Blogging into the abyss...

I am a little over the "staying on top of it all" thing lately. On Saturday, I did ballet with a cranky, tired two year old ballerina - soccer photos with one boy happy to play, another reluctant and surly (ran from me AGAIN), and.... in my stressed out state (think we were all tired from school movie night and a web site that hubby worked on until 3 in the morning - literally from bed the night before), I drove to the wrong school for my high schooler's field hockey tournament, missing ALL the games. I had visions of going to lunch with her - spending a sunny morning watching her play while my two little ones (the happy soccer player still playing with Coach Daddy) ran about and had fun. Instead, I drove way out of my way - had to get my two fighting wee ones a fast food lunch and keep them appeased with crap like potato chips and ginger ale, and.... what's worse is... I didn't care... Let them eat crap!

As I was driving and trying to grab some semblance of calm by taking in the fact that the leaves are changing (yay, Mommy - the leaves have color! did cheer me from the back seat), I began thinking of ALL the things I do that create more chaos in life - or take more time from what I really need to be doing. Blogging is one of those things. While I like to write and connect, etc., I am not doing a great job at either, so.... may take a little break to rethink, redesign, regroup (and, yes, I know I've said this before). As always, feedback appreciated.

Anyway, enjoy the photo montage of chaos :-). And... check Halloween out here at Pottery Barn Kids - free shipping and an iPhone app that lets you put costumes on photos of your kids to see what they would look like. Also, Phipps Conservatory has an autumn flowers show among the gargoyles, which may be a bit festive (and NieNie on my blog list has some cool Halloween decorating ideas). Also, Amy at Callapitter has an update on Kate and Peter's treehouse, so... if you are available on 2 Oct, there is another meeting (see my blog list).

OK - so in the last 10 min, Milo peed on our new carpet (and last night, was upset to the point of tears that I would be doing bedtime as usual with he and Enzo and not Daddy - totally hurt my feelings - what a baby, huh? I was shocked - still am :-( and hubby just got a flat tire in front of the school (though Jettas have a full size spare in the trunk and he is a speedy "changer"), so...I'm off. All in a day, a week, a year, a life - right? :-) - Plus, to "restart" the morning, Milo and I are indulging in our new favorite drinking chocolate - Allegro Coffee Company Organic Peruvian 68 from Whole Foods (delicious - tastes of dark chocolate AND is free trade certified - though, for kiddies, probably needs to be sweetened a bit). AND.... hubby and I just cracked up about HOW the tire was popped (on one of those awful Pittsburgh metal curbs) and how it made a swooshing sound right away.... Oh - if I had time to tell it ;-).....

I do have time to end on a positive note and give you this quick chicken enchilada recipe - Preheat oven to 325 degrees - Mix 2 - 3 cups bite-sized chicken (sauted with olive oil and salt and pepper), 1/ 2 cup sour cream, 1/4 cup cream cheese, splash of milk, 1 cup chicken stock, salt, pepper, i cup chopped green chiles, cumin and chili powder (both to taste) in large bowl. Take baking dish - put down some green or red enchilada sauce - corn tortillas on top - chicken mixture, shredded cheese of your choice (I did lowfat for all the dairy and low sodium for anything store-bought like the enchilada sauce or the chicken stock) and more enchilada sauce - layer like that one more time - Bake for 45 min and serve with rice and salad. Yum - worth trying.