Tag: family

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized16 Comments

Hello everyone!! I hope you are all doing well. I feel like the past few weeks or so have been set at whirlwind, we have just been so busy. Good busy though.

First, I have been keeping up with going to yoga on Tuesdays with my friend Kelly. This is something I had wanted to get back to for years, and like a lot of adults these days, I just never prioritized time for me. It always feels like we have all kinds of responsibilities and obligations, that it is easy to tell ourselves that we should stay home and finish the laundry, or the dishes or any myriad things that pop up on the daily. It’s hard sometimes to just say, nope, I am going, I am doing this, my body needs this, my mind needs this, etc. To let ourselves stop for a minute. With that being said, I am going to have to find a new place for six weeks while Wyatt is in Little League. Lol. Because isn’t that how it happens? But I am going to make myself keep doing it, despite the hitch in my plans.

I know that Deb from Readerbuzz mentioned how hard it is to find an instructor whose flow resonates with you, especially if you had a teacher you loved and then they stopped teaching. I was lucky that my new instructor has a style much like my old one, from years ago. And I really like the “studio” space she is using, which I have mentioned before. It is the third floor of an old building, that was first a Masonic Lodge and is now an arts center. The room is creaky, old, vast, and she turns the lights down so it is blissfully dim.

Speaking of Little League, Wyatt starts next week! We are all super excited. We took him out on Saturday to get his glove, and he was all smiles!

On Saturday, we also went out for dinner, at an Alpine inspired restaurant in Detroit called Alpino. We had a blast and ate so much food. You can read more about it on my post about Heidi, but I am going to share the photos here again.

Wyatt and I also had a zoo day with our friends S. and Z.! It was a beautiful day and the zoo was very busy! We all had so much fun just being outside, and we saw the baby gorilla and the baby lion cubs! I wanted to go play with them like they were giant kittens but that would probably be a very bad idea.

Then Tuesday and Wednesday I was my own whirlwind. I had yoga Tuesday, and afterward visited my mom, which is my routine. Billy then surprised me by telling me that he had taken Wednesday off so that he and I could each have four hours of “me” time. I thought this was genius and while I missed my guys, it was also soooo nice to have all that time to just do whatever! I ended up meeting a friend for coffee in the early a.m., then going off to the thrifts to see if I could find any treasures. I ended up finding a huge stack of books, some of which are going on my Pango, that were .60 each! I also found the cutest little whimsical teapot that I cleaned up and stuck on my desk. I absolutely love it. I then headed off to TJ Maxx, because they have journals and stationary sometimes so I thought I would see what they had. However, I fell into their beauty products section instead. I picked up the cutest little manicure set in its own little cat carrying case, a set of K beauty face masks, and a bar of soap that is citrus scented (of course). Billy is in love with the soap, weirdly, so I going back to grab a few more bars.

When I got home with my treasures, I took Wyatt out for ice cream which made him happy. I figured he needed a treat as well. Then, to top it all off, I met my cousin and brother for coffee that night and didn’t get home until an hour later than I had anticipated. But, that happens and we were all cracking up and laughing until we cried. It was a good time.

However, now I am ready for a few slow days to balance out all of this fun!! Not to mention, all that laundry is still waiting for me…

And now some random photos from my camera roll!

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

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Hello everyone! I am under strict orders from my husband to take it easy today. He told me to blog, catch up on my life, and recharge so I guess I am doing that. And he is right, I do need to do that.

My mom is all settled in her apartment now, and we have all of her services lined up. It was a herculean effort, it seems, and I will say it again and again that this system should not be so difficult. It should be an embarrassment to these places that it is so hard but we know that this all just trickles upwards, and the people I am dealing with are not the people making the policies. However, when all is said and done, I managed to get my mom into a situation where she is safe and comfortable and taken care of. Since it is still within her apartment at the assisted living/senior living center she is also not as scared as I think she would be in a new place.

On Sunday, I did have a break from everything and it was exactly what I needed. Our Blackbirds group had an outing at a farm to experience the process of maple sugaring, and they had such a good time! I think everyone did, including the adults. The woman who owns the farm is a retired elementary special education teacher, and already knew some of the kids and parents, which is how we learned about it. She was so welcoming and you could tell she was a retired teacher, she was amazing with our kids.

She had everything all set up when we got there. Books, handouts, a video to start, and then she poured sap fresh from the tree into a filter to show the kids, and we were all surprised to see that it was clear like water. Then we all tasted it, which was also surprising. It tasted like water with a tiny bit of sugar. I had expected it to be sweeter!

After this presentation, which the kids all listened to very well, we headed outside to tap a tree!

Wyatt was very excited to be able to dump the sap into a bucket.

After we finished up outside, it was back into the little studio for a craft, where the kids fashioned their own “sap buckets” and ate hot off the griddle pancakes served with fresh maple syrup! Another activity everyone loved.

After we were all done with the lesson and activity, she said we were welcome to explore the property and just hang out if we wanted. She was so nice and has invited us back whenever we want. We are definitely going back next month for lessons on frogs and ponds. And I could hear the spring peepers there, which did my heart good!

It was a fantastic way to start the day, honestly. We all explored and the parents bought maple syrup and fresh eggs and honey. And some of the parents got to live their dream of holding a chicken… that is my friend Kelly I talk about a lot, holding Nora. She was very excited and that made her day.

We all had a great time and it was the breath I needed to start the week.

When we left, we had time to run home for a bit before meeting my brother, who didn’t get to go to the farm because my niece had a birthday party to go to, at our mom’s apartment to change things around. We turned her bedroom into more of a sitting room, so that when she has visitors they have a place to sit while they are there. It looks very cozy and homey in there now, although she still needs more pictures for the walls, something she has needed for awhile now. However, when we left I felt pleased with what we had accomplished. It is a start! It’s hard to make those spaces seem cozy – if you know, you know.

Oh, I forgot to mention Saturday! On Saturday I wanted to get Wyatt out of the house. He has been cooped up a lot, and when he did go out, it was either to therapy or to my mom’s. So we did one of his favorite things – book shopping. One of our local used bookstores is having a buy one get one free sale on kids books this month, so we went there, and he picked out a nice stack (with a few additions from me). Then we hurried to another bookstore to get there before closing so I could use the last of my birthday gift card on a book I have been wanting for months, Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter.

That Trixie Belden is for me. When I was a kid I loved those books so much that I wanted my parents to call me Trixie. Lol. I also added Betty Before X to his stack, and Fever 1793.

So, while things have been rough around here, we did fit in some time to relax.

How are you all doing? I hope that you are taking time to do things that make you smile as well!

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized30 Comments

I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hello everyone. It has really been a tough two weeks around here. I shared on here the other day that my mom had a stroke and it has been very emotional and stressful and scary. She is now out of the hospital and in more long term care. She is actually better physically than she is emotionally? I am not sure how to describe it. I did read that this is common for people who have suffered a stroke, so we are just making our way through things day by day. She is also sleeping a lot, and I think she is in a sort of healing cocoon. When we sleep our brains heal and I think that is some part of what is going on. Plus, she does need rest, she went through a huge ordeal and was in the hospital for almost a week. She also had surgery for blood clots. It’s been a lot for her but everyday I see mini improvements, inchstones.

Books:

I haven’t read too much. I am still working on the book I started a few weeks ago, although I am enjoying it. I just keep falling asleep pretty fast at night. Lol.

I hope to finish it in the next day or two, and when I do I am going to start this one!

I thought it would be fun to get a photo with all three of my cats, but you can guess how that went. LOL. Max stuck around though.

Screens:

Nothing too exciting here either. When I am upset I want familiar shows, so we watched old episodes of Brokenwood.

In-Betweens:

I have been so grateful to all my friends for the support they have been given me this past week or so. My in person friends and also my online community. I also have gotten a few letters from pen pals this week that have brought a smile to my face. Thank you to Tina for the happy mail – Wyatt and I are excited to start the seeds soon! Yesterday I set up a small table next to my mom’s bed while she slept and wrote a few letters back to my pen pals, and it was a very therapeutic and calming activity.

I an hoping to be back in this space more this week as well. I am trying to establish a new routine to accommodate some of the changes in our lives for the moment. I just work better when I have a plan and order. I haven’t had one and things are just a mess here. No planned dinners have led to my family eating more fast food and junk than I like, the house is cluttered, things have just fallen by the wayside, even with my husband doing all he can to help. I have been a bit of survival mode, even with Wyatt’s homeschool, focusing on reading and math only and his home therapy routine. So I am working on a plan for the week.

Tuesday is going to be a nightmare friends. Send good vibes! Lol. It’s not really that bad, but between Wyatt and my mom I have three appointments one right after another with just enough time to drive to them all in between!! Not any appointments I am particularly worried about, it’s just the actual scheduling of them.

Around the Internets:

I have shared some posts in the past two weeks:

Little Life Updates

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Top Ten Tuesday: Cozy Mysteries with a Gardening Theme

Also, just a reminder as well that Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I have a link up for anything bookish! You can find it here!

And that is it from me today! Whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile!

Little Life Updates

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized18 Comments

Hello everyone. It ‘s been a crazy week and a half around here. I mentioned the other week that my mom wasn’t well and she had a diagnosis of an UTI. It turns out she also had a stroke, which we learned as her condition began to deteriorate instead of improve throughout the week. She has been in the hospital since Saturday night, and it has been a confusing, emotional, stressful time. I would like to see the adult in charge please?

Despite everything she has been going through, she is doing ok. The stroke affected her left side, and mainly the vision in that eye, and her arm. Her arm however seems to be doing better, and it seems as if her vision is as well. Before she wasn’t turning her head to the left at all, and now she will track me if I move around the room, from one side of the bed to the other. Yay for improvements!

I feel so guilty everyone. I am not able to be there all the time and I feel awful. But I have a son who is also medically complex who needs me as well. It is hard for my husband to get time off easily, and I am there as much as I can. This is such a very difficult situation for me- and I feel so bad. This is all just so hard.

I actually spent all morning this morning speaking to the hospital social worker, insurance, and the place where she lives, basically negotiating for care for my mother. I hate that this is our system. It is absolutely deplorable. However, I managed to get the best I could for her, with her resources and the hospital timeframe. I think I have a good plan in place and it gives my brother and I more time to research if this is the best option. We were told my mom needs long term care and was not recommended rehab, but also where she lives, she wasn’t receiving all those extra services, plus, they wanted to send her back today. Make it make sense people. She needs long term care but send her back to independent living? I managed to set everything up and they will discharge her tomorrow.

Needless to say, I am exhausted. After I visit my mom tonight, I am going to come home and take a dark shower, do some serious skin care, and crawl into my freshly made up bed for the remainder of the night. Maybe watch an old Brokenwood, have some tea.

This weekend I do have something fun lined up for Wyatt and his friends. Our little Blackbirds group is meeting at a local farm that is currently in the process of maple sugaring. So the kids will be able to see and participate in that process. The farm owner is a retired special education teacher as well, and she is very excited to be hosting our scouts.

We also had two birthday parties over the weekend, despite my mom’s hospitalization. It was not easy honestly, but we did it. I think they went well even with everything that was happening.

I am going to end here today, but I will be back to blogging again on the regular again soon, hopefully.

Take care of yourselves out there, and help others when you can!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

Hello everyone! I’m going to be honest, this was not our best week, my mom hasn’t been well, although it did start off celebratory and fun, with Wyatt’s birthday! I can’t believe my kiddo is 11. Where has time gone?? He was just a teeny tiny peanut when he was born and now he is almost the same size as me!

I mean, look at my hand next to him. Lol. He was 2 lbs 15 oz and 17 inches long. He is a miracle honestly.

We were trying to figure out what to do to celebrate his birthday. It has been so cold and yucky out, and germs have not slowed down out there at all. Wyatt had wanted to go to the Toledo Art Museum, but then I learned that it is closed on Mondays – along with just about every art and history museum. I didn’t know this was universally a thing, but it is. So we owe him a visit to the art museum. We pivoted and headed for the Toledo Zoo instead, and had a great time!

It was a Monday morning, cold, gray, and we pretty much had the entire zoo to ourselves. There were a few animals not on exhibit, and most of the buildings were still shuttered and not open, but that didn’t stop us from having fun.

We saw otters (my favorite there!), elephants (which Wyatt loved because one of them did something that young boys find hilarious), wolves, among other mammals, and went into the aquarium, conservatory, and natural history museum. The reptarium was under construction sadly but that just gives us a reason to go back. The conservatory was so cool – it had reptiles just loose and free in it! We all had to watch where we were going so we didn’t squish any. I also did something purely out of love for Wyatt – I sort of am weirded out by fish, and they had two open aquariums where you could pet a sturgeon and manta rays (or some sort of rays) and Wyatt was not quite tall enough in the wheelchair to do it, so I did it for him and described it and it was super gross, which Wyatt thought was hilarious.

That 80s looking building up there used to be where all of the big cats lived in the 1980s. I remember visiting them there when I was a kid and before zoos became more knowledgeable about habitats and what is appropriate. Now it is used as a restaurant! I swear we could eat in that building even then, while the big cats lived there but I might be misremembering. That was a long time ago!

I mean just check out this photo quality! Lol. I am the second from the left, and my little brother is in the red shorts next to me, and my cousin Brian is the other big kid. Check out the giant thermos jug my Aunt has! Lol.

We spent a few hours at the zoo, then headed home. It was just about time for dinner when we pulled back into our driveway, after having stopped for a family size mac and cheese, which was Wyatt’s request for dinner. And that was that! Wyatt has two little family parties this weekend to celebrate as well.

The rest of my week has been sort of split, with a lot of time being spent doing things for my mom. She has a UTI and it has really affected her mentally and physically. So I have been in contact with lots of staff and being there in person and juggling all that with Wyatt’s school and his appointments. Watching your parents age is really really hard!

And I don’t want to end on that so we will talk about… the book of poetry I just read. It is called A Bit Much, it is so good! I absolutely loved it. So many of the poems resonated with me. You can find the author, Lyndsay Rush, on Instagram as @maryoliversdrunkcousin. Lol. I have been sharing poems from the book with friends all week, like this one I sent my friend Kelly.

And with that, I will sign off for today. I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Wednesday Morning Coffee (Covid) Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized25 Comments

Hello everyone!!! It’s been a minute since I posted here. If you are on my socials at all, then you already know, but that illness that Wyatt had – and passed on to us – was Covid. Ughhh. I started feeling pretty crummy Friday night, and by the time we went to bed, I had an idea that is what it was. When I got up on Saturday morning I took a test and yep, that line showed up. Billy was starting to feel sick too by this point as well.

Billy and I both immediately set up virtual doctor appointments to get on Paxlovid. I know that this is not the choice everyone would take, but we thought since we have Wyatt to take care of and we were all sick at the time, that it would be a good idea to take it. The other time we had Covid, back in like 2021ish, Billy had it in May and then Wyatt and I had it in July. Billy set up in his office when he had it that time and I solo’d it with Wyatt.

Anyway, we were both super tired for like two days, and have Paxlovid mouth which is disgusting. Wyatt rebounded quickly, but as he has a certain level of dependence on us, ended up spending a lot of time watching tv in bed with his parents as we rested. Lol. However, yesterday I felt so much better! The sun was shining, it was warm (40 degrees!), and I threw open the windows a tiny bit to air out the house, and got busy cleaning. I scrubbed down the bedrooms with bleach, washed all the bedding, scrubbed floors, just pretty much went on a crazy deep clean spree. I also decided anything that made me think of winter needed to put away. Winter decor was banished to boxes, and snowy reads put back on the shelves for another time. I moved out books that feel like spring, changed our duvet cover, and by the end of it all, the whole house felt lighter. Fresher. And I felt happier and lighter as well. I saw Mireille posted about vignettes today and I need to pop over and read her post, but that is what I was doing yesterday too. Changing my vignettes. Changing my view, and my mindset.

It is still too early here in Michigan to start seeds, I think, but I think we will give it a try. I feel like if we get some wee plantlings that there is a way we could make a makeshift greenhouse situation on our deck for Wyatt and I to tend. We need to move our thinking forward to spring. As the seasons start to shift, so do we. It is premature to think of spring being here, I live in Michigan after all. Winter could be here until April for goodness sakes. But, I am going to start thinking at least of brighter, longer days. Of more color in the world, not just the blues and grays and whites of winter. We need pink and green, yellow. We need birdsong. I think that if the weather is a little better next week Wyatt and I might take a field trip to the zoo, walk around, go into the butterfly house, watch the otters play.

We have been watching the Olympics a lot around here, and playing with our three cats, little Miso who is like the Nana for our kittens. She follows them around, just sort of watching them. They nuzzle up against her and she sort of makes a face like eww but also allows it. But when I put them in the office for the night (I don’t trust them running around the house at night yet) she sits outside the door for a bit, and in the morning she waits for them to come out, and nose boops them. I had to laugh yesterday, Mouse, our little adventurer and scamp, ran by Miso and play swatted her poofy tail, and then ran off. She was brave, that could have earned her a little hiss but it didn’t.

I haven’t wanted to read much while I have been sick, but I did receive two letters from pen pals which made me smile. Yesterday while Wyatt was painting, I wrote them back. It was so nice to have a cup of tea, and just write out letters that I will send out to two very different places, while my son happily painted next to me. Poor Billy had to go back to work yesterday, but he was working from home so that was better at least.

Today we join the world again. Wyatt goes back to therapy, and I think he will be glad to get out. I know I will be happy! I think we might try to go to the library and pick up our holds as well. And maybe I will stop at Starbucks and grab Wyatt a cookie, and a Medicine Ball for myself. Then we will come home to our house full of animals and Billy and settle in for the evening.

And I think that is it from me today! I don’t know what is in my camera roll, we will find out here together I guess!

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

In Our Homeschool

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized6 Comments

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have posted about our homeschool studies. It’s not as visual for the blog as it was when he was younger! However, we are still working hard and doing some fun things.

Before Christmas, we finished up the Revolutionary War. I lingered way too long on that topic. I always joke that I spend way too much time on history but I can’t help it – I love history, and it is what my degree is in. That and literature. Wyatt loves history now too, and it cracks me up what he holds on to sometimes. He loved the story of Paul Revere, and loved shouting “The British are coming!”, which Revere actually never did but we talked about actual history and then also, this fictionalized version. He made a lantern with a tealight, and we just had a great time with it.

After Christmas, we moved on to the Lewis and Clark expedition, and westward expansion. This is a whole new adventure and he has been enjoying it. We are about to head down the Oregon Trail, and we are also reading Little House on the Prairie for Language Arts. When we finish that one up, we are going to start The Cabin Faced West, which I have actually not read yet myself!

I mentioned that we are reading Little House on the Prairie. I learned this morning that Friday is Laura’s birthday, so I am planning a few fun celebrations for that, like a mini Pioneer day.

Wyatt and I were both done with modern, abstract artists so I am starting a whole new unit with him in art – architecture! He is already excited over it and we have only been working on it for a week. We needed something new and fresh to liven things up! Wyatt loves houses and building things so it seemed like a good fit.

We started last Saturday with Billy, and talked about foundations, how important they are, the difference between shaky and solid. He got to do a little experiment with both as well, trying to float a foundation and building on it to see the difference. Then he and Billy built a “floating” building, the Sydney Opera House. It was a lot of fun, and he had a blast. We did have to crack up because the non-technical parent (me) bought the supplies and did not pick a large enough “harbor” for our opera house to float in. It more or less rested on the sides of the container. But, he got the idea!

We are using a slew of books for this, but there are a few that I really like.

Architecture According to Pigeons || Mini Architects || The Future Architect’s Handbook || Architecture for Kids

And that is it for now! I have lots of fun things coming up and I am so excited to do with them Wyatt!

Comfy Cozy Christmas: Christmas Celebrations

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

Hello everyone!! It is a super windy day here today as I type this up. It is whipping past the house, causing the windows to rattle, or something to rattle on the house, but we are all cozied up in blankets and warm inside. A big thank you to the workers out there delivering stuff today!

We had a bit of a mixed up Christmas but it it ended up a good one. The Friday before Christmas my niece tested positive for flu b and then my brother and his wife did as well. Thankfully they didn’t have it bad, Mermaid Girl had a cough and was tired, while my brother and SIL had very bad headaches for three days. However, since Christmas day we were going to celebrate with other family members who are more compromised, like my mother and my MIL, and Mermaid Girl was still tired, we at the last minute shifted plans. They were going to stay home, as it was day 7 and the contagious period says 5-7 days, and then we would celebrate with them on the upcoming Saturday at my dad’s. However, we had all planned a dinner together, with everyone supplying something. So, we decided to stick with that plan, and just made enough for each other and my brother came and picked it up and dropped off.

But ack I get ahead of myself!! The week of Christmas I was still recovering from whatever I had, which I wonder now if it was flu b as well. I never felt terrible, just run down and coughing, with laryngitis. By the week of Christmas I was good, just still hoarse and raspy. Wyatt and I spent the week baking together, which was really fun. He was a good little helper! We made four dozen chocolate chip cookies (these are a family favorite!), gingerbread, and my grandma’s coconut tarts. I felt like I never stopped baking.

Christmas Eve we were supposed to go to my BIL’s, Billy’s brother’s house, but there was going to be a lot of kids there, my nieces and some of their friends, and I got nervous about my own lingering illness and so Billy went on his own for a bit, and wore a mask. When he got home, we simply ordered a pizza and watched A Muppet Christmas Carol. It was one of the most relaxed Christmas Eves I have had, and it didn’t feel too much like Christmas Eve until after Wyatt went to bed and Billy and I did our Santa duties. Then I couldn’t wait for Christmas morning to watch Wyatt and Billy open their gifts!

Christmas morning started early, and hallelujah, I woke up finally without laryngitis. We bumbled our way into the living room and Wyatt was beside himself with excitement. But, he didn’t want to open his presents right away – I was stunned. He wanted Billy and I to open a few of ours. So I opened one and we had Billy open one as well, the one I was super excited about, his tiny baby bonsai. I wanted a picture of Billy and his baby bonsai and he turned it into a model photoshoot. Lol. Billy was very happy about his new baby and after opening gifts watched multiple videos on how to care for them.

Then Wyatt ripped into his gifts. We got him the usual type kid things, and then for his big gift this year, we got him a phone. All of his friends got them for their birthdays, and I think he felt left out. It wasn’t very much actually to add him to the plan so .. a phone it was. And he loves it. We also got him an instant camera and he has been taking photos of us all that low key look like they belong in a horror movie.

The guys got me gifts that are all for my little projects – crafting and drawing and sewing things. I am so excited!! And of course, my orange kitten. Only a few more weeks until I can bring her home! Until then she will be with her mama at our friend’s house.

And then we just proceeded to play around with our gifts! We had a pretty lazy day ahead, as our Christmas Day was reduced to hosting three people, Billy’s parents and my mom. They all came over later, and we did the normal things, and it was a great time. My mom, who has been struggling a bit, did fantastic. I was so proud of her and so glad that she came!

Saturday was Christmas at my dad and stepmom’s and it was another fantastic day. Lots of food, kids playing and laughing, presents and Christmas crackers with crowns. We had so much fun, and I think Wyatt fell asleep pretty early that night.

And here are a few random photos from the camera roll..and one of a very fancy baby Wyatt a few Christmas’ ago. Like ten Christmas’ ago.

And that was Christmas!

I hope that you all have had a wonderful holiday season doing what it is you love and being with those you love. I hope as well, that you stay healthy and do something that makes you smile today!

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens (and some Soup too)

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized33 Comments

Hello everyone! I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hi all!! We are all getting over our ick. It is apparently the trendy new virus of 2025! I don’t usually go for trends too often and yeah, this one could have passed us by. Cough, laryngitis, headache, and I took the tests and negative so that is good at least. Just a gross virus. I am feeling better though thank goodness. I have got to get moving on Christmas! Which I dove into yesterday. I did so much! I shopped, I cleaned, I baked cookies, I watched holiday movies. I am a mom with a mission over here!

Books:

As for books, I haven’t been able to read. My mind is just going too hard to be able to focus on reading. I am guessing that I am done with reading for the year at this point, and will probably write my wrap up post soon. However, Billy, Wyatt, and I started listening to Greenglass House on audio together via Spotify last night. I have read it and I love it. I was planning on reading it to Wyatt this break, but my voice is not going to allow that, so I am letting audiobooks do it, and now it is a fun family affair.

Screens:

We have been watching a lot of movies over here. I did a round up of some of the Hallmark Christmas movies we have watched lately, and since that post we have watched two more movies, one Hallmark, one not. We aren’t watching our traditional movies until, well probably starting today! We watched Oh. What. Fun with Michelle Pfeiffer and we really loved it. I asked Billy if he had ever imagined seeing a movie where Michelle Pfeiffer was married to Dennis Leary and he was like absolutely not. I had to laugh, because me either. We also watched A Biltmore Christmas, which we both liked as well. Out of all the Hallmark movies we have watched this month, that one is our favorite so far. I liked the call back to the 40s, the jargon, the transatlantic accents. And it was just so beautiful, shot at the Biltmore, one of the places in the US I would most love to go. Sigh. A room with three fireplaces? What a scene that was!

I have also been watching Morgan Long, a vlogger on YouTube with Wyatt. She is doing a Vlogmas and posting everyday and Wyatt and I watch every night. She is just so pleasant and cheery!

Posted Last Week:

Top Ten Tuesday: My Winter TBR

My Favorite Quotes From Every Book I Read This Year: Part 3

Comfy Cozy Christmas: Make It Hallmark For Me

The In-Betweens:

Wyatt has been kicking butt at therapy. I am so proud of him for enduring all he has been through this year. I hate that he has to be so strong, but he handles it so well, better than most adults would most of the time.

I am almost done with Christmas shopping, and wrapping. While Wyatt paints, I wrap a few gifts. I need to do his gifts still, but everyone else is wrapped. Woohoo! I just ordered a bunch of cookies and treats to make a gift basket up for the staff of the senior living complex where my mom lives. She receives some extra services and I wanted to give them something from her. I need to get something to put it all in still though! At this point, Billy and I need to get the house ready for Christmas dinner, as we are hosting (eek), and get the roast that we are making, and finish up the baking. And stocking stuffers, we need stocking stuffers. I also need a gift idea for my dad. He always is adamant that I not get him anything, but I always get him a little something. I just never know what. He doesn’t really have hobbies – he is a man of his generation, he just sort of likes to do work around the house. And flashlights. I guess I could get him a flashlight? Ugh. I don’t know.

I didn’t get a chance to put up Soup and Story Saturday yesterday, but I do have the linky up for anyone to use whenever you would like to post along! I will not be posting this upcoming Saturday at all, we are doing Christmas at my dad’s that day.

I made a crock pot chicken and dumpling soup the other day, and it was one of those hearty type meals that just warm you up. A comfort food. It was soooo good. And I really really need to remember to buy carrots.

I am going to share my story tomorrow, as part of Comfy Cozy Christmas.

And that is it for me today! I hope to be bopping around visiting all of you soon!

Comfy Cozy Christmas: Making Christmas

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 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.