Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On November 3, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn holiday10 Comments

Hi all! It’s been a ride the past week. We had to say goodbye suddenly to our sweet Maggie girl, which has broken my heart. She was filled with such personality and her absence is greatly felt by us all.

But as a parent, I had to buck up for my kid, to make his holiday Halloween weekend a good one. Saturday we laid low, nursing our hearts and watching movies, but Sunday I rallied for Wyatt. I woke up Sunday morning to find our house enveloped in a dense fog, and I knew it was the perfect morning to visit Greenfield Village. It is always decked out for Halloween because they do a Halloween Nights event on the weekends (which next year we are going to) but we like to go early in the morning when we have the village to ourselves – it makes the atmosphere a bit more spooky.

It was so ghostly and haunted feeling. Perfect for the day before Halloween! – Side note: It has recently come to my attention that “Devil’s Night” is a Detroit thing! I had no idea. I remember it being such a big horrible thing as a kid, where we all kind of stayed indoors that night because people were pretty criminal. It got reclaimed and relabeled “Angel’s Night’ as volunteers would patrol the streets and keep in contact with law enforcement. Anyway, I still have that residual fear sometimes the night before, Our city only experienced minor vandalism, like egging and pumpkin smashing, not the hundreds of fires that happened in the city but the idea was there. Things are much better now, thank goodness.

The fog stuck around for a bit and when the sun came out, the light was glorious.

This is my favorite house, the Daggett Farmhouse. It’s a New England Saltbox and I love it. The other one is pretty great too.

It was a great way to spend the morning, and we all went home feeling a little happier.

Later that evening we carved pumpkins. (and yes my table is a mess – don’t look lol)

Finally Monday was Halloween and my little pirate was beyond excited! It was the best trick or treating he has had and I think it was due to the wheelchair. He was able to participate on his own and he really got into it. For the houses and walks he couldn’t access he had his wonderful cousin who would get his treats for him. She always has his back.

My brother’s neighborhoods is the best at Halloween! Everyone goes above and beyond with their decorations, they all have fires and tables and music and the atmosphere is just very festive and happy, kids laughing and having a good time, parents smiling over their children’s excitement. The sidewalks are packed, the candy is plentiful, and a few houses even give out adult beverages to the parents. We had such a great time!

My boyo had a blast, and was asleep in minutes. As was I!

What Wyatt’s Reading: Halloween Edition

On October 20, 2022October 20, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review7 Comments

Wyatt and I have been hitting the library hard this month, checking out and returning books, for both school and pleasure reading. It is not unusual for us to leave with 25 books at a time, which seems absurd but we need them! We really do….

What We Have Read So Far:

How to Haunt a House was a cute little book about little ghosts in ghost school, learning how to haunt a house. It was a non-scary Halloween story and pretty silly too.

Halloween is Coming explores the excitement that builds before the holiday. We liked it because of the disability representation, and because it was fun autumn read.

No Such Thing and There’s a Ghost in this House were very similar – both have a little girl main character who exclaim there is either no such thing as ghosts, or that they have never seen a ghost in their supposedly haunted house. In No Such Thing, little readers can have fun spotting the ghosts that the little girl doesn’t see, and in There’s a Ghost there are see through pages that make the ghosts appear on the pages. Both are really well done and fun, and I love the art in both. There’s a Ghost in this House is a bit creepier than No Such Thing.

Wyatt absolutely loved Inside a House that is Haunted, Trick or Treat Crankenstein, and A Tiger Called Tomas. These three were his favorites besides the above ghost books – all of the ghost books. Inside a House that is Haunted is a progressive, repetitive story like There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, with picture clues as well. Wyatt loved this one and I did too, because Wyatt had so much inadvertent speech practice with it. Trick or Treat Crankenstein is about a little boy who was so excited for Halloween only to have the day not go as he had wished. Wyatt was loving this story. And A Tiger Called Tomas was adorable – I loved the art, and this story of a boy who is shy and unsure. His Halloween costume lends him some confidence with its anonymity, and he learns that not only do people still know who he is, but that they like him.

Finally Stumpkin and Samurai Scarecrow. Stumpkin was sort of sad for me – this poor little pumpkin who is waiting and waiting to get picked and no one picks him. But it does have a happy ending! It was very sweet. Samurai Scarecrow is a cute little sibling Halloween story. Yukio is so excited for Halloween, but he gets tired of his little sister Kashi following him around and copying him all he time. He gets annoyed with her and lets her know it. Then feels bad about it. In the end though they make up but how it happens is a pretty big surprise!

On Our Shelf Waiting To Be Read:

There is still time before Halloween so we are going to keep on reading! We have some waiting on the shelf to be read which we will get to soon – and maybe a few more after these even!

I would love to hear your Halloween picture book favorites!

A Cute Little Cottagecore Autumn Halloween

On October 13, 2022October 14, 2022 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn artist review, autumn15 Comments

I love all of these new aesthetics -cottagecore, dark academia, green academia – to name a few of my favorites. I have to admit I feel like I was into the dark academia vibe before it was a thing, all the way back in the early 90s. All those books that fit that genre are books I loved as a youth. But, this is a cottagecore post – an aesthetic I really associate more with spring and summer – its all rural and pastoral and quaint and cute. However, it lends itself to Halloween and fall better than you might expect! I was browsing Etsy, as I am known to do, especially while Wyatt is in therapy and I am just sitting in the waiting room, well, waiting for him, and I found the cutest things! It is just so fun and happy to look at!

(links do contain Etsy affiliate links)

L-R: Orange Ghost and Flowers || Ghost and Roses || Collage of Cute Halloween Things That Make me Think of Doodling in my Notebooks

These mugs are so adorable! Those sweet little ghosts! I couldn’t pick a favorite if I tried. Well, ok maybe. That middle one is calling my name. And we all know a good mug is absolutely essential to a proper fall for drinking all the tea and cocoa.

L-R : Fox Beret || Ghost sweatshirt || Black Cat Knitted Tea Cozy

I mentioned the other day I was considering a beret. I don’t think I could wear this everyday but maybe on Halloween, taking Wyatt trick or treating I could! Or if I chicken out, that sweatshirt is cute and appropriate for the season – and me! And that tea cozy is perfect for a Halloween poetry tea time, which I do with Wyatt every year.

L-R: Pumpkin Stickers || Glow in the Dark Mushrooms || Gloomy Bookshop Print

I think these pumpkin stickers are practically perfect in every way. We always get more pumpkins then we want to actually carve and these would be great to use instead of carving but still making them festive. And these glow in the dark ghost mushrooms!! Why oh why must they be so cute? I am also in love with the gloomy bookshop print – it would be so cute in an office or library or really anywhere.

But this – this is the big daddy of cute.

It is seriously the sweetest, most joyful ghost I have ever seen. I think Wyatt needs it. Or I do. One of us does.

Boo!

Our Favorite Halloween Reads

On October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading, Uncategorized9 Comments

I love Halloween! One thing I love doing is hitting the library for Halloween books for the boy. Some of the ones we get are new, some of them you need a wayback machine for. These are the ones that I have made sure to grab, because they were my favorites growing up, and while they may not look as sleek and shiny and flashy, they are still great stories!

Samurai Scarecrow was a new addition to our holiday reading this year, as was Duck and Goose. I loved both, although they were very different. Samurai Scarecrow had great illustrations, while Duck and Goose was a Wyatt pick – he loves Duck and Goose. A lot. It was a long book so be warned. Lol.

Gus was a Friendly Ghost and Georgie’s Halloween are my two old favorites. I simply adore these sweet little ghosts. I also love the other Georgie books too. I know Gus has other books but I haven’t read them. I probably should!

Happy Halloween Witch’s Cat is super cool!! It is well loved here, both for the story and for the art, which is three dimensional and multi-media (I think this is the right way to describe it!) The author, Muncaster, is a miniaturist, who made tiny miniatures and then photographed them as the accompanying illustrations.

Room on the Broom and Click Clack Boo are just great reads. Simply put, Wyatt just loves sitting in my lap listening to them. Finally, A Dark, Dark Tale I picked up at a garage sale for its kind of creepy art. It doesn’t disappoint!

As for me, around Halloween I usually turn to books about witches and ghosts. These are a few of my top favorite witchy witch books and series. I am always looking for more, so please hit me with your recommendations!