Alphabitty Moments--Week 10

This blog carnival was created my MamaBear to preserve our family memories.  This week it is time for the letter J!  


This is on odd one for me, because, to be perfectly honest, carving pumpkins is my least favorite annual event. I LOVE Fall! LOVE it! I adore going to the pumpkin patch to select the pumpkins, but carving them? I'd gladly pass! And then there is my "thing" about writing on bottoms. I cannot stand how kids' clothes (luckily for me, mostly girls' clothes) have writing or other insignia on the bottoms!  That all said, I just know these are days I will miss:  lit, carved jack o'lanterns on the porch (because I know I will no longer carve pumpkins without prodding from my little {and not so little} ones) and jammies with anything on the bottom that do not manage to turn my stomach!

Now, won't you mosey on over to the campground to see what other people came up with for J?

Bronx Zoo

Well, the weather has broken (for the moment, anyway), and I have a new camera, so forgive me for pelting you with photos!  We had a big day here today:  
Nick pulled himself to standing--TWICE! (I need a few photography classes--darn shadows!) And...
...we decided to avail ourselves of the Bronx Zoo!  It was the perfect day for it.  I won't bore you with all the pictures taken today, but the highlight of the trip (for the boys who actually knew where they were anyway) was riding camels!

Here's shot of Nick with Nickie the Camel, who...

...took Jack and Gabe for a ride.

Then there was Josh,

who hosted Will.

It was a positively gorgeous day, but the only other blog-worthy event (which is probably only so in my own mind, because I have been waiting for it for soooo long, it seems) happened at lunchtime.  Nick wore what we call his Ganio-glasses, because that's who gave them to him when he was born and who he will mainly need to sport them around, since we spend a LOT of time together in the sun in the summer-time.
Nick clearly did not understand why they were on his face, and interpreted them as some sort of peek-a-boo apparatus, and commenced to play!

There are just few things sweeter than a baby playing peek-a-boo!

Hooray for a Park Day!

Nicholas experienced his first playground today.

First swing...

...a BIG hit!

First slide...

I can't get enough of that gorgeous blue sky!

Mom, dig out your pix of Will in the stroller with the french fry and the sunglasses in his little red ball cap at the Renaissance Fair...I swear it could be the same baby!

Love this face!

"My big brother is soooo awesome!"

How much do I love these days???

Alphabitty Moments--Week 9

This week's Alphabitty Moment is brought to you by the letter I.

These photos were taken over Christmas vacation, when  Aunt Annie and Uncle Adam and Aunt Buddy and her boyfriend, Sharif, took the boys to D.C. for a weekend.  After seeing a Capitals game, all were inspired to try their hands feet at ice skating.  I especially love these pictures of our "new" Uncle Adam, who will officially join our family on August 15th, helping Gabe remain upright!  He is so patient, and all of our boys just adore him.  We are all so blessed that he is on our lives, especially Aunt Annie's.  We could not have dreamed up a better husband for her!  We love you, Adam!

Be sure to cruise on over to MamaBear's site to what amazing layouts my Alphabitty Friends have created this week!

Annie's Big Day!

Thursday, my sisters-in-law, Annie and Buddy, two of Annie's friends, Annie's soon-to-be mother-in-law, and I went dress shopping for the big day 8/15!  Though I cannot show you the dress, I can tell you it is one of these:
With the gown ordered and veil in hand, we headed to lunch where we gorged ourselves with garlicky breadsticks, pasta, salad, tiramisu, and cheesecake.
Sufficently stuffed, we headed down the street for mani and pedi appointments.

We topped the day off with a little shopping before heading back to D.C. to spend the night. Nicholas was a trooper but learned the lesson all Hartle males must come to grips with sooner or later: a girls' day out is better left to the girls!

Alphabitty Moments--Week 8

The letter Hh!

(Left page)

(Right page)

We are a blended-faith family. Kind of. Jim and I are both Christians, but Jim was raised Catholic: Catholic school, holy days of obligation, confession, Catholic college--the works. I, on the other hand was raised Methodist, and my father even became a Methodist minister after retiring from 23 years in the military. When Will and Jack were small, we thought we had the perfect plan for our boys' religious education as we brought them up in a Christ-centered home. We would attend Methodist church until they were in middle school, at which point we would begin their Catholic educations, so that they could decide for themselves at confirmation time. What seemed reasonable in theory proved challenging in practice for a number of reasons. First, Gabe came along...he was only beginning school when Will and Jack reached middle school age. If we were to follow through on our plan, we would have to attend different churches. This was not the message I wanted to send to my sons. Families should worship together. Jim had been great for the 12 years we attended Methodist church and never once complained. When we moved to Connecticut, we searched for a Methodist church that could feed us spiritually in the way our church in California had...a place we could grow and serve. When nothing measured up, we sought out a Catholic church. All 4 of our sons were baptized by my father in the Methodist church. We have held off with communion until they could understand the difference between the Eucharist at Mass and holy communion in protestant denominations. Once Will and Jack took their First Communion, they began attending catechism. Gabe and Nicholas are missing out on the protestant Sunday school experience, and we are looking for a way to remedy that. Sunday school played an important role in the formation of our older sons' spiritual foundation. Because of all they learned in Sunday school and Wednesday Night Live sessions, they understood enough to participate in great discussions about faith after catechism. "Why do we believe...Mom, do you believe...?"

Wow! That is a lot of background! Anyway, this page has pictures from both denominations. We try to keep the focus on God and his works, not the worldly expression of our faith. The pictures on the left are from Nicholas's baptism--on the top is Nick and my dad, and on the bottom are Nicholas's godparents (the Methodist church does not do godparents, but it was important to Jim that we do that like his family always has). On the top right is Will's and Jack's Holy First Communion, and on the bottom right is a photo after Ash Wednesday of this year, when Nick received his first blessing and ashes. It is all very eclectic and probably "weird" to many, but it is less important to me how they worship than it is who and that they worship!

Go see what my amazing Alphabitty friends over at MamaBear's site have come up with!

Happy Easter!

Here are some pics! Hope yours was as fun and happy as ours.

The annual Easter Egg-dying contest. Gabe informed both of his parents that he knew the "Easter bunny is just a stranger in a costume," so we decided to expand the egg dying extravaganza to include all sorts of prizes for cooperation, creativity, neatness, etc.  (Mom still has to have her fun!!!)

Don't worry:  it's not his chocolate bunny!

Nick obviously was too little to participate in the egg-dying, but he got a basket Easter morning!

Nick and his Nana

We had a great Easter weekend in Virginia!  And next I am looking forward to a day with the girls wedding dress shopping!  (And, of course mani's, pedi's and lunch!) What could be more FUN???