Yearly Blessings 2013

It’s been a couple years since we typed up a newsletter.  In 2011 we had one ready but never mailed it out.  We were preparing to move and it wasn’t a priority.  It’s here if you want to read it.  Drew does an excellent job with them.  He enjoys it.  He is so creative and makes sure everything is perfect.  Picks just the right pictures.  He just doesn’t have the time.  Every year I ask him to start before Thanksgiving and every year I’m nagging him by Christmas.  This year we decided to accept who we are {procrastinators} and send Happy New Year cards instead.  No newsletter.  There is no pressure to get them out by a certain time.  I’m aiming for the end of January.

Another reason for the delay this year is my internal struggle of the actual benefit of yearly newsletters.  Especially with Facebook.  Now that my mother-in-law has joined I feel that everyone I need to share with is right here.  I share a lot through Facebook and try so hard not to brag.  I try to find a good balance between bragging and being proud of my family and my own accomplishments.  It’s not easy.  Someone recently commented on the bragging nature of Christmas Letters.  Trips, good grades, fancy new houses….but what about the babies, weddings, baptisms, and personal triumph? Why shouldn’t we share? I think about all the newsletters I’ve gotten over the years and I always looked forward to them.  I love hearing about the trips, babies, and number of teeth lost.  But now I have this guy in my head telling me that newsletters are bad and we shouldn’t be focused on all that we’ve accomplished.  It’s not nice to brag.  Here’s my thought: I think the people that don’t like newsletters are missing an important piece.  The blessings.  We share our trips and number of teeth lost because we are so happy to have been blessed with good friends to visit and a child that may have taken years to adopt.  Should we change our wording? Probably.  But we shouldn’t stop doing newsletters all-together.  I’m hoping this compromise will be suitable.  This year I am going to share my blessings with you.  I’m not bragging.

I feel so honored to have been blessed with two beautiful children and a husband that continues to love me despite my refusal to do the dishes.  This year we spent most of January through March sick in one way or another but when Spring came we were able to celebrate Sophia’s 5th birthday, spend a week at a North Carolina beach with my sister and her beautiful family, and a weekend on a Lake Michigan beach with my good friend Kelli and her family.  All moments that I want to remember forever.  Carefree fun.  Sophia graduated from Preschool and we spent the summer playing outside, riding bikes, visiting Twigwicket {The Downs Family cottage}, and celebrating Isaiah’s 2nd birthday.  This year we spent time on Mackinac Island with cousins, I visited friends in Georgia, and Drew took a week long sabbatical to North Carolina for a clergy wellness retreat.  Drew and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary, Sophia started Kindergarten {Yikes!} and Isaiah is growing like a weed.  He talks as much as his big sister and running is the only way he knows how to get from point A to point B.  Drew works hard for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in St. Clair and I continue to stay at home with the kids.  We visited the Detroit Zoo, Greenfield Village, and Sophia saw her favorite movie in 3-D, The Wizard of Oz.  When I look back all I see are  a lot of good memories.  A year full of blessings.  I loved every minute of 2013 and wouldn’t give any of it back.

I look forward to 2014 and hope that you do as well.  May you be blessed with a happy, peaceful year full of adventure and good memories.  Be sure to share them with me either on Facebook or at the end of the year with your Christmas Newsletter.  I want to hear all about your adventures.

On behalf of the Downs Family,

Rose

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Fast From Excess – Our Story II

The week is over and I wanted to share my menu as well as my thoughts about the fast itself.  {You can find information on the Fast from Excess on the event page here.} The very first thing I noticed is that buying food for a family of four gives us a lot more options that just buying for one.  It’s a struggle to balance a peanut allergy but we still ate well and as long as we managed our menu we were not hungry.  As I said in my previous post this is a normal budget for us except I always try to squeeze in paper products and diapers.  Drew and I made sure to budget in our evening snacks but I did refrain from buying a bottle of wine.

Menu

Friday Dinner: Ramen and fruit

Saturday Dinner: Pancakes and bacon, fruit, yogurt

Sunday Dinner: Steak, Fried Potatoes, Bag Salad

Monday Dinner: Kids had Mac n Cheese and we had bean tacos with cheese and sour cream

Tuesday Dinner: Pierogies, bacon, peas

Wednesday Dinner: Fried Chicken Legs, fried potatoes, frozen veggies, kids had cheese sticks and carrots

Thursday Dinner: Mac and cheese and hot dogs, frozen veggies

Also three loaves of bread and a half batch of cookies and popcorn.

Friday was hot dogs again.  Drew worked late and I keep it easy and kid friendly when Drew isn’t home. Tonight is chicken legs in rice mixed with cream soup with a side of veggies.  Basic but so good.  We still have enough groceries left from the week to do spaghetti.  Would have had it already but like I said, I don’t cook for the kids when I know they won’t eat it so I prefer to do kid friendly stuff to avoid the arguing.  That’s why I made sure to buy hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.  It’s the perfect meal to  have when Drew works late.  Stress free. I know that some that participated in the fast eliminated fruits and vegetable but I don’t think it’s necessary to go without.  One just has to shop smart.  We had apples, bananas, and bag salad as well as our frozen veggie stash.

Cereal and milk for breakfast every day. Toaster Pastries on Sunday.  Pack lunches for Sophia while Isaiah and I had yogurt and bologna and canned fruit.  Isaiah loves strawberry applesauce so we’ve gone through a ton this week.  I still have bananas  that are in need of becoming banana bread. I did discover that I didn’t have to buy a few things if I had planned better.  I already had them in the cupboard.  I know the challenge was to live on what we bought but realistically when a family is trying to make their dollars stretch they have to use everything.  It doesn’t matter if it was purchased last week or this week. I did break down and buy Dr. Pepper from McDonald’s about half way through the week (and every day after).  I couldn’t take it anymore.  Surprisingly, I didn’t drink coffee in the mornings and that’s unusual.  I think I was trying to make up for the Dr. Pepper. Drew was much more disciplined than I.  You can read about his experience here and here.

This challenge had me thinking about cookbooks.  Thousands of cookbooks available but not a single one for the poor and deprived.  I make light but seriously, I have never seen a cookbook entitled “Meals on less than 37$ a week”.  There are so many good, nutritious options out there we just need to educate.  We take for granted our ability to make do with what we find in the cupboard but not everyone has that knowledge.  Families buy the prepackaged food because they don’t know what to do with a chicken breast, rice, and cream soup.  And freezers are often empty because, not only do they need to eat all that they make but, there is also a lack of knowledge on what to do with something once it’s frozen.  Or if it can be frozen at all.  I did find this on my internet travels –  Grocery Budgeting for Two: Under $25 a Week has some great tips.  Tips we already follow and I highly suggest like make what you can from scratch…huge money saver.

The most rewarding thing for me to come out of this fast was/is the conversation with my daughter.  Today she will work at the Food Pantry along side her daddy.  I’m excited to hear of her experience and see where she goes with it.

Brothers and Sisters

No one ever talks about the bond between a sister and her brother.  There is plenty out there on sisterly bonds and brotherly bonds but not  between a sister and her brother.  It’s complexities…ease of the early years…disappointments of the later years.  Why is that? Is it because it’s not as easy?

Look at these two.  She loves him and he adores her.  She kisses him goodnight every night and tries to include him whenever she’s playing.  He will follow her anywhere and mimics everything she does.  She loves it now but won’t as much when she’s 10 and he won’t stop repeating everything she’s saying. When she’s 20 and he does it she will punch him in the arm, smile slightly, and call him a name using whatever slang is big at the time.  Equivalent to dork or weirdo.  Most likely she’ll call him an ass because that’s what I affectionately refer to my husband as when he’s picking at me.

I have a sister and a couple brothers.  I’m no expert on sibling relationships though.  Mostly because I have no degree that makes it so but also because I have complicated relationships.  Not complicated as in difficult just complicated compared to other ‘normal’ sibling relationships.   I have an older brother that’s not related to me biologically but I’ve known him my entire life and the only way to explain the relationship we have is to call him my brother.   I have two half-siblings that I have never in my entire life until now referred to as my half-siblings.  My sister is seven years older than me and my brother is nine years older than me.  There are more that I feel don’t deserve a mention.  I’m not punishing them for bad behavior, I just don’t feel like rewarding them for their lack of familial loyalty.  See? Complicated.

So, I’m no expert on what sibling relationships should look like.  I consider my relationships with my siblings to be happy, positive, and sometimes balanced.  I say sometimes balanced because, let’s face it, we’re all different.  Some of us fulfill the definition of birth order, some can relate to The Five Love Languages, and sometimes I look at my relationship with my brother and think, “Yup.  You’re from Mars.” I don’t call my sister every day and last summer was the first time I had seen my brother in seven years!  When we all got together it was easy.  As it should be.  We talked about our happiest moments and our struggles. As if no time had gone by.  I love them.  Very much.  Shouldn’t it always be that easy?  I don’t hold them to a different standard just because they are my siblings.  We are all living life in a different way.  It’s unfair to place your own expectations on someone else.  You either accept them for who they are or you don’t.  My siblings love me and I love them.  At the end of the day that’s all that matters.

So why do we never hear much about the brother/sister relationship? I know people that see their siblings regularly.  Sisters that chat on the phone every day.  Brothers that get together for a beer at least once a week.  But I hardly hear of any sister that talks to her brother every day or meets him for a beer once a week. What happens? I’m starting to think that it’s all up to me.  Not just manners and values but teaching my children how to maintain their relationship with each other.  Let’s face it, boys and girls think and act differently.   There are plenty of studies out there to prove it.  Life evolves and as we introduce new people (spouses and children) into the equation then some of the sturdiest relationships can take a hit.  We spend so much time reading books about men being from Mars and women being from Venus and how that relates to our romantic relationships.  What about all the other relationships in our lives?  I think we’re forgetting that our brothers are men too.  Our sisters are women.  The Five Love Languages will teach us to understand our significant others and our children but what about our siblings?

Sometimes we just need to consider life and the struggles that we all have and how that changes our family relationships.  Life will pull them apart and stick them back together more than once but in the end they will always have each other and no matter how frustrating things get I will always remind them of that.  My daughter will sometimes have to be the mom to her baby brother and my son will sometimes have to be the protector of his big sister but I hope I can always keep things in perspective for them. A good relationship has high points and low points but at the end of the day love is all that matters.

 

Our Spiritual Home

St. Paul’s of St. Clair

I want to express the joy and love I feel whenever I am with my church family. Those close to us know how difficult our journey has been but in the end we have found an accepting, loving family. Most importantly they have welcomed our children with hugs and sugar cookies.

My Exit Interview

We have roughly two weeks until the move.  I know Drew will agree with me when I say that it couldn’t come fast enough.  Drew won’t miss too much about Georgia.  We feel like misfits here with our independent, liberal thought.  I handle it better than Drew does.  I don’t thrive on the passionate political/religous/sport conversation like he does. He needs an outlet and I don’t provide that for him.  Since being laid off he doesn’t have anyone to share with.  For example, right this minute he is reading Sports Weekly aloud to Isaiah and explaining the current championship football line up.  {Go Saints!}  While this is a good practice for Isaiah, he’s not exactly an expert conversationalist at four months of age and it’s not exactly what Drew needs right now.  Drew needs a little bit more and this is one reason why he is excited to be leaving Georgia and getting back to our friends and family in Michigan.  He can have some mental stimulation beyond that of a 4 month old.  I have co-workers that are always ready and willing to listen to me rant about my 5 am wake-up call by the aforementioned 4 month old or my unwavering dislike of Bill O’Reilly.  I could live here forever, surrounded by conservatives {Jenn Sarkis, you being my favorite}.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what, or who, I will miss.  Here are a few things I will miss about Georgia (in no particular order):

• It’s January and the bulbs have already started to bloom!
• Barnes & Noble, Newnan and everyone that works within its walls.
• The weather: I love the heat and the mild winters.
• Downtown Newnan-I love the square with it’s restaurants, unique shops and Market Days.  I will miss Market Days most of all.
• Peaches.  There is nothing better than a fresh Georgia peach.  Nothing.  I know Tamra Tuggle will agree with me.  Thank you to JC for introducing me to the peach grove and the unforgettable taste of a warm peach fresh off the tree.
• Atlanta.  I like all the stuff there is to do.  We didn’t even scratch the surface.
• The Eversoll Family
• Being able to go to the park in February.
• My Barnes & Noble Family.  Yes, it is worth mentioning twice.
• The Walking Dead films here (right here in Coweta County) and I still haven’t met Jon Bernthal.  UGH!

Things I won’t miss:

• Not having a church home.  It has taken a toll on my family.
• Being so far away from friends and family during a very strenuous time.

So my list of things I won’t miss is very short but far outweighs the good so therefore we must move on.  Drew and I have to stop ourselves constantly from saying 2011 was the worst year we’ve ever shared.  Isaiah was born in August so it wasn’t the worst year.  But it is safe to say that he was the one bright {very bright} spot of 2011.  And even though being pregnant did bring its share of stress to an already stressful situation, my son is a happy, content baby that saved Drew, Sophia, and I from killing each other.

Now here is a list of the things I’ve missed in Michigan and can’t wait to see/experience again (in no particular order):

• Meijer!
• Pickled Bologna.  They pickle everything else down here except bologna.
• Snow!  Sort of.  In theory.
• Sunshine at Studio 109.
• Tim Hortons maple donuts and Biggby Coffee
• Michigan wine country
• ALCOHOL SALES ON SUNDAY
• Secretary of States Office
• Sweet Michigan cherries

Christmas 2011

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Our newsletter for 2011!  We hope you enjoy it!

Christmas Newsletter 2010

Here’s what we were up to in 2010!

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Better late than never!