Category: Hello

Hello November

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Hello16 Comments

Welcome, November.

I am looking forward to the relative quiet of November, after a very busy October. Every year our October is jam packed. I like to whirlwind our way through the month, soaking in the moments, then like magic, on November 1, seeking the quiet and solitude of my birth month.

This is when the fall gets slower for me. The days are now short, with night closing in early, and all the hijinks of Halloween are done. I look forward to our slower paced days. Days of school and our art projects, the wolf embroidery I am working on for Wyatt, a return to slow cooked meals, Billy’s sourdough. Quiet hikes in the woods. Books and reading, movies, comfy beds with soft cushy blankets and flannel sheets, backyard fires with family.

Wyatt has this picture book called Thanksgiving in the Woods, and I still read it with him every year, and Billy usually listens too. We all love it. It is about this family who has just what the title says, a big family Thanksgiving in the woods and it is based on the author’s real life Thanksgivings. Every year we read this, and every year, Billy and I talk about how cool that would be. Wouldn’t it? I would love to gather everyone I love together at a big table in the woods filled with food and laughter and music. With tents and lights and bunting, with a big bonfire and games. Wouldn’t that be amazing? I just need to find the woods. But on days like today, blustery and beautiful with bright leaves littering the ground, the crazy chaos of last nights trick or treating behind us, I can imagine it, that meal.

We do have some fun things planned, things like stargazing in our backyard under blankets, with hot chocolate and cookies, calling for owls, getting back to nature, to gratitude. I pulling out our sweaters and warm clothes today, in preparation for the cold weather that will soon be arriving. (even though it was 80 this week! Ugh)

I am excited about our November scouts meeting this month. Billy’s mom is a potter, and she is going to work with our kids on making ornaments, that she will take home to be fired in her kiln. We are also going to open the box that we received from another pack in Oregon, who lives in the high desert there. Our two packs each gathered nature items from our area to send to the other, and I am excited to share with the kids what the Oregon pack sent with them. I peeked at it already and I think they will all like seeing what is in there. In our box, we sent leaves that were labeled, a sprig of white pine, which is Michigan’s state tree, a cicada shell, acorns and sycamore seeds and chestnuts, seeds from a Michigan apple, an apple tree bud from my confused apple tree, local honey, and a few other fun things, like a bag of Petoskey stones. I am looking forward to what they think of our stuff as well! And if anyone lives in another region who is reading this, and would like to send nature representatives to our pack from your area, let me know, because this was fun!

And, I need to refill my coffee so I will end here. Have a wonderful day everyone, and whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile.

“In November, the earth is growing quiet. It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures.” – Cynthia Rylant

Hello September!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn autumn, Hello, hygge15 Comments

It’s September! The first of the “ber” months, my favorite months of the year (except for March, Wyatt’s birth month)

September is fall to me. Back to school, fall clothes, comfort meals, cozy mornings and evenings, jeans and sweaters and boots, leaves crunching under foot, cooler nights, crisp air that makes me feel more alive, bonfires, cider… so many good things!

Except..it is not these things immediately, at least not here in Michigan. We are still in shorts, eating our warm weather meals of salads and tomato cheese sandwiches and hamburgers (I love hamburgers, not going to lie), but some things are beginning to seem more like fall. The nights have been cooler, and we are going back to school, so two things on my list! I will take it as a start!

I saw a reel I saw this morning about how in the 90s we would all truck off to school on the first day in boots and jeans and giant sweaters, because they were our “new back to school” clothes and we would all just die and sweat all day from the heat. It made me laugh because I definitely remember doing that!

I love fall and how as nature starts to slow down and rest, we do too. The days are getting shorter, the darkness settles in much earlier, almost whispering to us to settle in as well. To find that cozy blanket and book, and relax and not run around trying to get everything done until you fall exhausted into bed. It’s our reminder that we need to restore ourselves as well. To fill back up after a long summer of doing and going. To play that autumn playlist full of rich songs while we make a flavorful soup or homemade bread on a weekend morning, to indulge in mugs of hot drinks that warm us body and soul, to hole up for a few hours on the couch surrounded by our little comfort piles. It’s time to dim those lights in the evening, and leave the harsh glow of the day behind. To take walks in the crisp air, crunching leaves underfoot, never minding the soft rain that may fall on you. To have warm apple pie for breakfast one day, just for fun.

My squirrel friends have been visiting more often these days, looking for the treats I leave them outside. I watch them eat some, then scurry off with other bits, stashing it somewhere only they know where. Sometimes we have an opossum friend too, who visits wanting apples. Over the summer mama possum was hanging out in our yard with her babies, and while I know they wouldn’t all stay I wish they could have. Like Jerome Kildee is Kildee House (a kids book I read for the first time this year and I wish everyone would read), I would share my space with all the little animals too. Although maybe not in my house. Outside is fine.

We are slowing down, and I try to remember that when making plans for the fall. I want to do so much too, to take Wyatt to all the festivals and camping and Halloween events, but I am mindful to not do too much. I try to pick and choose carefully, to make space between the events for slow days too. Enough to enjoy but not so much as to overwhelm, where everything runs into another thing and dulls the excitement and joy. We are taking a short trip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park this fall, and riding the train which I think will be a lot of fun. Wyatt loves trains and this will be his longest train ride to date – plus I bought tickets for the train car that has a glass ceiling so that we can get huge views of the outdoors as well. I have a few other things planned as well, but also plan to spend some fun days here too, at home.

I made a little graphic to frame and put on my desk, to remind myself to slow down and rest this season. I will link it here in case you want to print it out too, or just save it to your phone or computer.

treat-yourself-slow-down (1)Download

I hope that you all enjoy fall (or spring if you are in the southern hemisphere!) and do some things that are restful for your soul.

Hello June!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Hello10 Comments

Ah summer. I talked in my summer TBR post about how summer is my least favorite season of them all. I am just not a big fan of being hot, and Michigan is so humid and swampy.

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t things about summer that I love. I love the slower mornings, and the evenings that stretch on forever. I have always loved sitting outside at twilight, watching the birds all head home to bed, singing their day’s final song, with the fireflies winking in and out of sight. The crickets and katydids chirp, frogs start their evening calls, rabbits and baby bunnies hop about, and the day sinks into night. Those are nights for dreaming on, and on those magical type evenings I drag myself back into the house from the porch where I am half-hidden from sight by the green leaves of the apple tree, bringing my empty mug of tea or wine glass in with me, and feel so content with the world as I climb into bed.

I also love the easy days, although Wyatt and I spend the heat of them inside. There is a quote from Watership Down that says, “Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it.” I agree with that, isn’t that the perfect definition of cozy, but I think I also like feeling safe inside from the heat of summer. The two of us just aren’t made for the hot weather- Wyatt especially has trouble regulating his own temperature in the heat. So on the hottest days we seek the coolness of buildings filled with air-conditioning, our little house that overflows with life in all of our pets and terrariums and house plants, museums and stores, the library for books, car rides for ice cream. We play games and read books, paint and draw and watch movies.

I think those were my own favorite days of summer growing up. Reading all the books, the summer reading program at the library, playing with my cousins and my friend Dawn who lived across the street, swimming and biking and playing outside in the evenings right before the sun went down. Cheese sandwiches, popsicles, the ice cream man, lemonade. Peaches picked from my uncle’s tree and eating it all damp from the sprinkler, trying to get a peek at the toad that lived under his grill. All these memories!

We do venture outside of course, to gardens and pools, for picnics at the park, to the zoo, on walks or bike rides. But evening is our favorite time. Many weekend nights are spent at my brother Devin’s house, sitting around a fire, while Wyatt plays with his cousins and the four adults sit and chat over cool drinks. Sometimes we set up a tent in the yard for the kids to play in and around, which I remember my parents doing for me when I was little. This year Devin wants to show movies on his garage, which will be fun for the kids.

I think this year I am going to finally try to get Wyatt to the farm to pick strawberries. I say it every year but June always is so busy and goes so fast. This month we do have a lot scheduled. Music camp in Lansing and a 48 hour EEG are the big ones, but we have the school bus races to go see (hopefully), the strawberry moon party which will be a more subdued affair this month as it is sandwiched between camp and the EEG, and then Billy is off to Manitou Island for a few days as well. Wyatt and I will be on our own for a few days and I need to come up with some fun activities because kiddo is going to miss his dad.

This morning I am waiting for my squirrel friend to show up for her breakfast. She is a tired mama squirrel, and by the way she looks I am sure she has a nest of kittens somewhere. She comes and scratches at the window where I sit, and I feed her peanuts. Yesterday afternoon I caught her napping, spread out flat on the wooden railing, and I understood where she was coming from. It is tiring being a mom! I hope she enjoyed her little break before she headed off home. I will finish this second cup of coffee and by the time I am done, she will show up more than likely, so I should probably get her peanuts ready. I hope you all have a wonderful first day of June!

Hello, April!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Hello16 Comments

I have always said that I loved fall most of all…but I do think spring gives fall a real run for its money. I never used to like spring much, yet as I have gotten older, and particularly after I had a little spring baby, I have begun to love it. Maybe even more than fall. But that is a secret between us, ok?

The slight chill in the air and the warm, sunny days give me life, after a long winter of chilling cold, and seeing nothing but gray and white, nothing of color or brightness. Spring truly is a time of renewal and hope. Flowers peeping their little heads up, getting outside and breathing the freshness of the spring air, all the little animals running about busily while birds build their nests. I love to lie in bed in the morning and hear the birds greeting the dawn, to enjoy the chill morning under the quilt with my coffee and my kiddo, knowing that these days will be ending soon so I had better soak them up before the heat and humidity of summer forces me to abandon such cozy pursuits.

Usually around this time of year, I have nurtured little seedlings to plant outside. This year however, our garden plan is much different. This year, we are all about the flowers and trees (and maybe a basil plant and a few tomatoes..but nothing crazy). Our plan includes roses and zinnias and dahlias, and bigger things, like evergreens and birch trees. Why does this feel more like settling in, a sense of permanency in a house I have lived in already over twenty years? Yet it does. The putting down of real roots.

The rains of spring get me down a little, and I have to remind myself that it too has a place, to help all those plants and roots and animals to live. Our roof is a bit leaky though, and I cross my fingers and pray that it can hold out a bit longer and that a small fix will do the trick. It makes me think of that Mary Oliver poem, Making the House Ready for the Lord, although I hope more than anything that there are no small creatures living in my home, as much as I love them( although I might make an exception for a family of rabbits). It is enough that the rain has found its way in.

Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed but
still nothing is as shining as it should be
for you. Under the sink, for example, is an
uproar of mice — it is the season of their
many children. What shall I do? And under the eaves
and through the walls the squirrels
have gnawed their ragged entrances — but it is the season
when they need shelter, so what shall I do? And
the raccoon limps into the kitchen and opens the cupboard
while the dog snores, the cat hugs the pillow;
what shall I do? Beautiful is the new snow falling
in the yard and the fox who is staring boldly
up the path, to the door. And still I believe you will
come, Lord: you will, when I speak to the fox,
the sparrow, the lost dog, the shivering sea-goose, know
that really I am speaking to you whenever I say,
as I do all morning and afternoon: Come in, Come in.

Wyatt and I have our raincoats hanging on the hooks near the door, bright blue for him, green for me. Billy has a yellow one, but he has not yet brought it out, although he has worn his wellies a few times already. My boots still sit in the closet, waiting for the moment we go for a spring walk together after a rain, or for when I venture out into the yard finally to get it ready for homeschool outside and morning picnics on the grass, which is really clover not much grass. Soon Wyatt and I will be sitting on the porch too in the evenings, watching for Billy to pull up in front of the house after work. I am also looking forward to lighter, easier dinners! I love the comfort food of fall and winter, but by the time spring arrives, I am more than ready for more salads.

My reading too, gets lighter for the most part. I will read the occasional thriller on rainy days or weeks but I find myself reaching more for the fantastic, books filled with magic and whimsy and wonder and romance. I have my starting spring line up of authors and titles all ready!

And phew, that is enough from me! What about you all? How do you feel about spring? What are you looking forward to most?

Hello November!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Hello20 Comments

Ah November. As much as October is the start of cozy season and fall, November is the true start of snuggling down and getting comfortable. There is some sense of rushing about still in October, as we try to soak up all of the nice days as we can while we can, if you live somewhere that has changeable weather. October sun is almost the best sun, there is more of a golden honey warmth to it, a softness, and if you are like me you want to catch all of it that you can. November however, almost gives you permission to stay inside, with its gray skies, rain, much colder temperatures, and sometimes even snow. It invites you to drink your tea, read your book, stay safe and snug and warm. Much like a hobbit in his hole, I like to keep it cozy in November.

After a very busy October, I am looking forward to my November of cozytimes. I have my sewing projects all lined up, waiting to begin – or finish, in the case of my rabbit. I am sort of stuck and need Billy’s help with it so this weekend he is going to help me. He is such a man of many talents! Stef over at Stefmakesallthethings shared some really cool cross stitch designs from Max Pigeon and they are beautiful! I think I want to try one. I love sitting and stitching while listening to a podcast in the winter.

Billy and I also want to experiment with making our own pizzas this fall and winter, like really good pizza. We have been watching the British Baking Show and were inspired by the pizza challenge. I asked Billy to build a brick oven pizza in our yard but he declined for now. I guess we will just start with a pizza stone and our regular ol’ oven. I do want to try to make a cornmeal crust like at Mama Mia’s pizza in Mackinaw City. They used to have the coolest old building, filled with antiques and a museum dedicated to the bridge building and bridge builders – and fantastic pizza. Then that building burned down and they have a new building now and the charm is lost. Billy and I have a tradition of finding a local pizza place on every trip, and Mama Mia’s has always been my favorite. (His is from a pizza place in Savannah, I think the name was Mia’s? Amy’s?)

Our anniversary is this weekend too, and the weather is supposed to be sunny and beautiful, just like on the day we were married 22 years ago. We are leaving little man at my mom’s and heading out for a hike in the woods followed by an adult beverage or two and … tacos. I requested tacos, like good tacos. Real tacos. Jeez, I am all about food this morning!! It will be a nice time, it has been a long while since Billy and I have gone hiking alone.

This month, we also planned a family event with my brother Devin, SIL Chrissy, and niece – we are having a Hobbit day. It is still in the planning stages but we have a rough idea of what we are going to do that day. My favorite part of the plan is the backyard fire and cider in the evening but we have some neat ideas for the rest of the day too. Devin and Mermaid Girl had been reading The Hobbit together and she is a fan. I haven’t read it to Wyatt yet but he will have fun anyway. When I was a kid my cousin Brian and I used to listen to a very short version on book and record – I wonder if I can find something similar for Wyatt? Check out that 1970s goodness there! Apparently I can buy the book and record still but we don’t have a record player.

I will also be preparing for Christmas – I like to be done with my shopping so that in December I can focus on being with family and baking and all that stuff. We already bought tickets for the Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village in December and I like to make sure the month is more relaxed by having the things I can do now ahead of time, (from the comfort of my home since I am an online shopper) done. I have lists made up of who I buy for and some ideas, and already have some things for Wyatt squirreled away.

And speaking of Wyatt – he is a little restless so I am going to end this here!

Hello, March!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Hello, Uncategorized7 Comments

I am so excited for March! We are starting it out right too – this morning is Wyatt’s fifth birthday and we went on a little mini-vacation as a family. It’s been almost a year since we traveled anywhere and this little house we are staying in is so charming! Wyatt loves that there is a piano…

Today we plan on doing some hiking and visiting some new nature centers, then following it up with ice cream and dinner out. A great way to begin the month of the worm moon!

Then next weekend we have Wyatt’s family party, which should also be a blast, fingers crossed. And then of course, St. Patrick’s Day too! Our family is super Irish and St. Patrick’s Day is a good excuse to get together and eat food again.

This month is such a hopeful month for me usually – the beginning of spring, and so called the worm moon because this is the month that the little worms in the ground start wiggling their way up to the surface. We are going to start a worm composting farm this month, something I am not super excited about but Billy is. Lol. But it means spring really is on the way, soon we can be outside gardening, and in the sun, enjoying spring blooms after a winter of cold and gray. The birds will all be back, singing and chattering away in the mornings, and we will see the sunshine more. I am going to start all my seeds pretty soon, hopefully when we get home, and see their happy little faces popping up.

We also have a fun month ahead of us in Exploring Nature with Children – we have birds and their nests, spring ponds, spring equinox, and snails all ahead of us this month, and I love all of these things! Wyatt and I jump started our bird week last week, reading about and even making a few birds nests together! We had a blast. Snails should be particularly fun, at least for us, since we do have our own little snail, Sampson.

We have a pretty simple month ahead, but one full of promise of spring. But for now, I am going to go celebrate with my big time five year old!

Hello February!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Hello16 Comments

After what felt like the longest January ever, it is finally February! And it snowed! We have been waiting forever for a real winter walk with gently falling snow and we finally got one. My hair smelled like a cold winter woods, Billy had snow all in his beard and eyelashes and Wyatt’s little cheeks were so rosy. It was a great hike.

I am pretty excited for this month, we have some fun things lined up! Tomorrow we are celebrating Candlemas with my brother, and if I can find beeswax sheets, try our hand at making candles. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner too, with Wyatt’s classroom party and our own family celebrations. And I think Billy and I might go out on a date night too! It’s been a minute since we have done that. Wyatt is also having a little party with his cousin’s, thrown by cousin at his house. I think it will be the start of a fun new tradition. So lots of Valentine’s love happening around here!

Then later this month my brother is having our whole family over for a UK themed potluck dinner. We all have to pick a traditional dish from somewhere in the UK (England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) and bring it. I can’t tell you how super excited I am about this! Our ancestry is heavily from the UK (my DNA test came back roughly 90% from these four countries, with the most being Irish) I am second and third generation American on all sides, so we grew up eating a lot of traditional English food. I remember the first time I cut Wyatt’s toast into strips and called them soldiers, my husband was so confused! My mom always cut my toast into soldiers so that is what I called them too – I didn’t know that this was not a universal term. I am probably not taking toast to the dinner though. I am considering Cullen Skink just because I like saying the name. I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else brings as well. It should be a fun event, one to look forward to in this sometimes dreary month. If anyone has any suggestions as to what I should take, I would love to hear them!

We are also going to be talking a lot together this month about snow, worms, and evergreens as part of our Exploring Nature with Children curriculum, although I am considering saving worms for next month, when it will be the worm moon. If I do skip it, I might focus on squirrels and possums, both of which live around our house. We have been having a great time this year, learning together with this program.

We will also be continuing work on my office. This room has long been neglected and we really need to get it done and make it useful. January was super busy but this month we are going to be ants instead of grasshoppers and work on some home projects. Billy and I have a tendency to adventure more than work on things, but sometimes you have to just do them. Lol. I am also going to try my hand at embroidery this month! I have been on a crafting binge lately, trying all different sorts and having fun with them all. I have never been great at sewing though, so fingers crossed for me!

How about you guys? Any big plans for the month?