So Beautiful and I were out Friday evening and Saturday morning. Late Friday night we received the following phone call:
Daughter 3, in tears: “I have glass in my thumb!”Mom: “How did you get glass in your thumb?”Daughter 3: “My Abinadi picture was on my bed and the glass broke!”Mom: “How did the glass break?”Daughter 3: …

Beautiful and I were married 14 years ago yesterday.
I could not do what I’m doing without my wife. Like marriage itself, this effort could not be maintained without the wholehearted commitment of both of us. Fourteen years ago I could not have imagined how happy my life would be now. Yes, there are irritations, setbacks, …

Six eggs! That’s the most yet this season. But while daughter 1 and I were down taking care of the ducks this morning, Beautiful was already boiling eggs for breakfast, so we’ll have these another time.
I dumped granola into my bowl and overshot. Then I was in a rush to eat and get out the …

Note: I’ve been reading Dickens on my lunch break, and so my diction will be in his style (though lacking his wit) for some time here, until the effect passes off.
Why ducks? Their benefits outweigh their detractions, which are these: That they are rather dense, and do not know to fly away from the dog …

Remember the dead birch I was going to take down for the kids’ tree house? I dropped all four trunks on Friday evening. I blocked up one trunk, hauled the wood down to the wood shed in a sled, and tossed it in. Turns out that the wood is partially rotten and mostly wet, even …

NO.
I recognize that in some cases it may be necessary for both of you to work outside the home. However, in many cases it is not. Sometimes it seems both husband and wife are supporting a lifestyle which is not big enough for them and a child.
I think there are better things to sacrifice. Perhaps …

I’ve mentioned a little about how we raise our kids. While the snow is still flying outside (and it is flying, April or not) and I’m still preparing for a busy spring and summer, maybe now is a good time to start a little exposition on why we do what we do.
Conversations on our family …

Daughter 1 asked if we could ever have a treehouse up here. No, probably not. All strong trees around us are conifers, meaning principally one main trunk, which is hard to build a treehouse in. (Well, come to think of it, if we had a dead tree with a wide circumference we might pull it …

In the house, under a window, that is.
Now all we need is for the snow to stop falling–and to figure out exactly how to coax productive plants out of the ground. We’ve had more snow this March than we did January and February put together. We’re getting about three inches a day; fortunately the melting …

Here are the first-floor floor plans, including electrical fixtures + furniture (for scale, and for Beautiful to decide how she wanted to arrange). This drawing does not include wiring, plumbing, or gas schematics; anything pertaining to the 2nd floor; SIP plans; dimensions; sectionals; roof plans; or elevations. And to think I did it all in …