Picnic Table

My handy man husband, went and made a picnic table for us. I have always wanted one and it was cheaper to make one then to buy one. He did an awesome job! We will get many, many uses out of it.

Spring Break 2010

So this spring break was something, 2 weeks before the kids had there spring break James finally got a job. It is something he has never done before and it is on third shift. So we are thankful he has a job right now, but there are many things that could be a little better about the job. But i thank God for providing it for us and we just hope that sometime soon, that he will open a new door to another job, where it will be on first shift with some medical benefits. But until then James just keeps on trying to adjust to being on third and we thank God everyday for the job.
So that being said, our plans for spring break changed slightly, instead of all of us going to the Air zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan it was just me and the kids. Friends of ours went there also so that was nice to have people there with me. We went up Monday afternoon and stayed at a hotel, the kids had fun swimming and playing. Then Tuesday morning we went to the Air zoo. The kids had a blast they loved looking at everything and riding all the rides. They all agreed we needed to go back up this summer and take James with us. So that is one of our summer plans. I have so many cool pictures, but here is just a sneak peek of all the fun.

Kids at hotel. Then us in front of the clouds before you go into Air zoo.

The kids getting into the flight simulator.

Zane on his size rides. There are a few rides there he cant ride on, but these rides made it all better.

This is us in the 4D theater. He is just to cute for his own good:)

Ariel on the hamster ball. The plane is the one that we are sitting in.

My kids waiting to get sucked up into the black hole. Really they don't:)
After we left there we took off and went to my mom's in Ohio for the remainder of the week. The kids were excited to go there also, because Grandma's cat just had kitten's. They really wanted to see them especially Landon. He really loves cats, they are his favorite, he wanted a kitten so bad, but unfortunately we can't have one. He took it better then i thought he would, but he was still sad:(
But anyways the kids had fun hanging out at grandma and grandpa Jack's for the week, we went to one of the three nice playgrounds that Archibold has to offer. We also went to a church that had a community play ground thing inside there building and the kids loved playing in there. Especially since the weather was rainy pretty much all week, so we never got visit the other two playgrounds. The kids have been to them before, but they still like to go to all of them when they have the chance. We also went to Wauseon to the Chief grocery store to bring back some awesome sugar cookies for James. We then came back home Friday late afternoon,so we could let James get his sleep.

One of 3 nice outdoor playgrounds in Archibold, OH.

This was the indoor playground inside a church in Archibold, OH.
Of course momma and the kitten's.
Then Saturday we decided that we would take the kids to the Potawatomi Zoo in South bend and then mini- golf at Putt-Putt's in Mishawaka. They had a fun time, they liked being able to do something with daddy too since it was just me with them all the rest of the week. This was Zane's first trip to the Potawatomi zoo and first time mini golfing. He was so much fun too watch. he would hit that ball and keep hitting it and then when he got close to the hole he would pick it up and put it in there and yell Ta-Da and cheer, we all got a good laugh:) So that pretty much sums up are spring break. I have a lot of plans for the summer, i just hope we have the time and money to do them.

At the zoo! Turtle ride anyone??

Zane acting like a monkey!

My Master golfers at work!

Bowling Awards/ Upwards

Ariel and Landon are all done with Upwards Basketball. They had a great time this year. Landon did really well for his first time ever playing ball. He wants to play again next year, so we shall see. But he had fun learning how to play and learning more about God's word.
Ariel also had a good time this year and she really improved over last year, she was more confident and she also made a couple baskets this year. So i am very happy for her. I believe she is also looking forward to playing again next year.
I love it when my kids can play a sport and learn about God all at the same time:)
They had there awards program in March. I have some pics. but they are not that great so i am not even going to post them. The entertainer was funny, the kids really enjoyed him and had a great time. The" awards" the kids got are really cool. They are over the door basketball nets and ball. They really enjoy them. So that brings Upwards to an end, at least till next year.

So that brings us to bowling. It also ended at the end of March and Landon and his friend Jacob took first place in the Bantam League. They were really excited about that, they got a trophy's and patch's. They just had a great time bowling with each other. Landon had also won i think second place in blind doubles. So he was getting all sorts of trophies and awards this year.
Zane had a rough start, he did not want to bowl after it had started. So we just gave up trying to make him bowl one whole game. I blame the red hair for his strong will. Yeah, i know he gets it honestly:) But anyways after Christmas he said he wanted to bowl, so we started letting him bowl again and he did great. I guess he did a little growing up in those couple of months:) But anyways he got his little trophy for bowling on the pee wee league. Then he also got a plaque for being bowler of the month, in March with his high game, plus all his patchs. So both boys did well and ended the season's with a bang.
But now it is time to start a new season Softball/ Baseball. It never ends:)

Easter

We had Easter for the Hartman side at our house this year. There was tons of food, fun and lots of EGGS!! Plus it is the first time that we have gotten together to really celebrate Easter with my (step)brother's family. So we had all 7 kids here to hunt for eggs. I think that the adults had just as much fun hiding them, as the kids did finding them. It was a little cold and dreary out, but the rain stayed away so that we could hunt eggs.

All seven of my dad and Julie's grandchildren together.

Then on Easter day we went over to my grandma Wagner's and celebrated Easter, with my Mom and Jack. I thought that i had taken pictures of kids finding the eggs there too, but i guess i did not or i can't find them. But anyways they had a blast. There were just about the same amount of eggs, for the four kids to find, as there were for the seven to find the day before.
But yes it was a great day over all being with family, but first starting out our morning at church worshiping and praising our risen Savior. Because God is good.... all the time.

Wakarusa Field Trip

Ariel's class took a field trip to Wakarusa Historic Museum to tour building and see things from along time ago.We ate lunch at the park and the kids went and walked and got themselves some free kettle corn. Then they got to go to a Maple Syrup Farm to hear and see how maple syrup is made. Me and James chaperoned a group of kids and had a blast going to the past with them. They were a great group. We also bought some yummy maple syrup too.
This is the group of kids we had in front of the doctor's office.

This Grandma's house.

The kids at the train depot/station. Plus Miss. Klosowski pretending to be in jail.

The Little Red School House.

The Fire House. Crazy kids:)

Deans Tool Shed

The train. Which our kids were disappointed
because they did not get to go through it. So we just took there picture.

The maple syrup Farm