It’s a family tradition to eat what my mom always called pumpkin-face hamburgers on Halloween.  I would come home from school knowing the meat, mustard and mozzarella concoction baked in biscuits with Jack O’Lantern faces would be served up alongside warm cider simmering in the crock pot.  My sister and I still make them every year.  Only my holes for the eyes and mouth look more like a ghost, so I’ve altered the title to call them Ghost Face Hamburgers.  Some day I’ll pass the recipe on to Charlotte and explain the modification necessary for someone who doesn’t bake like Nana.

Ghost Face Hamburgers

1 pound hamburger

8-ounce bag shredded mozzarella

1/4-1/2 cup yellow mustard

2-4 tubes biscuits

Cook hamburger, drain, stir in mustard and mozzarella.  Flatten half or whole biscuit on tray, scoop on mixture and top with the other half or a whole biscuit, poking three holes in it for the eyes and mouth.  Press top and bottom together around edges.  Bake for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 52

I saw a mom today balancing a baby in one arm and her cell phone in another sharing details about her sick child over the phone while keeping an eye on her other little one skipping alongside with a Dora lunch bag.  The trio were walking into the hospital as I was coming out from a story shoot.  I’ve been there, I thought.  The overwhelming feeling of juggling so many balls in the air and then another one goes up when a sick child turns your so-called routine on its head.  Dragging a baby carrier over ice and snow, your face against the biting wind as you rush in and out of grocery stores and preschools and churches.  The moment you realize after five attempts that the reason you can’t snap the carseat back in the base is because a seatbelt is caught over the latch.  Digging through all the stuff you thought you needed in your diaper bag unable to locate the one item you do need… on the dirty public restroom floor as your screaming baby is strapped to the germ-covered plastic changing table above.  Yes, many of us have been there.  And you’re not alone and it will get better and you will some day soon convince yourself how wonderful it all was and how much you would go back to those “baby days” if you could.  Well, some of us would.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 52

I have probably mentioned that some of my childhood was unconventional–in the very best ways imaginable.  Case in point, we had a trapeze bar and swing in our basement that were interchangeable on two hooks in the ceiling.  They allowed my sister and me to flip or fling ourselves onto giant pillows my mom sewed and stuffed.  We also had an entire shelf behind a basement bar lined with tall glass jars of candy.  Any time I wanted a wrapped chocolate mint or handful of M&M’s I could grab one.  And so could my friends.  Our house was quite popular.  So it might surprise the average person to discover a man & woman in their 60s stringing a zip line between two backyard trees.  But when that couple is my parents, Nana/Papa, it’s totally normal behavior.  Click here to see Charlotte on one of her first runs.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 52

Zombie Referee, French Maid & Batgirl

Thanks to the Internet, costume creativity is a click away.  I searched “Halloween costumes for bald men” and voila:  Mr. Clean.  So we ordered white painter pants for cheap online, found a gold hoop and an attachment to turn pierced earrings into clip-ons and used my eyelash glue to attach cotton eyebrows. 

Mr. Clean & Cowboy

My French maid costume came from a local store after the one I ordered online had to be returned when a pirate maiden shipped instead.  It’s been years since Dave and I dressed up, something we used to do regularly.  We even threw adults-only Halloween parties that lasted for hours.  Now we have to pay someone to watch our children so we can dress up and laugh at ourselves for about two hours.

My friend's son Jordan, a KWWL fan!

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 52

Poor Dave.  He has plantar fasciitis from constantly being on his feet.  According to my intensive Internet research (5 minutes tops),  my husband is more susceptible to the painful foot condition because he’s over 40, has high arches and is very active.  For months he’s been in pain off and on.  During the summer it improved when he was able to rest it.  But he can’t rest.   He did go to a foot doctor earlier this year and tries to ice it, to avoid walking barefoot and to use one of those foot squeeze machines I found for a reasonable price online.  (You know like the ones you can try out at stores like Sharper Image?) Two cortisone shots offered only temporary relief.  Is it bad that I enjoyed watching the long needle go in his foot?  Not because I wanted to see him in pain.  I have this weird fascination with stuff like that.  In second or third grade I regularly picked out a book in the school library that showed tooth decay and a drill removing it.  I digress.  The great news I discovered online is that 90% of these cases resolve… though that can take up to two years!

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 52

I am one of those annoying people who starts Christmas shopping early and is usually done with decorating and wrapping by early December.  It’s not that I loathe the crowds, you know I’m all about Black Friday, I just find good deals on a regular basis and scoop them up when I know of loved ones who would like the gifts.  My latest shopping was done with Dave online after Amazon gave us a $140 credit for trading in our old iPhones.  Like a dummy I had them in a computer armoire collecting dust when I could have sent them in a while ago for more.  It took a tech-savvy co-worker to bring the buyback program to my attention.  The good news it gave us instant access to “free” stuff.  An Easy Bake Oven is on its way.  Charlotte wants it for Christmas, so perhaps in an ironic twist the now-safer model may inspire her to be a lifelong baker since my interest ended when it took forever to make those little cakes you could eat in two bites.  (You know you were bummed at their size, too, and what was with that hot lightbulb?)  Thomas is all about The Avengers.  Remember Underroos?  Dave found Thomas something similar online for cheap.  The key now is not to buy too much more in the time between now and December 25.  We only have so many hiding places.

A Dix Family Benefit is happening tomorrow night (Thursday, Oct. 25) at Voodoo Lounge on Main Street in Cedar Falls, starting at 6.  Father and son, Scott & Brice, are battling cancer and medical bills are mounting.  You may recall Chef Brice as a regular guest on the KWWL News at Noon.  Free appetizers & a cash bar–with half the sales going to the family, along with a suggested $10 admission.      

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 52

We all make them so often it’s easy to forget the power of our decisions–both short and long term.  During our alone time over the weekend, Dave & I were able to talk more openly about things we don’t discuss in front of our children.  Like where we choose to live.  Did we do the right thing moving early last year?  From the standpoint of our neighborhood, yes, we like the location and people in it.  But a bigger house means a larger mortgage.  So there is always a trade-off.  Will we be able to offer the stability to our children our parents did for us?  I ask this question in reference to schools and location.  Dave and I both graduated from high schools where we were born.  We can’t guarantee our careers will take us through the next 15 years in the same place.  In today’s economy I know many people moving to follow the money as opposed to staying put to advance.  It’s interesting.  The choices we make, selfish and otherwise.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 52

Thanks to Nana/Papa, it was a childless weekend.  Dave and I saw three movies–two in the theater and one at home.  We ate out for one breakfast and one lunch, along with a dinner out with friends and one in that was delivered.  A dance floor is where we spent part of Friday night and I slept in Saturday until 9–by far the latest I can recall in months.  We did some Christmas shopping and hunted for the finishing touches on our Halloween costumes.  (I have convinced Dave to dress up for an adults-only party we’re attending.)  We took a drive just for fun and didn’t have to worry about switching out the DVD player or adjusting the car stereo volume so little ears in the back could hear over our talking.  And of course our kids had fun without us.  Aunt Bird’s neighborhood Halloween party and treats and toys were a part of their time away.  Now back to reality.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 52

Someone shared a link on Facebook to a single dad’s blog entry about all the things he would do differently if given the chance for a do-over in his two failed marriages.  Among the 16 ways cited that blew his marriage, not holding his wife’s hand and not closing the bathroom door.  Though many of these points were relatable and funny, they also annoyed me.  Of course he can wax poetically about all the woulda, coulda, shouldas… but instead of giving props to a guy who admittedly treated two different women not too nicely, I vote for a shout out to the men who are doing it every day with a ring on their left hand.  Women were commenting under his post about how wonderful it would be for the men in their lives to act like he claims he would were he married for a third time.  Get back to me when he’s put in years with you and lived up to his new set of standards.  I just don’t get why women think a guy is going to treat them better than those who came before.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 52

You can put stuff off-limits to your kids out of reach.

Your tights & nylons are never long enough.

You can use every inch of cabinet space, even the far back of the top shelf.

Your jeans and yoga pants usually have to be special-ordered online.

You can hold your kid up to see over the crowd at events where you’re standing in the back.

Your shirt sleeves and shirt bottoms are too short after you wash them.

You sit so high in the driver’s seat your face is protected from sun coming through the car windows.

Your high heel selection is limited unless you want to be 6’3.

Posted under Baby Thomas: Month 52