At some point, when you’re a grown-up, you run out of plan. When you’re a kid, you always know what you’re going to do next. Go to kindergarten, go to school, get out of school for summer vacation, go back to school. Elementary, junior high, high school, college, mission, college, marriage, kids, career. Then what? …

Did you ever perform this summertime ritual–lighting sparklers on the Fourth of July? Do you remember the hissing sound of a burning sparkler, the pinpricks of heat as stray sparks hit your hand, the tiny vibrations coming down the wire? What kid in America has not written his name with the brilliant chattering light? What …

Last Friday morning the kids and I were buzzing down the road to school and work. We came around the curve and I said, “Look, kids, a bear.” Every time I see a bear in the wild I think first of a dog, but am immediately corrected by its pear-shaped body, stretched out neck and …

We’re actually debt free, except for our mortgage. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned that before, but even if so it’s worth repeating lest you think we are spending extravagantly to maintain and develop our dream. Um, no. The truth is that I support nine people (and two dogs, two cats, nine ducks, six chickens, myriad …

It’s a 1998 Ford Expedition. The unspoken Law of the Forest dictates that every citizen thereof have a dog, a gun, and a pickup. Well, when I had the choice, I opted for a Jeep. So no truck. Our neighbor has a pickup, but the second time I ever borrowed it I busted the back …

We had Emma shoot this after I was done taking pictures of all the kids that I posted yesterday. I’m not much to look at, but I love to look at Jessica. I love talking to her, being with her, and sharing all the adventures of life with her. Fourteen years, seven children, four states, …

Here’s our current posterity in order of age: Emma (13), Rebecca (12), Katherine (10), Abigail (7), Natalie (4), Sarah (2), and Jacob Andrew (four months). We were out in the yard the other evening and Jessica asked one of the kids to bring out the camera. It’s a good thing to occasionally record our children’s …

I forget what I was working on Saturday morning*, but in the afternoon it was time for another exploration party. This is off a dirt road about half an hour from our house. We are inside a federally designated wilderness area, and the old bridge we’re sitting on leads to an abandoned mine near Rock …

This is one of our more favoriter spots in the house. Here’s Abby in our reading loft, which sits above the little girls’ room where she, Natalie, and Sarah sleep. On the left you can see the ladder that leads up to it. Four 4-inch lag bolts hold each rung directly to the studs, and …

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 …