August FB updates

8/23
Simon: I need to give all my hugs to Dad now. So I'm not gonna have very much extra hugs for you.
Me: oh. okay.
Simon: but I still think you're a really cute mom. — with Aaron Shumway.

8/24
A few things my three year old said before he closed his sleepy eyes tonight:#simonsays
1- "mom you're pretty cause dad married you. If dad didn't marry you, another lady would be prettier." 
2- "We put clothes in dressers but we don't put dresses in them. Or shoes."
3- "I'm so good at washing the table. Ben keeps telling me that."
4- "if I went to the meanest family ever, then they would murder me. I'm glad I'm not part of that mean family."
5- "Girls can bite harder than boys. When they wear lipstick."
6- "when I was baby, you wanted me to be a girl, but I wanted to be a boy."
7- "when the doctor saw that I was born, did he tell you, 'hey! You're having way way too many boy babies!' cause you need to stop having all those boy babies."
8- "I'm so good at washing the table. super super super good. I can show you. Do you want me to show you right now?"

not back to school 2013

Well, the summer went by and we had a great one, by golly.  It was busy and crazy and relaxing and full of adventure and family and hot weather.  Hopefully one day I will be able to catch up on the blog, but I doubt it.

Today was the first day of school for Nevada students.  For the past two years, I've sent my kids to school and I always hated the first day back.  I never cried, but I hated it.  Today I woke up with so much gratitude and excitement.  It is the first NOT back to school day we've had in three years and it felt good and right.  This is a little timeline of our first day of the year... obviously I won't be keeping up this routine everyday of the year, but there's just something exciting about the first day back.  And this year was extra special because Dad was able to spend the whole day with us.

5:15 am-- I wake up before my alarm.  Check my phone to see what time it is, find a homeschooling article my friend Natalie shared on my facebook page.  Homeschooling isn't for everyone, but it's been amazing for us.  I wake up feeling excited about my day... and life.

5:30 am-- dress, drink a glass of water, read a few inspiring scriptures & quotes, take Sunny for a run out in the desert.  Not sure where her leash is, but she doesn't need it.  She's a good girl and sticks right by me.


6:30 am-- come home, feed the dog, send a few emails and texts for my calling, unload the dishwasher, and decide get ready for our NOT back to school breakfast.

7:30 am-- finish chopping up veggies for omelets, make waffle batter, set the table fancy, decorate with streamers, make a banner with our school year theme "Go Forth To Serve" and cut out paper crowns for the kids (and parents)..  Everyone is still sleeping at 8:30 am.

8:45 am-- wake up the kids with music.  They do their "morning routine" which is make bed, get dressed, brush teeth, comb hair and clean their bedroom.  All of the kids are excited and well rested.  I tell them there is a special surprise downstairs.

9:00 am-- you would think it was Christmas morning by the excitement from the kids about their homemade crowns.  We sat at the table, talked about our service theme for the year and I explain that they all need to help me make breakfast.  We take orders (blueberry waffles or not, scrambled eggs or omelets)  Dad sits at the table with the littles and helps with their plates.

9:30 am-- breakfast is served.  No rush, no sqabbles, no spills (even drinking OJ in campaign glasses...)  Ben did burn Roma's cheek while serving her omelet in the frying pan.. but it was minor.  We talked and laughed and toasted to the new year. (pretty sure Simon toasted to Christmas, and we all rose our glasses high!) It was perfect meal to start out our day/year.

10:00 am-- clean up.  We set the timer for 20 minutes in each room.  Kitchen dishes were loaded and the dishwasher started again.  Floor mopped, front rooms straightened, laundry loaded.  We all worked as a team.  I was able to put dinner in the crock pot too..

10:45 am-- "recess" out on the tramp for the kids.  They play duck duck goose, ring around the rosies and punch each other with boxing gloves.  Roma holds her own and wrestles like a pro.

11:00 am-- Goal setting session at the table.  Roma and Simon continue to play outside with big bowls of water, while the rest of us write at least ten goals we have for the new year.  I will be hanging these plans in our hallway so we can be reminded frequently.  Love the goals the kids made for themselves.  I will share those soon!

11:30 am-- it starts to sprinkle outside a little, so the toddlers come in and everyone sits down for a Spanish lesson taught by Mr. Aaron.  Love that he will be home with us for the next couple of weeks.  We learned how to scream for help in Spanish "Ayúdeme!" and asking for help politely.. "¿Me ayudaras?  Si le ayudare.

11:45 am-- Pack a picnic lunch, pick up a couple of homeschooling friends, and head outdoors.  Dad stays home.

Noon-- Quickly hit the library and pick up a few.. or 20, books the boys have on hold.  (I actually stayed in the van and talked to a neighbor while the older boys ran in and got what they needed.)

1:30 pm-- Picnic at the park.  It was slightly sprinkling but the kids played and played and played.  I love watching my kids get creative with each other.  Roma and Luke both lost their shoes but we eventually found them.

2:00 pm-- Nap time for Roma & the parents.  The boys start their "rotations" something we've been doing for 2 years now, even through the summer..  Piano practice, Math, Reading, and writing at Oral Report.  Each "station" is 30 minutes.  The boys set the timer and rotate without any problems.  Simon has finally joined in on their rotations, but he knows if he causes problems, he has to take a nap too.  It's my favorite 2 hours of the day.  I actually read for a while instead of sleep... started a new book today "What Alice Forgot"  love it so far.

4:00 pm-- Roma wakes up, and we pull Daddy out of bed too.  The boys read their oral reports while I go over their math homework.  Zack presents on Fish-- Did you know Flounders are as flat as pancakes? and camouflage themselves?  I didn't. Luke drew China's flag and gave us a bunch of boring statistics on the most populated country in the world.  I can't remember what he said, but I told him to read louder at least 5 times.  Ben wrote a report on Napoleon Bonaparte.  His dad was an attorney too and died of cancer, so Napoeon had to drop out of military school.  Turns out, he still became one of the most success military leaders in the history of the world.  He also wrote romantic novels... ?

4:30 pm-- had the idea to hit the Children's museum in the afternoon, but we stayed too long at the park.  We still hopped in the van and drove up north.  We've been shopping for our first camper and found the one we loved.  It was on the other side of town, up by the temple, so drove around the beautiful grounds before hitting our camper destination.

6:00 pm-- After successfully setting up the camper, taking it down and paying for it, it was time to haul it home!  We are so excited to go camping this week.  Yes, Aaron is crippled, but he still knows how to have a good time.  Pictures of the new camping gear later.

7:00 pm-- Dinner.  Family home evening.  Silly Songs.  Charades.  Scriptures.  Prayer.  (Simon plays charades without actually reading any of the clues.  He picks up a paper, acts something random out-- uusually hopping on one foot or some crazy superhero move.   Dad is the ONLY person to ever guess who or what he's trying to act out.  We know who the favorites are around here...)

8:30 pm-- No homework.  No setting out clothes for tomorrow.  Just bedtime stories and cuddling.

9:00 pm-- everyone in bed and asleep.  Well, accept for me.  I finally downloaded hundreds of pictures off my phone (it's been full for 2 months now!)  So grateful to have the opportunity to homeschool and to have these amazing, fun, beautiful, kind children.  They are not perfect and our days aren't usually easy or calm, but I am truly blessed and feel so happy to have them home.  Here's to a busy, fun, exciting school year.

July FB updates

7/10
I need a waffle maker with a built-in timer. This is a need, not a want. Also, a washer that buzzes every 5 minutes until the clothes are put into the dryer. Also, a maid.

7/20
Fave quotes from today--
Zack: after swimming my ears were super deaf. Now they're really sensible. More sensible than ever!
***
Luke: what's one plus one?
Roma: Nine!
Luke: no! okay then, what's five plus four?
Roma: Two! 
***
Ben: I can't figure out why they put scriptures on my list of things to pack for scout camp.
Me: Um, maybe because they want you to read them.
Ben: like that's gonna happen.
***
Simon: I feel like I'm only two.
Me: why?
Simon: Because everyone in our family is bigger than me!
Me: You're bigger than Roma.
Simon: I know, but she's a sister!

7/22
Roma bites Simon. 
Simon sobs. 
Roma tries to hug him and say she's sorry. 
Simon pushes her off him and she falls to the ground. 
Roma sobs (quietly) with her hands over her face. 
Simon sits up and screams "oh stop Roma! You're such a DRAMA QUEEN!"

June FB updates

6/12
Have I told you lately how much I ADORE our piano teacher? He comes to our house every week, rocks out with our boys, teaches them to read and play songs they are excited about playing and is so upbeat and encouraging. If you want his number, let me know! He's $40 per hour (totally reasonable and worth every penny!) this is Luke and Dewey from this afternoon-- 

6/29
My almost 12 year old just set the oven timer for 60 minutes. I was annoyed thinking they were playing some kind of game right before bed. {{And I'm really excited for them to go to bed.}} When I asked him what he was doing he said, "oh, I just decided to load the last few dirty towels from the party today but didn't want to leave them in the washer overnight. When this goes off, will you remind me to put them in the dryer? Even if I'm in bed, I can still do it." He is my lifesaver. My right arm. The ONLY reason I've been able to get through this week w/o a husband is because I've got another man in the house. #benshums #illloveyouforever

May FB updates

5/1

Ben was trying to hold in his emotions at lunch when he realized his snake wasn't going to make it. I told him to find me whenever he felt like crying and we could hash it out. He's not typically a crier, but he cuddled up before bed and we had a good talk. Then around 11:00pm he came in our bedroom again sobbing. This was our convo:
Me: are you still feeling pretty sad? 
Ben: yeah. I just feel so bad.
Me: you did nothing wrong, bud. Sometimes these things just happen.
Ben: I know but I feel like its really mad at me.
Me: the snake? Why would you ever think that?
Ben: because I had a dream that it came back alive and ate Roma.
Me: (trying not to laugh) oh wow. No wonder you're a mess! You know how your sister is with animals. She would squeeze it to death before it ever had a chance to eat her.
Ben (laughing too): yeah. Every animal should be really afraid of her.
Me: I think they are.

5/18

Simon's prayer over a large plate of mac&cheese: "Dear Heavenly Father. I love you and I like you and I never want you to die. Let's kill all the bad guys together. And if the bad guys camed in our house then Sunny can jump on them and bite them. And bless that only my mom can be in charge of me. And nobody else. Amen." 
that just about covers everything..

5/21

Debcakes!! some of my favorite memories with you are.... getting knocked down by a wave in the oregon ocean, fully dressed and completely taken by surprise. Trying to get ants out of your swimsuit in a public bathroom and having a lady walk in on us-- and laughing so hard because she didn't know why you were screaming (or undressed!) Seeing that amazingly perfect circle of cows on our drive home from Rexburg, even though no one believed our story. Staying up countless nights laughing and crying, always talking about the things that matter most. Skinny dipping in Kristy's pool in GA and doing cheer stunts with the furniture. Holding hands and touching feet when I was scared as a little girl and couldn't sleep. That one vacation in Spokane when all we did was sit around and talk and eat warm food because it was so cold outside (I loved that week.) Working out in the early mornings. Motivating each other to be better mothers, wives, and women. Taking our kids on crazy long road trips without our husbands! I also remember you pulling my hair as a little girl and yelling at me for not keeping my side of the room clean, but we won't talk about that now... I love you every single day and I am so grateful to have you in my life. You're the older (little) sister I've always wanted. Happy birthday, love!

5/24

When I asked what inspired him to bring me flowers, he replied "some guy named Bruno guilt-tripped me into it." @shumdiddy #keepsmelaughing

5/27

Aaron Shumwayposted toJanet Clawson Shumway

Just in case you forgot - I love you and you're my best friend.

5/29
My sweet neighbors lost their perfect little newborn son last night. If you want to donate to a good cause, you won't find a better family.-- Baby Louie Harper, with Rachel Harper