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!

Homeschool Journey: Happy Little Trees…

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling4 Comments

“There are no mistakes, only happy accidents..”

Gosh, we love Bob Ross in this house. Such a happy, gentle, uplifting soul he was. I needed some Bob Ross vibes last week and I was so happy I had planned for him to be our artist of the week all the way back when I was planning in the late fall. This time of year can get so blah you know?

We focused on Bob Ross quite a bit. We read about his life, we read as many picture books as I could find at the library about him, we watched him every night before Wyatt went to bed, and then had a family paint day. Wyatt now is a big fan of Bob Ross, which tickles me.

I did not know about Ross’ life other than watching him on Joy of Painting. I had no idea he was in the military, that he had been stationed in Alaska, that he taught in person classes that at first no one attended. When he got his television show, he was happy with just a simple little set, he didn’t need anything elaborate. He raised baby squirrels, and saved injured animals. I just adore him. He brought some lightness into our week last week, and into this week as Wyatt continues to watch him.

Our family Bob Ross inspired painting day was a lot of fun. There was no way I was using oil based paints with a 7 year old however, and knew I wanted to use the watercolors that come in the tube, to get that whole feel. I actually hit up our dollar store and was able to get everything I wanted! We usually have all of our materials on hand, but I didn’t have what I wanted for this particular project. I needed canvas boards, and instead of big paint brushes, which I thought would be hard for Wyatt to use, I opted for sponge brushes. We set up at the table, put on the Bob Ross episode “Mystic Mountains”, and got to painting!

The plan was for Billy to demonstrate in person along with Bob, and he also controlled the pause and playing of the video, in case Wyatt and I needed to catch up. I wanted Wyatt to use (sort of ) the techniques that Bob was using (although not the wet on wet since we were not using oil paints) but the brush movements, so instead of setting him free with paints and the canvas and going alone, we did a lot of hand over hand. There were parts of the painting I let him just paint freely, but other parts I helped him out, and I ended up doing the mountains because the knife work was hard for him with his current motor skills. So his painting is actually our combined painting.

Wyatt painted the water and sky freely, then I helped with the trees, clouds, and mountains, hand over hand for the trees and clouds. He also did the tree/island in the water. He was so happy!! He loves painting and asks to paint constantly. And usually, I let him.

Wyatt also learned about Idaho last week. His favorite facts were all potato based, that they grow a ton of potatoes, that there is a potato museum, and that frozen french fries were introduced to the world by J.R. Simplot in Idaho in 1953. We of course had to have frozen french fries with grilled cheese sandwiches that night.

We had a fantastic week last week!

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.

Books:

P is for Potato: An Idaho Alphabet

Bob Ross and Peapod the Squirrel

This is Your World: The Story of Bob Ross

Videos:

And thanks to a friend, the Bob Ross episode of Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum on PBS.

In parting, I want to leave you all with a few Bob Rossisms.

“You can do anything you want. This is your world.”

“Talent is a pursued interest. Anything you’re willing to practice, you can do.”

“It’s hard to see things when you are too close. Take a step back and look.”

“There’s nothing wrong with having a tree as a friend.”

“Go out on limb. That’s where the fruit is.”

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP15 Comments

Happy day everybody! I am so grateful for coffee this morning. Yesterday was ROUGH – physically for Wyatt, emotionally for me. I fell into bed and just passed out last night, as did my kiddo.

Wyatt started the morning early, with physical therapy. Then we came home, he ate breakfast, we read a little, then he took a quick disco nap before we moved on to his next appointment – the dentist. My poor boyo had a cavity! The dentist gave us a few options, and we went with pulling the tooth since it is a baby tooth and would be a faster process for Wyatt to go through. Because Wyatt has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, there were a few extra hoops we had to jump through first. We needed medical clearance from one of Wyatt’s doctors and I spent last week nailing that down. Then after we had that we were able to schedule the extraction. The OG date they gave us was all the way in March but they had obviously underestimated my persistence in getting his form finished and the procedure done and over with.The dentist, who we absolutely love, the office staff and dental assistants and dentist, all are amazing, especially with kids with different needs. They had initially proposed strapping him to a board for the procedure which gave me a lot of anxiety. I knew he would hate that more than having his tooth actually pulled. In the end though they just had a bunch of staff members on hand for the shots in case it was needed (it wasn’t) then for the extraction the dentist did his job while the dental assistant and I held Wyatt still. He was excellent, although he did start shrieking and crying for about five minutes. We got to the car and I about collapsed from the emotion of it all. I hate watching him go through things like that. I think all parents do! He was still a bit sniffly, and since he refused to keep the gauze in his mouth, a little oozy too. I let him play with my phone all the way home (a treat he never ever gets to do) and that kept him busy and happier. (Thanks to my friend Kelly for that suggestion!) We had many friends and family sending us prayers and good vibes and I was appreciative of them all!

The staff were all charmed by little charmer. He was so happy and silly before the procedure, because that is Wyatt.

When we came home I discovered the front door to our house wide open. Not cracked, not ajar, wide open. I realized that in my anxiety I probably just never shut it when we left. Yay me. I need to carry Wyatt from the house to the car, and he is an armful these days! I more than likely carried him out, and then we just left, being in hyper-focused mode. But I didn’t want to just take him in after the house was open all that time! I listen to true crime ! So I locked Wyatt in my car, grabbed the gardening scissors off the porch, and entered the house, ready for anything! Miso had been sleeping on the couch and she woke up and stretched, so my first concern was immediately alleviated. Miso was ok. Phew. So then I searched the whole house and closets, including the basement, and when I felt it was all clear, went and got kiddo. Thank goodness for small houses! I didn’t have much to search and there are not many places to hide! We could go in and relax and have ice cream and nap and not worry about Michael Myers surprising us.

So yesterday was an adventure! We had a much better adventure last week. After occupational therapy last Thursday I decided the rainy gray day needed something special. So we went on a surprise, spur of the moment field trip to the Henry Ford Museum. I have a membership and it is so close to where we go for therapy so I was like, why not go for a bit?

I wanted to climb inside that cozy little geodisic dome and read. It was just so comfy looking! I refrained somehow though. We saw the chair Lincoln was in when he was shot, and George Washington’s special camp bed. Then Wyatt always loves the airplanes so we spent most of our time there. We had a really good time and I was glad that we changed up the day.

And we finally got some snow! Charles my squirrel friend was sort of amazed! I think it was his first snow.

I did not have time to do my homeschool recap yesterday so look for it tomorrow. I am excited to show you what we did – especially our artist of the week. Can you guess who it was?

How are you all doing this morning? What is in your cup? Has your week started off well?

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! It’s snowing here today and I am so excited. We have had virtually no snow this year which is not great for the lakes; I am also concerned about the apples this year, as apple trees need a certain amount of time in cold temperatures in order to produce fruit. And, I just like snow. Snow is prettier than ugly mud and dead plants. If you get enough, you can play in it. So, I am happy it is snowing this morning.

I had a bit of a week – nothing bad just a lot of phone calls and paperwork for Wyatt’s upcoming flurry of specialist appointments. I also spent quite a bit of time prepping for the next few weeks of school, and switching up what we are doing for language arts and science this month, which took a little extra work as well. I decided to shake things up a little this month!

However, this didn’t leave me much time to read, and when I tried to read before bed I managed about five minutes before crashing out. I feel like I have set us up in a good spot for a while though now, so this week should be a better one in terms of some down time.

Reading:

I am still reading Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, which I am enjoying very much! I just didn’t have enough time to read last week which was no fun! I am also starting Shores of Mercy this week, by Lisa R. Howeler or as some of you may know her, Lisa from Boondock Ramblings. This is the fourth installment in the Spencer Valley Chronicles, and I am really looking forward to revisiting this world. Lisa has a gift for writing characters who are like people you would meet in your neighborhood, just so real and relatable.

Posted Last Week:

Book Review: Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Homeschool Journey: Grunge, Gaudi, and Gray Wolves

Watching:

Billy and I finished up Grantchester and then binged out on Willow. I loved the movie when I was a kid, and I loved the tv show just as much! It was just so fun! Yes, it was campy, but that is all part of its charm. I also kept cracking up at the Elora Danan character. She just reminded me so much of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in her teenage, slightly dingbatty, snarky way. It was just a really lighthearted watch for us. After watching all of Willow, we moved on to Shetland. We are behind on it and we are catching up. Gol-ly, that place is gorgeous! We are missing some of our favorites characters this time around though, which is a bummer. Tonight we are watching one of my all time favorite movies, Amelie. It’s homemade pizza, popcorn, and movie night!

And that is it from my corner of the Mitten State! What is going on in your world?

Book Review: Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized7 Comments

Publisher Summary:

Stevie Bell solved the case of Truly Devious, and now she’s taking her detecting skills abroad when she becomes embroiled in a mystery from 1990s England. Another pulse-pounding and laugh-out-loud stand-alone mystery from New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson.

Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn’t going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain—questions about college, love, and life in general.

Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax.

The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone’s lying about what happened in the woodshed.

Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game.

My Thoughts:

So. This book. I absolutely loved all the books that came before this one, and I was super excited to see that this installment takes place in England, with the central murder mystery taking place at a manor house. I love settings like this, and I was looking forward to what Johnson did with this idea and how Stevie and the gang would handle it.

This book had a lot of characters. There are of course Stevie and her gang, plus David’s new friend in England, Izzy, then all of the characters from the central mystery, The Nine. Because there are nine of them. Or were. (cue ominous music)

Let’s start with The Nine. The book does so we will too. The Nine are a group of very close friends in the 90s, who live and work and go to school together. They share everything, swap romantic partners within the group all the time, and basically just live in each others pockets. However, they are on the precipice of leaving their snug hive, have packed up their shared home, and are about to start their own individual independent lives. So they plan to have one last hurrah, at the manor house of one of their group. They arrive, get drunk, and play a game of hide and seek in a rainstorm in the wee hours of the night. And in the morning, two of them are dead. Who did it?

I really enjoyed this whole mystery, the idea of it, being so Christie-esque. Now enter the Ellingham group. David, Stevie’s boyfriend, is living and going to school in London, while the rest of them are focused on finishing their last year back in Vermont. Filling out applications, taking tests, preparing for their futures. All except Stevie, who seems to be floundering and a bit lost. David calls with an invitation for the group to meet him in London, like a study overseas program, and with a little bit of finagling, they get the school to agree to them going, with the caveat that they must be learning and that the trip is purposeful and not just for vacation.

Now our gang in in London for the rest of the book, Stevie is introduced to this murder mystery by David’s friend Izzy, and for Stevie, the game is afoot. However, her friends aren’t quite as keen this time around. They need to stick to their plans, they want to accomplish what they are there for, and while they want to help solve this mystery, they also need to think about their own futures as well.

Stevie really bothers me in this book. She just was so selfish and not very self-aware, while also being really wrapped up in her personal issues. There was way too much of that sort of drama in this book compared to the others, and I had to remind myself that this is a YA book and not intended for adults. So maybe it is just that I am not the intended audience here, and did not care to revisit that part of youth. However, I could see it being a realistic portrayal of that time of life – a bit lost, a bit scared, confused, full of dreams but uncertainty too. So I am giving Stevie a break, I wasn’t too much better at 17 either.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, with its nod to the locked room mystery.

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn day in the life8 Comments

This morning I am drinking my coffee sitting on my sofa, the skies are just beginning to lighten out the window behind me, cartoons are on the television, but I am wishing for summer mornings by the lake. I took the above picture when we were on vacation last summer up north and I am ready to go back. It was an awesome family trip, with my brother and his family and my mom, and my SIL’s mom too.

But alas, I am here. And that is ok too. My coffee is hot and delicious (Newman’s Own Sunrise Blend today) and my husband made it for me, so bonus, coffee I didn’t have to make!

I did book a small trip! Between now and the beginning of March, Wyatt has like 7 different appointments with various specialists. No fun really for any of us but just a fact of our lives. But I felt like we were going to need a break, so I booked an Airbnb and arranged for a trip with Wyatt’s interests in mind. His birthday is the first of week of March and we usually go to some sort of nature center to celebrate. Well this year we went a little bigger than the average nature center – we are going to Wolf Park in Indiana! Wyatt loves wolves so I felt like for birthday #8, we could go see a few. I also reserved a private tour just for the three of us, a golf cart to drive around in if the weather is terrible, and a spot for us at the evening howl as well. I know Wyatt will really love that part. The little town we will be staying in looks super cute too! It will give us all something to look forward to through these gray months.

So I mentioned on my blog the other day that we had a Fast Food French Fry Showdown on Saturday night at my brother’s. Billy and my niece have a french fry rivalry going, so we were determined to get to the bottom of it, and see who has the best fries around. We got fries from 6 different places – McDonald’s, Arby’s Rally’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and White Castle. My brother picked up fries from three places, we picked up fries for the other three, then met over his house for the tasting. It was an absurd amount of fries. We got two larges from each place, and then divvied them up one restaurant at a time to everyone. Some of them were cold by the time we got to them, which didn’t help when evaluating, as they were kind of soggy, which was gross. We obviously need to work on our technique for this type of thing in the future – like maybe keep the fries or food we are not ready to eat yet in the oven on low to keep warm until it is time to eat? Anyway, that is next time.

So the votes and the verdict! I won’t give the entire breakdown, but the ultimate loser was White Castle, with Arby’s a close second for last. The White Castle fries were entirely tasteless. The Arby’s curly fries were also very disappointing – they had a very oniony taste which was very off-putting. The clear winner was McDonald’s, with all but one person (Billy) voting for them. Even I voted McDonald’s first in this challenge, when I do love Burger King better. But in this particular challenge, the McDonald’s fries were still warm and tasted better. We had a lot fun with this and are going to do this again. I think next time we are going to compare cheese bread!

Billy had also been working on a surprise for Mermaid Girl and he finally finished. He gifted it to her Saturday night and she LOVED it.

He made her her very own Explorer bag! He hand cut, hand sewed every feature, created all the bits for test tubes and tweezers and containers, planned it all out, and even purchased a little whimsical unicorn charm to decorate it because that is who Mermaid Girl is. When we asked her what she was going to collect she said “fairies”. Her plan was to catch some and bring them home to play with though, not hurt them. He is busy planning out Wyatt’s bag, and after a lot of thought, he has opted for a nature bag that is also part art bag, because that is Wyatt. Billy does such good job and is so talented.

Here is happy girl with her bag.

And it is time for a refill friends. This cup is empty!

What has been going on with you all lately?

Homeschool Journey: Grunge, Gaudi, and Gray Wolves

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling7 Comments

This post is a mash up of the past two weeks of school, since we were easing back in after the holidays and things were a little off kilter as well. It took a minute to get back into the swing of things. We spent most of our time on the basics and I don’t usually blog too much about that aspect of school because, well, it’s just doing math and reading.

Our first week back we covered Washington State and the architect Antoni Gaudi, which was a nice way to welcome January. I of course treated myself to some Starbucks in honor of the first Starbucks in Washington, a matcha latte, my favorite. Since I started with Washington, let’s stay there for a minute.

I sort of felt like I was revisiting my youth teaching Wyatt about this state. Coffee, grunge, Kurt Cobain. Ah, the 90s. Wyatt loved all of the railroad facts we talked about and learned, about the Pacific Railway, and how the trip from Chicago to Tacoma shrunk from 6 months by covered wagon to 4 days by train. What could that have seemed like back then? Magic maybe. Wyatt has been obsessed with railroads and trains ever since we covered John Henry at the beginning of the year, so all things railroad for this kid right now.

We of course talked about the arrival of grunge music on the scene. How could we not? We played a LOT of Nirvana around here that week, and Wyatt seemed to enjoy it. I was never a Pearl Jam or Soundgarden fan, I was more of a Nirvana and Alice in Chains kid, so we listened to them. Billy however was a huge Pearl Jam fan in the day. We used to stomp around in our Doc Martens, flannel shirts, and go to coffee houses (remember when those had a heyday in the 90s?). Wyatt got into the look a little that week..

For art that first week, we learned about Antoni Gaudi, who I didn’t know much about when we started but then I ended up being super interested in myself. Gaudi was an architect known for incorporating nature and whimsy into his buildings, and now, seeing Casa Batlló and all the rest in Barcelona is a huge bucket list item for me. That area of his work has become a UNESCO World Heritage Center, and the buildings are literally works of art.

So for our project I thought it would be fun to build something out of cookies, a structure following the imagination of Wyatt. Billy and Wyatt drew up “blueprints” together, I made the cookie, then construction was a family event. It turned out a little differently, like its lack of actual walls, but we had fun!

Next up, we moved on to Oregon and Bev Doolittle. And more trees in science. Oregon seems pretty cool! Wyatt always enjoys the flag part of social studies (I’d heard these people existed that like flags – I found one!), and Oregon has a flag that has two different sides. One side is the state seal, and the other is a beaver. Wyatt thought this was fantastic. Whatever floats your boat kid. 🙂 He also thought it was neat there is a college there that has cows on campus. I really wanted to take a side trip and explore the Oregon Trail with him for a in depth rabbit trail, but I decided to hold off until next year when we start American history. We talked about it a little bit though of course.

Bev Doolittle is one of Billy’s favorite artists, so I left him to the art lesson planning this week. Wyatt and I talked about some of the features found in her work, the use of camouflage and how things are hidden and you need to look more closely. How animals can be animals but also part of the landscape. I do really enjoy her work myself! Billy and Wyatt spent Sunday afternoon working on their interpretation and I think it came out really neat! Their version was of a wolf blending into rock, and it looks pretty cool.

And finally in science we talked about tree rings and what they can tell us, and about tree bark! It might be obvious which project Wyatt liked better…I had to do most of the actual work for his tree ring. He listened though so I will be happy with that. The tree bark painting – he painted over different types of bark to explore the varying textures.

And now for the resource roundup!

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.

Gaudi: Architect of Imagination || Reading the Wild || Building on Nature || Carmen and the House that Gaudi Built || B is for Beaver || E is for Evergreen

Video Links:

Antoni Gaudi’s Barcelona – Four Unearthly Buildings

Casa Batllo

Ranger Zak – What is tree bark

SciShowKids – Life of a Tree

SciShow Kids – The World’s Tallest Tree

This week should be a fun one! I am super excited about our artist of the week!

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

2023 is just motoring along over here. It was one of those weeks where it is just full of everyday stuff – getting groceries, homeschooling, making meals, cleaning – you know those weeks. Just pretty ordinary which isn’t bad. We DID have a Fast Food French Fry Showdown at my brother’s last night. My niece and Billy have had a running “argument” over who has the best fries. Mermaid Girl is a die hard McDonald’s fan, while Billy insists the winner is Rally’s. So, we got fries to share from six different fast food restaurants – Rally’s, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Arby’s, White Castle, and Burger King (usually my favorite). The results were varied and interesting.

Read Last Week:

I was so excited to read this! I really enjoyed it but Stevie sort of annoyed me this time around. I did like the English Manor house mystery and murder storyline though! Review coming soon.

Reading This Week:

I just recently saw this one someone’s blog (and I apologize, I can’t remember whose!) and I knew I needed to read it ASAP. I can’t resist a book about faeries, and this even involves academia, also a favorite theme of mine. This cover is also absolutely gorgeous!

Posted Last Week:

MIgardener Seed Haul

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Book Review: Outfoxed by Melinda Metz

10 on the 10th – January

Watching and Listening:

We binged out on Wednesday this week, and I absolutely loved it. I have always loved The Addams Family and this version was fantastic, and had that special Burton style to it as well.

After finishing Wednesday, we watched Ghosts, Grantchester, and started Willow, the television series.

We are hoping to watch a movie tonight – White Noise. We had intended to watch it last night but went to my brother’s for the French Fry Showdown instead.

And phew, super short post this week! What is going on in your world?

MIgardener Seed Haul

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn garden13 Comments

January means garden planning. I used to spend time poring over catalogs, those glossy thick ones that come in the mail from places like Baker Creek and Johnnys, as well as the other ones like Burpee and Gurneys. I used to get together with my Uncle on a Saturday morning, and my aunt would make us tea and there would be cookies and bagels, and my uncle and I would plan our gardens together. Who would get what seeds, what we would split, and he always had tidbits of advice and suggestions for me. Gardening was the thing I learned from him. It was our bond. When he passed away from Covid in November of 2020, I was devastated. I still miss him something fierce, everyday. And since then, I have tried to recreate those moments of ordering seeds with Billy, trying to achieve the same thing, and it just didn’t work. It didn’t feel right and made me sad, despite Billy’s best efforts. So this year, I went with something new. It is time to start a new tradition, one where I am the “expert” and Billy and Wyatt my partners.

Billy has been a big fan of MIGardener’s YouTube channel for years. I only recently started watching the channel, but Luke has tons of great videos, and even better, his information is Michigancentric. I had no idea though that he had a store so close to us, only an hour away! This was it, this was the new thing we could do, the new tradition we could start – shopping directly at his store!

We rolled up after a fairly easy drive (and after Billy exclaimed that the guy walking on the side of the road with his dog was the MIgardener although we don’t really know) and found ourselves in front of a large but fairly unassuming building on a very gray blah day. I also want to note that it is wheelchair accessible, with a ramp off to the side.

Inside though was warm and bright and felt like spring and hope and sunshine, with a giant wall of seeds, a small area of fun little extras, and a wall of just tomato seeds. And plants! Wyatt was very excited which made me smile. We may have gone a bit nuts, and made a mistake that MIgardener talks about in his videos – overbuying. Next year we will be better, I promise. This year though, we had a little bit of fun. We all picked seeds, including Wyatt.

So, want to see what we picked?

Four different kinds of tomatoes. Cucumbers, cucamelons, and those pretty spring peas. And black carrots, a Wyatt choice, and then I added watermelon radish.

Moon and Stars Watermelon (me), Tigger Melons (Wyatt), and then some orange watermelon (Billy). Luffa gourds because another customer in the store talked me into it, and jack-o-lantern pumpkins.

Then Billy’s array of lettuces for salad.

And then Billy and Wyatt left me some surprises at the register, that they chose for me. A few stickers, a lip balm, and a small little strawberry recipe book.

Now that we have all of this, we need to redo our garden plan! It is something that will keep us busy and thinking of spring during these longest and grayest of winter Michigan months, dreaming of toasted tomato cheese sandwiches, evening bowls of watermelon, those early spring radish that give you that bit of excitement of something green and growing.

This year I hope to can again, something I haven’t done at all since my uncle passed. We always did that together too. So I will change it up, maybe can sauce instead of diced tomatoes, etc. Change it up, but keep the spirit of it all. Start these types of traditions with Wyatt.

All in all, it was a good day. One I wish I could have shared with my uncle, but he would be pleased that I am passing on his love for growing food.

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Good morning! Or afternoon or evening or whenever you happen to be reading this. This morning I am back to my standard favorite brew, Seattle’s Best, Post Alley Blend.

I am drinking my coffee today with one eye open for my new little friend, Charles, who is the cutest little Gray squirrel – although he is in his black phase right now he doesn’t look gray/brown. I started feeding him and now he comes in the morning (most days) and waits for me to notice him and feed him his breakfast. Yesterday he didn’t show up and I was a little worried! At about 4pm though, I saw him peering in my window, trying to flag me down, demanding his sandwich. I either put out nuts or I will make him a little peanut butter sandwich cut into squares. I am crazy I know. Isn’t he so cute though?

Last Friday night we had our first Full Moon party of the year, and we had a blast! We are using the Kids Moon Club again this year and Wyatt and his cousin Mermaid Girl seem to be very much enjoying it. Billy and I actually had a fantastic time too! My brother dropped my niece off for the party and the playing and fun did not stop for hours!

First thing, I handed out their wolf ears, because that was important. Then, dinner. Dinner for these hungry wolf children was “Magic Moon Mac and Cheese” (just a party size Stouffers) which they devoured, and “Howling at the Moon Milk”. And of course, cupcakes! I love those wolf cupcake toppers! Mermaid Girl did too, she took one of each (clean) home with her. After eating, we read the full moon story, pretended to be wolves, painted, and played board games. It was a wild time and Wyatt slept good that night. And so did Billy and I!

We spent the rest of the weekend doing not as fun things – putting the house back to normal. We took down all the Christmas stuff, including the tree, and then it was time to tackle my office. It sort of became a catch all during the holidays and it was baaaad news in there.

That was taken while I was in the process of making piles and organizing. Miso was being a big helper as you can see. It is almost 100% back to its original state. Finally. And actually, I did some deeper organizing and improved how I had things. So it is not back to normal I guess, it is better!

And I am so excited I got my new candle!! I have wanted a candle from Mythologie for ages! They are so pretty and I love that they have stories to accompany them. It is just fun to browse through the website reading about all the candles. There are so many collections, like a Lord of the Rings collection, Braveheart, and an Ancient Winter collection to name a few. And there is a fun quiz to see which candle scent you should get if you are unsure. I am a quiz fan, so I took it, and actually bought the candle it suggested. I burned it for the first time the other night and I loved it. It didn’t give me or my husband a headache, which happens sometimes with candles. They are hand poured, clean burning, and I bought the wooden wick version so it makes a lovely crackling sound as it burns. I like an ambiance, guys.

It was a quiet, cozy little week around here!

Book Review: Outfoxed by Melinda Metz

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review4 Comments

Publishers Summary:

Visit the charming community of Fox Crossing, Maine in this witty, feel-good story about small town life, the power of belief, the importance of community, and one very special fox whose appearance heralds second chances, luck – or best of all, love. Animal lovers, fans of Hallmark happy endings, and those who enjoy smart, uplifting, heartwarming stories with a twist will be delighted by the latest tale from internationally bestselling author Melinda Metz.

The town of Fox Crossing, Maine, has something special—a legendary fox with a knack for bringing fortune, love, and happiness to anyone lucky enough to see it…
 
THESE TOWNSFOLK MAY THINK THEY’RE PRETTY SMART
 
Victoria Michaud has lived in Fox Crossing her entire life without encountering the fabled fox. And then, on the day of her thirtieth birthday, she spots a beautiful, golden-eyed vixen . . . right before she also recognizes Bowen Gower, the guy who made her high school years hell. So much for good luck. Victoria already has enough to deal with, between running her Junk & Disorderly antique store and refereeing her divorced, still-bickering parents.
 
BUT IT TAKES A SLY FOX TO SHOW THEM THE WAY
 
There are a lot of things Bowen doesn’t remember about growing up in this town on the Appalachian trail, and some he’s chosen to forget. Back to settle his grandfather’s estate, Bowen soon realizes it won’t be easy to make amends to those he wronged. But he’s eager to convince Victoria to give him another chance.
 It’ll take some doing—and perhaps more luck than one fox sighting can provide. Then again, sometimes one look is all you need . . .

My Thoughts:

To me, these are January books. I have read the first two books in January, and I loved them both. Then I tried to read this one, the third one in the series, before it’s NetGalley archive date in October. And I did, I read it, but I didn’t really give it a fair shake because I wasn’t in the mood for it at that time. So, this month I thought I would revisit this story at a time that felt better. I am such a mood reader! And I am so glad I did this because this time around I loved it!

This story deals with two sets of of siblings, Bowen and Tegan, and Victoria and Henry. Bowen and Tegan grew up in the town of Fox Crossing, as the grandchildren of the mayor but only recently returned upon his death. Victoria runs an eclectic antique store, while Henry has also been living out of town. He comes back to help his sister celebrate her birthday, and with all the central players now in town, the rest of the story can begin.

Romance is in the air in this little town, yet there is just so much baggage they all seem to be carrying around that needs to be dealt with before any of them can fully trust. And to me, in my opinion, that is what this book is really about. Letting go of the past, fresh new starts, second chances. Self-awareness, self-love. Bullying. The undercurrents of this book simply swirl with trauma and emotions that have not been addressed and it all seems to be coming home to roost (I feel like there is a pun in here).

The characters in this one are particularly interesting, with their flaws and eccentricities. I especially like Victoria and her crazy fashions – she just sounds like so much fun! And Tegan and her found art sculptures and statues, Henry..well he is sort of just typical I guess. Bowen is eccentric in that all work and no play way, but he is able to read people very well, so despite seeming like he shouldn’t be a people person, he kind of is.

And of course, there is the fox.

Overall this was a wonderful return to Fox Crossing, Maine, and I am so glad that I gave this book a second chance. Thank you to NetGalley for the original ebook in exchange for an honest review, although I did end up purchasing this book on Amazon this month.