That went SOUTH fast + it is a big day!

15-minute glute workout followed by 7 miles with my friend Jo! 

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(ear warmer ((it’s reversible which I love)), watch, glovestank, long-sleeve ((mine is the Boston version)), shorts, shoes)

I kind of loved doing a glute workout before my run because I could feel my glutes activating and doing their job from the very first step. 

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I saw this post and could not agree more… Running/strength is hard (especially in the winter for me), but it makes everything else in life so much easier and that is what gets me out of bed.

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Once I got home, Brooke asked if we could run to school.  Absolutely.  Her legs are getting fast, which basically had me doing some strides!  

Things went south fast after this…  We got to school early, so we were playing tag on the playground together when she went down a slide that must have had some frost/ice on it… she flew off on the bottom.  She landed on her back and had the wind knocked out of her.  It was terrifying to see her having a hard time breathing or talking.  Her facial expression looked so so afraid.  We went straight home and had her on the couch for a few hours with a heating pad because her back was hurting.  She asked to FaceTime my sister right when she got home because she understands back pain.  

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After lunch, Brooke started feeling much better and wanted to go back to school, so both girls went to school.  I was driving by a pizza factory during errands and made a u-turn to get myself a breadstick.  It was an excellent decision.

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A very delicious dinner and dessert from the other night…

This is my new favorite soup recipe (I forgot to add the pepper jack cheese on top until after the picture, but it is a must with this recipe)—> Cafe Rio chicken tortilla soup copycat recipe for dinner!

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Along with another copycat recipe for the Chick-Fil-A Peppermint Shake.  It’s kind of a must this time of year.

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It is Skye Jo Baron’s birthday today.  

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I have no way to adequately express how much joy this little human brings to our entire family’s life.  Her facial expressions, her laugh, her imagination, her love for friends/siblings, her adventurous spirit, her heart of gold, her sass, her obsession with fashion, and her incredible memory.  She is going to move mountains.

To celebrate today, we will be in the hot tub for a few hours, play with her new Paw Patrol toys, listen to ROAR on repeat, and make sure to fit in some Panda Express.

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SOOOOOO much Paw Patrol happening today.

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The time he spent $27 on balloons…

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Feel free to wish her a happy birthday, and I will read them to her!

Have a copycat recipe that you love to make?  TELL ME… I’m on a kick with them lately.

Last time you got hurt, and what happened?

How does running make your life easier?

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43 comments

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Happy Birthday Skye. You truly are a beautiful soul. The pictures your mom shares of you bring joy and smiles to my face. I agree with your mom – you will move mountains and leave a mark on this world. May your day be filled with much laughter and great memories.

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Happy birthday Skye!! I’d love to see what she got so I can get some ideas for my daughter :)

How was the copycake shake? Those are my favorite! Yum!

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Happy birthday Skye!! Enjoy all the Paw Patrol today.

I’m glad Brooke wasn’t hurt but that must have been scary for both you and her. So cute that she just wanted to facetime your sister once home though. The last time I got hurt was on Thanksgiving actually. After my strength workout I decided to drive out to go on a hike with my dog since I didn’t want to just watch tv all day (I do solo Thanksgivings so it’s just me and the pup all day). With the parking lot in sight, I stepped on something and rolled my ankle hard. Almost cried hard and it was definitely painful to walk that last little bit to my car. Thankfully it wasn’t a big injury and extra thankful it happened at the very end and not when we were still on the mountain! Have a great day Janae!

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Happy Birthday Skye!!! Have the best day ever!!

Hope Brooke is feeling better, that is so scary :(

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Oh no poor Brooke! I hope she is all better today. And happy birthday to Skye!

You know my fav copycat recipe ever is the Kneader’s sugar cookie recipe. Just made a bunch for my nephews this weekend.

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Happy Birthday Skye! 4 is a big deal. I hope you & your family have a wonderful celebration today!

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Happy Birthday, Skye! Have fun celebrating with your friends and family!

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Happy Paw Patrol Birthday!

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Happy birthday to Skye!!

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Happy, happy birthday, Skye!!! I hope your day is full of Paw Patrol, “twinning” with Brooke, and laughing and giggling the day away in the hot tub.

OK so I have a thing where it’s a “hard no” for spending even one penny for Chick-Fil-A. BUT, peppermint bark–and any combination of chocolate and peppermint–is my most favorite holiday-celebrated food item of all time, for every single holiday-celebrated food. And seeing hte seasonal peppermint shake commercials for CFA has made me grumble sometimes and has made me feel outright bratty and pouty other times (because I will not ever go to a CFA). This copycat recipe looks amazing, and I might have to try this out. We will see!!!

As far as getting hurt: man I am at an age where if I step funny (or if something causes a sciatic nerve flare-up) I might feel it in my back. It’s hard to strike a balance between continuing to move around and resting, so I focus a lot on walking and going to my yoga classes but taking ALLLLLL the lower options, and when I *do* feel like I am healing enough to go back to the gym I will complete my workout but with a combination of less rounds & slightly light weights with a STRONG emphasis on form. And then I stand under the shower facing away from the water to just the point where really hot water hits my low back. And that feels good. :)

And stopping for breadsticks is a decision I MORE than approve of. Amen to that! Delicious.

ANYHOW–I hope Skye’s birthday is the best!!! :)

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Hi Stephanie. I’m just curious. Why are you so opposed to Chin-fil-a?

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Thanks for asking. It’s a deeply personal thing, and it falls *to some extent* under the realm of things people don’t often talk about in general, public, or ‘polite’ conversation, but in the spirit of honesty (and in the spirit of respectful dialogue), here goes:

I can not spend any penny of my money at a company that donates even the smallest fraction of its profits to hate organizations. I believe in love, peace, openness, and freedom. I don’t care of the owners and the company leaders at CFA have certain political leanings, or if they really don’t advocate for the variety of lifestyles people live. I do have a problem when they place their profits, which come from people’s pocketbooks AND from franchise fees to hate organizations, such as the ones that target the LGBTQIA community. I love and support every single way in which love exists in this world–and I love how my friends in that community have loved and supported me, my marriage, and more. People have a hard enough time living in this world however they do–cis-gender, questioning, heterosexual, homosexual, openly religious, openly atheist, conservative, liberal–no matter what, there are people who disagree with your lifestyle, beliefs, and choices. When hate groups are fueled by money in their mission to actively stop the way that some people love, share, and exist in this world, I refuse to venture anywhere near.

One of my desires in my life is to “put my money where my mouth is.” One of my missions is that saying “when you know better, do better.” I can not control about 99.9934839043q2490237435958934823% of what happens in this world, but I can make choices to spend money in alignment with my own beliefs. And since I know about CFA funding groups that promote hatred, I can not. And I know that my approach to spending money might seem entirely too extreme (and some may even say naive). That’s fine. I don’t expect others to do anything other than what they believe in and to make the decisions that work best for their hearts, their lives, their needs, and their beliefs about what matters in this world. But this is just how I am.

I hope this makes sense. I am also VERY hopeful that regardless of your own beliefs that you’re willing to at least see where my thought process comes from, no matter what your own belief system allows you to do! Thanks for reading my crazy thought process :)

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Happy Birthday Skye! I can tell you are fearless girl and that makes me want to be brave too!

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Happy Birthday Skye!! It is so fun watching you grow. Love how you love life. Have so much fun celebrating you!
Poor Brooke! So glad she was feeling better quickly. Having the wind knocked out of you is scary.
Cafe Rio copycat cilantro lime rice is the BEST!! We eat it all the time. I will definitely be trying the soup. I love chicken tortilla soup and this one sounds so good.
3 more days of the holiday toy and food drive for me this week, then it’s a wrap! It’s exhausting, but so special to me.
Have a great day celebrating Skye and all the Paw Patrol! ?

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Happy Birthday, Skye!!

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Happiest birthday, Skye Jo Baron! You are a bright light, so keep shining!

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Happy Birthday Skye!!!!!!! It’s my son’s birthday as well- he’s 19 today and I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. I hope Skye has the best day ever!

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Happy Happy Birthday Skye! You’re becoming such a beautiful big girl! It’s very clear from all the pictures that your Mom takes that you’re family loves you SO SO much! Have a wonderful day little lady!

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Happy, happy birthday Skye!! Thank you for the laughter and happiness you bring all of us. God definitely smiled big time the day you were born

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Happy Birthday Skye!!

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Good morning, Janae!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Skye!!! You’re the “awesomest” 4 year old!! Wishing you a day filled with Paw Patrol, hot tubbin’ and everything else that brings you joy!!
So glad Brooke is doing OK after that bit of scariness. My last injury was kind of silly – I ran the top of my head into the latch for the dryer while doing laundry (the door is hinged at the bottom). It made only a small gash, but hurt like crazy and I even had to reschedule a hair appointment. I really need to come up with cooler story!
Running itself can be super hard at times and just making the time for it can be a challenge. BUT, I feel so much better physically and emotionally when I do it and both those things make life easier – even when adulting is hard!
Have a fantastic day of celebrating all things Skye :o)

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Happy Birthday to Skye!
Love, Maureen

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Happy Birthday Skye! I hope its a wonderful day full of your favorite things!

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Happy Happy Birthday Skye!! I hope you have a fun and fabulous day!! I love that she is into fashion at such an early age!!
I also hope Brooke recovers fully from her accident! Back injuries are no joke.

Running is my therapy. I’m not very fast but it always feels good be be outside, feel your blood pumping and breathing fresh air!!

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Happy Birthday Skye!!! I love seeing your picture and reading stories about you. I love your facial expressions. You make me smile every single day beautiful girl. I hope your day is amazing.

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Happy birthday, Skye!

Did you know there is a card game called SkyJo? It’s a little advanced for a 4 year old, but my 4 year old likes using the cards to playing matching.

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Happy Birthday Skye. Your personality shines bright on your mom’s blog, and I love everything you are. Enjoy your day!!

Chris is pretty frugal till it comes to birthday balloons.

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Happy Birthday, Skye! Do you have a favorite Paw Patrol character?

And I hope Brooke is feeling better, hopefully she gets some hot tub time too.

Latest copycat recipe is from Kroll’s Corner – supposedly a copycat of Levain bakery chocolate chip cookies. I’ve never had the real thing so I can’t compare, but these are seriously delicious! https://krollskorner.com/recipes/desserts/krolls-kookies/

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Happy Birthday Skye Jo… I’ve been following your family, since before you were even a thought for your mom and dad. I’m a Grama now with 6 adult children and 4 grandchildren, so far!!! You are a big blessing in your family and I hope your day is as adventurous as your spirit! Blessings, Machelle

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Happy birthday Skye!!! My 6 year old daughter fell off the monkey bars and has the wind knocked out of her…didn’t realize what was happening, so she got up in a panic to run to my carpool friend…and passed out on the cement sidewalk! I wasn’t there, I was at work, my carpool called 911 because she didn’t see her fall, just saw her pass out, and it was a mess. Fortunately no head injury! Just lots of drama and excitement with EMTs!

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Happy birthday, Skye! December birthdays are soo magical! You get Christmas lights and all :)

I love making Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden) but I use cauliflower instead of potatoes because my family isn’t big on potatoes (weird, I know).

Last time I got hurt, I stepped on a dumb pinecone while running and bruised my heal bone. It was terrible.

I feel like running makes everything easier! I am a better teacher, wife, mom, friend when I move my body.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY SKYE!!
Skye, Did you know roar is my little girls absolutely favourite song as well?! Do you like the song birthday and firework as well??
Poor Brooke. Hope she feels better soon.
This copycat panera broc and cheddar soup recipe is SO GOOD! purée to your preferred consistency (or leave it chunky!)
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/235874/copycat-panera-broccoli-cheddar-soup/

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Happy birthday Skye!! I hope you have a day that is as wonderful as you are sweet girl!

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Happy birthday Skye!! Hope you have an amazing day with your family! And that you get to eat lots of cake :D

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Happy Birthday, Skye!
(Did you know the “Isle of Skye” in Scotland is the largest (& maybe most beautiful!?) island in Scotland’s inner Hebrides archipelago?!?! I think that should be a future Birthday celebration site for Skye when she’s old enough to appreciate it – it’s connected to the mainland by a bridge. Gorgeous scenery vid of the island: https://youtu.be/rEK3sHiXfUg )

My copycat recipe is NOT a health food, and dangerously delicious. Applebee’s Maple Blondie Sundae (yum!):
https://www.lecremedelacrumb.com/applebees-maple-nut-blondie-with-cream-sauce/

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Happy Birthday Skye!!! We share a birthday, I’m turning 30 today! I have an almost 4 year old little girl and she loves Paw Patrol too! Have a wonderful day cutie!!

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Herzlich Geburtstag Skye! I remember when your mom had a contest to see if anyone could guess your name! She had us stumped!!! Your name fits your amaziness!!!!

I am so sorry for Brooke’s back! OUCH!!!! maybe she’ll need to see your chiropractor too!

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Happy HAPPY Birthday, Skye! Hope your day is as special as you are! Lots of love to you!

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Happy birthday Skye! I hope you eat lots of cake and have fun with your family and friends. Love from your mom’s blog reader from ??, your neighbour to the North.

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Tanjobi Omedeto Skye! It means “Happy Birthday” in Japanese :-)
Hope you and your family will have a happy and healthy year!

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Happy Birthday, Skye! I hope you had the most wonderful birthday filled with cake, ice cream, presents, and love. I’m so jealous that you have a hot tub – that sounds SO fun!!! Enjoy your very own special day!

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I’m in New Zealand and that number of balloons would easily be $100!!! Happy birthday to Skye :)

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Happy birthday Skye!!!!!!!

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