The Rieslands

More Summer Photos…

Zack — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:56:59 +0000

I Can Has Play With Camera?

Zack — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:45:33 +0000

I snagged the camera last night while Kharis was sleeping.

It’s the only time she is still enough to take pictures without the flash.

Sometimes I wonder if she’s an angel…

New Kharis Pictures

Zack — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 10:23:54 +0000

Thank you, son

Zack — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:04:10 +0000

Josiah’s entertainment preferences continue to shift as he gets older.

When he was a baby, we started with Baby Einstein videos. Over time, there was a progression from there to Elmo, Sesame Street, and The Donut Man. Then Veggie Tales, concert DVDs (John Mayer, U2, and the folks from Passion are his favorites), and Toy Story.

And that opened the door for most of the other Disney Movies, like Finding Nemo, Cars, and Ratatouille.

Lately, his interest in sports is becoming more focussed, and he likes to watch basketball highlight films and then run around the house like the guys in the videos.

So while I was gone this weekend, Steph decided to introduce him to The Sandlot, which is about baseball.

One of the characters in the Sandlot is a heavy-set, red-head, freckle-face guy named Hamilton, but everybody calls him “Ham”.

So what did Josiah do when he first saw “Ham” on the screen?

He pointed and said, “Dadda!”

Thank you, son. Thank you very much…

This Left Me Speechless, Angry, And Sick To My Stomach

Zack — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:57:46 +0000

Steph and I recently watched an episode of a “reality” show where a “pro-choice” woman who works at an abortion clinic goes to live with a bunch of women at a shelter for new mommies for 30 days.

The idea is that she would see that there are great alternatives to abortion, and also that she could help “educate” the women there that not everyone who supports the “cause” of abortion is “a bad person”.

The producers of the show clearly had an agenda, and the majority of the content ended up being interviews with this woman where she kept insisting that abortion clinics are not “slaughter houses” where women are encouraged to have an abortion, but simply a “safe haven” where a scared, expecting mother could come and find out more information and explore her options.

She kept repeating that she just wanted to make sure that women have all the facts, and that “pro life zealots” are always trying to deceive young women from the truth about their pregnancy.

Well, maybe everything she said was true; but if it was, then hopefully she would condemn what happens in this video.

A young, pregnant woman brings a hidden camera to an abortion clinic to show what kind of “advice” and “facts” she is presented with.

(It’s 4 minutes and not the gory, shock-value type of video you might expect on this topic):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_HoM6213kc

Why do I share this with you? Do I want you to know that I think abortion is usually a bad idea? Do I want to pick at the scars of my friends who have been down this road before?

Not at ALL. I’m sharing this because I think that for many people, this topic is basically theoretical… We think of it from a legal or political perspective, and we want to argue the nuance of when life begins or what rights apply to a fetus vs a baby, and whether there really is a difference.

For example, several months ago I posted a quote from someone that mentioned the fact that Planned Parenthood was originally funded by the KKK with the expressed mission of lowering the number of minorities in our society. Several people were enraged, not that this is true, but that I mentioned it — as if I had made it up to make Planned Parenthood or their supporters look bad. (You can read the quote as well as my response to a friend who was very angry about it here)

The fact is, we live in a society where opinions are quickly formed and fiercely defended, when it seems like the emphasis should probably be the other way around.

I’m sharing this in the hopes that it will make the topic more real for those who are kind of blindly choosing a camp based on one thing they read or watched one time, or based on a political theory.

Abortion is not a theoretical legal or political issue.

It’s about life and death.

It’s Tuesday – Here, Have A Picture

Zack — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 11:19:22 +0000

Josiah’s grandma actually took this one.

Daddy like.

My Wife Is A Rock Star

Zack — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:58:59 +0000

Besides being beautiful, thoughtful, compassionate, downright sexy, and an amazing mommy, Steph has some serious photography skills.

In her ‘free’ time (while taking care of a one-year-old with more energy than Wake Electric and a 1-week-old who eats eight times a day) this week she took some amazing pictures of our daughter.

This is one of my favorites.

Sleeping Beauty

Zack — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:49:35 +0000

You wanna guess at Kharis’ favorite way to pass the time?

Already Posing For The Camera

Zack — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:00:44 +0000

My sweet little sister is anxious to post the pictures she’s taken with Kharis to the internet, and she has graciously chosen not to so far to allow us the privilege of posting the first couple of pictures. But just to let her know that it’s OK, especially because she’s a rock star of a little sister, here’s another one.

I give you: Kharis, 3 days old.

Rest assured: There are plenty more where this came from.