Tag: lifestyle

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized16 Comments

Hello everyone!! Last week when I wrote this post I didn’t have any coffee – only instant packs that Billy had taken camping! Now thankfully we have a full pot brewing in the kitchen, and I have a steaming cup next to me.

It’s been hot and muggy out there this week. Disgustingly humid. Wyatt and I have been hanging out at home most of the time, but we have ventured out a few times.

Saturday we hung out with my brother and his family for a small fire, which was nice. It was before the really gross weather moved in and it was a nice preview of fall and fires. I can’t wait. The kiddos were all just doing their thing, and my littlest niece Wild Child was having fun playing with the portable fan I had bought Wyatt. (Thanks for the suggestion Captain, we take it everywhere!) It was just a nice relaxing evening, hanging out.

Sunday we spent in our shady spot at the park, under the trees. Wyatt absolutely loves this so we try to do it whenever we can. On the way there though we passed a local rotary club having a little to-do at the fire station. They had demonstrations shooting off the fire hose, and also had some free ice cream from the Good Humor woman. We spent a nice time at the park afterwards, full of ice cream, just drawing, enjoying the breeze under the trees, the singing of birds, and reading. (me lol)

Later that evening, we had game night, which is Wyatt’s favorite. This time we played a game we had checked out from the library called What’s Next. It was really fun! It is sort of a choose your own adventure/rpg type game. There are three stories you can choose from, and each card has either an event or a choice you need to make or do. There are little side challenges as well, and a tower of peril! It really was a lot of fun, and we are definitely adding it to the wish list!

The rest of the week we have been home, with one journey to the library to check out more books, and to collect Wyatt’s summer reading National Parks Card and cryptid card that he earned. Next week he gets to shop the library “shop” with the book bucks he earned with all the reading we have been doing.

I have been working on getting our school plans together for next year. I absolutely love doing it honestly, putting together the plans and then finding fun tie-ins. Fall looks like it is going to be a lot of fun, with reading adventures like Alice in Wonderland and The Phantom Tollbooth, Indigenous history of Michigan, dinosaurs, and artists like Charley Harper! I am just starting to construct my Charley Harper art study for Wyatt, and I am having to taper things down because there is just so much we can do – too many ideas and not enough time. I think Harper will be a really fun artist to start off the year!

And just some randoms from the camera roll!

Have a great week everyone, and stay safe!

Tuesday/Wednesday Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized18 Comments

Hello everyone! It has been a doozy of a few days.

(written Tuesday evening – posted Wednesday morning)

On Sunday, I wrote my little Sunday-Monday post and then headed off to church like normal. This time however while I was gone, Wyatt started throwing up. Normal kid stuff usually, but for Wyatt it automatically means a trip to the ER to check his VP shunt. I hurried home and jumped from my car to Billy’s, where Wyatt and Billy were waiting for me so we could drive straight to the ER at Mott’s Children’s in Ann Arbor. Wyatt was triaged pretty quickly once there and were shown to a room.

They gave him Zofran, and sent him for his shunt survey – x-rays of his head and torso, then an MRI. Wyatt hates getting an MRI to the point where he fights like his entire life depends on it. Billy actually has to ride into the MRI machine with him, and holds him down. Afterwards, Wyatt settles down pretty quickly but that 5 minutes is so long for us all. We received the results pretty quickly as well! And, it was all good on the shunt side. His shunt was intact, no kinks, and his ventricles in his brain were decompressed and not enlarged. Wyatt also gets enlarged ventricles when his shunt is malfunctioning. So, they moved on to the next phase, the fact that he had a seizure right before throwing up. He was scheduled for an EEG in June (and still is) but they thought we were there so why not get a head start on it. So, in came the EEG team, Wyatt’s hair was twisted into tiny ponytails and the leads were placed in between the short little shoots of hair. Then the final wrap of gauze and tape, and we were ready for his EEG. All this time we were still in the ER, where we stayed until we were discharged 30 hours later.

Through this whole ordeal, Wyatt was a little charmer, making the staff laugh with his jokes and by being a super helper, helping to put the seizure pads in place, putting tape on the gauze wrap on his head, and trying to tape his o2 monitor to his toe. We had a restless night of sleep, with the team popping in all night to fix his EEG leads and all was going well the next morning. Until he threw up again! Up until this point, neurology believed that the emetic episode was a post-seizure episode (after the shunt was ruled out). At this point, we had to just believe it was something else, perhaps a little stomach bug instead. However, we still had to rule all of that out first so that we didn’t miss something important. I would rather them do that then say stomach bug and then have something happen.

The EEG did produce results that said Wyatt was having breakthrough seizures despite his medication increase a few weeks ago. So they further increased his meds, and we go see his doctor in June, and then later that month, have another 24-48 hour EEG. So, lots of good information came from the visit, it was just very long and exhausting for all of us, especially my kiddo.

Those are the happy, tired faces of two people who were just told they could go home. Poor Billy had actually gotten up in the morning after a terrible night’s sleep in one of those hospital room sleeping chairs (if you know you know) and went to work. He was actually on the way back to the hospital after work when Wyatt and I got the good news! So when he got there we only had to wait for all the i’s to be dotted and t’s to be crossed and then we went home, with a very very happy boy. He cheered when we got in the car, and then when we pulled up into the driveway. Billy and I felt the same way, so happy to be home and so relieved, and exhausted as the adrenaline and anxiety of the last 30 hours wore off.

Update – Tuesday we spent just relaxing and trying to recuperate, except for Billy who went to work. Our internet was down though and I didn’t have access to my phone because I turned it into a hotspot so that Wyatt could watch tv as he rested. He was very tired at the beginning of the day but in good spirits, and by evening he seemed much more like his normal little self. Today, I am going to have us take it easy but also add in a little schoolwork and one errand. Slow little baby steps!

And that is it for the moment! I hope you are all doing great!

Northern Michigan Trip – Part One

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Michigan13 Comments

Day one of course, was our journey to the cabin we rented in Indian River. A four hour drive sure feels like forever when you are in a hurry to get somewhere! We opted to stop in Hartwick Pines for a break, which is no hardship for us because it is one of our favorite places. The beauty of the Old Growth Forest is majestic, with trees soaring high above, so high you have to lean your head all the way back to get a glimpse of the tops. And the smell! So fresh and evergreen.

Before we stopped here though, we saw a sign for the CCC Museum, and decided to pull in and see what that was all about. We were glad that we did, it was a neat little quick stop, and we learned quite a bit!

This is a self-guided tour of the grounds and buildings, and it was really neat (and wheelchair accessible). This site depicted the work done by the CCC to regrow the forests that were lost due to forest fires. The interior pictures above are from inside the cone building, referring to pinecone, of course! They would roll the seeds out of the pinecones, overwinter them in mold and damp proof containers that looked like those giant milk canisters you see on dairy farms, and then start the seedlings off and turn them into “Happy Little Trees”. Wyatt was excited about the Bob Ross sign, as you can see.

It was a neat little stop before we got to our next one, Hartwick Pines.

When we got there, we headed straight for the visitor’s center first. We weren’t sure where exactly we were going, but I had found a wheelchair accessible trail on my AllTrails app, so I did know I wanted to do that with Wyatt. First though, we poked around the visitor’s center, and even picked up a few souvenirs. T-shirts for Billy and I, and a book for Wyatt – they didn’t have shirts in his size (or any kids size), which was a bummer. The book we got was really cool though, and since he loves books it was fine that he didn’t get a t-shirt. Then we walked back outside onto the boardwalk to look at the big map, and met the cutest little Llewellin Setter! She was so darn sweet! Some of you may have been around long enough that you remember my Penny, an English Setter and this little girl reminded me so much of my Penny, even though Penny was copper colored.

We opted to start out at the lumberjack camp, which was smart since that is where the trail was that we wanted. We were having a tough time with the map for some reason and were pleased to find the trail right where we ended up. LOL.

There was a little chapel tucked back, high on a hill among the trees, that was so serene and peaceful, and so just beautiful in its simplicity. There is a prayer inside that is so perfect for the surroundings, and for the people that visit, called Nature’s Prayer.

Our Heavenly Father, Creator of all that is nature,
We humbly come to you in the midst of nature’s splendor,
To thank you that as Americans we are free
To worship as we please, work as we please,
And move about as we please to enjoy all that is nature:
Its mountains, its hills, its valleys, its lakes,
Its streams, and the living things that dwell therein;
We pray unto You that someday the world may be at peace
And all men be free to enjoy nature’s abundance.
We ask you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
That we be guided to protect this priceless heritage
Which we, in America, are privileged to enjoy. Amen

It was a wonderful walk through the woods and Wyatt was SO happy to be back outside under a canopy of trees. We have been having a hard time lately finding a place to go with him in his chair! The AllTrails app I used is perfect though, you can use a filter for wheelchair friendly trails which is awesome.

After exploring we knew we had to get back in the car. We were so close to the cabin and had one stop left – a store for food supplies for the cabin. We were all bringing stuff and just sort of sharing food around, as we were sharing the cabin with my dad, my brother Devin, SIL Chrissy, and my nieces Mermaid Girl and Tiny Peanut. My stepmom was supposed to be there too but actually had some medical issues of the non-contagious sort and had to stay home, which was a bummer – and we really missed her!

Anyway, we finally got to the cabin. My brother was already there, and my dad got in just behind us. We spent the rest of the evening figuring out who was sleeping where, unloading the cars, and just settling in. Billy worked as a short order cook in the kitchen making either eggs and toast or grilled cheese for dinner since it was late, and a pizza order was going to take 90 minutes! We all hit the hay pretty early that night.

It was a good day!!

Wednesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP15 Comments

Hello my friends! I got a new to me laptop (Billy’s new within the last two years but old to him) and all my stuff looks weird now. Is this font different? Why? I need to do some investigating! (update – it’s not, I am just apparently crazy)

Let’s see, what has been happening since the last time I chatted? Well. We moved my mom to her new place last week and that sort of consumed the entire week, outside of school and appointments. We are still working out details of what she needs, what she wants to replace, etc. All that nesting type thing, decorating, so it is not completely done but this is the fun part at least.

Saturday we had a day without work, and it was awesome. We went to Greenfield Village to celebrate my dad’s birthday and it was hilarious at first, just pure chaos. We had no idea prior to arrival (at 10 am, mind you) that it was Thomas the Thank Engine day, where they make the train look like Thomas, and everyone on earth is there to visit. So there were virtually no parking spaces at all. Then after we all finally found a spot, my brother realized they had forgotten their stroller! So while they were making the long trek to the village from the lot they had to park in, Billy and my dad went into guest services and rented a wagon to put the baby and her car seat in. By this point, it had gotten super cloudy and it was absolutely freezing – and I only had on a thinnish t-shirt. So my stepmom and I went into the gift shop and my stepmom generously treated me to a warm and cozy sweatshirt. Phew. By this point it was now 10:45 and we could finally enter the actual village. The good part- all of the Thomas people were now inside and on the train at least. Lol.

We had a great day, hanging out with my dad and stepmom, and my brother, his wife, Mermaid Girl, and Tiny Bebe. We ate, we walked, we laughed, it was a good time. I have decided I need a version of Camp Mohwak in my yard to retreat to. Although I would like a better view than the house behind me – instead, it should be woods and a river or something, more of a view like the actual cabin pictured has.

Then Sunday I met my friends at the garden center for our annual flower shopping day!

We all had our specific goals, mine being to buy plants to spruce up the toad abode, to make it prettier and to give shade. I ended up buying a few ferns, a hosta, some tomatoes and basil and cucumbers for the garden, and then some petunias and snapdragons for fun. I also picked up a crazy foxtail fern, simply because it is called a foxtail fern. I have no idea where to put it but I love it so much. Lol. Our next garden task is to get more topsoil since we are still working on getting rid of that darn ivy our previous neighbors planted, and sprinkling wildflower seeds down. That will end up being in the area behind the toad abode and it will look so pretty when it is finally all done. But, that is gardening isn’t it? You can’t hurry it, it is something that requires you to slow down and take your time. Or at least, that is the way that I like to do it. My friend Kelly is my total opposite pretty much in all things (I call us Grace and Frankie on here all the time) and she powered through and had everything in place that she bought in like an hour and had her entire yard done in a few days. I am more of a meditative gardener, I guess. I like to think about where something is going, maybe change it, maybe do this… I am just very slow. Neither one of us does it better than the other, it’s just our ways.

Speaking of Kelly…she and her sweet daughter E. supplied the “toads” for our toad abode! Well, sort of. I have to raise them first. E. and Kelly went to a vernal pond near the railroad tracks near their house, and E. collected ten little tadpoles all by hand just for Wyatt!

They brought them over to us and hung out for a bit, and it was so fun. We exclaimed over the cute little tadpoles zooming around, E. enjoyed meeting all of our creatures, from the geckos to the isopods (although I think she liked Applejack the best). I was reminded of those summer nights when I was a kid, where time stood still for a while, the weather was perfect, the kids were laughing and playing, and it was just one of those perfect, everyday moments in time. We gave her an old praying mantis ooth to take home for her own nature collection, and for some reason it just really made me happy, tadpoles for an ooth.

So that is about it for me – I need a refill on this coffee, and I need to get ready for a big day of school with Wyatt. He is also getting a haircut, and hopefully we fit some time in for the library and then later tonight, time in the yard.

How are you all doing?

Tuesday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP15 Comments

Happy day everybody! I am so grateful for coffee this morning. Yesterday was ROUGH – physically for Wyatt, emotionally for me. I fell into bed and just passed out last night, as did my kiddo.

Wyatt started the morning early, with physical therapy. Then we came home, he ate breakfast, we read a little, then he took a quick disco nap before we moved on to his next appointment – the dentist. My poor boyo had a cavity! The dentist gave us a few options, and we went with pulling the tooth since it is a baby tooth and would be a faster process for Wyatt to go through. Because Wyatt has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, there were a few extra hoops we had to jump through first. We needed medical clearance from one of Wyatt’s doctors and I spent last week nailing that down. Then after we had that we were able to schedule the extraction. The OG date they gave us was all the way in March but they had obviously underestimated my persistence in getting his form finished and the procedure done and over with.The dentist, who we absolutely love, the office staff and dental assistants and dentist, all are amazing, especially with kids with different needs. They had initially proposed strapping him to a board for the procedure which gave me a lot of anxiety. I knew he would hate that more than having his tooth actually pulled. In the end though they just had a bunch of staff members on hand for the shots in case it was needed (it wasn’t) then for the extraction the dentist did his job while the dental assistant and I held Wyatt still. He was excellent, although he did start shrieking and crying for about five minutes. We got to the car and I about collapsed from the emotion of it all. I hate watching him go through things like that. I think all parents do! He was still a bit sniffly, and since he refused to keep the gauze in his mouth, a little oozy too. I let him play with my phone all the way home (a treat he never ever gets to do) and that kept him busy and happier. (Thanks to my friend Kelly for that suggestion!) We had many friends and family sending us prayers and good vibes and I was appreciative of them all!

The staff were all charmed by little charmer. He was so happy and silly before the procedure, because that is Wyatt.

When we came home I discovered the front door to our house wide open. Not cracked, not ajar, wide open. I realized that in my anxiety I probably just never shut it when we left. Yay me. I need to carry Wyatt from the house to the car, and he is an armful these days! I more than likely carried him out, and then we just left, being in hyper-focused mode. But I didn’t want to just take him in after the house was open all that time! I listen to true crime ! So I locked Wyatt in my car, grabbed the gardening scissors off the porch, and entered the house, ready for anything! Miso had been sleeping on the couch and she woke up and stretched, so my first concern was immediately alleviated. Miso was ok. Phew. So then I searched the whole house and closets, including the basement, and when I felt it was all clear, went and got kiddo. Thank goodness for small houses! I didn’t have much to search and there are not many places to hide! We could go in and relax and have ice cream and nap and not worry about Michael Myers surprising us.

So yesterday was an adventure! We had a much better adventure last week. After occupational therapy last Thursday I decided the rainy gray day needed something special. So we went on a surprise, spur of the moment field trip to the Henry Ford Museum. I have a membership and it is so close to where we go for therapy so I was like, why not go for a bit?

I wanted to climb inside that cozy little geodisic dome and read. It was just so comfy looking! I refrained somehow though. We saw the chair Lincoln was in when he was shot, and George Washington’s special camp bed. Then Wyatt always loves the airplanes so we spent most of our time there. We had a really good time and I was glad that we changed up the day.

And we finally got some snow! Charles my squirrel friend was sort of amazed! I think it was his first snow.

I did not have time to do my homeschool recap yesterday so look for it tomorrow. I am excited to show you what we did – especially our artist of the week. Can you guess who it was?

How are you all doing this morning? What is in your cup? Has your week started off well?

The Haps’

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn day in the life6 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How was your week? What has been happening?

Hello June!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family, family friendly, Uncategorized9 Comments

Wow, how is it June already? It seems like the year is flying by!

June is the month of the Strawberry Moon, and I am so excited to begin this month! This month I think we want to really soak up the month, as I am not sure where April and May went to so fast!

Summer begins in June, and it always brings to mind that freedom and joy felt when you are a child, and the whole summer is stretched out before you like a blank canvas. Mornings of sleeping in, lazy days reading under a tree, chasing fireflies and playing tag, trips to the cool library on those really hot days, visits to the zoo and beaches and walks through shady woods. Peeking under rocks for bugs and just laying back in the grass, staring up at the clouds. Playing with friends and cousins and backyard cookouts and pool play dates. Summertime feels like freedom, and we lose that feeling so much as an adult, with all of our responsibilities of work, whether it is a work out of the home job or stay at home. But if there is one thing I have learned in the past few months, it is that time is short. We all only have so many summers and while we do have to take care of lives, and can’t live with the utter carefreeness of a child all of the time, we can incorporate some of that spirit into our everyday. Stop and take half an hour or an hour on a busy day to just be. To enjoy and savor your life. Make days just for playtime and family and fun days out. Try and make the most of these days. The other day my husband came home from work and although it was dinner time and we had lots of things we could have and should have been doing, instead we hopped in the car, stopped at a bakery for pizza rolls, and headed off to the marsh for a sunset. A spur of the moment dinner picnic. It was good for the soul.

This summer, we are planning on many trips to the library, little morning hikes, and lots of evening front porch sitting. We are enjoying gardening and the farmer’s markets that are popping up, and we are looking forward to many backyard bbqs and fires, chilled white wine, iced lavendar coffee, and of course, lots and lots of ice cream! Mint chocolate chip for Wyatt and Billy, chocolate for me. Wyatt also started adaptive swimming lessons which are fun, he loves being in the water. He also really loves to splash! I think the two of us are going to the zoo, and to a few farms around here together, and we are planning on going strawberry picking with my brother and his family, including Wyatt’s cousin L. But we are also seeking out just those quiet moments too, sitting in the grass on a blanket surrounded by books and cookies and lemonade. Iced tea parties and poetry. Lounging about in our pajamas on a lazy morning, eating pancakes and listening to music. (My son loves Down by the Bay and will sing along, quite loudly…) Dancing around the house to Prince and Van Morrison and Tom Petty and Eric Church. Spontaneous trips for ice cream for dinner.

We had our first outdoor evening, soaking up the beautiful weather, warm and breezy, at my brother’s house the other night and it was perfect. Birds singing their evening song, burger and hot dogs, chips, cold beers, and bubbles for the kids to play with. I am looking forward to many more this summer!

What do you love about summer? Do you have any favorite memories from when you were a kid?

Road Warriors

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family, family friendly, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My husband is a bit of a bike fanatic.

He has at least four bikes, all for different purposes and of differing values. He has a fancy fancy Specialized bike, an older bike that he has made fancy with a special Brooks leather seat (or saddle, if you will), an old bike he fixed up to ride with Wyatt, and then a beach cruiser. I have an older bike as well, I just thought it looked cool sitting there all vintage-like. However, I am not a bike person. I am that person who is afraid of riding bikes. I am a bit nervous and not super confident of my biking skills, so I often do not go on the bike rides that Billy takes with Wyatt. But Billy always wants me to go, so when he requested a family bike ride for Father’s Day, I couldn’t deny him!

 

One of the parks near our home has a 6 mile ride that is closed to car traffic for a bit on Saturday mornings, so our plan was to go early before it got too hot for little man. After figuring out where to park, we slapped on sunscreen, hopped on our bikes, and hit the road.

It was a beautiful ride, smooth sailing, gorgeous scenery right in the middle of a city. A true greenspace. Wyatt thought it was hilarious that I was riding along with them, across from him. It was his first time seeing me on a bike, and he kept cracking up and waving to me. Billy and I soaked in the scenery, enjoying our ride. We went about three miles, and decided to turn around to head back to our car, to make our round trip six miles instead of twelve.

That’s when disaster struck.

Somehow, Billy and I got really close. And I panicked, thinking that my wheel was going to bump theirs, and cause them to crash. So, what did I do? Jerked my wheel harshly to one side, basically throwing myself at the ground. I was so afraid Wyatt would see me laying in the road, with the bike on me, and not want to go again that I jumped right back up immediately, despite some gross wounds.

Long story short – that effectively ended our pleasant ride. I limped my way over to a picnic table by an access road, while Billy and Wyatt finished their ride to the car and came to rescue me. I had time to check out my injuries and they were all pretty superficial, although they looked ugly. I did go to urgent care over one of them, a tiny wound on my foot from my pedal. The doctor was more interested in the gigantic bruise on my arm – he wanted to x-ray it to see if my arm was broken. I had to explain to him that my family just bruises dramatically. (and apparently, bike ride dramatically too..)

While I sat there waiting, I thought about all those huge falls the cyclists in the Tour de France take, and how they mostly just get back up and keep pedaling! They are some hardcore dudes, riding with broken legs (Valverde, if I recall did that in 2014, at least for a little bit), nasty sprains and breaks and gashes and fatigue and just in general, probably not feeling super. And they ride up mountains and over cobbles and through the rain and storms and hail. Past crowds booing them or cheering for them, getting in their way, on little sleep and still sore from the day before. I think people view cycling as kind of an easy peasy sport, but I think you need to be so tough, mentally and physically, to endure the Tour.

Speaking of, the Tour starts Saturday! I am so excited, I can’t wait! I am forever amazed by their intensity and drive, and then sometimes you get that break in their concentration, where you see a bit of their personality peek through too – I love those little glimpses. Every year I pick a different cyclist to root for, and I am still up in the air for this year’s pick.

Anyone else getting excited over it?

Phoneless and free

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn family friendly, mom life, Uncategorized3 Comments

black-coffee-caffeine-cell-phone-878236 (1)

On Sunday, my phone quit forever, dying the true death.

At first I panicked. Then I ordered a new phone through my service provider.

However, said new phone wasn’t going to be here until Wednesday or Thursday! That meant at least two full days without a phone, maybe more. This was terrible news! As a stay at home mom to a special needs child, I feel isolated a lot. I often feel like my phone is my link to the world, to other people, to social contact. I have a laptop, but it is hard to sit down and work on it right now with Wyatt so young. Wyatt and I usually have a pretty busy schedule of appointments too, and when at home we are hanging out together.  So, it’s not really in the cards. I do use the laptop when he is at school, like right now though.

Monday morning was rough. Then slowly, slowly, I found that I didn’t really care as much anymore about not having it. I felt a weight lifted actually – a certain freedom. I didn’t need to check emails or Facebook; my feeling of being really busy was gone, although, my to-do list never changed. I think on some level, having a constant connection to everything makes you feel you actually need to be participating at all times in your email and social media, even though we really don’t. We don’t need to answer an email as soon as we hear that ping. We don’t need to immediately respond to people on Facebook or Instagram. It can wait.

Ironically, I am also reading a book right now called The Nature Fix by Florence Williams. It is fascinating. Not a quick read for me by any means, there is a lot of neuro-talk and physiology and science, which slows me down a bit as I am not naturally inclined towards that realm of learning. But, I am loving this book and learning so much, nevertheless. It’s all about how nature helps you to heal, how it is healthy for you, emotionally and physically. Just five hours a month can improve your mental and physical health greatly. This book talks about how nature straight up affects your brain, how most of the time we operate “top-down” using our active brain and focus, while nature allows us to be “bottoms up”, to allow our brains to relax, taking away all that stimuli that makes us work that frontal cortex constantly. Williams mentioned a study that took place in Michigan about why drivers choose to take a tree lined scenic drive rather than a different route, even over the faster route. Or a study that showed that when recovering from an illness, just being near a window can reduce recovery time and amount of pain medicine taken.

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I remember when Wyatt was in the NICU – I had been in the hospital myself for a month before he was born, then he was in the hospital for the next six weeks. It was a long time to be in a hospital. His incubator was always on the far side of the room, away from the windows and the light, and I started to get this feeling that if we were near a window and he could experience sunlight (muted of course, not direct!) that he would flourish. So when the next window spot opened up, I asked the nurses if Wyatt could be moved. And those sweet women did it, although it took a tremendous amount of extra effort on their part. And, a week and a half later, Wyatt was discharged. While I know that it was the hard work and care of his entire massive team of doctors and nurses that healed my son, I like to think that having a week in the sunshine helped just a tiny wee bit. I know that it helped me, being able to sit in daylight for a change, rather than shadow.

Honestly, this book has so much information that I found valuable and interesting. How our senses interpret nature, from scent to audio to visual. I highly recommend reading it!

Some alarming things I have learned: The average person looks at their phone 150 times a day. IPhone users spend 26 minutes more a day on their phones. There are less than a dozen places in the United States that are devoid of man-made noises and contain only the sounds of nature. As I write that sentence, I hear birds singing outside my window, some sort of power tools being used, and a car driving by on the street, my coffee maker beeping. My fingers typing on the keyboard.

Everyone has been saying to me, “Oh it must be so hard”, or “Ugh, that must be so annoying!” to not have your phone. But, it has become a little easier. Since I haven’t had it, I kept track of things I have done differently. My own tiny observations, if you will.

Our mornings have had a different rhythm. I feel more relaxed, not getting up and checking out what happened over night or checking my emails. I am on medicine for high blood pressure, and when I checked my BP this morning as usual, it was super low – 98/62!  I also feel I have more time. On Monday, Wyatt and I went to my brother’s house and hung out with my mom and my niece, the kids were playing and having fun while mom and I had tea together and chatted, where we would usually have a phone conversation. Williams said people are built for social face to face interaction, and it was much nicer for Wyatt and I, and my mom and Chickadee, to all be together for a while. It was really fun, actually. I took a nap when Wyatt did later that day too, which was pretty awesome. I have more time, and things are getting done that I haven’t had time for – which is sad when what was getting in my way was checking my phone! Wyatt and I spent some time outside too, in the sun listening to birds, and Wyatt even tried to imitate a robin’s trilling song. And I have been singing more in the car, now that I am not talking to people on my Bluetooth. I have also been able to notice how much time my husband spends on his phone, since I haven’t had one. It’s been enlightening. I feel like I have had a detox and honestly I like it.

On the other hand, I still need a phone. While I have felt more free, I have also missed a few really important phone calls. I also had to tell Wyatt’s preschool to call my husband first since I am unavailable by phone right now. My husband is at work and would have to chat me, which works but is not the best way to do things. I like to be available if I am needed in an emergency. Today is also my mom’s birthday and I can’t call her to wish her a happy birthday. So, I definitely need a phone. I just don’t need to be on it as much as I apparently was. I am going to stay balanced – I like this new feeling of not being as anxious, tethered, but I also want to receive calls and get information when I need it!

How about you? How often do you get outside in nature? Do you feel like you couldn’t exist without your phone?

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Goals y’all. Lol.

 

My YouTube obsessions

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn mom life, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Lately, I have discovered the wonders of YouTube.

I feel like a tween. Or a teen. Sometimes though I want to just chill and veg but don’t have more than 15 minutes. And actually, they also have some pretty cool stuff for the boy too!

What I put on for the boy:

Sesame Street Celebrity Songs – Wyatt loves these. He constantly is signing “music, music, please” to us. I have to admit, I like these too..

Dave and Ava: These are also wonderful! Wyatt, who is working on gaining speech in therapy (and at home of course!) actually has started saying some of these words, along with the songs!

And then what I watch:

Zoella – I’m not into beauty or fashion really, but, for some reason I watch all of Zoella’s videos. I found her at Christmas, and loved her monthly favorites. And those were my gateway Zoella videos.

Clutterbug! I just found her stuff the other day and love it! I am so busy reorganizing and redoing our little house, and I love all her tips. I also discovered that Billy and I are butterflies. We are not messy, we just are trying to use methods that don’t work for us! And that is my story and I am sticking to it, thanks to Clutterbug!

Living Big in a Tiny House: I am fascinated by how creative these tiny houses are! I am in love with this one. So cute and adorable!

Little Book Owl: I watch a few book bloggers on YouTube, but Little Book Owl is my favorite. And if you read my book blog (Quixotic Magpie) she is the reason Billy and I read Nevernight, one of my new favorite books!

I’m open to suggestions too! Anyone have any recommendations? I would love to hear them!