Hello everyone! It has been beautiful here lately – finally! We had been hit by constant rain for a week or so straight, and the past few days have been sunny and not too hot. Perfection!
It’s been a few weeks since I posted one of these! We just have had a lot of life stuff that hasn’t been all that interesting, like a flurry of doctor appointments, appointments for equipment for Wyatt, school stuff, just the minutia of daily life. I also started going through areas that I rarely weed through to get rid of things and reorganize. Fun stuff here guys.
I have recently gotten into genealogy again, and have been tromping around cemeteries. There is one that Wyatt and I visited together, but I didn’t want to leave him in the car too much while I searched so that was more of a scouting expedition, that I followed up with a real exploration later that weekend with Billy and Wyatt. I found my mom’s grandparents, but for the life of me I could not find my dad’s great grandparents. My dad, Wyatt, and I went last Friday and finally found them. I told Wyatt we were standing in front of his great-great-great grandparents graves. I don’t think he was particularly enthused, but one day he might be!
If you read my post about my genealogy saga, I had a mystery about an ancestor, Marie Domaine and her mother Josephine Bernard. Well, I still haven’t solved that puzzle yet, and I ran into a new head scratcher. My great grandfather was born in Ireland, moved to Pennsylvania and was a brick layer in the Pittsburgh area. However, I found a passport application that states he was planning to go to Colombia for a month for work, which sounds sketch. Then later, he died after being struck by a car, which isn’t really that suspicious unless you are plotting some sort of criminal story in your mind, like I did. Was he in the mob? Who knows? Lol. Well that might be a stretch but I do enjoy making up these narratives about ancestors right now.
Speaking of my dad, he recently had a birthday! Number 78. We went to his house for a very casual get together and had a great time. The kids had fun playing and visiting their grandparents. There were also three different birthday cakes for us to choose from, so lots of cake!
We kicked last weekend off by making lunches to be distributed to the public. I wanted Wyatt to start becoming involved in community service projects occasionally, and of course our church is a good place to start with him. He was a great helper and I was very proud of him, although I did not have him help make sandwiches. His grandmother did that. Wyatt, Billy, and I were an assembly line of filling the lunch bags instead, which was a much more suitable job for a ten year old.
When we got home, it was time for our Drop In Crafternoon that Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and I are hosting. We had a great time hanging out, chatting, and crafting with the fellow bloggers who have joined us. Since it is drop in, it is all very casual, just come for however long you can or pop in when you can. Send me an email at crackercrumblife@gmail.com if you are intestested!
On Sunday, we went to a nursery garden center that was new to us. Wyatt had gotten a small garden bed for Easter, one that is raised so that he can access it from his wheelchair, and he needed some plants to fill it! He made some good choices – dahlias, a delphinium, and a strawberry plant. It looks really nice! Billy and I had too much fun in the bonsai area and the terrarium areas, poking around. We ended up buying a tiny little silver needle tree (?). It says it gets like 6 feet tall, but we can’t find anything about it online, so I am thinking it has a different name than what it said on the tag. It was in the bonsai area so I am also guessing we can do that with it? Right now it just looks uniquely pretty. I also picked out a teeny tiny little tiger head planter and stuck a succulent in it. I love it.
Afterwards we stopped at Lowes for dirt, and ran into my brother and his family. They were also getting supplies, for Mermaid Girl’s fairy garden.
These guys came over on Monday to hang out, have some dinner, and enjoy the evening. It was a nice time. My mom came too, and was not happy I made her wear a big hat. But it was really sunny and I was worried she would burn. She did it, and I told her she looked like a Dame. She will also be unhappy if she knows I posted this photo of her on here, so don’t tell ok.
I hope you all have been having some good moments filled with smiles and laughter.
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 
Oh I just love checking out garden centers! Wyatt’s garden looks great.
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It is really blooming right now and it is so happy looking, with all of his yellow flowers!
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We also explored a new-to-us garden center, and spent a lot of time daydreaming about “splurges” we could make in the future! Growing things are so hopeful 🙂
Wyatt’s garden bed is perfect ❤
And I love mom’s big hat! I’m a member of the “bigger the hat, the better” club, lol
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Yes, I am totally daydreaming about next summer and our yard. I want to make a wheelchair accessible pond, so that he can see into it easier. I have an idea. I also want to add a little tree!
Isn’t it so cute? I love all of his yellow flowers!
Hats are so important in the sun!! I plopped my gardening hat on her. Lol.
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That sounds like a really full and fun week. A good garden center can’t be beat and I love the cemetery jaunt. I wouldn’t be surprised if he WAS going to lay bricks in Colombia. Back then they might not have enough work force and what a great opportunity for a young man. But who knows?
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So I talked to my dad, and I guess my grandpa did always say that his dad went to Colombia for a brick laying job! I need to read more about that – it seems wild to me that he would have done that. I have a bit too much imagination sometimes. Lol. We are all really enjoying what I have been uncovering. I am hoping to find more photos and stories to go with the facts but that will be harder, sadly.
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What a lovely family you have and it sounds like you had a great week. I love going to the garden centres too – especially in the winter when I just need of fix of something growing.
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Yes! I tend to add a few more house plants to our collection every winter. Sometimes you just need that green and growing fix!
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I love your mom’s hat! And I love that Wyatt has a little garden he can work on! Such a great idea.
You’ve been busy with such fun stuff. Love it.
Might as well before it gets all gross and sweaty out!
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His little garden is so bright and cheery! Our next backyard project (next year) is making a pond that is accessible too.
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I wish someone had encouraged me to wear a big hat when I was out in the sun for three days in a row. Sigh. I promise not to tell your mom about her photo here—though I think she looks adorable.
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Oh no! I hope that you are not burned! Deb, go get a big hat and wear it from now on!! And thank you!
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I’m glad you’ve had some nice weather and love the pics! Very blustery and changeable here – on Wednesday I was on a zoom about the community centre with someone who was about 1.5 miles away and she had the sun coming into her room whereas it was completely grey here!
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Wow isn’t that crazy when that happens! It was so nice to get some nice weather finally. We were damp and rainy for so many days, just gloomy.
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I’ll be sure not to tell your mom, but she looks cute! You had a busy week! How cool to be able to visit the cemetery where so many of your family are buried. And, a garden center definitely parts me from my money!! Looking forward to the next crafternoon!
https://marshainthemiddle.com
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Lol thanks Marsha!
I was surprised, I had no idea. I am going to try to get Billy to go to another one with me next weekend. It is in Detroit and used to be a rough place. It is huge and there are huge ornate vaults everywhere. My family of course does not have anything ornate, but for a cemetery it is really fancy!
I am too!! I am glad you will be able to make it!
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I always enjoyed going to garden centers and hardware stores although I’m no gardener or do DIY. Looks like fun!
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They are fun to look through. And they had a cute little cat who lives there!
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