In Defense of Food

So, I've never been a health-nut. I've always gotten frustrated when parents ban sugar from their kids, and the organic thing has always seemed like a ploy to charge more money for food. However, Joseph and I are reading a book called "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollan. It is so interesting and has really made me think twice about what I eat. I've resolved to eat as little processed foods as possible, and am willing to spend a few extra bucks on organic milk and eggs.

Here's an excerpt from the inside cover:

"Food. There's plenty of it around, and we all love to eat it. So why should anyone need to defend it? Because most of what we're consuming today is not food, and how we're consuming it- in the car, in front of the TV, and increasingly alone- is not really eating. Instead of food, we're consuming "edible foodlike substances"- no longer the products of nature but of food science. Many of them come packaged with health claims that should be our first clue that they are anything but healthy. In the so-called Western diet, food has been replaced by nutrients, and common sense by nutrition..."

It's so true. In health classes, we're trained to read labels on food products but not how to take whole food ingredients and actually cook with them. Have you ever noticed how tasteless mass-produced cheese is? That's because it is seriously lacking in nutrients. Even our whole foods have been affected by industrialization. We have to eat the equivalent of 3 apples to get the same amount of nutrition that that one apple had 60 years ago. Much of today's diseases, including diabetes, cancer, and heart disease are more prevalent in diets where processed foods and industrialized agriculture have taken over.

I could go on... but I'll stop. :) You'll just have to read the book.

Big Boy

Today, I asked David, "How old are you?"

He said, "4".

"What comes after 4?"

"5".

"What comes after 5?"

"17".

When I broke the news to him that he was only going to be 6, he asked, "Well, how long is it going to take?!!"

When I tell David that he has to stop growing up he says, "But, I have to grow, so I can be big like Daddy!" He also asks, "How old am I going to be when I'm a daddy?" When we tell him that it's a long ways away, he says, "but it's taking a long time!"

Here's a picture of the big boy and his superhero daddy.

Boys

DAVID:

energetic, happy-go-lucky, helpful, social,

loves legos, rocketships, primary, preschool, and his blanky

JAMES

strong, bright-eyed, vocal, VERY busy,

loves pancakes, his pacifier, his stuffed monkey, and anything that David plays with

Happy Halloween!

For Halloween, we were lucky enough to visit my sister, Holly, and her family in Palm Springs. While there, we visited a desert reserve, carved pumpkins, and joined in on her ward Trunk or Treat.

Here's one from the "Living Desert". This is Joseph's dream vehicle. Someday, he would like to own an avocado range.
Pumpkin carving extravaganza!

Despite all our efforts, this was the best picture we could get of the boys. David wanted to be Superman for the second year in a row and even says he wants to be it next year! That sure makes it easy for me, although I'm not sure if his costume will fit a 3rd year!

Here's the whole crew! They were definitely the cutest kids at the party.

Family

We have had a wonderful two weeks with family and friends visiting us.  I forgot to bring my camera for most of our excursions, but here is one from the beach.  My niece and nephew were visiting, so it gave us a good excuse to head to the beach.  I pinch myself everytime we visit the coast because I feel so lucky to have this beauty nearby.

(in case you can't tell, that is Joseph and David with my neice and nephew in the background)

Here are a few farwell photos of my sweet parents.  Thanks, mom and dad, for the visit.  Wish you didn't live so far away!

I Smell Trouble

James is getting pretty fast and strong.  He likes to climb into closets, drawers, and is just anxious to climb onto things.  The other day, by fluke, he made it onto David's bed.  And oh, he was sooo mad when I took him off.  I am in for it with this one.  I sure hope he has a guardian angel following him around!

I guess it's all necessary to keep up with big brother!

Dancing lions

For the past few years I have been teaching dance once a week in the evenings.  For David, this has become just a normal part of life.

Today, David said, "Mommy, at preschool Drew (his friend) and me were pretending that we were daddy lions."  When I asked where the mommy lion was, he said without hesitation, "the mommy was at dance class teaching dance."