We went on our first camping adventure this weekend, and while on our hikes, the girls loved collecting wildflowers. They picked and picked until they had a perfectly full bundle. We put them in paper cups and water to keep them alive, and when we got home, I put them in little vases just the way they had them arranged. Soul was the only one who didn’t make a bouquet because she was busy collecting rocks and acorns.

The simplest arrangement was the one I made (grey vase with blue design). Glow’s collection is in the tiny blue vase, True’s is in the ombre-ish blue vase, and Brave’s is in the white one. They are displayed all over the house now, and I smile each time I pass one. It reminds me of our fun weekend, my girls’ love for collecting things, and the glory of God displayed in these sweet wildflowers.

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

I’m a to-do list person and they help me stay on track, so I’m thankful for the pen and paper on which I write my lists!

Thankful we are celebrating and embarking on our sixth year of homeschooling.

I’d been eyeing these and then went on sale for 30% off, so I snatched up a pair.

Annamarie to share this family tradition and recipe with me. Looks like a fun and delicious family activity!

I love the new shop Rope & Root. It’s filled with lots of beautiful macrame pieces for your home.

I’m a basket lady and love my newest one from Space Rocket Store in Portugal, where the baskets are made.

This week was insanely busy with the first week of school, some project deadlines for me, and regular up-keeping life stuff. We are looking forward to really slowing down this weekend, so I’ll be back here on Tuesday!

The Bratcher Boarding Academy is back in session. I ordered a new white board, so we still need to get that up, but we’ve slowly been getting back into the swing of things. Glow read two short books on her own, Soul continues to grow her reading skills, and I’ve been impressed with the writing True and Brave have done this week.

I remember when True and Brave were starting off, I could not imagine getting to where we are now. When you start homeschooling, it can feel overwhelming (and many times it is), but just go step by step, and then one day you’ll look back and see what you’ve accomplished together. It takes team work with a whole lot of God and His grace too. There have been many mistakes made, and I don’t always love it, but when I see how my girls have grown and how their hearts have been nurtured, I’m thankful for this time with them. Thus, here we are, our sixth year of homeschooling, and Glow is officially on the roster too. It will take a lot of team work to keep this multi-age classroom going, lots of praying and loving selflessly on my part, which I’m not good at, but we can’t wait to see how God grows all of us this year.

Cheers to our sixth year of homeschooling!

This has been one of my go-to dresses this summer. I woke up at 5am on a Sunday morning, itching to make something, and this was the result. Of course, it got worn to church gathering later that morning. This pin is what the dressed is modeled after, and if you’ve been following here long enough, you know I’d rather make than buy. I love the deep red of that dress, and when I found this linen fabric at the store, I knew I had to make my own. I made the straps using braided cotton rope that I dyed grey.

When the chilly temps come in, I can wear my cotton crew from Everlane (worn here) underneath to continue giving this dress love. Let’s be real though, summer goes on forever in SoCal, so I can probably keep wearing this exact ensemble until Thanksgiving. If I want more autumn vibes, I’ll switch out my slides for clogs.

I shared my love for these shoes a couple “huzzah” posts ago, and now they are on sale for 30% off! Just in case any of you were interested.

on me: dress: handmade. bag, vintage (reproduced ones here). slides, banana republic.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Granola
about 4 servings

Ingredients:
4 cups milk
1/3 cup butter
1 large sweet potato
Granola
Pistachios
Dried cranberries
Curry powder

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Remove the skin off the sweet potato, chop the sweet potato into large 1″ thick chunks, spread it on a baking pan, and lightly coat with cooking spray. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, until they are soft and a golden brown. Place sweet potato in a bowl, allow to cool, then mash with a fork.
2. To brown the butter, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir the pan occasionally to be sure the butter is cooking evenly, and as the butter melts it will begin to brown and foam. Watch carefully as brown specks begin to form, then remove from heat.
3. In a separate pot, warm up the milk (or microwave for about 2 minutes). Once milk is warm,  mix in the brown butter and gently stir.
4. In a bowl, combine the granola and sweet potato, top with dried cranberries and pistachios, pour milk into the bowl, and add a pinch (or two) of curry powder.

The girls had fun helping bringing this recipe to life. They said, “The ingredients are kind of random, but it tastes so good.” True is allergic to nuts, so she skipped out on the pistachios (I made sure to get granola without nuts too). The sweet potato and cranberries gave this dish fall vibes, sort of reminded me of something we would have at Thanksgiving. And if you put in a pinch of curry powder, it gives the whole thing a nice spice. Basically, we took cereal and milk and took it up a notch. You’ve got dairy, protein, vegetable, fruit, and grain, so I’d say it is a nice well rounded meal.

What are some ways you make your cereal and milk a little bit more fancy?

This post is sponsored by Got Milk? Food loves milk. I appreciate the time you take to support this space and the brands I choose to partner with!

School is in session, and in honor of going back-to-school, I’m taking over Family Fun Magazine’s Instagram account to share some tidbits about some of our favorite school things and projects. Check it out here to follow along!

P.S. There will be some peeks from projects from my book, Let’s Sew Together.