Each time I pull up pictures to write you a post I get distracted by the photos of these sweet woolly babies. And I have to share a few, just because.

Keeping critters has become much more of what we do and who we are than I expected. Does that make sense?

As in – we're sheep and goat people now. And I thought we'd just be people who had sheep and goats.

There are still ups and downs out in the barn, but everyone who made it this far is growing stronger day by day.

So mixed in with the work is that sense of relief that I longed for.

Sometimes these leggy little lambs get frisky and dash and romp and buck through the barn and we laugh until our stomachs hurt.

It's a balm for my soul.

(No pun intended.)

When we're not in the barn it seems we're often at work these days.

LuSa is in the mists of it's busiest winter yet, so I'm trying to spend a little more time there, helping out as best I can.

I think the triple whammy of an already busy winter, a long awaited new balm release, and our largest soap order ever (hundreds of bars heading out the door) has things feel a little wild over there.

And then a photographer came last week to take photos for an upcoming article, adding a bit of paparazzi flair to an already full week!

Oh, yeah – and then we launched a new website.

Holy smokes. So. Darn. Busy.

And while it's a little scary, it feels good to stretch and grow and hit the next plateau.

Yesterday when I went to work to help with shipping, Lupine insisted on going with me to help, too. So much sweetness and confidence in that girl. It makes my heart swell.

And you know, filling those boxes with her yesterday I realized that I can't help but think about how many lives are touched by what we make. From baby's first bath to daily hand washing, we're invited into the everyday of so many lives.

It's humbling.

And just like becoming "sheep and goat people" that gift of trust was one I hadn't expected either.

So yes, we're busy.

With farm and work and kids and homeschooling and getting dinner on the table.

And I know you're busy too.

As much as I despise hearing myself answer the question, "How are you?" with "Busy!" sometimes that's the biggest truth I can reach.

We're busy.

But we're reaching for presence, for quiet, for life. Day by day.

Because during weeks like this – when we're too busy to wash the laundry or make a proper grocery list – are the weeks when we need beauty, magic, rest and laughter most of all.

When we're least likely to find them.

On a particularly hectic day I was rushing down our little Main Street on errands when I happened to look up.

Pigeons, an old building, and the light of a cold winter sky danced together at dusk above my head. It stopped me for minutes on that corner.

I stopped hurrying. I stopped being busy. I stumbled into awe and beauty and even a bit of rest – if just for a moment.

And when I returend to my errands I felt lighter somehow. Just for that moment of pause.

So busy be damned, we'll make time to be.

To breathe. To live in these busiest of days.

Not despite how much we have going on, but because of it. We need it.

RIght now.

Because yesterday when we put down our homeschooling and put on our skis, we found ourselves again. Our laughter, our muscles, our souls – all shaken awake by the cold and the beauty.

After dinner when we might have gotten our jammies on and tucked ito bed, we suited up again and hit the trail by moonlight.

It was magical.

And somehow it felt like we created time out of thin, cold air and the "busy" just melted away.