A few pictures

Nicholas and Justin just having fun!

Our picnic inside because of the rain. We still had fun.

My little monkey! She climbs EVERYTHING!

Alexis went on a field trip to the Krispy Kreme store. They took a tour and were able to have a doughnut. She brought these hats for the kids and they thought it was the best thing in the world.

A well deserved treat. One evening the kids helped my mom clean her yard. They picked up cans, raked leaves, and watered her plants. That day the ice cream truck passed by and we treated all the kiddos to an ice cream. The highlight of the day was after the ice cream, Nicholas turned to my mom and asked "Is there anything else you need for us to do, Memaw?" We are trying to teach the kids about "volunteer" service. Justin still wants to get paid, Nicholas wants to get paid in ice cream (his weakness), Alissa could care less, and Alexis is actually understanding exactly what it means. They have started baking cookies, or cupcakes for our elderly neighbor and his wife. He won't let them do anything else because being outside doing as much as he can is his way of exercising, but the kids always make it a point to yell "Hello Mr. Garza!" from our front porch. I love my munchkins!!

Busy Bees...

Wow! It has been a busy school year and it is all coming to an end. And if I thought this year was crazy, next year will be a hoot! Nicholas will be in Pre-K, he will go half a day every day, Justin is in the 3 yr old program that Nicholas just finished. He will go half a day only two days of the week. I don't know what their times will be but at registration I did ask that they be put on the same time schedule. We'll see if that happens. If not I will be making twenty trips to school. It does get a little hectic sometimes but the kids' face light up when I pick them up instead of daycare or even their own grandparents.

Tomorrow is their last day of school and we are all excited. My Alexis is passing to the 4th grade! She has worked hard and her 3 teachers have been amazing. She has received everything that she needed and more. They all went above and beyond. This morning Alexis' class has picnic with parents, but last night it rained so we had the picnic in the class room. Thank goodness that all of our end-of-the-year parties are over. Summer is here!

Updates...

It has been awhile since I last posted so I will try to be short. All has been well at this wonderful Hart Home. There have been a few little bumps in the road, but with alot of prayer and faith we have prevailed! All the kids are getting the summer itch. The last of day of school is just around the corner and THEY will ALL be with me everyday all day :) Not that that is a bad thing, it is just time to rearrange our schedule a little bit. Alexis started softball and her first game is Monday the 18th. She is the catcher and she has an awesome arm on her. What can I say I'm her mother...hehehe! For all I care she is #1 player :)
I was listening to family life radio today and I did alot of thinking. Today I had a slightly tough day and I felt like I was really being tested. There was alot of emotions in the air and the tension was a little thick. (Note: it has nothing to do with Ben and I) I prayed for patience and a good friend told me to pray for grace. Praying for patience sometimes had our Lord giving us a little more than we can handle. Needless to say I prayed for peace and the strength to handle any situation. During Lexi's practice, family life radio started discussing the issue of giving all our burdens to Him. We became independent from our Lord. The only time that we were dependent Him was when a tragic event happened in our life. We never took the time to thank him for what was good or what we have been blessed with. As humans we are so wrapped up in our lives and in our schedules that we don't take the time just to sit and talk with Him. I found a book from Focus on the Family and it is a devotional made for families and their children. It has been sitting on my night table for almost 2 weeks and unfortunately my excuse is as stated above. We have been so busy with our softball practice, t-ball games and just getting home late that we keep putting it off. While as I was praying and just thinking with God, during the talk on the radio it asked why we had been putting off reading our devotions, staying busy and like the snap of two fingers (as Nick would say, Aha!) That was Him trying to talk to me about the issues I was having today. I knew exactly what I needed to do not only for myself but with my family. It is going to be OK. This too shall pass! And go back to being dependent on our Lord.....