We've Gone Green
Since the New Year, we have been committed to being a vegan family. We live in a rural are where there is a lot a love for beef, poultry and the like and where we are pretty much guaranteed to get eye-rolling responses when we tell people we don't eat meat. The road to this lifestyle has been a long one for us, and we have considered so much along the way. Now that we are in the groove of eating and living out this vegan thing we feel ready to explain it. So what is a vegan anyway and why on earth would we want to abolish yummy stuff from our diet?
Well, vegans are like vegetarians in that they don't eat meat, but beyond that, we also don't consume any animal product, which means, no milk, cheese, eggs, butter, ice-cream, etc. We do not believe that people should avoid these foods for any spiritual reason, nor do we believe that it is "the best way" for everyone, but it is just something our family has been lead into. For us, the journey toward all this began when our kids started having allergic reactions to eggs and milk. One of our kids suffered from intestinal bleeding and another from severe excema. When these things were removed from their diets, they got better. And when our mainstream doctors began to tell us that we should avoid these foods to help with our children's health issues, it made us think. Then we researched, thought some more, researched, thought some more, etc.We were very blessed to have a close vegan friend, who guided us along the way and directed us to some great resources and ideas. Our most pressing concern was how our kids would get all the things needed in their diets to grow if we were vegan. We were directed to the blog of a family that posted some great research that soothed our minds and gave us the tools to take this on. I have included it below in the hopes that it will encourage, educate and interest you as well. Now, three months in, we are feeling healthier and more full of energy and life than ever before and so thankful for this gift and education. Enjoy...


Vegan Children: Healthy and Happy (article from PETA website)

Children raised as vegans—who consume no animal products, including meat, eggs, and dairy products—can derive all the nutrients essential for optimum health from plant-based sources.


Hot Wings, Heart Disease, and Sick Stomachs

Unprecedented rates of children raised on the “traditional” American diet of cholesterol and saturated fat-laden chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and pepperoni pizza show symptoms of heart disease, the number one killer of adults. A study in The New England Journal of Medicine found that at least 60 percent of children and young adults have early atherosclerotic (hardened artery) damage. It’s no wonder considering that hot dogs, sausage, and bacon are on the daily menu for a stunning 25 percent of kids between the ages of 19 months and 2 years.

The number of obese preschool-aged children and 12-to-19-year-old adolescents has more than doubled since the 1970s and more than tripled for 6-to-11-year-olds. Pediatricians are reporting an alarming increase in the number of children diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a disease that typically affects adults, and 85 percent of those cases involve overweight kids.(4)

According to acclaimed pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock in his book Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care, “Children who grow up getting their nutrition from plant foods rather than meats … are less likely to develop weight problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancer.”

Food-related illnesses affect more than 76 million people annually and kill more than 5,000. Farmed animals are fed 20 million pounds of antibiotics each year, which are designed to promote growth and prevent them from getting sick but which are retained in the flesh that people eat. Scientists believe that such involuntary consumption of these drugs by meat-eaters is giving rise to strains of bacteria that antibiotics are ineffective against when consumers become ill.

Salmonella poisoning alone affects at least 40,000 people each year (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspects that unreported cases may increase that number 30 times), yet only one in 16 million chickens is tested for it. A Consumer Reports study of 525 supermarket chickens found campylobacter (which causes illness in more than 1 million people every year) in 81 percent of them and salmonella in 15 percent, with up to 84 percent of the bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Eggs pose a salmonella threat to approximately one out of every 50 people each year in affected areas of the U.S. E. coli is a type of bacteria that can be deadly to children and sickens more than 73,000 people each year, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that half the cattle slaughtered for food in the U.S. are likely infected with it.

Fish flesh also presents health problems. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), residual industrial compounds that can still be found in the environment, have caused cancer in animals and skin problems and liver damage in humans. Fish flesh has been found to harbor levels of PCBs thousands of times higher than those in the water that they live in. Fish also accumulate methylmercury in their bodies, and pregnant women and children have been cautioned by the Environmental Protection Agency not to eat fish flesh that may contain high levels of this toxic substance.


Dangers of Dairy Products

According to Dr. Frank Oski, the former director of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, “There is no reason to drink cow’s milk at any time in your life. It was designed for calves, it was not designed for humans, and we should all stop drinking it today, this afternoon.” Dr. Spock agreed, saying, “There was a time when cow’s milk was considered very desirable. But research, along with clinical experience, has forced doctors and nutritionists to rethink this recommendation.”

Cow’s milk is the number one cause of food allergies in infants and children, according to the American Gastroenterological Association. Millions of Americans are lactose-intolerant, and an estimated 80 percent of African-Americans and up to 100 percent of Native Americans and Asian-Americans suffer from the condition, which can include symptoms such as bloating, gas, cramps, vomiting, headaches, rashes, or asthma. As early as 2 years of age, most people begin to produce less lactase, the enzyme that helps with the digestion of milk. This reduction can lead to lactose intolerance. Breast-feeding mothers should also shun cow’s milk from their diets, as the proteins can be transferred to infants and upset babies’ intestines.

Milk is suspected of triggering juvenile diabetes, a disease that causes blindness and other serious effects. Some children’s bodies treat cow’s milk protein as a foreign substance and produce high levels of antibodies to fend off this “invader.” These antibodies also destroy the cells that produce insulin in the pancreas, leading to diabetes. Studies have also found that autism and schizophrenia in children may be linked to the body’s inability to digest the milk protein casein; symptoms of these diseases diminished or disappeared in 80 percent of the children who were switched to milk-free diets.

Other common childhood ailments such as chronic ear infections, asthma, and skin conditions can also be eliminated if cow’s milk is avoided.

Nutrition in Vegan Diets

Nutritionists and physicians have learned that plant products are good sources of protein, iron, calcium, and vitamin D because they can be easily absorbed by the body and don’t contain artery-clogging fat. The American Dietetic Association states, “Well-planned vegan … diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence.”

• Protein: In the U.S., consumption of too much protein is a much bigger issue than not getting enough. Protein deficiency is common only in countries suffering from famine. Eating too much protein, however, can lead to cancer of the colon and the liver. Children can get all the protein that their bodies need from whole grains in the form of oats, brown rice, and pasta; nuts and seeds, including sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, and spreads such as tahini and peanut butter; and legumes, including tofu, lentils, and beans.
• Iron: Some babies’ intestines bleed after drinking cow’s milk, increasing their risk of developing iron-deficiency anemia, since the blood that they’re losing contains iron. Formula-fed babies should be fed a soy-based formula with added iron to minimize the risk of intestinal bleeding. Iron-rich foods such as raisins, almonds, dried apricots, blackstrap molasses, and fortified grain cereals will meet the needs of toddlers and children 12 months and older. Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron, so foods rich in both—such as green, leafy vegetables—are particularly valuable.
• Calcium: Cornbread, broccoli, kale, tofu, dried figs, tahini, great northern beans, and fortified orange juice and soy milk are all excellent sources of calcium. As with iron, vitamin C will help your child’s system absorb calcium efficiently.
• Vitamin D: Cow’s milk does not naturally contain vitamin D; it’s added later. Vitamin D-enriched soy milk provides this nutrient without the animal fat. A child who spends as little as 10 to 15 minutes three times a week playing in the sunshine, with arms and face exposed, will get sufficient vitamin D because it is synthesized in the skin when the skin is exposed to sunlight.
• Vitamin B12: Whereas other primates get their necessary vitamin B12 from dirt, unchlorinated water, feces, and insects, commercially available multivitamins will ensure an adequate amount of the vitamin for your child. Vitamin B12 is also found in fortified soy milk and many cereals.

What You Can Do
A healthy vegan diet is easy to plan and maintain. Products fortified with calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 are available in most grocery stores. Mock meats are especially delicious and are also readily available in most grocery stores and many restaurants. For tips on tempting your kids with delicious vegetarian dishes, visit VegCooking.com and check out the following additional resources.

A mom recently sent me an email that started a whirlwind of ideas in my mind. She said that we will only have 17 Springtimes with our children while they are still children at home...17!!! Each of them will be unique because our children will never again be at the developmental stage that they are right now or next year, etc. So I began thinking, this applies to all other times of year as well...17 winters, 17 autumns, 17 lazy summers, 17 is beginning to seem like a small number. I want those seasons to be filled with laughter and snuggling and beauty and fun. But that means that TODAY I need to include those things in my life. Today, I need to see my little ones and stop what I am doing. I need to wrestle, bake cookies, read, cuddle, create, listen, take a walk, look and linger with them over each and ever worm wriggling on the sidewalk, laugh with them and invoke wonder in their little hearts. How I live today makes all the difference. Will you join with me in choosing to make the most of these moments? Will you help me to see the value of laughter in my home and yours? Today is going to be glorious.

Here's J-Dog kickin' it around the house... what a blessing this boy has been!

We are so thankful for sisters in our house.

There is something so special about fathers and daughters. The way Josh interacts with our girls is so different than what they receive from hanging around with me. I have imposed some type of rule that I will teach our children to have excellent manners and therfore always exhibit them myself. We sip tea each afternoon in lieu of snack time and I lecture about sitting up straight and pleasant table conversation. Last night I began to wonder if it was all for nothing. Josh is so fun, so spontaneous and thank goodness that he is nothing like me because then our kids would probably go insane. We were enjoying the fun of a Papa Murphy's pizza around the dinner table when everyone began to belch on their Pepsi and giggle, followed by fart noise after fake fart noise. The kids and Josh were in stitches and for moment I wrinkled my forehead and gave Josh a deathglare. I caught a glimpse of the ugliness of my bad attitude and then I decided to pull a 180 and follow Josh's lead. I wanted to have some fun too and I let out the BIGGEST fart noise of the whole night to the delight of my children and husband. By following the lead of their daddy our girls will know how to have fun, and live in a home full of laughter! They will also see that their mama loves their daddy and that fart noises and all, we are a team. Seeing the way Josh wrestles, listens, plays dress up and just plain loves on our girls is priceless. I received a letter from my own dad this year on my birthday that was so beautiful and so intimate... he knows me and loves me and embraced what it meant to be the picture of God in my life at a young age. I realized that even as a married woman, a parent myself now, I long for the words I receive from my dad. They build me up, they encourage me and breathe life into my identity. The words and affection and interactions dads shower on their daughters are forming their very persons, their futures and will ultimately benefit generations. I am so thankful that Josh doesn't get tempted to hide behind pretense like me. I am so thankful that he is silly and fun and real with our girls. I am so thankful that he is present and not hidden from them. He amazes me with his love for our children. And about the whole manners thing... well, at least we still have tea time.

The Housewife 2000
Okay, so its the New Year....2007 and this picture was supposed to be the 2000 model. Where is my waterproof furniture and and sqeaky clean hose thingy? We do have a leather sofa, but I just don't think this method will fly around here. The promise of something new and clean is very appealing to me. I am constantly trying to find a "system" that I can put into action that will forever keep my home sparkling and new inventions that will help keep my kids' hair shiny and their teeth bright. (Anybody ever tried baby oil on a tangle, works like a charm!) I long for my carpet and hardwoods to be free of the moth ball, lint, pine needle junk that seems to collect every day. This weekend we were in an uproar around here... furniture was being rearranged, closets being emptied, garbage flying out the back door by the bag. It was a lot of work, but the process was one of rejuvenation. We were making way for the new, creating a fresh start. As this new year brings a bit of breezy fresh air and the hope of all things new, we are reminded of God's promise to us, the one that says HE has brought us the ultimate new, fresh, squeaky clean feeling I am seeking each January 1st.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! - 2 Corinthians 5:17
I am so thankful for this reminder. I don't have to work as hard as I think I do to polish up my heart or home or to measure up. I am taken in the arms of Christ, found in him... and new. When this word of God seeps in to my being I can relax a bit and live with floor lint and the clutter, remembering that what I am offer today through Christ is enough. I am enough for him. I still feel a little jipped about the lacking technology of the promised housewife 2000, but I am thankful for the reminder of who I am today as I scrub away around here. I am thankful that God is the one doing a great work in my heart and that when I give myself wholly to him, I can truly rest.... and have lots more time to clean :)

Kindergarten For All!
Here is Halle in late October, during a field trip to a local pumkin patch and petting zoo. Looking at this photo I am amazed that she is my little girl, she looks so grown up... wasn't she just learning to walk, talk and sing the ABC's? We are about to head into the second trimester of our first year of homeschooling, I thought I should reflect here about what the fall has looked like for us.
Undoubtedly, we are challenged as parents and teachers, growing ourselves as we live life along side our children. It is an amazing process for us, a 'kindergarten' year for us as well as for Halle as we lay a foundation for education in our home, discovering what works within our family culture and what we can do without. The basic ingredient of the fall has truly been joy. We are loving what it means to connect with our kids, to create a life that is rich and full in our home and where we can simply enjoy eachother as we pursue God's word and knowledge with purpose. The blessings of this choice and this life as home educators has surpassed our understanding thus far. There is a perfect peace in what we are doing and as parents, Josh and I have never felt more fulfilled. Honestly, we were so scared to begin this endevor... were we qualified enough? Did we have what it takes to teach? Was our home the best place for Halle to experience lessons and education in specific subjects rather than just discipleship and fun and yummy food? How would Maia and Jones react and come along to Kindergarten? Would I burn out? Would we all have braids and be wearing plaid jumpers by May? Our minds were reeling... but we stepped out in faith, believing that God had called us to this work and He has met us and drawn close to our hearts and to our children's hearts. We are on this journey now and loving it!
So, after studying lots of art, music, poetry, literature, trees, American history, reading, math, handwriting and character traits this fall, we are off and running. Our first trimester lasted 12 weeks and concluded the last week of November. We will begin school again on January 3rd after having spent the month of December baking, making gifts, visiting friends and celebrating Jesus's birth. I am antzy to begin, the kind of squirmy, ready to run a marathon feeling I get in late August when my spirit is longing for routine and order and a bit of 'normal.' Thank you for reading and supporting us on this journey. Now that I am becoming more technically savvy, I will hopefully be able to document more of our life together on this blog each week, instead of in three month stretches! I'll end this post by encouraging you to receive the promise of being 'heirs together in the grace of life' with your family. Spend sometime asking Jesus what that looks like for you... it is certainly likely to look very different from our family. Maybe discovering what that is is a little scary, it was for us... but such beauty comes from a life lived by faith and where our unique gifts and abilities are being used. Be blessed in how the Lord has created you, fulfilling the work he created in advance for you to do. We'd love to hear your story.

Here'sour cutie Christmas card! Merry Christmas!

Josh and Kristen

Halle Judea
Halle is our helper, our child blessed to be a blessing to others through organizing, arranging and creating. She loves art and singing and ballet and has a flair for storytelling. She is extrememley sensitive and observant and we say she's our 'deep waters' girl.