Our annual fall break getaway was another success... at least when we forget the fact that everyone who went ended up with the flu the following week. Max and I actually had to leave around 4 AM Sunday morning because Charlie's fever was getting out of control and he refused to sleep. So okay, maybe it wasn't an entirely successful weekend but I continue to count those lucky stars of mine that our group of friends are ours, and that these traditions continue.. Come hell or high water, as Zac Efron once said.

Seeing Charlie "become friends" with your friend's children is surreal. Weren't we all still living at home and calling each other on landlines just yesterday? Charlie also went on his first mini date with little Willow who is so cute I could scream.
Perhaps another arranged marriage is in the making?

Charlie and the rest of us are still on the mend, so we will spend Halloween night with some friends eating Halloween candy and finishing the rest of Stranger Things in our matching skeleton jammies. Hope all of you have a Happy Halloween!!

chicken enchilada chili soup (from zupas!)

Truly the best soup I've ever made. And it's fail-proof. If you can fail a recipe, even following the directions to a T -- I will fail that recipe. This one is impossible to get wrong though, at least for me, which means, at least for the rest of you too. I made it for my parents who came over for dinner a few weeks ago, and again last weekend for friends up in Park City. Every time this recipe has worked like a charm!

Ingredients

• 3 large chicken breasts
• 2 cans (10 oz) red enchilada sauce
• 1 can (10 oz) green enchilada sauce
• 2 cans (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup milk
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (mild) with green chilies
• 2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
• 3/4 c. sour cream

Instructions

1. In a large slow cooker, add the chicken breasts and both enchilada sauces. Cook for several hours on low for 3-4 hours until the chicken is cooked. Remove chicken, shred and return to crockpot.
2. Add all the remaining soup ingredients, except the sour cream and cook for 1-2 more hours or until heated through.
3. Whisk in the sour cream and turn off the heat.
4. Top with tortilla strips, sour cream, and cheddar cheese. 

robert frost in the fall

I remember first reading Robert Frost in my Dad's office years ago. At that time, we lived up in the mountains, surrounded by trees, which at first I hated because I was so used to living in a city. But I remember that autumn afternoon, when I pulled a book off his library shelf entitled The Poetry of Robert Frost. It was a 1969 edition and the only reason I chose that book in particular was because the cover had a picture of trees, somewhere in the woods, at dusk. It seemed fitting.

Anyway, it was one of those 'snapshot memories' as I call them, reading the poem below in my dad's office, feeling grateful for that home sitting in a large leather chair, watching the falling leaves outside. And even now, years later, it's the one book I pick up to read every year around October (aside, of course, from the Tales of Sherlock Holmes).

So I thought I'd post a favorite:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

(you can read another Frost favorite I posted here)

a brief bingham update

The fact Charlie is going to turn 1 next month is beyond me. Where does the time go? The pictures above show off his newest goose egg in all its glory. We've got a walker on our hands who bumps and plows into just about everything. Charlie also has two little teeth coming through (!!!) and loves to eat cheese (mama's boy!), play in the bath, and go for afternoon walks. He says mama and dada (though we aren't sure he knows what it means) and remains content most of the time by playing in the fridge, hitting the dishwasher or chewing on the remote control. Don't get sucked into buying baby toys! They want everything else instead.

Max, on the other hand, is busy with Year 2 of school. He started school back in July (yikes!) and can add the gynecology unit to his repertoire (as pictured above. he'll have to tell you about giving his first prostate exam sometime too...) Though the weeks leading up to finals can get rough, I have to be honest and say I must have really prepared myself for the worst, because medical school has not been nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

As for the debt, yes it continues to grow, and yes, it haunts you in your sleep, but knowing residency begins in just a few years (and with that comes a paycheck) eases the anxiety a little bit. Max still remains mostly undecided when it comes to what he wants to specialize in, but once he begins rotations next June he will get a better idea, (though right now I'm rooting for emergency med or anesthesia).

As for me, all is well and dandy. We're lucky in that we live near so many friends, family and people in similar stages of life, and I find myself constantly reaching out to other moms trying to navigate all the ups and downs of motherhood and everything in between. I remain convinced more than ever that women need to be each other's team mates and cheerleaders and friends, and will forever count the amazing women around me as one of the many tender mercies I've been blessed with.

Now, before I get all preachy zoom in on that dummy's face in the picture above. It will give you nightmares for weeks.

my very best friend

I used to think it was a funny and strange thing when a mom would refer to her child as one of her best friends. Maybe when they grew up, sure. But when they're just little and can hardly even phrase a sentence? It didn't make any sense to me. It even came across as a little bit cheesy.

I get it now though. I really do. And I apologize to any mom anywhere who said something along those lines to me and I pre-judged. I watch Charlie across the room and when he looks over and smiles at me I think the same thing every time: He's my best friend.