Shirley Temple

Shirley temples are a special favorite in my family. I always remember going to the country club with my grandparents and having a Shirley Temple. The whole experience of going to the country club growing up was very special. We always felt comfortable around my grandparents and yet we knew that we needed to be on our best behavior especially when we went to the country club. We got dressed up and we could choose what we wanted to eat. When I was younger we did not go out much to eat so this was especially exciting too me. I don't recall ever going to the country club and not having a Shirley Temple. Even at the age I am now I still order one when we get an invatation to go when we are home for a visit. Thanks to Nana and Papa for all of those meals that made each of us feel special. For valentines day I thought a Shirley Temple would be nice to make my special ones feel special so we recreated them at home and you can too.

1. Pour a slosh of cherry grenadine into a pretty cup.

2. Drop in a couple maraschino cherries

3. Place in a few ice cubes

4. Fill with Sprite (or gingerale if you prefer)

Happy Weekend!

I have fun decorating and redecorating certain areas of our house when I find a good deal. I had been eyeing some metal wall pieces with leaves cut out of them from crate and barrel but the total cost for those would have been almost $500. I was day dreaming about how I might be able to make something like that myself but the concept was not coming together. Then I found these on super clearance at Kirklands. They were $11 a piece plus another %20 off and they are somewhat like the ideal ones. Think of the savings. Also for my birthday Travis got me this set of vases that goes nicely with the rest of the house because the buffet looked bare.
I want the entrance to my home to be very inviting to those who come to visit and to those who just walk by. I want our home to send a message about who we are and what we value. These flowers probably will not last because I always kill plants but they look really cute and we have the other pot with herbs including my favorite rosemary. The door has changed from Valentines day to Saint Patricks day. I love to put out special little things for the seasons and holidays. Since we don't have seasons here I have to create them inside. Some of my friends have remarked about how my house is like fall because of the colors etc...fall is my favorite season so I guess I really work hard to make up for that one.
Zion getting ready to go swimming with her Dad. It was really hot here today.
My Dad came down for work so we got to see him yesterday and we had a great time. He bought Zion this flower that bends at the Christian bookstore. She totally loves it. We plan to give her a room makeover when she turns two and gets a big girl bed now since when we decorated the room we had to make it neutral since we did not find out what we were having and we decided on a garden theme so this little flower will be cute.
Our little elephant after her bath.

Another Sewing Project

Another Bend the Rules Project A Smock

Turned into a dress.
A dress that my mom made for Zion awhile ago. It almost fits now.

Joshua's Birthday at the Zoo

Our godson Joshua chose to go to the zoo for his birthday. What a fun idea. We had a great time.
Watching the animal show.
Zion held the snake but she was not too sure about it when it started moving.
Looking at flamingos.

One of her favorite animals the elephat.
The little ones sharing cupcakes. Zion, Zach and Leila.
Yeah. Happy Birthday Josh!
Travis and Zion even got to feed the giraffe. They sure have long tounges.

For My Mom

Here is the puppet stage.


And a cute picture of Zion in her new shoes as a bonus.

Ice Skating with The Girls

Zions first pigtails
We got to go ice skating with the girls from youth praise in motion and kenci kindly agreed to drive us in the church mini bus. Zion and Josh were spectating.
The girls were very brave and they all made a good attempt at skating....more brave than I am. I also spectated ( if thats a word).

Z on the ICE

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day everyone. We have had fun doing some valentine projects. At our babysitting swap everyone made the valentine holders that Zion made a few days earlier at home. It is just made out of paper plates. We had fun!

We made my moms recipe for lemon valentine cookies. Those things are good. Zion loved doing the sprinkles. In fact she tried to sprinkle the whole house.
Making the cookies. She likes to SMOOSH!
Making her valentine holder at home. She decorated it all by herself.
The cookies. Travis is much more creative than I and decorated them with fun messages. We packaged them up in these little bags below and stuck rubber bands on them so we could hang them on our neighbors doors. We were not around to do anything nice for our neighbors at Christmas time so it was nice to be able to do something now.

Things I learned...

Sometimes I get the feeling Reba and I are being used. We post some good stuff on here, but I think that some people come to the blog just to look at our cute daughter. It's like a good magazine...nobody reads the articles they just look at the pictures! So, the pictures will be below. I'll make my paragraphs short so they don't seem so daunting.

Do you remember the posters that came out a few years ago that were titled "Everything I needed to learn in life I learned in kindergarten?" If you don't, well they had like 500 things that were cute but true and they had something to do with life lessons learned in kindergarten.

Lately I (yep me again) have gotten to spend time with the Z-ster so Reba can get work done in the afternoon. So after Zion and I went for a jog in her new jogging stroller, we went to the park. Most of you who know Zion, know how special she is. Let me give you an illustration.

There is a young man in our church that so happens to be the husband of the young lady who took care of Zion when Reba was working full time. They got to know eachother very well (Andre and Zion). You probably also know that babies have short memories, so when Zion and Reba went away for a month over Christmas Zion came back and had a hard time remembering all of her friends. She looked at them like she knew they should be familiar, but she couldn't quite place them. Normally, she would reach out for friends to hold her or she would say hi and smile. This was especially true with Andre. Keep in mind that Andre was almost like Zion's beau! Andre was, needless to say, heartbroken most of the month of January.

Andre became very ill and was in the hospital for a couple of weeks in January, as well. I won't say what it was, but we were very concerned for his life. Every night we prayed with Zion and for Andre to get better. Three weeks later Andre was back at church. When Zion saw Andre, whose name we mentioned every night specifically, she reached out for him and gave him the biggest, longest hug I had every seen her give anyone. She held onto him in a hugging position around his neck for literally 20 minutes. I think that one hug added five years to that man's life. She did it again the following week, but not as long this time. It was really one of the most special things I've ever witnessed. That's Zion.

To get back to the theme of this post I learned a life lesson from Zion today. We went to the park (sorry, I said that already). At the park, there were a few kids there. Zion, of course, wants to make instant friends and gives a wave, smile and hi. Generally, Zion is the youngest kid there. She was today as well. Older kids aren't usually as nice. They may smile, especially the girls, but they usually don't have time to wait for a less agile being. They simply scamper along and go down the slide or onto the next play thing. Anyway, Zion is extremely friendly. When 4pm rolled around I think some afterschool program let out and about 20 kids came racing over from one of the rec buildings. I knew I had better get Zion out of there because these kids were around the 10 and over age. As we were walking away, Zion was really excited because she loves most everybody. She waves and says hello, but not one kid responded in kind. She noticed and there was a quick sense of disappointment. I quickly told her that not everyone is as friendly and kind as she is, but to never let that deter her from showing kindness to others.

As I thought about that moment a passage of scripture came to my mind that I have pondered for as long as I can remember hearing/reading about it. The passage is where Jesus' disciples got mad at a child for interupting something "important." Jesus told them to cut it out and invited the children over. I'm sure he probably told them a funny story or sang them a song, or maybe reached into his tunic and gave them a piece of wheat germ candy. Anyway, he then told his disciples and those around him that they should look at the kids and learn from them. They should have faith like a child.

Ok, I get it. Children are trusting, sometimes too trusting. So, we are to have absolute faith in Jesus. "Just trust me," he sometimes says. And that's very good advice. He's all-knowing, he is love, he is God. Why not trust him? There is no better person to trust...but...I've always had questions about what he was really saying. Child-like faith. I think the faith that Jesus was talking about was more than just about trust. I think he was actually talking about attitude...actions...heart...character...ideals...paradigms...foundations. These things are really what faith is about anyway. We certainly hear alot about faith right now because of the air time politcians are getting. My faith is this...my faith is that. Whatever!

Zion taught me about faith. I don't think that Zion is the only child out there that can teach this lesson and I don't think that Zion is the most speciallist child out there either. I'm just using Zion as an example. Zion's faith today and most days consists of kindness. She is kind and it doesn't matter if you are giving her anything in return. I really thought that if we could all just be kind to one another what a different place this would be. If we could just quit worrying about getting respect from someone or receiving kindness. Just be kind. Forget about communism (premise that everyone should be equal and no one has more than the other...only works in utopia), try kindnessism. This is what Jesus was talking about. You see, eventually, Zion's paradigm/faith will be changed by the hurt that is inflicted upon her by others. She will become guarded, perhaps jaded. She will be careful before she shows others kindness...that is what it means to "grow up." She will become more and more self-seeking as time goes on.

Jesus was telling us to just trust him because what we experience and what we learn through knowledge shapes our faith/foundations/paradigms/attitude/character/heart into something that it probably shouldn't be...angry...jealous...violent...selfish. So, first we must just trust him because he will definately take care of all of our needs. That will enable us to have childlike faith, which is to love, unconditionally, because he first loved us. Be kind...it's gonna hurt...but do it anyway. Here is some motivation:

Zion got a fun "globe from Reba's mom. There is a balloon inside...light as a feather!

Zion at the cool park I found. Lots of shade, grass and no sand!

Mommy and Zion made a whatcha-ma-callit!

Have you ever put on one shoe and then walked around the house looking for the other? It's very akward isn't it? I decided to do this to Zion the other night. We're not so different, she and I. It was as equally akward for her as it is for me. And walking in her shoes...

...is more ackward for me than it is for her.

I got this really cute bathrobe for Zion because she is getting to tall for her baby bath towels. I try to make elephant sounds, but it's nothing like the real thing. I found elephant sounds on the internet and she really enjoys those.

Awhile Ago

My siblings and I are closer than a lot of siblings I think. Maybe because we homeschooled so we were together a lot. But I think more it was the way our parents modeled the importance of relationships whether it be in our family or with friends or neighbors. They taught us to treat others with grace and to value people for who they were and to not look to others to meet our needs but to offer them what we could not expecting anything in return. I have had many wonderful friends and a few friends that have stuck by me over the years despite many miles that span between us now. But I am happy to say that my siblings are my friends and that we can share our lives together even though our life is not together. Being the oldest and four years older than my next sibling Tim I was always stuck out on the end viewing them as little kids. Now though the years bewteen us do not seem far at all but I still have the instinct of an older sister. Sometimes I wish that I could make life easier for them and sometimes I still try to tell them what to do. I hope for them that they do not have to make the mistakes that I have made and that they can experience the joys that I have. I am so so proud of each of them. This may seem a little sappy but I think I have a lot to be proud about. Not that I really had much of any part of who they are today, my parents and their own discipline and hearts get the credit for that. Back in the days when I used to get them to clean my room for a penny, get frustrated because my little brother was better than me at math, or come up with stupid silly plays to put on in the living room we never would have imagined who we would become.

Tim is finding is way and his ministering and working on the North Side of Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh Project which is one of my favorite places/programs ever. http://www.pittsburghproject.org/
Not to mention he continues to learn and think deeply about things as he always has even though he is no longer in school. This has been inspiring to me. He is very smart if you did not know and in his age has become much more confidident in how he interacts with people. (he used to be shy when he was younger but you would never know it now) He has a heart for people and for the potential that they have within them. He also has a strong and growing relationship with God that is evident in his priorities. He is also marrying a delightful girl who I am sure will make him even better than he is. http://thepresentmoment.wordpress.com/
http://timothyandrachel.wordpress.com/

Doug is finishing out his degree at Moody Bible Institute. I only made it through three semesters there so he has surpassed me and will soon graduate. Despite many challenges that he has been faced with he has stayed the course. He always makes me laugh even when I think about him. He has been involved in some really cool things, managing the campus radio station http://www.moodycampusradio.com/ , working with a film business http://www.wakingupalone.com/ , traveled to Africa and the list goes on. He is always willing to help me out with stuff including designing tshirts I need for me for free. He is very talented and creative and has exciting things ahead of him when he graduates. I think Doug surpassed me in coolness awhile ago. http://thepresentmoment.wordpress.com/


Beth is so different from when I used to live at home. Beth used to be the sassy one. I remember her asking me when I was living at home and she was probably about 10 "are you wearing that? Cause it does NOT look good." I appreciate the fact that she tells it like it is. Now though she is grown up beyond her years. She has a strong sense of who she is. She is not afraid to do what is right even if it is difficult. She is directed, hard working, and self motivated. She makes me look lazy I think. In fact I have been trying to educate her own how to be a little more of a slacker (dont tell my mom). She is going to Pitt in the fall and majoring in things that I would never even attempt to take a class in. She listens to me anytime I have some stupid story that I want to tell and I so enjoy having her as a friend.

Abbey. What can I say Abbey is so sweet, kind, caring, and compassionate. She is always looking out for everyone and has a kind word. She is very intelligent and articulate but also very humble. She takes joy in the small things and teaches us all to be a little more nice to each other. She can be absolutley hilarious. I hardly ever hear Abbey say anything negative about anyone at all. She has a positive outlook and is very willing to serve others. I had Abbey here for a week last year and I had so much fun hanging out with her and getting to know her more. She is very stylish and is the family fashion consultant. I can't wait to see what Abbey is up to as she takes control of the home front when Beth moves out.

I know I am biased but I think that you all are very extaordinary and I love you very much. I miss you.

Zion and I [that would be Travis (yes I'm posting...get over yourself!)], spent an afternoon together last weekend. The weather was beautiful! We went to the park and played soccer. I took some pictures, which you will see below. The awesome thing is, however, is that she was more interested in what was going on behind the soccer net. That would be basketball! Yep, she was into basketball. Thankfully at her age a soccerball is also a basketball. You will not see any pictures of us on the court because once we step on a basketball court its all business. We did not have time to take pictures. Also, some moments are special and just to be shared between those that are present. Anyway, we had a great time. I love my little girl!

Zion has great coordination and kicks the ball without looking!

There was a huge spider that Z and I found on a walk one night. We purposely stopped on our day out together to take a picture of it. I put up a dollar so that you could picture just how big it really is. Zion wasn't at all scared and she thought I should throw things at it to see what it would do. IT MOVES REALLY FAST!!! That's what it does! She thought that was cool. The people walking by thought I was stupid. Oh well, what do they know. I like what Z thinks and she's smarter than most people I know.

And a Bib and a Purse