Sister's Birthday

My sister is the best! Her birthday was on Sunday. I wanted to give a shout out to her because I love her so much.

Reasons I have the best sister in the world:

1. She is always honest.
2. She is always sincere.
3. She gives the best advice.
4. She is hysterical.
5. Even though she lived through exactly what I did, she maintained so much integrity and didn't get into half of the stuff I did.
6. She is such a great mother to her three beautiful children.
7. She loves her husband with deep passion.
8. She supports those around her with unabashed love.
9. When she commits to something, she goes all-out.
10. She has always cheered me on with my art and writing.
11. She cared enough about me to witness to me even though I didn't want to hear it.
12. She was the reason I heard about Christ's love on a daily basis when I was at the end of my rope.
13. She has always told me (and been right) to stay away from certain boys.
14. She has an incredible voice and she's the only singer that can make me cry.
15. She and her husband are doing the hard thing of getting out of debt and doing a great job!
16. She knows what is important in life.
17. She's my sister!

I love you my Big Sis!

BTW, I don't know how it happened, but I am really sorry that the cake was chocolate and the icing was kinda like the whipped icing. It was supposed to be yellow or white cake with REAL chocolate or white icing.

The Zoo

I went to the zoo with my sister yesterday and it was a blast. I still can't get over the fact that I can hang out with my sister any time I want. For the last eight years, I have kept myself silent about wanting my sister and her family to move to Birmingham, but it wasn't until this year that God finally moved them back...to stay...I hope. :)

Anyway, it was my sister, her 2 year-old (A), a little girl (B) she is keeping a few days a week, Ham and me. My sister's 2 year-old truly believes she knows what's best for Ham. She will feed her (sometimes forcibly), give her a sippy cup and push her stroller like a champ. Sometimes, the outcome is pretty funny. Sometimes, we have to intervene.

One funny moment was when we were in the monkey house (appropriate, no?) and little "A" went over to Ham, shoved Ham's sippy cup in her mouth and said, "Here." Before Ham could take a sip, "A" had taken it away and said, "OK, you're done." Things like this go on non-stop when these two are together. Thankfully, Ham was too tired to protest anything that was done to her. She was a dream. She was up at 8 and didn't go down for a nap until 1PM. I was really surprised. If she was at home, she'd be pitching a royal fit. Not that I would blame her. Five hours is a long time for a 10-mos-old to be up.

The zoo is OK. I mean, they have just about anything you could want to look at. However, we haven't seen the elephants, rhinos, or hippos in a while. Also, I wish they would do something about habitats always being 'under construction' or 'renovated.' Thank goodness the zoo doesn't charge me for Ham, but when we go, we'd like to at least see a bear or two. That's another animal I haven't seen in at least two years at the zoo.

We actually made it on time to see the seals being fed. OK, one seal being fed and doing tricks, the other seal was laying in the sun and I swear it didn't move the entire time. I really thought something was wrong with it or that it was dead. I hate to say that, but seriously, the seal didn't move at all that I could see.

It was a cute show. The seal reminded me of a big, water-drenched dog.... Without big ears. Or paws. Or a tail. OK, so they aren't much like dogs, but the do bark!!