Lucky

My husband likes to frequently point out that I live, in his opinion, a privileged life.

Like yesterday when he asked what we did. My reply was, "Well we went to the trampoline park, the plastic surgeon, and ate at Big Orange where we were spoiled by our server." His reply, "That's pretty much what you do everyday."

Ha. Ha. Ha.

Yes. I am pretty lucky. I have more freedom than most. But in my mind, I have created that freedom. I only work at our business on the weekends and only for a few hours at a time so that we are able to homeschool. Our small home based soap store doesn't require more than a few more hours a week out of me. I drive an older vehicle with no car payments so I have extra spending money. It was all part of my plan, I tell him, to be able to do what I want when I want. Which sounds selfish and spoiled and maybe it is, but 98% of my time is spent with my kids. Going and doing and learning and creating.

I didn't know how to take care of myself when I was younger. The realization that one must put on their own oxygen mask before helping others with theirs didn't hit me until recently. You have to take care of yourself. But in such a child driven world, taking care of oneself can appear selfish. What? You take time to go to the gym/go running/hiking/yoga class? Shame on you. You drove 3 hours to go to a children's program at the museum and maybe do a little shopping for yourself because you live in the middle of nowhere but still want to enrich your children and indulge in retail therapy? That is a waste of time and gas and aren't you lucky you can just take off and do those things in the middle of the day.

My children are with me constantly. And they don't realize this isn't truly normal. Not being tied down to a job or a school schedule. A supportive father and husband who doesn't mind funding our adventures with only minimal amount of ribbing. But I still need to take care of myself.

So I do small things. Go for an early morning solo run. Sneak off to an essential oils demo at a friends house. Put the kids to bed early and hide in my room with laptop, beverage, and copious amounts of Gilmore Girls on Netflix. Always pick the restaurant when we are traveling so I can pretend to be a foodie and make sure my children experience real food at every meal. That last one is important because I have realized that even when I can't get a physical break I must take charge of the things that make me happy. And food makes me happy so I always pick in order to get that mental enjoyment of an amazing plate.

And when I don't take the time to do these things I realize that I'm not being very nice. I'm on the edge of freaking out and needing a mental health day. Which is kind of hard to take when everyone is home all the time. Every single day.

It's all about perspective I suppose. What ones life looks like to outsiders is usually entirely different than the reality. My blessings might be your problems. The things that make you happy could drive me crazy. Not everyone could deal with the absolute un-scheduledness of our days. Or the constant togetherness. Or the fact that my only traveling companions are both under 4 foot.

But they are pretty cool companions. They even get their own hashtags at restaurants. I don't have much to complain about. I lead a pretty privileged life.

#stellaapproved

Instagram Contest Winner

New Products & A Giveaway

 

We crafted a few new soaps a while back and when they were first posted to Instagram, one of them sold out on our website almost immediately. We quickly made more batches and those are finally ready for sale. I’m proud to introduce our two newest bars…

Sweet Orange Patchouli is our first exfoliating bar. It contains dried orange peel to scrub away your worries and any rough skin. A warm woodsy and slightly citrusy scent perfect for Summer that will take you right into Fall. This one is my current favorite.

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We’ve also introduced some new packaging. Our coconut oil lip balm that used to be packed into plastic tubes is now poured into reusable little tins. We can’t help but think it’s a bit more eco-friendly and super cute. In fact, we are giving away a tin of lip balm (Peppermint flavor) and a bar of our bestselling Lemongrass Coconut Oil Soap. Just follow @thetinyfarmco on Instagram, repost the photo, tag us and add the hashtag #coconutoillove. Easy!

In the meantime, if you can’t wait to win, head on over to our site. Remember we are including a free gift on any order over $25.

Randomness

The other day I stumbled across Penelope Trunk.

Then I fell down an Internet rabbit hole for a few days.

Fascinating. And not one bit surprising she has Asperger's.

I've also been knitting. A lot.
I'm head over heels crazy about Wool And The Gang.

And running. A little. With my darling husband.

I also visited an iridologist and started an herb regimen.

I miss yoga. I was practicing regularly then all of the sudden I just quit. It makes me really happy so I should be doing it, right?

And yay! My favorite combination of holidays is coming up next week. Thanksgiving/My Birthday! It's a fun fun week.


Have I mentioned lately how much I love homeschooling? I'm going to morph into one of those people that believes it is the best and only way. But I already do that with everything I am into so its not really a big surprise.

I read this darling darling story to my 7 & 8 year old Literature class at our homeschool co-op this past Monday. As a project to accompany the book, I gave them each a small ball of yarn and taught them to finger knit. I was amazed and delighted how quickly and easily they picked it up and how much most of them enjoyed it. The boys especially!

One of those super amazing things about homeschooling is the complete and total freedom it affords you. Can you imagine not having your day revolve around school hours? Just for fun we spent Monday evening at a friends cabin in the middle of Shady. The next morning we took a wee stroll in our pajamas before loading ourselves and the dogs up and heading home to start school. Still in our pajamas. I snapped these as we were appreciating the beauty of the early morning.

 

Hi!

I honestly didn't intend to go so long in between posts. So quick catch up!

 

I went trail running. But its been a few weeks ago. The sunrise is especially

 awesome in the woods this time of year.

 

We did the whole Halloween thing. We hardly ever do this. My kids

can't eat the candy anyways so we usually avoid it. This year they were more

about the dressing up part. Stella had never ever had makeup on before. I think that

was her favorite part.

 

Vampire Princess and Harry Potter.

 

Naturally.

 

Maggie and I dressed as twins. Yep. We are dorks.

 

I took this picture in an attempt to show my sister that I do

indeed have chickens with sexy hair.

 

We went hiking with the dogs and this happened on the way. Allie is

a neurotic car rider. Boss just doesn't care.

The woods were extra beautiful on top of Rich Mountain.

 

We traversed the trail down to a late 1800's stone reservoir that once

serviced Queen Wilhelmina Lodge.

 

 

I'm telling you the colors were amazing.

 

And once you got back up to the top, the sky was pretty amazing as well.

 

 

Stella and I bundled up to watch the last soccer game of the year.

Can I get a hallelujah?

 

I got an early birthday present from Warren. I love real wood products.

 

There were numerous moments over the last few weeks that I have been

ever grateful for the opportunity to homeschool my children.

 

And we are just almost done with the kitchen. It just needs grout and then I can

share the full transformation.

 

Girls night! Stuffed shrooms!

 

My crazy friend Emily, whom I adore.

 

And man oh man! It is cold in Arkansas right now. We're talking tights, flannels, and woolen

socks with coffee in hand at all times cold.

 

See? Cash insisted on doing his math lesson bundled to the max.

 

 

Okay! You are officially caught up.

 

 

 

 

Instagram Dump

 

The peach tree decided to bloom a tad bit early. It froze for the last time the evening I took this.

 

I've got no idea how she is managing her daddy's big guitar. All I know is that there are

far too many cases of homebrew sitting in my kitchen.

 

Concentration.

 

Pond shot.

 

Enjoying the beautiful weather at soccer practice.

 

Wearing her funny glasses trying her hadest to hoolahoop.

 

Finishing up one last project in the remodeled living room.

 

My Easter table.

 

Yummy egg and bacon cupcake goodness!

Instant Beauty, Instant Gratification

I love Instagram!

Really...what's not to love? If you can get past people posting pictures of their lunch then you will find some really beautiful images.

My shots from the past few days (a bunch were from this morning when I finally made it out to run).
(I am sugarbritchesyo....if you care to follow along.)

You can't even see the mountains due to the fog in the valley.

 

 

Toe socks in toe shoes, ready to run in the cold.

 

 

Little valley town. Where we run there are no flat surfaces. Only hills.

 

 

Sunday morning only drive thru coffee available.

 

 

Sugarbaby successfully learned how to write all her letters over Christmas Break.

Official homeschooling starts tomorrow!

 

 

 

My planner. It was boring and ugly and needed a makeover. Now it is

a hodgepodge, but an inspirational one. I took the idea of a vision board

and projected it on my planner. This holds my lesson plans, notes, lists, contacts,

schedule. Basically our life is in this book. I can never keep up with computer calendars

and schedules. It's pen and paper all the way for me!

 

And finally, one little bit of loveliness I found on Pinterest last night. This pretty much sums up the way I feel. It really is the little things. Give light and love folks. It's all you can do in this crazy world.