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!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last week was so cold..again! This weekend we have even had snow. I am so over it – I am ready for springtime! We didn’t get out as much as we wanted to, and we are all feeling restless. Wyatt and I did have a fun week revisiting snails in our Exploring Nature With Children snail week studies. Snails are always a favorite around here. I am behind on posting but I hope to get a homeschool post up this week! We did get out for a little bit yesterday – we took a little ride around Detroit, including Belle Isle. I took a stroll around the waiting garden, which is just starting to wake up. I can’t wait to see it in a few weeks, in its springtime glory!

Read Last Week:

This book was a crazy ride y’all. I liked it but it also sort of hurt my brain.

Reading This Week:

I didn’t intend to read two witchy witch books back to back, but here we are. I kind of love this cover. I loved the Nature of Witches so I am looking forward to this one.

Posted Last Week:

What Wyatt’s Reading – March Edition

Tigers and Lizards and Wolves, Oh My!

Watching:

We have been pretty dedicated Murdoch Mysteries watchers again this week. Billy had some late night with work and it is an easy show to wind down with.

Last night for our movie night we watched Nausicaa, another Studio Ghibli. This one is Billy’s favorite and he warned me ahead of time that this one was different from the others that we have watched, more serious than cute and whimsical. I am glad I knew that going in because it was darker. Billy loves a dystopian story and Nausicaa takes place in a world that has turned toxic due to over pollution, where toxic spores infect the air, and kill you if you breathe them in. Nausicaa lives in the Valley of the Wind, where a constant breeze keeps the spores at bay. There are enormous insects that seem to want to just attack humans, humans that attack humans, and there is Nausicaa, who is about peace and love to all creatures. She has a connection to the world that others don’t; she communicates with the insects, she is kindly and good in a world that is pretty darn ugly. Overall it was a fantastic message but definitely did not embody the cozy cuteness of the other Studio Ghibli movies we have watched. (also I 100% thought she was not wearing pants but they are just flesh toned apparently) The music will also totally transport you directly back to the 80s – along with the use of quicksand…

And that is it from my cold corner of the Mitten state! What has been going on in your world?

What Wyatt’s Reading – March Edition

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review10 Comments

It was another fun month of reading here! I am trying to remember to post our favorites at the end of the month – I like being able to look back and see what we read together!

(This post contains Amazon Affiliate links)

We read a fun mix of books this month!

What Can You Do with a Rock and The Big Book of Bugs are both amazing nature reads. The Big Book of Bugs contains engaging, colorful illustrations alongside informational text about, well, bugs. Praying mantis, crickets, grasshoppers, and a favorite around here, snails!

What Can You Do with a Rock was equally charming and so full of imagination! A rock is not as boring as you may think, and you might look at them a bit differently after reading this book. We loved both of these so much that I am definitely buying them for our home library. (all of the books listed here were checked out from our local library)

I also LOVED Dancing with Daddy, and so did Wyatt! It was so refreshing to read a book with a disabled main character that was not just explaining the disability to the reader or about someone “overcoming” their disability. Wyatt loved seeing a character in a wheelchair just living life and having fun, as did I.

Looking for a Jumbie is a fantastic read as well! It has a Going on a Bear Hunt vibe, but with the magic of supernatural creatures and the darkness and the moon.. everything about it was super fun. I think we might go “looking for a Jumbie” one night this summer, despite not living in the Carribean. I mean, you never know right?

Wyatt automatically picks up every book that has a moon on it. Nigel and the Moon was so much more though….it is about a little boy who tells his dreams to the moon because he is too shy to share them with others. Throughout the story he gains confidence in himself and where he comes from as well. I loved this one a bit more than Wyatt.

Crowbar was a great story, but phew, it is long! It is based on a true story which made Wyatt and I wish we had a crow too, that we could go on picnics with. However, the book ends with an explanation on how to be respectful of nature and that the main character was able to have a crow because his mom had a wildlife rehab license. I thought it was a really good way to end the book, since I am sure most people read it and would like a crow too!

If You Were Night was a simple story, taking us on a ride through the night, posing questions that we had fun answering together. Wyatt liked the raccoons and thought sifting through garbage sounded fun. I did not agree. Lol. I was more about swimming with the otters at night – that was much more my speed. The illustrations were also very cool too, little paper dioramas that made me start thinking about a future art project…

Finally, It Fell From the Sky and Snail Brings the Mail. It Fell From the Sky was actually a request of my husband’s! He saw it somewhere and it caught his eye. I am so glad that it did because it was beautiful and reminded me a little of James and the Giant Peach. It is really a story about art and community and it was really a good book.

And..Snail Brings the Mail. How did I not guess that this would be a favorite of Wyatt’s – mail and snails? Does the world get much better than that?

Have you read any of these? Any new picture book favorites out there?

Tigers and Lizards and Wolves, Oh My!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

Sunday was a gorgeous day! The first day of spring, our first outing in months, and world frog day! Our zoo was having some kid friendly activities surrounding frog day so of course we went. We got there early though, and had the zoo to ourselves for the most part. We had about an hour to explore before the frog day activities were to begin, so we headed immediately to the otters. Which isn’t too hard since they are among the first of the animals you encounter when walking through the Detroit Zoo. They are one of my favorites, with their little land gallop and ease in the water. And seriously they are just super cute too.

After squealing in glee (me) over their antics, we headed into the reptile house, where we were all super excited over the animals we saw in there. Usually it is jam packed and you can’t get close to the exhibits to really see anything, but we were the only ones in there for a while which was nice. We really were able to take our time.

That Green Ball Python is stunning! His color is gorgeous. And doesn’t he look just a little bit goofy?

We tried to see the tigers but there was only one out and she was off sunning herself in a distant corner. Billy and Wyatt still had fun though.

We had time for one more animal exhibit before we needed to head to Amphibiville. Wyatt chose the wolves – no surprise there! They have a really large enclosure and a lot of the time they are not visible but today they were fairly close. They are so big!! They were also catching some morning sun and it was hard to take a picture with my phone but I tried.

And then it was time! I’m going to be a little critical here and I apologize because I think what they did was an honest effort – but the activities were a bit lackluster and not well designed for families passing through. Two of them were math based and there would be one kid at a time able to participate, while no one else could approach the tables. And the poor kid had to do math under pressure! The best was the volunteer playing the different sounds that frogs make. I think I was hoping for more frog-centric science/nature activities. They tried but it needed a little honing. Maybe next year. We ended up skipping the activities to just look at the different frogs.

It was really cool, although it was funny since we have two very different frogs at our house (a Tiger Leg Monkey Tree Frog and a Pac-Man) and my friends also have interesting amphibians – bullfrogs, toads, axolotl. Apparently we could open our own reptile and amphibian houses! Lol.

And then it was time to go home! I am sure we will be back there soon though!

My Sunday-Monday Post (But Posted on Monday..)

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized24 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

Hey all! Happy Spring!! We spent the first day of spring outside as much as possible yesterday, and it was so good for our spirits! We went to the zoo, worked outside in the yard doing some after winter cleanup, then had a simple dinner with my mom. It was a wonderful day and we were all tuckered out by 9 pm.

The first snowdrops of the season.

Read Last Week:

I have read four out of six of the Trespass Collection. These are so good! I plan to finish the last two this week and post reviews. They are a collection of short stories, all around forty pages each. They are wild!

Reading This Week:

I grabbed this from the library the other day and read a few pages on Saturday. I am already sucked in after the twenty pages or so that I read.

Posted Last Week:

Just Taking My Time..

Watching/Listening:

So, we are still watching Murdoch Mysteries. I can’t say that it is in the same league as other mystery type shows we have watched, but the episodes are easy to watch at the end of long days. They are…I can’t explain it really, but they entertain us and are amusing and Murdoch is not hard on the eyes either. (See Season 3 episode 1 for references..)

We didn’t have movie night Saturday. We played too hard this weekend and by evenings we were wiped. But the next movie planned is Nausicaa by Studio Ghibli, which is Billy’s favorite. He has watched most of these movies already while they are all new to me.

Our wake up songs last week! Soak up the Sun by Sheryl Crow, Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves, All the Single Ladies by Beyonce, Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake.. we needed lots of good vibes last week.

And that is it from here at our little refuge!

Just taking my time..

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

So the previous few weeks have been rough. Just a lot of unexpected things have happened, lots of worrying, it’s just been a lot. So this week I have been taking it a little slow. Slow mornings, homeschooling, setting things back to right, unrushed as much as I can. I mean, things have upset the proverbial apple cart this week, things that had me sitting in the middle of my hallway crying while my cat Maggie sat next to me with feline concern. But 24 hours later, things were already starting to turn around.

But these small blips were just that – blips. The weather has been nicer, and Wyatt and I have been able to get outside this week during the day, which has been so good, just to feel the warm sun on our faces again. I saw an early butterfly flying about yesterday, and I have heard the red-winged blackbirds singing in the reeds along the river, a sure sign of spring.

I haven’t read much, blogged much, even taken many photos. I’ve been soaking up the time with my family this week, processing. I needed some time away from extras this week, and it was just what I needed.

Last night I even got together with two of my friends for a ladies night wine night catch up. I sent out the bat signal and they responded. My friend Kelly’s husband is sick, he has an upper respiratory something or other (he’s had a few COVID tests and all have been negative) so we sat outside, in the early spring cold. We were all shivering, hiding our hands inside our sleeves, putting up our hoods, drinking our wine, sharing our stories. It seems like we have all been having a time of it, with really hard things happening, and we needed that time together. We started off commiserating and encouraging each other, and by the end of the evening despite being pretty darn cold we were laughing. It has been too long since we have hung out and been together in person and I needed my friends, and they apparently needed it too.

When I got home, I felt refreshed, finally. My guys were watching tv in bed together, and I joined them, getting under the covers to try to warm up. And today is St. Patrick’s Day! Later I am picking up a corned beef shepherds pie from a local restaurant, which comes with an apple salad, Irish Soda Bread, and Guinness Chocolate cake. It feeds four so we will share dinner tonight with my mom and I am looking forward to it. I don’t know what else Wyatt and I will do with our day, as I didn’t prepare much for the holiday as I was in a quiet place this week, but I will think of something fun.

And here is an oft-repeated Irish blessing for you today ~

“May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading26 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last week was crazy. My dad fell and broke the top of his femur, which started a whirlwind of events for him and my stepmom. He had to have some screws and pins put in but he is home and working on healing. Then Billy had to have an oral surgery Thursday, on a tooth that needed a bone graft. He is also starting to feel a bit better as well.

I did get to finally visit with my dad yesterday! It was so good to see him and my stepmom – and I even got to see my nephew and stepsister as a bonus. They live a good distance away but I am hoping to get back there again soon. My dad was doing great!

Read Last Week:

I loved both of these books/stories, both were so good even though they both left me a little sad. I hope to review them both this week – although The Tiger Came to the Mountains is a short story, so the review will be short too. I think it took me 15 minutes or so to read? I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the collection!

Reading This Week:

I plan on reading a few more short stories in the Trespass Collection this week; I may even read them all as they are so short!

Posted Last Week:

10 on the 10th! Spring

Wyatt’s Week Last Week

Watching:

We are still watching Murdoch Mysteries. I am going to be honest, it’s not a *great* show. It is sort of cheesy, in both story-line and just the way it looks, but it is easy and entertaining, and was perfect for our stressful week.

And that’s it from around here this week. Stay safe and well everyone!

10 on the 10th: Spring!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized17 Comments

I love participating in 10 on the 10th which is hosted by Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After and Marsha in the Middle! They are both such sweet ladies – and very stylish ladies, unlike me! I need to do some sprucing up of my wardrobe this spring! Well, we will get to that.

Ok, #1: My favorite thing about spring, and my favorite season.

I used to hate spring ~ now I love it. It’s not my favorite, that is fall, but I have become a lover of spring. I love the world waking up from it’s winter nap, the flowers, the colors returning to the world, the little animals and insects and birds singing in the morning. The return of the sun. Planting seeds and looking for tadpoles and salamanders.

Spring in my Step: Nature always puts a spring in my step. Planning new adventures. And my favorite pair of shoes – my low top Converse. I have worn low top black Converse since high school, and I wear them until they are literally falling apart. I just threw away the pair I had been wearing in anticipation of buying some new shoes that you know, don’t have holes, and I knew if I didn’t chuck my chucks I would probably slip into them again this spring. I am even considering mixing things up and buying maybe more than one pair of shoes for spring and summer… lol. My husband has a billion pairs of shoes. I am so minimalist but I want to shake things up this year.

St. Patrick’s Day! I am definitely Irish! I think my Ancestry DNA put me at like 57% Irish. My name before marriage was Erin McGill. I am still Erin of course though. And I have definitely worn my share of St. Patrick’s Day t-shirts. Erin-Go-Bragh and all that!

Spring flowers: I love wild violets. I always ask my husband to spare them when mowing the lawn because I love looking outside and seeing all the purple and white popping up everywhere. I also love hyacinths and tulips. One spring a few years ago we took a long weekend family trip to Holland, MI for the tulip festival and it was so fun, with tulips everywhere! That trip was so fun, full of good memories. Now I want to go again!

Spring Cleaning: I always get super motivated to spring clean, to throw the windows open and let in the fresh air after a cold midwestern winter, to declutter and to donate items, to remove anything that just feels heavy. I want everything to feel light and airy. I love to use Mrs. Meyers products – sustainable, plant-derived and natural, and they smell so good! I don’t have any tips sadly, although I am looking forward to the tips of others.

Toys: I did have a Slinky as a kid – and Silly Putty too! Hmmm.. my favorite toy as a kid was probably my stuffed Scooby-Doo that I got at King’s Island one summer. Then probably my Barbies.

Spring Forward: Take family walks after dinner. It is usually too dark and cold during the winter to go for after dinner family walks. Once spring hits, and the days get longer, it will be nice to spend that time outside as a family.

Spring colors: I probably won’t wear any of those except for sky blue. I told you I need fashion help!

Spring Reading: I am a very seasonal reader (seasonal person in every way really!), and spring for me means more nature books, gardening books, romance novels. I’ve also been reading more middle grade lately and YA because they are just fun to read. I also read Watership Down every single spring, it is my favorite book of all time. It is getting to be that time again! I do not have much quiet time but it is a goal for the upcoming year for me, to try to actually make time for me. So we will see.

Spring Quote:

I love Mary Oliver – she is an amazing poet and I have always loved this quote. It just makes me feel so grateful for everything, and so alive. (this print is by TurquoiseRhinoceros and is available on Etsy btw – isn’t it fantastic? )

And that is it for this month’s prompt! I loved this look at spring!

Wyatt’s Week Last Week

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

Ok, before we move to the fun stuff, let’s talk about the EEG. Wyatt did wonderful. He did an amazing job of holding still while they hooked him up to 27 electrodes and wrapped his head twice with gauze and medical tape, which took an hour. The next 24 hours was a bit trying for us all, but obviously especially him. That long tail really irritated him and he kept trying to take it off. Other than that, he did fantastic. The removal took half the time the next day. He was a big mess but so happy to be free! We immediately gave him a bath when we got home using Dawn dish soap on his super goopy hair, vegetable oil on the copious amounts of adhesive residue all over his face and neck and chest, and we were back to normal!

We were hoping for results that showed the medicine was taking care of things but he did show that he had two small tonic seizures overnight. The doctor increased his medication slightly and we get to do the whole thing all over again in June. But, it was good we did it, we caught some issues, and are taking care of them and that is what we we wanted and hoped for!

The very next day was his 7th birthday! I like that he got to start a new year with old business behind him. We had a very simple day but little man was happy and enjoyed himself so that made me happy. Wyatt had asked for three things for his birthday – books, toast, and a frog. So, between our friends and family, he got his wishes, as well as some other fun things too!

Let’s start with the frog. This kid is so like me. Books and animals. I dig it. So of course I was going to get him a frog! But what kind… hmm. He is super into tigers right now, so, we got him a tiger leg monkey tree from from Josh’s Frogs in Michigan. I really love supporting them because they work hard for conservation of creatures by breeding the animals themselves. This helps to fight the harvesting of animals from the wild, and leaving wild creatures where they should be. They also partner with different organizations and donate money to conservation efforts in different countries. Anyway, meet Daniel Tiger frog! We are all in love!

He (or she) is green during the day and dark at night when in hunting mode. When she/he arrived, he was in hunting mode I guess because he was in a box. Daniel arrived overnight via FedEx after picking a day with correct temps which is part of the process of buying. He is so itty bitty! And bonus – my friend Kelly is buying him a second one! We just have to wait for another to become available.

The rest of his gifts were just as well loved by Wyatt! I didn’t get pics of everything but notice, books and toast. (I can’t believe my cousin found toast)

Overall, this little guy had quite a week! And so did mom!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized28 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last week was a whirlwind. We had Wyatt’s EEG, finally, and his birthday, which was a fun event but also so much planning etc after the emotional chaos of his EEG. Wyatt had fun which was all that mattered. Even though I totally fell into bed Friday night at 9:45. Lol. Wyatt’s EEG went ok – we didn’t necessarily get the results we wanted but they weren’t anything worse. However, amidst everything I didn’t get to read all that much.

Read Last Week:

I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this book! I am still turning it all over in my brain.

Reading This Week:

This week is sort of a different week of reading for me. I am reading The Wild Robot to see if it is one I want to read with Wyatt. I also caved in to targeted ads this week and downloaded the Trespass Collection on Kindle. It is a collection of short stories by multiple authors and it sounds really good! I love the covers, I love the concept, and I also love a few of the authors. I am excited to start reading it. There are six books total in the collection, and they were included in Kindle Unlimited.

Posted Last Week:

What Wyatt’s Reading

Hello March!

Watching/Listening:

We finished up Murder in Provence which we both really liked. It had Lady Felicia from Father Brown in it, and Roger Allam. I didn’t recognize him but I kept thinking I recognized his voice. I looked him up and he narrates a cartoon that Wyatt watches occasionally, Sarah and Duck. So I did recognize his voice! It is very distinctive. We started Murdoch Mysteries and while it is sort of quirky, I guess, with its camera work and my husband being convinced that Murdoch is wearing eye makeup we are enjoying it.

We didn’t have movie night last as we had a get together with my mom and brother to discuss our vacation plans and have some cake for Wyatt. But I didn’t share our movie from last Saturday night – another Studio Ghibli called Whispers of the Heart. It was cute! I loved that they played the song Country Roads by John Denver quite a few times during it, because I love that song.

We missed a few wake up songs last week since it was such a weird week for us. We did listen to Today is Your Birthday by the Beatles on Wyatt’s birthday, Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel, and Get Ready by The Temptations (GREAT wake up song btw).

And that’s where we are right now! I hope you are all doing well!

What Wyatt’s Reading Lately

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, books and reading5 Comments

Post contains a few Amazon Affiliate links.

I haven’t done one of these posts in ages!! I can’t possibly share all the books we have been reading for the past few months, but I do want to share as many as I can! So..here we go!

Let’s start with the big one.

Pete the Cat. All the Pete the Cat books. And there are many. However, we do seem to be reading the heck out of a few.

He love anything Pete, but I was really excited that he liked the little phonics box set! He will go and grab them and settle in. We read so so many Pete the Cat books – good thing there a huge catalog of them! And I have to say I love Pete’s attitude on life as well. It’s all good.

He has another series that he is really getting into as well – The Nocturnals. They are a series about anthropomorphic animals (his fave) and they are available in easy readers as well as chapter books. My mom got him the activity box for Christmas and we have been adding in more easy readers from the collection here and there.

And of course we are reading books not in a series as well.

I am pretty sure I am in love with Yuyi Morales’ work. I have every single book written down for us to read on Wyatt’s TBR. (lol) They are seriously beautiful. And you can’t go wrong with Laura Numeroff. They are just so fun, although they make us hungry. These two are Wyatt’s favorites. We started reading them after he discovered the cartoon, although I have had copies of them for ages, probably since before he was even born. A Beginner’s Guide to Bear Spotting was a super cute read – it’s written like a field guide, but is hilarious and a story as well.

We like books about embracing our differences and what makes us special, and Spoon is one of those stories. I also liked the inclusion of Chopsticks as a character. It was a great read. And we loved The Tobermory Cat! This was about a cat who wants to be special – but doesn’t realize that he already is. Well, until the end that is.

Animals at Night is really cool. It’s a nonfiction book about, you guessed it, animals at night. Wyatt is all about tigers these days so we spend a lot of time on that page. Plus, it has a glow in the dark poster so bonus. The illustrations are gorgeous so I can look at it all day as well honestly.

And finally, The Boy Who Loved the Moon. I bought this for Wyatt for Christmas, because he is our boy who loves the moon, and I thought it was just a beautiful story with stunning illustrations. I thought he would like it but I was surprised by how much he does. He requests it all the time – which makes my heart happy. I guess it is a movie short too, but I haven’t looked it up yet. I need to do that.

If you read my Sunday-Monday post, then you might know we are reading Appleblossom the Possum together. Wyatt loves this book. And I do too! It is so cute, but also teaches about possums at the same time. Very adorable, very fun, and informative to boot!

And these are just a few of the books we have been enjoying! What are some of your favorite children’s books?