Tag: writing

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized5 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!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

Hello all! February has just been a month. Yuck gray skies, cold, surrounded by illness, we got Covid – we are ready for March and hoping that it holds better things for Michigan and for us. However it did have small happy moments of joy, and those are the things that keep us all going, really, aren’t they? Moments like singing with your child while he shoots a big grin at you, your husband surprising you with your favorite chocolate bar when you are having a bad day, a phone call or a message from a friend that brightens your day. And that is how our month has been, nothing big or exciting but full of these moments. Watching the Olympics all shmooed out on the bed with family and cats and blankets, those few days where the sun peeked out and the skies were actually blue, Wyatt getting excited about the history or art lesson, opening the mailbox to find a letter inside rather than junk mail – you get the idea.

Wyatt’s birthday is Monday! I can’t believe my teeny tiny baby who was literally as big as one of our kittens when he was born is going to be 11. My silly goofy happy boy. He fills our hearts with so much good everything, everyday. We had to postpone his birthday party though unfortunately-everyone around us is sick! Hopefully they will be better by next weekend and we can celebrate with our family. This weekend the three of u will eat the cake we ordered the party, and I will just order another. And we will figure out what we are going to do. Will we brave the weather and go to the zoo? Will we brave the germs and mask up and go somewhere inside? Only time will tell!

Speaking of my Wy-guy, we signed him up for a local little league team! They have a special needs team and kiddo is now all ready to play baseball. My cousin has gloves from when her son played little league and he is also a lefty like Wyatt, so she is giving us one of his old gloves, so that is settled. I was talking to her on the phone yesterday about little league, and she asked if Wyatt had a glove yet. I was so confused. Why would Wyatt need a glove? I am not very sporty guys. Two of Wyatt’s friends from Blackbirds are on the team as well, so it will be nice to all go to the games together.

Wyatt will be having surgery again sometime during the season, but the surgeon has told us his recovery will be nothing like the previous surgery. This one will be just a few days and he won’t have any restrictions. He has to have the metal that they put in him in July taken out. That surgery will be happening at the end of April.

I have been really enjoying exchanging snail mail letters with a few different women around the country, and one woman in the Netherlands. It is always such a happy surprise to find a new letter in the mailbox! (thank you Tina for all of your letters! You have one on the way too) It was nice to sit down yesterday with a cup of tea while Wyatt was painting and write a few letters back. We had finished school and his exercises and I had completed a bunch of household tasks (litter boxes, dishes, etc) and I finally had a semi-quiet moment (there are never completely quiet moments when Wyatt is awake – he is always chattering away like a little squirrel), and it was nice. I have also received little gifts inside my letters, stickers and teas, and I need to get something to send back to everyone in my next letters. I am thinking about starting tea journal! I saw someone with one online and it is so cute. I mean, why shouldn’t I have a journal for everything? Lol. I am an archivist at heart!

I am so ready for spring everyone. Like major spring fever over here. I know that March weather is notorious for faking us out, and it is not spring weather yet – Wyatt was born on the coldest day of the winter that year – but this morning the sun is shining, and the temp is supposed to be 50 degrees and it just feels so close. Temps plunge again after this weekend but at least we have a day or two of warmer weather before it does. I am ready to see flowers and birds and to plant things, and try to tempt toads to our garden, and then for summertime fireflies at night and backyard barbecues and bonfires. I want to walk through a wood and hear the spring peepers, to watch people gather around our little free library again that has been sort of lonely little bastion of books out there in the snow all winter.

Is anyone else feeling spring fever? Or if you are in the southern hemisphere, are you ready for cooler temps?

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

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized25 Comments

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

Hello everyone! Last week was yucky week! We all ended up with Covid. It was thankfully mild but we were still all super tired. We are feeling back to normal now though thank goodness!

Books:

While I was sick, I didn’t really feel like reading until I started feeling better. I did enjoy reading through Vivian Swift’s When Wanderers Cease to Roam, which was perfect. It was easy to read through, lots of pictures, and cheery. I am only halfway through it, but the chapters on the spring months were giving me life! About midweek I felt like reading again, and I ended up finishing two books.

I am really enjoying my slow “wander” through Swift’s book. Right now I am using it to get through these last dregs of winter, reading about all the seasons we have to look forward to, but I ended up buying a copy from Pango so that I can revisit it monthly or seasonally when I want to in the future.

The Cater Street Hangman is from a book series I used to read like crazy years and years ago. I often go back to it when I am not feeling well or need a comfort read.

And finally, A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping was delightful!! I absolutely loved it. Also another buy from Pango. I also sell on Pango, and one feature of it is that you can earn Pango bucks. You can either have the money you make sent to your actual bank account, or you can choose to keep it on Pango and use it to buy more books. That is generally what I do.

Screens:

Well, I didn’t read much last week but I did watch television. We watched a lot of Olympics. I have such warm and fuzzy feelings about watching the Olympics with my mom as a little girl. It was always so exciting and such an event, especially when we knew figure skating would be on. We would sit under blankets on the couch with our cups of tea and watch all of the skaters. Such good memories. I wanted to make some of these with Wyatt too, but he wasn’t as interested in figure skating. However, he does like to watch moguls and snowboarding. We are watching everything we can, but those are his favorites. Our kittens like to watch too, which cracks me up. They really like the luge and bobsledding, but Mouse was riveted by snowboarding the other day.

We are also watching the tv show The Burbs, and we are both really enjoying it! It is like the perfect mix of mystery and thriller, as well as a comedy. I need to rewatch the movie again now.

Julia Duffy, who will always be Stephanie from Newhart to me, is on it, and she is my favorite character, but I do also really love Tod, who is played by Mark Proskch, or Colin from What We Do in the Shadows. He was hilarious in that, and plays a similar type character in The Burbs. Justin Kirk is also great in this so far, but again, I also loved him in another show, Weeds.

Last week on my blog, I posted:

In Our Homeschool

Friday Afternoon Coffee Catch Up, Minus the Coffee

Wednesday Morning Coffee (Covid) Catch Up

A Cozy Little Life: A Look at Book Journaling

In-Betweens:

Not too much, since we were sick, and I mainly blogged about everything else in my coffee catch up posts, except Valentine’s Day! Billy and I went for a walk and saw the sunset, with our Starbucks teas in hand, lol, and then we came home and he made us all pancakes with strawberry compote that he made himself, because I had weirdly decided I wanted those for some reason earlier in the week. They were delicious and we all loved them!

The kittens go in for their spay and neuter and surgeries tomorrow morning. I will miss them scampering and stampeding around the house while they are gone, and I will worry as well. My poor babies. It’s always so hard, isn’t it? We had our Blackbirds meeting last week, which was a lot of fun, and then this week our Blackbirds are going to a skating event I arranged. I am nervous about that as well! I want Wyatt to have all the experiences that he can though, so I will muster through it. This skating loop has an ice skating sled, that he can sit on and be pushed. There is also a cabana that we rented, a bonfire, and there is a restaurant that serves pizza. It will be fun although I will be a nervous mama until it is over.

And with that, I hope that all of you have a great day, and do something that makes you smile, even if it is something small!

A Cozy Little Life: A Look at Book Journaling

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized18 Comments

Hello everyone!! I am having a slow morning this morning, and it felt like the perfect time for this post.

For the past year I have been keeping a reading journal and “annotating” books, and I have gotten a few comments and questions about it all. I was inspired by a couple of different vloggers on YouTube: Elizabeth at The Plant Based Bride, Cups and Thoughts, and Katie is Reading.

Now all of these vloggers have much more involved and creative setups than I do, and also annotate quite a bit more than I do, but I wanted to share their setups and also Elizabeth’s annotation video as examples of how amazing this can all be, and how detailed you can get. Maybe one day I will be at their level but for now I am happy with what I am doing. It brings me joy and makes me happy and that is what matters. Do I sometimes start pages over, or rethink what I am doing? Yes, I do, but I also don’t compare what I do to these vloggers. For one, I don’t have nearly the number of supplies that they do, and I don’t think that matters. I think if you want to do this, you just need some sort of journal or notebook, maybe some markers, and if you feel the need for more, you can even check the dollar store near you. Ours has started carrying crafting supplies, including stickers and washi tape. Some of you might have a lot of supplies at home already. Whatever you have, you can do this. If you have a printer, you could print book covers, or different images. You could go old school and cut pictures out of old magazines even. The important part is to have FUN!

As far as my reading journal goes, I have a few sticker collections that I have picked up, and markers (that don’t bleed) and just regular journals that I got off Amazon. I did recently purchase some winter washi tape, and I am also using all of these items with my letter writing as well! I am slowly adding to my supplies, but like I said it is not something you need to run out and stock up on unless you want to.

These are just some examples of different pages I did for books I have read. Some are mainly quotes, others I have written more in depth thoughts and questions I had about the book.

As far as annotating, I am not that critical nor do I make that many notes in the book itself. My method is to just flag the passage or quote that I like, and when I finish reading, I look back through, and write my thoughts down from there, or not. If you watch Elizabeth’s video though, she has a fantastic video chock full of information about annotating. She is one of the vloggers I watch who actually challenges me to read more critically. I feel smarter after watching her book vlogs, honestly. They remind me of being back in my literature classes in college, and as a lit minor, I had a lot of those!

So I know I said you don’t need to buy stuff if you don’t want to, but I wanted to share some supplies in case you are interested in what I have around and use.

This section contains Amazon Affiliate links and I would receive a small commission if you were to purchase something.

Version 1.0.0

Blank Notebook || Peter Pauper Press Stickers (they have so many and they are so cute!) || Winter Washi Tape || Winter Stickers || Markers

However you choose to do this, if you do, just remember, it is all about fun and relaxing, not comparison to others or having all the things.

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

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized31 Comments

Hello everyone! I am writing this morning surrounded by jumping, bouncing zooming kittens, a sleeping cat, and a chatty little boy. I have already consumed two cups of coffee, which is my limit, but I could use another one to keep up with most of this crowd today.

It was a pretty slow, lazy week again. The cold is just keeping us inside right now. We are doing our best though!

Books:

Last week I read Secret Nights and Northern Lights which was a light easy read. I’d been reading a lot of moody winter books and I needed a bit of a shake up. This book was the antidote I needed!

I am still debating what I want to read this week. Do I want something light again? Something wintry? I am picking this one up from the library tomorrow, and I am pretty sure that is the one I am going to start. I learned about it over at Jeanie’s blog, Marmalade Gypsy and she loves it so much I had to look for it. Way to go my library! It has had all sorts of books that are older and out of print that I have been looking for this year. Never change, library.

I am also in the mood for something scary, or a ghost story. I need to look for one while I am at the library.

Screens:

This week Billy and I reunited with our old friends Ruth, Peter, and Alex, and watched Wartime Farm for the millionth time. We also watched Victorian Bakers, which wasn’t as good as the farm shows, but it was still very good. It also had the added bonus of making us want to bake bread. And eat bread.

Last week I posted a few times.

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Discoveries

Coffee Catch Up

Mini Book Reviews

I’m playing with my little designs. Do I want one design for all, different? I will keep playing. I enjoy fiddling around with Canva anyway. Lol.

In-Betweens:

I got my first snail mail letter last week! Thank you Tina! I mailed one back to you – I was going to email and tell you then felt like that was silly. And now here I am posting it on my blog! LOL. I will get the hang of this eventually.

I also sent out a few other snail mail letters while I was at it, to the pen pals I have picked up from the Analog Life Project, and Wyatt sent one to his friend Little Miss, Lisa’s daughter.

I am really enjoying letter writing! And of course, picking out stationery.

Around the Internets:

Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and I host a monthly bookish link party called A Good Book and A Cup of Tea.  This link-up is for book and reading posts or anything related to books and reading (even movies based on books!). Each link party will be open for a month. You can find that link up for this month here. I was a very poor co-host this month as I was doing some life re-organizing and I am still catching up on some things.

And a kitten pic to end this post.

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

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized21 Comments

Hello everyone!! I am a winter lover, but now is about the time I am ready for it to be over. Even I can have too much winter, and with how intense winter has been this month – it’s time to call it. Let’s get some warmer weather, some sunshine up in here. I am done wintering, however February in Michigan means more winter. So, we will just keep on keeping on a little bit longer.

I know this weather is affecting such a large part of the U.S. right now too, and I feel for those of you who are not used to it. It’s tough for me and I am a Michigander. I mean, it was 12 degrees yesterday, and I took the kittens to their vaccine appointment without a coat. Just my sweatshirt and hat. I did cover the carrier with my coat though, despite the car being heated with heated seats. The clinic I went to is one that is run by my SIL. It is a high quality, high volume, low cost spay/neuter clinic that does vaccine clinics on Thursdays, also low cost. I just want to talk about how awesome this place is for a minute. The shots for both of the kittens was a total of $60, and I didn’t even have to get out of my car. I called when I got there, the tech came out to grab them in their carrier, took them in, did the things, and brought them back. It was very convenient! We are also getting them spayed and neutered there as well. They have a grant package (a few of them, one for feral cats too) that is called A Family Affair, where if you take in a mom cat and her kittens, the mom is basically $100 for the surgery and shots, and each kitten is $5 for shots and surgery. So, Max and Mouse will be done with everything for about $20 really, once I pay for their tiny cones of shame on top of it. Our friend where we got the kittens is taking in their mom and their sister at the same time, so we can utilize the grant. The clinic does not do full vet care, but for things like this, it is a fantastic value.

On Sunday, we got a lot of snow! Not as much as some places, but a lot for our area. For some reason snow usually misses us! We got about 7-8 inches. We waited until evening to go outside and shovel and snowblow, and Wyatt went out with us. It has always been sort of difficult to get him outside in the snow, but now that we have the deck and ramp, it was so much easier! And, the ramp served another purpose this time- sledding! Wyatt had fun going down a few times than just hanging out throwing snow at his father and I while we worked. It was mega-cold out but he was not ready to go back in. He had a blast!! Although I realized belatedly that this kid does not have boots! It is just not something we need to buy him normally so we used an old pair of his shoes and really thick wool socks. I need to write a note for next winter to buy boots!

This weekend we absolutely have to leave this house. I don’t care if it is the arctic outside. We are getting out and doing something. If it is not too terrible, a city near us is having an Ice Festival, which might be fun. Actually, a few communities near us are having ice sculpting fests with hot chocolate, so we will pick one perhaps and go. I remember going to the one in Plymouth when I was a kid. My family went with my aunt and uncle, and my cousin Brian and I got to ride in the back of their station wagon, in a fold up seat that faced backwards. The 80s were a wild time, weren’t they? My mom and my aunt were like the moms in A Christmas Story, and would bundle us up so much we could hardly move, but we were warm. We were always together, our whole lives. Lots of good time and memories, even when I had to stomp about in moon boots. God I hated those things! I always felt bad for the kids who forgot to bring shoes in the winter, and had to wear those big boots all day during school. I can still hear the sounds of them walking in the classroom or down the hall, the hiss of the radiators, feeling a bit drowsy in the afternoon from the heat and playing on the playground. Scarves and hats and mittens and boots, and now I try not to wear anything out but boots, a hat, and gloves. Wyatt, however, I bundle up like my mom did me, although I always make sure not to zip his chin like my mom did me.

Tonight is pizza Friday and I can’t wait. I am so over planning dinners this week! We made a whole chicken on Sunday since we were all snowed in and not leaving, and then we ate the leftovers as chicken quesadillas the next two days though, so it wasn’t too hard planning them. And honestly, those were the best freaking quesadillas I have ever eaten. It was the first time I ever made them, and they turned out so good. Definitely something we are keeping on the menu for future leftovers.

While I am stuck here in snowy Michigan, one of my besties is over in London, living it up! She is sending me pics of her trip, and it looks awesome. A Wes Anderson exhibit, tea at Harrods, and shopping at Hatchards. I had no idea what that was, but some of you might. It is the oldest bookseller in London, and has been around since 1797. The owner was a publisher and anti-slavery campaigner, and the store holds a Royal Warrant, which means they service the royal family. Pretty cool! And because she loves me, Kelly texted me a photo of a huge Agatha Christie book display and had me pick a book! She said there was no way she could be at the oldest bookstore in London and not get me a book by a British author. I had a minute of blurting out via text different titles before I settled on The Sittaford Mystery.

Which one would you have picked?

And wow I have really rambled, sorry about that!!! I will close with a few random photos, and a wish for you guys to do somethings today that makes you smile! Stay safe and warm my friends!

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized43 Comments

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

Hello everyone! I am writing today from inside the Arctic circle, which is now known as Michigan. It has been soo cold here. It is awful. Extreme temperatures are really tough on Wyatt, so we have been inside for most of the past week, and it looks like this week ahead will be more of the same. We are maybe going a little stir crazy!

Books:

Did I tell you I finished Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge? I did, and I miss the ladies chatter already. I need to go find another of their books ASAP. I also finished While the Earth Holds Its Breath. I wasn’t overwowed by it, but it was still a pretty relaxing, calm read.

I have read so far this year four nonfiction books already. Who am I? I do need a break though from it though, and I have two books on deck. I don’t know which one I will end up reading, but I am going to start them both and see which one sticks. I may end up reading them both, who knows? We are stuck inside after all.

Screens:

Billy and I haven’t been watching too much lately! You would think we would be. We have been watching the news a lot more than anything. And the kittens and Miso. They are bringing us happiness in a dark time honestly. Maybe that book “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat” has the right idea. I haven’t read it yet but maybe I will next month. And I know some of you aren’t cat people, so there are other things, dogs, fish, plants. Really just find something that brings you joy right now. Painting, a pen pal. Walks in nature. A good book. A funny movie. Today I think we are going to watch A Night at the Museum with Wyatt. I love that movie and he has not seen it yet. We may end up watching all three this week, who knows? Anyone else have any ideas for kids movies like Paddington, A Night at the Museum, etc, that you really loved?

I did manage to write some posts last week!

Books I Read I in 2025 with Cats on the Cover

Our Cozy Little Life – Wintering

In-Betweens:

We had some really great things happen here last week. When you have a kid with special needs, milestones are often inchstones, and Wyatt was kicking butt last week. He is really coming along in reading, and not just reading but SAYING THE WORD out loud to me. I know this guy is understanding so much more than I realize but the fact that he doesn’t verbalize everything usually makes it really difficult for me to measure how much. Last week though he was just blowing me away with actually reading words out loud to me.

He also took his first steps post surgery last week!!!! It was a lot of work and a few months coming and I am so very proud of him. And he was very proud of himself too, which he should have been. I will post my Instagram reel of it, but I am not sure if it ever works when I do this.

And that is about it from around here. Making cookies, eating cookies, playing with kittens, cuddling Miso, writing our pen pals, homeschool.

I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile. I know that I am hoping that the snow (an expected 9 inches here) will have enough a break so that I can run up to Starbucks for my Self-Care Sunday routine of matcha latte with oatmilk and 1 pump of vanilla. We will see though.

And here are some random photos!

Our Cozy Little Life – Wintering

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized26 Comments

Hello everyone! It is crazy weather here in the States isn’t it? I am worried about you all in the south! Stay safe and warm, wear layers, lots of natural fabrics that breathe, build your blanket forts and hunker down. We have been in this house for far too long here, and we just have a few more days of it, although I am taking Wyatt to therapy today at least. We will have a feels like above a negative number so I am going for it, because later tonight our temps really get bad, and we could reach temps of -35. Not fun!

While Billy has been out and about for work this week (poor guy), Wyatt and I have been inside. I did go to the pet store last night to just get out but that has been it. We have been really working hard at school, and Wyatt is doing fantastic. He is really coming along with reading and I am so proud of him. We are also covering the Lewis and Clark expedition in history, learning about boreal forests in science, and we are about to start a whole architecture unit for art, which I am super excited about. I just need to get to the library to pick up some books for it- maybe Saturday I can venture out.

I am having a lot of fun finding pen pals! Lol. When I was younger, I had a pen pal who lived in England and it was a lot of fun. I remember she mailed me the Adrian Mole books which were hilarious. It is sort of neat to revisit this as an adult. I shall call it my correspondence and pretend I am a Lady having my morning tea and writing my letters, when I will really be listening to Wyatt chattering on, the kittens running all over around me, Miso sleeping on my lap, etc. I have been browsing blank cards and stationery sets online, and can’t decide. There are so many different types and designs!

I also finished up my book, Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge, which was so quaint and lovely. It was a nice read for this time of year, slow and easy, and I miss their stories now. I will have to read the other books as well, if my library has them. When I was reading about the women themselves online, it seemed they had very fascinating lives!

In kitten news, we had a little surprise. Mabel is really a Max! Our two sisters are really sister and brother. It happens, kittens are so hard to tell when they are really little. And Max looks like he is going to be a big cat – his paws are enormous! They have been cracking us up. We have a new little routine: when I get up, I feed Miso, who is generally waiting next to me on the bed, or rather, pawing my face for her breakfast, then I get Wyatt’s breakfast, and fetch the kittens. Wyatt and I sit in my bedroom with the kittens while they play, and after an hour or so, I put them back into the office, feed them, and then they take a nap. Only a few more days or so and I should be able to just let them have free run of the house. Miso seems to be handling their presence ok – when Max escaped yesterday she found him and they gently sniffed each other’s faces. We are going slow because she is such a gentle animal and I don’t want to overwhelm her and the kittens are a lot.

I have also had a lot of time to plan things! I lined up a skating event for our Blackbirds at a place called the Ribbon in Toledo. We have a cabana, a fire pit, and skating aids at our disposal, including a sled with two runners that Wyatt can use on the ice. We rented the place for two hours, and even if our kids spend most of their time drinking hot chocolate by the fire, it is right by the ice and can be part of the scene in whatever way they choose and are comfortable. I am really excited.

I also formed a teeny book club for Wyatt and two of his friends! Our goals are pretty simple, just to have them say maybe what they liked and didn’t like at first, and then we will have a themed snack and craft, because that is how I roll and these three will love it. We are planning our first club meeting all the way out in March, which is crazy to think about. It’s hard to believe Christmas was already a month ago!

I have been doing a lot of journaling, list making, letter writing lately, and will probably start a sewing project or two this weekend. We have our first Crafternoon of the year Saturday and that will be a nice way to break up this inside time!

And that is it for me today – if you are in the States and in the path of this storm, stay safe and warm! I know that our Southern Hemisphere friends have been experiencing the opposite weather, very hot days, so I hope you are all staying cool! Wish me luck, I need to go snowblow so Wyatt can get to therapy!

Updated to add: I remembered while I was out snowblowing that we have also been watching the adventures of Josh and Jase, two Brits that are touring through Michigan right now. I was sorry to hear they had encountered mishaps on their visit here, but are on the mend and in the U.P. now! They are hilarious, and I love how they are representing my state! You can check them out here!