Bring On Lemons

Greetings! We are excited to participate in two months of excitement for Mary Kelley’s book The Weeping Angel. Book Review by Crystal J. Casavant-Otto: The Weeping Angel is such a beautiful tribute to World War I France and to Hubert Williams Kelley. Mary Kelley has done such a lovely job of organizing the letters to share them with the world and future generations. History books cannot move you the way personal letters and accounts of war do. Hubert Williams Kelley's letters are moving, sometimes dark, and often raw in a way that will haunt you. I cannot imagine what would have happened had Mary Kelley not put together The Weeping Angel . This personal account would have been lost forever. This also makes me wonder how many others have boxes of letters and photos from days long gone. How many of those precious memories will never be shared? The letters in The Weeping Angel were written between 1917 and 1919 and yet, when you begin reading it feels as though you yours...

What's the perfect family? When I had a boy and a girl, people would stop and mention that we had 'one of each' and how perfect that was. Apparently we would have been less perfect if we had 2 girls or 2 boys, or maybe having just one child is the true sign of imperfection? I waited a long time to have children because they're so dang sticky (don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about...first it's sticky poop, then it's sticky spit up, then we move on to gummy snacks, suckers from the bank, and other unidentifiable things you as the mom find stuck in your vehicle, on your pants, and in your hair Sorry - sort of went off a tangent there.. anyway - there is nothing perfect about parenting. Your house will never be as clean as it was before children. Your hair will never look the same, and let's not even talk about your body... Then there's those of us with the truly imperfect families - because we have too many children, or the...

Greetings! We are excited to participate in two months of excitement for Mary Kelley’s book The Weeping Angel. Book Review by Michelle Del Ponte: Reading “The Weeping Angel” by Hubert Williams Kelley has changed my heart a bit. In the letters from Kelley, he shares vivid descriptions about the war and casualties around him. Yet, he is forbidden to give out to much information, to prevent putting anyone in danger. What got my heart, was in every letter he notes who he has heard from. In the beginning of the book he wrote many letters stating that he has not heard from home. It was heartbreaking for me to see. I think we tend to move on with our lives and forget about all the men and women risking their lives for us. WWI took approximately 11 million military deaths and 7 million civilians. It was among one of the deadliest conflicts in history. While most of us have seen movies, pictures, or reenactments where we can picture the mass causalities left around, it is not a real...

By definition, this is what morning sickness is: nausea in pregnancy, typically occurring in the first few months. Despite its name, the nausea can affect pregnant women at any time of day. As a 39 year old mother with a child in diapers, a dairy farm, a Labrador retriever, school age children, blah blah blah...morning sickness is: living in a world where everything has a smell and every smell makes you want to vomit 24 HOURS A FRIGGIN' DAY.... Yesterday morning, the 3 year old was up at 3am throwing up. My amazing husband helped take care of him, but I spent the day washing and cleaning and I swear I can still smell vomit every time I try to take in oxygen. The dog who goes out to the barn smells like he has been rolling around in deer carcasses which he has not, but between his breath and heaven knows what else, I swear he is a larger than life dragon living in the middle of my kitchen. Speaking of the kitchen - I don't want to eat, I don't want to cook, I don...

Thank you to WOW! Women on Writing, Penny Harrison, and Mari from Artotems as well as Shirley Melis. Without these amazing friends this lovely post would not be possible! Hugs, ~Crystal Banged-Up Heart: Dancing with Love and Loss Review by Penny Harrison I thoroughly enjoyed Banged-Up Heart by Shirley Melis. This book is an autobiography that was, I'm sure, not easy to write. Shirley's life was filled with great love and great sadness which led to the "banged-up" state of her heart. Through the pages, you learn about the two great men that shaped her life. Both would be with her for a shorter time than she would have wanted, but both men left her with memories and a greater sense of who she was and what she wanted. Her voice is clear and inviting and helps you to experience her relationships with Joe and John until you know these men nearly as well as she had. Touching, inspiring and truthful, the story told is one of a life lived to the fullest. A li...