The Haps’

On July 10, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn day in the life6 Comments

It’s been quite a week! We set a lot of different things in motion to make some changes this week, shifting stuff around, making different financial changes. We also had to deal with the insurance company over a small dent in Billy’s car that happened when he was hit while parked, and make some decisions on our barely functioning ancient A/C unit. Overall, it was a busy busy week and things have been pretty good for the most part.

I am going to probably skip around a bit, timeline wise. Wyatt had his EEG on Thursday, and he did so good. He is such a trooper all the time. It was supposed to be a 48 hour EEG, where we took him in, had him hooked up, then brought him home. However, on Wednesday the hospital called and I found out that a mistake was made in scheduling and this was a 30 minute EEG in office instead. So I imagine another EEG is in our future. I’m glad we at least got something done though.

He looks a little upset in that last photo. And he was. At me. Lol. I had to take my phone back for a minute and he was not happy with me. I don’t usually ever let him play with it (last time he did he called emergency so.. never again) but for the EEG I let him watch his YouTube favorites and Sesame Street. We got the results but I can’t interpret them so I am waiting on the doctor to call. But Wyatt did such a great job. He loved showing everyone his moon shirt, and it seems a lot of people really like the moon too. Or so they told him. The tech was also wonderful, she made the whole experience so much easier for all of us.

Wednesday I went back to work! For a short time but it was still something. I work part-time for my cousin at his law practice, and it is just the two of us. During the past 18 months though, he has been working from home and I haven’t been working at all. I just couldn’t juggle all of Wyatt’s needs and extra work, especially with never knowing quite when Billy is getting home from work. But now we are slowing adding in normalcy, like work. Brian is shifting his business away from the office entirely, and we are creating an office space in his home. I am looking forward to it, I can actually take Wyatt over there with me if need be and let him play or whatever while I work. But first, we need to get it organized. And since I had to pass by a Starbucks on my way over, I of course had to stop and pick up a new favorite, the Iced Matcha Green Tea Latte. So good!

And looking at this, I really need to do something about my nails today!

Last night Billy and I went out together, without Wyatt, for the first time since COVID. Our city has a Street Art Fair every year (except last year) and Billy and I have gone almost every year without fail. It’s been a while since I have gone on a Friday night though! I didn’t really look at the art too much, I was just too busy enjoying being out again. Looking around, people watching. We got tacos and split a beer, finished walking around, and that was about it. It was a beautiful night though, and with the music and the people and sights, it felt so alive. And so did I.

It should be a pretty slow Saturday around here, Billy has to wrap up some of our business today and then tonight we are going swimming at my in-laws with my brother and the fam.

I can’t wait to share some of the things we have been doing for Italy month! Hopefully next week I get a chance to round those up.

How was your week? What has been happening?

Currently…July

On July 7, 2021July 6, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

It’s that time again! I’m joining up with Anne in Residence for her monthly Currently..post. This month we are talking about what we are eating, feeling, going, ordering, and realizing!

So, on with the prompts!

Eating: Fruit, lots of fruit. Nectarines, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries mainly. Turkey burgers and salads. Tacos. BLTs and club sandwiches. Easy stuff, light stuff. It has been aggressively hot here! (at least for Michigan)

Feeling: The summer heat. Also a sense of fullness, I think. When I step outside I am struck by the growing lushness of the gardens, the buzzing of the bees, the butterflies, the fireflies. Birds are singing, neighbors are out. The world just seems so full right now. Of goodness and sunshine, family and friends.

Going: On picnics! I have no idea why, but my son loves to go on picnics. But I do too so it is all good. We have spent some lazy afternoons on the blanket under the trees, reading and snacking and drawing, with the cool breeze sweeping over the water over us, the shade from the trees protecting us from the sun. We could seriously spend hours there. We have also been revisiting some of our favorite places, like the zoo, Greenfield Village, Belle Isle in Detroit. Most weekends we have a fire at my brother’s while the kids play in the yard, getting muddy and dirty and loving every second of it.

Ordering: Iced London Fog Lattes and Iced Green Tea from Starbucks. Both are so darn good! Dresses to wear around the house and to backyard mom’s night out. Books and books and more books. I particularly recommend World of Wonders (for you) and The Big Book of Bugs (for kiddos).

Realizing: That I am a nurturer by nature. That nature has its own rhythms that we can live by. That summer is not my season but I can still find the beauty in it.

How about you all? What have you been eating, feeling, going, ordering, and realizing?

Our Butterfly Project – Update #3

On July 7, 2021July 6, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized13 Comments

As I said last week, life moves pretty fast when you are a caterpillar. I am writing this Tuesday night, and by tomorrow things could be different!

Let’s start with the Black Swallowtails. By the end of the week, they were all in chrysalis, with one poky little one. Sunday morning I got up, peeked at their enclosure, and saw a butterfly sitting there. It is so exciting to see honestly, just all of a sudden this beautiful creature pops into being.

After they eclose, you need to give them some time for their wings to dry – get their wings in order and all. Before then they are sort of floppy, fluttering wildly and going nowhere. I am giving them about three hours before releasing them and it seems to be a good amount of time. I named this first one after my Uncle who passed away in the fall from COVID. I never got to say goodbye and I whispered to this one to pass my love on to my Uncle as it winged away. I hope Arthur Blue flies high and has a good life.

Later that day our second Swallowtail eclosed. I named this one after my Aunt Barb, and released it when my mom was over. Art took off when we released him, he was ready to fly, but Barb flew a bit then landed nearby and stuck around for a while. That is her at the top.

This morning I woke up to number three, a beautiful female. I released her later in the morning, naming her Marion for my grandmother, and she sat on my hand for quite a while. They feel so light yet you can feel their little feet grabbing on. I sat with her a bit then went to set her on a flower. When I leaned over to place her down, she flew off without hesitation.

Now for the monarchs! Last week I had four hungry caterpillars. Then Thursday, my friend called me to pick up more. When I got there, she had nine for me. 9! By that point though, two of my first four were in chrysalis. And my new ones were big chunkers, so they were destined for chrysalis within a short amount of time.

I was so thrilled that I happened to be sitting at my desk when my first monarch went into chrysalis! I captured some of it on video.

When monarch caterpillars decide it is time, the wander around a bit, looking for their spot. Then they sort of are in on deck position, I call it. Just sitting there. After a bit, they fasten their little silk ending onto whatever they are attached to, then eventually go into a J-hook position. From there it is a waiting game.

These two are a little scrunchy still. They will hang all the way in a J, hanging straight down with a little hook at the end. Then the magical process begins!

So, at current count I have released three Black Swallowtails, and have three left in chrysalis. And.. I have 12 in full chrysalis, two on deck, and one still eating. Two didn’t make it, sadly. One was eaten by another caterpillar, and one for some reason just died. I am betting by tomorrow the two on decks will be in full chrysalis, and the munching muncher will be on deck at least.

If you look at the top you can see so many chrysalis! Monarchs don’t overwinter, so they will all eclose this year. Black Swallowtails, you never know, sometimes it might be next spring. We will see.

And that is where we are as of today!

The Weekend Vibe

On July 6, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Detroit, family friendly, Michigan, nature12 Comments

I felt like we lived in this car most of the weekend! We kept busy for most of the weekend, whether it was time spent outdoors, with family, and sometimes just taking a ride around. I apologize, this will probably be a long post with lots of photos!

Friday morning we loaded up the car with our new little red wagon, a cooler of water, my backpack of snacks, and headed off to the zoo! We were meeting my brother Devin, his wife Chrissy, and my niece Dino Girl. Thank goodness it was a cooler day, it has been so hot and humid in Michigan it’s like a swamp out there. But Friday was practically perfect.

Whenever we go out we have to make choices on how Wyatt will get around. A backpack carrier? And with me or with Billy? A stroller? I hate that these options limit his independence to practically nothing, but he outgrew his wheelchair over the past year and the way insurance works, if we were to get another one we would practically insure that he would never get another walker again. So, we are trying to work around that since he is working on walking and can use a walker, just not well enough for a trip to the zoo. And not to be negative on here since I hate doing that, but my husband took him for a stroll around the neighborhood the other day in the stroller and was stopped by someone asking what Wyatt’s “issue” was. They also let Billy know that Wyatt was eligible for therapy services, like he hasn’t been in them since he was six months old. So frustrating. I get that the person had good intentions but frankly it wasn’t her business. And now I feel super self-conscious taking Wyatt out that way, I don’t like people staring at him. It will more than likely happen his whole life but I want to be able to make things as easy as I can for him when I can. I’m his mom. I can’t help it. Anyway, Thursday night it clicked that we could use a wagon. So, Billy headed out at 8pm to find one. And delivered like the awesome dad that he is. I felt like the wagon would first, blend in, and second, I was positive my niece would crawl in there at some point too, giving him company and making him feel less isolated. And it was so much easier to take him in and out, he could move around a bit, and it folds down into a bench seat as well. Win-win. There were a million wagons at the zoo too, just like ours so I feel like if he looked around, he wouldn’t feel as different.

Anyway. Once that was out of the way, we were golden for the whole day. Zebras, lions, giraffes, rhinos, camels, tigers – they were all out and about and looking cute. Zebras are Wyatt’s favorite (and mine) and I was excited to see them so close this time!

However, we all seemed to love the Amphibian House the very best. I guess our family does love its little creatures!

I also got super excited about this turtle in the marsh system outside. And this bee!

Saturday we stuck closer to home. We loaded up our little wagon again, this time with picnic supplies, and had a little picnic in the park. Later on that night we had drinks with my brother and fam, plus my dad and stepmom too.

It was so hot and sultry out this weekend, and I think we were all remembering our many trips to New Orleans – which inspired Billy to make a cocktail. Which he never does. And I rarely drink at all, if ever. But it was good, y’all. Also, my new favorite summer wine made an appearance. The drink Billy made is called a Gin Basil Smash, and it is so light and refreshing and citrusy. And actually so is the wine. (Loveblock, Sauvignon Blanc)

Sunday morning, and we just kept on rolling. We took a drive around Detroit, specifically Belle Isle and the farmer’s market area of Eastern Market. Eastern Market was closed so I was able to grab photos of the beautiful street art.

From here we headed to Belle Isle for a total change of scenery…

And someone got a little sleepy.

It was a busy, full weekend, full of people and sights and things that I love.

I hope you all did something or talked to someone that made you smile over the weekend!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On July 4, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized24 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

Happy 4th of July if you celebrate! We are having a slow day today, and not really doing much. We had a pretty busy Friday and Saturday though, with a trip to the zoo, a picnic, and a fire and BBQ with my family. Today we are keeping it low key. We did go for a ride earlier today, which is something of a tradition for us on the 4th. It is usually super hot and muggy and today is no exception. Wyatt just is not great in heat so we generally keep inside, get some ice cream, and go for a ride. I’m looking forward to watching Jaws later on (another 4th of July tradition) and finishing up my book!

Read Last Week:

I have one chapter left in this book but I am seriously in love with every bit of it. It is definitely one of the best books I have read this year – it is beautiful. I have already recommended it to so many people. It’s almost a treat to read it at night, I am enjoying it so much. Nezhukumatathil has an amazing talent.

Reading This Week:

This week I am starting both of these. Cape Cod is a favorite of mine, and a big chunker so I am sure I will be reading it over the next month. And I love the Truly Devious serious so I am super excited to read it! Wyatt actually has a 48 hour EEG this week, and we will be home for the duration of it. He will be all hooked up at the hospital, then we will do the actual EEG at home, then take him back to be unhooked. So, we will be staying at home those 48 hours, probably watching tv, reading, and doing sort of easy things.

Posted Last Week:

Hello July!

Our Butterfly Project #2

Iced Tea Afternoons

Watching:

The Tour de France!! And pretty much nothing else, except for all creatures living in my home, my lizards and caterpillars and cats. I literally just sat and watched my first monarch caterpillar go into chrysalis and it was crazy! I managed to record some of it and I will post it in my update on Wednesday if you are interested.

And that is it from our little refuge. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods!

Hello July!

On July 1, 2021July 1, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized9 Comments

I can hardly believe it is July already! June was a pretty darn good month. A return to a more normal way of life, fresh strawberries from the garden, caterpillars, ice cream, lazy nights, a new favorite wine. All the little things that make up our days and make us smile.

Every July I used to reread the book Cape Cod by William Martin. It is a big chonker of a book, but I love every bit of it. I haven’t read it for a few years and I can’t get it out of my mind lately. It looks like I will be rereading it this year. We are going to the zoo this weekend, having a fire at my brother’s and then I don’t know what all else for the fourth. I do know we are going to watch Jaws, which has become a 4th of July tradition. That scene where Quint talks about the USS Indianapolis is one of the best bits of acting I have seen in a movie. It is riveting. And terrifying.

July brings us the potential for more and new adventures – we are doing a whole Italy study for the entire month of July, and it is going to be so much fun. We started on Monday, and we have already done some cute little projects! We have a “field trip” planned to a local winery – it was the only place nearby I could think of where the kids could see grapes growing for the life cycle of a grape study. But bonus for the adults. I think that we will take a picnic with us and the kids can have grape juice while the parents taste one or two of the wines being offered. I also have a few new recipes for us to try together, along with learning a bit of the language. I am still doing a bit of research about other things we can do to tie in to this unit – I am sure I will find a few more!

It is also the month of the Tour de France! Billy and I have been glued to it every night when he comes home from work – this year has been so crazy already. Some emotional wins, some terrible crashes, even a protest and an arrest! My favorite cyclist, Mikel Landa, is not part of the Tour this year as he has a broken collarbone. I hate that he has to miss out this year! I already miss seeing him pedal pedal pedal to the finish line! I am trying to find my cyclist to root for, but honestly, I have been so happy for every cyclist that has won a stage so far this race. Wyatt is even starting to enjoy watching, at least the end and all the excitement that happens in those last few minutes!

My garden is slowly filling out and growing – this cycle of rain and hot weather seems to be good for it. Not as much for me, but the plants seem happy. I love going outside and just looking at how pretty it is all looking! I ended up planting way more flowers than vegetables this year. I guess that is what my soul needed this year. I desperately need to get outside and do something with my tomatoes though. I can’t find any tomato cages and my plants have become a big jungle! I hope that they are salvageable, the tomatoes look amazing already. I had been so proactive, pulling off the suckers, removing the shoots from the bottom – then bam, it is a giant mess. This is a view from my front window. This cute little squirrel showed up for breakfast the other day, plopping himself among the yarrow and lavender and raspberries. And can I just say how much I am loving yarrow these days? I never planted it before and I am in love with it.

I do have some other low key projects planned for the month and the weekend, but mostly I hope to do a lot of slowing down.

What about you all? Any plans for the holiday weekend?

Our Butterfly Project – Post #2

On June 30, 2021June 30, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn nature14 Comments

So at last count, last update here I had three huge mongo Black Swallowtail (BST) caterpillars, and three tiny bebe caterpillars. I also had one Luna Moth cocoon. Things have changed.

Last Wednesday, we had mom’s night at my friend Kelly’s house. Besides having a blast with my crew, l left with four monarch caterpillars and one tiny BST caterpillar. Kelly has been rearing butterflies and caterpillars for years, but she is getting her kitchen entirely remodeled and couldn’t take these littles in right now. So I took them home!

This is what they looked like last Wednesday when I brought them home.

This is how they look today, a week later.

They are getting so big! I will be running around getting milkweed to feed them multiple times a day soon, as they will start munching through the leaves faster and faster. Then they will go into chrysalis! Monarchs have a beautiful chrysalis so I am excited to see them.

As for the black swallowtails, we have all but one in chrysalis! Their process is a bit different. They find a spot, and it happens slowly, where a monarch is sort of quicker and more explosive. I took pictures at four intervals of one of the BST’s going into chrysalis, and it is pretty neat. They pick a spot, glom on, make a silk string sling, and then sort of turn into the chrysalis slowly. I am not sure of the science behind it but it is crazy to watch.

As for our Luna Moth cocoon – it hatched! They only live a few days, and have no mouths. They only live long enough to reproduce and that is it.

We kept it in the enclosure for a day or two then released it on the night of the full Strawberry moon – it just felt appropriate for a Luna Moth. It was also International Fairy Day, and I was thinking – if it were hundreds of years ago, before scientific understanding of creatures, and I saw one of these moths, I could see myself thinking I was maybe seeing a fairy. A little fanciful, but can you see it too?

So as of today, we have four hungry monarch caterpillars, five BST in chrysalis, and one BST baby that is growing! I am hoping that by next Wednesday’s update I will have a few more chrysalis hanging around!

If you missed the first post, you can find it here!

Iced Tea Afternoons

On June 29, 2021June 29, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized6 Comments

Hoo boy has it been hot and sticky around here. My least favorite weather. Wyatt and I have been hiding inside as much as possible, in our sluggish air conditioning (but hey at least it is still working, although having a bit of a struggle..) for the most part. Neither of us do well in the heat – we just wilt and whine. I start guzzling the iced tea about noon, and he is getting more screen time than normal, and frankly, I am ok with it for right now. It seems like this is what is happening in every household around us though, the street is eerily quiet. No one is out and about. Pretty sure Dash is the only one in this house enjoying this weather.

We did do some stuff over the weekend though!

On Sunday afternoon we hopped in our car and headed off to Jurassic Quest, a drive-thru dinosaur event. I bought the tickets a few months ago, not knowing what kind of summer we were going to have. I figured we would start out easy, with a car based experience. Thank goodness, since it was a billion degrees outside. Since we were going like five miles an hour and my brother was the driver of the car behind us, I allowed Wyatt to sit on my lap rather in his seat, and held onto him like he was going to fly out the window at any second.

From an adult perspective, it was a wee bit lackluster. However, I guess for six year olds it was cool. Wyatt was waving and saying hi to all the dinos as we drove by. They did have an audio as well, that hooked up to the car radio that told about the period of dinosaur and a bit about it, so that was pretty neat.

Afterwards we parked in the lot and hung out with my brother and his family a bit. The kids enjoyed playing in the back of the Outback, and we joked that had this been the 1980s we probably could have all driven there in one car and just let the kids roll around in the back, without seats or seatbelts. I distinctly remember a trip to Pennsylvania for a family reunion one year and my cousin and I in the way way back, laying down in the back part of a station wagon. On the turnpike.

The kids compared loot from their souvenir bags that we pre-ordered with the tickets and Wyatt gave Dino Girl a little leather bracelet that he had made for her with Billy. It was super cute. Overall, it was fun to get out and do something, plus the kids had fun, and that is what matters!

The rest of the weekend it actually rained, so I feel like we lucked out in timing for the event. No rain!

I hope you are all enjoying the day wherever you are today!

My Sunday-Monday Post!

On June 27, 2021June 27, 2021 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

Hey all! It’s Dino Day here! I had forgotten that we had bought tickets for Jurassic Quest, a drive-thru dinosaur event near us. I was writing appointments in my planner and saw it in there, thank goodness! I always have weird low key anxiety before these things – I am a person who likes detailed instructions about how to go about this stuff, like what to expect when we get there, when we should get there – like right at our scheduled time? Half an hour earlier? Planning is so hard. Lol. It will be fun though, I think Wyatt will dig it. So we have that coming up this afternoon. I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to go though yesterday, as the freeways around us were all closed. All of them. We had some serious rain and our county was flooded. Our governor declared a State of Emergency and everything. I checked the directions online though and there are ways for us to get to the event still so it’s a go. Things are still flooded but getting better. Let’s just hope that we don’t get more rain making it hard for us to get home!

I haven’t been reading much. Or watching much tv. I don’t really know what I have been doing. I did have a girls night the other day which was really great. It is always good to get together with my crew. And I left with five caterpillars! My friend raises caterpillars as well, but her kitchen is under a complete remodel and she is not ready or set up to do it right now – so I got to take them home! I will do another Butterfly Project post this week with updates- time moves fast when you are a caterpillar, as there are changes to report already.

Read Last Week:

I’m on a bit of a Barbara Michaels revisit. I have tried so many books and DNF’d them all – and honestly I think it’s me, not them. I’ve got my mom reading Michaels now too which is neat. I didn’t actually start this one until Friday night so I am not super far into it. I will finish it up this week.

I also started Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil , which is a gorgeous book of poetry. I am loving it and I want to read more by her.

Reading This Week:

Speaking of Aimee Nezhukumatathil, I am also starting this book by her this week. It has been on my list for a bit and I think it is the right time to read it.

Posted Last Week:

Kindergarten Graduation, Oceans, and Mermaids

Our Butterfly Project – Post #1

Watching:

I think we are going to start watching Sweet Tooth on Netflix tonight. As for what we have been watching, not really much. We have been rewatching Death in Paradise. We love that show and it has been years since we watched the first season. When Wyatt was a tiny baby we used to have to hold him for half an hour after he ate due to reflux, and he ate every two hours so we were pretty much always just sitting holding him or he was eating, since it also took half an hour to feed him the smallest amount of food (like seriously a few a ounces. Preemie life. Lol) That is when we started watching Death in Paradise and it was so funny, even as a little baby he would dance to the theme song. It was like this little chest popping type dance while he was eating. Now he still dances to it. It cracks us up. Anyway. We also watched Luca the other night, and loved it. It was so cute! We felt like it was a real buddy movie, an underdog story, and a story about accepting differences.

Kindergarten Graduation, Oceans, and Mermaids

On June 24, 2021June 24, 2021 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn homeschooling9 Comments

These two wild and crazy kindergartners graduated last week! Next year, first grade! We had a small little family gathering, pizza, cake, and gifts for these hard workers. They have learned and grown so much this past year! In addition to their normal curriculum, we have studied over 28 animals, five different plants, three countries, one state, had a Nordic Christmas, and learned about some fascinating people, like Edgar Allen Poe, Jane Goodall, and Martin Luther King Jr. I also made these little memory books and t-shirts for the kids.

But this doesn’t mean our learning is over! Homeschooling, the summer edition, has commenced. We finished up our oceans study with a fun day devoted to mermaids!

We started with some blue hair. The kids were excited, even though Wyatt looks sort of not happy in this photo. Lol. My mom and I added some to our hair too, but you couldn’t see it in mine unfortunately. My niece decided we were all different types of mermaids – I was a moon mermaid, Wyatt a river mermaid, Dino Girl was an arctic mermaid, and my mom a lake mermaid. I think these were perfect choices for us.

Once we were ready for the sea with our blue hair, we switched on Luca, and started with our art project. It was extremely messy but very fun, and I love the way they turned out!

One little mermaid got so covered in paint that he had to borrow his mermaid cousin’s clothing until the paint dried on his own. (She had spare clothes at my mom’s house where we were – apparently I did not think of this) It was worth all the mess though, I think they look so cool! It was actually pretty easy too. I cut out a free template that I printed out of a mermaid and taped it to watercolor paper. Then the kids used finger paint to swirl the paint like water over the entire thing. We used five different shades of blue and green! Once the paintings dried almost to completion I peeled the mermaid template off. I didn’t want the paint completely dry since I had to cover up the area where the tape was, and I used the still sort of wet paint to fill in those blank spots. Next time I will roll the tape and put it underneath. You can see where the kids were overzealous and got paint under the mermaid template, but I think that is ok. It keeps them unique! I also had picked up some ocean art kits from Michael’s Craft store and let the kids play with those while they just created and watched the movie.

We finished up our mermaid celebration with mermaid floats and story time! Just lemonade, sparkling flavored water, and a little rainbow sherbet to make these magical drinks! (the recipe is from The Fairy Food Cookbook – I just changed the name from Rainbow Float to Mermaid) The kids absolutely loved them. They loved the whole day really! It was a great time, and a fun way to end our unit on the ocean!