Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized

Hello everyone! This morning is rainy but we had the most glorious sunrise, the most amazing shades of pink and orange. It was spectacular. So is my coffee, which is Seattle’s Best Henry’s Blend this morning. I think it is my current favorite.

I feel like today is a big exhale, like I have been holding my breath for weeks making it through all of the various plans and appointments we have had. Nothing that should have been stressful, just low key busy.

Where should I start? It’s been a minute since I wrote one of these. I will start with my own good news! I have had high blood pressure since I was 24; my dad and brother since they were 13. We just have some weird genetics. Anyway, ever since I spent a month in the hospital with pre-eclampsia when I was pregnant with Wyatt, I have been extremely anxious about having my bp taken, which when you already have a history of high blood pressure is not super helpful. It’s controlled at home, but usually in the office is ridiculous. I have to take a blood pressure log and everything with me to appointments. Well, this week my blood pressure in the office was 123/85! I think my anti-anxiety medication is working! My doctor was extremely happy as was I. My log from home reflected these have been my readings at home too, that or lower, but to have it in the office was another thing altogether. So that was my little success this week!

Ok, moving on to more fun things!

We had our scout meeting the other week and we had a blast. We are exchanging nature boxes with another pack in Oregon, who live in the desert area of Oregon, so it will be really cool to see what we receive. Our scouts spent the meeting making pages of leaves stuck with contact paper and labeled. They loved it, and they also loved the leaf rubbing station we had set up as well. It was some of the kids first time doing a leaf rubbing and they thought it was magical, which was cute. The parents enjoyed it too, actually, with one of the dads making quite a few himself. I was happy to see the plans all coming together and everyone having fun.

Wyatt and I also had a fun day out the other week! We went to see the Wild Kratt’s Live Action Show in Ann Arbor, and it was pretty neat. It was Wyatt’s first show like that and he loved the being able to yell and cheer and interact with the rest of the audience and Chris and Martin. My only complaint about the whole day was the theater’s interpretation of wheelchair seating. I bought wheelchair seats and it literally was a regular seat where the arm raised up, and then Wyatt’s wheelchair, his only way to move around, was moved into the hall. We were also the last seat in the last row of the theater but that wasn’t terrible on its own, I guess just the idea of that is how they prioritize disabilities. What if there had been an emergency situation? What if I had not been able to transfer him on my own? It just felt extremely low effort on the part of the theater for accommodations for the disabled community. However, all that aside, Wyatt did have a good time and I did as well. It was nice just to have that moment and first with him.

This week we also went to the orchard and pumpkin patch! I look forward to this trip all autumn! We picked our pumpkins out and drank some hard cider (well not Wyatt), bought some apples for baking a pie and some honey, and just in general had a great time. They didn’t have doughnuts the day we went but that is ok, I think this weekend we will take a little drive to the Halloween bakery, although I haven’t told Billy and Wyatt that yet, it will be a surprise. After our pumpkin hunting, we took a walk on Grosse Ile, foraging for things to put in the scout nature box.

This month has been so full. Full of fun and family moments, watching the football game with my dad and stepmom eating our bowls of fancy ramen, a nice long massage, reading with Wyatt, sitting out on the deck for the ramp in the sun with Billy and Wyatt and Devin and my nieces. Stitching in bed while watching tv at night, our comfy cozy cinema nights, just all those little things that make up most of our days. It is apt maybe that this month is so full feeling, in tune with the season of harvest. A long time ago, when people still lived mostly off the land, this time of year would be their richest in food, as they laid up their food for the winter. We are reading about this right now in Wyatt’s read for history, The Birchbark House. I do like that the mom thought about those times they would need a little something extra too though.

I too often need a little sweetness to remain strong in spirit.

And now, some extra photos from the camera!

17 thoughts on “Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up”

  1. Joanne's avatar Joanne

    Yay for getting a good blood pressure cuff reading! My step-father is the same way and now often takes his own blood pressure readings right before going to the doctor’s office. My boys loved Wild Kratts and I love that they are still around! We would have absolutely gone to see that live show if that had been a thing back then. One year my middle son asked Santa for “a real working creature power suit like the Wild Kratts”… his other items were equally magical/non existent that year. It made for some stressful shopping that year.

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    1. It’s so annoying lol! It’s like I get so nervous about it then.. up it goes!

      Oh my gosh I love that!!! Lol! They did sell “creature power suits” at the show, but of course, not real ones. I think I might honestly want one if they were real! Those two certainly had a great career teaching kids about animals!

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  2. Oh yay! I know it’s such a good feeling when doctor’s BP readings are good/in line with at-home {mine also tend to be higher in office} 🙂

    Sounds like a busy fun time! And such gorgeous pictures too 🙂

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  3. Jennifer's avatar Jennifer

    Wow – you guys have been busy and really soaking in all the fun that fall offers!! So glad you had a good time at the performance. Yes that was a sad effort for wheelchair accomodations. Sad effort all around but glad that you were able to make it work. Sounds like fun! And hooray for good doctor visits – and lower blood pressure! Mine soars at the doctor’s office. I usually ask them to take it again just as I’m walking out the door:)

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    1. Lol we really have been! And my intention was to have a slow fall. Oh well, I guess we will have a slow winter!

      It was such a disappointment about the wheelchair seating, but it didn’t bother him too much and we were able to have a great time. Although I did have a few mom panic attacks worrying about it being in the hall. Lol.

      My doctor has started taking it again near the end as well. It does seem to help!

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  4. marsha57's avatar marsha57

    Your post is like one of those ASMR videos…calming, happy, and relaxing! Yay for the low blood pressure. Mike has high blood pressure and monitors it at home, too. And, at the office, it’s always elevated. I think they call it white coat syndrome (or maybe that’s just what he calls it).

    I think I would seriously complain about the wheelchair seating. That surely isn’t ADA compliant. But, I’m really glad Wyatt had such a good time. That last photo with the smile on his face says it all.

    I absolutely loved The Birchbark House. My students read that book when we were studying Native American cultures. We also went on a field trip to Conner Prairie where they had both a longhouse and a wigwam. Unfortunately, the place has been taken over by a different organization, and I think those are gone. It’s too bad because they were really good representations of what they were like. My students were always amazed at the women creating the homes!

    Thanks for such a lovely post, Erin! Have the absolute best weekend!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. Aw thank you Marsha!

      Yes, it is called white coat syndrome. It is even in my file that I have it lol. I get so worked up!

      My dad thinks I should complain as well. He agrees with you that it is not ADA compliant. But we did still have a good time – he didn’t seem to let it bother him so that was at least good.

      We are really enjoying The Birchbark House! We are using it as part of our Michigan history curriculum this year and I love it. Wyatt likes it, but is enjoying our Language Arts book more. We are reading The Phantom Tollbooth.

      That is a shame that the longhouse and wigwam are gone! We have an example of a wigwam near us but no longhouse that I can find. We are about to mix in the French fur traders. It is so tricky to try to teach what really happened in history but at a level that is appropriate for his age and where he is developmentally and what he can understand about such things! I checked out a bunch of books yesterday from the library that are contenders for our read aloud for this section. Have you read any of these? The littlest voyageur by Margi Preus, Summer of the Bear, Trouble at Fort Lapointe (this is an American Girl book, so maybe not this one?), and Wintering by William Durbin. I am leaning toward The Littlest Voyageur honestly, because if we are not going to go with an entirely true account maybe we can go with a cute one. Lol. There is also a silly read a long on Youtube for it.

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