Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart

A book about real life happy endings.  It centers around a group of 2 sisters, their cousin and a pastor who's lives intersect in the picturesque town of Charleston.  This book went from a story about your divine destiny to the greatest story of how with the support of loved ones and faith you can overcome anything.

It starts with the story of Roy, a widower and small town pastor asked to offer his guidance at a large well to do church that he fears he can't connect with.  His strong belief in a greater plan leads him to accept the challenge of going where he was not comfortable, but led him to find love again.

The story of one sister, Anne, who as a bell-ringer for St. Michael's church in Charleston believed God spoke to her one day, telling her to "stay and wait" for her true love.  So, wait she does even when those around her try to make her doubt her unquestioning faith.

Then there is Anne's cousin Della, a wife and mother struggling with the stress that lack of money can put on your relationship and happiness.  The lingering doubts that she chose the right man.  The distance that can separate spouses when they don't clasp to their connection with each other when times are tough.

Though as this story shows the grass isn't always greener on the other side.  It also portrays Anne's sister life that from the outside looks like a picture perfect life.  After an emergency c-section with her 3rd pregnancy Lish falls into a deep depression.  Her battle with postpartum depression and the heart breaking way it takes over her life pulls at the reader.

Upon reading the first chapter I thought to myself,"Oh no, an overly religious book.", but the further I read into the book the harder it was to walk away from.  When the story turned to Lish's struggle with postpartum depression it was so vivid and heart wrenching that is left my hands sweating and shaking.   The strength of love, faith and unflinching support illustrated in this book left me hopeful about humanity.  I feel that no matter how many times I read this book I will come away with a different insight into faith and love, all depending on what I am facing in life.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review from the book publisher through the website http://BookSneeze.com, but I am under no obligation to give a positive review.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

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Baby Books and Milestones

As a crafty mom I would love to have the baby books filled out for my children as the milestones occur. Being a busy mom of 4 kids I know that isn't realistic. I have come up with a way for me to have the best of both worlds, a complete baby book and be on top of my day-to-day drudgery. (yes, dishes and laundry I mean you.)

I hang a large wall calendar, out of reach of little sticky fingers, but in a convenient spot for myself. As my children grow and reach their different milestones I can quickly jot them down on the calendar. Later I can transcribe them to my baby books when it is a more convenient time. (usually after bedtime)

I've saved little silly sayings from my kids and even taped a small envelope from the first haircut to a calendar.

Now that my older children are in school they are constantly bringing home art work or other papers they are proud of. (Make sure they put their name and date on the back of the artwork as soon as you see it. At the least the month or even school year) Ever year I make a folder with their name, grade and teachers name on it. We will fill this folder throughout the year. At the end of the school year we pick out the papers and art that meant the most to us. One piece of art makes its way to a special frame on the wall. (turning a part of the hallway into my own children's art gallery.) The remaining stay in the folder for the day I can transfer them to their own special book of works.

School Daze

Toward the end of the long summer I find myself longing for the start of school and the stricter schedule that comes with it. Even though it's hard getting back into the regular school schedule I find it comforting at the same time. Before summer has passed the midway point I find myself wistfully yearning for the homework battles, parent teacher conferences, early morning clubs, and even the last-minute school projects that come with the school year.

To help the school year run as smoothly as possible I have come up with a few laws of mom-land. Ok , so they are more strong guidelines, but it works for my household. Maybe they could help with yours as well.

Every night before bed we check our schedule for the next days specials class. (Specials classes are the Art, Music, Library and two days of P.E. that rotate throughout the week) We then choose an outfit according to the next day's schedule. This helps to get my older children off to school on time with as few conflicts as humanly possible. (they are two girls sharing one bathroom, some conflict is unavoidable.) I have made selecting clothing for the day even easier with a few minor changes in laundry habits. When doing laundry I have recruited my older daughters to pair up their own school outfits and hang them together on one hanger, so that they have a full outfit at their fingertips. This saves time at night when we are in the midst of a bedtime battle with my 4-year-old and gets them to bed at a decent time. Having them pair the outfits gives them some feeling of control over their own day-to-day wardrobe.

Once they get home from school I have them immediately wash their hands. School is the gathering place of outbreak monkeys children. Becoming the unsuspecting petri dish for whatever germ they are harboring on their hands from their day is not high on my wish list. This habit is what I credit for our children not getting sick for an entire school year and they both ended up receiving the Governor's Award in Excellence for Perfect Attendance. To receive the award you need to miss 3 or less days of school the entire year. That includes the fact that three tardy days are equal to one absence.

After a full body sanitizing in the clean room they have a quick snack. I wish I had a sanitizing room. Kid's carry the nastiest germs and share them freely. They usually get a popsicle or other frozen treat, because we live in a desert that has two seasons; hot and dry for 9 months or windy and cool for the other 3 months. I don't consider the 2-3 days of rainy weather a season or the once every five years freak snow storm one either.

We will then go over that days homework directions. Now that they are older they don't need this as often since they know my expectations. When they complete their work I go over it correcting it. Not giving the answers but circling wrong problems on math worksheets or giving a proofread on english work. They then take their homework back and correct the mistakes. Since doing this their grades have improved and their understanding of the work has increased. During homework time no TV is on in the entire house. It is time for the younger children to play quietly or read a book.

One thing that drives my kids crazy is that I do not accept messy written work. Neatness matters foremost. It wont matter if you spelled everything correctly if the teacher cannot read the paper to begin with. I started this at a young school age. Lauryn is the only one to still try to get away with scribbling her work in a way that looks like she attempted writing with her toes. It just takes one day of me making her rewrite her work as many as 3 or 4 times for her to improve her neatness.. Every once in a while she needs a reminder, but not as often anymore.  I wish my parents had cared enough about my school work to do any of this.

When I review their math worksheets I circle math problems they got wrong. If the continue to have trouble with their work I will not just supply them with the answer. Instead I go through the directions with them once again and work through a problem with them to show where they may have made a mistake. I let them do the work, showing me how they did the problem, so that I can explain where they made the mistake. After 2 years of doing this, more often than not they just need me to circle the problem they got wrong.

Once we finish with homework it is time to relax. They spend their time playing with their younger siblings. I'm surprised they have not arm wrestled for who gets to hold their baby brother first. Just the other day he spit up all over Morgan. It was so bad she had to go change her clothes. As she goes running down the hallway gagging she yells, "It's still my turn to hold him!"