My Sunday-Monday Post

On October 2, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized20 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

First, let me say that I am thinking of everyone who has been affected by the Hurricane. What a terrible situation and I am praying for everyone who was in its path.

This past week was full of work – school, housework, and all the prep needed to start painting our bedroom. How did I have so much in that room? I am flabbergasted. It was a good opportunity to reconsider it all and make choices about what is actually going back in.

We did do some good stuff too – a field trip, watched Hocus Pocus 2, a fire and adult beverages at my brothers. All in all, a pretty solid week.

Read Last Week:

Sheets – what a very different, emotional read than what I was expecting. I absolutely loved it though. I am still working on Invisible Women but it is good so far.

Reading This Week:

Winterset Hollow caught my eye a few months ago and I wrote it down to read this month, October. I am not sure about it honestly – sometimes straight horror books are too much for me these days. However, I am curious about it and I am looking forward to reading it. Hopefully in my newly finished room tonight, but we will see how far Billy and I get today.

Posted Last Week:

My Cozy Fall Shopping List

Spooky Cinema Season: Hocus Pocus

Talk With Me Over Tea

Friends’ Fall Day Trip

Homeschooling Journey: John Henry, Clementine Hunter, and West Virginia

Watching and Listening:

Billy and I never watched the LOTR show darn it. Maybe this week. We instead watched McDonald and Dodds Season 3 – wow that first episode was the best! We started the Chelsea Detective but decided we want to wait on it for winter watching. We also tried out Recipes for Love and Murder and decided we weren’t interested at this time. Maybe later. We obviously had a weird week of tv.

I spent the week catching up on the podcast Your Own Backyard with Chris Lambert. He has been covering the trial of Paul and Ruben Flores, who are being tried for the murder/disappearance of Kristen Smart in 1996. I listened to the podcast earlier, pre-trial, and it is seriously one of the best podcasts I have listened to. Lambert is an amazing investigative journalist, in my non-expert opinion, and the podcast actually helped to propel this eventual arrest and trial of the two Flores men. I am waiting for the newest installment, which covers the last week of the trial, as the closing arguments are this week. No cameras or video recordings are allowed in court due to some of the sensitive witness testimony. Anyway, I could go on and on about this case. I have lots of opinions and feelings.

And that is it from my corner of Michigan!

My Cozy Fall Shopping List

On September 30, 2022September 30, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Friday Favorites11 Comments

So yes, I am a cliched stereotype. I love fall and wearing boots and drinking coffee and wearing plaid and all things pumpkin. I told my brother who likes to good-naturedly josh me about it that I fully embrace it and I am ok with it. I know who I am. And I live in the midwest – autumn here is amazing. Brilliant colors, brisk temperatures, fire and quilts and warmth and coziness, all that good stuff.

I have all sorts of favorites and wish lists and items I have bought or plan to buy, all fall and cozylike. And since in the fall I seem to gravitate away from my beloved bunnies and towards foxes, you might notice a theme. (and be prepared, I will probably make another post about all the Halloween things!)

This post contains Amazon and Etsy affiliate links.

I think we all know we need tea and a good solid mug to drink it from, and I have fallen in love with this sage green and fox mug from Pleasant Pottery, located in the Finger Lakes region of NY. And can you imagine how beautiful that area must be in the fall?? As for tea, Billy requests Earl Greyer every year, while I switch it up. This year I want to try this Apple Pie Chai, which sounds delicious, or the Apple Cinnamon by Celestial Seasonings.

I like to add little festive decorations to the house, like most people. We bring in a lot of nature items that we gather on our walks but I do also decorate with non-nature items too. Lol. I generally do a fall decorate, where it is less Halloween and more autumn, and add in some spooky things in October, which I can easily remove and leave the autumn up through November. I always have a banner up in our den windows, all year, and I love the colors and simplicity of this one from Matthew and Mae. But I also like this version with teal in it! Which do you like better?

I love the mushroom, leaf, and fox tea towel, also an Esty find. We use hand towels a lot around here although sometimes I am like “Wait! Not that one! That one is just for pretty!” I could see me saying that with this one for sure!

And, while not a decoration I am adding these note cards to the cart. I want to start sending handwritten notes out this fall and winter and these are so pretty!

Billy and I are painting our bedroom this weekend, and while I have most of what I need to refresh the room, I do love this print. I am thinking of adding it to our walls. It just makes me feel happy to look at it. I don’t know when or if we will get to Paris, but I like to dream of it. And November is a special month – our anniversary is in November as is my birthday.

A purse has become something more of a necessity. I have broken countless debit cards by putting them in my back pockets (and lost them sometimes too), I have to bring my glasses with me now, I have keys, my phone – ugh just too much stuff. Gone are my carefree days of just a phone and license and debit card. It’s time to grow up and actually carry a purse. This one seems like it will work wonderfully, big enough to carry all my junk unlike my wristlet wallet, but not huge and bulky in case I am holding Wyatt.

Finally, I wanted something fun to wear around this fall. I like to have my arms not all bunched up in layers because I often have to pick Wyatt up and carry him, and it is hard if my clothes are all bunchy. This poncho looks perfect for kicking through leaves, picking apples with my kiddo, sitting around a fire. I wanted something that was easily washable for the same reasons – I have a 7 year old, and sitting around a fire makes your clothes a little smoky. Or a lot smoky, depending. Although Billy likes this one.

Is there anything you are loving for this fall season?

Spooky Cinema Season: Hocus Pocus

On September 29, 2022September 29, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn movies6 Comments

Oooo spooky…Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are are watching and posting about spooky cinema for the next two months, here and over on our Instagram accounts. We are starting fairly family friendly and working our way up to the scariest!! I love a thriller or chiller!

This week since Hocus Pocus 2 is coming out on the 30th, we watched the OG Hocus Pocus. I actually never saw this until about three years ago, and I needed to know what all the fuss was about. I have seen references to it for just about ever, I know it is beloved and every Halloween I see so many Hocus Pocus themed decorations and costumes. It is a cult classic, the inspiration for so many memes. This meme is my favorite, because I actually do really like Kathy Najimy’s character the best, although Sarah Jessica Parker’s total ditziness made me chuckle a few times.

This is a very silly goofy movie, designed to just get a laugh out of people, one way or another. It’s over the top, exaggerated, and has pretty cool witch costumes. I loved Thora Birch’s little witch costume, she was adorable. And who doesn’t want a cat that talks that turns out to be a ghost (I guess?) from the 1600s? That would be pretty cool.

More than anything though, this movie is just supposed to be fun. There are some things I like about it, besides the talking cat and the costumes. I like what they were trying to do there with stressing the importance of loving your siblings, even though it was a bit on the nose. Max and his sister Dani are typical siblings, that I love you but you pester me sometimes deal. But underneath it all Max does love her, which he proves by taking the potion and sacrificing himself for her. Whereas the Sanderson Sisters seem to be a tight knit sisterhood but the head witch in charge, Winnie (Bette Midler) doesn’t really seem to like them too much, although I think Mary really does love Winnie. And now I feel like maybe I put too much thought into this movie! One thing that does bother me – how the Sandersons are supposed to not understand modern life since they are from the past, yet can make comments and jokes about margarine and drivers permits.

My sister-in-law Chrissy, my little niece Mermaid Girl, and I are watching Hocus Pocus 2 together this weekend. It should be a good time! I am curious if it will keep its over the top qualities or if it will be different in style and spirit. We shall see!

Overall this is a silly, goofy, fun movie for Halloween, especially if you are not into scary but want to watch something Halloweenish.

For Lisa’s review, follow this little link right… ~here~ She watched this with her teenaged son and he had some funny comments!

What do you all think of it? Who is your favorite Sanderson?

Talk with me over Tea!

On September 28, 2022September 28, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn chit chat coffee time19 Comments

Hi all!! Happy Wednesday! We are almost to the weekend! I usually write this post in the morning but that didn’t happen today, so instead we are “talking” over tea this afternoon. It’s a chilly but sunny day, and I am sipping on a warm cozy cup of mint tea before we get to the rest our schooling for the day.

Aren’t these “mumkins” so happy and adorable? I had to get one for our porch, they just make me smile! We were at the flower and garden center because they had little photo opps set up – very smart on their end because I had to take Wyatt of course, and ended up buying this mum. I’m sure many people fell into their clever scheme…

Last Friday is usually project/errands/field trip day and I spent a few hours in the morning packing up my grandmother’s china to convert my china cabinet into an art cabinet – at least for a few years.We live in a small house and I have to use all my space as wisely as I can. Turning it into something useful and more functional was a better choice, although I did get a little sad. But, the china although it is beautiful and I love it – I never used it. So for now it is an art supply area and I am loving it honestly. It feels more like us, and is cheerier and brighter. We can sit at the table and finally all of our supplies are close to hand. I don’t have to go searching in many different areas around the house anymore! I have the stuff we use the most on display, and then other supplies stored in the drawers underneath. Today we are doing an art project in the new space and I am super excited. My world is small but I am happy!

I still have a big day ahead of me after I finish up my little tea break. We have science, a little reading, a little math, and our small art project still to do. Then when we finish up, I need to get working on our bedroom. We are finally, finally getting to painting it this weekend! It is such a pain though to move out temporarily. All you all who have moved or are moving, my hat is off to you because that is so much work. I wish I could magically touch the tip of a paint brush to the wall and have it just fill in like it does in Photoshop. Lol. Oh well. It will be a pain for a short time but I will be so happy when it is done. I’ve been wanting this for literally years!

Billy and I are falling back into our autumnal eating menus (pun definitely intended), and we are enjoying this return to comfort food. Pork tenderloin, stews, pot roast, roasted chicken, the list goes on. I have been squirreling away meat all summer, buying extra if it was on sale in case prices went crazy this fall and winter, and I feel very Ma and Pa Ingalls with our larder feeling full. Except we didn’t do any of the actual work, so thank you farmers out there for doing that. I am putting together an order for Azure Standard as well, to help fill up the pantry, and making a run to Sam’s Club, because we are not cool enough for a nearby Costco. Is this like an ancestral type memory, to feel like we have stored up food in the fall? I like to live in tune with the seasons, even though our rhythms are so different than those long ago.

Do you live or eat differently in the fall? I know that we do. Last night my friend and I chatted each other and we were both under blankets watching something Agatha Christie and drinking something warm. Absolute perfection.

And that is about all I have time for right now! Let me know what’s going on in your world!

Friends’ Fall Day Trip

On September 27, 2022September 28, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Michigan11 Comments

Every year for the past seven years (minus the big pandemic years), my friends (Chrissy, Kelly, and Jill) and I go on a fall day trip. This was actually our first fall adventure after big COVID and it was so good to get back out together! We always have such a good time and this time was no exception. Although, our start was a little rough…

Our adventure started in Battle Creek. It…was not what we had been expecting. We read there were some museums and restaurants, a garden and an arboretum, and we were like ok, let’s try it. I knew the Kellog’s Factory was no longer open which was a bummer because I toured it as a kid and it was neat, but we were not prepared for everything to be pretty much closed down on a Saturday. Our first stop was the Welcome Center – which was closed. So we headed for the Leila Arboretum, and maybe since it was overcast and deserted, it was sort of creepy. We all had to use the facilities since we had actually really begun the journey at Starbucks and it had been a drive, but our only option was a portapotty by the side of the road. We were cracking up at how this day was starting off. We wandered over to the arboretum which was a bunch of carved trees. Not really what we expected, and while they obviously took some skill and time and talent, we had been expecting like a maintained garden and arboretum with many types of trees.

After checking out the trees, we drove over to the garden area, which was closed. So we headed to the museum, which I think has been closed for a very long time. We decided it was maybe time to eat since we were striking out everywhere. We went to Clara’s on the River for a quick lunch and drinks and decided over our meals that we were would drive back to Marshall, MI since things were not going as planned. The restaurant was very nice looking, the staff very accommodating, but the food was not great. And sort of expensive for what we got. I paid $17.00 for a small bowl of Kraft macaroni and cheese, y’all!

We finished up and got back in the car to make the short twenty minute drive back to Marshall. It ended up being a great decision! Marshall was hopping, with a Halloween festival and tours and people just all over, and it felt very alive and festive.

We started with a tour of the Honolulu House.

Just ten dollars to tour, and the guides did a a wonderful job! The house was build in 1860, and had a few different owners before going to ruin in the 1960s. The Historical Society scooped it up and began the restoration process, and they have done a beautiful job. It has a fascinating history; it was built by a former diplomat who had enjoyed his time stationed in Hawaii so much that he tried to recreate his life there, here. He died shortly after moving in, and the house was purchased by another family who ended up making some style changes, including adding the popular murals of their day to the walls.

Once we finished the tour we ventured outside and took a look at the porch. However, there was a tour set up there. It was a John Bellairs tour, a children’s book author who wrote The House with a Clock in its Walls. John Bellairs had lived in Marshall and the house that his book is based on is tucked away somewhere in one of the neighborhoods. We weren’t signed up so we didn’t go, but I plan to look it up to see if they are going to do it again.

We had read there was going to be a flea market nearby so we hopped in our cars and drove out of town to check it out. We must have gotten there too late since there were only 6 tables set up, and after a quick wander headed across the street to a place called Casewells Turkeyville. It was a large building chock full of stuff – an ice cream parlor, an arcade, a restaurant, a gift shop – it was huge. I could see kids having a blast there.

After this we headed back into Marshall, and into the little shops that line Michigan Avenue.

I loved that little dresser with a leaf! I couldn’t see us dragging it home though so I left it behind. It said it was a Canadian Maple dresser – so cute! However I did spend quite a bit of time in the independent bookstore! I particularly loved the banned books display. I ended up buying Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen because I loved it so much.

By the time we finished shopping it was time for dinner at Schuler’s. Schuler’s is such a beautiful restaurant inside, however we chose to sit outside this time around since Chrissy and I are not ready to sit in a restaurant yet. And here I share the big news! My brother and Chrissy are expecting a new little baby girl in March! I am so excited to be an aunt again to my newest little niece! So our family is being cautious right now with germs.

Our food however was insanely delicious. I got the English pot roast as did Jill, Kelly got the prime rib, and Chrissy got fish and chips. Everything was fantastic!

And full of good food and happy memories made, we headed back to our cars and home to our families.

We had such a wonderful day – I am so lucky to have my little crew of ladies to laugh and cry with, be silly with, and just enjoy life with.

Homeschooling Journey: John Henry, West Virginia, and Clementine Hunter

On September 26, 2022September 26, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling5 Comments

Last week was a great week of learning around here! We are getting settled into a routine and getting used to the new curriculum and the things I am supplementing myself are going well. I designed my own literature arts curriculum for Wyatt and I to use and not to pat myself on the back, but we are both enjoying it a great deal. I am also winging it with music and art, and honestly it is all going together very well! We will see how that continues.

First, lets talk about John Henry. Wyatt LOVED the story of John Henry, but seriously, why did it have to end the way it did! We read the book by Ezra Jack Keats, watched the John Henry cartoon by Disney, and sang many many John Henry and railroad songs, including one by John Denver and another by Johnny Cash. This was by far Wyatt’s favorite though. I can’t tell you how many times we have sung this now. We talked about how brave and strong John Henry was, and talked about times Wyatt has been brave and strong as well. We talked about how machines and industrialization made life both easier, but also took jobs from many people, which was something that also came up when we read Paul Bunyan.

I read a few versions of John Henry, some mentioned states, other didn’t, but I ultimately decided West Virginia was a good state to accompany the story for our Social Studies portion of the week. There is a statue of John Henry in West Virginia and it seems to be part of their folklore so it made sense. We learned about railroads, about the state symbols of West Virginia, and chose some interesting facts and favorite things. I of course loved the history about John Denver’s song Country Roads, how he sung it in D.C. and received a five minute ovation. The song has naturally become the state song. Wyatt chose as his favorite fact the Mothman myth, which was just a little mention in the book that we use as our “spine”, The 50 States. Sometimes it is so 100% obvious he is my kid. As we read a bit more about Mothman, I learned we had just missed the Mothman festival in West Virginia! How cool would that have been to attend together as a field trip?

Art was also really cool this week. We learned about Clementine Hunter, and if you are unfamiliar with who she is, I encourage you to look her up! She was fascinating and brave and talented. We learned that she had a gallery show that she wasn’t even allowed to attend since she was Black, and so we talked a bit about that, as well as an age and developmentally appropriate discussion about slavery and racism. We read Art from her Heart, which is a fabulous picture book, and then recreated her painting of zinnias. I picked zinnias from our yard, brought them in, and Wyatt got to work. I helped him with the shape of the jar in the painting, but the rest was all him and I think he did amazing!

What We Used:

This section contains Amazon Affiliate links. In addition to the curriculum I am creating for him, we also use curriculum from The Good and the Beautiful, The Waldock Way, and Blossom and Root for phonics, reading, science, and social studies.

Disney’s American Legends || John Henry An American Legend || M is for Mountain State || Art from her Heart

Other Resources:

The Junior Ranger Railroad Explorer

Overall, a very good week here!

My Sunday-Monday Post!

On September 25, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized36 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

Hi all! Last week was a pretty good week – we are figuring out our routines and patterns and things are starting to fall into place. On Saturday I also went out for the day with my friends for our annual Fall day trip. We had a blast!

Read Last Week:

I finished up The Agathas and I absolutely loved it! I even stayed up late a few nights reading it, which is something these days. Lol. I also feel inspired to read more Agatha Christie!

Reading This Week:

This week is all about ghosts! Sheets is a graphic novel while A Haunted History of Invisible Women is a nonfiction book I picked up from NetGalley.

Posted Last Week:

Hello, Autumn

Spooky Season Cinema: Shaun of the Dead

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Homeschooling Journey: Paul Bunyan, Wisconsin, Photosynthesis, and Grant Wood

Watching/Listening:

Billy and I have been watching Shakespeare and Hathaway and also McDonald and Dodds on BritBox this past week. I think we might start the new Lord of the Rings show this week as well. And since we are doing Spooky movies for spooky season, we watched Shaun of the Dead – this week we are watching Hocus Pocus.

I felt so much better after reading how many of you also struggle with listening to audiobooks! I feel like I am in very good company! This week I listened to my normal podcasts, nothing new, just true crime and ghost stories for the most part.

And that is it from around here! I hope you all have a great week!

Hello, Autumn!

On September 23, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Last night at 9:04 pm EST, summer moved on to make way for autumn. And it is as if a switch literally turned off because we went from 88 degree weather on Wednesday, to 60 degrees and breezy Thursday literally overnight. This morning the house had a chill in the air that hasn’t been there for many months, and my soul smiled. I love this weather, I love this season. And it is here!

Today Wyatt and I are spending a good chunk of the day making our house cozy. I took down my brightly colored hearts banner that I leave up most of the year, and we will be replacing it with a banner of leaves. I will dig out all of our quilts and throw blankets to leave on the couches and ends of the bed, switch our sheets to flannel ones, bring in any plants that I still have outside. It’s time to get out all of our warm sweaters and flannels, our thick socks, to stock our tea supply with all of our favorites, English Breakfast and Earl Grey and Mint and Apple Cinnamon. I think this year I will even switch out my dishes, from my white and blue and yellow floral patterns for the persimmon Fiestaware we got for our wedding. t

I am also hoping to get to the farm market and nursery, to pick up a few early pumpkins to place around, and some rich colorful mums for the porch, mushrooms for soup. And this year they have photo areas all set up as well, and I want to take Wyatt’s “school” photo there, surrounded by the fall scene they constructed.

Leaves are changing here, seemingly earlier than normal. Our butterfly friends are on the move, along with other insects and critters and my bug hotels are awaiting guests. We are moving into the season of foxes and owls, and away from butterflies and rabbits here in my part of the world. Of mushrooms and fallen walnuts and hazelnuts and chestnuts to collect and leave in small bowls around the house, of filling bird feeders for the birds who stick around for the winter, jays and cardinals and tough little sparrows. My garden will be put to bed, I have already cut most of the zinnies and placed them throughout the house for the final blaze of color, showing us what we will be missing until next year. Squirrels are getting fat, and the little squirrel I named Bunny because he somehow lost his tail is bumping around here daily, looking for handouts.

Our fall calendar is filling up as well, full of plans for apple orchards and baking sessions, pumpkin carving, nature hikes and owl prowls, making leaf banners from wax and leaves, visiting Greenfield Village to see it all decked out for Halloween, backyard fires and cider. Simple things, for the most part, but simple things that fill us up. As nature slows down for a good long rest, we can as well.

Spooky Season Cinema: Shaun of the Dead

On September 22, 2022September 22, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn movies6 Comments

We are leaving the kiddie pool folks and are heading for deeper, scarier waters! Leaving behind more family friendly picks, we have moved into the realm of comedy and gore. This movie can get a bit gross, and if watching scary movies is not your jam, this might not be a good watch for you. However, if you are not put off by zombies and you know, zombie activities, then you will find that this movie is hilarious.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are a perfect onscreen duo, they never fail to make me laugh. Except for maybe in World’s End, which was not my favorite. Anyway, this movie was my first introduction to their genius (looking at you Lisa with that word choice) so it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Before we go further, I have always been an avid horror movie watcher, even when they scared the heck out of me. I grew up in the 80s all! We had Freddy, Jason, Michael. Then it was the 90s and we had Scream, another movie I loved. In college my roomies and I would have a horrible horror movie night once a week because it was cheaper to rent horror movies than new releases. (remember that, renting movies at an actual storefront?) I have seen my share of horror and slasher flicks. For me, this is not a scary movie – gross, and sad a few times, but it didn’t freak me out. However, we all have our different levels and things that scare us. Like, I could not watch that tornado movie Twister. That scared me so much!!

This movie is about two buddies, Shaun (Pegg) and Ed (Frost) whose lives look sort of stale and repetitive to some, but they are content and happy. Without a doubt, their favorite place on earth is The Winchester Pub. It is like the Cheers Bar to them, where they go when they need to feel better. So of course when the zombie apocalypse strikes, where do they go? To The Winchester!

“Let’s go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all of this to blow over.”

I mean, it’s not too bad of a plan. We had a similar plan, but it was to head to the old theater in our town, which is sadly no longer there. I guess we need a new plan.

The two concoct a plan to save the people they love, including Shaun’s mother played by Penelope Wilton and Shaun’s stepfather played by Bill Nighy (love him!!) and head for the Winchester. You know, to grab a pint and wait for things to blow over. Perfectly reasonable. Except for all the zombies. Things go very awry, people die (one in particular always makes me terribly sad), there is an awesome scene set to a Queen song, and then by the end, things are a little better. So I guess the plan wasn’t too too bad?

I also have to give a nod to the social commentary that is part of this movie. Sure they are fighting zombies, but the movie illustrates how much like zombies people were before the actual apocalypse. How we are barely there, going to our jobs, performing the same tasks and duties over and over, being blind to the world around us at times. There is a scene that I love, where Shaun’s gang of people meets a gang of people that has a person that is a version of someone in Shaun’s group.

We do have to get through some sad, grody parts to get to the end, but – spoiler here – mankind prevails by putting the zombies to work, as it appears they have retained some of their humanity. And Shaun and his good buddy have not been separated, in case you were worried. Nope not at all. Although, their relationship is a bit different.

All in all, this is a pretty fun zombie movie. Kind of gross and kind of tense situations scary, but not Walking Dead gross, or Walking Dead scary. I had to quit that show!

Next week we are watching Hocus Pocus, I believe. Just in time to watch the release of Hocus Pocus 2 right after, if we felt like it. If you want to play along, feel free to post with us or just comment here! For Lisa’s take, which I am sure is much different than mine, click here!

And hey. You’ve got red on you. (iykyk)

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On September 21, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

Hi all! Today the coffee is absolutely perfect! I brewed up Seattle’s Best Port Alley which is quickly becoming my favorite. I am sitting next to Wyatt on the couch while the sun rises, and there is this beautiful golden glow on the houses and trees outdoors, and along one wall of my house. Wyatt’s eating his Cinnamon Toast Crunch and all in all this is a pretty great moment.

Speaking of Wyatt, last week he became an official card carrying member of our local library! This month is Library Card Sign-Up month and I decided it was time he had his own card. I love the fact that we still use the library I grew up using, and my mom before me.

We also found the crow on the shelves so Wyatt won a little prize, and we explored the arts and crafts room that is available. All those die cuts! And I am not even responsible for them! (Like in my last job)

I talked a little in my Sunday post about Hawkfest, which we attended on Saturday with my brother, SIL, and niece Mermaid Girl. The kids had fun making necklaces out of “eagle talons”, and meeting all the birds of prey that were there. And so did I!

We love checking out the Metropark events that are available every month! Billy and I have been visiting the parks and these events for like 15 years and have become friends with the interpreters who put their heart and souls into educating people and creating curiosity and encouraging exploration. Pre-pandemic we loved going to our favorite metropark in the winter, hiking through the snow, then sitting in front of the fire in the Up North room talking to the interpreters. I really hope we can get back to that tradition soon.

Sunday evening meant more fun – Billy and I actually went out without Wyatt, and met up with my cousin Brian and his partner Katrina for drinks. We had a blast and talked so much and laughed and laughed. Katrina’s son just got married and for his honeymoon visited Turkey and India and Egypt – and even took a cruise down the Nile! (I of course immediately thought about Agatha Christie..) They took some gorgeous photos and it sounds like it was a dream honeymoon. I was also excited about my giant pretzel. I have been wanting one for weeks thanks to the Llewellyn Watts character on Murdoch Mysteries, and I finally got one!