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!

Snapshot Saturday

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn DIY craft, family friendly, Uncategorized8 Comments

 

SaturdaySnapshot
My prayers go out to anyone suffering right now – I feel like every time I turn on the news, something is happening that breaks my heart.  Much of my last week was spent glued to the news too – there was a lot going on, and while I try my best to not get over inundated with current events for my own mental health, the past two weeks or so have demanded my attention. The timing of these events coincided coincidentally with a 30 Day Slow Down Childhood Challenge that I joined, and honestly, with the way I have been feeling, it was perfect timing. I needed something positive, and the challenge has forced me to do new things, and focus on my family and family time. And it is time very well spent.
For instance, last Wednesday I was having a rough day. Our challenge was to create a family moondala – something I had never heard of before but we were game. Billy and I are creative, and together make a good team, and it was fun to do a creative project with Wyatt. A moondala is a visual representation of what you hope to do in the next month, or lunar cycle. It can include drawings, bits of nature, whatever you want to represent these ideas. So, I poured myself into gathering the materials we might need, and then after dinner, we gathered around our table and started putting it all together. Billy and I really got involved in it, more than I thought we would! Definitely a case of the parents having more fun than the child. Lol. We had a lot of fun, and Wyatt did too, adding stickers and directing us on where he thought certain aspects would go. It was a hopeful, optimistic project, and it was just fun to sit as a family and make. I would think in families with older kids, etc everyone could make their own too.
moondala
I think we are going to try to do this every month!

Finding A Morning Rhythm

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn day in the life, family, mom life, Uncategorized3 Comments

fat mug

When I was a little girl, I would wake up in the morning to the sound of the stove clicking on, as my mom started the kettle for her tea. She was always up before us, and had a cup of tea and toast in the dark kitchen before the rest of us tumbled out of bed. I would hear the clicking, then fall back asleep just long enough for the whistling of the kettle to wake me again. Then I would wait in that in-between sleep and wakefulness state, for my mom to come and get me for school. I felt safe and secure in those moments, cocooned in my bed, the light outside just starting to grow brighter, knowing my mom was awake and starting her day.

I recently joined the Wilder Child 30 Day Slow Down Childhood Challenge, and 0n Monday we were challenged to establish a morning rhythm. We were warned that it would take more time than just this one day, but the point of this challenge was to get us thinking about it, and it really is a tough part of my day, especially on days Wyatt has school. I am usually racing about, tense and anxious and hurried, constantly glancing at the clock to see how much time we have left before we leave. Wyatt rarely eats or drinks the breakfast I give him, and I feel very disconnected from him on these mornings. This is not how I want our mornings to start together.

In the book I am reading, Braiding Sweetgrass, the author Robin Wall Kimmerer shares a memory of her father’s summertime morning ritual. She talks about how their family would spend the summers camping in the Adirondacks, and every morning, her father would make the coffee. When it was ready, when he picked it up ever so carefully, the family would grow hushed, respectful, as he poured a bit of the coffee out onto the ground, before pouring it for anyone else, including himself. As he poured it, he would “speak into the stillness”, saying, “Here is to the gods of Tahawus.” The woods came first. And so began their mornings.

I think this is a lovely memory and way to begin the morning, and I know that all cultures probably have their morning songs and prayers. For our family, it was my mom’s tea. For a vlogger I watch, With Kendra, she begins her day with  yoga, coffee, and her planner before her 2 year old twin girls get up, setting her path for the day, in a slow, deliberate manner. I am looking for something that starts our day off less chaotically; I think that just sets a tone for the rest of the day, one that has me already all anxious and rushed. And that trickles down to everyone else. Maybe I need to start recreating the mornings of my own childhood, and getting up with enough time to have some quiet moments to myself before I get Wyatt up. The fifteen minutes I give myself are not enough apparently. And then maybe, once I am not so hurried, I will be able to interact with Wyatt more, connect with him before he goes off to school. I’ve got a few ideas swimming around in my head – maybe we can feed the birds and squirrels together before we leave. Or listen to a particular song. I am not sure yet, but I will get there.

How about all of you? How are your mornings? Crazy or calm? Do you or did you have a routine or rhythm to your mornings?

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized18 Comments
Check out the The Caffeinated Book Review for the Sunday Post
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

It’s been slow around here, but that is alright. November is a month to slow down, to find a different rhythm as we move into late fall. My husband is still recovering from his bronchitis/cold (**cough mancold cough*) and we have been laying low. We had a great Halloween though, with our little wolf boy. We took him a few blocks only since he is also recovering from bronchitis and he had a blast! He was amazed every time someone gave him candy and would turn around wide-eyed and exclaim Mumma! Mumma! in his excitement.  Then the next night I had book club with my friends, which is always a good time. Chrissy hosted and made a delicious chili, which was perfect for the cold, rainy night we were having.

Read Last Week:

snowfall on lighthouse lane

Snowfall on Lighthouse Lane – This is the first time I have read this author, and I enjoyed her! I am already in Christmas mode, so this read worked out perfectly. Review soon!

Reading This Week:

I just like the look of that cover for Virgil Wander. All those stars, the Milky Way, the small town buildings on Main street. Also, Braiding Sweetgrass – I had started to read this a few months ago but had to return it to the library before I was finished. I couldn’t get it out of my head so I bought it! One of the first books I have bought for myself in two years!

Watching:

Sabrina (even though it scares me!), Midnight, Texas, Reign, Star Trek reruns for some reason (lol)

Posted Last Week:

Goodbye October, Hello November

Some Short and Quick Book Review

 

How about all of you? What is going on in your world?

Goodbye October, Hello November!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn autumn, day in the life, Uncategorized7 Comments

hello november

November. The month of my birth, a month I tend to think of as the beginning of the cozy part of fall. October for me is full of frantic activity – November I tend to turn more inward. Warm socks, soft knit gloves, cozy blankets are all pulled out as we put our flip flops and sandals away. We turn to hot drinks, savory soup, hearty bread; our lives take on a more gentle rhythm, taking our cue from mother nature herself.

This year to help me to be more mindful I joined the Wilder Child Slow Down Challenge, a 30 day challenge with different prompts for every day. Today’s prompt – make your child laugh. For my gigglepuss of a boy, this is an easy one for me. But many others include family traditions and more together time – reminding us to find our family in our chaos. I know that my days are so busy, running here and there with Wyatt, cleaning the house, shopping, planning – doing all the things we all do everyday. Sometimes it seems like I just check stuff off my list, but haven’t really been present in the moment. I want to do better. If you are interested, here is the link to the challenge. There is a private Facebook group too, for support during the challenge.

I keep seeing Nonfiction November being talked about around the book blogging world. I am becoming more and more of a nonfiction book reader, so I am unofficially joining in. I have a few different books picked out that I am going to attempt to read this month, interspersed with fiction. I usually read nonfiction books a bit slower, so I might not get to all of these, but this is my general plan, as far as nonfiction goes.

I am super excited about the Lewis-Stempel book. I actually bought it – the first book I have bought in two years!! It has to come all the way from England so it’s going to get here at the end of the month, but it should be pretty quick to read at 96 pages. I must have been on a roll because then I went and bought Braiding Sweetgrass too! I checked it out from the library a bit ago, but had to turn it back in before I was done. I was enjoying reading it so much and taking my time with it, that I decided gosh darn it, I was just going to buy it.

I am very much looking forward to this month – the family time, the food, the books and blankets and tea drinks. And pumpkin pie! I can’t wait for pumpkin pie. How about you? Is there anything you are looking forward to this month?

Some short and quick book reviews!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, Uncategorized5 Comments

Hey all! I just wanted to share some short and quick thoughts on a few of the books I read this month!

ghostland

First up, Ghostland. This book was not quite what I expected, but I still liked it. It was definitely as it says in the title, more about the history than the ghost story. I found some of Dickey’s insights very interesting, especially concerning the country’s turbulent history with race, and how he feels that even impacts ghost stories. It was definitely an interesting read, although it did feel a bit long.

city of ghosts

City of Ghosts: This middle grade book was a delight to read! It was appropriately scary for the age level, and the book itself was pretty cool, even for me. I loved the whole premise, and definitely the location. I really liked that Schwab was able to work the definitions of the British/Scottish slang or language into the story without it being obtrusive. What a great idea for kids who read this book who may not be familiar with certain terms. (adults too!) Definitely a book I would have purchased for our library collection when I was working at the library. ( I used to work/run an elementary school library)

spellbook

Spellbook of the Lost and Found : I loved this book. It was a quiet book, a slow burner of a book, that works on you bit by bit. It’s not splashy. And it was so good! There were some twists and turns that I never expected, and I wanted to just keep reading to find out what the heck was going on! I thought the premise was unique as well. Overall, I really liked this read.

I didn’t get as much reading done as I wanted to this month, but life throws curve balls sometimes doesn’t it. Lol. And tomorrow is Halloween already! My favorite holiday of the year! It looks like we will be homebound, as kiddo is just getting over a fierce cold as is my husband, but I also love handing out candy. They are predicting rain though, so..it might be a pretty slow trick or treat night. Good thing I bought candy that I like….

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized8 Comments

This past week has been all about rest and recovery. My little kiddo came down with a terrible cough Monday, requiring breathing treatments, so we have been taking it easy this week. Of course, my husband and I are both sick now too, but at least it is the weekend and we can all be sickies together. The three of us have been holed up in our bedroom a lot, watching television, reading, coloring, singing, and napping. It was some nice family togetherness but I wish we had all been feeling better!

So, a pretty uneventful week around here, although I did manage to get a start on my Christmas shopping, buying some stuff online, and I also made quite a few lists of plans and ideas. Now, to just feel well enough to start on them!

I didn’t make it to the library unfortunately, to pick up my holds, so my reading material was a bit limited. Oh! And I bought the first book I have bought for myself in TWO YEARS! And of course the delivery is scheduled for sometime before the end of November. Lol. Oh well, it will be here eventually and I am excited!

Read Last Week:

spellbook

I really enjoyed this book!! I loved the writing and the characters, and I thought the concept was unique as well. I plan to review some of my recent reads very shortly!

Reading This Week:

I am going to try to get to the library this week, but I am diving into my review book pile as well. I wanted to save this for after Halloween though, so this plan might change. We shall see!

 victory garden

The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen – I love reading about the Land Girls in England during the war! I heard about them first when I watched these BBC productions on different farms during different eras which I thought was fascinating, but the WWII farm was one of my faves to watch and learn about.

Watching:

Lots of YouTube, Sabrina (SO GOOD!), Reign, Curious George Halloween, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Daniel Tiger, Star Trek reruns, HGTV. Lol. It’s been quite a mix!

How about you all?

 

 

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized17 Comments
Check out the The Caffeinated Book Review for the Sunday Post
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date
We have begun the trick or treating gauntlet! It seems like everywhere has a trick or treating event these days. We have many on our calendar, although I am not sure if we will actually go to them all. We did go to the Detroit Zoo Boo Saturday night with my brother and fam. We had a fantastic time, although a slightly chilly one. Wyatt is going as a wolf this Halloween, while my niece L. is going as a witch.
Speaking of nieces – I have a new one! My brother-in-law and his wife had their second girl on Friday! She has the chubbiest cheeks and the cutest little face. I loves her.
Read Last Week:
I really enjoyed these two books! City of Ghosts was really well written – the kids at my old school that I used to work in the library at would have gone crazy for it! They were all about scary books there. I could not keep enough in the library!
Reading This Week:

I’m hoping to read and finish both of these this week!

Posted Last Week:

Our Favorite Halloween Reads

A Wonderful Weekend

Drinks with a Ghost

Watching:

Lore Season 2 on Amazon. It is so scary this season! I love it. I am also watching Reign on Netflix, and HGTV.  And I can’t wait for Sabrina the reboot!! It looks so awesome! And how cool that it is part of the whole Riverdale world. I think that is why Riverdale got so dark last season, they were paving the way for Sabrina. Have you seen the trailer?

So that is it from my side of the laptop! What has been going on in your corner of the world?

 

Drinks with a Ghost..

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn autumn, date night, Detroit, Michigan, Uncategorized5 Comments

Like every city out there, Detroit has its own ghost stories and weird lore. From the Nain Rouge , the little hobgoblin who appears before a disaster, to the myth of Harry Houdini haunting the Majestic Theater, to the various and sundry other ghosties out there, we have our share! Usually I don’t think about them, but of course Halloween and my current reading material has them front and center in my thoughts.

Billy and I have been trying to have more date nights lately and last night we splurged. We headed downtown to The Whitney, which is an old beautiful mansion from the lumber baron days of Michigan’s history, turned into an elegant, fancy restaurant. It was built in 1894, and was described at the time as being one of the most opulent houses in the west. It is one of the few opulent mansions left, and it is a gorgeous old lady, towering high above Woodward Avenue in Detroit.

And it is said to be haunted.

Stories are told of the elevators operating themselves, doors opening and closing and moving between floors; one staff member even saw an older gentleman disappear into thin air when asked to leave.

The third floor of The Whitney serves spirits – and people thank goodness – in its Ghostbar, and it is where we chose to go for our date night. When we got there, the bar was empty, but it was early on Wednesday night. We chose to sit in the big leather seats, all cozied up to the bar, and indulged in decadent drinks and desserts.

 

I ordered the yummy nutty tasting Chocolate Ugli Cake, which is a flourless cake with a chocolate ganache, and their famous martini, the Witching Hour. And it was delicious!! Made with Valentine White Blossom Vodka, Limoncello, St. George Raspberry Liqueur, and fresh lemon, it was delightfully sweet and tart, without being too much of either. I can see why it is a drink that they are known for.

 

Billy ordered the Kahlua cheesecake, which was exactly how you think it would taste – rich and chocolatey, a bit boozy. Yum! It was topped with a coffee infused maple cream that was delish as well. To drink, he had the Spoonful, which is made with Mansion reserve Bourbon, sweet vermouth, Luxardo maraschino, and angostura bitters. It was pretty good too, but not as good as mine! Lol.

We had a great time, enjoying our little moment. It was such a cold night midweek, and we had the place to ourselves with the just the bartender. Although, it did make me feel a little bit like I was at the bar in The Shining..just a little. And that bartender – was he real? Hmm.

I can’t say we witnessed any ghostly behavior or saw any ghosts, but it was fun to hang out there and spend time with my guy.  If you are ever in Detroit and want to grab a cocktail before a show or after dinner or just because it’s a cold Wednesday night and you have a bit of free time, I suggest you step into the Ghostbar and try one of their amazing cocktails. You won’t regret it – and maybe you will see a specter!

If you are interested in more Haunted Detroit, there are many options out there! If only I had the time to do all of these, how fun would that be? Some of the events may be seasonal, or sold out but these tour groups have different tours all the time, so maybe one will open up, or something completely different will catch your fancy!

Wheelhouse Detroit- Haunted Tour and Dusk Tours – Visit haunted locations from the seat of your bike!

Preservation Detroit – Cemetery Tours

Haunted Detroit Tours

Detroit History Tours – they offer a Halloween in Detroit tour which is sold out, but there is a bizarre Detroit tour that still has availability

Historic Fort Wayne Tours After Dark – these are also sold out, but the Fort has many cool events coming up, including a Christmas at the Fort event. And there is always next year!

A Wonderful Weekend

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn autumn, day in the life, family, family friendly, food, Michigan, mom life, Uncategorized3 Comments

Sometimes everything just falls into place and things turn out perfectly.

This weekend was like that. The weather was gorgeous, sunny, with that bite in the air that lets you know that fall is here and summer has waved goodbye. I love the crispness, it feels so fresh and alive to me. So weather, en pointe. Add in some of my favorite people and a day of laughter and eating, and it was just the icing on the cake.

A few of my friends and I headed out western Michigan way, to Holland, MI. I don’t know much about this town, except that it does have a windmill and in the spring a tulip festival that looks amazing, full of bright colors and all things spring. There is a college there too, Hope College. And it also has a quaint little downtown, full of boutique stores and restaurants.

We had lunch at New Holland Brewery, a thing which excited a few of the husbands who were back home, who had made requests of their wives to bring them back some sort of special beer that is only made at that particular location. The food was ok, not anything terrible but nothing special either. I think here it is all about the booze. And even though time was just creeping up on noon, we had a celebratory drink to our girls day out. I ordered Full Circle, a kolsch beer. I only drink lagers if I drink beer, and it was a good one! K and J had pumpkin martinis, while C had Dragon’s Milk, which has a fantastic name right?

holland

After we ate, we poked around shopping, in and out of stores, each of us buying what caught our fancy. I ended up taking home with me a soft, warm pair of wool gloves knit in Peru from a Fair Trade store, a t-shirt for Billy, and a cute little Halloween book for Wyatt. I bought those gloves just in time – it is freezing here this week!

After a few hours, we were pretty shopped out and were ready to head to our next destination – dinner! By this time we had worked up an appetite with all that walking around so we were ready to hit the road. We had made reservations in a nearby town at Schuler’s Restaurant, based on J’s recommendation. She had been wanting to go there, and I am so glad that we did! When we got there, we got shown to our table, which was right in front of the fire. It was so cozy and warm, on such a chill night, and the decor was very old world charming.  I absolutely loved it in there. We settled in, ordered our drinks from the fall themed drinks menu, and enjoyed the cheese and crackers that were brought to us as we perused the dinner options.  I ended up ordering the Roasted Beet Salad with salmon, and it was amazing. Everyone’s food looked delicious actually, but for me, it was all about dessert. I ordered the Devil’s Delight, a brownie with vanilla ic cream. This sounds so blah, but so wasn’t. Chocolately and gooey,  warm and delicious with that cold ice cream to save it from being too rich. Yum!

Then Sunday, my hubs, son, and I went to the apple orchard. It was another fantastic weather day, the perfect kind for strolling around an orchard, eating apple doughnuts, and picking out pumpkins. The perfect Michigan fall day, really. The orchard we got to every year, Bennett’s Orchard, also makes hard cider and has a tasting room, so bonus! Lol. We took home a growler of Elderberry Cider, and plan on going back in a few weeks for a cinnamon version for the holidays. The owner told us to cook sweet potatoes in it for the holidays, which sounds like a fabulous idea! As were getting ready to leave, the parking lot was starting to fill up with yogis – they apparently host yoga sessions in the orchard on Sunday afternoons, which sounds like it would be a lot of fun!

Finally, later that evening we made a giant pot of chili for dinner, and watched It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. It was a great end to a wonderful weekend.