Summer of '11

This Summer has been one of the hottest summers on record but one of the most memorable. How did we survive? Well it had alot to do with indoor activities, sprinklers, popsicles, & hardworking a/c's. The beginning of this summer we celebrated my Dad's 60th birthday. We surprised him by having a close friend fly him down to San Antonio to meet his family. None of which my Dad had any clue about. He was stunned to see us all there in our cars. We ate lunch on the riverwalk & watched the ducks and boats go by as we listened to a Mariachi band.


The following day we stayed at my sister's house and pretty much did nothing but let the kids play. This doesn't happen often so it was alot of fun to let the cousins play like we used to play when we were little. One evening, we took my Dad to a vineyard outside of Wimberely, TX for dinner. It was a very kid-friendly place even though it had 5 star cuisine. There was even a playground and changing stations in all of thee bathrooms at the restaurant & at the tasting room complete with spare diapers of all sizes. (I may have taken full advantage of this feature.) Needless to say, I was quite impressed. We stayed for hours watching the sunset and ate delicious food, tiramisu and vino. They also had a filming crew there and a few actors were shooting a scene. We weren't sure what it was for but we got to watch them yell ' action' as a guy on a motorcycle went through the vineyards at sunset posing for a gal. ( Something to do with a new Brad Pitt film I believe). Bella even charmed a few of them as she walked by to talk to them. They called her princess. That girl does not meet a stranger. And she even got to pet a movie star cat. The boys, including Jude, went to the tasting roomand the girls looked around at all the barrels in storage as we danced about. It was a beautiful evening.


Watching my dad at the head of the table looking out at his whole family & a perfect view of the vineyard reminded me of the passage in John 15. Its all about wine production and how the winedresser has to carefully take care of the vine in order to produce good fruit.

There is a great amount of process in the making of wine. If a branch is unable to produce grapes, that branch is cut off so that other branches can grow grapes in more abundance. And the branches of the vine that are able to produce must be cleaned. Grapes cannot be produced without the vine as its source nor can it be maintained without the skill of the vinedresser. Jesus called himself the vine to his disciples and was demonstrating how he remains in his father's love as we are to keep his commands & abide in him so that we too can produce abundant & sweet fruits. We are no longer servants but are called friends. Together we are made to bear much fruit in that we love one another. This was right before the last supper in which the disciples shared wine and broke bread as Jesus was preparing for his death. We are to take his blood and body to remember how he died for our sins and suffered greatly on our behalf. Well not literally but symbolically. Interesting also that Jesus' first miracle was about the making of wine at a wedding in Capernaum. He saved the honor of a wedding he attended. The wedding party ran out of wine as it was custom to serve. As his mother requested the immediate need to help his friends Jesus instructed 20 jars to be filled to the brim with water. Thus was custom to immediately serve good wine and latter the inferior. Instead, Jesus made far superior wine (a process that we all know takes years) he did this immediately & it was served not at the beginning but the end.

There are so many implications here as to why Jesus did this. It was a great gift to the newlyweds & it prevented shame from coming to their friends. It also showed that the old order was no more as those jars of water were often used for washing. And now he sits enjoying food & drink with his friends near his last hour as the Godman on earth contemplating what is to come as he is now serving himself to each of them so that they may one day understand after all this time. What love. What sacrifice. Thank you Daddy for demonstrating this love, and true discipleship to your children and your grandchildren. We honor you. And I thank God I was blessed with such a daddy who can actually lead all of his life by true example. Happy 60th Birthday!

Love, Beppy.

Food for Thought "You are What you Eat"

I LOVE Food! My love of food started very young as it should. My mother's parents built and managed a garden and my PawPaw built a grill outside. My nanny pretty much made everything from scratch and included a lot of their own homegrown goodies. She even made the best sweets including chocolate fudge. These were good times. I was also in good hands with my own mom who has also been a fantastic cook but more than that was an amazing meal planner. I never truly valued this until I had kids of my own. I always loved vegetables and loved to eat in general. And anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to cook. It is a stress reliever for me. Especially alongside my husband though we have to create time for it. When I started dating Josh, I always thought he proposed soon after I started cooking for him. Well maybe not but it helped.


Then after our wedding day Josh surprised me with a trip to Italy. This is Josh's second trip and he always wanted to take me. We fell in love more with each other and with the history and culture in that beautiful romantic country. But even more so, we fell in love with the food and wine. And the hours people spent in conversation over a prepared meal. I loved almost everything we ate and the different flavors at each region.My favorite being the food close to Tuscany. Everything tasted like it was plucked right out of their back gardens. Florence is in the midst of the tuscan region surrounded by vineyards, farmland and has one of the most delicious melons and vegetables I have ever tasted. And the chianti house wines were heavenly.


And who wouldn't want to eat in the most scenic places surrounded by very old ruins and beautiful country-sides and of course the mediterranean sea. The Italians enjoy life! So here we are only 3-4 years later and are still trying to hold onto that way of life but its difficult. America has an epidemic. And its only getting worse.

I very much value the art of meal preparation, portion control and knowing what I'm about to put into my mouth. My husband and I have this little fact finding game each day to see what we can find out from the 'Eat This Not That' tweets that we thoroughly enjoy. I won't go as far to say that we are completely granola and buy only organic foods. Our nation puts a high price on the good stuff so we buy cheap, convenient, boxed, preserved, salty sugary stuff Americans call food. Its amazing what we consume and very scary. A friend from Denmark stayed with us and said they actually have a 'fat tax' in their country and what you see that is cheap to buy is the exact opposite of our supermarkets. Makes you wonder what our healthcare field is up to. I think the FDA, pharmaceutical companies and overall healthcare system is just one big monopoly out to tell us what to put into our bodies to keep us sick I mean make us well. Oh and tell us that vitamins are bad. If we actually took care of ourselves we wouldn't be fatigued, obese, grouchy, sick and diseased, and we would put them out of business. But we have the best healthcare in the world right? Our diets are actually creating disease and its being passed to our children and in their lifestyle. Maybe I am a bit of a conspiracy theorist but there is truth to it. Americans and the western society's way of life is setting us up for more illness.

Consumption not moderation is our motto with a little bit of 'i want it now' mentality. There is an island out in the middle of nowhere miles and miles off the coast of Australia. It is known as the fattest county in the world. Some of you may have seen this report. It hit it big with some mining in the 70s I believe so the western culture and its trade greatly influenced this small group of people. And here they are 30+ years later, no longer eating off the land, no longer fishing but relying on trade of canned processed meats, burgers, fries, and sweet sweet drinks from western civilization because its cheap. And no place to exercise but one little basketball court. While this model is a bit extreme, it does prove the danger of how bad it could get. The majority of the island has developed type 2 diabetes and have grown to have some of the worst symptoms that the disease brings such as blindness, kidney failure, and in worse cases paralysis, and early death. All because of convenient diets?

With that being said, I make it my vow as a mom to teach and model a very important discipline when it comes to protecting our bodies with food. And quite frankly as a believer we have to be good stewards in everything including our bodies. Our culture loves the hype of new diet plans but when we eat out way too much and spending more money than we need and let them dictate what they serve us. Even what they call 'healthy' double check because often the amount of sodium is through the roof. For example, if you ask for a nutritional guide from PF Chengs they purposely leave off the amount of sodium in each dish!! Oh and then we sit in our cars for hours in traffic often eating yet again with a frappuccino in hand. If we only knew what the amount of sugar and salt we consume is doing to us. Then we grab a box of 'healthy hoopdidoos' low in calories and eat the whole box of something that has little to no nutritional value. Yes the dreaded snack well craze. Then when we diet we choose NOT to eat, lowering and starving our metabolism and then trying to exercise with that idea. And that leaves us very unhealthy. And yet another question, does anybody ever wander if the Food Pyramid is false or in a sense a bit backwards? I think so! The bottom should be the vegetables and fruits, then the protein, beans and nuts. The very top should have the carbs and whole grains. But thats just my way of thinking. Fats, and lipids are needed in our bodies to help our insulin and overall blood flow. Its the sugary cokes and desserts that we consume with massive amounts of sugar that can turn our insulin upside down and create fat, bad fat, and bad cholesterol instead of the good cholesterol and proteins we need to keep our arteries functioning. Why are they lying to us?

I even dread taking my children to school. Who knows WHAT they serve there. They will have a packed lunch everyday. Our bodies were not meant to consume this stuff, such as white bread, white sugar, starchy processed boxes of goods and canned veggies that have no nutrients. Even our own produce by the time we get it from the store has lost its nutrients overtime, then we cook it and there goes the nutrients. Either we have to buy it frozen, or barely cook it like I do. Then still to have to take vitamins when I know the meals and snacks aren't providing proper nutrients. And then there is the whole pesticide problem which I have heard the only reason our fruits and veggies are being eaten by bugs is because they are dying themselves from deficient soil lacking in vital minerals that it needs. But the pesticide companies are certainly banking.

Anyone else seem frustrated with this? I guess the final answer is just to live off high blood pressure medication for the rest of our lives. Something must change! On my side of the family I have a history of diabetes, But I question whether that is mostly genetic or predisposition to lifestyle. My husband on the other hand has issues regulating his blood sugar and insulin. So we are very careful how we start and continue our day with what food enters our bodies. Though I am constantly reminding him to take his vitamins.

I still have a lot to learn but when I am taking care of two babies, I have no room to be tired especially when I have to nurse one of them. What I eat, he eats! So I pay no attention to calories necessarily. I need calories. But I do my best to consume good regular food and try to drink lots of water all day. And snacking all day long to keep my metabolism up with snacks that the body can use. But most importantly, we save money by not eating out a whole lot. I guess alot of people in Houston can afford it. At home, I have control of what I feed my kids and know how much fat, sugar, sodium, protein, carbohydrates, etc. is in everything. And if we do happen to go out I never get them a kids meal. Its probably the worst food out there one can give their child. And at home, eating dinner while watching television is a big NO. We rarely have brown cokes, no artificial sweeteners, white bread and if my daughter wants a snack...its a good snack that goes a looong way. I want my children to LOVE food as much as I do. And as far as I know I do not have picky eaters yet and I hope it stays that way. I actually look forward to us sitting down at the table eating together and praying together. There is nothing like fresh flowers, homecooked meal, good food, good wine, good conversation and a slow enjoyable dinner with the loves of your life. And of course having a few sweet guiltless indulgences every now and then, especially when its comes to dark chocolate. Though we occasionally have a spill here and there, so its not without some chaos. And hard not to laugh!

I also love taking my kids for a walk minus the mosquitos and taking them outside to the park. Even my little 2-3 month old gets alot of sunshine and loves to look around at the trees. Though its not always perfect, I do feel a difference when I put this lifestyle to practice. I know when I honor God's creation and take care of it, I am less tired and more fit to serve Him, my husband, and my children when I take care of myself. And I know I model everything for my children and they watch all aspects of our life. Just a food for thought. What are your thoughts on the matter?