Family Fun

One thing I can't stress enough is the importance of family time. I mean true family time with no television. We true to do this at least once a month. I would love to do it more than just once a month but right now we are working with our new schedules and surroundings so we are going to keep it simple. This month we went to Chuckie Cheese. It was nice to see the kids having a good time. I normally don't do Chuckie Cheese on the weekends because it's so crowded but my oldest was invited to a b-day party so I decided to take advantage of the situation. Anywho I left my oldest let loose with his friends, baby girl had a blast pressing random buttons about throwing balls oh yeah and sliding my darling love bug explored his surroundings without me which was interesting since he always wants me around and well my babyboy enjoyed. Just being held in my sling for 3 hours lol. All in all it was a great time and we enjoyed. Hubby and I even had a chance at some competitive basketball (we do that every time we go). He won this time only cause I had babyboy. So the moral of this post is that it's important to spend that family time with your spouse and love ones. So if you haven't done so in a while get out there and get with it. All we have is our family!!!


Until next time lots of love,
Ladyhart

The emotional aspects of buying a home!!!!

Hello everyone I know I have been gone but it has been a battle..... do you understand me!! I mean put your dukes up and let's fight kind of battle. I am happy to say that I won the battle and my husband and I are now proud home owners. :)

It's unique like we are and we love it!! It definitely needs work to show the true essence of the Hart family 

The banks wanted our blood types, our momma's brother's name lol and much more. I am so happy that we bought our first home and we did it before the age of 30 :) Thinking about the experience we went through I thought it would nice to talk about some things pertaining to the house. I will not offer financial tips on buying a home (I am in no way an expert) however, because my journey was more about the emotional aspects, I think it would nice to share some things I did learn from the emotional standpart.

Rule #1 Your credit should be GOOD, if not save yourself the drama and handle before considering looking for a home.

We had no intentions of buying a home when we began to look for a house outside of BTR. We were looking to rent a nice home for our growing family. At the time we had just found out we were pregnant with baby girl. However we found a company that cleans your credit and assist you with building your first home. So being the curious individuals we are we figured it won't hurt to talk to the representative. While this wasn't that bad, the process probably would have been smoother if we had already handled a lot of our credit ourselves. Most of what they did we could have done before we even went to them, which would have allowed us to purchase a home a lot sooner. Needless to say they did they're part and while it was frustrating at times we got it done (a year and two months later).

Rule #2 Be prepared to look at multiple homes and don't get frustrated if you have to look at a different one because the first one you looked at didn't work.

Like I said before we were originally suppose to have our house built, however the process was taking so long we decided that we would look at some homes the company had already finished. Before making this decision however my husband and I chose at least 3 different floors plans and 3 different lots before making the decision to look at some houses that were already complete. Honestly I was excited at first but after the second and third house I was getting frustrated. If you are anything like me (I have a hard time being patient) than just be prepared to deal with the stress. There was one time when I looked over at my husband and asked him "if maybe we were rushing things and that's why things weren't going right."

Rule #3 Be honest with yourself and talk to your spouse about your feelings

Buying home or getting a house built can cause stress in the home just like it can bring happiness. If you become stressed talk to your spouse and let them know how you feel. Often times they may feel the same way. Letting it out will be like a weight off of your shoulder. You will able to think with a clear head knowing your spouse has some anxiety too :)

Rule #4 The underwriters are going to dry you crazy

I was told that in today's economy and the way the laws have changed that you as a buyer of the home are going to be "ran through the mud and back." Our loan officer "GOD BLESS HIS SOUL" did the best he could and I appreciate him for it. The banks wanted so much information, proof of funds and everything that I became frustrated with the process and even considered giving up. This however changed quickly when I expressed my concerns to my hubby and we talked about it. (RULE #3) is very important.

Rule #5 Last but not least....Fight for what you want and Praise God when you get it

I learned along time ago that nothing is just giving to you. You must be willing to fight for what you feel is yours. If you want your house you will go through the ringer once, twice and even three times, until you get it. The fight will end with a victory for you and your family. And with the fight is over and you have finished experiencing the emotional rollercoaster that you will have front row seats on be sure to thank god for the experience and the blessing. Make note of what you learned and keep it moving. Through this whole experience, I learned that trusting the lord is very important. I have faith but my impatience will cause me to doubt and this is something I have to work on.

Faith without works is DEAD!! James 2:14-26

Life if full of obstacles, you can walk around them, stop and complain about them or take them head on. Either way you are reacting to them so you might as well deal with it. 

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Kneebouncers?? Don't mind if I do!!

I am a big believer of early education. Starting young is important and will help your child build confidence within themselves and when they go to school, they are less likely to experience anxiety. Why you might ask? Well think of it like this, your about to start a new school, what was the first thing you were worried about? If your teacher was going to be mean and if you we're going to make friends. For children that's a lot to stress about. I remember thinking about this stuff constantly. Especially when I was in the 6th grade. Now let's keep in mind that things have changed and children are now concerned at a younger age about such things. For instance my 5 yr old son is always worried about people laughing at him. Now at 5yrs old he should not be thinking about this but he does. So can you imagine a 5 year old worried about getting the answer wrong because he doesn't have the confidence? Horrible right!! Exactly my point!!! This is why I encourage parents to begin teaching at a the age of 1. Sing songs about colors, numbers, alphabet, body parts etc. Read to them, sing nursery rhymes, dance and make up songs with your phone number, spelling of their name, etc. Anything to get those little minds going. Now when they are about 18 months (some may even say 12 months) introduce them to the computer. I for one allowed my daughter to touch the computer at 9 months but she just started learning from the computer. There is fisher prices website, knee bouncers which is one of my favorites ( my dd loves it) and abc mouse (haven't use this one but friend told me its awesome).

So parents are there any websites or methods you use for your toddlers and/or preschoolers? Are there any television shows that you let your little one.

SN: I allow my dd to watch educational shows like sesame street, super why, team umizoomi, Mickey mouse clubhouse, little Einsteins. She does not watch tv all day along. In fact I let her watch in segments. Like after breakfast, after lunch, nap time and than after dinner and bath. My oldest boys come home and they normally don't turn the tv on until 6 after snack, homework and recaps of the day have been done ;)

Can you teach me to tie my shoes, mommy?

I have to admit that I am the teacher in my household. I think things through and teach my children all that is needed to know to survive in life. But I will admit that there is one thing that I cannot do. Tie my kids how to tie shoes smh lol. I know it’s a simple task right. Well not for me know matter what way I show him I can’t get them to do it. I tried the tree and squirrel method, I have tried the two bunny ears and I have even tried the “x” and the cross method…but no success. It doesn’t help that my 5 year old is also talented enough to use both is left and right hands , which just throws me off cause I don’t know what hand to lead with lol. Well like the great mother I am I tried again to today and today I had it. I just couldn’t do it. SMH!! No matter how hard I tried to get him to do it I couldn’t get him to do the first step. So I turned to my lovely husband who was working of course and asked him if he could teach him. He gladly took him the next room and within 5 minutes my son came back and showed me the first step of tying his shoes. Now when I say 5 minutes I am actually given extra time. It was more like 2-3 minutes. My darling hubby taught him step 1, how to cross his laces and pulls one through the hole! Now I don’t know about you but I felt quite slow after seeing this. Is something wrong with me I taught lol. I mean I taught the boy write his name, read, spell, brush his teeth, wash his hair, eat, his phone number, address but I can’t teach him to tie his shoes. I guess sometimes even superwoman can’t do it all lol. Has this ever happen to anyone? How did you get through the tying shoe method? Did you let your spouse have at it? Or did you keep trying? I ask this because I didn’t teach my oldest how to tie his shoes either, my husband taught him too.

It’s only 50 cent……. When kids think they are entitled!!

I would like to think that I am raising mychildren to the best of my ability. There is no manual to teach kids and makingsure to love them but not spoil them is one of my top priorities. Especiallysince we have four kids and have considered having more. Deciding to spoil fourcan cause serious problems in my household and hinder them from growing as aperson.  I have to admit that over thepast year I have been hard my hubby who does the spoiling. He means well(giving the kids the love he missed when he was younger) but sometimes he goesoverboard.  This cause the kids to have asense of entitlement and let me tell you something….Kids should not think thatthey run, own, or pay for anything. This is not the way a household should be run.Let me give you an example of when things tried to get out of control and I hadto remind them who is the BOSS. Right before school started we were in themiddle of moving. We had just come back from my sis’s wedding so we were on a budgetso that we could make sure we were able to pay for all the things needed suchas shoes, uniforms, school supplies, moving truck, closing cost, and bills. Wewere in the store getting school supplies, mind you I went earlier but had toget some last minute stuff that teachers requested like dry erase markers,paper towels and hand sanitizer. The kids know not to ask for things but everynow and then they forget, which is normal because their “Kids”. We were in lineand I’m paying for stuff, when my oldest boys ask can they go look at the 50cent toy machines. Should I mention that I hate these machines because they area waste of money!!  Anyways, my oldestboys come up to my husband and I and say “Can we get some money, please for themachine?” Of course, I look and say “NO we don’t have money for that!”.Normally my kids would be like okay, but I think the sun was affecting theirbrains, because my oldest says “It’s only 50 cent!!!” My immediately reactionwas “EXCUSE ME.” Now in my opinion this was disrespectful for two reasons…

1.      What I say goes there is no talking back

2.      They don’t have money so they should not respondin such a manner

At this point I was upset, but I kept cool. I gave my kidsthe look and we all walked out the store. Now when we walked out to the car Iimmediately checked my kids. I let them know that they do not have jobs and 50cent is a lot to person with no money. I also let them know that I amdisappointed in their behavior and there will be punishment for that type ofbehavior. We went off to the car with me still rambling about the importance ofrespecting my word and not acting spoiled. Once in the car, I decided thepunishment.  “NO NEW BOOKBAGS!!!” Thismay seem extreme but I needed them to understand that disrespect and entitlementwill not be tolerated.  Now I know someof you’ll are thinking why didn’t I just ground them, but it’s important that Ikeep my kids grounded at all times. Grounded them would have done nothing,because it had nothing to do with money. I needed them to understand who hasthe money and who makes the decision on who is going to spend it.  Last thing I need is for them to think that Iowe them something and that I have buy them something. I always tell them thatthere are children who don’t get new things for school and have to get usedstuff or nothing at all. I want them to understand that we work for what wehave and all things that are given to them they have to work for unless it’stheir birthday of course, or family and friends want to give them something.They do chores daily and they earn money by helping me with big task and makinggood grades and good behavior in school. We buy nice things for them because welove them not because we have to.

Needless to say I believe they understand now. We have beento the store several times and they have never asked for anything. So my hubby(remember I told you he spoils them) bought them those tattoos the wanted. Hereis them showing off their tattoos.

HURRICANE ISSAC IS FINALLY GONE!!!

Hello everyone I am finally back and I am so glad that I am able to say this because Hurricane Issac was very serious. If many of you have been watching the news than you know it got really bad during the storm. We prepared for the storm as much as we could and I prayed that my house would still be standing when the storm passed. Our favorite family the Morgans who reside in the BTR invited us over if we needed to stay. Even our neighbors came over and told us we would come over to their place if we needed to because they had a generator. Very nice gesture considering that we barely know them and vice verse.  But we HARTS are warriors and this was our last option because we did not want intrude on anyone, after all we are a family of six (so we take up quite a bit of space). Any who we ended up staying at the house and everything was going okay until the power went out. 

 During the beginning of the storm I was able to get a little footage of what it was like at the beginning. We were getting bands of wind but no rain yet. Later that night however the rain picked up and once it did my roof began to leak in the living room. It started out with just one leak, so I used one of kitchen pots to catch it, next thing we knew there were four spots leaking. I did not get a picture however here's a description for you....imagine looked at the ceiling and like a ceiling fan there is a circle of spots dripping water. One leak is being caught by a trashcan, the second and third kitchen pots and the fourth a plastic bowl SMH!!!! The leaks weren't that bad and needless to say that my house is still standing considering it is brick, however I am actually really concerned about this house because it's not a year old O_O! My shingles on my front porch also tried to blow away but my hubby went out there (like the dare devil he is) and saved them lol. 

It was quite an experience but one thing I am happy with is that we were able bond. Yeah yea you know me I always have to find the positive in everything :) Since the power went out on Tuesday and no one was distracted by electronics (their great but can be detrimental to a family) I was able to get everyone to play a game of charades. It was so much fun especially since we are all very competitive. It was my hubby and Ikaika against Palani and I (Aolani and Keoni watched lol ;) Needless to say Palani and I were winning until we got into a rut and ended up losing by one point. SMH!! We plan on having a rematch next Saturday and we are taking no prisoners lol.

Okay so back to the Hurricane….as most of you might know it was first a tropical storm than turned in a category 1 hurricane than sat on top of New Orleans and surrounding areas like Madisonville, Slidell, Mandeville, Grand Isle, Metarie, etc and just poured rain and blew strong wind bands. It went down to a tropical storm again before heading towards Arkansas but it did a great deal of damage to us folks in Louisiana. A lot of people had to evaluate their homes and a so far three people died ;( (such as sad thing to have to deal with) My prayers go out those who lost love ones and their prize possessions due to the hurricane. 

 Here are some pics of my area (courtesy of nola.com). I have a video for ya'll as well but got to work on getting it to load (sorry)

These pictures are from downtown Madisonville, which is only 3 miles from my house, we are so fortunate and blessed. 

This a picture of Guste Island were a levee was breached.