Snow Day

I realized several days ago that I had not seen the sun nearly this entire month. A combination of going to work when it's dark, getting home when it's dark, and long stretches of gloomy, cloudy days have made my exposure to sunlight next to nil. My vitamin D stores have definitely been depleted.

That is why, driving home Sunday morning, even though I was post-call from a strenous night on Trauma, when I saw blue skies, I was determined to make it outside.

Ignore the fact that it was 15 degrees. Ignore the fact that it was rather windy. Ignore that fact that it was 4 degrees with the windchill. We did.

We focused on the fact that the sky was blue, the ground was covered in new snow that glistened and sparkled, and that the entire world looked magical.






We bundled the boys in snow pants, parkas, scarves, hats, gloves, snow boots (after all, it did feel like 4 degrees.)


We then trucked through the glistening snow to the hill at school for some sunshine and snow.

Inner tubing...



Snow angels...




Blaise insisted that he wanted to swing. When I said the swings were covered with snow, he calmly, in his three year old list, reassured me that he could just wipe the snow off.



The afternoon was good for the cabin fever I'm sure was starting to descend on the boys. There was plenty of laughing, screaming, and completely darling children.









After everyone was sufficiently chilled, we trekked back home through the blue shadows for hot cocoa and dry socks.


It is truly amazing that a few hours with a inner tube, a snowy hill, and a blue sky can be thoroughly therapeutic.

This is truly what memories are made of.

Popcorn, a la Christmas

It feels that at this time of year, everyone is sharing snacks and recipes. There are blogs with recipes swaps. Even the female anesthesia residents had a cookie-recipe sharing party.

And I really want to participate. I do. But I don't really like to cook (I hope this blog hasn't given you any delusions otherwise.)

And I don't feel that sharing recipes I either make up (with varying success) and can never replicate, or those that come on the side of a Campbell's soup can or the back of a bag of chocolate chips just don't really work (or count).

But to get in the spirit of sharing, and cooking, I will share the recipe to a snack that I make every Christmas.

This recipe actually isn't mine. My very good friend in medical school, who is now doing her residency in California, shared it with me. But I don't always share that detail when people are telling me how much they like this.


Caramel Popcorn:
8 cups popped popcorn (salted)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup (dark corn syrup gives a richer flavor, but it tastes just as nice with light corn syrup.)

You can also add 1/2 cup peanuts, but we never do.

Heat oven to 350.
Melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and corn syrup. Bring to boil while stirring nearly constantly. You seriously do not want this to boil over. It is very hard to clean up off the top of the stove. Boil until the mixture starts to thicken. I'm sure there is some temperature that this mixture should reach, but I wouldn't even know where to begin. I just boil it until it gets just a little bit thicker and turns from clear to caramelly color.

Pour caramel mixture over popcorn (in a very large bowl) and stir to coat evenly. If you want peanuts, be my guest and add them now. Spread on a cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Check halfway through and stir ensure even cooking. Don't let it burn. This will result in frustration on your part and disappointment on your childrens' part.

Remove from over, place in large (heat proof) bowl and let cool.

We always double or triple this recipe. Because it is that good.


If you want to make caramel popcorn balls, let the caramel mixture cook longer. This will make it thicker. Pour over popcorn and let cool just a little. Coat your hands with just a little bit of Pam (or other baking spray. Although I'm sure butter or oil would work fine too.) Shape into balls. Let cool completely. Do not put the popcorn balls in the oven. The result is not good. Just let them cool on the counter.

There will be caramel popcorn in our house to munch on while watching Mickey's Christmas Carol and another bag in the boy's stocking, to enjoy Christmas morning and to buy us a little more sleep.

Holiday Baking

Why is it that every holiday seems to revolve around food? All the holiday treats weaken my will power and tempt my sweet tooth.

Not that I'm really complaining. I do love treats.

Despite the fact that I tend to avoid the kitchen, there is something about holiday baking that draws me in.

I love having Roman and Blaise standing on chairs on either side of me, taking turns dumping in ingredients (occasionally missing the bowl.) I love the floury hands, the attempts to be subtle while picking at the dough, the delight on their faces at placing the cookies in the oven, and their excitement when taking them out.


It also doesn't hurt that there are now cookies in our house.

In the past, we've done sprinkles. Which are not the most child friendly way to go cookies. As it usually involves incredibly vigorous sprinkling and then several weeks on clean up.

This year, we "painted" cookies.


I can't take any credit for this darling idea, as I found it here.


The boys created their masterpieces without needing my oversight. The mess was minimal.


The delight was endless.

White Water

I was told that I absolutely had to take the boys to the tailwater at the reservoir. I was told this by two people.

They tried to explain just why. It was noisy. There was a lot of water. The water moved fast.

I hope that you're just a little confused about why I absolutely had to take the boys there. Because after hearing this, I certainly was.

But we decided to go. In part, because, like I've said many times before, we just can't stay cooped up at home.

The reservoir is very high this time of year and at the tailwater is where the water comes out of the reservoir and joins the river. When the water is high, like now, it is quite impressive.

The water comes barreling out from under the dam at impressive speeds and when this fast moving water reaches the wide, slow, calm river, it collides with a roar. The crashing of the water creates spurts and waves and noise.


And all this delighted the boys.



So, yes, I guess I did absolutely have to take them.

I'm pretty sure I've done a terrible job explaining. I was sure that I would. So here is a little video that does better explaining. (with atrocious sound...I'm not sure how to fix it that doesn't involve a completely new camera.)

Free Time

Today marks the first day of my first vacation of residency!

Well, vacation actually started last night, after a much needed girls night out to see New Moon. It was great. No work, no kids. I haven't had that in a long time.

I go back to work on December 1st, at which time I start Trauma Service. This excites me about as much as being told I have a cavity at an annual dental exam. Or Blaise falling asleep on my bed without a Pull-Up on.

So my goal is to make the most of the next 10, now 9, days. They are going to be the fastest days of my year so far, that much I am certain. Already, I can see the end of vacation and feel myself whirling through time towards it.

We thought a lot about going back to Utah for Thanksgiving. This is the longest I've gone in my entire life without seeing my family. I last saw them in June, 5 months ago. I'm not "homesick" in the slightest, since I don't miss Utah or our tiny, dingy apartment for a moment. But I am completely "family-sick." I do miss my family a lot. Since I managed to get vacation over Thanksgiving, we initially thought it would be perfect to go back home. But the 1200 miles were just an obstacle we couldn't overcome, at least this year.

We thought about flying. We could drive to Chicago and fly non-stop from there. But there are four of us, and financially that put that option out of reach. We thought about driving. But that would mean driving I-80 across Wyoming in November. First of all, the trip itself would take at least 1 1/2 days, one way. Which would mean 3-4 days out of 10 on the road. Yuck. Second of all, have you ever driven on I-80 across Wyoming in November? A storm would probably come up and then we would get stuck in Rawlins, Laramie, or Rock Springs for 3 days. Seriously. This happened to someone I know.

So we've made the decision to stay put here in Iowa for Thanksgiving. Although some good friends from medical school have invited us to spend Thanksgiving dinner with them, so we won't be spending it alone.

Keith and I also decided this "vacation" would be a great time to get some more work on the house done. We're already halfway through a project. Which I will post. Later.

We are going to finish Christmas shopping, put up Christmas decorations, sleep in, read books, and watch movies.

But most importantly, I'm going to use these days to spend as much time with my family as possible. Games, stories, outings, arts and crafts, blanket houses.

And in between and during all that, just being together.

New Trails

The leaves are pretty much gone (everywhere except out of our front yard.)

The weather has been pretty chilly.

But that hasn't stopped us from exploring new places. If the day is even remotely dry and the temperature tolerable, we are gone.

(Don't ask me what we are going to do when there is snow and below zero temperatures.)

We just found an amazing trail that goes through forests around the reservoir, complete with the huge gnarled oak trees I have fallen in love with. This trail loops down to look out over the lake.



And the loop is a perfect distance to be exercise for everyone, but still manageable for the boys.


One of the things I miss most about Utah is the fast flowing clear mountain streams that gurgle loudly. Here in Iowa, while not flat, the streams and rivers are slow, quiet, and murky. I was commenting to Keith how much I missed seeing water that I had no reservations about the boys playing in, about how much I missed those fast, sparkling streams. Then we turned a corner in the trail to come across a beautiful wood and steel bridge.


And under the bridge was a small, fast flowing clear stream, complete with two sets of small waterfalls.


I am definitely coming back here in the summer. In fact, I may not wait that long.

Trick or Treat!

This year is the first year we took the boys trick-or-treating door to door.

Blaise, the dragon, and Roman, the sheriff

Back in Salt Lake City, it was always so cold by the time Halloween rolled around that the thought of being outside for a moment, not alone a prolonged period of time, was unwelcome. Not to mention there may or may not be snow to contend with. Also, we lived in an apartment complex, which turns out to be a terrible place to trick-or-treat. The last several years, we took the boys to the mall near our house to trick-or-treat there. No cold weather, no wind, no worry about strange houses.

This year, however, we decided to introduce the boys to the real thing. We met up with some family friends and drove to a nice suburban neighborhood.

I initially thought the boys would love it. Turns out traditional trick-or-treating takes a little getting used to. Roman was very hesitant to go up to the doors. All the decorations "scared" him. (He would like to say for the record nothing he saw actually scared him. Just saying.) And he got cold fairly quickly.

Blaise on the other hand, would have nothing to do with it. Even in his ridiculously cute dragon costume, he refused to participate. He cried most of the evening, insisted on being held, and was glad to head back to the car. (And I'll admit, there was a little relief on our side as well. Blaise is 3, and not small for his age.)

So it wasn't exactly the joyous occasion that childhood memories are made of.

On the other hand, they are currently sitting on the family room floor, screeching for joy over their payload and comparing candy buckets. All thoughts of being cold, scared, or overly tired are gone. Maybe this is what the good memories are made of.

It's the Great Pumpkin!

Halloween is less than one week away.

My family didn't celebrate Halloween when I was growing up. I do remember, once, dressing up and going door to door with my parents. I was three, maybe four years old, little enough to still need a car-seat. And I was wearing enormous pink rabbit ears that prevented me from sitting up straight in the car, because they kept hitting the ceiling.

That was the last time we celebrated Halloween. We did have Harvest Parties, and fall get-togethers, but no trick-or-treating, jack-o-lanterns, or scary movies. Looking back, I don't think I really cared (even though I'm sure my mom will beg to differ, since I'm sure we cried about not getting candy.)

However, we have chosen to not continue that practice with our boys.

First of all, it is just too much dang fun to dress them up. They are the cutest things ever and thinking about putting them in bee, and cowboy, and firefighter costumes is too much fun for me to pass up.

It's not really about the candy. Especially since I was going through a cupboard last week and found a still quarter-full bag of last year's Trick-or-Treat candy. What can I say? We're good at rationing.

The thing that truly makes me excited about Halloween is the pumpkin carving.

For those of you who know us, you know that this is a VERY big deal. We love our pumpkin carving. It borders on obsession. Finding the perfect pumpkin, with a nice flat surface. Finding the perfect stencil.

And since Halloween is less than one week away, it is that time of year.

(Check out here and here and here for previous years' pumpkins.)

First, Roman's pumpkin. He picked out the pattern and transferred it to the pumpkin himself. And then because I'm still that kind of mom, I cut it out for him. This, despite the fact he thought 7 years old is perfectly old enough to be handling knives (funny how it is not old enough to make your own bed.)


Next, my pumpkin. Yes, I did a Twilight pumpkin. I know, I know.


Like always, Keith's pumpkin is the very best. Okay, technically, this is Blaise's pumpkin, since he requested the picture. But, like always, Keith did all the work. And absolutely amazing work it is.


I'm going to send a picture of the pumpkin to the guy who created the stencil.

Keith has yet to do "his" pumpkin. He's got the pattern, but between helping all the rest of us, his pumpkin, somehow, always ends up being the last one done. I'm sure that it, like the rest of his work, will be amazing.

This Week and Next...

This week, I...

-finally got a day off after working 13 days in a row.

-switched from services from Surgical Intensive Care Unit to Cardiology Intensive Care Unit. Intern year is like having a new job every month. I don't do anything long enough to feel comfortable.

-went 48 hours without sleeping.

-then slept for 13 hours straight.

-got a new couch for our family room. After all, two months of watching TV on the floor is enough.

-make cookies with Roman and Blaise.

Every post must have pictures, so today, you get cookies.

-Placed a Swan-Ganz catheter, a catheter that measures pressures in a patient's right heart and pulmonary arteries, for the first time. A completely awesome procedure!

-Went pumpkin picking. And forgot my camera.

-Got the heater/cooler/windows/fan fixed in my car, just in time for weather to turn cold. Okay, Keith did this one.

-Watched snow fall from the window of a patient's room

-Balanced my checkbook.

-Yelled at the TV during a college football game.

-Make mashed cauliflower, which made the boys throw up at the table. I thought it tasted fine.

-Fell in love with my boys all over again.




This coming week, I plan on...

-Raking leaves.

-Celebrating Keith's birthday (two days late, because I am on call on his birthday. Boo.)

-Buying Keith a book for his birthday, and then hurry and read it.

-Carving pumpkins.

-Calling my sister.

-Going for a walk in the fall leaves. If it warms up just a little.

-Missing college football due to taking call on a Saturday.

-Considering opening my cardiology tutorial CD.

-Submitting a receipt for a ridiculously expensive textbook to hopefully get reimbursed.

-Kissing my boys after they fall asleep every night I am home.

Fall at the Lake

With the cold nights and mostly rainy days, every moment of sun is to be enjoyed.

We took advantage of the last sunny moment to walk around the lake. I had seen the lake trail when we had gone to the lake to swim or boat, and instantly wanted to explore it. So, the clouds broke, the sun shone, and we were gone.


One of my favorite things about living in Utah was our close proximity to the canyons and the fact that I could take the boys any afternoon and go for an adventure. We hiked all the time. There were times when finding a child-friendly trail was a challenge, but it never stopped us from exploring. I had worried when we moved to Iowa that there wouldn't be as many outdoor opportunities. But the lake trail now makes the third amazing nature trail that we have found.

The trail was just a little bit longer than I had anticipated, since we went the entire length, from the beach to the "waterfall." The boys were looking just a little worn by the time we completed the round trip.




But it was the most wonderful way to enjoy fall and the increasingly rare sunshine.

Pictures of Fall

It is full blown fall now. While most the trees are still green(ish), there are more and more pops of red, yellow, and orange. It has started raining again, after an entire three weeks without rain. I'm telling you, Utah people, that's like a drought here in Iowa. It's supposed to fall below freezing tonight.

Full blown fall.


And we are doing our best to enjoy every minute.

A day at the lake, to have a beach picnic and play in the sand. And never mind that I said keep out of the water.



Leaf piles in the backyard.




More apple picking.


Because somehow we managed to eat fifteen pounds of apples in one week. I did make apple pie and apple crisp and we ate those too. But still, 15 pounds! Well, three of us ate 15 pounds of apples. Roman still insists he likes picking apples much more than he likes eating them.

At least someone loves apples.

Soon, more of the trees will change, and it will be time for more fall walks and drives.


Because soon it will be winter.


But for now, it is fall.