Thank you for all your excitement about yesterday’s news! Now that I’ve shared it and it’s no longer a secret, I just want to dance and par-tay! And all your enthusiasm really makes me so much more excited about it too! It’s been hard keeping that secret for a couple years (yes, a couple!). There’s a lot of excitement in our home right now, but we’ve also got a couple of the girls down with some sort of nasty cold. Ugh! We have spring break next week, so hopefully no one will be sick then, and we can play all day long, but spring cleaning will no doubt also be part of our days.

We had the most gorgeous day today. Even with some of the girls not feeling well, we had lunch outside, and I just spent 20 minutes sitting near them, enjoying the warm sun, as they sang “Let it Go” for the millionth time. I didn’t do anything, but just sit there. It was bliss. I need to make more of those “cherishing the moment” moments happen often. I’m a busy body, and am always go, go, go, so I need to remember to be still sometimes and just take it all in.

on me: dress, vintage. shirt, kohl’s (last year on sale for 8 bucks!). clogs, c/o lotta from stockholm. on true: dress, c/o fab kids. shoes, old navy. on brave: shirt, homespun vintage. pants, c/o fab kids. shoes, gap kids. on soul: dress and shorts, vintage. shoes, thrifted. on glow: dress, vintage. shoes, old navy.

AHHH!!! Did you guess it?!!

I’ve been sitting on this big secret for so long and I’m so excited to finally be able to share it with you!!! It’s been a dream come true and I can’t wait to share more with you in the next few weeks. It’s done and (almost) ready to go, so you will be able to get it in your hands before the summer starts (just in time for when you’ll want some projects to fill those summer days). I’m really nervous and excited about it… I don’t think it’s hit me yet. I’m sure you all have many more questions for me, so I promise I will share more really soon. If you want to learn how to sew, more specifically sew with, and for, the little ones in your life (or just learn the basics so you can eventually make dresses like this and this), this is it guys… I’ll teach you!

Hip hip, hooray!
Today I can finally say,
I’ve got a book,
And it’s coming your way!

Shrimp Tacos with Chipotle Sauce. The shrimp looks fried, but it isn’t. Ben was convinced I fried them, but that panko coating really makes it look that way. I mixed some cayenne, chili powder, cornmeal, and panko to coat the shrimp. The flavor sort of got lost with all the other things going in the taco, so next time I’ll try marinating the shrimp, and adding more heat to the breading to see if that helps the flavors pop out more. My chipotle sauce is spicy, just the way we like it. Brave started putting it on her tacos too. She totally loves spicy foods!

White Bean and Soyrizo Tacos with Chipotle Sauce. I made this for our Dinner Club Thursday. Who needs real chorizo when soyrizo does a totally good job?! I actually made two sauces this evening, my spicy chipotle and a creamy lime chili one, which was much more mild.

Week of 4/7 – 4/11
Monday: White Bean Burger with a Cilantro Sauce
Tuesday: Pad Kee Mao (I still haven’t found the right noodles, that’s why I didn’t make it last week.)
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: White Bean Chili (always the easiest thing for me to do for a big group)
Friday: Sushi night

Last week was totally taco week and I didn’t follow any recipes. It was all just experimentation, but really, can’t go wrong with tacos, right?! We will still have white beans leftover from Thursday that I think I might try my hand at turning them into burgers for Monday, fingers crossed they come out edible. I really am having so much fun in the kitchen these days (and I’m getting faster too)!

This is life, kid messes are what our days are filled with. You should see their rooms (this is the guest room/playroom), it’s ten times worse!

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Thankful for being able to borrow the BFF’s car this week. It’s back to sharing for the next two week until my brother leaves for a 2 week trip, and we can borrow his car.

Thankful at how the big girls help out around the house.

I like how my friend Nathalie described parenting in this ig post… the highs are truly high and the lows are rock bottom. It really does feel like that and I definitely hit both points multiple times this week.

We are definitely making this.

This vegan mac and cheese looks amazing, but one cup of nuts is 800 calories! Oye! I was going to make it for dinner club on Thursday, but Ben said he wouldn’t eat it because it would be too high in fat. Ha! I scrapped that idea and did vegan tacos instead.

I like this outfit and now want to sew a denim crop top like this.

Misha Lulu is having a sale. Check it out here…

We finished watching The Walking Dead last night and I’m satisfied with the season finale. I can’t wait until 24 comes back this summer; it’s my ultimate favorite show! And oh Scandal is so good. #teamjake

The funniest thing I heard this week… True said, “Mommy, we are playing betray My Little Ponies. It’s when they betray each other.” SAY WHAT?!!! I texted Ben what they said right away, and he said, “Where did they learn this stuff?!!” I don’t think it’s from us, at least I hope not.

If you want to follow me along on Instagram, look up @rubyellenbratcher. It’s so fun to look at little squares of the parts of people’s life (the parts they want to share of it anyway).

Today is for going through some of our backyard to-do list, and the afternoon will be for a family adventure. Happy Saturday friends! Also, I have big news to share Monday, so don’t forget to check back!

This particular morning, I was making suggestions of things they can wear, which doesn’t happen that often these days, and well, they didn’t take any of them. The girls plainly said, “Mommy, we look cool.” I also learned that morning that Brave prefers not to wear dresses because Spider-Man doesn’t wear dresses. Duh, mom! Well, Soulie gladly put on a dress and said, “I look like a queen.” Oh these girls… love them!

Gusta sent over this romper and it’s my first time trying out one of these one piece things, though I do wear overalls. The verdict is that I kinda like it, and I’d love to try sewing myself a jumpsuit inspired by this one. My one change would be to raise that neckline because my name ain’t J. Lo.

on me: romper, c/o gusta. necklace, lisa leonard (this one). shoes, steve madden (my v-day gift from ben!). on true: shirt, vintage. jeans, old navy. shoes, old navy (last year). on brave: shirt, c/o old navy. short, misha lulu. shoes, gap kids. on soul: dress, vintage from ms. tips. boots, thrifted. on glow: dress, vintage. shoes, c/o old navy.

Ever since I made this denim dress, I’ve totally been on a dress sewing roll (this eye one, and I have another simple one to share!). It’s completely therapeutic to me and a whole lot of fun. It’s kind of like going shopping, but better because I didn’t really spend any money (at least it feels that way since I’ve had the fabric sitting in my pile forever).

This is just another easy, shift dress (inspired by this one I pinned from Emerson Fry), but I did a slight drop shoulder, went a little bit wider on the sleeves, put in bust darts, and more of an A-line. I didn’t follow a pattern, but used dresses I have that are similar in style to eye-ball it. I have followed patterns in the past, especially when it comes to sleeves, so that has helped me understand how to cut and sew a dress. If you have a dress that you really like, study it (take it apart if you can part with it, I’ve done that to some thrift store dresses to study sleeves) and use that as a guide. If you need a pattern, I’m sure your local fabric store will have plenty to choose from and you could probably find a pattern similar to this dress.

My next dress sewing projects are trying to make a dress from wax fabric inspired by this (and this), modify this dress to fit me since I made this for me to wear when I was a bridesmaid and 8 months pregnant, and maybe a nice and light white linen dress for summer. Of course, I wanna try my hand at making the girls some jumpsuits and rompers for the summer too! I can’t wait for spring break, so we can play, make, and sew all day long!

Get yourself to a sewing machine and make yourself a dress! It’s easier than you think and even if you make a mistake, you totally learn from them.

on me: dress, handmade (duh!). stone necklace, c/o lisa leonard. leopard sneakers, steve madden. leaf, just for fun (it makes me less shy camera shy or maybe it’s cause I’m hiding).