Top Ten Tuesday: Books for Armchair Travelers

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Today’s Prompt: Books for Armchair Travel

Oo this is a good one!!! I think I am going to do a mix of books that I have read and books that I want to read! I also want to choose books I haven’t mentioned very much here as well. Or maybe I will do picture books and middle grade! I am apparently just going to plan this right here while I type.

A Frog in the Fjord || The Year of Living Danishly || A Buzz in the Meadow

A Frog in the Fjord is on my vast and enormous TBR. I don’t know who else looks at books on Pinterest, but this was a Pinterest find. I can armchair travel to Norway, a country I would love to visit. As you read through this post, you are going to learn a lot about me, and where I would like to travel!

I read The Year of Living Danishly a few years ago and became obsessed with moving to Denmark. I would still love to move there, and every so often I randomly ask Billy to look at jobs there.

A Buzz in the Meadow took me to a rural French farm. It was run down and this book focuses on the wildlife and nature that happens there. I loved reading about the vernal pool that came back, and how the amphibians that used it also came back.

The Key to Puzzler’s Lock || Only in Naples || Tea With Elephants

I have an obsession with houseboats and canal boats. It has come up here many times but I am going to mention it again. My friend Kelly who just got back from England (I am giving her a hard time about going away again because she is my bestie and who will I talk to every morning if she is away again) is going to Amsterdam next week and I asked if she would stay on a houseboat for me. She said no and I think she is missing out by not doing it. Lol. Anyway, I love books that have houseboats and canal boats so I can travel there from my bedroom. FYI The Key to Puzzler’s Lock is for middle grade readers.

Only in Naples is another TBR pick as is Tea with Elephants. I would love to go to both Italy, and Africa. Sigh. I would love to see elephants in the wild, and cheetahs and giraffes. That giraffe hotel looks amazing to me! I have a family member who got to stay there and they said it was so cool! But until I become a world traveler I will have to be an armchair one.

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop || The Bookshop on the Shore || Dear Bob and Sue

The first two are double whammies. Bookshops and travel! One in Korea and one in Scotland!! And Dear Bob and Sue was such a cool way to “visit” all of the national parks. And I learned I am not cut out to visit those national parks in Alaska except for in books! That grizzly bear situation is a big no thank you from me.

Temple of Swoon

And finally Temple of Swoon! I love to read books and watch movies that are about exploring the jungle! And since I would absolutely hate it in reality – too hot, too humid, too many giant bugs and snakes, I get my travel fix through books!

I am excited to see what I can add to my list today!

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized23 Comments

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

Hello everyone! Last week was yucky week! We all ended up with Covid. It was thankfully mild but we were still all super tired. We are feeling back to normal now though thank goodness!

Books:

While I was sick, I didn’t really feel like reading until I started feeling better. I did enjoy reading through Vivian Swift’s When Wanderers Cease to Roam, which was perfect. It was easy to read through, lots of pictures, and cheery. I am only halfway through it, but the chapters on the spring months were giving me life! About midweek I felt like reading again, and I ended up finishing two books.

I am really enjoying my slow “wander” through Swift’s book. Right now I am using it to get through these last dregs of winter, reading about all the seasons we have to look forward to, but I ended up buying a copy from Pango so that I can revisit it monthly or seasonally when I want to in the future.

The Cater Street Hangman is from a book series I used to read like crazy years and years ago. I often go back to it when I am not feeling well or need a comfort read.

And finally, A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping was delightful!! I absolutely loved it. Also another buy from Pango. I also sell on Pango, and one feature of it is that you can earn Pango bucks. You can either have the money you make sent to your actual bank account, or you can choose to keep it on Pango and use it to buy more books. That is generally what I do.

Screens:

Well, I didn’t read much last week but I did watch television. We watched a lot of Olympics. I have such warm and fuzzy feelings about watching the Olympics with my mom as a little girl. It was always so exciting and such an event, especially when we knew figure skating would be on. We would sit under blankets on the couch with our cups of tea and watch all of the skaters. Such good memories. I wanted to make some of these with Wyatt too, but he wasn’t as interested in figure skating. However, he does like to watch moguls and snowboarding. We are watching everything we can, but those are his favorites. Our kittens like to watch too, which cracks me up. They really like the luge and bobsledding, but Mouse was riveted by snowboarding the other day.

We are also watching the tv show The Burbs, and we are both really enjoying it! It is like the perfect mix of mystery and thriller, as well as a comedy. I need to rewatch the movie again now.

Julia Duffy, who will always be Stephanie from Newhart to me, is on it, and she is my favorite character, but I do also really love Tod, who is played by Mark Proskch, or Colin from What We Do in the Shadows. He was hilarious in that, and plays a similar type character in The Burbs. Justin Kirk is also great in this so far, but again, I also loved him in another show, Weeds.

Last week on my blog, I posted:

In Our Homeschool

Friday Afternoon Coffee Catch Up, Minus the Coffee

Wednesday Morning Coffee (Covid) Catch Up

A Cozy Little Life: A Look at Book Journaling

In-Betweens:

Not too much, since we were sick, and I mainly blogged about everything else in my coffee catch up posts, except Valentine’s Day! Billy and I went for a walk and saw the sunset, with our Starbucks teas in hand, lol, and then we came home and he made us all pancakes with strawberry compote that he made himself, because I had weirdly decided I wanted those for some reason earlier in the week. They were delicious and we all loved them!

The kittens go in for their spay and neuter and surgeries tomorrow morning. I will miss them scampering and stampeding around the house while they are gone, and I will worry as well. My poor babies. It’s always so hard, isn’t it? We had our Blackbirds meeting last week, which was a lot of fun, and then this week our Blackbirds are going to a skating event I arranged. I am nervous about that as well! I want Wyatt to have all the experiences that he can though, so I will muster through it. This skating loop has an ice skating sled, that he can sit on and be pushed. There is also a cabana that we rented, a bonfire, and there is a restaurant that serves pizza. It will be fun although I will be a nervous mama until it is over.

And with that, I hope that all of you have a great day, and do something that makes you smile, even if it is something small!

A Cozy Little Life: A Look at Book Journaling

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized18 Comments

Hello everyone!! I am having a slow morning this morning, and it felt like the perfect time for this post.

For the past year I have been keeping a reading journal and “annotating” books, and I have gotten a few comments and questions about it all. I was inspired by a couple of different vloggers on YouTube: Elizabeth at The Plant Based Bride, Cups and Thoughts, and Katie is Reading.

Now all of these vloggers have much more involved and creative setups than I do, and also annotate quite a bit more than I do, but I wanted to share their setups and also Elizabeth’s annotation video as examples of how amazing this can all be, and how detailed you can get. Maybe one day I will be at their level but for now I am happy with what I am doing. It brings me joy and makes me happy and that is what matters. Do I sometimes start pages over, or rethink what I am doing? Yes, I do, but I also don’t compare what I do to these vloggers. For one, I don’t have nearly the number of supplies that they do, and I don’t think that matters. I think if you want to do this, you just need some sort of journal or notebook, maybe some markers, and if you feel the need for more, you can even check the dollar store near you. Ours has started carrying crafting supplies, including stickers and washi tape. Some of you might have a lot of supplies at home already. Whatever you have, you can do this. If you have a printer, you could print book covers, or different images. You could go old school and cut pictures out of old magazines even. The important part is to have FUN!

As far as my reading journal goes, I have a few sticker collections that I have picked up, and markers (that don’t bleed) and just regular journals that I got off Amazon. I did recently purchase some winter washi tape, and I am also using all of these items with my letter writing as well! I am slowly adding to my supplies, but like I said it is not something you need to run out and stock up on unless you want to.

These are just some examples of different pages I did for books I have read. Some are mainly quotes, others I have written more in depth thoughts and questions I had about the book.

As far as annotating, I am not that critical nor do I make that many notes in the book itself. My method is to just flag the passage or quote that I like, and when I finish reading, I look back through, and write my thoughts down from there, or not. If you watch Elizabeth’s video though, she has a fantastic video chock full of information about annotating. She is one of the vloggers I watch who actually challenges me to read more critically. I feel smarter after watching her book vlogs, honestly. They remind me of being back in my literature classes in college, and as a lit minor, I had a lot of those!

So I know I said you don’t need to buy stuff if you don’t want to, but I wanted to share some supplies in case you are interested in what I have around and use.

This section contains Amazon Affiliate links and I would receive a small commission if you were to purchase something.

Version 1.0.0

Blank Notebook || Peter Pauper Press Stickers (they have so many and they are so cute!) || Winter Washi Tape || Winter Stickers || Markers

However you choose to do this, if you do, just remember, it is all about fun and relaxing, not comparison to others or having all the things.

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

Wednesday Morning Coffee (Covid) Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized23 Comments

Hello everyone!!! It’s been a minute since I posted here. If you are on my socials at all, then you already know, but that illness that Wyatt had – and passed on to us – was Covid. Ughhh. I started feeling pretty crummy Friday night, and by the time we went to bed, I had an idea that is what it was. When I got up on Saturday morning I took a test and yep, that line showed up. Billy was starting to feel sick too by this point as well.

Billy and I both immediately set up virtual doctor appointments to get on Paxlovid. I know that this is not the choice everyone would take, but we thought since we have Wyatt to take care of and we were all sick at the time, that it would be a good idea to take it. The other time we had Covid, back in like 2021ish, Billy had it in May and then Wyatt and I had it in July. Billy set up in his office when he had it that time and I solo’d it with Wyatt.

Anyway, we were both super tired for like two days, and have Paxlovid mouth which is disgusting. Wyatt rebounded quickly, but as he has a certain level of dependence on us, ended up spending a lot of time watching tv in bed with his parents as we rested. Lol. However, yesterday I felt so much better! The sun was shining, it was warm (40 degrees!), and I threw open the windows a tiny bit to air out the house, and got busy cleaning. I scrubbed down the bedrooms with bleach, washed all the bedding, scrubbed floors, just pretty much went on a crazy deep clean spree. I also decided anything that made me think of winter needed to put away. Winter decor was banished to boxes, and snowy reads put back on the shelves for another time. I moved out books that feel like spring, changed our duvet cover, and by the end of it all, the whole house felt lighter. Fresher. And I felt happier and lighter as well. I saw Mireille posted about vignettes today and I need to pop over and read her post, but that is what I was doing yesterday too. Changing my vignettes. Changing my view, and my mindset.

It is still too early here in Michigan to start seeds, I think, but I think we will give it a try. I feel like if we get some wee plantlings that there is a way we could make a makeshift greenhouse situation on our deck for Wyatt and I to tend. We need to move our thinking forward to spring. As the seasons start to shift, so do we. It is premature to think of spring being here, I live in Michigan after all. Winter could be here until April for goodness sakes. But, I am going to start thinking at least of brighter, longer days. Of more color in the world, not just the blues and grays and whites of winter. We need pink and green, yellow. We need birdsong. I think that if the weather is a little better next week Wyatt and I might take a field trip to the zoo, walk around, go into the butterfly house, watch the otters play.

We have been watching the Olympics a lot around here, and playing with our three cats, little Miso who is like the Nana for our kittens. She follows them around, just sort of watching them. They nuzzle up against her and she sort of makes a face like eww but also allows it. But when I put them in the office for the night (I don’t trust them running around the house at night yet) she sits outside the door for a bit, and in the morning she waits for them to come out, and nose boops them. I had to laugh yesterday, Mouse, our little adventurer and scamp, ran by Miso and play swatted her poofy tail, and then ran off. She was brave, that could have earned her a little hiss but it didn’t.

I haven’t wanted to read much while I have been sick, but I did receive two letters from pen pals which made me smile. Yesterday while Wyatt was painting, I wrote them back. It was so nice to have a cup of tea, and just write out letters that I will send out to two very different places, while my son happily painted next to me. Poor Billy had to go back to work yesterday, but he was working from home so that was better at least.

Today we join the world again. Wyatt goes back to therapy, and I think he will be glad to get out. I know I will be happy! I think we might try to go to the library and pick up our holds as well. And maybe I will stop at Starbucks and grab Wyatt a cookie, and a Medicine Ball for myself. Then we will come home to our house full of animals and Billy and settle in for the evening.

And I think that is it from me today! I don’t know what is in my camera roll, we will find out here together I guess!

I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile.

Friday Afternoon Coffee Catch Up, Minus the Coffee

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized24 Comments

Hello everyone! Today is a kind of a blah day here. Wyatt caught a cold somewhere and hasn’t been feeling well. He is all stuffed up and coughing and had a low grade fever last night and this morning. I hate when he is sick! And, I am feeling a bit under the weather today as well. I need to fight this off! Yuck!

This week was just a week. Nothing too exciting, and then Wyatt started not feeling well on Wednesday so we didn’t do too much after that. I did take Mouse in for a wellness check at the vet. Her eyes are a little runny, and she has been having some litter box training issues so I thought I would take her in. She was such a good little girl, and they all loved her.

I am so glad that I took her in. The vet detected a low grade heart murmur, which he said she might outgrow later, but that they may not spay her when we take her in this month (she is getting spayed somewhere else). So we will find out what happens. My poor baby! He said the fact that she is not fatigued or coughing are all good signs. Other than that, the visit went pretty well. They said she might just be taking a little bit more time to learn the litter box ways, as she is now going next to the box, like a goof. She will figure it out. I hope. Lol.

Miso is trying hard with these kittens. She is still very good with them, although I can tell they annoy her a little. This picture sort of reminds me of Garfield and Nermal!

Max is still Max, an orange floof. He loves Wyatt, which is what I wanted, a pet that Wyatt can grow up with. Miso is my cat, she loves me the most, she’s older than Wyatt, you get it. So the kittens are Wyatt’s growing up pets. Mouse likes Wyatt too, but Max is more attached to him, and will cuddle up next to him. Although, as if they sensed that sentence, Mouse just wandered over to Wyatt to cuddle him. Maybe she knows he doesn’t feel well today.

Michigan is like one giant germ right now! My brother’s family has been sick too, and my little tiny niece, the hurricane, was diagnosed this morning with low grade pneumonia. The doctor gave her some antibiotics and said she should be feeling better within a day or two. Poor baby girl!

I am also so behind on replying to comments and visiting blogs. I apologize. Hopefully I can get to it soon.

And I think that is sort of it for today! I am feeling sort of crummy and uninspired. Lol. Stay safe and well friends!

In Our Homeschool

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized5 Comments

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have posted about our homeschool studies. It’s not as visual for the blog as it was when he was younger! However, we are still working hard and doing some fun things.

Before Christmas, we finished up the Revolutionary War. I lingered way too long on that topic. I always joke that I spend way too much time on history but I can’t help it – I love history, and it is what my degree is in. That and literature. Wyatt loves history now too, and it cracks me up what he holds on to sometimes. He loved the story of Paul Revere, and loved shouting “The British are coming!”, which Revere actually never did but we talked about actual history and then also, this fictionalized version. He made a lantern with a tealight, and we just had a great time with it.

After Christmas, we moved on to the Lewis and Clark expedition, and westward expansion. This is a whole new adventure and he has been enjoying it. We are about to head down the Oregon Trail, and we are also reading Little House on the Prairie for Language Arts. When we finish that one up, we are going to start The Cabin Faced West, which I have actually not read yet myself!

I mentioned that we are reading Little House on the Prairie. I learned this morning that Friday is Laura’s birthday, so I am planning a few fun celebrations for that, like a mini Pioneer day.

Wyatt and I were both done with modern, abstract artists so I am starting a whole new unit with him in art – architecture! He is already excited over it and we have only been working on it for a week. We needed something new and fresh to liven things up! Wyatt loves houses and building things so it seemed like a good fit.

We started last Saturday with Billy, and talked about foundations, how important they are, the difference between shaky and solid. He got to do a little experiment with both as well, trying to float a foundation and building on it to see the difference. Then he and Billy built a “floating” building, the Sydney Opera House. It was a lot of fun, and he had a blast. We did have to crack up because the non-technical parent (me) bought the supplies and did not pick a large enough “harbor” for our opera house to float in. It more or less rested on the sides of the container. But, he got the idea!

We are using a slew of books for this, but there are a few that I really like.

Architecture According to Pigeons || Mini Architects || The Future Architect’s Handbook || Architecture for Kids

And that is it for now! I have lots of fun things coming up and I am so excited to do with them Wyatt!

Top Ten Tuesday: Typography

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized30 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Today’s Prompt: Book Covers Featuring Cool/Pretty/Unique/etc. Typography

Today I chose books off of my TBR, some that might even be at the top of my list for the next few months.

We’ve Got This: Essays by Disabled Parents || Beyond the Glittering World || Magic and Mischief at the Wayside Hotel

My Absolute Darling || The Murder at World’s End || How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days

Version 1.0.0

Mad Mabel || The Chowder House Murder || The Crescent Moon Tearoom || Death in the Arctic

Have you read any?

I hope that whatever you do today that you do something that makes you smile!

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized31 Comments

Hello everyone! I am writing this morning surrounded by jumping, bouncing zooming kittens, a sleeping cat, and a chatty little boy. I have already consumed two cups of coffee, which is my limit, but I could use another one to keep up with most of this crowd today.

It was a pretty slow, lazy week again. The cold is just keeping us inside right now. We are doing our best though!

Books:

Last week I read Secret Nights and Northern Lights which was a light easy read. I’d been reading a lot of moody winter books and I needed a bit of a shake up. This book was the antidote I needed!

I am still debating what I want to read this week. Do I want something light again? Something wintry? I am picking this one up from the library tomorrow, and I am pretty sure that is the one I am going to start. I learned about it over at Jeanie’s blog, Marmalade Gypsy and she loves it so much I had to look for it. Way to go my library! It has had all sorts of books that are older and out of print that I have been looking for this year. Never change, library.

I am also in the mood for something scary, or a ghost story. I need to look for one while I am at the library.

Screens:

This week Billy and I reunited with our old friends Ruth, Peter, and Alex, and watched Wartime Farm for the millionth time. We also watched Victorian Bakers, which wasn’t as good as the farm shows, but it was still very good. It also had the added bonus of making us want to bake bread. And eat bread.

Last week I posted a few times.

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Discoveries

Coffee Catch Up

Mini Book Reviews

I’m playing with my little designs. Do I want one design for all, different? I will keep playing. I enjoy fiddling around with Canva anyway. Lol.

In-Betweens:

I got my first snail mail letter last week! Thank you Tina! I mailed one back to you – I was going to email and tell you then felt like that was silly. And now here I am posting it on my blog! LOL. I will get the hang of this eventually.

I also sent out a few other snail mail letters while I was at it, to the pen pals I have picked up from the Analog Life Project, and Wyatt sent one to his friend Little Miss, Lisa’s daughter.

I am really enjoying letter writing! And of course, picking out stationery.

Around the Internets:

Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here. I was a very poor co-host this month as I was doing some life re-organizing and I am still catching up on some things.

And a kitten pic to end this post.

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

Mini Book Reviews: The Lady on Esplanade, Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge, While the Earth Holds Its Breath, Secret Nights and Northern Lights

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized9 Comments

Hello everyone! I try to write mini-book reviews every three or four books and it is time to share again.

The Lady on Esplanade by Karen White: I really enjoy this series! It has so much that I love all in one book, from New Orleans to hold houses and historic preservation to ghost stories and a long arcing mystery that goes back to Hurricane Katrina. This one was no exception, and really brought all of those wonderful things into play. I was even freaked out a few times! There is one aspect to this series that I don’t enjoy though, and it is the very messy romances. I really wish they would resolve because it detracts from my enjoyment of reading these. Otherwise, this series is really a lot of fun!

In the Lady on Esplanade, Nola and her crew are beginning the new endeavor of flipping murder houses, and the house they are currently working on is a doozy, and includes…a doll. You guys, I am totally creeped out by dolls! I know so many people love them but there is something so uncanny about them, and they give me the weirds. This one almost gave me nightmares! The mystery unravels slowly and I really enjoyed the very climatic ending! However, those romances..not it.

Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge by Gladys Taber and Barbara Webster: I have gushed all month over this book. It is a collection of letters between two friends, where they just chat together about their lives. Their dogs, horses, gardens, literature, children, and it was a wonderful journey through a year of their friendship. When I finished this book, I was sad. I didn’t want to leave these ladies and their stories to each other. I am so glad that our library system has access to many books by Taber, so that I can read more.

Two quotes that I loved, out of a million quotes that I loved.

“I never feel any older, that much I know. I hope I feel wiser and more tolerant and more full of loving kindness.”

“And the eye that has seen the wild dark beauty in the gaze of a fox is never going to be impressed by a diamond clip.”

While the Earth Holds Its Breath by Helen Moat: This book was pretty good, but I didn’t fall in love with it as I had imagined I would. Maybe this is because I already love winter, and I don’t need to learn how to embrace it. I did enjoy reading about Moat’s experiences, the walks she took, her travels. I think that is another thing – I expected more travel. However, a lot of this book takes place during all of the lockdowns of the pandemic, so Moat is also learning to love winter and cold and damp while having to stay close to home.

“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.”

Secret Nights and Northern Lights by Megan Oliver: I absolutely had to read this book. I dream of a trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights one day. It just seems like one of the most magical things I could ever do. So of course I wanted to read this book set in the land of Fire and Ice!

This is a second chance romance, which was absolutely adorable. Mona and Ben have history, that goes way way back. Like all the way to kindergarten when they became friends. They bumble through trying to work together and navigating their feelings after being reunited after fourteen years, and they ultimately end up finding themselves as they learn who each grew up to be. It has cute moments, funny moments, tender moments, and yes, spicy moments. Not closed door, and there is swearing too if that bothers you. I really liked this debut romance by Oliver, and I will be looking for more in the future!

And I can add two of these to my total for the Nonfiction Book Challenge hosted by Book’d Out!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized21 Comments

Hello everyone!! I am a winter lover, but now is about the time I am ready for it to be over. Even I can have too much winter, and with how intense winter has been this month – it’s time to call it. Let’s get some warmer weather, some sunshine up in here. I am done wintering, however February in Michigan means more winter. So, we will just keep on keeping on a little bit longer.

I know this weather is affecting such a large part of the U.S. right now too, and I feel for those of you who are not used to it. It’s tough for me and I am a Michigander. I mean, it was 12 degrees yesterday, and I took the kittens to their vaccine appointment without a coat. Just my sweatshirt and hat. I did cover the carrier with my coat though, despite the car being heated with heated seats. The clinic I went to is one that is run by my SIL. It is a high quality, high volume, low cost spay/neuter clinic that does vaccine clinics on Thursdays, also low cost. I just want to talk about how awesome this place is for a minute. The shots for both of the kittens was a total of $60, and I didn’t even have to get out of my car. I called when I got there, the tech came out to grab them in their carrier, took them in, did the things, and brought them back. It was very convenient! We are also getting them spayed and neutered there as well. They have a grant package (a few of them, one for feral cats too) that is called A Family Affair, where if you take in a mom cat and her kittens, the mom is basically $100 for the surgery and shots, and each kitten is $5 for shots and surgery. So, Max and Mouse will be done with everything for about $20 really, once I pay for their tiny cones of shame on top of it. Our friend where we got the kittens is taking in their mom and their sister at the same time, so we can utilize the grant. The clinic does not do full vet care, but for things like this, it is a fantastic value.

On Sunday, we got a lot of snow! Not as much as some places, but a lot for our area. For some reason snow usually misses us! We got about 7-8 inches. We waited until evening to go outside and shovel and snowblow, and Wyatt went out with us. It has always been sort of difficult to get him outside in the snow, but now that we have the deck and ramp, it was so much easier! And, the ramp served another purpose this time- sledding! Wyatt had fun going down a few times than just hanging out throwing snow at his father and I while we worked. It was mega-cold out but he was not ready to go back in. He had a blast!! Although I realized belatedly that this kid does not have boots! It is just not something we need to buy him normally so we used an old pair of his shoes and really thick wool socks. I need to write a note for next winter to buy boots!

This weekend we absolutely have to leave this house. I don’t care if it is the arctic outside. We are getting out and doing something. If it is not too terrible, a city near us is having an Ice Festival, which might be fun. Actually, a few communities near us are having ice sculpting fests with hot chocolate, so we will pick one perhaps and go. I remember going to the one in Plymouth when I was a kid. My family went with my aunt and uncle, and my cousin Brian and I got to ride in the back of their station wagon, in a fold up seat that faced backwards. The 80s were a wild time, weren’t they? My mom and my aunt were like the moms in A Christmas Story, and would bundle us up so much we could hardly move, but we were warm. We were always together, our whole lives. Lots of good time and memories, even when I had to stomp about in moon boots. God I hated those things! I always felt bad for the kids who forgot to bring shoes in the winter, and had to wear those big boots all day during school. I can still hear the sounds of them walking in the classroom or down the hall, the hiss of the radiators, feeling a bit drowsy in the afternoon from the heat and playing on the playground. Scarves and hats and mittens and boots, and now I try not to wear anything out but boots, a hat, and gloves. Wyatt, however, I bundle up like my mom did me, although I always make sure not to zip his chin like my mom did me.

Tonight is pizza Friday and I can’t wait. I am so over planning dinners this week! We made a whole chicken on Sunday since we were all snowed in and not leaving, and then we ate the leftovers as chicken quesadillas the next two days though, so it wasn’t too hard planning them. And honestly, those were the best freaking quesadillas I have ever eaten. It was the first time I ever made them, and they turned out so good. Definitely something we are keeping on the menu for future leftovers.

While I am stuck here in snowy Michigan, one of my besties is over in London, living it up! She is sending me pics of her trip, and it looks awesome. A Wes Anderson exhibit, tea at Harrods, and shopping at Hatchards. I had no idea what that was, but some of you might. It is the oldest bookseller in London, and has been around since 1797. The owner was a publisher and anti-slavery campaigner, and the store holds a Royal Warrant, which means they service the royal family. Pretty cool! And because she loves me, Kelly texted me a photo of a huge Agatha Christie book display and had me pick a book! She said there was no way she could be at the oldest bookstore in London and not get me a book by a British author. I had a minute of blurting out via text different titles before I settled on The Sittaford Mystery.

Which one would you have picked?

And wow I have really rambled, sorry about that!!! I will close with a few random photos, and a wish for you guys to do somethings today that makes you smile! Stay safe and warm my friends!