89 Degrees....

INSIDE our house (downstairs...who knows how hot it was upstairs) yesterday after the AC man left. We were without air in our house for 2 1/2 days. I've never been more thankful for air conditioning in my life!! Of course they were the hottest days of the year so far! Thank goodness we have friends that love us so much to ask us to stay with them. (Or maybe they just felt sorry for us ;) ...either way we are SOOOOOOO grateful!!) In our small group, we talked Wednesday about postmodernism and how America thrives on capitalism and technology. At this point in our history, our country would not survive without either of them. Here's an interesting quote from the book we are reading, "We have to live as luxuriously as possible in order to keep our productive enterprise from stalling." The saddest thing of all is that all the things we have and want are things we desperately think we NEED in order to survive. It made me begin to wonder if my "need" for air conditioning was truly a need. And I've thought about this a lot the last few days. I have to say, that honestly, for the sake of Emma that yes, it is a need. If it was 89 degrees downstairs yesterday, it was probably 95-97 degrees upstairs with no air circulation. That is not a safe temperature for a baby. This was at 3pm, if the air had not been fixed, it would have gotten hotter. If we had ceiling fans and box fans and every other kind of fan you can think of, we might have been able to manage a little better. But we didn't, so yes the AC was a need for us.

I'm interested in your thoughts about the quote from "Above all earthly pow'rs: Christ in a postmodern world".

More garden...

Here are some pictures of our garden taken last night. Notice the mutant squash...how does that happen???!! :)

 

Projects...

Emma gave me this picture frame for my birthday. I finally got the pictures put in it and got it hung. I think it turned out pretty good! I've been wanting something to put over the mantel and jut didn't know what. I think this frame is perfect! Way to go Emma!! I'm not sure that I like the the picture frame that's on the mantel with the big one. I may have to take that one down and put something else up there... 

CABBAGE!!

Here is the cabbage from our spring garden! This picture is a few weeks old. We now have squash! I picked the first one this morning! It feels like such an accomplishment when you finally get to pick the fruit of your labors! It's certainly not any skill that Jonathan or I have...it's only through God's grace that we are able to grow anything!!

I went to Concord Mills today with the girls and found trellis at the craft store (AC Moore) 50% off. I got 3 (all they had of one style) for $10 each! I was so excited!!

After the mall Kelly came over to get some of our rosemary. She took quite a bit, but our bush is so big that you can't tell any of it is gone! SOOOOOO...those of you that live in Charlotte that are reading this....come get some!!!!!!!!! We also used our first basil of the season from our garden last night. I made a zuchinni, corn and tomato salad that Kellyfirst made. You can find the recipe here. It was really good! Jonathan said it was in his top 10 things that I make! It's a great summer salad. I wonder how it would be with some baked chicken?????

Small Groupies...

This week was supposed to be a week off for small groups since a new study starts next week and we are all finished with the previous one. However, each group gets to choose what they want to do next and we got a few new members, so we decided to have another cookout, decide what we are going to study and watch a movie. I'm excited about the new folks and about the book we are going to read together Above All Earthly Powr's: Christ in a Postmodern World by David Wells.

 

Stawberries, strawberries and more strawberries...

We went to China Grove to pick strawberries yesterday with some friends. I started out with Emma in the Baby Bjorn, but I quickly realized that wasn't going to work. I was a little hesitant to use the stoller, because I didn't want to mess up the strawberry fields (o/~strawberry fields forever o/~ ...Beatles) . But there was a main "aisle" where the stroller didn't mess anything up and Emma and Mommy were much more comfortable!! We had such a great time and I want to go back next year so Emma can enjoy all the other things that are at the farm. They have hayrides and a petting zoo...next year! So...if you have any great strawberry recipes, send them my way. I have a gallon of strawberries that need to be used! :)

 

Stawberry Pickin'....

Here we are all finished. A good time was had by all!