Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized

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

Hello everyone! I am writing today from inside the Arctic circle, which is now known as Michigan. It has been soo cold here. It is awful. Extreme temperatures are really tough on Wyatt, so we have been inside for most of the past week, and it looks like this week ahead will be more of the same. We are maybe going a little stir crazy!

Books:

Did I tell you I finished Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge? I did, and I miss the ladies chatter already. I need to go find another of their books ASAP. I also finished While the Earth Holds Its Breath. I wasn’t overwowed by it, but it was still a pretty relaxing, calm read.

I have read so far this year four nonfiction books already. Who am I? I do need a break though from it though, and I have two books on deck. I don’t know which one I will end up reading, but I am going to start them both and see which one sticks. I may end up reading them both, who knows? We are stuck inside after all.

Screens:

Billy and I haven’t been watching too much lately! You would think we would be. We have been watching the news a lot more than anything. And the kittens and Miso. They are bringing us happiness in a dark time honestly. Maybe that book “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat” has the right idea. I haven’t read it yet but maybe I will next month. And I know some of you aren’t cat people, so there are other things, dogs, fish, plants. Really just find something that brings you joy right now. Painting, a pen pal. Walks in nature. A good book. A funny movie. Today I think we are going to watch A Night at the Museum with Wyatt. I love that movie and he has not seen it yet. We may end up watching all three this week, who knows? Anyone else have any ideas for kids movies like Paddington, A Night at the Museum, etc, that you really loved?

I did manage to write some posts last week!

Books I Read I in 2025 with Cats on the Cover

Our Cozy Little Life – Wintering

In-Betweens:

We had some really great things happen here last week. When you have a kid with special needs, milestones are often inchstones, and Wyatt was kicking butt last week. He is really coming along in reading, and not just reading but SAYING THE WORD out loud to me. I know this guy is understanding so much more than I realize but the fact that he doesn’t verbalize everything usually makes it really difficult for me to measure how much. Last week though he was just blowing me away with actually reading words out loud to me.

He also took his first steps post surgery last week!!!! It was a lot of work and a few months coming and I am so very proud of him. And he was very proud of himself too, which he should have been. I will post my Instagram reel of it, but I am not sure if it ever works when I do this.

And that is about it from around here. Making cookies, eating cookies, playing with kittens, cuddling Miso, writing our pen pals, homeschool.

I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile. I know that I am hoping that the snow (an expected 9 inches here) will have enough a break so that I can run up to Starbucks for my Self-Care Sunday routine of matcha latte with oatmilk and 1 pump of vanilla. We will see though.

And here are some random photos!

43 thoughts on “Books, Screens, and In-Betweens”

  7. Joanne's avatar Joanne

    Secret Nights looks so cute! I enjoyed Frozen River a lot but it did take me a while to get into it. We LOVED The Night at the Museum movies! Somewhere around that time I pulled together a post of movie night ideas– some a bit older some just about the same since we always needed a range for the variety of boys’ ages. https://www.myslicesoflife.com/2016/02/movie-night-ideas.html. Then there were some that we called “school” that has some overlap here:https://www.myslicesoflife.com/2015/07/20-of-best-movies-for-boys-that-are.html and finally this list of another 45 movies the boys really liked (while still keeping it PG): https://www.myslicesoflife.com/2016/06/45-more-movie-night-ideas.html. Mostly I tried to remember movies I loved growing up like Flight of the Navigator, The Neverending story (though honestly I don’t remember it being nearly as boring as it seemed to me watching it as an adult!). They’re saying around 20-22″ here so we’re hunkered down… other than the oldest son and husband who are off plowing and I’m enjoying my latest novel The President’s Daughter. Only took me 4 years or so but I’m finally getting around to reading it. It will be nice to have that room back in my nightstand!

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    1. Thank you for all of this!!! I can’t wait to look through it! Wyatt has finally decided he likes movies so we are catching up.

      Oh my gosh. I hope you didn’t get that much snow!!! That is a wild amount!! I am glad that you were able to stay in and stay warm and read.

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  9. So happy to hear of kid’s successes – glad Wyatt is doing well 🙂 It’s so hard when society thinks it should tell us what to measure by. I’m in Michigan too, and this cold is RUDE. Both my kids had no school Friday because of the cold. Ugh.

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  13. marsha57's avatar marsha57

    I think we have you beat in snow totals though you already had snow on the ground! We are at 10+ inches. Jack is not enjoying it because it’s so doggone cold. Otherwise, he’d be out there jumping and biting at the snowballs I throw for him.

    I did a tour on NYE and called it a Night at the Museum! I would love to spend the night at the IMA. I think it would be so much fun seeing the works at night though it’s not like it’s well lit by windows during the day. But, it’s just the idea of it, right? We watched Now You See Me, Now You Don’t (well, I did while MIke dozed). It was really a good one…probably even OK for Wyatt as I don’t recall any swear words. It’s about magic…the magician kind, not the magical kind! But, I still liked it. I’m reading The Bewitching and waiting for the weird stuff to happen. I’m about 25% through it.

    Have a warm and safe week, Erin!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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    1. You guys definitely got more snow than us. We got about 6-7 inches. We had fun playing in it, and the kittens tried to escape out the door too. I had a panic attack for a second! Aww Jack! It is super cold out there! He must blend in with all the snow!

      Wouldn’t it be so cool to stay overnight in a museum? And even better if it all came to life! I told Billy I think that would be a fun job, night watchman at a museum but he said I would probably get creeped out the first time I heard a noise. Lol. He is right but I would think ghosts first because I am a weirdo.

      The Bewitching was a bit slow in the beginning for me. I had to push through a bit. Then it got kind of creepy in parts, and I read it during a huge storm when the house was quiet and the rain and wind were lashing against the house. I think that added to it.

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  14. I just keep smiling at Wyatt’s walking 😀 Yay Wyatt!!

    I love the Night at the Museum movies! Also really love National Treasure (the first moreso than the second), but it might be a bit older-slanting. That Darn Cat is fun, the original with Dean Jones.

    Kittens make the world a better place ❤

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  15. oliviabeck1's avatar oliviabeck1

    It’s so awesome that Wyatt had such a great week! Your kittens are so cute. I have Frozen River in the queue for this year. I hope you have a great week , despite the darkness in the world.

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  18. Wow, Wyatt! Good job with the first steps post-surgery and reading the words aloud! (Your Instagram link does work, by the way.) I love the kitties!

    If you want one more pen pal, I am happy to send postcards from our travels! I already send them to my sister and two different cousins’ daughters and love doing it, so adding one more to my list would be a joy. I 100% understand if you’d rather pass though 🙂

    Since I don’t have kids, I don’t have the best memory for inappropriate scenes in movies, but Enchanted and Wonka feel like safe recommendations. And maybe Miss Peregrine or any of the Jumanjis. Do you know about https://www.commonsensemedia.org/ to check for content warnings geared toward parents?

    Stay warm!

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    1. Thank you Jen!! He really had such a great week. He works so hard. 🙂 And thanks! These kittens are such goofs!

      We would love that!!! Thank you for offering! I will message you my address!

      Oh the Jumanjis!!! That is a great suggestion!!! And I will check out the others. We did watch Wonka over Christmas and we all loved it! Thanks!!

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