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Aaron and Stephanie Shumway (and family)
Mesa, Arizona, United States
Aaron and Stephanie met at CGCC in '98 in the musical Theatre program and married a year after (August '99). They reside in Mesa, AZ where Aaron is an ASU pre-dental student and Stephanie is nothing if not busy. Their family consists of Aaron, Stephanie, daughter Megan (6), and son Matthew (4). -"I didn't think we'd be that faithful of bloggers, but it's been fun showing off home projects, getting any great news out and of course, we love to show the kiddos off."
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Christmas Manners for your kids......

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Before my daughter's 3rd birthday party, I taught her how to receive a gift. I told her that it doesn't matter what is in the gift, you always smile and thank the giver for the gift. I said, "Even if it's a piece of poop, you say 'Thank you SO MUCH for this piece of poop!'" This has become something we say all the time now- Thank you SO MUCH for this piece of poop!! I regret saying this, but oh well, it's something funny to quote now. LOL

Have your kids watch this! Maybe an awkward situation can be avoided this Christmas!
http://www.hoopsandyoyo.co.uk/pages/manners_present.html

Megan

Monday, November 16, 2009


How on earth do I have a seven year old? I know, I can't believe it either! Megan turns 7 on Thursday- wowza! I thought I'd take this opportunity to tell you what a sweet girl Megan is and recognize her for her accomplishments, not only academically, but as a sweet and loving person. (you can also see this post my friend wrote about getting to know Megan last year)


If you've met Megan, you know what a spunky girl she is. She gets SO excited about everything and can barely contain it (which lends itself to a lot of drama).

Megan is very observant. she notices everything about you and will ask you questions about why you did something or why you are feeling a certain way.

Megan is very concerned with the feelings of others and wants everyone to be happy and inspires others around her to be that way too. A couple years ago we saw a homeless man on the street in Tempe and she asked me about him. I told her that he didn't have a house to live in so he had to sit on the sidewalk. "WHAT?!?! He doesn't have a house? Let's buy him a house, mommy!" "well, Meg, that would be nice, but we barely can afford the house we are in right now. We can do little things, though, like carry a case of water in our trunk and if we see a homeless person we can give them water." We made a pact to do this.

Megan loves animals. She has a club called the Secret Cats Club where she and her club members are secretly cats who sneek around and do good things. yes, folks, there is a theme song:

Secret Cats on a secret mission

Secret Cats on a secret quest

Secret Cats gonna fight the bad guys

Cause that's what secret cats do best!

(just ask her to sing it to you the next time you see her)

We were adopted by a stray cat this week. A nice fat black cat we call licorice. My husband said that we could keep it but we'd have to take it to the vet to get shots and get neutered. I heard Megan talking to the cat afterward in her sweet little high caring voice:

"Licorice, you're going to be our pet! and you'll have to get your testicles cut off and it'll hurt, but we don't want you to have babies. and you'll be our pet and can come inside and we love you soooo much!"

I had to run in and tell Aaron. she is so funny. I had told her that word when she asked how to tell a boy cat from a girl cat a couple weeks ago.

Megan is a little sponge. If she hears it, she knows it. People often comment on what good parents we are because of how smart she is (straight A's! YAY). While I really appreciate the compliment, I must debunk the tale. If I've mentioned it once, she knows it. She has said things to me and I'll be amazed and say "who taught you that, Meg?" "you did, mom!" Wha? I did?

Megan loves to sing and dance and act. She is in A Christmas Carol children's chorus and takes Ballet. She is great at memorizing poems and got second place in the 1st grade division of the school poetry contest. She is amazingly expressive when she reads stories at night and rarely pauses to figure out words. She (as well as Matthew) loves books and has a very active imagination.

Megan is Fancy Nancy. She loves anything fancy- jewelry, feather boas, hairbows, makeup, and fancy words. On her birthday invite she wanted to make sure it said RSVP on it "because that's a fancy way to say 'call and let us know you're coming.'"

Megan is so proud of her family. She is so caring and always wants a hug. She is so proud of everything I craft and always brags about me to everyone she meets (overbearing and flattering at the same time). She is so protective of Matthew and they are two little peas in a pod. Matthew is always telling Megan how she did a good job at something or how pretty she looks and Megan blushes and sighs and returns the compliment. They are best buddies (despite the yelling they exchange sometimes)

Megan has a firm testimony of the love her Heavenly Father has for her and that He in fact, is her Father (if you are near her, she'll tell you all about it). She is trusting and has a deep understanding of the gospel principles we have taught her. You can see in her eyes that she knows this is just how it is and why on earth don't these people around her know it too? She is concerned that her friends don't go to church and invites them all the time (they still don't come)- I'm not present for every invitation but during the few I've witnessed, she matter-of-factly bares her testimony of how Heavenly Father loves them and wants them to be happy and how they need to come to church and choose the right.


Megan, I love you so much and am so proud of the little lady you've become. You are smart and caring and have made your Father in Heaven and your parents so proud!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Mom.

I'm doing a Boutique! Come on buy oops, by.. no I meant buy.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Hey campers :o) thought I'd let you all know about a boutique I will be selling at this week on Thursday Friday and Saturday called Country Chic Boutique (pronouned Sheek) Look me up under Sweet Pea Designs
Poster CountryChic[1]


New Garden Blog

Saturday, October 31, 2009

After doing a booth on Mittleider gardening this morning at the Stake Community Preparedness Fair and Breakfast, I decided to make a separate gardening blog where I have copied all the gordening posts from this blog as well as posted the planting schedule for Maricopa county (What to plant and when) and all the other information I told you about today!
Visit:
www.ShumwayGardenBlog.blogspot.com

My Big Girl

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Megan got her 1st grade school pictures back this week.... I am appalled at how fast children grown up. I remember 1st grade! That means she's gonna remember how crazy I am- I thought I could change before she'd remember. oh well.
Here she is!


Ha ha! She is so funny! They said smile and she smiled with her whole face! :o) I love her- what a cute girl! She's grown up so much in the last year! Here was her kindergarten pic:

And you peeps with little kids who think elementary school is so far off- this next pic seems like just yesterday:

Ok, I'm going to stop adding to this post. it's making me sad. I love my baby girl!

Free Hairbow Class

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

{NOTICE:LOCATION CHANGED. ALL INFO ON THIS POST IS UPDATED}

Yes, I will be teaching this one- There will be goodies to eat and a Scentsy Table too. I'm teaching very basic bows (the ones pictured) in this installment- different types will be taught in the next few months as well as a bow holder class. fun fun!


Kids Eat Free Through October!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Hey peoples- I thought this was worthy of a post. Kids eat free at Boston Market through the month of October! awesome. I love that it's not one free kids meal but two with an adult entree purchase.






HOLY SHLAMOLY WHERE HAVE I BEEN??

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Ok, I know you are all wondering what to do with your lives now that the Shumway Family Blog hasn't been updated SINCE JUNE. wow.. I am so sorry about that. I truly apologize!!

A few things we've been up to:

Great fourth of July at the Kennedy's firework show in Mesa (our tradition) and I have a yummy tart recipe for you- it turned out so good!

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Family Reunion on Mt Hood in Oregon woot woot. we had so much fun.


Megan tubing on trillion lake with mt hood in the background


Meg, Matthew, and cousin Grant (Meg and Grant were like two peas in a pod for the whole reunion)

Aaron and McKell (my brother) going out in one of the canoes (matthew fishing in the foreground)

Rob (another of my brothers) with Meg, Matthew, and Colin (Cousin-he and Matt look a lot alike)

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I joined Toastmasters. I gave my first speech two weeks ago and it was so much fun! If you're interested in going let me know and you can be my guest sometime :o)

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Megan and Matthew have started Ballet at Yen-li Chen's Ballet School

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I have been finishing adding content to the Drs. Goodman & Partridge, OB/GYN Website (It won't be up for a couple months-the web designers are working their magic and it's gonna be an awesome, expansive, and totally helpful site)

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I started a different diet because I was reading about the colon cleanse and supposedly it reduces your ability to absorb medicine and so I stopped taking it after a week. The replacement diet was the HCG diet. I just finished it 2 weeks ago and lost a total of 17 lbs. I had to wait at least a month before starting it again which I will be doing in October. I'm really happy with the results. It makes you crave vegetables and fresh food (at least it does me) and changes your metabolism. It has changed my brain more than anything. I eat smaller portions and healthier foods spread throughout the day. Let see how it holds up!

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Our garden fried with the hot weather, and had I been a true mittleid-er I would've hung my shade cloth before leaving on vacation, but alas, I am a lazy person with an aversion to very hot temperatures and so it did not get done. Once I got back I tried in all futility to water the garden and after a week I gave up and let it die all the way. Horay for fall and second chances. I will be panting my fall garden soon and this one will do WAY better!
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I started teaching at Sunshine Sharing Preschool and love it. The kids are so fun to be around and I tweet a cute quote from them every time I teach. Here is the most recent example of a Preschool quote:
(we focus on a different phonogram every day- this particular day was "d"- we read books, sing songs and eat snacks that start with this phonogram)
T: "K" go back and sit down at the table with the other kids and eat your d-donuts
K: But I'm d-d-d-done

Diet Fad I'm trying

Monday, June 29, 2009

I decided that I am going to try the famed acai berry and colon cleanse combo..... we'll see how it goes! I took my first pills this morning with my free chick-fil-a and jamba juice breakfast :o)

Bath & Body Works freebie


Great deals at Bath and Boday works- buy three, get three free AND here's a great coupon for FREE Anti-Bacterial Foaming hand sanitizer when you spend at least $4 there.