the tummy hill way

There is a road in Paradise that I can never remember the name of, but it is Owen's favorite road to take when going to my Aunt Ruthie's house.  Owen calls it "the tummy hill way" because when you drive up it, there is a dip that makes your stomach turn in a "I think I might puke but that was really, really fun" kind of way.  Owen and I lived with my Aunt Ruthie for about 3 weeks when we first moved back to Chico in 2009, and during our short stay there, my aunt taught me the perfect way to approach said hill to maximize the "I think I might puke but that was really, really fun" feeling.  As we approached the hill, I followed my aunt's instructions and we were successful!  Lots of laughing and screaming ensued.  My aunt looked and Owen and asked "was that fun?!" to which Owen replied "Like I said, AAAAHHHHHH!"  Which of course, made us all laugh even harder.  There may or may not have been snorting involved. 


Last year, I met an amazing man, and we got married in November.  He has a 16 year old son, and we welcomed a baby girl in January.  If you asked me a year ago where I thought I would be in a year, married with 3 kids would not have even been on my radar, but it has been the best year of my life!  Unbelievable, really, and I cannot believe how blessed I am.  I also have the amazing opportunity now to be a stay at home mom.  Wow.  I have learned a lot about myself this year.  I also love making lists.  In fact, lets make one now...


Things I have learned about myself this year:

1. Being a stay at home mom is harder than my "real" job was, but it's way more awesome.
2. Reality TV has nothing to do with actual reality.  Seriously people.
3. Some of my neighbors are weird.  And not the ones you might think....
4. this list is digressing, these aren't things I've learned about myself....lets try again....
5. I am craftier than I realized, and it is more fun than I thought it would be.
6. I have a little  MAJOR addiction to the DIY section of Pinterest...
7. who am I kidding...

SO....I'm not so great at lists.  I DID learn that about myself.  Also, I learned that I probably have ADD.  So how does this all come together?  Let me see if I can bring it home...


Until now, I haven't had the opportunity to be home with Owen since he was just a few months old.  Long, sad, and getting kinda boring story.  Now, thanks to this amazingly huge blessing of an opportunity I get to do that with my 3 fantastic kids.  They are seriously fun, and I know for a fact that I do not appreciate that enough.  This being said, school is out....TOMORROW! and I have to say, I'm a little nervous about summer as a stay at home mom of 3 kids (ages 16, 8 and 4 months).  What am I going to do with them all summer?  and how can I work this out so it is not only a great summer, but we are all happier and more harmonious at the end of it than when we started?  That is the point of this blog, I guess.  uh-oh...I feel another list coming on....


My goals this summer are:

1. To give my kids opportunities to have fun, and learn something
2. To somehow help them become better humans.
3. For us to not only not kill eachother, but get along even better than we already do.
4. To give them happy memories.

oh, and
    5.  Learn how to make my own bread.  I really really really want to be one of "those" moms.  really.


sorry, had to throw that in there.  maybe I'm not so bad at lists after all. 


As I look forward to the summer, I feel like I'm about to go up "the tummy hill way" again.  I'm excited, and nervous, and I am pretty sure by the end of the summer I'm going to have that "I think I might puke but that was really, really fun" feeling in my stomach again.  So, here we go folks.  A new adventure, a new blog and a bright future.  Cheers!


P.S.  leave comments and share your ideas about how to make any of the above-mentioned goals a reality.  seriously.  do it.  please and thank you. amen.