Potatoes Popping Up

Potatoes are popping up in the garden! It's a neat sight to see the earth rising and tiny green plants emerging. 

It won't be long before these plants take off and produce one of our favorite crops. 

Here's Heidi, one of our chickens. She dominates the other girls, proving that a hen will behave as a rooster if there is no male present. Sometimes I want to pop her for how mean she is to the other girls but then I remember she's just a chicken with a brain about the size of a popcorn kernel. 

Also popping up...peas!!

The goats are doing well. The rye grass keeps their pen nice and green. Ashley is thinking about seeding this pen and making it a proper pasture. 

Waylon and Ziggy, waiting to be fed. 

The other night, Ashley, Levi and I cleaned up pinecones and sticks in the pen. Notice who's on the fence at the back...he didn't want to come in but decided to watch instead. 

Around back...

 So many of my pictures of our place focus on the front of the house, but the back side is just as beautiful. When we were choosing a house plan, one of the must-haves was a house that had character on all sides. Sometimes at night when I'm coming in from feeding our cat in her barn, I stand and just take in the house from the back side, the windows glowing with light. Maybe one day I'll have a camera that can capture those images...for now, the daytime photos are best. 

A while back I took all three boys on a picnic in the woods. We tromped through the woods, pushing the stroller with the baby, to a place we've named "the campsite" because it will be perfect for that purpose when the boys are older. There are some logs back there that the boys love to play on...here they are discussing their big plans for their logging company (their play revolves between their construction company, their logging company, or their gold mining company). 

This is the main reason we moved to the country, so we could raise our boys to be kids who love playing outside. This picture captures the moment perfectly. I have the best memories of playing in the woods with my brother; I know my little guys will have the same. 

Soon enough all three of them will be playing in the woods!

Collecting pine cones and other treasures...

Playing on the dirt bank on the old logging road that runs at the edge of our property. We have to enjoy this time in the woods because soon enough the chiggers will be out (and anyone who has ever had boys get chiggers in their pants will tell you that summer playing in the woods isn't the best idea). 

Every farmhouse needs multiple pieces of equipment. Now the boys have their own backhoe thanks to their Da (grandpa). 

Putting the backhoe to work--we like it because it's not battery-powered and there are two seats. 

Hope you enjoyed all this "back talk!" Have a good weekend!