10 on the 10th!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized17 Comments

The first 10 on the 10 of the year! This one is more freeform and I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else writes!

10 on the 10th is hosted by Marsha at Marsha in the Middle!

The opportunities are endless, aren’t they, when you stop and think about it. But now, what do I want to accomplish, learn, master, create, etc.?

Make time for hand sewing again.

I love the quietness of this activity, just sitting quietly, stitching away. I am not a very good hand stitcher, and I have had to ask Billy more than once to fix something I have hopelessly tangled, but for me it is about the act and not the finished product. I have a few WIP sitting around here that I need to get back to, including my giant rabbit and also my learn to embroider kit. Lol.

Take more walks, even if I am alone.

I started taking solo walks during Christmas break, whenever I could squeeze one in when Billy was home. They were so good for my soul and probably my health too. I don’t mind the cold if I dress right so I will walk in any weather – except cold rain. No thanks to that. And sometimes you spot something crazy on a walk – like the pig I saw in a backyard in my suburban neighborhood on Christmas Eve. Billy refused to believe me so we had to keep driving by until we spotted it again. And we did!

Reset, Reorganize, and Just Plain Get Rid of Stuff

We have too much stuff sitting around in boxes in our basement, and I want to clear out the things we no longer want or need. I started over this past weekend, listing sets of books by author and a lamp on our city’s Buy Nothing Group on Facebook. It makes me feel so much better to get rid of things by giving them away this way, to people who need it. The lamp shown below went to a woman who wants to make a Minecraft torch light for her son. I am super excited to see the finished product!

Also, a few rooms really took a hit during Christmas, and I need to get in there and just put everything back in order. We also plan to redo Wyatt’s room very soon – we have almost everything but the mattress! I am trying to find a good one in our budget and I put my dad on the job, consulting Consumer Reports for us. Lol. 

Get my Unit Study Business Going

I started this before the holidays but then things got crazy with Wyatt and with the holidays that it got put on the backburner. I need to make sure I work on them at least once a week. My unit studies will focused on art and literature and experiential learning. I have two done, but so many more to go. Lol. My current project is the Monet in Winter unit that I am building while Wyatt and I actually work on it together this month, testing it all out.

And I am not going to make it to 10! I can make it to five though.

Podcast with Lisa from Boondock Ramblings

Lisa and I would love to start some sort of podcast/live, something, where we could sit and drink tea and chat together about books and movies and whatever else we come up with. We want to keep it positive, and you guessed it, comfy cozy. This is not its name or logo, but something I made as a placeholder, and a visual reminder that this is something I really want us to get off the ground this year.

And for now, that is enough, I think. Looking forward to reading what everyone else is up to!

Thinking Ahead to Spring

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn garden11 Comments

About this time of year, I start planning out our garden. This year though, we are doing something a little different.

I’m going to be honest. When I started gardening, it was something special I did with my Uncle Art, and since he has been gone, some of the joy has gone out of it for me. So this year, I am mixing things up. Instead of a vegetable garden and a wild and carefree flower bed, I am going completely the other direction. Well, not completely. I will never be a formal gardens type person. However, the vegetables are out this year. I am just not growing them. And my wild flower garden is going to be tamed, both in the front yard and in the backyard.

Let’s start in the front. That makes sense right? We already pulled out everything that was in the main bed, all the lavender and yarrow and whatever all else I had thrown in there because it was pretty. Our lavender border is coming out as well, but we may replace it and move it further back from the sidewalk and line the sides with rock or gravel. It had been growing out over the sidewalk, which was pretty but also hard to navigate, and then the actual yard grass started to overtake it and it became a big mess. So that absolutely has to go and be replaced.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

As for that main bed, we are going the traditional, neat and tidy route. I am not sure yet what will go in there quite yet, but I know I want simple, and maybe a small little evergreen type tree/shrub. Maybe some hostas? Definitely a few little flowers for color but just a few simple ones, here and there. Like sprinkles.

Photo by Keith Lobo on Pexels.com

The backyard is also getting a big change. We are pulling out the old stump, and where the old tree used to be, we are planting a stand of birch trees, because I love them. I also hope to plant a few conifers in the back as well, somewhere. I realize it will take time for them all to grow up and be real trees, but, I am good with little baby trees right now.

Photo by ANDREI ANDREI on Pexels.com

Then, I am going to slowly make a rose garden. One new rose plant a year, as a Christmas gift. A few years ago I splurged on a David Austin Munstead Woods rose, and it is so beautiful. It is in our yard now and getting bigger every year.

Munstead Wood

This, I have already taken steps with. I have some Christmas money and I ordered another David Austin rose today. It will ship in April, and I am already so excited to watch it grow. It is the Ebb Tide rose, and is a deep purpley plum color, so very delicious looking. It is a super fragrant variety, according to the David Austin website, and the scent is that of clove and citrus. I love this description:

A wonderful variety with double blooms of a striking, smoked, deep plum purple. It has an attractive, compact, rounded habit and is very healthy. The fragrance is strong – a wonderful combination of clove and citrus blossom.

Photo from Spring Hill Nurseries

Then, Billy wants to grow a cut garden, full of zinnias, dahlias, nasturtiums, and those Dr. Seuss looking flowers, alliums. And maybe some Mexican sunflowers because I think they are beautiful. I will probably have to keep some rue around in case the Black Swallowtails come back, because their caterpillars eat it. And then that is it! Although this free photo I found is charming and now I want this scene recreated somewhere in my yard.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

So, I am dreaming of spring, in a very different way this year. I am excited to see how it all comes together!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP23 Comments

Good morning (or afternoon, or evening) everyone! It has been a crazy long week for a short week! I am so thankful for a lazy day hopefully today. One with a cup of coffee at the beginning of the day, and a cup of herbal tea later tonight.

Soo what have we been up to? Well, we had a very quiet New Years, just the three of us. We were planning on getting together with my brother and his family, but then my brother got sick so it ended up just being the three of us, which was fine. I always feel holidayed out by New Years Eve so sometimes I like the quietness of welcoming a new year snug in bed after a calm night.

I spent the day of New Years Eve taking down Christmas. I love having the decorations up but then I am ready to have my house all back to normal soon after the holiday. I have mentioned before that we live in a very small house, which I don’t mind at all, I just need to be mindful and creative with how we use our space, and while the decorations are so cheery and festive it’s nice to have our space back.

This year when I took the tree down, I decided to carve out a little “nook” for Wyatt. A few years ago we flip-flopped our space – we moved our couches and television into our dining room and made it our “den” and then the living room space we moved in the table, books, whatever else we wanted and use it as a sort of do it all room. It was a good decision and we are still very happy that we did it. Please excuse the mess in the photos, I was still cleaning up and clearing out after Christmas when these photos were taken. But little man is super pleased with his little nook. We also bought new couches for our den, one of which is here and the other arrives today, so I moved this old beat up tiny loveseat into our all purpose room, threw an old comfy quilt and some pillows on it. It created another comfy little spot to sit in, right next to Applejack our crested gecko. Lol.

New Year’s Day we went for a ride, Billy made us a delicious dinner, and then we watched our annual watch, The Big Year, which we watch every New Year’s Day and have for at least ten years – maybe more! It is just such a feel good movie.

Then Tuesday we hit the ground running. Wyatt started a brand new, very exciting therapy this week! It is very intense, for both him and me honestly. It is an hour away, twice a week, and each session is 75 minutes. But it is amazing. It is called Lokomat, and basically it is a way to build new neural pathways for walking and build up endurance while also providing more physical support. He looks like he is a robot or training to walk on the moon! He is doing very well so far. Each time they build up a little more time and speed, and random weight bearing, and he is very tired afterwards but he is a trooper.

So we have both been finding our bearings, with schedules and routines and recovery days and trying to figure this out for now. He has this therapy for 7 more weeks. Please if you can send good vibes and prayers as we begin this new journey in the new year!

I also want to add that Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are launching Jane Austen January this month – in fact, it has already begun! Feel free to post any Jane Austen related posts between now and the 3rd of February! I have a permanent linky page up top in my little header bar but here it is as well.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
https://fresh.inlinkz.com/js/widget/load.js?id=c0efdbe6b4add43dd7ef

And…that is where I am today! I hope you are faring well, and I hope to be chatting with you all a bit more very soon!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized18 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!! I hope that if you celebrate this time of year, that you had a wonderful holiday! And even if you don’t celebrate this time of year, I hope the last few weeks have been good for you as well!

Read:

I actually listened to this on audio and I absolutely adored it. It was the perfect little book to listen to at the holidays.

Reading:

Billy and Wyatt got me these two books for Christmas and I plan on starting the new year with one of them. Probably Winter by Melissa Harrison. They are both so lovely!

Posted Recently:

Christmas Book Countdown Chain

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up (including MRI results)

Comfy Cozy Christmas Jumble Post

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up (Post Christmas)

Announcing Jane Austen January!

My Favorite Reads of 2023

Watching:

Billy and I are all wrapped up in Lark Rise to Candleford. It’s all we have been watching at night honestly. I have also been catching up on my favorite YouTubers – Forgotten Way Farms, Darling Desi, Gold Shaw Farm in particular for the moment. I’ve watched this one numerous times just because it is so cozy, and because I am often interrupted lol and need to rewatch in order to see everything.

And that is it from around here! I hope you are doing well!

My Favorite Reads of 2023

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review15 Comments

Hello everyone!! This is always such a fun post to put together. I love going back and looking back at what I read, and what I loved. I used Storygraph this year to help me out, and I really love it. My list of favorites is short this year, as I did a lot of re-reading of old favorites, and I never include them here. They have already been established, no repeats. I also seem to have been hit or miss with book reviews this year; hopefully this year I can be more consistent. We will see.

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. I would earn a small commission if you were to purchase something, at no extra cost to you.

In no particular order, let’s begin!

The House in the Cerulean Sea – Still the only Klune book I have read, and I need to fix that because I loved this book. From my review: ” This book could not have come into my life at a more perfect time. I needed this book, this warm and fuzzy read about found family and courage and becoming who you really truly are inside. It was simply beautiful, and I wanted to hug it close, along with just about every character (but especially little Theodore the Wyvern).”

Warrior Girl Unearthed: This book was such a powerful read for me. I felt like it really opened my eyes to a whole world I was unaware of. From my review: This book was thought-provoking, eye-opening, impactful, powerful. There is much more to this story of Perry and the running mystery throughout the book, that goes much deeper and speaks to a truth that is not often discussed or brought into the light. This book does that, drags these ugly truths out into the open, all within the confines of this young adult book’s pages.

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries: I love anything faerie, I always have. I have never ever outgrown it and I don’t plan to. So when this book started popping up all over, I knew I had to read it. I absolutely loved it! From my review: “My only complaint is the ending! I needed more story and now I have to wait for the next installment and I hate that! I am not good at waiting and I want to know more about Emily and Wendell and this world of faery.” And…. I don’t have much longer to wait! The sequel, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands is going to be one of my first reads of 2024!

Tom Lake: So I actually listened to this one, and Meryl Streep’s reading matched the depth of soul that can be found in this book. It was a deliciously beautiful story. From my review: This book is a book for when you feel like lazing about, soaking up words and a story. Meryl Streep as the reader of the audiobook just elevated the whole experience for me. She wasn’t just reading a story, she was Lara, telling the story of her youth to her children in the cherry orchards. This book was absolutely beautiful, and is definitely on my favorites of the year list.

The White Hare: Ok, so if you have been around here you know that I absolutely love rabbits. (and foxes) When I saw this book mentioned a hare, was set in Cornwall, one of my favorite settings, and was a bit mysterious, I knew I had to read it. And I am so glad I did! From my review: I could not get enough of this book. I love books that feel heavy with mystery and history and folklore, that are atmospheric and surprising. This book had all of that, PLUS rabbits! Ok so not like rabbits running around being super cute but sort of maybe ominous and curious most of the book because you are not quite sure what the heck is going on but you know, just know, something is afoot, and the white hare totally has something to do with it.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches: This book was like another warm little hug, a book that I cozied up with that left me with the warm fuzzies. I apparently never wrote a review on it, but I absolutely adored everything about it.

Lodge: An Indoorsy Tour of America’s National Parks: I still need this book! I read it, I loved it, and wanted to buy it to look back on and dream about again and again, and… I didn’t buy it yet. Soon. It is filled with the most beautiful photos and history and added oh so many destinations to my wish list!

The Shop on Royal Street: I have a deep love for New Orleans and this series set there just transports me. The old houses, the ghosts, the characters, the secrets, the everything – yep, I love it. I am very anxiously awaiting a third book!

Crime and Poetry: Near the end of the year, I picked up this Magical Bookshop mystery by Amanda Flower and can’t get enough of this series either. I want a magical bookshop!!!

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

Announcing Jane Austen January!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn jane austen january6 Comments

I am so excited about this plan for January! Usually such a weird month, full of gray weather, (at least here in Michigan), that post-holiday let down, it will be nice to have something to look forward to. And the plan is to continue buddy watching movies with Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and sharing about them here on the blog and on Instagram.

We are going to watch four adaptations and we will both have the linky up on our blogs, just in case anyone wants to join us! This linky however, is not just for the movies we are buddy watching; feel free to link up with ANY Jane Austen themed posts for the month. It’s a Jane-extravaganza!

The four movies we plan to watch are: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Miss Austen Regrets. The first up is Sense and Sensibility, and we will post about it on the 11th of January! But… as I said above, feel free to link up before then about anything Jane Austen related!

This version of Sense and Sensibility is my absolute favorite. It is also my favorite Jane Austen story. And I love Hugh Grant.

As for Pride and Prejudice, we struggled with this choice as we both believe the 1995 mini-series with Colin Firth is the superior version, but for the sake of time, we went with the 2005 movie version. I love Colin Firth though. And don’t make me choose between Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. I don’t think I could! And now I want to go into a whole tangent about Love Actually but I am reigning it in because this post is about Jane Austen January, not Love Actually and Hugh Grant and Colin Firth. But first, before I move on..

We are also watching the 1996 BBC version of Emma, starring Kate Beckinsale, and finishing up with a movie about Jane Austen herself, called Miss Austen Regrets.

This was probably one of the most difficult lineups we have ever worked on! There are so many options! And which way to go? Mini-series? Classics? Modern retellings? We could probably have this movie watching event for months and barely scratch the surface of different adaptations. (that might be an exaggeration, but I am feeling like it is not!)

I will again have a dedicated page on my blog for the linky. The linky will be active from January 3rd and will stay active until February 2nd.

Jane just feels like a cozy way to recover from the holidays, and I am looking forward to all of our upcoming choices!

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized13 Comments

Good morning everyone! Or afternoon or evening or whatever time you are reading this.

It’s been so rainy and foggy here in Michigan the last few days. So strange for Christmas weather here in the mitten state. This morning I am enjoying my coffee in one of my two new mugs (the other is from the same potter, but with a rabbit instead of a fox), with Miso next to me, purring away. We have been in and out so often the last few days she must be happy that I am finally sitting still.

I hope you all had a good holiday, if you celebrate a winter holiday this month! We had a pretty good Christmas!

We kicked things off Saturday night at Billy’s mom’s house, as our Christmas Eve plans were changed, since my little nieces were sick and we couldn’t go to Billy’s brother’s house as we had planned. So we went to his mom’s the night before, on Christmas Eve Eve. Wyatt enjoyed spending time with his grandparents and opening his gifts. I enjoyed spending time with them too, and with snuggling with this muppet faced dog Murphy.

On Christmas, Wyatt definitely enjoyed himself, and he cracked me up with all his dancing in front of the Christmas tree both Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. He is joy. He loved his readers are cool shirt that we got him at the street fair this summer. We think the shirt is supposed to be a pun with “readers” meaning the glasses type readers, but we thought it was cute anyway and it was good we did since he put it on immediately.

He of course enjoyed all of his other gifts as well.

Wyatt got lots of books and games, and a train, which was a last minute curve ball he threw at us. I should have figured, he is really into trains and has been since we learned about John Henry last year. He also loved his Bob Ross ornament I picked up at Bronner’s in Frankenmuth, when I went on my girl’s trip out.

We sat around most of the day, took a walk together because the day before, I saw a PIG in someone’s yard. We live in a suburb, and it was a very unusual sight. I was on that walk by myself and now I am obsessed with getting Billy and Wyatt to see it too, partly because Billy is a little skeptical. Lol. We went to my brother’s that night around dinner and had a very casual and laid back holiday evening which was a great time.

The next day (yesterday) we drove out to my dad’s house for our Christmas brunch with him. It was another laid back very good time, full of stories and food and laughter. The kids were so happy, and I think tiny bebe had a fantastic first Christmas! Can you believe that tiny little girl is standing and just about walking? Her older sister Mermaid Girl was walking at that age too!

I caught everyone eating (food or their hands, didn’t matter I guess – looking at you kid).

And now, just some random pictures from the past few days… and unfortunately, I did not get one of the pig.

I am feeling very thankful and blessed. I hope you all are doing well too!

And now I am off to refill my mug!

Comfy Cozy Christmas Jumble Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn comfy cozy christmas13 Comments

Hello everyone!! I wanted to post one last post before the holiday. I also want to thank everyone who has been linking up with us or just reading our posts! Lisa and I have had so much fun with our Comfy Cozy Christmas event, and I hope that you enjoyed it too.

Yesterday, Wyatt and I spent some time celebrating the Winter Solstice. Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year – and we celebrate the return of the light! I love that this has multiple meanings, the return of the light. Yesterday though my sunshine boy and I focused on the sun. He has endured a lot this year and this smile keeps returning. He is my brave, tough, boy and inspires me everyday to be a better mother.

We spent time making a sun garland to wrap around the little tree, sun bread, and then frosted some pre-made sugar cookies to make them all bright and cheery, like the sun and my boy’s smile.

And I realized that I never shared any of our decorations. We are sort of minimalistic when it comes to holiday decorations, but things still look sort of cute around here!

Our little den and bedroom (and one from the kitchen). They both feel so festive and cozy right now! The white tree is one that was my grandmother’s. I have been trying to revive it this year. It had orange bulbs which was just sort of odd so I ordered clear replacements. It is growing on me, although I am still considering painting it green. It is so mid-century though as it is, so maybe not.

Wyatt created the little area with the owl and silver tinsel tree. I thought it was cute! And I made a little scarf for my dresser snail. He needed one, it is pretty cold for snails right now. And I never do things like buy new bedding for holidays, but this year, I felt like I needed it. I love these trees and the color and every night when I get in bed I feel so happy, so it was a good choice.

I could never get a good photo of our tree though. So, here are a few pictures of our favorite ornaments, and my two favorite guys decorating. And I can’t forget Wyatt’s little wolf that he loves so much!

Just a little reminder: Our holiday linky will be up until Jan. 2 so that you can add any of your after holiday posts as well! Then – Jane Austen January begins!!

Have a merry holiday everyone!

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Good morning everyone! I have my coffee, a well worn quilt thrown over me, and my little boy next to me watching cartoons.

Wyatt’s MRI results were good! Thank you to everyone who was praying and sending good vibes to him – the neurosurgeon reported that his scans looked great. I am one relieved mama!! Exhausted but relieved. The MRI itself was not as smooth, but we worked through it and got the images they needed. His neurosurgeon did not want him sedated at all as she said that would not give her as good of an image as she needed, so we had to power through. It took two tries, a call to Child Life Services for assistance, and Billy laying on top of him, but Wyatt made it through the MRI tearful but not as terrified as he was when we started.

The night before the MRI (which was scheduled for 6:15 am!) we stayed at a hotel that is just fifteen minutes from the hospital to make things easier. Weber’s in Ann Arbor is amazing – they offer a University of Michigan hospital rate Sunday through Thursday and it is so helpful. We have stayed there twice in the past two months for early morning appointments and although we found out about the service only the second time, they have always been very accommodating of Wyatt and his needs.

It was a very cold and wintery night Monday night! Wyatt and I headed to Ann Arbor early for check in, while Billy was meeting us after work. We were trying to wait for Billy to order pizza but he got held up at work and then the weather was bad making his drive longer (and scary for me, on the other end waiting for him!) so we ordered up room service! I felt so fancy. And Billy’s food was still warm when he got there, so it worked out pretty well.

Wyatt and I passed the time in the giant bed, watching tv and reading. We are pretty easy.

In the time between his ER visit and MRI follow up, we stayed pretty close to home. We played games and wrote a letter to Santa that we popped in a mailbox, ate cookies, read books, made Christmas ornaments, and waited for MRI day to come. It has been a long, long, two weeks for me!

We also made a gingerbread house!

It turned out pretty cute and kudos to Wyatt and I for not eating all the candy before using it!

And that is it from my side of the screen. Hope all is well with you all.

Christmas Book Countdown Chain!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized10 Comments

So the day after Thanksgiving, Wyatt and I made a paper chain to countdown until Christmas, but with a twist. We wrote either a title of a Christmas book that we own or the words library book on each link, and every night Wyatt pulls one off and we read the book. If it says library book, he gets to pick one of the many holiday books that we check out from the library. It has been a lot of fun and it has been a nice way to end the night with him before bed.

So, what have we read? Settle in and take a look!

I have been saving the links and dating them too, because I am that sort of mom.

And..

And….

We are a night or two behind, for different reasons. But the books coming up are:

Plus a few library book surprises that haven’t been chosen at the time of this post yet!

I am not going to talk about all of these books. But there were a few favorites, of course.

I absolutely love A Simple Christmas on the Farm! I love all of the holiday books by Phyllis Alsdurf and buy them for Wyatt whenever she releases a new one.

We both loved The Christmas Book Flood by Emily Kilgore.

Then The Christmasaurus and Me and My Dragon: Christmas Spirit were huge hits with Wyatt! The main character boy in Christmasaurus is in a wheelchair, which made it a million times better. Wyatt loved the idea of flying through the sky, being pulled by a Christmasaurus!

I also have to give a shout out to My Christmas Treasury, which was a well read favorite of mine as a little girl, and also The Animal’s Christmas Eve. Both are classically timeless in my opinion.

This has been such a wonderful cozy time with my boy, and we all look forward to it every night.