Comfy Cozy Christmas: Making Christmas

On December 8, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

Hello everyone!! I hope you are all having a wonderful December so far! Things here are beginning to look like Christmas. Snow outside, our indoor decorations are up, I have some Christmas homeschool in the works, and we have been watching Christmas movies.

My grandma made that white tree. It had reddish orange bulbs before, but I replaced them with clear lights and I like it better. I do need to replace the star that was at the top. I think I can find them on Amazon, more than likely.

That little Christmas tree, the green one, is covered in ornaments that Wyatt and I have made together every year since he was old enough to help. I need to pick an ornament for us to make together this year still, but I love this little tree.

I have been hiding little bits of Christmas places this year. A little teapot ornament with mice tucked in among the plants on the sill, a tree ornament from 1978 on a shelf near my books. I like running across these little bits of the holiday as I go about my day.

I decked my dresser all out this year as well, with Christmas books and a plaid wool runner, and my vintage Regency Christmas romance books. The stuffed Highland Cow was a gift from my son this year; I have named him Sir Reginald, as he looks like a down on his luck member of the gentry.

I am not quite done decorating, but I am so close.

This area is a little blah still, so I want to add some greenery to it.

The tree is Wyatt’s favorite, hands down. He loves when the tree goes up, and loves helping to decorate it. I love our assortment of ornaments. We have more than we can put on, with many leftover from my childhood, and from life before Wyatt, really. So we try to do a mix, some childhood, some Billy and Erin pre-Wyatt, then the ornaments we collected when he was born.

I even decorated Miso, much to her annoyance.

I took the hat off after the photo, and she forgave me. She got all cuddly and warm and purred away, which is always nice in the winter isn’t it, a nice warm cat on your lap?

We watched A Garfield Christmas the other night, and there is a scene that touches my heart and makes me tear up so much now, as an adult.

I am not quite done decorating, but I am so close.

We also watched Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, which is one of my own personal favorites, and Wyatt is beginning to love it too. Billy, he tolerates it for me, but we do have our own little jokes that we say to each other all year from the movie. We watched it last night, and I wanted to make it a whole thing. So we set up the den all snuggly and cozy, and I had a little plate of Christmas treats, goodies like cinnamon stars and almond windmills and vanilla peppermint pretzels. It was magical.

I have some other posts coming up, but I thought this would be a good one to kick things off.

Happy Holidays everyone.

Soup and Story Saturday

On December 6, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized8 Comments

Hello everyone!! This is just a little Saturday post, where if you want to chat about soup that you have made or eaten or a recipe you have, and tell a story about your life, a memory, a book you are reading, anything, here is your chance!

The soup for today is broccoli cheese, a favorite of mine during the winter. It is just so creamy and delicious!! Wyatt asked for a painting dinner, where we all do various art projects and eat, which Billy was skeptical about but it worked! I thought we would give it a try and if it didn’t work, we would just pause painting/drawing/coloring until we finished eating. It went fine! When I was kid we used to have reading dinners, where we would allowed to bring our books to dinner and read while we ate. Those were always a treat, so I thought it would be fun to let Wyatt have this easy wish. Especially since he didn’t feel super this week. He was all congested poor kid. He had a great time painting and eating his dinner. We all just scraped together whatever and did our own little pursuit.

Lately, I have been daydreaming about snug cabins in the a snowy woods, thick blankets, warm fires, mornings drinking coffee slowly. A trip away at Christmas. Just a short one. Like a night or two, me and Billy and Wyatt, a quiet in the chaos. A step back for a moment. I wouldn’t miss Christmas with my family and friends for anything, but a little trip to a little cabin might be nice. It is too late for one this year, but maybe next year. I even started looking at different places on Airbnb. Chalets, A-frames, little log houses. Deer and woodpeckers and rabbits – and hopefully not bears. We don’t need to drive all that far to find ourselves in the “wilderness” here in Michigan. I can see those evergreens lining the roads now, all covered in white.

The closest I ever came to this dream, because I have had it before, is a snowboarding trip Billy and I took with my dad, my brother, and one of his friends. My brother and his friend were both in high school, and Billy and I were in our early twenties, recently married. We arrived to my dad’s friend’s A-frame in the woods in the dark of night, and on those country roads it was difficult to find. It had been snowing hard the whole way, and the snow was already piled high. We found it finally, then moved our bags inside, claiming our rooms. Billy and I took the main floor, that had two walls of windows. Which was pretty cool in the morning, but that night was sort of intimidating, all those big trees and who knows what else lurking outside? My dad and the guys were upstairs in the loft and it was late, so after a quick look around we went to bed. We were going to the resort the next morning early so that all the guys could hit the slopes. They were all snowboarding, while Dad and I were hanging out in the lodge. It was not as picturesque as I romanticized though. I had pictured reading in a big chair near a fire, hot chocolate next to me, while they all exhausted themselves in the snow. I still had fun however reading, it just was not the hallmark movie setting I pictured.

Eventually the guys all tired themselves out – or at least Devin and Shaun. They came back, minus Billy. I was of course like where the heck is Billy? And my brother was like, “Oh, we passed him on the way down. He was laying in the snow.” I immediately panicked and ran outside like I was going to run up that mountain and find him, maybe a St. Bernard with a cask of rum or whatever by my side. I stood at the base of the ski lift, contemplating my next move, when I could see my own little Crash coming down the mountain, back on his board. I let out a sigh of relief, both that he was ok, and also that I did not have to go up that mountain. I am terribly afraid of heights and can’t even fathom getting on a ski lift. We thankfully were heading back to the lodge to get cleaned up, and go to the city of Boyne Falls for dinner and for some shopping. I think it was Boyne Falls at least.

The next morning, we piled back into the car, and headed back downstate, stopping at one of my favorite places in Michigan – Hartwick Pines. I love going there, and I love it even more in the winter. We hiked the trails in the snow, surrounded by some ancient trees, stumbling onto the maple sugaring shack they have there, the historical lumberjack camp, the church. I loved every moment of it. We went inside to warm up before heading back to the car, and gazed through the huge windows at the birds feeding outside. Well, I did. The guys were exploring the nature center but I was glued to that vision of snow and trees before me.

Eventually we hit the road again, and in a few hours we were home, all tuckered out by our adventures. But I remember what those days felt like, the glorious majesty of the woods and forests and snow. And I want Wyatt to see that too, and feel that magic of winter.

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

If you have a post, feel free to link up! Or just share in the comments!

Soup and Story Saturday

On November 29, 2025November 29, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized6 Comments

We have had wintery weather here this week, with snow flurries and cold temps, and was the perfect week for soup. It was also a good week for soup because Billy and I knew that we had a lot of cooking and baking ahead of us for our two Thanksgiving celebrations and we wanted to keep things easier during the week. So on Sunday we made a whole chicken, ate it with potatoes and corn like a little preview for Thanksgiving, then turned the rest into soup. I haven’t quite landed on the soup recipe I want for chicken yet. This one was good, but was a little too tomato-y.

This is the Chicken Vegetable Soup by Dinner at the Zoo. I actually really liked this one, Billy is the one that stated it was had too much tomato. And I didn’t have green beans and I think that might have been a delicious addition. It reminded me of being a kid eating soup on winter afternoons after playing in the snow for hours.

I’ve been sharing memories the past few weeks, so instead, let’s talk about something else today. Something recent.

Last weekend we took Wyatt to the local Christmas parade – for the first time. I felt so remiss as a parent that I had never taken him to this before, since I used to go every single year with my family. My dad was always about “travel fast and light” back then (although you wouldn’t know now by the amount of luggage he packs to go on vacations) so we just went to the parade, no blanket, chairs, just us. Thank goodness my aunts were not of that belief and brought chairs for the adults and blankets for us kids. So I had that in mind when we packed up to go to the parade with Wyatt. He has his own chair, but I wanted to make sure we took blankets too, in case he wanted to sit on the ground with his buddies.

We met my two friends Nicole and Shawnna and Nicole’s daughter A and Shawnna’s son Z. Nicole’s mom was there as well. We got there first and threw down our big wool blanket, and waited for the others to arrive. Nicole and Shawnna are neighbors so they were driving together and they were on the way. While we waited, Billy walked down to Tim Horton’s and brought back hot chocolate for Wyatt, and coffees for us which I was very grateful for since it was absolutely freezing out. Billy also bought one for the young police officer at the corner directing traffic, who was also very thankful and cold.

I realized I may have bundled Wyatt up a bit too much, much like my mom and aunts did to us when we were kids. We were all like the kid in the Christmas Story, and poor Wyatt was too.

In my defense, Wyatt does get colder in his wheelchair. He isn’t moving around generating body heat, and that metal gets so cold! However, I still sort of overdid it. Which I realized after I saw him with his friends. Whoops.

We didn’t have to wait long before the parade started, and seriously, I was like a kid myself! I love parades and we never go, and I was reminded of how much I do love them! Shawnna joked that I was just like one of the kids, and after I got pelted with candy I thought there was maybe some truth to that.

I’m the kid with the yellow hat. Brian is right next to me, and my cousin Melissa is the cutie on the other end.

We came home with so much candy, it was crazy! A and Z were so mindful of making sure to grab some for Wyatt, it was so sweet of them! They would run out for the candy, and bring a few pieces back for Wyatt’s pile.

I didn’t take many photos, as I was too busy chitchatting and watching the parade, sitting right on the curb like I did when I was a kid, waving to the people in the cars, on the floats, clapping for the bands and dancers, and making sure to point out the tuba players to Wyatt, who is recently obsessed with them. Tubas, not tuba players. There were also so many scout troops walking in the parade! I had no idea there were so many around us! I am going to see if our little Blackbirds troop wants to walk in next year’s parade.

I managed to grab these two photos. I thought the float of our electrical workers was a cute idea – plus they are heroes around here. Wyandotte makes it’s own electricity, and when our power goes out these guys rush to the rescue and we usually have it back on within an hour or so. So I definitely appreciate them, as they are out in the cold and snow in the winter, or in rain in the summer, spring, and fall.

We had such a good time, just being outside in the brisk air, taking in the crowds and the float, feeling the happiness in the air, being surrounded by friends. Our little group left smiling and laughing, and I am so thankful to have these people in our lives!

Have a story? Soup? Feel free to link up!

Soup and Story Saturday

On November 22, 2025November 23, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

Today’s soup was made by my mother-in-law! Homemade wonton soup, and it is delicious and warm and not something I get to eat very often. I love wonton soup though and I needed some soup today! We got up early to go to the Christmas parade and it was very chilly first thing this morning!

It was perfect. I loved that it was not overly salty, and she added water chestnuts which I love. It was very warming and I was thankful to have it.

Last weekend Chrissy, my sister-in-law, and I were standing in the kitchen at my dad’s reminiscing about our grandmothers. It started with spaghetti, and she talked about how when she was little, one of her very favorite things was her grandmother’s house on cold days, because her grandma would always have a pot of bolognese sauce simmering away on the stove. She said it would bubble away for hours, while they played and her mom and grandma visited, and it smelled so good, and she couldn’t wait to eat it. She said it would get a layer of grease on top, and when I asked if she ate that, she emphatically said, yes, that it was part of the experience, and they would dip their bread into it too. Her memory sounded so vivid and I could imagine the feeling that would give, of family and homeliness, and it made me remember my grandmothers’ kitchens.

Neither of them ever really had any money, but you never went hungry when you visited. In fact, quite the opposite. Both would steam the windows of their houses up, cooking and baking. My grandma Marian, whose birthday would have been tomorrow actually, made the best chicken paprikash, the best bean soup (which I don’t have the recipe for and haven’t found anything to replicate it), and the best rice pudding. The chicken paprikash is the one I remember the best. She made it with the dumplings, and they were my favorite part, those little bits of dough were like treasures for some reason, and I would search the bowl for them before moving on to the rest of the bowl. We would all be crammed into her smallish kitchen, seated around her round wooden table, and I would be next to my cousin Melissa in the back, squished along the wall because we were the littlest and youngest.

Now my grandma Keedy, she was also a good cook and baker, and I live in the house that was hers, so I am continuing to make memories here. I remember our crowded Thanksgivings and Christmases, my entire rowdy family spread out wherever we could find a seat until dinner, when we again would cram around a table in the dining room, until the year when my cousin Brian, Meghan, Michael, and my brother Devin and I got our own table in the other room. We had slightly outgrown this tiny house but that didn’t stop us from being together.

The kitchen here, the one that my grandma used, is so tiny. I joke all the time that they built this house and then were like, “Oh no we forgot the kitchen” and managed to squeak one in. Despite its diminutive size, my grandma would turn out a huge feast, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas, corn, salad, cranberry sauce, and Yorkshire pudding, followed by pumpkin pie, cherry pie, coconut tarts and Empire biscuits. We all would fight over the last piece of Yorkshire pudding, and had great debates over which dessert was better, the tarts or the biscuits. I have always been a coconut tarts fan but I am among the minority. The house would be so hot from the stove working hard all day, and after dinner my cousins, brother, and I would go back to the den in the back of the house. We would occupy ourselves with books or and drawing and tv if there was a tv in there, which wasn’t always the case, and my brother and boy cousins would wrestle and Meghan and I would try to stay out of the way because they would get wild and it was not that big of a room.

Inevitably we would get bored and wander back into the dining room and living room, and listen to the stories our parents and grandparents were telling, about dancing at the highland games or the time my uncle scored for the opposite team during a basketball game in middle school or ice skating on the creek, or how my mom was hula-hoop champion in elementary school and got to hula-hoop before a high school football game, where my aunt was a cheerleader.

I feel like I have so many memories wrapped up in these nights, dinners and meals with family, and I hope that I am providing these memories to Wyatt. I want him to remember these holidays with fondness one day, the food that we made, the stories we told.

Marsha from Marsha in the Middle has an awesome soup and story to share as well!! Check out her post here!

And that is it from me today. Thanks for stopping by, and if you have anything you want to share, please leave a link below! InLinkz is still telling me that it is incompatible which is annoying, so if you leave a link in the comments, I will share it in my post!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On November 21, 2025November 21, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized9 Comments

Hello everyone! I am writing from my bed this morning, it is so cold and I am not ready to get moving quite yet. I do have a cup of coffee next to me though, thank goodness, that will help with both issues, although it is Friday and Wyatt and I have a lighter day on Fridays.

This past weekend was my birthday! I feel like I have been celebrating all month, with all of the surprises my family and friends have had for me. They have all been so thoughtful and made me feel very special for my 50th.

On Saturday, my dad and stepmom had a party for me out at their house, and it was so chill and relaxed and just what I needed. Good food, lots of cake, family, and laughter. I loved just hanging out with my family, chatting and eating and then I took the kids outside and they were all playing hide and seek, even Wyatt. It was a nice time.

Sunday morning Billy, Wyatt, and I had plans to go to Le Supreme in Detroit, which is a French brasserie. We love their brunch menu and we got all shined up to go (Marsha, I wore my fox dress outfit!) – however, my son decided to gift me a special surprise right as our food arrived, by throwing up right in my lap. I told him I have had better gifts before. We managed to keep things low profile and cleaned up and then packed Wyatt’s food up and went home. Billy and I both had egg based breakfasts and left them behind. The waiter was so nice, and gave me a raincheck for a free creme brulee when we go back. And we are having a redo, and this time I think Wyatt will stay home with a grandparent. Ah, life with a medically complex child. Lol. It is that pesky side effect of his medication – and we never know when it will occur since it is not everyday.

The day after my birthday would have been Billy’s older brother’s birthday, and we remember him every year on that date (well we remember him everyday, but especially the 17th). He passed at 26 from squamous cell cancer of the mouth, and we tell stories about him to Wyatt all the time. About George’s tarantulas, which is one reason I took Carl in, his love of old cars, his carpentry and automotive skills, which is where Billy learned a lot of what he knows, from his older brother. He would have been 53 this year, and probably still been giving Billy a hard time but then bailing him out as well. He was a good big brother. I remember one winter, Billy and I had been watching a movie and it was over about 1 am. Billy went out to his car, and the battery was dead, so he called George. George came over in the bitter cold, and together they jumped Billy’s car, while sitting in George’s. I would check on them occasionally out there, chatting while they waited, and I remember thinking how happy they both looked, despite it being freezing cold, pitch black, and jumping a car. Just two brothers doing brother things. He was one one of the good guys, and we miss him everyday.

On Wednesday my dad came by and kicked me out of the house, telling me to go do something for me. I decided to check out Brooks Books, a local bookstore. I knew they had decorated for Christmas, and I thought it would be nice to take Wyatt there next month for our book and cookie outing. However, it was very nice to go by myself for once. I had so much time to just look at everything, in quiet. I picked up a book while I was there, Cold Clay, the second book in the Shady Hollow series. It was a nice refresh midweek!

And, I also got my items from when I went to the tie dye place with my friends! I had made a pashmina scarf, a tote bag, and socks, which they donate to the unhoused. I really love how both my scarf and tote bag turned out! My scarf makes me think of malachite, and it is so pretty!

And I here I am, looking like an art teacher from a 1990s romcom!

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

Christmas Gift Guide: Things Wyatt Has Loved

On November 20, 2025November 20, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized9 Comments

How is Christmas so close now? What is it, 35 days away? I am not even close to being finished with holiday shopping! I did see Amazon started its Black Friday Sale, so I thought I would share a few ideas of things that Wyatt has loved over the years, in case anyone needs a little inspiration. Some of these are Black Friday Deals, others are not.

These links are affiliate links, and I will receive a small commission if you were to purchase anything using a link, at no extra cost to you.

Outfoxed is a game that he got maybe a year or two ago from his aunt and uncle, and he absolutely loves it, as do all of his cousins. It is a mystery game where you eliminate suspects (all foxes) using clues and logic.

Hoot Owl Hoot is a game that we bought Wyatt when he was five. We gave it to some friends with young children a few years ago as he outgrew it, but it is an awesome game. Wyatt played the heck out of it with us. This is a cooperative game, and helps kids learn colors, strategy, and turn taking.

Pop the Pig. I can’t even tell you how many times we had to play Pop the Pig. Every teacher, every therapist I have talked to has said that they have this game in their classroom as well. Kids love it. It is also geared for younger kids. We still have ours and if you could see it – the box is tattered, the poor pig looks like he has been through the wars, but it had a lot of use and love.

This Makedo Discover Set is a current favorite. This is actually really cool, and Wyatt has fun transforming my Amazon boxes into art or tall buildings or whatever he wants to make. And we learned over Halloween that the sawing tool is handy for kids to carve pumpkins with as well! All of it is safe and not actually sharp. Wyatt will sit and create with this for a good while!

Picasso Tiles, all the sets, he loves. He wants a set like this with dragons again this year (and I already ordered it) and it is another thing he will play with for an hour or two. We have taken them with us on vacations, on his trips to the hospital for EEGs, for tests,and they travel well (as long as you don’t bring them ALL lol).

I bought this flower building garden toy for Wyatt when he was in pre-school and we were doing a unit study on plants. It was great to illustrate to him the parts of a plant, but I had no idea that he was going to love it as much as he did, or that his cousins would as well.

Hopper toys were always a winner around here, I mean who doesn’t like to bounce? Plus it is good for core building in little kids, and balance.

I got these little barns and farm animals for my niece’s second birthday this past March, and let’s just say, she didn’t care about any of her other gifts once she opened it. I was told I apparently bought her the winning gift, because she played with it the entire rest of the party. It has colors, animals, and little kids love to put things in things and take them out.

And then a bigger gift, but I would feel remiss if I didn’t share, just in case anyone is on the fence about getting one for their child or grandchild or whoever.

A play kitchen. Wyatt played with his for years and years and when he outgrew it I gave it to a friend for their child to use. This and kitchen toys to go with it – he was occupied for hours. I drank countless “cups of tea” and ate so many pieces of “cake” as did any other family member who came over. It was well worth the money. This is not the same one we had but it is by the same company, KidKraft.

If you search my blog, you might be able to find photos of Wyatt playing with most of these!

I hope that this gift guide gave you some ideas, and I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Soup and Story Saturday

On November 15, 2025November 15, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Hello everyone! This is my very first Soup and Story Saturday, and if you are not quite sure what it is yet, well, know that I am still working it out too. It is sort of amorphous right now, and that is fine. We can all work with that.

My idea was basically about community. Sharing a meal, sharing a story. You can share a soup you have made, soup you love, soup you have eaten somewhere else, homemade or restaurant made, from a can – it doesn’t matter. As for the story, you can share a story or a memory of your own, you can share the book you are reading, you can share about a book you love, a book you hate – same, it is up to you. Just any sort of story you want to share.

Last Sunday we woke up to the first snow of the season, which is always an exciting day for us. We like to celebrate the first snow and traditionally, we order Chinese for some reason on the first snow. Well, this past Sunday our budget said no to ordering food, so instead we decided to start a few new traditions. We painted and had homemade soup and I baked. However, the soup I made didn’t quite turn out! I used to make it years ago, when I was still a vegetarian, and I must have done something differently in the past because this time there just was not any broth. Lol. It was more like a bowl of beans and dumplings than soup! It was still ok but not quite soup. It was still very hearty and soothing, although a bit stodgy.

The soup I made is called Vegan Chickpea Dumpling. I won’t share the recipe I used since this is not a good representation of it. Lol.

When I conceptualized this idea, I was just about to start reading The Enchanted Greenhouse. By the time I was done reading it, I knew I wanted to do a soup sort of posting linky. That book is full of homemade soup, sitting around a table, protected against the snow outside, and feeling snug. I always got that same feeling reading Little House on the Prairie. Laura would describe the elements outside, how it was always slightly wild and dangerous, but they were safe inside their little house, wherever it was located at that time.

This month is full of milestones for me, my 25th anniversary, my 50th birthday. Billy has been such a safe place for me for so long now- we have been together since we were seventeen, and even then, just starting to date him, he made me feel safe and cared for. There were times in my life that I didn’t necessarily always feel that way, but Billy is one of those people that are just…protective and full of love. He is human and makes mistakes obviously, but that doesn’t take away from how he is. He is an extremely capable person, and so kind to people. I remember one of the moments I really realized I love him, and what a good person he is.

I was working at a retail store, during college, one that sold office supplies, but also had a gifts side, that was sort of Hallmarkish, cards and little figures and ornaments and what have you. I worked on the gifts side of the store, and while the office supply side had more business customers, the gift side had more older people who came in, who would walk down from the senior apartments a block or so away for cards for their grandchildren, little gifts, but some came in just to chat. I would chat with them while I worked, the man named Harold Angel (first and middle name) because he was born on Christmas was one of my favorites, and then there was a little tiny much older woman, who didn’t live in the apartments but in her own home. But she came in one Christmas and wistfully told me that her family lived very far away, and didn’t visit very often, and that she wished that she had someone to visit and to help her set up her Christmas village of houses. Since her husband had died she didn’t have anyone to bring them up from the basement or help her out, and she missed seeing their lights at night. You all know I have a very close family, and it made me sad that she was all alone at the holidays. So you all probably can guess what I did. I volunteered Billy and I to go over and help her out.

Later, I told my nineteen year old boyfriend that we were going to spend the next night at a stranger’s house helping her out. And it was probably the first of Billy’s shrugs and sighs and turning to me saying “What do you want me to do”, acting exasperated but not really being exasperated. So the next night we went over to her home, which turned out to be just around the corner from my home, and she met us at the door, all huge smiles.

She had eggnog for us, which neither of us care for but that we smiled and chugged down, and her house was set a million degrees so we were sweating to death, and I sat and chatted with her on the couch while my very kind boyfriend brought up all the boxes of her decorations and little village houses, set them all up the way she wanted them, made sure they worked, and were safely plugged in. And I watched him, and knew he was a keeper. It wasn’t his ideal night out, probably a far cry, but he did it because he is kind. He has a good heart, a big heart. He is a helper. There he was, in his plaid flannel shirt over a black concert tee of some punk band, wearing his camouflage pants and giant combat boots, doing his best to make this woman happy. No one would have guessed he was that full of kindness if you just looked at him – until he smiled. Then you would know because his eyes are twinkly and his smile welcoming.

And I guess that is my story today. About Billy and his kindness, his spirit, his joy. And I probably wrote this all wrong, because I am no writer and sometimes it is hard to describe a feeling or emotion or a particular event in your life. But I hope you all understand what I am trying to say in this story anyway.

And with that, I hope you all have a great day, and that whatever you do, that you do something that makes you smile.

And, I am having a problem adding the linky today. It just keeps telling me it is incompatible with wordpress. So I apologize! If you want to share a post, add your link in the comments. 🙂 Or if you just want to share a story in the comments, that works as well! I look forward to reading anything anyone wants to share.

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On November 14, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized23 Comments

Hello everyone! We have been keeping busy but finding a balance over here, finally. I like when we can have down time but also activities and for awhile there, it was either too much or too little. It is finally just right.

Wyatt and I had our monthly book and cookie outing last Friday! It’s such a small little thing but we have so much fun. This time we went back to Barnes & Noble; the local bookstore in our town turned their store in a Christmas wonderland so I want to save that trip for December. Anyway, Barnes and Noble turned out to be a good time – partially because the Starbucks sugar cookies are freaking delicious. Wyatt has been binging the Frog and Toad cartoon, and now wants to revisit the books, so he chose Frog and Toad All Year as his pick. I lucked out and got the $5 Barnes and Noble Cafe book promo, where if you buy anything from the cafe, you get that one particular book for $5! It is a book called Murder at Holly House and I am really excited to read it this holiday season!

The next day was a get-together with my girls for my birthday party. They arranged a whole night out for us and I had such a fantastic time hanging out with them. I am so thankful for their thoughtfulness and friendship. We have all been friends for 20-30 years and I am hoping to have that many years more with them as well.

Our first stop was the Detroit Dye House, where we made tie dye! Kelly had arranged for us to do the class, and with the class you make three things: socks to be donated, a tote bag, and your choice of a few pieces. We all chose the pashmina scarf. I loved seeing where my friends creativity took them in the making of their pieces, what colorways we all went with.

Chrissy went jewel tones, very royal, and it reminded me a little of a peacock. Kelly was more earthy, Jill went for the colors of the ocean, and then I went for a more monochromatic look of different shades of green.

That place is really fun. I also like that it is fun for all ages; this is actually the place we celebrated Wyatt’s birthday this year for his tenth birthday! I threw in a picture of us at another creative get together, that one more than ten years ago! After getting creative, we went to dinner at Ima, a noodle house which was amazing!!

We woke up Sunday to the first snow of the season, and we had a perfectly cozy day, which I blogged about here! It was also the perfect weather for the eve of the anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy. It went down 5o years ago, 6 days before I was born, and my great uncles helped build it. One of them, Hugh McIlroy was actually the superintendent of the shipyard where it was built as well. My mom attended the launch as a kid, and remembers the surge of water when it was launched that soaked everyone. Apparently the surge of water was so great that one of the workers there actually had a heart attack, poor man. Another tragic casualty of this ship. My cousin Brian invited my brother and I out for a drink (I had a cider that was described as “cozy”) that night, Monday, in remembrance of the crew, and he also surprised me with a birthday gift. He wrote me a very beautiful letter that made me cry, and then gifted me with a first edition, seventh printing, first book club edition of To Kill a Mockingbird and told me that I always reminded him of Scout. He also again made me cry by gifting me a decorative Hummel plate of my aunt’s, that I remember being displayed in her home. I miss her so much everyday, and I am so happy to have such a memento.

The rest of our week was just routine (the balance I needed for all those outings!) and yesterday we had our Blackbirds meeting. The kids seemed to really enjoy our activity! We started with spending some time in the courtyard at the church, doing some stargazing, then we headed inside for snacks, a little art project designing their own constellations, and then ended with potting paperwhites to take home, which was a gift from my stepmom to the troop. I love being outside at night this time of year, I find it so peaceful and I even enjoy the chill in the air. They also all surprised me at the end of the night with a cake and singing happy birthday, and the smiles on all the kids’ faces warmed my heart.

And that is it from over here this week! I hope that whatever you do this week, you do something that makes you smile!

And now for some random photos.

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On November 7, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

Hello everyone!! Today is looking like a low key, read under a blanket rainy day! However, I don’t think my ten year old will let me do that all day. Lol. Maybe I can get an hour or so in though this morning. I did promise him that we would go out for our mother-son book and cookies outing today, which will be fun. The rain will make it even better I bet.

I feel like so much has happened since I last did one of these, which apparently was October 24th!

We carved pumpkins, which is always a tradition around here. Wyatt had a very visceral reaction to touching the pumpkin insides which could have been disastrous, but he held it together. He was very excited to carve them though, and was cracking me up giving his pumpkin kisses before he carved it. He is a super goofball. Last year for Christmas we had given Wyatt a set of Makedo tools (which he loves) and we learned that they are also useful for pumpkin carving! They are designed for cutting and creating things out of cardboard but it was good to know we can use it on different things!

Our Jack O’Lanterns from top to bottom – Wyatt’s smiley happy one, Billy’s classic version, and my dragon/lizard.

The next day was Halloween! Wyatt visited Billy at work in his costume for Billy’s Halloween work party. They go big there for Halloween! Wyatt ended up being entered into the costume contest and won. He was very embarrassed however from all the attention. Ten is a hard age! He did enjoy visiting and they know him there obviously from Billy and from Take Your Child to Work Day. Billy and some of his coworkers dressed together as minions; I didn’t get his entire costume in a picture although it was really cool.

I mean, his costume is pretty amazing. Billy did such a fantastic job making the Toothless head and the rest. I was in charge of the Hiccup/Wyatt while Billy did the rest. Wyatt absolutely loved his costume. My little viking. And strangely, this is the second time that Wyatt was a viking – the first was when he was one. This time it was his choice though.

We went trick or treating a few hours and a nap later with his cousins, my brother’s children, Mermaid Girl and Little Bit. Mermaid Girl was Coraline, and she looked amazing as well. Little Bit was Elsa, but we had a little excitement and tears earlier when she fell face first onto the pavement and scraped her nose up horribly. Poor baby. She didn’t let it slow her down or diminish her joy of trick or treating though! Although she did have a really long much deserved cry beforehand. She loves Wyatt so much though that she was distracted from it when her parents told her that he was on his way over. She calls him Wy-ee and was waiting at the door and windows for him. It is so sweet and warms my heart!

We had some much needed downtime after the whirlwind that was October! We did however, teepee my brother’s house for their anniversary on the 2nd. Kids need a little good old fashioned mischief sometimes.

And then my brother is set to repay us, I know it because he was mad he missed when we went out for our anniversary on the 4th! Lol. He had thought we were waiting for the weekend but instead we went out on our actual anniversary. His kids were disappointed they didn’t get to return the favor but I assured him there will be plenty of future opportunities.

Billy and I actually were celebrating our 25th anniversary. I have known this guy a long time I guess! We started dating at 17, got married at 24/25 and here we are, much grayer, a few more wrinkles on our faces, but still all in love and all that sappy stuff. He is my guy and my other half and I have known that since the summer we started dating. We didn’t go big for our anniversary, we didn’t have much time available, as it is hard for us to have anyone watch Wyatt but we went out for dinner together and I was so grateful for it and for him. He surprised me with a unique gift as well. He had bought a silver Indian spoon, that depicts a shadow puppet or puppet, and he built a shadow box for it to hang in. When you shine a light on it, the shadow is cast on the inside of the box and it is really cool. He is so clever! He also got me two little anniversary red cherry shrimp for one of our tanks. (Ok that wasn’t really part of our anniversary but I am saying it was lol)

We went to HopCat which is a place I have been wanting to go, and we had a blast. It was a very fun vibe there. Although my hair looked terrible. I decided to straighten it and it was so bizarre looking.

And that is it for now! I will have more to share soon!

I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Hello November!

On November 1, 2025November 1, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

Hello November!!

We had a whirlwind October, and so I am looking forward to a less busy November. I want to fully embrace a slower fall, now that Halloween and October is over. We went all out for October because Wyatt had such a crappy summer, and we definitely had a blast. But, now we are ready for relaxing!

Most of the month should be pretty quiet, although we do have two milestone events this month. First, happening Tuesday, is Billy and my 25th wedding anniversary. It seems unbelievable that we have been married that long, but I guess it is true. I am pretty sure we are still only 17.

Which leads me to the next milestone – guys, I turn the big 5-o this month. What the heck? I really really can’t be that age. It sounds insane to me, but again, here we are. Honestly, I’m not really that hing up on the number. I feel every year is a privilege. I am not sure what sort of celebrations we will be having, but I am sure they will be pretty simple affairs. I do know that my besties here are planning a night out, with a bit of fun at the tie dye place downtown followed by dinner at Ima, a noodle house I have been wanting to go to for awhile now! I am the oldest of our group, by one year. Jill is a year younger than me, Kelly two, and Chrissy – well. Nine. Nine years younger than me. I am very much looking forward to our night out though. I miss my crew and life gets in the way a lot of us hanging out. Kelly has a senior in high school this year, and is busy with all of the events and different things happening in her daughter’s life, Jill works so hard – she is a respiratory therapist at two different places, a full time job during the day and then some night shifts at the hospital. Chrissy works and has two children, one of which is a toddler. So it will be nice for us to have some time together, hanging out and having fun.

Billy has plans for our anniversary, dinner out at an old favorite of ours, and he took the day off to hang out with Wyatt and I. We are hoping for a hike somewhere, full of fall colors and brisk weather.

Outside of these two big events, the rest of our month should be quiet, with the exception of Thanksgiving, of course, but my brother is hosting so I just need to provide a few dishes, including my Nantucket cranberry pie.

I want to try to repair my vintage quilts this winter. I don’t know how though. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. I plan on making a post about this, with photos of them as they are. I love them so much, they are so soft and warm but they need some help and I don’t want them destroyed. But I do want them to be used.

Wyatt also wants me to make some mini-felt animals. He found a book at the used book store with photos and patterns, don’t ask me how, of little animals and wanted me to sew a few. So I am giving that a whirl to this winter. He wants to sew too, but I can’t figure out how to do accommodate that for him yet. He has full use of his left hand, he is a lefty, a natural one so that is good, but his right hand is more of a helper, and he does not have much in the way of fine motor skills with that hand. More like big movements that are sort of clunky. So I do plan on researching that a bit for him.

I also have some other goals, that are pretty small but I am looking forward to. I want to make really good cinnamon rolls, for one. I am not a great baker but I like to try and focus on something until I can perfect something, and have it be like, my good version. I have the nantucket cranberry pie, chocolate chip cookies, scones, and gingerbread cookies under my belt, and have my sights set on cinnamon rolls next.

I am also thinking of doing a little Soup and Saturday Stories feature on my blog. Doesn’t that sound cozy? Maybe make it a link up, and we can all share the soup we are eating, the recipe, and the book we are reading? I love soup. It is one of my favorite things about fall and winter, that it is soup season! And I have Billy reinvigorating his sourdough mother that has been sleeping all summer, because sourdough pairs perfectly with soup and stews.

I am of course thinking about Christmas. I would like to try my hand at painting some Christmas cards, but if that proves to be too much for my talent, I am going to just purchase some. I have been listening to the podcast In the Meadow, and Vic has been talking about how analog and doing things the way we did just two or three decades ago, can make such a difference in our lives. Screens, quick information, the digital life, has its good points, but it is also good to step away sometimes, do something like send Christmas cards again, or letters. Maybe use an actual clock or watch. A radio. You get the idea. I am going to start small – Christmas cards. What better way to connect?

So that is where I am mentally tonight, on this cold dark night already, the day after Halloween. I am sitting in the den with my husband and son, Billy watching some documentary on tv, Wyatt playing with his magna-tiles on the floor, my cat purring asleep next to me.

How are you doing?