our family

A brief overview on us:
I'm Amanda:  Homemaker / Photographer / Creator / Explorer / Mom.  
My other half, Mitchell:  Carpenter / General Contractor / Sawyer / Archer / can pretty much do anything / Dad. 

We were married very young & were building our first home as we were turning 19 & 20.  We've rarely stopped building things since. 
Our home is in the woods of northern Minnesota. We have five really easy going, great kids.
We strongly agreed when becoming parents that one of us would always be home with the them.  We have stuck to it & wouldn't trade it for the world. 

We were DIYers before we knew Home Depot was in existence, and ate organic before it was something we'd even heard of.  I used to feel like a nerd for canning & sewing.  We were made fun of for raising chickens.  Now it's all the rage and even an "urban trend!" 
We see these things as the basics, and people are finally trying to get back to them. 
It's a good thing. 

We believe in family, financial responsibility, common sense, integrity & simplicity.

Our oldest, twins, Mason & Eric, are now teenagers, which seems a little unreal. 
They are naturally gifted athletes.  We enjoy watching their teamwork & work ethic, & talent.  It's a thrill to see them do what they love & do it well. 
They are also successful hunters and use chainsaws and drive machinery & stuff these days.  They are growing into men.  We are talking driver's licenses within the year...

Johnathan is our born naturalist, and "middle child."  He has specialized in habitats, ponds, and native MN frogs all his life.  He got his first pair of hip waders this spring and is an avid Lego engineer.  He's a calm, quiet, busy guy.  And chops wood like nobody's business.

Lilly is now 8 years old.  She is small & strong.  Loves to decorate the world with her drawings & color & creativity.  She is everything feminine & girly, but doesn't miss a beat when it comes to keeping up with the boys.  Pull-ups & dirt bike crashes have got nothing on her. 

Beau is now six.  From the start, he has adapted to every range of activity this household presents, with a smile & an easy "I can do it, too" attitude.  That makes for a pretty wide range of skills for this little guy.  Beau completes our family perfectly.  He's a people person & loves animals.  He's still cuddly.  It's a treat.
This year he left nest to attend kindergarten all day every day. 
I had had kids at home for 15 years up until that time.  A big change!

Other random bits about us:
We eat wild game and rarely buy store bought meat.  (Just as warning, as there may occasionally be hunting & fishing photos.)
We don't watch television, and love it.  Commercial free environments are fantastic.
As a family, our usual getaway is in remote northern Ontario.  Time there without running water or electricity is a treat.
Our kids go to a very small, rural public school.  Some people are surprised at that, assuming given our family size we must home school.   
We do not.  However, we firmly believe that home is the greatest & most important institution of learning for our kids.
Our dog is named McGee.  Everyone asks what he is.  I did an extensive amount of nation-wide searching to find him as a puppy..  He's a mutt.
The hardest thing about having seven people in our household is matching all the socks in the laundry.
Life is wild.  Life is simple.  Life is good.