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!

A Vulnerable Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP, metal health31 Comments

Hi everyone. I want to share what I have been going through the past two weeks, but first, if talking about mental health or anxiety is triggering for you, then please skip this post. I would hate to cause anyone any negativity.

So. Where I have been. Three weeks ago I was feeling good – blood pressure fantastic, mild anxiety left over from Wyatt’s surgeries but nothing terrible, my weight is good, and had A+ blood work according to my doctor. However, at that wellness visit we decided to increase my Prozac by just ten milligrams. I had been taking 10mg Prozac for years, and we thought since I was having some mild anxiety we would increase it. The doctor said it still was considered a very low dose, etc. Then things when to absolute hell.

My anxiety and fear grew with every single day. I was struggling to not just lay in bed, I wanted to hide from my own brain and thoughts. It took all of my strength to get up everyday and care for myself and Wyatt, which I absolutely did. I did the bare minimum, fed us, made sure we were safe, went to appointments, but nothing extra and for sure nothing exciting or enriching. In addition to my anxiety growing – like I was afraid to eat or walk around for fear I would have a stroke – my blood pressure just kept climbing as well. I have had essential hypertension since I was 24, it is just inherited and I am very good at tracking my blood pressure and keeping a log. However, no matter what my doctor was increasing my blood pressure meds by, it was not controlling it. By Good Friday, I was feeling out of my mind, and when Billy came home from work, I drove myself to the ER. I told them I was having constant panic attacks and that my blood pressure was insane. They monitored me for about an hour, prescribed an extra pill, told me that I was actually fine and not going to die, which I was absolutely positive I was going to and gave me some good information about my current blood pressure to help me through. I wrote that kind doctor’s words down and kept them with me.

My doctor contacted me the next day, saying that she had gotten my ER notes and was going to have the nurse manager call me the following Monday to help me find an appointment to follow up. At my follow up, my blood pressure was still high. After we talked a bit about what was going on, we realized that I had been fine up until she increased my Prozac. She thinks that there is a very good chance that the increased dose triggered a reaction in my body, like a less severe version of serotonin syndrome, which in extreme cases can be fatal. Even if it was not serotonin syndrome, Prozac is a drug that when you first start taking it or have an increase in dose, it can actually INCREASE fear and anxiety for a few weeks. So just something to realize and pay attention to. I think due to my small dose and dose increase it wasn’t as severe as it could have been. However, unfortunately for me, I have a whole lot of anxiety tied up with my blood pressure anyway, as a result of my month in the hospital while pregnant with Wyatt for pre-eclampsia, which probably exacerbated the whole situation on top of things. Yay me. So, my doctor came up with a new plan. We dropped the Prozac back down to 10mg, since I can’t simply just stop taking it completely just like that, and she put me on an entirely different blood pressure medicine. And Xanax, the lowest dose for a short time until I get through this time of transition. I am not super comfortable with that last one, but I do need it right now and don’t plan on taking it longer than I need to. I will take magnesium instead, when the time comes. She told me that it is going to take a little bit to get things (blood pressure) back to normal again, and to not expect it to be back to where it was (110/75!) in just three days. I am impatient to get back there though, so I have to fight that inclination and disappointment as well, and believe that I will get better, but it will be a process.

As for my anxiety, well, right now that is pretty good. I think that once the excess Prozac has left my system finally, I will be much better. And as for the jump scare of taking my own blood pressure, Billy and I team up. He takes it, doesn’t tell me what it is, and records it for me. He knows the parameters that our doctor gave for it, and also knows how to contact her if needed.

Mental health is such a fragile thing, sometimes. Medication can be good, but also, we need to pay attention to what our bodies are telling us. Sometimes they work and sometimes we have reactions. I never read side effects because I am a person who will automatically get them if I read them, but if I take something and feel weird, I contact the doctor and let them decide. I was nervous to write this post, so many people don’t believe in medication for mental health and look down on those who take it, think they are weak. I don’t feel that way. Your body chemicals can be out whack anywhere – brain, cholesterol, hormones, heart, what have you, and it is important to take care of yourself, and if taking a medication can help and doesn’t hurt you, then so be it. But also, if you do take something and know something is wrong, do not be afraid to bring it up to your doctor. I also think you should be able to have an open, trusting relationship with your doctor. My doctor is wonderful, she listens to me, considers what I am saying, allays my fears, and is very responsive to emails – all things that I need in a doctor.

It has been a wild few months for our family and homeschool has suffered, I haven’t been as available to my mother as I need to be, but I am managing that guilt as well. I need to take care of myself so that I can get better and get back to my normal life. I am thankfully very very blessed with supportive family and friends who are helping me through these times and hopefully I will be back to my normal self soon.

Consider this my PSA for the month! Lol. Take care of yourselves, no matter what that looks like for you!

The Spring of Cary Grant: Houseboat

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized13 Comments

So when Lisa at Boondock Ramblings told me she was going to do a Spring of Cary Grant, I knew I wanted in on it. She introduced me to the legend that is Grant last fall, and I am woefully behind on his films. So I am tagging along on her journey, posting along with her as well.

The first movie up was Houseboat, starring Cary Grant (obviously), and Sophia Loren. I was absolutely enchanted by this movie. I loved it completely!

In Houseboat, Grant plays a father who has been somewhat estranged from his children and wife (that he was divorcing). When his wife dies, he realizes he needs to become a better father – which first starts with being a present father, one that is actually in their lives. The children are not too happy about this; they miss their mother, don’t really seem to know their dad, and want to stay with their grandparents and aunt. However, Grant swoops them off to Washington, D.C. and his small flat.

Grant, whose character is named Tom Winters, loses Robert, his youngest son, at a concert they are all attending. Robert has run away, just like Sophia Loren’s character, Cinzia. Cinzia is of course much older, but is avoiding her father as well. The unlikely pair, Robert and Cinzia, find themselves sharing a rowboat, and Cinzia eventually returns Robert to his family. Robert wants his dad to hire Cinzia as their maid, and after some shenanigans, she eventually signs on.

Tom realizes he has to move his family out of his small flat in the city, and makes arrangements for a guesthouse. However, that plan is derailed, and they end up moving onto a very dilapidated houseboat, all five of them. Tom, his three children, and Cinzia.

The houseboat is falling apart, Cinzia has absolutely no domestic skills at all as she was not raised to need them, the kids and Tom are still finding their footing, and Tom’s late wife’s sister has set her cap for Tom. There is a lot going on, including a budding romance between the feisty, temperamental, fun loving Cinzia and sort of conventional Tom.

I don’t want to tell you the whole movie though! This movie was so wholesome and cozy and I just loved it. It made me want to move to a beautiful houseboat, because after what seems like one night on a ramshackle boat, it is fixed up to like brand new practically overnight. And it is gorgeous!

I loved the family, how Tom tried to relate to his children and often failed, and how he did eventually reach them and make connections with them with the help of Cinzia. Two scenes really stand out for me – in one scene Tom is speaking to his oldest son about death and how when things die they are never really completely gone or disappear, they just become a part of everything else, which I loved, and then another scene with a completely sexist tone. Cinzia is being made to serve Tom and his guests, which included his sister-in-law Carolyn whom he is dating, and another couple. Well they are completely snobbish and rude and rude, all of them, but then things really hit the fan when the other man slaps Cinzia on the behind. She handles herself well, throwing a drink in his face and walking off, and I thought to myself, please let Tom do something because that was out of line. And he did. He ended up asking all of them, including Carolyn, to leave his boat.

I loved this first movie in the lineup! My only complaint was the song that Cinzia keeps singing throughout the movie – it is total earworm!

Next up is The Awful Truth!

You can find Lisa’s post here! If you want to join in that would be awesome too!

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized18 Comments

Hello everyone! It is a rainy spring day here this morning; I am hoping that we get some sun by afternoon so I can get outside and work on a few more garden beds. If not though, there is always another day! I would be content as well just having school with Wyatt and then reading or playing games for the rest of the afternoon. That works for me too!

So..where to start? I mentioned in my post yesterday that I hit the wall last week. I was just done in. So I rested. And let Wyatt rest too. We did a very unschooling type method for school, without text books or paper or projects. Instead, we read fiction books, poetry (Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats), watched videos and documentaries, and then on the weekend went on a few adventures. It was awesome. I don’t plan on doing that all the time, but it was a good reset that we both needed. Actually, the new history curriculum I purchased for next year has “hygge weeks” built right in a few times during the year, where we are supposed to just read books from the book list. I may need to further adapt this concept into the rest of our schooling because it was really refreshing for a change of pace, and I could see doing it here and there.

Thursday night I spent with my friends, Kelly and Jill. Chrissy joined us via video chat for a little bit, to show off the new baby and chat with everyone. It was time I needed! I haven’t seen my friends in months in person, and wow did I miss them!! It was so nice to sit around and chat and laugh and catch up and drink wine. We also tried to get the stray cats that Kelly feeds to come to us but they were too nervous. This buff colored fellow Kelly has named Pal, and the other is a tabby she named Buddy. They have very elaborate shelters in her yard to keep them warm and they were hanging around their little apartments later that evening. It was cute.

Kelly has been my friend for 20 years and we are like the odd couple. Or Grace and Frankie. She is always prepared and organized and does things on time and is practical, and she rolls her eyes laughingly at me often. I am sharing this because on Wednesday I had to pick my mom up for an appointment but when I got into my car with Wyatt, I had no gas. And also, no debit card or credit card. I broke my own debit card months ago, I didn’t know where our credit card was, and Billy took his own debit card with him that day. So what did I do? I called Kelly to see if I could borrow twenty bucks to put some gas in my car. I felt very cap in hand and silly but also knew that Kelly loves me and would help me even though she would be like “Erin!” so I didn’t feel that embarrassed really. I also knew I had enough gas to get to her house and to the gas station two blocks from her, so it was perfect. Thank God for good friends!

Wyatt has been learning about the state of Maine and I really love to incorporate food and culture in when I can. So I was so excited when I found out about Cousins Maine Lobster! They have a franchise of food trucks across the country, and when I say food truck, I mean like rolling restaurant because that was one giant fancy food truck! The lobster is from Maine, and the menu features the Maine Roll, Connecticut Roll, tater tots, lobster tots, grilled cheese with lobster, whoopie pie (the state treat of Maine!), clam chowder, and lobster bisque – the list goes on. I knew without a doubt that Wyatt would never try lobster or clam chowder, but I knew I could get him to try the whoopie pie. I mean, no one passes up dessert right? So on a very gloomy, cold, rainy afternoon, we drove on over to where the truck was and ordered some culinary delights. Billy and I had originally planned on getting lobster rolls, but we were freezing so we both opted for the bowl of soup instead – lobster bisque for me, clam chowder for Billy. Wyatt got the grilled cheese (no lobster) and tater tots, and then I ordered whoopie pies for the crew! I had planned to get the Maine root soda but they were out so we didn’t get to taste that this time. Next time, because there will be a next time.

We ended up having a car picnic, since it was so cold and wet out. We piled in to the back with our food and just enjoyed it all! It is safe to say that the whoopie pies were a huge hit all around. The lobster bisque was absolutely perfect, and Billy said the clam chowder was the best he had ever had. All around, delicious.

A few weeks ago I learned that Detroit has a floating post office, with it’s own zip code. It delivers mail to freighters, but also will deliver pizzas to boats, and even people, we learned! Wyatt loves the mail and USPS so I made it our mission on Sunday to find this boat. And we did, on a tiny little road on the river. There was a gentleman there waiting to be ferried out to a freighter, and he was telling us that it is his favorite way to get to work. If we had waited an hour or so we could have watched but it was a bit chilly so we will try again another day. However, little man was super excited to just see the boat. We couldn’t go past the fence but we might take Wyatt back during regular hours so he can see inside the building and maybe even a closer look at the boat. You can see Canada and the Ambassador Bridge in the third photo, by the way!

Afterwards we drove around Detroit a bit, around Belle Isle, through the Heidelburg Project, and then got take out from Royale with Cheese in midtown. Then it was time to drop my mom (who was with us for this adventure) off at my brother’s house and then Wyatt and I took a nap while Billy played video games. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday.

And phew I feel like I have gone on and on today!

What is going on in your world?

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized38 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

Hello everyone! Last week I took an unscheduled break from just about everything. I think the past 8 weeks finally caught up with me and I needed to take some downtime. It was nice to be lazy with Wyatt after the months we have been through! We had a play date with his cousin Mermaid Girl, and I had a grown up play date with my friends, who I haven’t seen in months in person. It was so good to see them. Then Saturday I had a video chat with a friend who lives in another state and that was fun as well! I feel much more refreshed after all of that.

Reading:

I am slowly meandering my way through Hill House Living by Paula Sutton. Sutton has a famous Instagram account, Hill House Vintage and her life looks so gorgeous. I am also reading through my favorite book again, Watership Down. I like to take my time with this book. And this time I am also listening to it as well! I have never done that before and it gives it a whole new feel. The audiobook I am listening to is fantastic, the reader Peter Capaldi does the best voices and is just a very talented reader. I highly recommend it! I am doing a read some/listen to some method. This will probably take me to the end of the week so nothing new here.

Posted Last Week:

Books that Feel Like Spring!

Book Review: Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Homeschool Journey – Maine!

Watching/Listening:

Billy and I have been watching Beyond Paradise, which I love. I love that it is different than other British cozies in that there is not a murder every episode! It is set in a small little coastal town in Devon, and to make it more realistic I guess the mysteries are all different types of crime. I love this departure.

We are also watching Ted Lasso, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, and My Life is Murder with Lucy Lawless. It’s been a good week of tv! No movies this weekend yet, we had a surprise visit from my dad last night instead of movie night, which was nice. We are getting ready to join in on Lisa at Boondock Ramblings “Spring of Cary Grant” though, and are planning on watching Houseboat tonight.

As for listening, I am listening to Watership Down.

And that is it from my corner of the world! How are things in your neighborhood?

Books That Feel Like Spring!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, books and reading20 Comments

Spring! It is not quite here in Michigan yet, but it is coming. The crocuses are popping up, birds are happily chirping in the morning and evenings, the sun streams through my windows until much later in the day, and I am soaking it all up. I love fall and winter, but I appreciate spring for all it brings. The sunny days with warm breezes, not too hot but just perfectly warm, the return of the color to the landscape, and even rainy days too. Worms and birds and rabbits, and flowers and picnics and afternoons in the garden. I can’t wait for it to be fully spring here but until then, I have books!

Wind in the Willows is the first book I read to Wyatt when he got home from the hospital as a teeny baby. The windows were open, letting in a slight slight breeze, I could hear the wind chimes, and I held my sweet preemie and read to him. I will always associate this book with Wyatt and spring.

How to be a Wildflower by Katie Daisy is a wonderful journey! It is a field guide and journal that allows you to dream away lazy afternoons. Billy got me this one Mother’s Day and I love taking it on all of our spring and summer adventures.

This next one I haven’t read but I just discovered! I am not sure how I missed this as a kid because Mandy looks like a book I definitely would have read – and I plan on doing just that this spring.

Things to Look Forward To doesn’t need much explanation. Spring is about hope and dreaming and small joys, and this book is all about those little joys. I love Sophie Blackwall and this book is so fun. (also $1.49 on kindle!)

The Secret Garden. Of course. Because what spring book list can be complete without it? One of my childhood favorites!

If you read here often then you know that I love Watership Down. It’s my favorite book of all time and I reread it every spring. These courageous, clever rabbits are always so inspiring.

Those rainy days of spring deserve some magic and maybe even a little mystery. Mary Stewart is one of my go-to comfort reads for life and Thornyhold is one of the best in my opinion. If you like a cozy mystery with a bit of edge, I highly encourage you to read Mary Stewart, although some of the ideas may be considered a bit old fashioned these days.

The Cottingley Secret – I love this book. I love fairies and have always been fascinated by the real story behind the Cottingley fairies, especially Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s belief in it!

Sarah Addison Allen is always a must read for me too, and Garden Spells was the first book I read of hers. It is magical realism and cozy and just fun. It definitely gives me springtime feels.

These two are actually in progress over here. I checked out Hill House Living from the library because I love Paula Sutton’s Instagram account. Her life is just so beautiful! And I have A Poem for Every Spring Day on order from Amazon to add to our collection. That cover! I am in love!

Are there any books that sing of spring to you? Nostalgic reads, or new reads, or just anything that speaks to you? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Book Review: Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review9 Comments

Publisher Summary:

Sometimes all you need is a pinch of magic…

Eva Evergreen is determined to earn the rank of Novice Witch before she turns thirteen years old. If she doesn’t, she’ll lose her magic forever. For most young witches and wizards, it’s a simple enough test:

ONE: Help your town, do good all around.
TWO: Live there for one moon, don’t leave too soon.
THREE: Fly home by broomstick, the easiest of tricks.

The only problem? Eva only has a pinch of magic. She summons heads of cabbage instead of flowers and gets a sunburn instead of calling down rain. And to add insult to injury, whenever she overuses her magic, she falls asleep.

When she lands on the tranquil coastal town of Auteri, the residents expect a powerful witch, not a semi-magical girl. So Eva comes up with a plan: set up a magical repair shop to aid Auteri and prove she’s worthy. She may have more blood than magic, but her “semi-magical fixes” repair the lives of the townspeople in ways they never could have imagined. Only, Eva’s bit of magic may not be enough when the biggest magical storm in history threatens the town she’s grown to love. Eva must conjure up all of the magic, bravery, and cleverness she can muster or Auteri and her dreams of becoming a witch will wash away with the storm.

My Thoughts:

This book was absolutely adorable! Eva Evergreen is daughter to one of the most powerful witches in the land – however, Eva herself only seems to have a pinch of magic. She is finally of age to gain her rank of Novice Witch, and sets off to the town where she will spread her wings and work on her challenge. She has one month to prove that she can do this, and will need the support of the town mayor, who doesn’t seem to like her much. The town was expecting someone not quite like Eva, but more like her mother.

However, bit by bit, Eva starts to make friends and finds ways to be helpful to her town. She makes friends with a little a flame fox, who like her doesn’t quite fit in, as well as some human friends as well. She finds she has an affinity for repair magic, and can fix problems, in her own Eva-like way – sometimes which have rather explosive results. Her biggest challenge however is looming off in the distance, something called The Culling, a magical storm that can take out and destroy whole towns. Witches defend their towns with their magic, and Eva feels she is not up to this task. The longer she is there, the more anxious she becomes. Her mother can’t see her or help her until after her month is up, and if this storm comes while Eva is in Auteri, her mother will more than likely be defending another town. So it is up to Eva.

What I absolutely loved about this book is that while Eva found she only had a pinch of magic, she found the power to do great things and solve problems by using her other skills, the non-magical ones. She is clever and resourceful and she finds that these two qualities are just as, if not more, important than her magic.

I really enjoyed this book, and now I need to read the next one. The ending set up a whole new situation that I need to know the answer to!

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized16 Comments

Hello everyone! It’s a chilly, sunny morning and I am so grateful for the return of the sun to these parts. I feel like it has just been gray and gloomy for months. I have a very happy cactus too – it is either a Thanksgiving or Christmas cactus but it is pretty confused because it is all bloomy and pretty.

This weekend I finally got to meet my new niece! It was a bit of a wild ride for little girl – she had jaundice and ended up having to go back to the hospital for an overnight. She is doing great now though, and we got to meet her. It’s been so long since I have held a wee bebe and I very reluctantly handed her off to Billy for his turn holding her. We didn’t stay long, but long enough to chat and squeal over the baby and play a little with Mermaid Girl. I also made lemon tortellini soup for them so we took that with us as well.

Before seeing the baby though, we had another stop. We drove about half an hour to get something to eat that kept being targeted to me on Instagram. Lol. It looked so good and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Imagine my surprise when we arrived and it was in a gas station. Ok, I am not a food snob or anything but I do get a little weird about eating from a gas station restaurant. However, Billy went in and ordered it and brought it out to us, and it was delicious. There was a never ending line at their drive through, and it was quite busy! Definitely a hidden gem.

Sunday was absolutely beautiful, in the mid 50s and sunshiney. We opted to work outside in the yard for a bit, clearing some of the front beds and laying cardboard down over some areas in the back that have been taken over by decades old ivy. Anyone know how to get rid of ivy without chemicals? I am hoping that this plan of suffocating it works, other wise we will have to try something different. It grows over our neighbor’s garage, and destroys it, and they are not happy about it either. I think our previous neighbors there planted it, and now it has moved from that spot in their yard into our yard and just keeps spreading. Wyatt played in the yard while we worked then afterwards we all went to our favorite ice cream place! It opened for the season last week so we were waiting for a perfect time to go – and Sunday was it. We all got our favorites- Black Cherry for Billy, Mint Chocolate Chip for Wyatt, and Scooby Doo for me, which is peanut buttery. So good!

I uncovered these babies who were buried in leaves – I can’t wait for them to bloom!

So spring is springing around here! What is going with you all today?

Homeschool Journey: Maine! Week 1

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling9 Comments

We are working on our very last New England state – Maine! I decided since it is our finale and goodbye to that region, that we would spend two weeks working on it. Last week was all about the sea and coastal areas, and it was seriously so much fun.

In addition to general Maine facts, I focused on lighthouses and on whales with Wyatt. I need to get this kid to the ocean and to an aquarium! I really believe in hands on learning and I see Wyatt light up when we can experience what we are learning about as opposed to just, well learning about it at home. However, since we can’t visit everywhere all at once, or really just everywhere we do our best and travel through books and music and food and whatever else I can think of.

The lighthouse study was pretty neat. He really enjoyed learning more about lighthouse keepers and seeing diagrams and pictures of the insides of lighthouses, than in what the purpose of lighthouses were and how they worked. We watched a few videos, read a few books, and together made this rendition of a lighthouse on an island. I thought it turned out pretty cute!

As for whales, we did a proper whale study, learning all the facts about them. We also listened to whale songs which are so otherworldly – they actually sort of creeped Wyatt out. I think it is pretty, he is not a fan but he is 8. He much more enjoyed all the sea shanties we listened to, and I get it, they are much livelier.

Our poet of the week was Mary Oliver! As the teacher I get to pick all my favorites so I am. Lol. The book we read, My Poet, was about a little girl who is friends (fictionally) with Mary Oliver and together they collect words. It was really well done. We also read a few different poems by Oliver which are sort of eh, not quite for kids but we read them anyway, and zoomed in on the poem “Children, It’s Spring” for our painting inspiration. As an additional painting project that correlated with the book My Poet, I had Wyatt describe four things – a pine cone, sand dollar, agate slice, and Freddy our frog. Lol. Then I had him pick one and paint it, and we surrounded it with his words.

What We Used:

This section contains Amazon Affiliate links. In addition to the curriculum I am creating for him, we also use curriculum from The Good and the Beautiful, The Waldock Way, and Blossom and Root for phonics, reading, science, and social studies.

L is for Lobster || Welcome to Maine || Hello Lighthouse || One Morning in Maine || My Poet

We will be continuing on with Maine this week, and turning our gaze from the coast to the more inland areas.

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized36 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

Hello everyone! I am super excited that our forecast today calls for sunny weather and a high of 55! Finally! And our favorite ice cream place opened for the season last week, so I think we are going to get our first cones of the season today as well. I am hoping they have my favorite, Scooby Doo!

We had a pretty busy week last week, with appointments every single day. Ick. But they are over and done so that is good, and Wyatt will be starting speech again in two weeks and will be getting his new braces which he desperately needs. His other orthotics/braces are just so small on him now!

Read Last Week:

This book was so cute! I read it as part of Middle Grade March and it was adorable. Eva is a spunky little semi-magical witch, with just a pinch of magic, but as she is clever and resourceful, that is all she needs!

Reading This Week:

I was planning on reading one more middle grade book this month, but I am not feeling it right now. It is instead time to read Watership Down, like I do every spring! My favorite book of all time! I am so excited to read it again!

Posted Last Week:

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Book Review: The Grace of Wild Things

Homeschool Journey: New Hampshire and Robert Frost

Watched/Listened:

We watched Beyond Paradise, and are all caught up on the available episodes, which I am bummed about! I am enjoying this spin off of Death in Paradise. We also watched Ted Lasso and finished up season 2, and watched some of the old Hamish Macbeth episodes on Acorn, even though I get all upset since they are not like the books. However it is an easy peaceful show to watch and I look for those on busy weeks. Oh! We also finished up the newest season of All Creatures Great and Small! I was sobbing!

For our movie night this week we watched the remaining movie in the Irish Folktale Trilogy I mentioned last week. It is actually the first in the series but the last we watched. It was ok, but not our favorite. It was also super dark and sad! The name of this one is The Secret of Kells. As we were watching, Billy remarked that Brother Aidan looked like Willie Nelson and then the rest of the movie I could not get that image out of my head!

As for listening, I didn’t really listen to anything new last week, just my normal line up of true crime podcasts – Morbid, Redhanded, Casefile, Going West.

And that is it from around here! I hope all is well in your corner of the world!

Homeschool Journey: New Hampshire and Robert Frost

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized13 Comments

We are slowly making our way through the New England states in our homeschool studies and it has been a fun little “trip”. We vacationed out east one summer when I was a kid and I have never forgotten that trip. I loved it so much and would love to take Wyatt out east as well! However for now we will just learn about the states that make up New England.

Last week we were studying New Hampshire! I have to admit I didn’t know too much about New Hampshire myself. Two of my favorite books are set there (A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Hotel New Hampshire) and that is about the extent of my familiarity. So Wyatt and I both learned some neat facts last week together!

One of Wyatt’s favorite things that we learned was that New Hampshire is home to the oldest floating post office. This kid is obsessed with the postal system and thought this was so cool. This “floating post office” was started in Lake Winnipesaukee in 1892 and the Sophie C. delivers mail to the islands in that area. It also delivers ice cream! How awesome is that! It did look really cool and if we ever get to New Hampshire we will definitely take a ride on it. Wyatt was fascinated!

Interestingly, when I googled oldest floating post office, I found that there is one right near us, in Detroit! They like to call themselves the only floating post office, which is confusing, but this postal boat has its own zip code. The J.W. Wescott delivers mail to passing freighters which is really neat, and also delivers the occasional pizza. These floating post offices seem to be multi-purpose! The J.W. Wescott was founded back in 1874 (so before the post office in New Hampshire). The Sophie C. and the J.W. Wescott deliver to different types of people, to people just living on the islands, and then the crews stationed on freighters so maybe that is why they both hold the title.

We are going to try to amble downtown this weekend to see if we can find this floating post office!

As part of our Poets and Painting theme we are doing this spring, Wyatt listened to a lot of Robert Frost poems, learned a little about the poet, and then painted a poem inspired by one of Frost’s most famous poems, “The Road Not Taken”. I was not surprised Wyatt chose to paint a yellow wood – yellow is one of his favorite colors!

What We Used:

This section contains Amazon Affiliate links. In addition to the curriculum I am creating for him, we also use curriculum from The Good and the Beautiful, The Waldock Way, and Blossom and Root for phonics, reading, science, and social studies.

New Hampshire || A Stone Sat Still || G is for Granite || Papa is a Poet || The Road Not Taken (this book was lovely by the way!)

Stay tuned for what we have been doing this week!