Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized4 Comments

I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hello everyone. It has really been a tough two weeks around here. I shared on here the other day that my mom had a stroke and it has been very emotional and stressful and scary. She is now out of the hospital and in more long term care. She is actually better physically than she is emotionally? I am not sure how to describe it. I did read that this is common for people who have suffered a stroke, so we are just making our way through things day by day. She is also sleeping a lot, and I think she is in a sort of healing cocoon. When we sleep our brains heal and I think that is some part of what is going on. Plus, she does need rest, she went through a huge ordeal and was in the hospital for almost a week. She also had surgery for blood clots. It’s been a lot for her but everyday I see mini improvements, inchstones.

Books:

I haven’t read too much. I am still working on the book I started a few weeks ago, although I am enjoying it. I just keep falling asleep pretty fast at night. Lol.

I hope to finish it in the next day or two, and when I do I am going to start this one!

I thought it would be fun to get a photo with all three of my cats, but you can guess how that went. LOL. Max stuck around though.

Screens:

Nothing too exciting here either. When I am upset I want familiar shows, so we watched old episodes of Brokenwood.

In-Betweens:

I have been so grateful to all my friends for the support they have been given me this past week or so. My in person friends and also my online community. I also have gotten a few letters from pen pals this week that have brought a smile to my face. Thank you to Tina for the happy mail – Wyatt and I are excited to start the seeds soon! Yesterday I set up a small table next to my mom’s bed while she slept and wrote a few letters back to my pen pals, and it was a very therapeutic and calming activity.

I an hoping to be back in this space more this week as well. I am trying to establish a new routine to accommodate some of the changes in our lives for the moment. I just work better when I have a plan and order. I haven’t had one and things are just a mess here. No planned dinners have led to my family eating more fast food and junk than I like, the house is cluttered, things have just fallen by the wayside, even with my husband doing all he can to help. I have been a bit of survival mode, even with Wyatt’s homeschool, focusing on reading and math only and his home therapy routine. So I am working on a plan for the week.

Tuesday is going to be a nightmare friends. Send good vibes! Lol. It’s not really that bad, but between Wyatt and my mom I have three appointments one right after another with just enough time to drive to them all in between!! Not any appointments I am particularly worried about, it’s just the actual scheduling of them.

Around the Internets:

I have shared some posts in the past two weeks:

Little Life Updates

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Top Ten Tuesday: Cozy Mysteries with a Gardening Theme

Also, just a reminder as well that Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I have a link up for anything bookish! You can find it here!

And that is it from me today! Whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile!

Little Life Updates

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized8 Comments

Hello everyone. It ‘s been a crazy week and a half around here. I mentioned the other week that my mom wasn’t well and she had a diagnosis of an UTI. It turns out she also had a stroke, which we learned as her condition began to deteriorate instead of improve throughout the week. She has been in the hospital since Saturday night, and it has been a confusing, emotional, stressful time. I would like to see the adult in charge please?

Despite everything she has been going through, she is doing ok. The stroke affected her left side, and mainly the vision in that eye, and her arm. Her arm however seems to be doing better, and it seems as if her vision is as well. Before she wasn’t turning her head to the left at all, and now she will track me if I move around the room, from one side of the bed to the other. Yay for improvements!

I feel so guilty everyone. I am not able to be there all the time and I feel awful. But I have a son who is also medically complex who needs me as well. It is hard for my husband to get time off easily, and I am there as much as I can. This is such a very difficult situation for me- and I feel so bad. This is all just so hard.

I actually spent all morning this morning speaking to the hospital social worker, insurance, and the place where she lives, basically negotiating for care for my mother. I hate that this is our system. It is absolutely deplorable. However, I managed to get the best I could for her, with her resources and the hospital timeframe. I think I have a good plan in place and it gives my brother and I more time to research if this is the best option. We were told my mom needs long term care and was not recommended rehab, but also where she lives, she wasn’t receiving all those extra services, plus, they wanted to send her back today. Make it make sense people. She needs long term care but send her back to independent living? I managed to set everything up and they will discharge her tomorrow.

Needless to say, I am exhausted. After I visit my mom tonight, I am going to come home and take a dark shower, do some serious skin care, and crawl into my freshly made up bed for the remainder of the night. Maybe watch an old Brokenwood, have some tea.

This weekend I do have something fun lined up for Wyatt and his friends. Our little Blackbirds group is meeting at a local farm that is currently in the process of maple sugaring. So the kids will be able to see and participate in that process. The farm owner is a retired special education teacher as well, and she is very excited to be hosting our scouts.

We also had two birthday parties over the weekend, despite my mom’s hospitalization. It was not easy honestly, but we did it. I think they went well even with everything that was happening.

I am going to end here today, but I will be back to blogging again on the regular again soon, hopefully.

Take care of yourselves out there, and help others when you can!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized6 Comments

Hello everyone! I’m going to be honest, this was not our best week, my mom hasn’t been well, although it did start off celebratory and fun, with Wyatt’s birthday! I can’t believe my kiddo is 11. Where has time gone?? He was just a teeny tiny peanut when he was born and now he is almost the same size as me!

I mean, look at my hand next to him. Lol. He was 2 lbs 15 oz and 17 inches long. He is a miracle honestly.

We were trying to figure out what to do to celebrate his birthday. It has been so cold and yucky out, and germs have not slowed down out there at all. Wyatt had wanted to go to the Toledo Art Museum, but then I learned that it is closed on Mondays – along with just about every art and history museum. I didn’t know this was universally a thing, but it is. So we owe him a visit to the art museum. We pivoted and headed for the Toledo Zoo instead, and had a great time!

It was a Monday morning, cold, gray, and we pretty much had the entire zoo to ourselves. There were a few animals not on exhibit, and most of the buildings were still shuttered and not open, but that didn’t stop us from having fun.

We saw otters (my favorite there!), elephants (which Wyatt loved because one of them did something that young boys find hilarious), wolves, among other mammals, and went into the aquarium, conservatory, and natural history museum. The reptarium was under construction sadly but that just gives us a reason to go back. The conservatory was so cool – it had reptiles just loose and free in it! We all had to watch where we were going so we didn’t squish any. I also did something purely out of love for Wyatt – I sort of am weirded out by fish, and they had two open aquariums where you could pet a sturgeon and manta rays (or some sort of rays) and Wyatt was not quite tall enough in the wheelchair to do it, so I did it for him and described it and it was super gross, which Wyatt thought was hilarious.

That 80s looking building up there used to be where all of the big cats lived in the 1980s. I remember visiting them there when I was a kid and before zoos became more knowledgeable about habitats and what is appropriate. Now it is used as a restaurant! I swear we could eat in that building even then, while the big cats lived there but I might be misremembering. That was a long time ago!

I mean just check out this photo quality! Lol. I am the second from the left, and my little brother is in the red shorts next to me, and my cousin Brian is the other big kid. Check out the giant thermos jug my Aunt has! Lol.

We spent a few hours at the zoo, then headed home. It was just about time for dinner when we pulled back into our driveway, after having stopped for a family size mac and cheese, which was Wyatt’s request for dinner. And that was that! Wyatt has two little family parties this weekend to celebrate as well.

The rest of my week has been sort of split, with a lot of time being spent doing things for my mom. She has a UTI and it has really affected her mentally and physically. So I have been in contact with lots of staff and being there in person and juggling all that with Wyatt’s school and his appointments. Watching your parents age is really really hard!

And I don’t want to end on that so we will talk about… the book of poetry I just read. It is called A Bit Much, it is so good! I absolutely loved it. So many of the poems resonated with me. You can find the author, Lyndsay Rush, on Instagram as @maryoliversdrunkcousin. Lol. I have been sharing poems from the book with friends all week, like this one I sent my friend Kelly.

And with that, I will sign off for today. I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Top Ten Tuesday: Cozy Mysteries with a Gardening Theme

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized41 Comments

I live in Michigan, where it has been gray and snowy for months and months. I love it in December and maybe part of January, but we have reached the point where I am ready for winter to move on. Vamoose. Go. I need some green. I need some blue skies and bird song. I need flowers. So, being me, I am turning to books so I can daydream through the pages until I can tiptoe through tulips.

Statute of Limitations || Flowers and Foul Play || Daisies for Innocence

These three are at the top of my list. They all sound so cute! I love that Statute of Limitations takes place in Michigan and has a mischievous raccoon, that Flowers and Foul Play is magical, and Daisies for Innocence has a corgi. I am a pushover for certain things, and these all push that “I love that!” button.

Murder in the Rose Beds || Deadhead and Buried || A Muddied Murder

Look at these two cute English cottage mystery series, each with their own little ginger cat! Hmm. Don’t they look sort of similar….. even if they are, both of these series look adorable and fun.

I also love this vintage seed packet style cover of the A Muddied Murder. What a great concept!

The Azalea Assault || Pruning the Dead || Pruning for Murder

I am also a sucker for a book with a house on the cover, and all three of these appeal to me. Although will I want to prune anything after reading them?

A Hoe Lot of Trouble

And finally, A Hoe Lot of Trouble. This one just made me laugh!

And that is it from me today! If you are somewhere warm and sunny, send some of that my way!

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized33 Comments

I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hello everyone! We had a pretty good week of school and just living life around here! We went to the library, visited with my mom, who looked so pretty in the pink loungewear I bought her, and I signed Wyatt up for a special needs Little League. Nothing big or exciting but just a good week.

Books:

I am allllllmost done with La Vie and I did finish Violet Thistlewaite. Neither helped my spring fever! La Vie is making me want to ride my bike and plant a potager and sit outside enjoying the sunshine, while Violet Thistlewaite made me crave all the flowers.

This week, after I finish La Vie, I think I am going to start The Hounding.

And I am so excited that Lyndsay Rush’s book came in for me at the library! It is a book of poetry and it just kept popping up for me everywhere lately. It was quoted in a book, a vlogger I watch mentioned it, and someone on my Insta talked about it as well, and every time it crossed my path it just sounded amazing.

Screens:

Billy and I finished up Death by Lightning and jeez Louise was that a fantastic series. I am putting the book it is based upon on my TBR. It was just amazing. The cast knocked it out of the park. Michael Shannon as James Garfield just charmed me, and Matthew McFadyen as Charles Guiteau – wow. I would never have even guessed it was the same actor who played Mr. Darcy. Nick Offerman as Chester A. Arthur killed it too and I can’t see anyone else playing that role now. Betty Gilpin as Lucretia Garfield also came into her own near the end of the movie, and was completely believable. I could literally go on about them all. Was James Garfield really that good of a man? And what about Chester A. Arthur? Was he really that rough? I need to know.

Wyatt’s physical therapist is a history buff as well, and when I took him to therapy the other day I mentioned I watched it and suggested it to her – but she had already seen it. We totally nerded out together over James Garfield and it cracked me up. It can be seen on Netflix if you are interested.

I also posted a few times last week.

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Quotes

Mini Book Reviews: A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping, The Amberglow Candy Store, and Everyone is Lying to You.

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

In-Betweens:

Monday is Wyatt’s birthday and Billy took the day off so we can do something together. It will be the first year ever on Wyatt’s birthday that we have not done something nature related! We had planned a get away but honestly, some unexpected expenses that popped up ate away at our budget so we rescheduled for later this year. We have a few ideas about what to do on Monday, and Wyatt will make the final decision in the morning that day. Whatever we do, I am sure we will have a great time.

I also have an Instagram devoted to our kittens Max and Mouse! Lol. It is just sort of a fun little thing. They entertain us so much I thought I would share. And don’t worry, Miso has not been forgotten about, and I think she is enjoying her semi-retirement. She is still my number one snuggle cat. If you want to check it out you can find it here! I can’t believe how big they are getting already! I think they may grow up to be huge cats or something. Lol.

And with that, I hope that you all have a great day!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

Hello all! February has just been a month. Yuck gray skies, cold, surrounded by illness, we got Covid – we are ready for March and hoping that it holds better things for Michigan and for us. However it did have small happy moments of joy, and those are the things that keep us all going, really, aren’t they? Moments like singing with your child while he shoots a big grin at you, your husband surprising you with your favorite chocolate bar when you are having a bad day, a phone call or a message from a friend that brightens your day. And that is how our month has been, nothing big or exciting but full of these moments. Watching the Olympics all shmooed out on the bed with family and cats and blankets, those few days where the sun peeked out and the skies were actually blue, Wyatt getting excited about the history or art lesson, opening the mailbox to find a letter inside rather than junk mail – you get the idea.

Wyatt’s birthday is Monday! I can’t believe my teeny tiny baby who was literally as big as one of our kittens when he was born is going to be 11. My silly goofy happy boy. He fills our hearts with so much good everything, everyday. We had to postpone his birthday party though unfortunately-everyone around us is sick! Hopefully they will be better by next weekend and we can celebrate with our family. This weekend the three of u will eat the cake we ordered the party, and I will just order another. And we will figure out what we are going to do. Will we brave the weather and go to the zoo? Will we brave the germs and mask up and go somewhere inside? Only time will tell!

Speaking of my Wy-guy, we signed him up for a local little league team! They have a special needs team and kiddo is now all ready to play baseball. My cousin has gloves from when her son played little league and he is also a lefty like Wyatt, so she is giving us one of his old gloves, so that is settled. I was talking to her on the phone yesterday about little league, and she asked if Wyatt had a glove yet. I was so confused. Why would Wyatt need a glove? I am not very sporty guys. Two of Wyatt’s friends from Blackbirds are on the team as well, so it will be nice to all go to the games together.

Wyatt will be having surgery again sometime during the season, but the surgeon has told us his recovery will be nothing like the previous surgery. This one will be just a few days and he won’t have any restrictions. He has to have the metal that they put in him in July taken out. That surgery will be happening at the end of April.

I have been really enjoying exchanging snail mail letters with a few different women around the country, and one woman in the Netherlands. It is always such a happy surprise to find a new letter in the mailbox! (thank you Tina for all of your letters! You have one on the way too) It was nice to sit down yesterday with a cup of tea while Wyatt was painting and write a few letters back. We had finished school and his exercises and I had completed a bunch of household tasks (litter boxes, dishes, etc) and I finally had a semi-quiet moment (there are never completely quiet moments when Wyatt is awake – he is always chattering away like a little squirrel), and it was nice. I have also received little gifts inside my letters, stickers and teas, and I need to get something to send back to everyone in my next letters. I am thinking about starting tea journal! I saw someone with one online and it is so cute. I mean, why shouldn’t I have a journal for everything? Lol. I am an archivist at heart!

I am so ready for spring everyone. Like major spring fever over here. I know that March weather is notorious for faking us out, and it is not spring weather yet – Wyatt was born on the coldest day of the winter that year – but this morning the sun is shining, and the temp is supposed to be 50 degrees and it just feels so close. Temps plunge again after this weekend but at least we have a day or two of warmer weather before it does. I am ready to see flowers and birds and to plant things, and try to tempt toads to our garden, and then for summertime fireflies at night and backyard barbecues and bonfires. I want to walk through a wood and hear the spring peepers, to watch people gather around our little free library again that has been sort of lonely little bastion of books out there in the snow all winter.

Is anyone else feeling spring fever? Or if you are in the southern hemisphere, are you ready for cooler temps?

And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Mini Book Reviews: A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping, The Amberglow Candy Store, Everyone is Lying to You

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

Hello everyone! It is time once again for me to post a few mini reviews!

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is perfectly adorable. This book is all about love, what we will do for those we love, and finding the people we love. Just so much love. There is also some very villainous villains in this one too, a zombie rooster, a talking fox who is really a witch who has been cursed by her own curse, and various other magics at play. The characters are all those who have been hurt by others, whose existences were not deemed acceptable, for being different or “other”. The inn is a place whose real magic is love and healing, and it is just such a cozy, heartwarming read.

Yay for book one for me this year in the Books in Translation challenge! The Amberglow Candy Store was a very cute, simple, and quick read. I wasn’t in love with it, and I felt like it read pretty young. I actually even looked it back up to see if it was maybe middle grade but it isn’t. However, it wasn’t a bad book. It is split up into different little stories, like most of these healing fiction style books, and I definitely had my favorite stories. I loved the story of Ayumu, and I loved the story about Kogetsu, the han-yu who runs the shop. His story was probably my favorite. This story also made me want to try the types of treats mentioned in this book! All of them are unknown to me, and now I want to try them myself!

I do love this cover immensely as well.

I picked this up as a blind date with a book and it was an amazing read! This is a fictional thriller, murder mystery book, and I literally didn’t want to put it down. The mystery was well done, but even more so the depiction of social media. The ups and downs, the reality and the facade. What is authentic, what is not. And how even when we know that, we are still drawn in by the images and stories we see. I loved too that this was all juxtaposed against investigative journalism and social media, and research vs. opinion. It was all fascinating and I couldn’t stop reading. This is not to say either that all stories and images we see online are inauthentic or fake; just that maybe we all need to realize that everyone no matter how perfect they seem online, is still human.

I also really enjoyed the author pointing out that these women influencers are very powerful, rich women, some of them billionaires behind the scenes from their work as influencers, yet they are under the radar or not acknowledged as such. They might have a different sort of job, but at the same time are CEOs of their brands, which can pull in the big money. Why are they not acknowledged as highly as other powerful CEOs, or even acknowledged at all? I thought this was a very interesting viewpoint.

J0 Piazza spent five years down the rabbit hole, doing research, and is in fact a journalist herself. When she had her baby in 2020 (I think) she began a deep dive behind the moms behind the blogs and Instagrams that always looked so perfect and had it under control, and began the podcast Under the Influence which is all about this topic. I of course started listening and it is just as fascinating as this fiction thriller!

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Quotes

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized30 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Today’s Prompt: Quotes

I love this prompt. I keep a reading journal and I always write down a quote or two from the book that I finished. These are from some of the last books I have read.

“He promised to keep trying to live in a good way, despite the pull of negative influences around him.”

“The only thing I was sure of at that moments was that I wouldn’t cry. I’d dealt with much worse events in my life and hadn’t shed a tear. Tears were for those who had the time to wallow in their misery. After each major disaster in my life I hadn’t had the luxury of falling apart. I’d needed to remain standing just for my survival.”

“Lilacs belong to old houses, they should lean and look in the windows.”

“The steaming crumble was hygge in a bowl. No self-respecting Scandinavian or Northern European would ever think of dieting in winter. Food is comfort against cold and dark.”

“When we arrive in Akureyri, twilight is descending upon the brightly lit town, its reflection cast upon the still dark surface of a fjord..”

“This was how the konpeito were meant to be eaten. And imagining the good things that might happen with others was a minor joy in itself.”

“Now I know there is an influencer for everything. Much like porn, if you can name a kink there is an influencer for it.”

“Some moments return to us, intact and incandescent, undimmed by the passage of time.”

“…I’ve found that simplicity doesn’t necessarily equal childishness. I like to be reminded that kindness, patience, and friendship are the things that make life enjoyable.”

” ‘I’m a raven.’ Lenore shrugged. ‘If you want sunshine and melodies, go find a swallow.’ “

And that is it for me today! I hope you do something that makes you smile today!

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized22 Comments

I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hello everyone! Just when we thought winter was ending, we got a fresh layer of snow. Sigh. More than the snow, I am ready for the germs everywhere to disappear for the season! Michigan is still at a high level for flu, and it has been holding steady for two months. We actually had to cancel our skating trip because all but two kids are sick! (and knock on wood they stay well!)

Books:

Last week I read two books!

Everyone is Lying to You is a library book I got in one of those blind date with a book things. I absolutely loved it and could not stop reading it.

The Amberglow Candy Store… not as much. It was very sweet (lol) but it read very young. I actually went and looked to see if it was a middle grade book but it is not. It was not a bad read, but I didn’t love it. I do love this cover though!

This week I am not sure what I am reading. I do have a few I am thinking about.

I am also anxiously awaiting a hold I placed on a book of poetry by Lyndsay Rush, who is showing up for me everywhere the last few days. She was on a vlog I watched, she was quoted in the book Everyone is Lying to You, and then she popped up on another person’s Instagram who I follow. I would buy the book but I like to use the library first, plus Billy and I are trying to do a no spend month. Well, we are buying groceries and necessities but nothing just for fun or because we want it. We have a million birthdays this month and want to stay on budget.

Screens:

In between the Olympics, Billy and I watched The Burbs tv show. We both really loved it! Then Friday night we started watching the Netflix series Death by Lightning, which is fabulous. The cast is amazing – Michael Shannon, Nick Offerman, Betty Gilpin, Matthew MacFadyen – so many great actors. It is about James Garfield and his assassin Charles Guiteau, and it begins by saying that these two and their lives have been lost to history. That we have forgotten who they are, and their stories. I feel like I am learning so much, and I want to read the book that the series is based on by Candice Millard called Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President. Billy and I have also talked about taking a road trip out to Garfield’s farm in the spring. I love when a show or a book brings history to life, and sparks a new interest. So far I highly recommend it, although we are only two episodes in out of a four part series. Was Chester A. Arthur also so rough and uncouth? I need to know! Just a note: There is swearing in this trailer.

In-Betweens:

Well, I mentioned we had to cancel our skating trip which was a bummer. I know the kids were excited; it stinks that the majority of the families got sick. We do have another outing coming up in a few weeks, to a maple sugar farm. Orchard?

I don’t have too much else to add! I just did my Friday Coffee Catch Up a few days ago and yesterday we spent catching up on things. I did have a nice chat with Lisa and Cat from Cat’s Wire during our crafternoon, which was a nice break in the day. I didn’t end up crafting at all, since I had a sleeping cat on my lap.

I did post a few times last week:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books for the Armchair Traveler

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

And, I think that is it from me today! I hope that you all stay safe and healthy!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized18 Comments

Hello everyone!! Our mornings since we got the kittens have been very cozy. Wyatt, Billy and I hang out on the bed, doing whatever (I usually blog) and the kittens romp around the room being silly. Miso has usually come and gone by this point. She likes to wake me up early for her breakfast, cuddle next to me for a bit, then heads to higher ground when the kittens get up. Like me, Miso likes a slow morning.

Speaking of the kittens, they had their spay/neuter surgeries this week, and both of them did great. I was super nervous, and I hated leaving them there overnight, but it helped that my SIL works there and could update me often. She sent me pictures when they woke up. I thought it was hilarious – my kittens woke up and when they were awake enough to have food, they pigged out. The pictures Chrissy sent cracked me up. She sent pictures of Max and Mouse, and also of their mother and sister, who were also there being fixed. If you remember, their mom was a stray my friend let in his house around Thanksgiving, and she had the kittens a week later. The clinic has a grant program that allows them to do the surgeries for a great price – we paid $50 total for the kittens surgery, and that included the meds and vaccines. Anyway, their mom and sister were posing like princesses and my kittens were headfirst in their food bowls.

Isn’t the mom gorgeous? Can you believe she was just wandering the streets? She was underweight despite being pregnant when my friend took her in. She looks soo much better now!

On Valentine’s Day, we had a very simple celebration. Billy and I took a walk in the park at sunset, and then we went home and he made Wyatt and I pancakes with a homemade strawberry compote to put on top. It was delicious! I had mentioned earlier in the week that I really wanted them, for some reason, maybe a bit of comfort food mixed with bright flavors, and he did a great job.

Earlier that day we didn’t do much, other than go to the library. I ended up getting a book from their blind date with a book display, and I could not put it down.

We also had our Blackbirds meeting last week. It seems like once we recovered from being sick and got the all clear, we hit the ground running again. I think I could have used a few more days of slow moving, but that was not in the plans I guess. After our skating adventure this weekend I am not making any plans for a while!

However, Blackbirds was really fun. This time, I had the kids building Yeti traps for a bit of fun Stem time. Billy made 3d printed yetis for every kid, and then we gave them the supplies, the plans and a parent helper and they got to making – or, most of the parents did. It turned into the parents working on the traps with their kids and all of us parents just talking away, and honestly it was so fun. There were so many smiles, and one of the children came up to me afterwards to tell me how much fun she had, and how much she enjoyed making the trap. It made me smile.

We are signing Wyatt up for Little League this year! There is a city near us that offers a special needs team, and Wyatt and a few of his friends are going to join. It sounds perfect. They are super flexible about practices and games, and they only play two innings, which is probably the exact right amount of time for at least my little guy. It is also free! We sign him up this week and I am pretty excited! I don’t think anything starts until April so we have some time to get some practice in here first.

And since I am talking sports and activities, let me brag a bit on Mermaid Girl – who I am going to rename Ninja Girl on here. She has been taking karate, and was just accepted into the black belt club! This means she is fast tracked for her black belt, and has to go to extra classes and one of them is a weapons training. She has a bostaff which sounds so cool! I am very proud of her!

We have also been catching up on things around here, that got shoved aside when we were sick. School, housework, just the bits and pieces of everyday life. I also caught up on my correspondences with my pen pals, and I am heading to the post office tomorrow to mail them all. It has been so much fun, and I get so excited when I open the mailbox and find a letter! Max was attempting to help but fell asleep instead.

And that is about it from me today!! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!