Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

scrapbooking

Wait! Everything's wrong! A review of A Sweethaven Homecoming by Courtney Walsh

A week ago, the long-awaited, much-anticipated sequel to A Sweethaven Summer released. (I wasn’t the only waiting for this, right?) And I could not wait to dive in to A Sweethaven Homecoming, return to the Michigan town of Sweethaven and find out what the gang had been up to.

Earlier this year, author Courtney Walsh introduced us to Campbell, who after her mom’s death, journeys to Sweethaven to meet her mom’s core group of childhood friends and help reconnect their lives. I don’t want to spoil anything from that book, so I’ll keep the plot recap to a minimum. Let’s just say the first book left a bit of a cliffhanger, with much to be resolved.

I eagerly dug into the sequel, which focuses more on country music star Meghan Rhodes’ battle for her kids in a not-so-sweet homecoming to Sweethaven. I trudged through the first chapters, not because they were poorly written but because no one was happy. This book is FULL of hard situations. Broken relationships. Insecurity. Feelings of helplessness, bitterness and unforgiveness. At one point in the story, a character says, “God, what is going on? Everyone I love is hurting right now.”

I. Am. So. There.

When I read, I often want to escape the reality of life. As the characters struggled and struggled and struggled some more, I just wanted to put the book down and walk away because I didn’t want to hurt anymore. (I know, it’s just a story, but man, do I love these characters.)

Isn’t that how life is sometimes?

What’s great about this story is that the characters make hard decisions. They do unexpected things: like forgive the unforgivable. They reconcile. They choose to fight for what’s important. They love, even when they aren’t loved in return. They take risks. I was especially impressed with the love and commitment the men in this book demonstrate. They don’t give up on their women who have issues. (There are men like this out there. Don’t give up on the male of the species, ladies.)

And they learn that some things are worth the pain.

So, lest you think I didn’t like this book, let me leave no doubt: TOTALLY WORTH IT.

In fact, I find myself a little sad right now because I finished the book so quickly and had to leave the town of Sweethaven for a couple of more months until the finale, A Sweethaven Christmas, releases.

I’ve heard said that great authors create a world readers don’t want to leave. Walsh has created a charming, inviting, homesick-inducing world with Sweethaven. I want to hug the ladies featured in the book and learn from them. (Am I weird?) I want to eat Adele’s food (she’s kinda like Paula Deen) and see Campbell’s photography and attend Jane’s Bible study and hear Meghan’s songs and drink Luke’s coffee. (Okay, so he’s not a lady, but he does figure into the plot.)

A hearty “well done, friend” to the author.

And to fellow readers, this is a series you don’t want to miss.

Crafting with kids: an overachieving mom’s guide to making an artistic mess

Last week, the kids and I were fighting spring colds, and even though the temperature outside was reasonable for spring, the wind was gusty. I opted for an in-house project instead of playtime outside.

For a few weeks, I’d been wanting to make these.

They are magazine files made from cereal boxes, and I first saw the idea on this site. I’d marked up the cereal boxes but was waiting for the best time to drag out the scissors, glue and scrapbooking paper.

My kids are 4 and 2, so art projects in our house require lots of supervision and tons of help (not to mention a boatload of patience on my part.) I like making things, but I’ve never been very good at follow-the-rules kinds of crafts.

Anyway, they didn’t turn out too bad, and I only had to threaten one time that we were going to put it all away before were done. The mess was minimal, and we made something useful.

Craft projects with kids can be intimidating, especially if you’re a control freak perfectionist like me, but it can be done, and I hope the effort pays off later in life and that my kids enjoy creating things as much as I do. (Or more!)

Here are some tips I’m learning about crafting with kids.

  • Be realistic. About how much time it’s going to take. About what you can accomplish. About the amount of mess you’re going to make. I usually approach these projects optimistically thinking “how hard could it be?” or “we could totally do that” and then find myself frustrated because I had unrealistic expectations. Repeat after me: The time is worth it. I don’t have to do every project I find on Pinterest with my kids this year. Messes clean up.
  • Plan ahead. My kids have a short attention span. Case in point: Easter egg dyeing. Do you know how long five minutes is to a 4-year-old or a 2-year-old? I suspect the experience was slightly less than what they expected. With that in mind, if I can have some prep work done before I get them started, we’re more likely to succeed. For example, with the cereal box project, I measured the boxes ahead of time. I should have cut them, too, because in the down time when I was cutting, the kids were bored. Gather your supplies. Lay out newspapers (if you’re working on your kitchen table like we usually do). Take a deep breath. Dive in.
  • Take your kids shopping for supplies. Hobby Lobby with two kids under 5 is one of the scariest experiences I’ve ever had. One time we were shopping for a picture frame and my son, the 2-year-old, insisted on holding the basket. Every time he swung around, I envisioned shattered frames all over the floor. That said, when I take the kids with me to buy craft supplies, they get inspired and excited about what we’re going to do. Our next project is to glue seashells we found on our trip to Florida to small wooden objects we found at Hobby Lobby. My son picked out a train, something I wouldn’t have bought if he hadn’t been with me. Giving him a choice in what to make, I hope, will keep him interested in the project.
  • Keep it simple. I try not to spend a lot of money on arts and crafts, frankly because we don’t have a lot of wiggle room in our budget. Projects that use things you have around the house (like cereal boxes) or things you can find (like leaves, flowers or sea shells) cut down on costs. Our biggest art expenses tend to be things like glue sticks and clear contact paper. Otherwise, I look for things that are sitting around the house, like my stash of scrapbooking paper that I’m not using for scrapbooking right now, and paints I used for projects years ago before I had kids.
  • Settle for imperfect. I want things to turn out right and look good. With kids as young as mine, that’s almost impossible when it comes to craft projects. If you look closely, my magazine files are misshapen and the paper is crooked. They may even be falling apart by now. Sometimes I lose it in my quest for perfection, but I’d rather my kids learn to try things and get it wrong than be afraid of trying anything because they know it won’t be right. Besides, it’s art. That’s one of the beauties of creative projects. If you make a mistake, you can convince people you did it on purpose and it was just your creative spin on the project.

What am I missing? How do you make craft projects fun for your kids?