Category: Coffee Catch UP

Sunday Afternoon Coffee Catch Up – Tulips on the Window, Bowling, and Scouts

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP20 Comments

Hello everyone!! It’s been a wild week around here! It is always crazy to me how we can go from doing absolutely nothing and then have a week that is nonstop. But that is what happened to us this past week. It’s all been good but lots of things were happening!

After our super slow weekend last week, with the big snow and being stuck inside, we hit the ground running on Monday. Wyatt and I had a jam packed day of school, followed by our Cub Scouts meeting at the library, which was awesome. The kids were learning 3-D printing, and Curtis, the librarian in charge of this event, did a fantastic job setting things up for our scouts. He put a lot of thought and work into it! He even had some premade ideas in the program that the kids could customize, like key chains and bookmarks and Cub scout related items. It was very cool. He also surprised Wyatt with a Cub Scout statue with a snail on it, because he remembered Wyatt loves snails. The kids (and the parents) all had a great time!

Then the rest of the week we had therapy and equipment deliveries for Wyatt, a basketball for his cousin – the first he has ever been to, bowling in his new special needs kids league, and I had our blogger Zoom crafternoon event! We are having so much fun with our crafternoons and hanging out that we are going to continue them instead of ending this month as we had originally planned.

Friday we had so much fun in art too. I love when I find an artist that just resonates with us, and Maud Lewis seems to be one of them. I love her whimsical style and bright colors and Wyatt likes them as well. I didn’t know much about her myself before this study, but I am loving her story. She was a Canadian artist, living in Nova Scotia. She lived her life with a disability, one that caused her a lot of pain, as well as affecting her hands and legs and stature. But that didn’t stop her from seeing the joy around her and spreading that to everyone else. One of the videos we watched described her life as “the power of creativity and resilience” and I loved that. We read the book A Tulip in Winter together, and then Wyatt’s art project for the day was to recreate the Maud’s windows! She had brightly colored tulips painted in the windows of her small house, so Wyatt and I used window markers and did the same to our front window. We are both so happy with how it turned out, and every time I see them, it makes me smile. They are hard to see in this photo with how the sun was shining (yes the sun was shining!!) but they are so joyful, and reminds us that spring is on the way.

I spotted this online during my research for this art study, which will continue into March, and I think I need it.

I also learned something new this week! I learned that Japan has stationery awards! How did I not know this before? I have always loved pens and markers and stickers and paper and notebooks. I worked in an office supply store that sold fine pens and stationery and all that good stuff and it was like a dream. I own so many really nice pens from my time spent working there. And honestly, they just aren’t available like they used to be, it seems like. There are so many cool things! I love this little pouch for all of your writing materials!

Billy and I have been watching one of my favorite shows this week, The Great British Pottery Throw Down. This group seems to be very talented, and now I am really inspired to make some cool things with my MIL this spring or fall. She is going to teach me as she is a potter with her own kiln, and I of course have all these big ideas. LOL. I’ll be happy though even if I can only make something very basic. We also started the Gabby Petito documentary as well, and we only have one part left. I find myself getting so very angry while watching it.

Later today we have a family get together to celebrate both Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. It will be fun to hang out for a bit with everyone.

And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile.

Talk to you later my friends!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up – Dragons!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP26 Comments

Hello everyone! Thank goodness for coffee this morning. I am chilled today, with the intense cold that we are having. Next week we have a deep freeze, with temps dipping down into the negative numbers. I hope to get all prepared today and tomorrow so that we barely have to step foot outside unless we have to, like for appointments and therapy. Poor Billy though will still have to leave for work in it.

This week has been another week of focusing on work – although we did throw some fun things in as well!

Wednesday Wyatt had physical therapy, but this week he had therapy, then a two hour wait before math tutoring, which was in the same building. So in between we went to the Henry Ford Museum! It was a fun way to spend a few hours. It was super weird, because it was an odd time and no one was there. Just a few other people but the museum is so big that we felt like it only Wyatt and I walking around.

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We are actually going to call off tutoring next week due to the cold, and just go home after therapy.

Yesterday, I decided to shake things up! Instead of our normal day of school, we celebrated Appreciate a Dragon Day. Wyatt has been working so hard that I thought he deserved a fun school day. So, it was all dragons all day! We started with reading books about dragons, then moved on to studying the dragons of Wales. We will be looking at Chinese dragons on Chinese New Year, so I thought we would stick with Western style dragons this week. I bought a unit study on Etsy that was about different dragons of the world, and we combined that with the book Dragonology, and had a blast. It felt like school, but… was all fun. Wyatt had to label cities on a map of Wales for one of the activities, and one of the names of the cities made me do a double take! It is, ahem, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, on the Isle of Anglesey. According to this article written by Rick Steves, it means “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave”. It had a smaller name until a tailor added to the name to try to attract visitors. I have to admit, I am a person who would definitely make a stop there because of the name!

Then, I had two projects lined up to make – an art project and a STEM project. However, the art project took us so long that we never made it to the STEM project! I will save it for another day. The art project turned out so cool though – it took us like two hours to make it together! We also listened to a dragon book on Spotify while we worked.

After that we took a bit of a break – or rather, Wyatt did. I was getting ready for the final part of Dragon Day- we were having a dragon themed dinner, snack, and then we were watching How to Train Your Dragon. I kept it simple, and it turned out pretty cute!

We all had Dragon’s wings grilled cheese (cheese on Black Rye bread cut into dragon wings), dragon scales (Doritos), and our snack was popcorn with Swedish fish bowls, because Toothless the dragon in the movie loves fish! Unfortunately, my little dragon explorer didn’t make it to the movie! He zonked out ten minutes in. Lol. So we turned it off and we will watch it either Saturday or Sunday instead.

Tonight I will be glad to plop into bed and just chill out, after a long week. I am going to my mom’s first though, to hang out for a bit, then when I get home, I will shower, get in my pajamas, and crawl into bed to watch some television and stitch and read my book! I started Hans Brinker yesterday and it is so good so far, although I am barely into it yet. This weekend we are finishing up some things so that next week we can stay tucked into the house as much as possible.

As for Dragon Day, this is what we read and used!

(This section does contain Affiliate Links from Amazon and Etsy)

A Friend for Dragon || Dragons Love Tacos || Dragonology || Attack of the Underwear Dragon || The Truth About Dragons || Rise of the Earth Dragon (listened on Spotify)

Wyatt’s favorite of the group was A Friend for Dragon. It was pretty funny honestly. Dav Pilkey is awesome. I loved The Truth About Dragons, which is about biracial identity, and it was absolutely beautifully written and illustrated.

And for the Dragon study by country, I used this.

Dragons of the World Study by Wildfeatheredu

And now for some random photos!

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And that is it from our very cold corner of Michigan! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP14 Comments

Hello everyone! It is such a cozy morning here. It is snowing, big fat snowflakes, Wyatt is playing, I have coffee, and it is relatively quiet. I don’t have too many plans for today. I think today we will do some Christmas crafting, and I need to sit down with a giant stack of books to prep for some of Wyatt’s history unit the next few weeks. Today seems like the perfect day to do that. We definitely have enough books here to last us a while, for reading for fun and for school.

Otherwise, it has been a weird week. I had to take care of a few things for my mom, like paying some of her bills, and making sure her health insurance was set for next year. Why does this have to be done every year? I was so confused. I have a guy who looks at all the different insurance plans and chooses one based off of my mom’s needs so at least that is helpful and I don’t need to actually figure it out myself.

Then Tuesday Wyatt woke up with a slight fever. Nothing crazy, and not even technically a fever but it was close and you could tell he didn’t feel well. His little cheeks were flushed and he just wasn’t himself. He stayed in bed watching tv pretty much all day, quiet, which is unusual for him and I just hung out with him. By about 5 that night he had rallied and was feeling much better, and Wednesday he was almost back to normal. Except we did have a return of the medicine induced nausea! I have learned that if he doesn’t eat a lot the night before he will feel sick the next morning after his meds. Observation is key with this kid and I have honed my mom observation skills to a t! But Tuesday night he just didn’t feel like eating – not because he still didn’t feel good, mind you, but because as he started to feel better he ate a ton in the afternoon. We were off our norm, and that was ok.

Yesterday, we kind of played catch up. We took it easy until Wyatt’s stomach was better, than we caught up on some school work. It’s been really nice with the ramp, because now Wyatt’s wheelchair can actually come in the house! Before there was no way I could carry it in and out all the time, and Wyatt as well. Wyatt was easy honestly, even though he weighs more than it – the chair is just super awkward. Anyway, he has been excited about it and we have had school in my office the past few days for a change. He can sit in his wheelchair at my antique double desk. It’s fun to switch it up. I have also been spending a lot of time there besides my time with Wyatt, working on the already mentioned history unit study.

Last night we finally got out of the house though for a little event at the library. I had signed us up for the 3d printing cookie cutter event, which was entirely free, and I thought it would be neat. We got to design a cookie cutter, and then the library printed it on the 3d printer. Wyatt and I discussed what he wanted before we went, a Christmas snail, so all I had to do when we got there was find an image. Our end of it was very simple. I have no idea what the librarian had to do on his end but we left with our cookie cutter. We will have to do a lot of fill in with decoration but that is ok. We can handle that. I also got to show Wyatt how magical a 3d printer is. I find them a mystery since I have no idea how they work honestly but it seems like you can make anything on earth with them. Anyway, there were only four of us there to make them, including Wyatt, and ours was the last to be printed, so we had some time to chat with the librarian. He told us that he plans on having little workshops like that frequently, for different items, and that we can design things at home and have the library print them, for $1.00. He also said that he is planning on making small assistive devices, like pencil grips or things to help open doors, etc, to have available for free for those who need them. I of course thought that was a fabulous idea!

Today I think we will just chill a little, do a little school, have some independent time so I can get some work done, and then tonight is pizza Friday so yay! I don’t have to make dinner!

So, our week this week was a little bleh, but that is ok. I was able to get a lot of different things done that needed to get done, work on my stepmom’s Christmas present that I am embroidering, and just hang out with my kid. So it wasn’t too terrible overall.

I hope that whatever you are doing today, you do something to make you smile, no matter how small!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP20 Comments

Hello everyone!! I am drinking my coffee today out of one my new favorite mugs, this one by Danica Studios. I am on a personal quest to replace my mugs with only ones that make me happy, which might sound absurd but..it’s the small things in life, right?

I just wanted to start this post today by saying my blog is my politics free zone.

I don’t think I have shared Halloween with you all, and I want to. So let’s throw this post right back to October!

The Saturday night before Halloween, Wyatt and I went to the Jack O’Lantern journey at the Detroit Zoo. Billy was supposed to go too, but he hurt his ankle working on Wyatt’s ramp that day, and wasn’t going to be able to manage all of the walking we were going to do. I was a bit nervous about taking Wyatt on my own, which is weird because I am not generally like that. I think because it was going to be dark so fast and I had to drive home through the city at night, but despite being a bit nervous, we went. And I am so glad that we did. We missed Billy of course, but Wyatt and I had a complete blast. We stayed so much later than I anticipated. We were just having such a good time together.

We came home in very high “spirits” and had lots to share with Billy. We bought these tickets as part of a package deal with their Christmas lights display, and now I am looking forward to holiday lights!

The next day was more Halloween shenanigans, with a visit to my dad and stepmom’s house. My stepmom had arranged a whole cookie and cupcake array for the kids to decorate (and eat). She had all of the candy decorations all pre-cut and in little bowls, frosting made, even edible eyes! It was really cool and the kids had a blast. Little Hurricane girl even sat on my lap and made cookies with me!

As you can see, the kids thoroughly enjoyed the day.

After all of our pre-Halloween activities, we were so excited when the big day finally came! Wyatt wanted to be a snail, which turned out pretty good if I do say so myself! I went as a mushroom and Billy wore a shirt with morels on it that said “I’m a fungi”. Lol. We cracked ourselves up.

Phew and now we have made it through Halloween!!

Finally, Billy and I celebrated our 24th anniversary on the 4th! We are old y’all. Wyatt’s grandma watched him for a few hours while we went out for sushi. We went to a place called The Goblin in Detroit (you know I loved that name) and ordered the Penguin tray to split. Now, the Penguin is supposed to come with a cute little rice penguin. But I wanted the panda that comes with the Panda tray lol, and the very nice owner made sure that I got a panda. I am weird. The employee/owner guy was super nice. We really enjoyed chatting with him. The restaurant is small, with maybe six tables total, but does a brisk carry out business. And the sushi was absolutely delicious. We will definitely be returning. And luckily it is not too far from where Billy works, so it would be very easy for Billy to pick up sushi on his way home. We had such a great time together and we need to go out the two of us more often.

Those are all of the big things that happened. We also had slow days, days where we just did school and therapy, sat outside in the sun, painted, played with our menagerie of creatures. And we even added two new babies, two little African clawed frogs that we named Hurkel and Durkel. They are so derpy, I love them.

And now for some random photos!

And that my friends is all for today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP27 Comments

Hello everyone! My coffee today is darn good, I am going to be honest.

First off, I hope everyone in the path of this hurricane is safe. Helene is looking pretty wicked. My brother and family head to Disney tomorrow, and I am also worried about that! I am keeping all involved in my prayers this weekend.

Update: I wanted to add that I am so shocked and sad over the passing of Dame Maggie Smith. We watch so many of her movies in this house, both as part of Comfy Cozy Cinema, and just in our regular watching. Maggie Smith could say volumes in a glance, and cut to the bone with her dry wit. Her performances always had me giggling, but she also could tug the heartstrings and convey compassion as well. Her performances were always masterful and I am grateful that she left behind such a large and plentiful portfolio of movies for us to watch and enjoy. May she rest in peace.

Maggie Smith photographed in 1960 Credit: Photo: FremantleMedia Ltd/REX

Looking back at our past week or so, it was pretty..sedate. Wyatt and I were either sick or recovering from our cold, and while they were mild (just congestion) we didn’t feel like doing much. We pretty much just read and did some schoolwork and Wyatt played. I think our bodies needed a little break.

During the week though Billy and I noticed that our female Betta has shredded fins. It made us super nervous that maybe she had fin rot and we couldn’t figure out why. So we scooped out some of her water and took it up to the fish store for a test and to talk to the owner. Our water tested perfectly, and she doesn’t live with any other fish that would chew on her, so it was a bit of a mystery. The woman who works there finally determined that since she was in a community tank of other female bettas when we bought her, that she came to us a little chewed up and then developed an infection from her wounds. We bought some blue stuff to treat her – we drop a little in the water every night before bed and that should clear up her infection within seven days, hopefully. For a fish she has a pretty cute personality. I can even get her to jump up for food. It is super cute. She is loved so we hope she recovers. The guy said since she is eating and still zooming around her tank that she should be ok.

However, Sunny the snail lives with her normally, and the fish store told us we might want to take him out during the treatment. So we set up a small bowl for him to live in temporarily, and the first night in, he showed us how much he didn’t care for it. I woke up the next morning, and he was missing! I looked around and around near the bowl, and found him halfway across the room, laying there like a man in a desert! Billy hurriedly scooped him up and put him back in the water. Sunny is an aquatic snail so he shouldn’t be out of water. We are mystified as to how he got that far – and where was he going? And how long could that have taken? My friend suggested that he saw the other aquarium across the room and was trying to make it there, which made me giggle to think about – but, maybe? It’s a mystery!

We also decorated for fall and Halloween, to boost our spirits. I am loving all of our decorations, it makes it feel so warm and cozy in here, all the fall leaves and burnt orange, the pumpkins and ghosts. It made us happy! We also stopped in at Trader Joes after Wyatt’s epilepsy appointment the other day, and bought up most of their seasonal line. We may have gone a little crazy! It is easy to do there though! I also bought two items to include in the comfy cozy care package that Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I will be hosting a giveaway for very soon.

Billy is adding some flourishes to Wyatt’s ramp, to make things more comfortable for him to play out there. He just has the railings and then it will be completely finished!

And here are just a few random photos from the roll!

And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do, you do something that makes you smile.

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP, Michigan8 Comments

Hello everyone! I am one tired mama this morning! I keep telling myself I can rest after such and such – and then something else comes up! Lol. Oh well – all too soon we will be deep into winter and not doing anything at all really, so it’s best to get out there and let Wyatt experience as much as possible while we can (and have some myself too)

Last Friday, we kicked off our school season with a field trip to The Henry Ford Museum. Wyatt is starting a big prehistoric unit in science this fall, and I love to try to find a field trip at the beginning of the year that correlates with something we are going to learn about. Lucky for me, we were able to squeak in under the wire for the Dinosaurs exhibit at the museum, two days before it was set to end. I am glad we made it, because we both had a really good time.

The artist who created these, John Payne, welded the metal and steel together to create these huge sculptures. Wyatt and I also talked about this, how art doesn’t have to just be paintings or sketches, it can be these enormous dinosaurs made out of steel, fire and heat. The exhibit is called Dinosaurs in Motion, and it is interactive. Half of the dinosaurs could be moved and manipulated using old fashioned pulley systems, and we could pull ropes, levers, spin wheels -there were all sorts of different ways to activate the pulleys. And let me tell you, those dinosaurs were heavy! Wyatt and I would be pulling or pushing together and sometimes I had to put my whole weight behind it. There was just one dinosaur I couldn’t really budge, and a young twentysomething man asked if we needed some extra oomph! I said yes and he helped Wyatt get that dinosaur really moving!

The other half of the dinosaurs were activated by computer, and you can see Wyatt at the controls in the one photo. All of they exhibits you could press buttons and make the dinosaurs roar, and flash lights like lightning and play storm sound effects; the computer versions you could do that plus use controls to move them around. It was really really cool, and I felt like we were in the movie Jurassic Park. Wyatt could not get over how big that T-Rex was, and kept giving it the side eye. He was a little skeptical of it at first.

The exhibit was a fantastic way to kick off school and I was so glad that we went.

On Saturday, Wyatt had like the perfect Wyatt day. Billy and I also very much enjoyed ourselves, especially the autumn weather that we were having! We took a drive out to Grosse Pointe Park, to a children’s bookstore named Coreanders. It was so whimsical, adorable, and I wanted to spend hours in there. It was not very big, but just big enough. The walls are covered in beautiful murals, including the entire elevator shaft. The elevator to the second floor has a window in the door, so that as you go up or down, you can view a mural on the way. It is spectacularly done. I was also so happy that they were wheelchair accessible!

There is also a cafe/ice cream shop in the back, and we of course had to pop in for coffee and cookies which we ate in the courtyard. It felt like we were in New Orleans, with the wrought iron, the brickwork, the garden. Tucked in and hidden about the garden were little garden statuary, little animals reading or just hiding, and we enjoyed looking at them all and picking our favorites. Also – the cookie was delicious, and was made at a nearby boulangerie, name LeRouge. Wyatt picked out a book, I picked out a book, and also grabbed a few cute bookmarks. I love them – they are designed by Ingrid Press and they are beautiful! I should never have looked up that website because now I want everything!

We walked around the cute little area, wandered through a farmers market that was just closing up but I still managed to buy a bag of loose tea from Outer Realm teas. I bought the Royal Tea and we are going to brew a pot up over the weekend.

When we went home, we painted as we had not managed to fit art in over during the week. Wyatt is studying Charley Harper for a few weeks and I wanted to fit in the first lesson. Then we had game night! I think all three of us crashed out that night!

Sunday was much more relaxed. I went to church in the morning, then we hung out at home for the afternoon, just relaxing and doing whatever. Dinner was an adventure though. We were planning on watching The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for Comfy Cozy Cinema that evening, so we thought it would be fun to get Indian food as well. And goodness, I am so glad that we did. It was fantastic. We ordered from a place called Charminar Biryani House in Detroit and it was delicious. We couldn’t decide what to get, everything looked amazing, so we ordered Butter Chicken and Tandoori chicken, and split it with some buttered naan bread (Wyatt had a different dinner although he seriously missed out).

Needless to say, it was a very packed weekend. This week though, is a much slower pace right now. School, and finishing up some errands and projects for scouts tomorrow night – it will be our first meeting! I am super nervous about it! Tonight I still need to make game paddles for a game we are playing, and put together the little beaded keychain kits for every kit, that they are going to make while learning about the pack laws. (Be kind, etc) Wish us luck everyone!

Here are a few photos from the roll!

And that is it from me today! I hope you all have a wonderful day and do something today that makes you smile!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP, family, Michigan15 Comments

Hello everyone!! It is a rainy day here today, and I have to admit, it is making me feel all happy inside. I needed a rainy day. Wyatt and I are going to go slow this morning and then later on we are going to the museum to see the dinosaur exhibit before it is gone. When we get home, we are painting. It should be fun!

Where to begin? I will start with Billy’s medical procedure on Tuesday. It was a regular type thing that everyone gets at some point as they age, but it was the first time Billy had ever had anesthesia so it was freaking me out a little. They told me that they were only going to give him just enough for the short procedure, and that most people wake up immediately once back in the room. He spent the day before getting ready for this procedure (I am sure most of you can guess what this was at this point) and Wyatt and I kept busy doing other things which I will talk about next, and then we had to be at the hospital bright and early the next morning. I am all over the place, I apologize. I blame the fact that I am still drinking my first cup of coffee.

We were shown to Billy’s little room and they told me I could stay there while he was having his procedure done. I did take my embroidery with me, and so many nurses came in and looked at it while I was stitching. They all thought it was cute, and mentioned that they had been thinking of doing something like it. One nurse told me that she used to do it with her grandmother when she was little and would like to pick it back up. It was sort of neat how it was a conversation starter. And the anesthesiologist was right on – Billy started to wake up almost immediately when they rolled him back in. He was very groggy and doesn’t remember it but he was up (ish). We got a good report from the doctor and then we were on our way! Wyatt was with his grandma while we were gone and she reported that he did excellent as well – although he refused to eat or sleep while I was gone. So I need to work on that guys! We are just together so much. I don’t have many sitters available and then there is homeschool and his therapy anyway.. but we need to work on this.

So that was Tuesday. Let’s throw it back to the weekend. The Sunday before Labor Day we went to my brother’s for a fire, and it was such a relaxed night. Little Wild Child doesn’t give her parents a break though, she cracks me up. Mermaid Girl was a kid that would sit and color and play for hours in one spot – Wild Child never ever stops moving and running around and getting into everything. And she gives you the most mischievous smile as she does! She is funny. I did get her to sit down for a few minutes. She likes to put things into containers now (at that stage lol) and I took the game Qwirkle with me, which has a million little wooden tiles in a bag. So I dumped the bag and mesmerized her for a few minutes with them. Mermaid Girl was there too – she brought out a whole collection of cat stuffies and toys for me to view. It was cute.

On Monday, Wyatt and I went to Greenfield Village briefly. We were going to ride the train a few times and walk around but the bees and wasps were insane! I am not sure what the problem was but they were just swarming us it felt like. So we rode the train once around and then went to the gift shop instead – which Wyatt told me was his favorite part. Of course. Lol. I don’t even buy this kid stuff everywhere we go, so it is funny to me he likes to shop. He did pick out a sticker for his water bottle while we were there though this time and he was very happy with it.

Wednesday, Wyatt had therapy where he continued to do awesome, then in the evening we went to my mom’s senior apartment building because Elvis was in the house! My mom hasn’t been doing well with her mental health lately and it was nice to get her outside and doing something fun. And honestly, it was really fun. The impersonator did a great job and had many of the residents up and dancing. Wyatt was bopping along to the music, and even Billy and I were singing too. It was a wonderful evening to be outside too, perfect really. It was a nice night.

And now it is Friday! Pizza night! Field trip, art day. Tomorrow is game night and Sunday is when Billy and I watch our movies for Comfy Cozy Cinema – this week is the Great Exotic Marigold Hotel. We may have a few other surprises in store as well for the weekend, we shall see.

And that is that for today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP24 Comments

Hello everyone!! I am so grateful for coffee this week. I am running on coffee and peanut butter toast this week – I have just been so busy! I am trying to prep for school and for Cub Scouts while also making sure Wyatt enjoys the last few weeks of summer.

One thing that happened – Wyatt got a hair cut!!

Our neighbor works at a barber shop and she did such a great job! I absolutely love it, and Wyatt does too. The barbershop is very swanky and Wyatt felt like a big shot in there among the adults.

He got it just in time for his cousin Mermaid Girl’s birthday party too. She had a cosmic bowling party and it was a blast. I had to laugh – it’s like no matter what, you can count on bowling shoes to always look exactly the same as they did decades ago.

I also got to bowl – and it was pretty sad. Lol. I came in last, tying with Chrissy’s mom. (Chrissy is my SIL) We were both not wonderful at bowling. I even took bowling in college as one of one PE credits! I remember Billy and I would have to practice bowling every week so that I could show improvement in class. We didn’t have to be good, just show that we got better. It was a stretch but I did it. Our practice sessions became just an excuse to get together with all of our friends every week, who also joined us at the bowling alley.

We also had our second Cub Scout committee meeting. The committee is made up of family and friends but it is still nerve wracking to me because I am the person who needs to run it and do like 90% of the talking. Right now we are still getting everything made all official, collecting applications and dues and signatures and learning the ropes of the big fundraiser that is starting, the popcorn sale, as well as planning the first meeting which is at the beginning of September, and the first outing, which is a few days after. It will be so fun once we get through all of this red tape, and can really get started.

We have our council meetings at the rowing club in our town, and it is such a great spot, right on the river and bonus, adult beverages that are very inexpensive.

I’m really cramming because of course all of this starts at the same time – school, Scouts, and then to throw a big wrench in there, Wyatt has a three day EEG at the hospital right in that same week. At least I guess we will get it all out of the way at once!

Of course we went to the library and got ice cream this week! Our favorite ice cream place closed for the season on Thursday so we had to make sure to get in before they shut down. So one day we went to the library, checked out a mass of books, and hung out on the giant porch reading for a bit before going to get ice cream. Then we went the very next day and got ice cream with my dad as well!

Wyatt and I both loved sitting on the big porch. It is so high up and set so far back from the road that it felt like we were just in our own bubble or our own little world. Wyatt really enjoyed people watching and wheeling around out there too. Can I just move into the library? Wyatt and I decided that would be a super cool place to live.

Looking forward to fall, which is right around the corner, I am busy making plans for field trips and little mini-vacations, for Halloween and scouts. I am also planning out my fall TBR (we will see how I do – I am not great at sticking to the plan), and all the comfy cozy bloggy stuff that Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I do together. This year we are even having a little giveaway in October and I am really excited about it!! And speaking of comfy cozy fall things, this is our fall movie line up and dates, if you want to watch or post along with us! The dates listed are the dates that our posts will go up! I think we have a fantastic list and I am really looking forward to just slowing down this fall.

And now just some randoms from the camera roll!

Have a great weekend everyone, and I hope you do something that makes you smile!

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP16 Comments

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well! I was in a bit of a mood yesterday, and looking back it seems really common for me to be in a bit of a funk in August. In my blog last year I even quoted Sylvia Plath, and her reference to August as the “odd uneven time”. And who am I to argue with that, it feels so true. Today though, the sun is shining and I am feeling a bit more me, and less like the algae at the bottom of a pool during a long humid summer. (last night I was texting my friend Lisa and I was being super emo on purpose and referred to myself as the algae and she told me to write a poem, and I added on some worn out and dirty flip flop imagery. Just being silly. Lol)

We have been having a lot of fun though lately. We went to a Parisian-inspired brasserie for Billy’s birthday, and then the next day, which was way too hot and humid to actually be outside, we went for a drive to see what we could see.

Everyone was enjoying the lily pads, including that adorable young buck there. We hung out riverside for a bit, the breeze just idling past us as we sat in the back of the Subaru until we just could not do it any longer. Look at my poor little guy! He shows heat immediately!

Afterwards we were feeling peckish so we pulled in to an A&W. Are these just a Michigan thing, or are they all over? It’s just a drive up restaurant, like you see in all those 1950s movies, where you eat in your car. Billy ordered a root beer float for us all to share which was the perfect idea on such a hot day.

We also had a sad moment Saturday morning. Our beautiful Betta, Moon, had passed away in the night. Wyatt was upset over this, as was I. I could not figure out why either, which was more troubling. We took a sample of our water in to the aquarium store we go to, which only deals with fish and they are very knowledgeable, and the nice lady who always helps us, Sam, checked our water parameters and said our water was perfect. I showed her a picture of our set up to make sure I didn’t have to many plants, and nope that wasn’t it either. So we talked about some different things, trying to brainstorm what happened to our poor Moon – is the filter too fast, creating a current? No. Anything obviously wrong, like discoloration of the fins, etc? Nope. Then we got to feeding. I only fed him 3-4 pellets once a day, with a fasting day, which is what you are supposed to do. However, I do feed the snail in there as well, and we came to the conclusion that he was snacking on Sunny’s food too, and Betta’s will eat themselves to death. We decided as well that since I do have so many plants that I don’t need to give Sunny a wafer to supplement his food. We did end up getting another fish for Wyatt, which he has named New Moon. This one is a female Betta, and has the shorter fins. She is very pretty, petite, and very zippy. As a mother I am obsessed with keeping this fish alive for my kid; I told my Dad, of all the pets we have Wyatt decides he most loves the two fish, who are the most fragile. I am happy he loves them though.

We also went to a good old-fashioned block party on Saturday! The next block down was having a block party, with the street closed off and everything, and one of the families who we talk to here and there invited us down. We didn’t stay super long since it was so humid and hot, but we did go and hang out for a bit. It was nice to chat with them more than just the hi here and there small talk. And Wyatt had a blast!!! They had a ramp for bikes and of course, Billy took Wyatt up and down it. And his face! He also tried to go up it by himself when were chatting which gave me a heart attack. That kid, I swear. Lol.

Overall, it has been a fun few days!

And here are just some random photos..

And I hope that whatever you all do today, that you do something that makes you smile!

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP22 Comments

Hello everyone! The sun is shining and the temps aren’t predicted to be as intense today so I am excited. We have a busy day of just errands etc, since Billy is leaving us for the weekend for a guys camping trip. I am not sure how Billy going on a trip translates to more errands for me but..somehow it did. Hmmph. Lol.

It’s been a topsy-turvy week! Nothing bad, but not what I expected. Wyatt was supposed to have a 48 hour EEG this week, and I had been mentally preparing for this for a few weeks, as well as getting our things ready for the hospital stay. However, the point of the EEG was to attempt to treat Wyatt’s nighttime DEE-SWAS. DEE-SWAS is a rare form of epilepsy that creates spike-waves in his brain as he sleeps. There is not a lot known about it, and it is not usually an urgent matter unless the person is having developmental regressions, which Wyatt is thankfully not (and pray that he never does!) However, we had the option to try valium with him at night to see if it changed anything in a positive manner in Wyatt’s life, and at first we were all for it. Right now though, after the 6 weeks this kid has had adjusting to his new medicine dose of his normal medication, we wanted to give him a break from trying anything new. So when Billy called the EEG Monitoring Unit they said if we weren’t feeling like attempting the valium now, we could wait a few months and try then. So, we go now in September. I think it is the best decision for Wyatt although it threw me off a bit. I can be flexible and pivot, I really can! Lol.

Last weekend Billy and I actually had a date night! We just went out to dinner together, but it was so nice to just get out the two of us. It has been a very long time! We went to one of our favorite local burger places. It has a great vibe, lively, filled with music, and the walls are just covered in nostalgic photos and memorabilia from the owner’s life and from the area. He named the restaurant after his grandfather, and you can spot old family photos mixed in with the Detroit area posters and tchotchke. There are also nods to pop culture a well, like the Thriller album cover near the door, movie posters and so on. It is just a neat place. While we were there reruns from the original Scooby-Doo cartoon was playing, which was my favorite growing up! So I enjoyed that as well.

I had just a regular Joe slider, and Billy and I split fries. Billy also had a slider – and then let me eat most of this dessert, a brownie sundae. I can’t resist a brownie sundae.

I also splurged on some new things for myself this week, which frankly is not like me. But sometimes you just have to. I bought myself two new plants, an Alocasia Jacklyn and a new mini-Monstera. I also bought Applejack some new plants for her tank, which she loves. I am slowly redoing all of the lizard tanks and Applejack was first up. She loves it.

I also bought myself a few new tops, a pair of shorts, and a pair of loose comfy pants for summer. I wore the pants the other day and they are so comfy and cute that I am going to get another pair soon. I feel like I needed some summer clothes that are not just rough and tumble – you know, for instance if we go out for another date night, or have an appointment. They reminded me of Martha’s clothes a bit from Beyond Paradise, and I really like how she dresses, although it is impractical for me and my everyday (well except overalls, I do wear those). I don’t have a photo of me in them, but maybe next time I wear them I will have Billy take one. I also got the shirt in white as well as the green, and I plan on styling the pants and shorts with looser more casual tees, and the shirts with more casual shorts for the most part, because I like the juxtaposition of casual and more fitted together. I wore the pants the other day with a thrifted tee I bought a few years ago, that was blue and white striped and had my hair in braids, and Billy said I looked ready for the seashore.

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Shorts || Shirt || Pants

Wyatt and I also spent some time doing arts and crafts this week. We painted a collage of his favorite moments at music camp, and then designed little fairy homes that we want Billy to build to put outside. I also had some time to work on my corgi while Wyatt took his after- medicine naps.

All in all, it was a different week than I had planned for, but it was a very good week with lots of family time and down time. I think we probably really needed that after the go go go chaos of music camp! We also have had some disgusting weather, super high temps or severe storms or high humidity, so it was kind of an inside week anyway. Remind me, how many more weeks before cooler weather?

Just a few more random photos, including a crazy one of me. That is my snail headband to hold my hair back when getting ready lol. Billy says I am a goof, and I probably am.

And that is it from me this week! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile! (even if it is wearing a snail headband while you wash your face)