NO BASEBALL TONIGHT!

To all our wonderful fans, we will not be playing tonight due to wet fields. We will miss all of you. Next game is Monday at 8:30.

JOY'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Joy's Birthday is July 5th, and we didn't have fireworks (not many) that day, but we did have a strange guest contingent appear. Some of the balloons morphed into an odd little family.

The lovely birthday lady.

A Blue Heart

a Yellow Heart, and Red Hearts (on the ceiling with a blue parachute.)(I'm not exactly sure why.)

Oooooo . . .SNOWCONES ! ! ! !

Joy received a snow cone machine from her wonderful aunts (Donna, Margie, and Rhonda). It was, is, and shall be an extremely popular addition to the family. Keith regaled us with happy memories of his brother Craig's snow cone stand.

THE BIRTHDAY DINNER

Birthday's are a good excuse to get out all the finery. What is always amusing is that (especially this time of year) the table is in stark contrast to the scruffy bunch that comes in to eat. We had all been out working (this time it was a combination of making hay, putting up drywall, painting duck stamps, and having a water balloon fight). Needless to say, the picture was lovelier uninhabited. (You can really deceive people with selective pictures.)

Joy had requested "little chickens" for her birthday dinner. We had never fixed them, but everyone really enjoyed the rock cornish hens. Part way through the meal, Joel asked, "Ummmm, . . . . Could I have little cows for my birthday ?!"

Not to worry, it's sparkling grape juice.

Joy informed us her chicken's name was Fred.
John replied, "Please to eat you, Fred!"

THE BIRTHDAY CAKE

A Chocolate Torte

And Funky Candles !!

AND THE RECIPE (IN CASE YOU WERE INSPIRED)

BLUEBERRIES . . . A FAVORITE FAMILY TRADITION

"TASTE AND SEE THAT THE LORD IS GOOD"

"Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.
Fear the Lord, you His saints, for those who fear Him lack nothing"
Psalm 34:8-9

Opening Day at Brandywine Farms, our local U-Pick. We all look forward to picking blueberries with almost as much anticipation as a child might wait for Christmas. We were only able to pick for a hour and a half, before leaving to pick up Joel from a Music Composition Camp in Columbia Missouri. (Poor Joel missed out.)(More on the C.O.M.P. camp later.) We hope to put more berries in the freezer before the season is over.

What a way to spend the morning . . . Kaplink, kaplank, kaplunk . . . I think Glory ate her weight in blueberries!

Nathanael filled a bucket-plus. Our new up and coming "champion-picker"!

And who is this handsome young man, picking berries?

It's none other than Adam, 18 years ago, the first time we picked berries at Brandywine Farms. We have not missed a year picking since 1990 (except when the berry crop was lost to frost).

MAKING A COOKIE!

Last Sunday evening, John decided to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I (Adam) was feeling slightly bored, and since I have had plenty of experience cooking for a lot of people, but have worried about learning to cook in small batches once I move away from home, I decided to start practicing. Since the smallest increment in the recipe was 1/2 tsp water (not really sure what difference a half teaspoon of water makes, but oh well....) I measured how many drops made a teaspoon of water. I found that if I divided the recipe by 48, I could still measure each ingredient fairly accurately.


Here is the butter and sugar in John's batch of cookies....

....and here is my batch.

John adds a half teaspoon of water....

....and I add a drop.

Flour added to John's....

...and to mine.

According to the chocolate chip bag, a serving size is 23 chocolate chips, and there are 30 servings in the bag. This makes 690 total. Dividing by 48 gives 14.375 chocolate chips. (Notice the 3/8ths of a chip on the bottom left.)

Nearly finished!

As it turns out, my recipe ended up being just enough to make ONE cookie!

It sat looking nice on the counter for a while, because of the novelty....

...but then Glory decided to make use of it.

So, for those of you who are living by yourself, and don't want to tempt yourself by having a whole batch of cookies laying around, here is a recipe for:

Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 tsp butter
3/4 tsp white sugar
3/4 tsp brown sugar
(cream together butter and sugar)
2 drops vanilla
1 drop water
1/2 tsp beaten egg
(I don't really have a good suggestion as to what to do with the rest of the egg.)
2 1/4 tsp flour
small pinch of baking soda (1/48th of a tsp)
small pinch of salt (1/48th of a tsp)
14 3/8 chocolate chips
1 tsp chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Bake on greased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes. Makes one cookie.

MIDWIVES WIN IN MISSOURI ! ! ! FINALLY ! !

All ten of these lovely children were born at home. And until this week, anytime we chose to employ a trained midwife to assist us, we were involving a possible felon in our birth. Missouri Law stated that "only a licensed physician may practice midwifery", and all others who assisted women in birth regularly were guilty of a felony offense.

During the 2007 Legislative Session, Language passed and was signed by Governor Matt Blunt that rectified this situation. However, the Medical Lobby immediately challenged the constitutionality of the language, and an injunction was enforced. This week the Missouri State Supreme Court ruled in Missouri State Medical Association, et al., Respondents v. State of Missouri and Missouri Midwives Association, et al., that the Medical Association had no standing. The majority opinion was authored by Judge Stephen Limbaugh (Rush's brother).

The bottom line is that Certified Professional MIDWIVES are LEGAL IN MISSOURI for the first time since 1956 ! ! ! Our thanks to the many extremely dedicated, brilliant people who have worked unselfishly for the last 20 years to see this come to pass. You are very dear to us.

To defend the "tocology"* language at the Supreme Court level has been very costly. Anyone wishing to help pay the midwives $33,000 bill from the lawyers can donate at www.FreeTheMidwives.org .

*Tocology is the science of obstetrics or midwifery for those who may not be aware of this term. It is a very special word to those of us who have lobbied long and hard for legal midwives. I can explain if you are interested.

COUSIN'S CAMPING TRIP -- SEA WORLD

The kids got to pet and feed the dolphins. I think that was a highlight for several of them.


WOW! From a design and composition standpoint, that fish is incredible.


The Orca Show with Shamu

When we found out that the guys were going to Sea World, I was very excited. I told them that when I had been to see Shamu back in 2000, that I cried. John asked "Why?" I told him that I was just so moved by the beauty of the Orcas. He replied, "Mom, . . . That's ridiculous."

In John's defense, he is my faithful herald of many beautiful scenes: sunsets, the first crocus, the morning sun on the dew, etc. He understands and appreciates beauty.

He just loves to tease me about tears. On movie nights, he quite often has more fun watching to see how soon I cry, rather than the movie itself.

HMMMMM?

This sign has been up for over a month, and I still don't get it. I wonder if they are trying to appeal to the mindset that automatically equates more money with a better outcome?