I miss you, childhood. I miss the days when…

…money was just a play thing.

…the only crap you had to deal with came in having to remember to “poopy on the potty”.

…vacuuming was not a chore, but “Run from the Monster” play-time.

…relationship drama didn’t exist because your best friend was stuffed.

…a simple kiss and bandaid took all the pain away.

Then, there are parts of our childhoods that we let slip away even though we don’t have to say goodbye. We can still embrace that childhood spirit and…

…have all the confidence in the world. Believe we are a singing, dancing, cooking, drawing, running, joke-telling superstar! And love your body for the fun things it can do.

…trust our Daddy to care, love, and provide for us.

…play with vigor. And, yes, exercise should be play. You should do what you love! 

…get excited over the simple things.

…enjoy food. Even if sometimes that means pure comfort on a plate.

Rainy Day Mushroom & Parsnip Beef Stew

• 1 large yellow onion
• 4-5 parsnips
• 1 package white mushrooms
• 1 lb stew meat, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 cans 98% fat-free cream of mushroom soup
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
• garlic powder (to taste)
• black pepper (to taste)

Clean and peel your vegetables. Slice/chop the onion, parsnips, and mushrooms into fairly even pieces (about 1/2”-1” in size). Spread evenly over the bottom of a slow-cooker. Top the vegetables with your stew meat, cut into 1 inch chunks over the vegetables.In a large bowl, mix the soup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and pepper. Pour the mixture over the meat and vegetables. Cover and cook on HIGH 6-8 hours.

Serve over whole wheat pasta, with crusty bread, or just straight up with some roasted green beans if you’re like me and forget to buy the bread at the store.

Ahhh, comfort food. Ahhh, childhood. Who says it has to end?

Question of the Evening – What do you most miss about childhood?

This week I have started trying something new with my workout schedule. I quickly learned how much I prefer running outdoors. Problem? I need someone to watch the kiddos for that to happen. Solution? Going in the afternoon. You may recall how much I hated afternoon workouts before because I felt I lost the entire evening. Luckily, I have found a way to make it work with running.

Now, I go to the gym in the morning for my weights workout, then go out for a quick 30 minute run in the afternoon. It works out quite nicely because I get to run outside and still have time for la familia in the afternoon. Win-win-win. I used this method on Tuesday to head to the gym for a quick full body weights workout in the morning:

In-out-done in under 40 minutes, including a quick warm-up/cool-down on the elliptical. And I still felt great for my run that afternoon.

Today, I got my weights done in the morning again. This time, I resorted to an old favorite from the past year. Group Power! (<---my gym’s version of Bodypump) I normally like doing my own thing for weights, but it was nice to mix it up with the class.

After class, I came home craving a simple breakfast. Plain old cereal sounded perfect this morning. I nabbed some Cheerios and then spruced them up with chopped up Cinnamon Roasted Almonds and blueberries.

Who says you need to spend money on overpriced and oversugared fruit and nut cluster cereals? Fruit, nuts, and Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze are all you need to make plain cereal taste special.

The rest of the day went along as normal (thank goodness!) and before I knew it, it was time to head out for my run. I especially looked forward to my run today. Why? Well, two reasons. A – fine company to come out with me.

Even though they weren’t with me while I ran, I still loved having my family there because we could walk and just enjoy the outdoors together before and after my run. It ended up being a nice little afternoon.

And the second reason I looked forward to the run? I had some thinking to do. What better time to relieve some stress and sort through my thoughts than during a run?

The past couple of weeks have presented some motherhood challenges. Nothing major, but I have found myself questioning whether or not I’m a good mother on practically a daily basis. It all stems from Makenzie suddenly acting out a lot more and many times I feel like the one to blame. For not giving her enough attention. For not having enough patience. For not catering to her and doing whatever I can to make every day something exciting and fun for her.

Lately I get this feeling that Makenzie doesn’t feel the same devotion that she used to from me and I feel guilty. I feel like I constantly try to find ways to do more for my family and less for myself. Then I feel guilty when it reaches a point that I refuse to give up some parts of myself – like working out or writing this blog. I had to think all this through on my run today. Basically, I needed to sweat away the emotions to see the reality.

It’s okay to still have passions and care for myself because I DO balance them and keep my family first. I spend on average an hour a day working out, which is not going to make my family fall apart. And I include my family if at all possible. I save any and all blogging for naptime and, over the past couple of months, have really cut back on putting so much time and energy into the blog. 

I am a good mom. I work hard to balance my life, yet always put them first. It’s likely why some days I end up feeling so run down after living so fully for someone else. Actually, make that THREE someone elses. Makenzie is not acting out more because I don’t show I love her.She is acting out because now I have two children to love so fully and she is having to adjust. Sure, I have my rough days where I could have a bit more compassion, but she still knows I love her. This all will pass with time. Until then, I will get through it. With some outdoor runs to help along the way. 😉

Question of the Day – Where do you find the hardest time finding balance?