Chicago Day 1:

We surprised the kids and took the South Shore train up to Chicago over Valentines weekend. They were very surprised and excited. They loved riding the train. It was there first time riding. We had such a great time. When we finally got there and got off the train and walked out onto Michigan Ave. and they saw all the buildings and everything. There reactions and faces were priceless. I will remember that moment forever. We then took a taxi to our hotel room The Hillspring Suites by Marriott. It is a very family friendly, spacious, with great amenities hotel to stay at with our family. It is now the hotel of choice when we take future trips to Chicago. We stayed on the 16th floor and the kids had fun looking at the city from the windows. They played a game that the first one to see a Taxi would yell it out. Zane would call the Taxi's, Tac-ski's. It was so funny no matter how much you tried to correct him it was still tacski.
Our hotel was right across the street from Harry Caray's restaurant. We did not eat there,but it was still pretty cool to see and be by.
So our first evening in the windy city began with us trying to find something to eat. Because we were all really hungry. So we set out to find something to eat and we ended up at all places eating at the Rock and Roll McDonald's. Go figure we are how far from home and it is still McDonald's. The kids loved it though, eating up top, taking the escalators up, just everything. Me and Ariel had to run over to Sports Authority, because i forgot to tell her to pack her swim suit. So after getting our stomachs full and finding a suit, we headed back to the hotel. Along the way i dropped the bag with Ariel's suit in it. I was so upset with myself, but the Amazing God that we have led James to find it. I was shocked! But then i don't know why, we have an amazing God and if we were suppose to find it, then we would have just like we did. So after all that excitement and we thanked our awesome God, the kids got there suits on and we went swimming for awhile. The kids were up way late. Then finally it was time to go to sleep. So that we could continue our adventures the next day
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The start to 2011!

Well we welcomed 2011 with much fanfare and with many family member's. We were so ready for 2010 to be over with, in hopes that 2011 would be a better year. Even though we had experienced a few great moments in 2010.I was happy to wish it good bye and open my arms wide for a huge hug for the new year. So far it has been ok. We had what everyone calls a Blizzard, i call it snow.lol It brought along with it some frigid weather, that gave us 1 day off of school and a few delays for a couple mornings. I do have to say that was nice for me.
In January we had Rabbit club start back up and Upwards Basketball for Landon this year. Ariel is not playing this year. We will be finishing up with that and Quizzing next month in March. Then we will have about a month and a half where all we have is bowling on Saturdays, that i can handle.
Oh and about rabbit club, i did forget to mention that we had our first set of baby bunnies born this past October. So we gave 2 away and kept 3 plus we still have Hopscotch.So we went from 1 rabbit to 4. She will not be shown this year we are going to show the other ones. That has been January for us. In my next post i will be telling you about our trip to Chicago!!! Fun times had by all:)

It's been along time and its now 2011.

Wow, time sure has flown by, i thought that i had started off 2010 doing fairly well with my blogging. But then it went down hill from there. So let me try and catch you up on what has went on in the last year, before i get into all the things that have happened so far in 2011.
So i guess the most important thing happened to us in March after James birthday.Was that. HE GOT A JOB:) It was at first a job through a temp agency called Manpower for a factory 3rd shift press operator for Triangle Rubber Plastics division. He really struggled with 3rd shift ,but was a real trooper and kept going on. You would not think that it would be a big adjustment but it was for our family. He had never worked on third or ran a press. He had more problems with the lateness of it then working a press.But then things did improve Triangle hired him on as one of there own so no more Manpower. That happened in May and then in July he got to go on first shift still running a press. But that only lasted for a couple weeks then he was offered a job in there shipping department(1st shift). He is the Warehouse Coordinator and he really enjoys it. That is his thing, so he felt at home in that area and it is very hard for us to believe that in March it will be a year since he started at Triangle. But actual hire in and Anniversary for him is May because of the whole temp agency. But it has really flown by.
So lets see we may as well stick with James and see what else may have been going on with him this last year. He pretty much worked. But he did go and coach Landon's Little League team the Astro's. He enjoys doing that. Plus him and Landon did a lot of fishing during the summer while we were up at the lake. James actually got to play a little ball himself with another Church league, unfortunately because of his job and where they moved the league too for our church he was not able to play with them this year.
Let's see what have i been doing this past year? I have been doing the mom and wife thing and crossing the kiddo's, This is my third year crossing, I do enjoy it. I enjoy the kids i don't enjoy the mornings:) Nothing seems to really come to mind. Me and the kids did a lot of staying out at the lake with my grandparents this past year. I guess my biggest thing is my friend taught me how to knit at the end of October and i really love it. I wish i could say that is why my blogging has fallen behind, but sadly no. It was just because of my forgetful brain and laziness.
I have also made another new friend this year. She is a wonderful women, who i think is very strong and courageous. I am glad that i have gotten to know her and that we are friends:)
How could i forget that i am now helping to teach a group of 1st and 2nd graders on Wednesday nights at church. They are called the Loving Limes. Landon of course is in that group.It is different teaching the younger ones then the older, some good, some maybe not so good differences:)But other then that I really have not had a lot happen with myself.
Ariel she is in 5th grade. She is now in the Preteens at church. She had a blast had Church camp last year and is enjoying her workshops on Wednesday nights and her Sunday school classes also. She decided to quiz again this year and has been doing that which is still going on as i am typing this. But last year Ariel played Minor softball and she decided to join Orchestra this summer and played the violin. She did really well with it but then after school started she decided to give it up, But she did get picked to be in the Orff Ensemble at school. So she still does something musical. She was also in running Club and has been participating in that since they started it at Parkside when she was in 3rd grade. They have a fall and a spring one so that should be starting up pretty soon. Other then that she has just been helpful around the house and enjoys having her friends over.
Landon is now in 1st grade, and is enjoying it a lot. He finished his Kindergarten year successfully and is now in the 1st grade. During the summer he played in the Rookie League and enjoyed doing that. He also did wrestling camp for the second year and enjoyed himself. He was going for first place this year, but ended up in 3rd. But he still has never been pinned, the match that he lost was only by 1 point against his friend so it was a very stressful match. I said it will be great when they can all be on the same team and not wrestle against each other.Of course he also bowls on Saturdays and he also is playing Upwards basketball for his 2nd year. He enjoys every sport he does, we will just have to wait and see which he decides to pursue when he gets older.
Zane well he is just as goofy as ever and keeps me very entertained. He enjoys going over to Grandma W. and Grandma and Grandpa H. house's while i cross the kids in the morning. Then me and him get to hang out the rest of the day. He also enjoys going to MOPS with me and has a great time. He will actually get to play ball this year so that will be something to look forward too. He loves going to Church and has a great time in The Kids Town playing with his friends and learning about God. He would tell you that he loves 1,2,3, Kisses, Eskimo kisses and Cheeky kisses. Those are the types of kisses he gives to me and James tries to steal from him.lol He also prays and tells God every night that he loves those kinds of kisses too. Like i said he keeps us well entertained.
I believe that now you are all caught up with what has happened in 2010. Oh wait, i am wrong. Me and James got to go up to Holland Michigan for our Anniversary in Sept. for the night. It was really great to just get away for awhile and do stuff together for ourselves and not for the kids. Now i think i can move on with 2011. So heres to hoping i blog better in 2011 then in 2010:)

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.