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.....

New Business

We took a big leap of faith this past weekend and decided to start our own business. My brother actually had this type of business before he became very ill. My father still drives a truck, hauling mostly cotton during that particular season, but the truck belonged to my brother. After many of hours of research (thanks to my wonderful hubby and an awesome accountant, Ben's uncle Tom) together we decided to embark on this adventure. Even though Ben's job had beyond AWESOME insurance, it was something that we would have to deal with. The kids will have insurance until they are 18 due to the adoption so I didn't fret about it to much. It's just Ben and myself that are not covered but we are still looking. Well to be honest it didn't just start last weekend. Ben started to drive with my dad about 2 months ago. We purchased out first truck in at the beginning of the year with just my dad driving then a month later Ben joined in on the fun. Shortly after we purchased my brothers truck so that Ben would have his own and my dad had his own. My brother's truck is a little older and needs alot of TLC but everything is local and we wanted to save up to buy a nice one. One day as I was walking down the good ol' streets of Sundown, I saw this pretty purple and gray semi with chrome wheels. I thought it was nice and got the little ball rolling in Ben's head. Needless to say, it was love at first sight for Ben and now we are the proud owners of a 1993 Peterbilt. Ben's very own "Big Truck" :) The good thing about where Ben is working out of is that ALL the hauls are local, he continues to haul cotton alongside my dad, he is home every night, and he is his own boss. Well....he still has to go through me. And my Justin...let's just say it's a joy to see him smile every time his daddy pulls in and honks that horn for him!

Happy Birthday Justin!

We had a great time at a place called jump n jungle. The kids ran around this HUGE playground full of jumping balloons and obstacle courses. They ran for an entire hour then we had 30 minutes in a party room to do pizza, cake and presents. The adults were able to play also. It was just the right amount of time to have fun before meltdowns started. We would do it all over again! The people were great, the place was fun and most of all EVERYONE was able to participate. Justin gives it a 2 thumbs up :)

Our first 5K!

We had some very special people come into our life while we were in the process of fighting for our kids. Court appointed special advocates are angels that God trained for special kids. This "voice" for the kids personally get to know the children involved and fight for what is best for them. In our case, our girls were best fit for us. God truly placed them in our lives for us to give them the best! We had planned to do the walk/run anyway but Alexis expressed some interest in running. All because of my niece who is a cross country runner for the school. My niece's passion for running has fueled another's interest and we are off to a good start. During the 5K, Alexis ran the entire 3 miles only stopping once to catch her breath. When Alissa and I finally got to the finish line, Alexis ran to us and told us she had ran the whole race along side her CASA workers relative, I think, sorry Ms. Vicky I forgot who she was. That brain fart may have been due to the lack of oxygen! Alexis then told me that when she stopped she told herself that she needed to NOT GIVE UP, like Crystal tells herself during a race and she made it. I was on cloud 9! Not because I was finally over the finish line but because of Alexis. This little girl had the determination and the will power to finish what she started. Her life was not what she asked for. It has taken many twist and turns, stumbles and just plain falling on her face. But she continued to get right back on and forge ahead. She gave all her effort and reminded herself not to give up. If only we could do the same.

Happy Easter!

We had an amazing Easter Sunday! We went to church then spent the rest of the day with family and friends. This was Alissa's first time to Easter egg hunt and it was hilarious. Everything she picked up she wanted to eat. The boy's of course knew what to do. Last week Nicholas and Alexis had their Easter parties at school. Alexis had a scavenger hunt and Nicholas had a regular egg hunt. They both are social butterflies! As you can see here is Alexis posing with just a few of her friends.

Nicholas and his classmates waiting patiently....

Our Easter service at church was AWESOME! After getting a little teary eyed, having all my little ones sitting between myself and Ben, I had a renewed sense of patience, courage and wisdom. Having four little ones isn't easy. It sometimes gets the best of us but it's our life. It's the life that God chose for us and with Him nothing is impossible!