JoE

Joe started rotations the first week of July this year. This is an exciting time in his medical education because it's the first time he has really been able to step out of the classroom and into a patient oriented setting. Joe very much enjoys working with patients and the staff in the hospitals where he has done rotations so far. He has tons of exciting stories, things that would make you choose to steer clear from "learning hospitals," which is excitedly shares at every opportunity. He still has another year before he needs to decide what Residency programs he wants to apply to, but for right now he hopes to try and potentially choose from: radiology, radiation oncology, neurology, anesthesiology and emergency medicine.

Any patient who has Joe as a doctor should consider themselves quite lucky. Joe is an extraordinary person with a great deal of compassion for the people he currently serves and the people he hopes to serve in the future. Medicine was the perfect choice for Joes profession because of his awesome personality. I hope, we hope, that he continues to be served with many incredible opportunities throughout his life!

Curious George

Henry loves curious George so we went to see him recently at the Kids' Fair. Henry excitedly waited his turn to see the monkey (Henry actually thinks that the Man in the Yellow Hat is named George and the monkey is just called Monkey). His excitement, however, quickly wavered when he approached the larger than life monkey and he couldn't wait until the picture was done and we could escape. We can't wait to meet Santa Claus in a couple months.

Helicopter

Henry with all the items he now requires prior to going to sleep:
at least one helicopter toy and at least one helicopter book.

I am not sure when Henry's obsession with helicopters began, sometime after his birthday, I suppose. Whenever it began, it only increases in intensity every day - Henry is addicted, obsessed, over-excited, whatever adjective you choose - Henry loves helicopters!

We live near the flight path for the University and Primary Childrens helicopter transportation for patients. Every day now he begs to go outside where we wait for a helicopter to fly by. The fly near our home frequently, but nevertheless, it's a frustrating thing for Henry to stand outside, excitedly waiting for the sound which you can always hear before you see the helicopter. The sound which he always recognizes far before me, the sound of the helicopter flying overhead.

At the end of the movie "Cars" Mader rides in the blue Dinoco helicopter, one like Henry is holding in the above picture. The scene is probably 30 seconds long and if you wait a minute or two you get another 10 second clip of Mader riding in the helicopter. When we watch "Cars," that is what we watch, over, and over, and over.

Henry has a white board on an easel that he loves to draw on. That white board is never without at least one helicopter drawing on it, usually three or four because Henry insists on having someone help him draw helicopters.

Before bed, day and night, we read at least one book about helicopters (or with an airplane that has a rotor). Henry sleeps with at least one helicopter toy and at least one helicopter book. When he wakes up, he panics until we have recovered his helicopters from the blankets.

Finally, Henry can name several helicopter parts: main rotor (the twirly blades on top), tail rotor (the twirly blades on the tail), tail boom (the tail), the landing skids and the cockpit.

Pundits Double Speak on Palin

I thought this was funny, not because it makes Palin look bad, for some strange reason, I kind of like her, but because it makes the pundits look ridiculous.

Testing

I've been trying to figure out how to post to my blog using my new iPhone, that's why some of you saw that silly picture of homemade card bags the other day. I think I've finally figured it out and it's SOOOO easy (no thanks to the iPhone, it's blogger, or should I say, Google's, innovation.) And, if it works, this will be the first time it wasn't because of my friend Joey's voluntary Google marketing skills that I started using a new Google product.

If you're interesting in blogging directly from your iPhone, or another mobile device or email account, and you're using Blogger, find out how here for email: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=41452 and here for phone: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42448

Happy blogging!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

I'll be honest, I don't remember where this recipe came from, I've been making it for a few years, and it's not my original recipe. If it's yours, by all means, take credit for it; it's always a winner!

1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach - thawed, drained and squeezed dry

1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

3 cloves garlic minced

1/2 Cup mayonnaise

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 Cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a 7x11 inch baking dish

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth. Mix in the artichoke hearts, spinach and Parmesan cheese. Season with garlic and lemon juice. Spread evenly into the prepared baking dish.

3. Bake covered for 20 minutes. Remove the cover, and let the dish bake uncovered for 5 more minutes.

I always serve it with sliced crusty bread.

Enjoy!

MY BOYS

Henry & Joe are so much alike it's ridiculous (and that's a good thing). When Henry was born and everyone thought he looked just like Joe I couldn't help but feel a little defeated, after all, I was the one who carried him for 9+ months and I was the one who would care for him every day, why does Joe get the "you look like him," award? Now, the looks have evened a bit and there doesn't seem to be a clear winner, but I'm SO glad that Henry has inherited his Dad's personality. Don't get me wrong, I like myself just fine, but I am so pleased that Joe and Henry share some extremely positive personality traits. I'm blessed to be eternally connected to my two favorite guys!

Some things I love:

• They're both cuddlers
• They're both people pleasers, I always get what I want :)
  
• They're both friendly, peaceful, and happy
  
• They both make friends with anyone and everyone
  
• They have the same, cheesy, irresistible, smile
  
• They're smart (who knew two year olds were only supposed to know 20 words?)
  
• They're energetic and cheerful (except at church where they're both grumpy)
• They both make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world

I love my boys!