A rainbow is no longer just a pretty act of Mother Nature.

It’s a reminder of the storm I had to walk through

A storm that I would walk through again and again,

Because it led me to you.

We are doing finished concrete floors, so we had the house portion of the pour tinted with the Solomon Colors tone “Earthen”. We also had the 6 foot saw cuts put in at 45° angles. I have been told (warned?) many, many times that concrete is tricky and unpredictable when it comes to the final product and how it will look, but that actually just makes me more obsessed with the character of it, and so far I am very pleased with how warm it looks without it being orange. I can’t wait to see how it looks all finished.

When I was 9, my parents built a house, and while I know it was insanely stressful for them, all I knew at the time was the excitement of the process and it became my fondest childhood memory. I can still remember the way the dirt smelled after the excavators came through. It was never my intention or dream to build a home before we found this land, but now that we’re here it is so cool to me that we get to provide this experience to our boys. It’s the reason why I am documenting this because I know these are great memories that will stick with them their whole life. A guaranteed fond childhood experience. It’s so cool that they get to witness this whole process of how a home is built from the ground up, and truly are having a blast while doing so. Turner even got to join his Uncle Gabe in the cab for awhile!

Wild is tempestuous determination.

Wild is fearless audacity.

Wild is unapologetically daring.

Wild is uncultivated gallantry.

Wild is a ferocious protector.

Wild is untamed bravery.

Wild is savage courage.

Wild is valiant love.

Wild is free.

We took advantage of this weird limbo-stage before construction on the house begins to prune out some trees and clear out so much of this underbrush. Something about hard manual work like this is so satisfying, and I not only feel it in my bones but I see it on the boys’ faces. This is their space too and they own it. The beauty here is so breathtaking to me and those oak trees are more spectacular than I thought. Our dream is to keep this space relatively wild and maintenance-free.

I always chuckle at Turner’s innate infatuation with tractors. I have never seen a small child this obsessed with them and I’m not quite sure where the obsession came from because our lifestyle doesn’t involve a lot of exposure to tractors. But here he is, with tractor vision. He spots them everywhere. And while all tractor sightings elicit shouts of delight, vintage tractors seem to be among his favorites. He spotted this one and I just so happened to have my camera with me. This is completely candid and un-posed. He’s so serious and respectful about these machines.

Our homeschool is a way of life. The goal my husband and I share for our children is to foster a love of education and adventure. We don’t study to pass a test, and we do not confine ourselves to the four walls of a classroom. Our school is the world around us; we live to learn and ingrain in ourselves important life skills not just limited to reading, writing and arithmetic. This education requires a lot of hard work, like schooling does for any kid, but allowing them space to play, work, explore their unique interests, enjoy the fresh air and burn all that healthy boyish energy stimulates their brains in such a way that they don’t always know they’re learning but that hard earned knowledge stays in tact.

Potty training should not be hard. If it's feeling difficult or frustrating, you're doing it wrong. Put a diaper on the kid and call it a day. Or a week. Or a few months. Or college, I don't even care at this point. When they're ready they will potty train easily with little to no effort from you.

I may be a tiny bit biased, being her aunt and all, but after a relentless stream of nephews and sons for nearly a decade the excitement is high for a baby girl to join our family. She’s obviously winning the parent lottery with how happy her mama and daddy make each other, and she will fit just perfectly in their arms. I can’t wait.

Jimmy, is always trying to learn new things and understand how things work. He found this homemade candy idea using only one ingredient: honey. So he tried his hand at it.

I take photos pretty much every single day, and this blog is for the purpose of documenting this adventure of ours, and of course some of my favorite photoshoots sprinkled throughout.

This is the story of us. We don’t have it all together, but I wouldn’t trade this adventure for anything.