I’m doing the Friday dance today. Are you? We have officially started school and it looks like a library threw up all over my kitchen tables. The girls are excited and so am I. I’m feeling good about this year, albeit a little stressed, but I think the fact the girls are almost neck in neck as far as skills, make things much easier when teaching them despite the different grade levels. Plus, if I used to be able to handle a classroom of 30 fourth graders, two little girls in K and 1 is cake right?!

Today is for cleaning up our school space, so that the explosion stays away from the dining table and kitchen. We’ve also got a Misha Lulu shoot going on at our house tomorrow, so cleaning is necessary. I know some of you have asked about some of our homeschool curriculum and some of it is here in the FAQ section, though I do need to update it with our first grade materials. If you have any other questions besides curriculum ones, feel free to ask away here!

This week’s learned and links…

Skinny taste has some great recipes.

Soulie has been wanting to sleep in True and Brave’s room and it’s cute to see them all together. They will make such good memories together!

Bananas are Glow’s jam. She LOVES them. If you had her choose between me or a banana, I think I would lose.

Last week’s message at our gathering with our church family, totally cut my heart. I am thankful for the grace of God and grace and forgiveness of others.

My BFF has given me freedom to be in charge of decorating her house! I am so excited!!!! I get to spend someone else’s money buying pretty things. You should see her dining table that I picked out… it is amazing!!!

My friend Melody wows me every time. You must follow her blog because she just puts out amazing things like THIS every time. The THIS even gets put into all caps because it is THAT good!!!

Enjoy your weekend friends! Even though the heat is going to jump back up in the next week, I am enjoying this cooler weather and it is kinda giving me feelings of Autumn. So happy!!!

Turkey Meatloaf. My best friend introduced me to skinny taste and tried out this recipe and said it came out good, so I wanted to try it too. I have never made meatloaf before and boy is it easy! I am a fan. I doubled the recipe, made the girls their own in a cupcake pan (cooked it slightly too long and burned the edges) and I made ours in a bread pan and of course threw in half a tablespoon of cayenne (next time I will throw in a full tbsp). Gotta have that spice! Adding this to the home cooked meals regularly based on how yummy and fast this is!

Mashed Cauliflower. This accompanied out meatloaf. We had our friend Jun over this night, he comes over once a week for dinner and to share life, and while he was enjoying the mash, we asked him, “Did you know this isn’t potatoes?” Well, there is one in it, but it was mostly cauliflower. He was surprised, but not, since it is our house after all. I loved mashed cauliflower! You just steam a bunch (we used two heads) until it’s soft, along with one potato (or two), and then mash it all together. Throw in some smart balance, garlic, chives, and salt and pepper to taste and oh man… bomb diggity. If you haven’t tried it, you must!

We had only one home cooked meal this week because either we had leftovers or went out to eat to celebrate their first day of school. We still have more left overs of meatloaf, so I know what I am going to be eating for lunch. Can’t wait! I’m hungry just thinking about it.

Week 8/27 – 8/31
Monday: Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp
Tuesday: Mexican Slow Cooked Chicken Carnitas
Wednesday: Cajun Chicken Pasta
Thursday: Black Bean Soup
Friday: Pizza

I’ve never tried cooking with a crock pot, but I want to. Though I need to get a crock pot first. Any of you use a crock pot? I would love to hear some good recipes if you have any!

I wanted to take pictures of Brave in her cute little romper (it’s one of my fave outfits on her and i would totally wear it) gifted to her from Penelope (3 Ring Circus) for her birthday, but when I was taking pictures of her, she said, “Mommy, I want to be a bunny!” So a bunny it was! I think she wanted to be a bunny like her big sister True once was. Aye! These girls are too silly. She even got specific and told me to draw a carrot in her mouth. Love my sillies!!!

on brave: shirt, misha lulu. romper, vintage gifted from heather and penelope (3 Ring Circus).

p.s. images drawn using photoshop. i have cs3.

Today was their first day of school together… Brave was a ball of excitement and True was a ball of nerves. True is officially a first grader and Brave is a kindergartener. Last year, was an emotional drop off since it was our first time doing this, but this year was a bit calmer. No tears were shed. I think it has to do with the fact, though Brave wasn’t officially “in” school last year, she was right there learning everything that True was learning, so I kind of feel like she’s done this already.

I know. You’re wondering, “Wait. I thought you homeschooled?” I am sure I confuse you all the time. Yes, we homeschool, but they go to a local charter school once a week for enrichment classes with other homeschool kids. It is such a great program and I am thankful for our charter school system that provides this opportunity.

Bit of a conversation I had with Brave tonight…
Me: So Brave, what did you and True do when you saw each other at lunch time?
Brave: She showed me around and we talked.
Me: What did you talk about?
Brave: Where everything is.
Me: So, True showed you the ropes?
Brave: What ropes?

These girls make so many good memories together and are the bestest of friends that I am so happy that we had them back to back. It’s a lot of insane now with all of them, but so worth it.

on brave: dress, vintage. shirt, target. shoes, vintage via rachel’s pop up shop. on true: shirt, handmade. shorts, vintage. shoes, salt-water sandals.

Yup. True has chopped her hair off. Technically, my sister did. All of us went over my newly married sister’s place, we had never been before, and my baby sister came over too and we all watched as True got her hair cut. We were all gathered around her for support. Well, Soul was playing here and there and Glow was whining in her play yard.

If you follow my instagram (@rubyellenbratcher), you may have known about this new do already. This was all True’s idea! She had been waiting to chop it all summer, but due to my sister’s traveling schedule (her and her husband are photographers) and then True wanting it long for Brave’s birthday, it took awhile to actually make the plunge. Unbeknownst to me, she even had a picture to show my sister of how she wanted her hair. And what was this picture that served as her inspiration?! It was a polaroid of Brave when she had short hair! Can True get any cuter?!!

Our rules are no first haircuts until the age of 3, but after that it’s whatever style suits their fancy, within reason of course. She had been wanting to cut her hair because she says long hair is too hot. I guess Brave and True switched places. Brave refuses to cut her hair because she says she wants hair like She-ra. Oh my girls… they are quite the characters!

Saturday was scorching and we were all stuck in a warehouse, but being amidst such great company of sellers (and friends) and everyone else who stopped by to support us made it all worth it. I do it again in a heartbeat for sure! And a little birdie told me that this might be happening again in November, so some of you who missed out better come!

I was really good and kept my restraint and resisted from trading or taking out my wallet, but oh there were so many goodies! I had a babysitter there after all. Ben was there to make sure we came home with an empty car and not a full one. Though, I did come away with two goodies from this lovely gal… something for the girls’ Christmas present and a dress for Soulie. Most smaller items sold, but at the end of the day after talking with Jeni and Danni, we have concluded that people come for smaller items and not really big pieces of furniture, so I still have my vintage industrial yellow factory cart, vintage french metal table, and old farm coffee table. If any of you are from socal and are still interested in any of these… just send me an email. Otherwise, I will try my hand on craigslist and if that doesn’t work, it’s going back to the sale in November.

Despite not coming home with an empty car (I did lighten the load significantly), the sale turned out great and I had so much fun meeting some of you!!! It honestly feels like meeting an old friend. Let’s skip the handshakes and go for the hug! I love blogging and have been blessed with all the great friendships I have made through it. Many thanks to those of you who gave your support in person, in purchase, or via the web! I so appreciate each of you. xoxo