Author: Erin @ Cracker Crumb Life

I try to create a culture of celebration in our home. For life, for the little things, for wonder and for whimsy. I try to find the beauty around us and teach my son Wyatt to find it, and appreciate it and love it as well. We are a homeschool family, and we love it. We love the freedom it gives us to explore a topic or idea more deeply, and I like that I can adjust our schedule around Wyatt’s other needs. Wyatt has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and his week often has therapy, doctor’s appointments, naps peppered throughout which would make a traditional school schedule difficult. He is also an asynchronous learner, and I love that I can tailor learning to where Wyatt is at that moment. We have a house full of animals and will probably add more because we like a zoo. We have one cat, Miso, who is a rescue. She is 14 years old and my little floofy girl. We also have one leopard gecko, Luna, a pictus gecko named Harlow, a pacman frog named Freddy, and two crested geckos, Applejack and Oliver. We love all of our little friends! My husband Billy, Wyatt, and I are all curious, creative, stubborn humans which makes for some fun times around here. We love the outdoors, except we are not made for high temps so we retreat inside when the temps start to soar. We are nature lovers through and through. We are trying to downsize our lives too, to live more simply, to buy things that last and eat real food from small local farmers. (and of course Goldfish crackers) We live seasonally and are always up for adventure. We love books and reading, and can be found at the library at least once a week!

Homeschooling, Summer Edition: France, Pt. 1

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling8 Comments

This week was the first week in our two week unit study about France, and we had so much fun! This week we focused on famous landmarks and symbols of France, read a few books, and tried a few new foods – or at least Wyatt did.

We read Madeline, talked about the Eiffel Tower, and then built our own version out of wafer cookies…

We read Anatole, about that cute little bike riding, beret wearing mouse who has quite a refined palette for cheese tasting… and then of course we had to eat cheese too. Wyatt tried baked Brie. He was not impressed. I’ll give him a few more years.

We read about The Giraffe that Walked to Paris, which was really an interesting book!! I had never heard of this historic event, and was pretty fascinated with it. The picture book is very long, so I had to summarize the pages a bit to keep Wyatt interested, but I went back and read it myself. We talked about giraffes, their natural habitats, and looked at maps, both a world map and a map of France, to view the journey this giraffe made so long ago. We plotted her walk from Marseilles to Paris (425 miles in 41 days!) and laughed thinking about the raincoat that the French tailor sewed for her. This was a very fun day; Wyatt loves giraffes so it was cool to be able to include them in this unit.

We did some table work as well, math and patterns and all that good stuff, but the bulk of what we did was exploring through reading and trying new things. We also started a new read aloud – Linnea in Monet’s Garden. It is so cute and coincides well with our “journey”. We stopped reading The Little Prince – Wyatt is not ready for it yet and that is ok. Another thing for another time. But he is enjoying Linnea.

Resource Roundup!

France – Weekly Preschool Curriculum

Books We Read:

(this section contains Amazon Affiliate links)

The Giraffe that Walked to Paris || Linnea in Monet’s Garden || Anatole || Madeline

Videos We Watched:

Ratatouille on Disney+

Anatole’s Parisian Adventure

Homeschool Pop – Eiffel Tower for Kids

FreeSchool – Eiffel Tower for Kids

I am already looking forward to what I have planned for us next week!

Book Review: Adventuring Together

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review17 Comments

Goodreads Summary:

Parents today complain of fragmented relationships with their kids. What parents yearn for–and their kids too–is deep, heart-to-heart connections. But how can parents compete with all the other noise fighting for their kids’ attention?

The answer, says Greta Eskridge, is to break free from regular routines and familiar comforts of home to experience new places and adventures–even if those adventures go awry. From simply reading a book together to going on an overnight backpacking trip, activities together provide unique and crucial bonding opportunities. Adventuring Together highlights Greta’s stories of doing just that, including an array of ideas for outdoor and indoor ventures, what to do when your finances are limited,and how to adventure if your family can’t hit the hiking trail or spend the night at a campground.
 Giving readers the tools to make adventures happen, Adventuring Together is a step-by-step guide for parents–whether in the city or the country–to start building connections today that will last a lifetime.

My Thoughts:

This was an excellent read, and I was already so inspired by it!

Eskridge says right off the bat, that this book is for moms who don’t like hiking or camping without an actual bathroom (or in my case, a private bathroom even), bugs, heights – basically, those who don’t THINK they have an adventurous bone in their body. This book is to guide you out of your comfort zone and build heart connections with your child in the process. It doesn’t mean you need to go white water rafting as a family (unless you want to) but a short canoe ride would suffice, if that is where you are at. Or a short hike down a well tended trail in a nature park. Setting up a tent in your backyard and sleeping out. The adventures don’t need to be huge or epic, just adventures with your family, whatever that looks like for you. The important thing is to challenge yourself, challenge your family, try new things together. Then these adventures become lasting memories.

I am sure that we all have these memories. My mom was a single mom and she got out there and did so much with us, way out of her comfort zone most of the time. I remember one summer on a family vacation, we all went canoeing. My mom, aunt, and I were in one canoe, and my little brother went with my uncle and his family. Well, needless to say, my mom, aunt, and I tipped over and went for an impromptu accidental swim! The river was gentle, and not very deep yet my aunt came up holding onto my shirt like I was going to be lost down the river – and I was a teenager who was also on the swim team! We all ended up laughing and this story became one we told over and over again, always laughing as we did so. This is a memory we would never have had, if my mom had not tried and pushed herself to take her children out canoeing even when she was nervous to do it.

Just yesterday I put this into practice, on a very small scale. Not an adventure or anything exciting, but Wyatt and I are working on a France unit of study this month and I decided one of our projects was going to be building an Eiffel Tower out of wafer cookies. Now, I knew that if we waited for Billy to get home to have him lead the construction that the project would turn out perfectly. But I thought, no, I am going to try to do this with Wyatt on my own, and it might not turn out perfect but it would be something we did together, no matter what. And well.. it was the wonkiest version of the Eiffel Tower ever built out of cookies, but Wyatt and I laughed and laughed while building it, as it fell numerous times and he kept trying to eat while we worked. It was hilarious. I managed to grab a quick photo before it tumbled for the final time…

So while not something big or adventurous, still something that was difficult and new that we did together – and had a blast.

Another point that Eskridge makes that I absolutely love is that traditions make memories. So so true. I try to build little traditions into our lives and I love this idea that these traditions become happy memories that last forever. She adds in some suggestions to get you started if you need a little inspiration. The whole book actually has a ton of inspiration and little helps for parents who need the extra push or information. (like what to pack in your adventure bag!)

Eskridge ends the book with simple guides for some little adventures, such as hiking, and visiting an art museum. I absolutely loved her suggestions for the art museum visit, and can’t wait to put them in practice eventually!

This was a short, informative, and interesting read, and I highly recommend it – especially if you feel that you are not adventurous!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized39 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last week was just a week, nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary. Wyatt and I “visited” the Great Smoky Mountains, Billy worked, and then Saturday we added a new family member! A cute little fancy leopard gecko that we (I) named Harry! And we loves her/him! We have read so much on the whole substrate controversy as well – our kit came with this substrate and after some reading, we learned it is one of two brands that is acceptable. We have already decided we are probably going to go nuts though and build her a naturalist or bio type enclosure, so this substrate won’t be in there too long. So our creatures are now at two snails, one gecko, and three cats.

Harry!

Read Last Week:

My reading is almost at a standstill I am reading so little these days. I am still working on my Zola book, which I am really enjoying I just am not finding a lot of time to read it. I also treated myself to a new book which while I haven’t finished it, I almost have so I am counting it as done since I will probably finish it during Wyatt’s nap today.

Adventuring Together is totally my kind of read!

Reading This Week:

I will continue with The Masterpiece and I think that is it for the week, I want to finish it!

Posted Last Week:

Homeschooling, Summer Edition: The Great Smoky Mountains

Exploring Folk Music

Book Review: The Creative Family Manifesto

Watching:

We finished Rosemary and Thyme and I am sad – I miss it! We started Picard, which is so well done and the only sci-fi I have watched really, and Cursed on Netflix which I am enjoying as well, even though it is a bit cheesy. Picard is a little confusing since I don’t know half the back story but Billy fills me in. And I finished up the new Unsolved Mysteries and I can’t wait for the next installment. I am also listening daily to the Redhanded Podcast. I am apparently all about the true crime these days.

Stay safe everyone!

Homeschooling, Summer Edition: The Great Smoky Mountains

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling15 Comments

This week was a departure – in two ways! We “traveled” to the Great Smoky Mountains and learned about much of the flora and fauna and traditions of the area; and it was also a departure from our normal version of homeschooling. This week we skipped table work and did more exploring and reading on our own.

I chose the Great Smoky Mountain area because pre-COVID, we were planning a trip to the National Park, Gatlinburg, Dollywood – it was going to be a whole big thing, our first big trip as a family, first theme park for Wyatt. However, it is now on hold for a bit. And well, now we know a bit more about the area for when we do go!

We spent a day talking about the National Parks, park rangers, and specifically Great Smoky Mountain NP. We talked about preparing for a hike, and I gathered a bunch of materials for Wyatt to choose from to pack his own adventure bag. He chose to pack all of it, and to eat his snacks immediately. I guess he is not a minimalist and does not believe in traveling light. This was also the first challenge in the Wild Explorers Club that I signed Wyatt up for. We are working on the first badge, the Wolf Badge. It worked out nicely!

Then we talked about log cabin homes and Davy Crockett, the Native American tribes that lived there (we were going to make a Cherokee pinch pot but never got around to it – another time), and watched a video of the synchronous firefly event – something I would love to see one day! We just learned about fireflies last week so this was sort of fun to revisit again. We had a day spent on Folk music, and then finally learning about salamanders, the Smoky Mountains are known as the salamander capital of the world! We read the Salamander Room, talked about salamanders, chose our own favorite animal and drew “rooms” for them (fox for me, frog for Wyatt), and finally today as a surprise to Wyatt, we are adding a new member to our family – a leopard gecko! Not quite the same thing but after reading about different types of small pets a leopard gecko sounds like a good fit for our family. We will set up the enclosure today and talk about setting up the room for a gecko, then add in our new friend!

Books Used:

(Contains Amazon Affiliate links)

All Aboard National Parks || The Salamander Room || National Parks of the USA || Great Smoky Mountains National Park (I loved Ranger Rick as a kid!)

A few links to videos we watched and websites I used:

Synchronous Fireflies

Storytime at the Met – The Salamander Room

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Cherokee Pinch Pot

Mountain Living

Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a Classroom

And then for all of our music explorations be sure to check out my Exploring Folk Music post!

As you can see, it is easy to get lost in the beauty and richness of the Smokies – even virtually!

Exploring Folk Music

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling17 Comments

This week Wyatt is learning about the Great Smoky Mountains, and I thought it would be a great time to add in some music! He is a huge music lover of all kinds, and while we almost always have music of some sort playing in the house, I have never purposely included it in our plans – mostly because I am not well versed on music, at all. But I thought this was a good basic intro for him!

I found these folk instrument flash cards online and used them not really as flashcards to quiz him but as a way to talk about the different instruments used in folk music. Then I collected any instruments that we had around our house that were listed and set them out for him to play with. I usually have his small instruments out for him in a basket, but the guitar and ukulele are usually put away and for occasions with supervision. The guitar was his grandfather’s and is special to me for that reason. I want him to to use but treat it with respect which is sometimes hard for five year olds who are learning still.

We talked about all the instruments, the types that they are, played around with them, and then listened to music on YouTube. I specifically searched for fiddle music, banjo music, etc so that we could hear what each sounded like, and also threw some in just for fun.

We watched a few Lindsey Stirling videos because I personally love her style. I was surprised that they were not Wyatt’s favorites, because they are so lively and upbeat but I think she was his least favorite! He really loved the harmonica pieces we listened to and Abby the Spoon Lady.

Afterward we constructed a cereal box banjo/guitar but we are still working on the neck – I will update with photo later! I turned it inside out, taped it all back together and had Wyatt decorate it before adding the rubber band strings. His grandfather was an artist and was so talented with calligraphy and design – Wyatt decorating his little art project while we listened to country music just really made me feel like his grandfather was with us for a bit.

So it was a very basic intro but a good one! I am going to look into music for homeschooling as this kid seems to have music in his very soul!

Book Review: The Creative Family Manifesto

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review8 Comments

Goodreads Summary:

Spark and nurture your family’s creativity–a guide for making creativity an intentional part of everyday life.

When you learn to awaken your family’s creativity, wonderful things will happen: you’ll make meaningful connections with your children in large and small ways; your children will more often engage in their own creative discoveries; and your family will embrace new ways to relax, play, and grow together. With just the simple tools around you–your imagination, basic art supplies, household objects, and natural materials–you can transform your family life, and have so much more fun! This book embraces a whole new way of living that will engage your children’s imagination, celebrate their achievements, and help you to express love and gratitude for each other as a family.

My Thoughts:

My husband grew up in a very artistic, creative family. His mother was always painting or drawing or creating pottery (still is) and she passed this talent and love for art on to her children. When I met my husband in third grade, we shared a double desk and he would draw me pictures. I wish I still had them now! My family is full of creative thinkers, but we are not particularly skilled in drawing or painting, except for my brother and my grandmother. Creativity and fun were a huge part of my childhood, but not necessarily art or drawing. I really want to create an environment full of wonder and art and creativity for Wyatt but I felt I needed a little support, and this book had some wonderful ideas on how to incorporate art into our everyday and lifestyle, and really make it accessible to Wyatt.

A few things that really resonated with me: First, to purchase quality materials for the whole family to use and keep them where your child can use them as they desire. That whole idea of keeping things for nice or special doesn’t work with art supplies. It can be discouraging and frustrating to use poor quality versions of things (we have all had that experience with crayons I am sure!) so I took this advice and invested in some better quality sketch pads, watercolor paints, and colored pencils, as a start. I didn’t buy the top of the line, but I didn’t buy the cheapest there was either.

We have already put our new materials to good use! We have been heading to a quiet spot in the outdoors and spending time sketching and drawing together. I am not an artist by any means but I feel by trying along with Wyatt then I am showing him you don’t need to be in order to enjoy it and do it, and that it will encourage and foster a love of art in him.

However, the book also talks about being resourceful in your materials as well! Don’t limit yourself to traditional items, explore places like the pantry and nature – use found items to create art. I know that we have definitely done this in our home, with all of our Fruit Loop creations earlier in the spring.

Other ideas that I love and that I am going to incorporate into our dynamic is just making fun of the everyday. I try to do this anyway, but Soule had a few suggestions that I loved. One suggestion was a family meeting in bed – I kind of love the idea of all of us piled into the bed on Saturday and Sunday mornings, discussing what we would like to do that day – and to make sure that you make time for art! I also loved the idea of having toasts for accomplishments at dinner – no matter big or small, if they are a proud moment, let’s toast to it!

Soule encourages families to try it all, basically – knitting, painting, photography, embroidery, plays and theater – the only limit really is your imagination. I found this book to be inspiring and can’t wait to see what we all create together!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized40 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last week was the definition of a slow summer week. We spent time outside, lazing about the house, and learning about fireflies. We spent time outdoors drawing together, and in my “free” time I researched curriculums for Wyatt’s school year. I am finding there are so many out there, too many options almost! The more I look the harder this gets. And of course all the homeschool families on Instagram are revealing their curriculum choices so I am writing all these down when I see them. I think I need to just stop looking at this point and choose. I had no idea the homeschool world was such a big and connected community but it is. I also had a great evening with my friends having socially distanced drinks together. I am also going to venture out of my comfort zone this week and try the curbside service at the library..

Read Last Week:

I didn’t read very much last week. I finished up Opium and Absinthe, which ended up getting really good, and started The Masterpiece which I forgot I had ordered until it arrived at my door. I was excited to read a physical book!

Reading This Week:

I will continue to read The Masterpiece but I feel the Dear Bob and Sue Part 2 calling my name this week. I am missing trips and travel! We had planned a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains and a side trip to Dollywood for this month pre-COVID which is now on hold.

Posted Last Week:

Book Review: Honey and Venom

Snapshots of Summer So Far

Homeschool, Summer Edition: Birds and Fireflies

Watching:

We have been watching Nancy Drew, and finally finished Season 1 – so good! Then I started Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix and am addicted. I am squeezing them in where I can. I even went on Reddit to see what other people were thinking of these – I guess I think I am Nancy Drew! For our movie night we watched Woman Walks Ahead which was really good. It could easily have been longer than the hour and forty some minutes and I would have been ok with it, and I don’t say that often. I usually hate movies over two hours.

Stay safe everyone.

Homeschool, Summer Edition: Birds and Fireflies

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling10 Comments

We have been focusing on life with wings the past two weeks, and have learned about birds and fireflies! Fireflies just feel so summer to me. I wait for them to start blinking their lights every year and when they finally do, I feel like ok, now it is summertime for real. We are doing a little less structured school for the summer, but still learning and creating and keeping up with skills so we avoid that summer slide – which is a real thing and with this year being so abbreviated at school, I felt like I would just keep going.

Last week was bird week! We talked about different nests and eggs, worked on number identification, patterns, letters, and also more nature study type things, like bird identification and listening to different bird songs and calls. Wyatt’s favorites are chickadees and woodpeckers – mine will always be owls of all sorts (in fact we are spending a whole week on owls this fall..) We also measured our “wingspans” and learned that Wyatt’s wingspan is similar to that of a barn owl while mine is close to an osprey.

Art is always a fun part of our week and for bird week we painted with feathers, made a feather branch out of construction paper and a branch (fine motor skills and cutting practice!), and made a bird kite that was more fun to make than fly. Wyatt’s painting though – I don’t think he intended to paint a bird but do you see it? I think I am going to frame it!

Then this week we learned about fireflies, or lightning bugs depending on who you are. Again it was a more unstructured, more nature study versus school kind of week, perfect for summer. We did continue to review skills, and read books and listened to Leo the Lightning Bug on CD a million times. We made a cute little lightning bug and then fun glow in the dark firefly jars. We ended the week with an ice cream dinner then watching for fireflies in the yard. It was a good very summertime feeling week.

Resource Round-Up:

HomeEd Printables Birds

N is for Nest Teaching Mama

Honeycomb Cabin Birds

Fireflies by Stephanie Hathaway

Firefly Activities – Teach With Me

Books and Extras:

(Contains affiliate links for Amazon and Usborne Books)

Montessori Bird Puzzle

Sibley Backyard Bird Matching Game

Fireflies by Julie Brinckloe || Firefly July || Leo the Lightning Bug by Eric Drachman || My Book of Life Cycles || Birdhouse

And that is it for our homeschool the last two weeks! Next week we are doing a very fun unit on the Great Smoky Mountains; pre-COVID we had a vacation planned to the Smoky Mountains and Dollywood which is now on hold until next year, unfortunately. So we will be visiting and learning about the the area virtually! It is a more play based week with an emphasis on art and music and geography and history – I am excited to see how it all goes for us!

Snapshots of Summer..so far

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn day in the life5 Comments

I have a stack of books that my cousin made, that say “Every Summer Has Its Own Story”. Could that be more true for this summer? I think about other weird times in history, trying times and challenging times. Times of war, the year without a summer, pandemics of the past – and now the times that 2020 has brought to us all, globally. Our year has certainly been different, and while I thought summer might bring some relief, we are still fairly locked down.

Despite this, we are trying. We are seeing friends and family, yet more often in person socially distanced rather than just online chats. We can get outside more frequently, and easier, and Wyatt and I try to spend either mornings or evenings outside. The evenings are nicer, because then Billy can be with us.

We’ve enjoyed drinks outside…

… and all sorts of treasures from nature.

Tonight we are being crazy and having an ice cream for dinner picnic outdoors – complete with waffle cone bowls. It’s gonna get messy!

Stay well everyone.

Book Review: Honey and Venom

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review14 Comments

From the Publisher:

Considered an “industry legend” by The New York Times, Andrew Coté has one of the most intriguing, challenging, and unique jobs in New York City—maintaining millions of honey bees atop some of the city’s most iconic buildings. His apiaries have crowned the Waldorf Astoria and the Museum of Modern Art; reside on the North Lawn of the United Nations; reign above stores, hotels, restaurants, schools, churches, and synagogues; and are situated in community gardens, and even cemeteries, throughout the five boroughs.
 
In this debut collection, Coté takes readers with him on his daily apiary adventures over the course of a year, in the city and across the globe. Here, among his many duties, he is called to capture swarms that have clustered on fire hydrants, air-conditioning units, or street-vendor umbrellas. Annually, he travels with his father to regions like remote Fijian islands, rural Uganda, Haiti, Ecuador, or Iraq with his organization, Bees Without Borders, where he teaches beekeepers how to increase their honey yield and income via beekeeping endeavors.
 
Written with Coté’s trademark humor, acumen, and a healthy dose of charm, Honey and Venom illuminates the obscure culture of New York City “beeks” and the biology of the bees themselves, from the humble drone to the fittingly named worker to the queen herself—who is more a slave than a monarch. The hive world, Coté reveals, is full of strivers and slackers, givers and takers, and even some insect promiscuity—startlingly similar to the prickly human variety.
 
For Coté, a fourth-generation beekeeper, this is a family tradition, and this personal significance pervades his celebration of the romance and mystery of bees, their honey, and the beekeepers whose lives revolve around these most magical creatures.

My Thoughts:

When I think of beekeepers, I think of pastoral, rural, peaceful settings, a life full of flowers and honey ; Andrew Coté is far from this image. His life and career is globetrotting, star studded, and full of rooftops and city streets, hard work and long hours (although I am sure those rural type beekeepers also work long and hard hours!)

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I should have realized that the life of an urban beekeeper would be leagues different from those on farms and homesteads, however I never would have imagined the amazing things that Coté, has done in his life as a beekeeper. One such thing is his Bees Without Borders program that he founded to help fight poverty, and he has travelled to such countries as Kenya, Nigeria, and Iraq and others, to teach them beekeeping skills. Some of the stories he had to tell about his travels were were humorous, while some highlighted the dangers he faced in his mission to help others, and bees.

Coté, also had stories to tell of commercials, tv show appearances (Cake Boss, for one), and being a beekeeper to the rich and famous – namely one very famous woman renowned for her lifestyle whose name begins with M. In addition to all of this, Coté, also founded the New York City Beekeepers Association, maintains his own empire of bees, and assists with dangerous bee situations that plague the city – such as a hoarding house whose bees became a danger and nuisance to the city, working side by side with the police in such cases.

I really loved this book – I loved hearing about all of Coté’s adventures, his family history with bees and beekeeping, and the little facts that he threw in about bees as well – such as the fact that the scent of bananas enrages them! This book was a great read and I loved learning about a whole different world, the world of the urban beekeeper.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.