Our Cozy Little Life Update .. and a Mystery!

On May 14, 2025May 14, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

So, in my mind I view these updates as different from my Coffee Catch Ups. I feel like in my coffee catch up posts, I focus on the big events. In these, which are more rare, I feel like I share more about the smaller, more everyday, the little things in our lives. What we are doing for joy, the small things, our hobbies. I don’t know if that is what actually happens in these posts, but that is what I aim for.

One thing I have been doing is baking more. With prices at the grocery store getting higher, I have been trying to figure out ways to change our eating habits, by making more and buying less processed versions. I obviously don’t have time to make scratch versions of everything we eat- that would be a fulltime job all on its own, I think. But I have started with some easy, quick things. For one, I “make” my own granola to put on yogurt. That is super simple! Just some oats, maple syrup, honey, cinnamon, whatever bits you want to put in it, and then pop it in the oven for a little bake. I eat this almost everyday for lunch!

I have also been making Wyatt’s beloved granola bars. He loves Kind bars, which are a bit pricey. So I searched online for something to make in place of them. I didn’t find an exact replacement, but I found a recipe for crumbly jam bars that looked interesting so I went for it. The first batch I made was half jam, half plain, because Wyatt is a picky kid with plain tastes. Much like his mother was as a child and still sort of is as an adult. He was not a fan of the version with jam in the middle, but loved the plain version. Mine look like sawdust blocks honestly, but they are so good! They are have this brown buttery caramely oaty taste. I can’t describe it exactly, but they are very good. Even Billy, who is not a fan of that sort of thing, will sneak one now and again. The best thing about them is they only use 8 ingredients and take half an hour tops to make! Some of the ingredients were a bit more up front, but when added up compared to buying actual granola bars it is still cheaper overall, because I can make so many with the ingredients. There is no refined sugar in them either, and while the coconut sugar really isn’t that much better for you, it does have a lower glycemic index so I tell myself they are better. This is the recipe that I use, although I do mix it up a bit.

These are the berry oat bars from the blog The Oven Light. The only things that I do differently are using different flour (I use a white wheat flour), and omit the jam since Wyatt likes them better without. They are super simple and take me no time at all to whip up for the week.

We have also been making our own cookies. I found an awesome recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and it makes so many cookies that we freeze the dough in small bunches to use later.

Later this week or maybe the weekend, whenever I have time, I am going to try making English muffin bread, since we only really eat bread in the morning as toast, and also a different cookie I found last night on Pinterest. They are honey pistachio cookies, and they sound fantastic! Wyatt loves pistachios, and eats them as a snack everyday. I think I will sub the sugar in the recipe with coconut sugar since we like it in the bars. This recipe is from Recipe Yumm.

I have also been keeping up with my embroidery, and with my coloring. I love to sit and color in my cute little book with my new markers while Wyatt paints with his paint sticks. I love these darn paint sticks. Wyatt loves to paint and wants to paint every day – and sometimes it is just a darn mess and a pain to do all the brushes and different paint and water, and well you get it. So on days where I just want it to be simple, he uses the paint sticks. He loves them – and so do I. It’s a very relaxing activity, to sit quietly and paint and color and listen to music. I have my tea, he has his water. I love the simple coloring books best. I don’t want complicated. We watch a YouTuber sometimes who reviews adult coloring books – I can’t remember her name but I will update this when I remember it, or look it up.

Cozy Spaces || Alcohol Markers || Paint Sticks

And then this week, inspired by both Jeanie from Marmalade Gypsy and Lisa from Boondock Ramblings, I have gotten back into my genealogy! I have found out a lot of information, including a little mystery! I had started my family tree a long time ago, before most of this stuff was online, and had a tree of names and was working slowly on sending away for the proof. Well, I was in my early twenties and soon lost interest. I saved everything though, like the little goblin I am, and pull it out every so often and look at it, and dabble. This week though I have gone a little nuts with it. And then I found some information that is super confusing!

Ok so, let me lay this out. My dad’s great-grandmother, Marie, married his great-grandfather, Alexander “Sandy” Walker in 1905. She lists her name as Marie Domaine, and her parents names as James Domaine and Josephine Bernard from France, although they supposedly lived in Pennsylvania, where Marie lived. However, I can only find one of these names, Josephine Bernard. In the 1900 census, a Josephine Bernard, born in France, and her daughter Marie, also born in France (in the same year that our Marie Domaine was born), worked as a housekeeper for a widower named James Cadamore. Josephine was also listed as a widower. Then I find Josephine Bernard later, married to James Cadamore. I find nothing of Marie Domaine or that last name, and no James Domaine. The area is the exact same, the same city in Allegheny county, they have to be the same people, right? But where did the Domaine come from? Did Marie leave home and create a new identity? Lisa suggested that Domaine is her biological father’s name, who if she is the Marie in the census, was born in Belgium. What is the story here? The dates and location and most of the names fit – just that Domaine is weird. What do you all think?

And this is it from me today! I am off to find some more coffee. I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile, my friends!

And don’t forget, we have drop in crafternoons! Our next one is May 24th. If you are interested in dropping by, send me an email at crackercrumblife@gmail.com!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On May 9, 2025May 9, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized16 Comments

Hello everyone! Have you ever had those mornings where the coffee just hits perfectly? That is my morning coffee today. I don’t even know what I am drinking today, it is just good.

It was a bit of a week this week! I think our weeks are going to be like this for a while, while we are in the run-up to Wyatt’s surgery. Just a lot of different appointments and phone calls and arranging equipment, and so on. And if any of you have dealt with insurance companies, you know how many hoops you need to jump through first, and the amount of phone calls you need to make! However, it does look like things are starting to all come together, and as a person who needs things prepared and ready, I am starting to at least feel better on that front!

I made a joke yesterday that my whole week has been spent between doctors appointments and the fish store, because it has. Who knew this new fish tank would give me (and Billy) such a headache! It is our first community tank so it is a learning curve. We had a few losses right away, because our parameters were off, but we have been diligently doing 75% water changes almost daily and running up to the store for water tests. We have three lemon Tetra, that we named the Lemon Sisters, two albino African dwarf frogs who have had a few different names, we can’t settle on any, and one Khuli loaches. Once our water is perfect (and we are soooo close!) we are adding two more loaches because they prefer to live in a group. I read that they will actually die of loneliness if they are the only one in a tank! Ours should be ok since it won’t be that long of a wait – I asked Sam at the fish store to make sure! It seems like our little frog likes it though, and they hang out together. So maybe the loach doesn’t feel so lonely. That group needs a name too. If anyone has any name suggestions for the frogs and loaches, I would love to hear them! (and I snuck a photo of Wyatt’s favorite fish, Moon, into the group here, even though he lives on his own)

Wyatt and I also went for a stroll and browse through my favorite nursery the other day. I still haven’t given up on my plan to plant a tree or trees in my yard. I had originally wanted to plant birch trees, but with the new ramp I don’t think it will work. So I am thinking maybe a Japanese Willow now? I also liked the look of the Whipcord Red Cedar, but that might be a bit much too, lol. Wyatt found the name “Crabapple” tree hysterical, and laughed about the whole time we were there. I did buy two little rue plants to put on the deck, as a small offering to the butterflies.

Last night we had Cub Scouts!! It was a very chill, easy meeting this time, with the kids working on windchimes to hang in the yards. I would have said they were for their mother’s as gifts, but in our group, the mothers are there with their children and helped them make them. Our little pack is getting so close and it makes me so happy. Wyatt even allowed one of the other kids to push him in his wheelchair, which is unusual! He usually only lets family do that, so Billy and I were happily surprised at that development! Wyatt was playing, and with someone other than his cousins! He was slightly apprehensive, I could tell by his face, but his desire to play was greater than his apprehension. Progress!!

The kids all seemed to have a good time designing their wind chimes, choosing the best and most “aesthetic” beads as one little girl kept saying, and putting them together. The parents all seemed relaxed (even me!) and it was just a fun night.

Next month we have a few things lined up- a fishing derby, a meeting, and then the kids are helping my church pack bag lunches to hand out free to the community.

I even had an outing, all on my own! The clinic where Wyatt has therapy hosts a Mother’s Day event every year, and it so fun to go too. This year it was Kentucky Derby themed, and we had to dress up a bit and wear hats or fascinators. They had games, good food, prizes, and lots of togetherness. We all shared our wins for the past year, and there were some tears among us moms of special needs kids, feeling the hardships and pain, but also celebrating the wins, big or small.

And then that was our week! It was a week of ups and downs, but I think that is what life is, isn’t it? A series of ups and downs? We enjoy those up moments, and then rally together for the hard ones.

And I will say goodbye for today! I hope that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile!

Springtime in Paris: Charade

On May 8, 2025May 8, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized10 Comments

Hello everyone!! Welcome to week six of our Paris film journey! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I wanted fun and whimsy and beauty this spring, and although an actual trip to Paris in the spring would be better, a film journey will have to do.

This was our final week viewing movies set in Paris, and I feel like we saw six very different stories. It was fantastic, and I had so much fun!

Our final movie was Charade, starring Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant.

I was very excited about this movie! I love both of these actors, and I could not wait to see them on screen together. I didn’t know what to expect at all, and I can guarantee you had I thought about it, I would never have imagined this movie and dynamic.

First, let’s see how Rotten Tomatoes sums it up. “After Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) falls for the dashing Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) on a skiing holiday in the French Alps, she discovers upon her return to Paris that her husband has been murdered. Soon, she and Peter are giving chase to three of her late husband’s World War II cronies, Tex (James Coburn), Scobie (George Kennedy) and Gideon (Ned Glass), who are after a quarter of a million dollars the quartet stole while behind enemy lines. But why does Peter keep changing his name?”

Hmm where to begin! First, this cast was pretty spectacular. Besides our two leads, we have Walter Matthau, James Coburn, and George Kennedy. I don’t think I had ever seen any of those men young before so that was interesting in itself! James Coburn was terrifying, honestly, as Tex. There was a scene where he had Hepburn’s character, Reggie, trapped, and was flicking lit matches at her and it was very creepy! It was a well shot scene, and Coburn played menacing very well.

This movie was crazy and all over the place and I liked the chaos. Hepburn and Grant meet while she is on vacation in the Alps, and they have a strange conversation about divorce and views and are they now friends, etc. She has already stated that she is planning to divorce her husband, as neither of them love each other, so when she returns home and learns her husband is dead, she is not super upset over it. She is a bit confused, as she doesn’t know why anyone would want to kill him, or why he would have chosen to sell everything in their apartment, or where the money from that sale is. Which is the point of the movie. Just where is that money, because everyone wants it.

Hepburn’s character is that of a cute little imp, slightly scattered and irreverent, silly, yet she has a pretty important job as a simultaneous translator. She meets with all of these different men, Walter Matthau of the CIA, Jacques Marin of the Paris police (who was also in How to Steal a Million), the men who knew her husband during the war, and while she takes them seriously, there is also an air of.. je ne sais quoi about her. She is hard to describe and summarize, which I enjoyed.

She cracked me up in her pursuit of Grant’s character. It was very cheeky on her part, and he seemed to do his best to hold her at bay, in his own goofy way. I read online that this was Grant’s last role as a leading man, as he felt weird about the age gap, and that they actually changed the script around so that Hepburn was chasing Grant, rather than Grant chasing Hepburn. They felt it would be more palatable to the viewers. There is one scene where Hepburn “traps” Grant in her hotel room by trickery, and that scene might have been slightly off putting if done differently. First, if Grant had done that to her, it would have come off very differently to the audience; in this scene though, it was more like two kids playing, and that was because of how the two treated it. Hepburn slammed the door shut and laughed and Billy and I had a chuckle because it reminded us of The Count Van Count from Sesame Street laughing, and the expression on her face was very open and just like it seemed, like “ha ha ha”. Grant’s character took it in stride and handled the whole thing in a very goofy way as well, by showering in his suit.

I thought their dynamic was just so playful and friendly in this movie. I think it was obvious that the two enjoyed each other’s company in a platonic way, that they were just good friends having a lark, and that this was all good fun for them. I enjoyed just watching the two of them interact much more than I cared about where the money was or who the killer was or figuring out the mystery.

The two remained friends throughout their lives. I found this on the Christie’s website, and it just seems so perfect.

Hepburn and Grant met for the first time in a Paris restaurant just before filming began on Charade, introduced by their mutual friend and director Stanley Donen. Audrey, admitting she was terribly nervous, knocked over a bottle of red wine, staining Grant’s cream suit. Donen wrote the funny incident into the film, when Hepburn as Reggie accidentally tosses a scoop of ice cream onto Grant’s jacket. Like all Hepburn’s leading men, with the possible exception of Bogart, Grant was instantly charmed by her, telling a reporter after filming All I want for Christmas is another movie with Audrey Hepburn.

As evidenced in Grant’s playful letter, the co-stars remained affectionate friends. Years after Grant’s death in 1986, Hepburn reminisced Cary – such a lovely souvenir in my life… He had me down flat the minute he met me. I think he understood me better than I did myself.

And I have wandered a bit away from the movie itself, but that is ok, right?

And that my friends, is a wrap on Springtime in Paris! I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have. Thank you to everyone who has commented and watched and posted along with us! I have enjoyed reading your thoughts on these movies!!

Did you watch? What do you think of this movie? Feel free to comment and/or link up with us!

Thank you again everyone!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On May 4, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized35 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello everyone! Our week was pretty good. We had some ups and downs but overall, pretty good. Wyatt and I had a nice routine week, we had some fun moments, we refreshed some of our fish tanks, we saw some cousins – those were all good. I had some news about my mom that was not so great, and is causing me some anxiety, but I am hoping and praying for a solution.

What I am Reading:

I didn’t finish anything last week, but I did start reading two books. Then Friday the book I was waiting for came in, so I am going to start that one too. So I guess I am reading a few books this week.

I hope to finish A Prayer for the Crown Shy today at some point. I am also enjoying Budde’s book How We Learn to Be Brave.

Posted Last Week:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Featuring the word “Night” in the Title

Springtime in Paris: The Intouchables

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

What We Are Watching:

We have been pretty much collapsing into bed after full days over here, so not much television has been happening. We did watch The Brokenwood Mysteries, Beyond Paradise, and The Wheel of Time.

In addition we have been watching our Springtime in Paris movies! Last week was The Intouchables, which was such a feel good movie. If you need a pick me up, watch this one.

This week we will watch our final movie in our six week Springtime in Paris journey. I will be sad to say goodbye! It was such a fun little movie watching challenge. We are ending things with Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, and I am very excited to watch it.

Online Things Happening:

While we are wrapping up Springtime in Paris, Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are still hosting our Drop In Crafternoons once a month. Lisa and I have been hosting crafternoons for fellow bloggers on Zoom since January, and it has been so fun. It is nice to meet the person behind the blog, hear their voices, and share more stories – all while we work on whatever craft we choose! There is no right or wrong activity, you don’t even need to craft if you don’t want to. Just hang out, that is fine too!

I have also started adding downloadable, printable children’s birthday invitations to my Etsy store, Fox and Firth. I have been trying to create three a day and adding them, so keep checking back as the inventory is constantly growing!

And that is about it from me today! I hope that you are all are feeling happy and loved, and do something today that makes you smile!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On May 2, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Hello everyone!! I hope you are having a good week. We have had a mostly relaxing week, which has been refreshing after the two months of crazy we went through. Next week we have a bunch of appointments again, but this week was a nice reprieve.

A week ago Friday we had Wyatt’s preop appointment. This is the first time we have had a planned surgery with Wyatt and it feels so different. All of his previous surgeries have been emergency and I didn’t have time to think about them. They just sort of happened while I was in a state of shock. This one I have months to perseverate on it – however that also gives me time to prepare everything. I had a lot of questions, about bathing and recovery time and the length of the surgery (3 hours) and just all sorts of things. I think the surgeon was slightly amused at my notebook of questions and comments, and at one point I mentioned something about Wyatt, and my dramatic son who likes to troll me, was acting out what I asked about. The doctor had a chuckle and looked at me smiling and said “Your son is messing with you,” and I was like, yeah, I know he does that all the time. Because Wyatt does like to mess me with me, the turkey. When the doctor walked out at the end of the appointment he ruffled Wyatt’s hair and said “Don’t give your mom too much trouble.” It made me feel better in a way – he seems very stoic and quiet, the surgeon, but he picked up on Wyatt’s personality very quickly. It was reassuring, to have Wyatt be seen like that.

Afterwards we treated ourselves to a trip to a French-Asian bakery in Ann Arbor. If you are ever in the area, you must visit. It was the best pick-me-up to follow that appointment. We went to Tous les Jours, which is near Jackson Road, and Schuler’s Books, if you want to combine a visit to a fantastic bakery and a bookstore. Just saying. Anyway, my brother Devin, SIL Chrissy, and the girls (Mermaid and Hurricane) went out there few weeks ago and told us that we needed to go. When I saw that it was a hop skip and a jump from the hospital, I was like perfect.

There was so much to choose from! It is definitely a place where you want one of everything. When you walk in, it is a nice spacious room with tables on one side, and baked goods on the other. Some of it is self-serve, and some of the treats are in bakery cases at the front, things like the macarons and cakes. We started with the self-serve, obviously, and may have gone a little crazy. They just had so many options! Chestnut bread, strawberry croissants, ube cream donuts, taro cream bread, apple caramel pie, different warm croissants like ham and cheese or garlic and cheese – literally too many things to name. We chose to buy a variety and share them among the three of us, each of us picking out things out. Wyatt picked a chocolate cream filled donut, and accidentally touched a shrimp kimchi cake in the process so we got that too, I picked a caramel apple pie pastry, Billy wanted the ham and cheese croissant based on Devin’s recommendation. Then we also added a milk cream red bean bread, cranberry cream cheese bread (these are like little buns), a blueberry bun, and two macarons, a pistachio flavored one for Wyatt and lemon for Billy.

We all had our special pick in the car on the way home since we had gone to the office super early and needed to eat still. Billy and I loved ours; Wyatt did not like his at all. It was very fluffy airy chocolate and it exploded all over him when he bit into it and he hated that. The only thing he actually liked was his macaron. I think he was wary of the other pastries after his chocolate experience. We also tried the cranberry cream cheese bread thinking Wyatt might like that; he didn’t, but I think under different circumstances he would. Billy and I loved that too. Big surprise. Lol. Billy said though that the best thing was the shrimp kimchi cake that we bought because Wyatt accidentally touched it, so that turned out to be a good thing!

Then, on Sunday, we had my mom, Devin, Chrissy, and the girls over to celebrate my mother’s birthday. It was a nice time – my mom just gets such a kick out of the kids. It was good to see her smile and laugh. She has gotten very frail everyone, and I hate it. It’s hard to watch your parents age. Just why did it seem to happen so fast and all of a sudden? It was nice having her here though, and the kids had a lot of fun playing. Hurricane had me running all over the house. She will come up and very seriously take your hand and lead you off somewhere to play. For some reason she was intrigued by my bedroom that night. I guess there is a lot to see in there. It’s sort of messy.

And then, gloriously, Wyatt and I had a slow week. We will be running again next week, but this week was nice and slow, and we needed that.

Here are just some random pics from our week!

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

Springtime in Paris: The Intouchables

On May 1, 2025May 1, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Hello everyone!! Welcome to week five of our Paris film journey! Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I wanted fun and whimsy and beauty this spring, and although an actual trip to Paris in the spring would be better, a film journey will have to do. We are having great fun, and hope you will journey along with us!

This week, we watched The Intouchables!

First, a quick summary of the movie from Rotten Tomatoes: “After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caretaker, and an unlikely friendship forms.”

I was hesitant about watching this movie for many reasons. I was afraid of it being “disability inspiration porn”, for one. In case you have never heard this term, it was coined by an Australian disability activist, Stella Young, and is defined as “the objectifying of disabled people as models of inspiration for able-bodied people simply because they are disabled. Inspiration porn reminds able-bodied people that no matter how bad your life may be, you could have it worse, implying the negative connotation that disabled people struggle through life and suffer constantly. ” I am happy to report, this movie was not disability inspiration porn.

I was also hesitant about watching it because my own son is a wheelchair user, which comes with its own set of emotional hang-ups, and some of these were actually touched on in the movie, but in a very sensitive and accurate way. In fact, a large part of the movie revolved around some of them, particularly being viewed with pity. Which is sort of like inspiration porn I guess, but this was just more personal, and less grandiose. Just the everyday type things – like do doctors and nurses greet Wyatt, or just speak through me? Do people talk to him like a baby, or like he isn’t there? The answer to these questions, are yes, sometimes those things happen. And let me tell you, Wyatt gives spectacular side eye. He looks at me like, “Mom, what the heck?”

However, this movie transcended my expectations, and overcame my hesitations with its thoughtfulness and consideration.

Phillipe is rich. He is a rich quadriplegic, and he even acknowledges how that does make his life a bit easier. He goes through caregivers and assistants quickly. He is full care, but has perfect cognitive abilities. His brain, his mind, anything above the neck, was not damaged in his fall. He is a man of culture – music, art, he is surrounded by fine things, a beautiful home, servants. And juxtaposed against him we have Driss. A young man in the peak of his life, healthy, strong, in shape, yet living in a situation that is less than ideal. He is living in a crowded apartment with his family, with zero privacy, and all sorts of his own troubles, including a criminal record.

On the surface, these two men could not be more different. However, they both have a capacity to listen. To learn. To try different things, even if they seem weird or embarrassing. They learn from each other, and while it should feel like Phillipe has the upper hand as an employer, or that Driss should because he has the able body, there is no upper hand. Not really. Both men are in a position where they need the other. Driss needs what Phillipe can give him – a job, stability, a place to live and take a bath without a bathroom full of children and being crunched up in a tub. A purpose. And Phillipe needs Driss, for his very lack of pity. As Phillipe says, Driss hands him the phone when it rings, because he forgets. How refreshing that must have felt to him. Driss does things that probably were unthinkable to others – he helps Phillipe smoke weed, which helps to reduce the pain he still feels, even if it is phantom. It causes him to panic, to need air, to get out. And Driss provides that for him, in a way that is not belittling. He takes him for walks in Paris at night, something Phillipe comments on, that he has not seen Paris by night for ages.

Driss and Phillipe also share their likes and dislikes, like friends. Phillipe shares his love of art with Driss, Driss shares his love of Earth, Wind, and Fire. Yes, Earth, Wind, and Fire. It’s a give and take relationship. One that pushes and challenges equally.

And that is the key here for me. Equally. As equals. Friends. And that is why I loved this movie and it transcended my fears.

It also had some very just plain joyful scenes, including a fun dance scene, which I love in a movie. I love to dance, even though I am terrible. I would have been on that dance floor in a hot second!

I absolutely 100% loved this movie. So far, for me, the movies we have chosen have been so spectacular, and this was no exception. One reason I love pairing up with Lisa for our movie journeys is because we both have such different tastes, and this pushes us too, to watch things that we normally would never probably watch. And honestly, I almost always love what she chooses. And this one knocked it out of the park.

I should also mention, this movie is based on a true story! I am sure Lisa and Cat will share all the deets with you guys, they are so good at that.

Did you watch? What do you think of this movie? Feel free to comment and link up with us! You can find Lisa’s post here!

And just like that, we have one movie left! We were supposed to have a Zoom group watch, but due to life situations for both of us right now, we had to cancel that this time around. I apologize for the late notice. However, if you watch Charade starring Audrey Hepburn, please feel free to post on May 8th with us! Or after, or whenever. We are flexible!!

Quick Springtime in Paris Update

On April 30, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Just a quick update:

The scheduled zoom group watch for Charade is canceled due to different circumstances. However, we still will be posting our thoughts on the 8th!

Thanks for understanding!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books with “Night” in the Title

On April 29, 2025May 18, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized63 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s prompt: Books with _____ in the title.

I chose the word “night” for this challenge! And, I sort of played it loose – I included a title even if a word had night in it.

Endless Night by Agatha Christie was one of the first I read when I started reading her books. I still haven’t read them all, there are so many and I tend to hop skip around genres and authors when reading. This book just kept surprising me!

The next two are books I recently added to my TBR, despite their own vintage ages. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers and Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I can’t believe I haven’t read Tender is the Night honestly, I went through a whole phase where I was reading his work. I saw both of these on the Goodreads 100 years of beloved books list.

Karen White always writes a good book, in my opinion. The Night the Lights Went Out is one of my favorites.

Half Spent Was the Night by Ami McKay is the second in the Witches of New York series and is set during Yule. I read it in the weird limbo time between Christmas and New Year and it was the perfect read.

Middle of the Night by Riley Sager is still sitting on my TBR. I am not sure when I will read it, as it is about a ten year old boy going missing, and I have a ten year old boy. Not sure I can emotionally handle that!

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff was such a good read!! I read it after my husband told me I needed to read it, and was so drawn into this world. However, the end was not to my liking and so I never read on! **So I have learned that Jay Kristoff is a problematic author, something I was not aware of prior to posting. He has shown racism toward Black people, Jewish people, Asian people, and people with disabilities, and I wanted to add that up here. **

You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight by Kaylynn Bayron (whom I love) is a YA horror and if you like that sort of thing, I definitely recommend it for “summerween” for some summer camp horror.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is another series that my husband and I read together. I ;oved this little novellla, Night of Cake and Puppets. This story of Mik and Zuzana was so adorable and I just loved everything about it! I will say I was all in on this series for a while, and even made goulash and lavender honey bread because of it. I reviewed it over on my old blog here.

Lucy Foley’s The Midnight Feast was one of my favorite reads last year! I just loved the whole concept and idea of it, and the surprises involved!

And I feel like I flew through this post this time!

I am excited to see what everyone else picked as their word!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On April 27, 2025April 27, 2025 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

Hello everyone! Last week Wyatt and I took a break for spring and it was a very busy, very full, very fun week. I might still be recovering from all the activity! Today is my mom’s birthday party, and then I am not making anymore plans for this week. We need a break from our break, and by break I mean getting back to our routine!

Read Last Week:

I started two nonfiction books last week, and have been reading through them slowly. They are very different, and I am enjoying them both. One thing they have in common though, is that they both focus on how we view ourselves and our bodies and even how we keep house, and how we have been influenced to always regard ourselves as coming up short, how wrinkles or a few extra pounds or dishes in the sink can sometimes trigger negative thoughts about ourselves. I actually really didn’t know what either of them were about when I got them – I loved the cover of Women Living Deliciously so I picked it up, and then I’ve seen the book about keeping house around and thought I would read through it, since Wyatt’s surgery is coming up soon. I will be very busy for at least a month afterward caring for him and I thought this book might be a good read in preparation for that time.

Reading This Week:

This week I will still be reading my two nonfiction books, but adding in a fiction book too.

I am behind on this series. It seems like a good time to catch up!

Posted Last Week:

Springtime in Paris: Hugo

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Watching:

We are watching a few different things. We recently finished up Our Flag Means Death, which we both enjoyed for its silliness, and we are also watching The Wheel of Time S3. We also started the new Brokenwood Mysteries. I wait so long for each season and I really love it.

Wyatt and I also are watching our YouTubers at night. We watch a video, read a book, then he goes to bed. Wyatt would love to have his own booktube channel, but that feels weird to me, for many reasons. However, I do wonder if it would help him to use his words more, because they are in there and we need to just encourage him to use them. Lisa at Boondock Ramblings mentioned that I could make a private channel or just share with specific people, so I am considering that. Maybe as his surprise after surgery, we can try one.

Anyway. Lately we have been watching a few different people, in addition to book people as he calls them.

In order, left to right: Real Vintage Doll House, Jay Lee Painting, and Plant Based Bride.

Real Vintage Doll House is a fun, realistic look at someone who enjoys vintage but also does not live it constantly. She has a job in the medical field, so her love of a vintage life is only part of her life, and I like that. She has a house that is circa 1940s and is so cute and apparently very small. She dresses vintage, keeps pigeons which I love, and has very interesting videos about British history mixed in.

Jay Lee Painting is just what you think – he shares different painting techniques and they are just calming and inspiring to watch.

Plant Based Bride is a booktuber. I love her videos, she has very in depth reviews, that are well thought out. I think she is interesting because she often does not like books that are getting a lot of love on YouTube or TikTok, and I like hearing another perspective.

And of course, we are watching our Springtime in Paris movies! We just watched Hugo, which I thought led to some great discussions and reviews. Next up we are watching The Intouchables!

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

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On April 25, 2025April 25, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized13 Comments

Hello everyone!! I am writing this on Thursday but am publishing it on Friday morning. We have an early morning visit to the doctor for his pre-op appointment so we will be gone in the morning. Then we are treating ourselves to a little shopping trip at the French-Japanese bakery near the hospital. I think we will all need a little pick me up after that appointment.

Wyatt and I had spring break this week. It was unintended but, I think it was needed. We have had a great week, and it all started really on Easter weekend, on Saturday when my cousin hosted a small get together for Wyatt, Mermaid Girl, Hurricane, and Brian’s (my cousin) girls, Chloe and Hannah. He had 32 eggs boiled and ready to go, with little set ups for dyeing. He had pizza ordered. He had cookies for the kids to eat. His mom, my Aunt Barb, was a wonderful hostess and she would be so proud of Brian for his get togethers that he puts together. We all want our kids to grow up together, like we did. I dyed Easter eggs when I was this age in this very same room, with Brian, so it was very nostalgic.

On Sunday, we did the Easter things! We had Mediterranean food at my MIL’s house, which was delicious, then later we went to my brother’s for Easter dinner. He had made a ham and we all brought the sides. I made a sugar snap pea and radish salad, Billy made sourdough, and I included a picture of Chrissy’s hot cross buns because they were fantastic. I shoved one in my purse to take home to have with coffee on Monday morning (and it was the best idea ever). I want to add, I do have two other nieces that I mention sometimes – I don’t show them due to their parents request, which is fine. I just always feel really bad leaving them out! They are very sweet girls as well. I love all of my little nieces! They are Billy’s brother’s girls.

On Tuesday, Wyatt and I went to the zoo with friends we made through this blog (yes!) and through Cub Scouts. We had such a good time. I loved Wyatt being able to do an activity with a new friend, although they didn’t actually interact much. They will though, in their own ways, eventually! It’s what I wanted for him, when I set out to find community for Wyatt last year, and it makes my heart so full.

We had the best weather too. It was sunny and 60 degrees, and the animals seemed to enjoy it as well, as they were all out and about. Even the wolves were out, sleeping in the sun. Shawnna and I talked about the poor polar bear. I am sure they do a good job with them, but, we couldn’t help but feel bad for it. It is not even close to being the amount of room they roam in the wild – which also led me to thinking about their loss of habitat due to global warming. I mean it was Earth Day after all. I cry every time I see things about polar bears, even though I would never ever want to meet one on a an ice flow.

Anyway, we had so much fun. I can’t wait for our next outing!! Shawnna and Z. are homeschoolers too, which is awesome – and both of our families like to get up and go early, not something that is easily found!

Wednesday, Wednesday, what did we do? Oh. It was not the most fun of days. I had a doctor’s appointment, just a regular check up for meds and stuff, and my doctor was very pleased with me! I have white coat hypertension (and regular hypertension!) and I had a normal blood pressure while I was there. It was amazing. That never happens. My previous doctor would yell at me though when I had a high reading and my current doctor is actually a caring and empathetic person who does not, which I think makes a difference. I can’t believe how much happier and healthier I am after switching to her. A good doctor makes all the difference. Then Wyatt had therapy that afternoon, as is his normal, and then we followed that up with a trip to the pet store. We had Wyatt’s favorite pet in the whole house, Moon, his red betta (for those of you know who know our fish journey, this is Moon #3) in my office over the winter and Wyatt was ready to move him back to the den. This was an involved process, that required us to shift a few other tanks around as well, so I had to pick up a few supplies. We also lingered, looking at the animals they had in there too, although I didn’t bring any new creatures home. This little ferret was very entertaining!

Thursday, Wyatt went to work with Billy in the morning for Take Your Child to Work Day, and I found myself wandering my house trying to figure out what to do. I didn’t want to do any work, because I had free time so I should be using it for me, I guess, but it all just felt weird. I ended up reading outside and it was really nice. Then I picked Wyatt up from “work” and we went shopping for some summer clothes and then for ice cream. It was a pretty awesome day.

I asked Wyatt what he was typing on the computer, and he told me he was looking up books. I can get behind that. He also told me his dad talks a lot at work. That is also believable. He loved going to work with his dad. He was so excited to go, and he was afraid that Billy was going to leave without him for a minute and panicked. Then he talked about going to work all day after I picked him up. I am so happy that they had that experience together. Wyatt was also excited that they made him a name badge.