullets.. he was so cute about it.  I had to resort to a salad and some chips and salsa.  We had a pretty good laugh about it.  I teased him that he used the old "dog ate it" trick when there was not a trace of dinner (or dishes) to show for it... but the kids said it was the best spaghetti they ever had.

brownies on fire

I whipped up a batch of brownies quickly and AS SOON as they were out of the oven, I put candles it them and we quickly sang so I could go back to the church.  Ever put candles in a hot pan of brownies?  They melted completely into the mix and the whole pan was on fire-- and they all tasted like candle wax.  It was awesome.  not. I went back to the church for another meeting and lots of paperwork.  When I got home and crawled into bed, Aaron apologized about dinner (again) and told me that getting it on the table with Roma and Simon biting at his ankles was really difficult.  And that comment was the best part of my day.  

Mondays are usually good, but today was a doozy.  Aaron came home from work and the house was a mess.  Kids were crying, the dog was running a muck.  I didn't have anything planned for FHE, and dinner was a sad sight.  Aaron changed his clothes, quickly warmed up a plate, loaded up the kids in the van and ran to the store to get some milk and other necessary items.  He is the most handsomest and sweetest man in the whole world.  I blasted music, mopped the kitchen floor, cleaned out the fridge, ran the dishwasher for the second time today and felt like a brand new woman.  

I love my life.  It sucks, but I can't help but love it.